Their freshman class isn't close top the class that just came to Carolina. excluding William Graves b/c he is redhsirting none of those duke players are as good as Alex Stepheson who I would say is the "worst' of the UNC freshamn. yeah Henderson and scheyer have shown flashes but they don't hold a candle to the big 3. This duke team is NOT a good team, they aren't a bad team either but this is not a team that can make a deep tourney run. they have talent but it's hasn't blossomed yet, I think by next year they'll be back competing for the ACC title but that's not happening this year.
**Official NCAA College Basketball Thread**
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Their freshman class isn't close top the class that just came to Carolina. excluding William Graves b/c he is redhsirting none of those duke players are as good as Alex Stepheson who I would say is the "worst' of the UNC freshamn. yeah Henderson and scheyer have shown flashes but they don't hold a candle to the big 3. This duke team is NOT a good team, they aren't a bad team either but this is not a team that can make a deep tourney run. they have talent but it's hasn't blossomed yet, I think by next year they'll be back competing for the ACC title but that's not happening this year.
I'll break Duke down for you!
McClure doesn't deserve to be on the floor unless it's for a division 1AA team. The fact he see's time is ashame but with the lack of talent and depth we have, he actually see's a lot of minutes despite the fact he should be stuck somewhere at the end of the bench.
Henderson is going a solid player. Not a star but a guy who will play his role well, especially when Duke gets more talent. He'll be a Nate James type IMO.
Scheyer is going to be a star at Duke by the time he's a senior. He's a bigger Redick and isn't scared to take any shot. Expect big things from him.
Nelson is an all around good player but not great at any one thing (ex. scoring, rebounding, passsing, ect). Unless he has a huge senior season he will be a huge bust at Duke. Coming out of high school, he was heralded and was one of the best players California ever saw. I expected a lot more leadership out of him this year and he hasn't come through.
McRoberts has no touch on his shot and that has hurt this team big time. He's a good rebounder and a good force in the middle but is average offensively and needs to contribute more on that end for this team to win games. Hopefully he works on his touch and can become a player of Hanbrough's calibar on the offensive end.
Paulus is a good PG but his problem is he now thinks he's a scorer when he's far from it. These past couple of games specifically he's been trying JJ Redick shots and seems to be trying to hard to be JJ. The problem is he isn't one third of the shooter/scorer Redick is and has hurt this team with ridiciulous shots. If he sticks to being a point guard and stop being such a mental case, he could be a Chris Duhon type (in college, he won't make the NBA). The jury is still out on him althoug he has taken a step back this year which can be attributed to all the stars Duke lost last year.
Lance Thomas I have no idea what to expect of him. He's got talent but I don't know exactly what kind of role he will take for this team in the future. He obviously isn't a huge scorer but he does seem to have talent as an overall basketball player so I think we'll hear from him on the floor in the future.
Zoubek needs to work on his foot work and get control of his size. Not sure if he can turn into anything more then what he is already but if he works on those things, it will make huge strides to him improving his game.
Pocius is at best a role player of the bench and the rest of the guys will probably be nothing more then benchwarmers.
It's going to be a long year (it has already) at Duke. There at best a tournament team that can win one game in the tourny and then will be sent home. They lack scoring punch and when the team needs a big basket, they have no one to turn too. That was the only difference between Duke and UNC. When UNC needed a basket, they have Lawson, Wright, and Hansbrough to turn to for almost a guranteed bucket. When Duke is that situation, it's hold your breath and hope someone comes through. UNC has guys who can score, Duke doesn't. Duke's got a couple of kids coming in next year that hopefully can help then in that department but for this year their done and it's just a matter of what round they go out in. If they make it to the sweet 16, this season is a success!
McClure doesn't deserve to be on the floor unless it's for a division 1AA team. The fact he see's time is ashame but with the lack of talent and depth we have, he actually see's a lot of minutes despite the fact he should be stuck somewhere at the end of the bench.
Henderson is going a solid player. Not a star but a guy who will play his role well, especially when Duke gets more talent. He'll be a Nate James type IMO.
Scheyer is going to be a star at Duke by the time he's a senior. He's a bigger Redick and isn't scared to take any shot. Expect big things from him.
Nelson is an all around good player but not great at any one thing (ex. scoring, rebounding, passsing, ect). Unless he has a huge senior season he will be a huge bust at Duke. Coming out of high school, he was heralded and was one of the best players California ever saw. I expected a lot more leadership out of him this year and he hasn't come through.
McRoberts has no touch on his shot and that has hurt this team big time. He's a good rebounder and a good force in the middle but is average offensively and needs to contribute more on that end for this team to win games. Hopefully he works on his touch and can become a player of Hanbrough's calibar on the offensive end.
Paulus is a good PG but his problem is he now thinks he's a scorer when he's far from it. These past couple of games specifically he's been trying JJ Redick shots and seems to be trying to hard to be JJ. The problem is he isn't one third of the shooter/scorer Redick is and has hurt this team with ridiciulous shots. If he sticks to being a point guard and stop being such a mental case, he could be a Chris Duhon type (in college, he won't make the NBA). The jury is still out on him althoug he has taken a step back this year which can be attributed to all the stars Duke lost last year.
Lance Thomas I have no idea what to expect of him. He's got talent but I don't know exactly what kind of role he will take for this team in the future. He obviously isn't a huge scorer but he does seem to have talent as an overall basketball player so I think we'll hear from him on the floor in the future.
Zoubek needs to work on his foot work and get control of his size. Not sure if he can turn into anything more then what he is already but if he works on those things, it will make huge strides to him improving his game.
Pocius is at best a role player of the bench and the rest of the guys will probably be nothing more then benchwarmers.
It's going to be a long year (it has already) at Duke. There at best a tournament team that can win one game in the tourny and then will be sent home. They lack scoring punch and when the team needs a big basket, they have no one to turn too. That was the only difference between Duke and UNC. When UNC needed a basket, they have Lawson, Wright, and Hansbrough to turn to for almost a guranteed bucket. When Duke is that situation, it's hold your breath and hope someone comes through. UNC has guys who can score, Duke doesn't. Duke's got a couple of kids coming in next year that hopefully can help then in that department but for this year their done and it's just a matter of what round they go out in. If they make it to the sweet 16, this season is a success!
Ferretsquig
Perennial All-Pro
Wow...a Duke fan underrating the team hes a fan of. Never thought I'd see the day. After a decade of dookies thinking their overrated stars were going to lead them to the promised land...
You have no idea what Thomas and Henderson will become, or even Scheyer for that matter. These are freshmen...ie one year removed from high school. Williams went for the polished skills in Ellington and Wright...coach k went for raw athleticism in Henderson and Thomas. I'll admit it is a departure from the norm, but you can't be so hasty to denounce one approach and hail another. Wright will be gone next year while the duke frosh will be anchoring a team with the #1 recruiting class.
If there is one thing every Duke fan should be well aware of, it is the record of teams that have been underrated. Don't for a second think this team has no shot in the tourney or that simply because they have not put up gaudy stats the freshman lack talent. This is a very good squad and it would be a shock if they don't make it to the sweet 16.
You have no idea what Thomas and Henderson will become, or even Scheyer for that matter. These are freshmen...ie one year removed from high school. Williams went for the polished skills in Ellington and Wright...coach k went for raw athleticism in Henderson and Thomas. I'll admit it is a departure from the norm, but you can't be so hasty to denounce one approach and hail another. Wright will be gone next year while the duke frosh will be anchoring a team with the #1 recruiting class.
If there is one thing every Duke fan should be well aware of, it is the record of teams that have been underrated. Don't for a second think this team has no shot in the tourney or that simply because they have not put up gaudy stats the freshman lack talent. This is a very good squad and it would be a shock if they don't make it to the sweet 16.
I have no idea where your going with this post lol. First off I never denounced anyone's approach to recruiting or the players they recruited, I just stated the obvious and the obvious is that UNC's freshman are better then Duke's and can actually score. Actually, I can tell quite a lot about the players Duke has on their roster and just because some of them are freshman doesn't mean your can't assess what their going to be. Will some turn out better then others, no doubt about it but you going on this stupid rant making no sense is funny to me. I never once said Duke's freshman lack talent. I said Henderson is going to be a solid talent, Scheyer is going to be a star, Lance Thomas we don't know what to expect from them, and the others the jury is out on. Where in my post did I say that the freshman lack talent? The fact you say I'm underrating Duke just shows your a joke. As a matter of fact, I rated Duke exactly what they are, a tournament team that will lose in one of the first 2 round. Duke getting to the Sweet 16 IS A SUCCESSFUL SEASON for how they play and the fact that they have no scorer they can look to when they need a big basket. Obviously you don't watch enough college b-ball or you just wanted to disagree with me which is why you made your post. Next year might these Freshman who aren't doing great carry Duke and the # 1 recruiting class back to the top? I have no doubt they will. But this year my friend, Duke is what they are and you can try to argue it anyway you want but your wrong. As I said, I still don't know the point of your post but I think I answered all the thing you said. # 1 Duke is not underrated and no overrated either, they are what they are. The fact you called a team with 5 losses in conference and a team that shows on the court that their not talented enough this year to make noise just goes to show you don't know what your talking about. Sit down and watch a Duke game. If you do, you would know that all my assessments about the players are accurate. Stop talking about what Duke's kids are going to be next year and realize what they are now. By the way, I guess we can't assess what Durant from Texas is going to be being that he's only a Freshman LMAO!
By the way, I am a huge Duke fan and am rooting for them to win it all. If I was a betting man however the fact is they are what they are. Doesn't mean I won't root my *** off for them, it just means what I said above, Duke is what they are this year and if they win 2 games in the tournament this year they have done more then what is expected from them by their play!
F
FLOUNDER
Im a huge duke fan also
BUT HOW BOUT THEM MOUNTAINEERS UPSETTING UCLA BY 5???????????????????????????????????????????
BUT HOW BOUT THEM MOUNTAINEERS UPSETTING UCLA BY 5???????????????????????????????????????????
Ferretsquig
Perennial All-Pro
Brutal....analphabetisch damlack.
But you are quite right. I cannot assess what these freshmen are going to be, either a month or a year from now. I didn't see Nelson becoming what he is today as a freshman, or Quentin Thomas undergoing the transformation in a week.
By all means please do tell me what hes going to be. 30 NBA GMs are dying to know.
Noone knows what an 18 year old kid is going to be. Durant hasn't even physically matured. Who knows, mabey he'll be 7' next year and we'll be talking about the next Garnett.
Ferretsquig
Perennial All-Pro
No....they will have done more than what you expect of them. I'm happy for you being a Duke fan and all.....but for Duke's sake I sure hope you aren't a graduate. Now that would be depressing.
F
finswin56
I think K not devleoping a bnech last year hurt them last year and is killing them this year. Pocious looked pretty good yesterday, he looks like a guy who can be a very good role player. A hustle player like a Marcus Ginyard type and duke needs a guy like that. Why isn't he playing more? Duke doesn't have 1999 talent but they have talent better then most teams in the Country, I think K has done a poor job this decade in recruiting and coaching. I am evry happy dukle is not good but I expected them to be a lot better simply b/c they do have talent and K is(was?) a great coach.
Ferretsquig
Perennial All-Pro
Oops....didn't see that one coming. I don't know what happened to the dookies there.....I guess a serious letdown after giving it all against Carolina and still coming up short. A lousy Maryland squad destroyed that team.
Oh God, your ignorance about college b-ball is glaring again. First of all, Duke doesn't need a hustle player, THEY NEED A SCORER GENIUS. If Pocious was as good as your making him out out to be, he would be out on the floor. I mean how can you tell he's so good when we've seen so little of him? I didn't know watching him play 10 minutes against Maryland in a blowout could determine just how good he is going to be LMAO. As far as coach K doing a poor job of recruiting, once again you know nothing. Duke has won a championship and been to a Final Four with 2 different classes this decade. Pretty damn good if you ask me. Plus, how can he be a bad recruiter when Coach K has had so many players go to the league? Here are some names!
Mike Dunleavy
Jason Williams
Daniel Ewing
Carlos Boozer
Luol Deng
JJ Redick
Shavlik Randolph
Chris Duhon
Shelden Williams
Dahntay Jones
The problem is you, like everybody else hold Duke to a higher standard then everyone else. I can't blame you for that, Duke IS the standard for college b-ball. The fact is Coach K is a great recruiter and coach and right now currently has the 3rd best recruiting class coming in according to scout and 8th best according to Rivals (you guys have no players who have signed a LOI). That's without Patrick Patterson, a 5 star recruit who is expected to sign with Duke. You say Duke has talent, but let's not act like right now they have North Carilona talent. North Carilona brought in three 5 star players last year to go along with a solid nucelus they already had from the year before. It's funny how North Carilona can have an expected down year last year because they were to young and lost so many players to the draft but Duke can't when they lost 2 All-Americans and 3 other players who were big contributors to their success. Duke will be fine and will be back to the top of the rankings next year. Your over-dramatizing their demise LMAO. Let me guess, UCONN is finished too and can't recruit just as Wake Forest, Maryland, Texas, Syracuse, Louisville, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan St. Arizona, and a slew of other teams with records worse of just about even with Duke are to LMAO. Duke has had a better decade so far then any other school in the country. A national title, another Final Four appearence, never less then a sweet 16 in every tournament appearence, 4 regular season ACC titles, 6 ACC tournament titles, 3 player of the year honors, and never less then 26 wins this decade is bad coaching/recruiting. Seriously bro, get your head out of your ***!
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Duke is having a bad year. Nothing more nothing less.
Bottom line is down the road their accademic standards could hurt them the way it hurt ND football. Times are a changin, but you can't knock Duke too much here. Just a bad year. It's gonna happen to everyone!!
Bottom line is down the road their accademic standards could hurt them the way it hurt ND football. Times are a changin, but you can't knock Duke too much here. Just a bad year. It's gonna happen to everyone!!
Duke is having a bad year by their standards. 80 percent of schools would give anything to have the "bad year" Duke is having. You know, your a Syracuse fan. Syracuse's record isn't horrible this year but by their standards, their having a bad year!