The issue here is that Krzyzewski’s preferred line-ups last night consisted of three of the following four players: Seth Curry (6-foot-2), Tyler Thornton (6-foot-1), Rasheed Sulaimon (6-foot-4) and Quinn Cook (6-foot-nothin’).

Not that a beast like Poythress (more on said beastliness when it’s Kentucky’s turn) is the norm in college basketball, but Duke will walk into many a game this season where perimeter size is an issue.

A possible NC State combo of Rodney Purvis (6-foot-4), Lorenzo Brown (6-foot-5) and Scott Wood (6-foot-6) comes to mind.  And then when you consider the match-up nightmare that is Ryan Kelly vs. C.J. Leslie, well, it becomes clear that someone else will need to step up.

Josh Hairston seems like a logical choice to defend longer, slashing threes, but he’s spent most of his time at Duke defending the post and would still have problems sticking with a faster player in a Poythress mold.

Small forward Michael Gbinije sure would help, but he’s of no use to Coach K in sunny Syracuse, where the 2011 McDonald’s All-American decided to transfer after receiving spotty (small spots) playing time as a freshman last season.

Gbinije will sit out the standard season before playing for Duke’s old time ACC rivals up in Central New York.

That leaves red shirt freshman forward Alex Murphy or true freshman Amile Jefferson, who combined for six minutes in last night’s game against Kentucky.  Murphy is thought to be more a Singler-esque offensive talent, while Jefferson more of a scoring power forward.

And to think: Alex Poythress nearly picked Duke.

Onto those Kentucky Wildcats…

Kentucky Wildcats (1-1)

1. Will Alex Poythress “Be A Beast”?

Coach Calipari was asked to define the role of the 6-foot-8, 213 lb freshman Alex Poythress’ role on this Kentucky team.

“He’s a beast.  That’s what he needed to look like. That’s who he is. He’s not a two guard. He is a beast.  So be a beast. I don’t want to see any of the cute stuff. Get the ball by the guy and dunk on somebody. And he did it. Tip dunk, then shoot a couple threes when you can.  And that’s what he did.”

I have nothing to add.

2. Can Nerlens Noel Handle Stronger Bigs?

The alley-oops are there. The dunks, the help side blocks are there.  But it was often freshman sensation Nerlens Noel who needed the help, as senior Mason Plumlee bulldogged his way to the rim with relative ease more than several times Tuesday night in the Georgia Dome.

When will Nerlens Noel start contributing more than just spectacularly athletic plays? Setting the right screens; knowing when to kick it out; igniting a fast break by redirecting a blocked shot toward a teammate.

When will he start doing the things Anthony Davis did?