DURHAM - For a team struggling with consistency, Duke certainly didn't have a problem with inconsistency Monday. To a man, coach and players alike, the Blue Devils were remarkably consistent when it came to identifying their biggest problem.

"A loss like (Sunday) is frustrating, because it's not a good performance," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It's a very inconsistent performance."

"It just comes down to being consistent, as individuals and as a team," forward Ryan Kelly said.

"We have to be consistent in how hard we play, just being there mentally, knowing the scouting report, knowing what we're doing," forward Mason Plumlee said.

Sunday's overtime home loss to Miami is one that will provoke some soul-searching for a team like Duke, which at times has looked the equal of anyone in the country - with wins against Michigan State and Kansas - but is third in the ACC at 6-2 heading into Wednesday's game at No. 5 North Carolina.

Objectively speaking, this is a crisis only by No. 10 Duke standards: The Blue Devils have lost a total of four games, three to certain NCAA tournament teams and a fourth to a potential tournament team.

Subjectively speaking, this is a crisis of Duke's standards: This team isn't doing what Duke teams always have done to win on a regular basis. It doesn't play consistently strong defense. It doesn't have go-to offensive players. Krzyzewski has gone through eight starting lineups looking for a combination that works, with nine players starting games.

"It's been one of the most different teams I've had," Krzyzewski said. "Overall, they've done a good job, or we wouldn't be 19-4, but different guys have done well and we've done enough to win that many games. ... That's not usually the case for our team. Usually we have one or two guys who are all-ACC candidates."

There's no question Duke has players who are capable of playing at that level: Plumlee did it against Maryland. Andre Dawkins did it against Michigan State. Austin Rivers did it in the loss to Miami. Seth Curry probably should do it more often, and Kelly presents significant matchup problems. Yet none of them has done it on a regular basis.

Defensively, there are even bigger issues. What Duke does well defensively - guarding the perimeter, denying the entry pass, protecting the basket - hasn't worked as well or as often as Duke expects, by the players' own admission. Again, consistency is the issue.

"It's very frustrating," Kelly said. "We've worked very hard to put ourselves in a position to execute well in the games, and we haven't done that consistently. That's something that has to change."

It's an open question whether Duke is lacking defensive-minded players like, just for example, former forward Lance Thomas, or if the Blue Devils are just too young to pull it off with only one senior and two freshmen and two sophomores in its nine-man rotation.

"This year, we have older guys who are in new roles themselves," Rivers said. "It's an old team that's finding themselves with the young guys. It's a unique team."

Rivers might be a freshman, but he's right about that: For Duke, this is a very unique team - still a good one, no question about it, but very much a change of pace.

"It just depends on whether you like predictability or unpredictability," Krzyzewski said. "I would rather have a predictably good team."