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Coach K has some serious work to do now.

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Devils Illustrated Hall of Famer
Nov 21, 2006
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Carving out a starting lineup will be interesting with this group. So many variables, so much talent. Will we have that family chemistry again this season? Will he address conditioning kinda old school again? God, this is going to be another team that will be fun as hell to watch.
 
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It's going to be interesting to see how it all comes together. A lot of different options and different ways to go. The length of the team is going to be crazy. All of Ingram, Jefferson, and Jeter all have 7'0+ wingspans and we also have an actual 7 footer plus another 6'9 guy who is built like a tank and Vrank.

The defense could be elite and the perimeter defense could be back to "the Duke of old" if all the talk of Thornton's defense is true plus the defense of Jones and Allen. The 3 point shooting could be elite as well with Jones, Allen, Kennard, and Ingram all being very good at that skill. As always, chemistry, health, and mental toughness are huge factors and you just never know how that will play out. How will the team respond to pressure situations and how will the respond to adversity? Often times the difference in being a great team and a good team is the ability to win close games and the ability to win when you aren't playing your best.
 
There will be some interesting decisions regarding starters. Who starts at the 5 is an interesting question. Also, if Ingram is an instant starter, that means only one of Jones and Allen starts.

Good problems to have, and luckily K is pretty good at his job.
 
There will be some interesting decisions regarding starters. Who starts at the 5 is an interesting question. Also, if Ingram is an instant starter, that means only one of Jones and Allen starts.
I think we see lineup of Thornton , Allen, Jones ,Ingram and Marshall.
Kennard comes in as PG/SG . Ingram moves to wing .Jeter and Jefferson play the 4 and 5.
Lots of versatility with the roster.
 
gonna be tough to find your P.T. For sure!! I could see a scenario where we have Matt, Luke, Grayson on the court at the same time. Luke is gonna have to be pretty serious on defense if he wants to see playing time next year.

I'm VERY very curious as to what the chemistry of the team will be like.
 
I can see Ingram playing the 4 on some occasions, like Justise did. He would not be as strong inside, but man he would be tough for other 4's to handle! That line-up with with Matt & Grayson at the 2 & 3 would be a load for other teams to handle! OFC
 
Every year I love watching our team develop between Nov and March. It is going to be cool to see how this team looks by march. Can't wait to see Luke play. Love em all but there is something about that kid.
 
Most likely starting line-ups imo are...
DT, Grayson, BI, Amile, Jeter- I'm hoping 3 long and lanky dudes can equal 1.8 stout rebounding animals.
or
DT, Grayson, Matt, BI, Plumlee- Marshall could be the super-efficient, reckless abandon player he became this year w/ faith in some back-ups, and Matt/BI at the 3/4 helps us w/ defensive switches.

Luke Kennard has that versatile combo of size, ball-handling, and shooting range that makes me really confident he'll have a spot in the rotation, but I don't see him starting.
 
This is a great issue to have and Coach K is like a fine wine, so I'm looking forward to him working magic with this team. The great thing is, we may be even deeper in 16.
 
The 5 spot is intriguing. You know what you are getting with Marshall. I don't know enough about Obi. Jeter is the most skilled offensively right now, but is he ready for prime time and the physicality of the college game?
 
The 5 spot is intriguing. You know what you are getting with Marshall. I don't know enough about Obi. Jeter is the most skilled offensively right now, but is he ready for prime time and the physicality of the college game?

Easy. Start all 3. Lob city comes to Durham.
 
^^^ I see whipping UNC's ass is starting to get them raw up there on the Hill LOL! God I love it!
 
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LOL! This dude is a badass! You are really letting us have it anonymously behind a keyboard! Dude you are taking us to the woodshed!
 
Warning: Salt content levels are toxic. Easy on your cholesterol buddy.


Love being champions, it makes ppl so stung in the anus! Put some Aloe Vera on it buddy and take it easy on your pooper, hot dogs aren't made for that place!
 
Looks like this lineup to me:

1 - Thornton/Kennard
2 - Jones/Allen (tossup)
3 - Ingram/Jones/Jefferson/Robinson
4 - Jefferson/Jeter/Ingram
5 - (tossup) Jeter/Obi/Plumlee/Vrankovic

If Obi or Plumlee get a start at 5 I think you'll see Jeter gets the start at 4. And, Occasionally I think you'll see Jeter at the 5, Ingram at the 4, and Allen & Jones at the 2/3 starting.
 
Looks like this lineup to me:

1 - Thornton/Kennard
2 - Jones/Allen (tossup)
3 - Ingram/Jones/Jefferson/Robinson
4 - Jefferson/Jeter/Ingram
5 - (tossup) Jeter/Obi/Plumlee/Vrankovic

If Obi or Plumlee get a start at 5 I think you'll see Jeter gets the start at 4. And, Occasionally I think you'll see Jeter at the 5, Ingram at the 4, and Allen & Jones at the 2/3 starting.
I don't see any of that bold stuff happening. I think Vrankovic redshirts and Robinson sees mop-up minutes only. Between Thornton, Grayson, Kennard, Matt, and BI, Amile will be the 4 or 5 except for some weird exception. We'll see 3 guards first. Jeter at the 4 is probably the most likely of those things, but I was enjoying putting things in bold.
 
Most likely starting line-ups imo are...
DT, Grayson, BI, Amile, Jeter- I'm hoping 3 long and lanky dudes can equal 1.8 stout rebounding animals.
or
DT, Grayson, Matt, BI, Plumlee- Marshall could be the super-efficient, reckless abandon player he became this year w/ faith in some back-ups, and Matt/BI at the 3/4 helps us w/ defensive switches.

Luke Kennard has that versatile combo of size, ball-handling, and shooting range that makes me really confident he'll have a spot in the rotation, but I don't see him starting.

Don;t sell Sean Obi short. Even if it was at Rice, he can bring it, and certainly improved practicing all year versus big Jah

Player GP MIN PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TPG FG% FT% 3P%

Sean Obi 30 26.4 11.4 9.3 0.8 0.5 0.7 2.0 .591 .544 .000

Amile and MP3 are what they are without much upside from what we have seen (literally the Devil we know) but Obi with better coaching and better practice partners will be even more formiddable.

30 Thornton 10 Allen 40
25 Jones 15 Allen 40
25 Ingram 15 Kennard 40
25 Jefferson 15 Jeter 40
25 Obi 15 Plumlee 40
130 starters 55 subs 200

No need to play Amile at center except in specialized circumstances with Obi, MP3 and Cjase Jeter more suited size wise
 
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I believe you will see Jeter and maybe Kennard playing more than 15 minutes per game. Jeter will play some at center when Duke wants fast lineup.
Thornton, Allen, Matt Jones, BI and Jeter will be hard to stop in transition .
 
Just happy I'm not making those decisions and we have coach K and staff doing that. OFC
 
They are good problems to have. Coach K has valiantly dealt with the alternative, which is being forced to play guys out of position, many times (young Singler in the post comes to mind). With this team, no one should have to do that extensively.
 
It's amazing how much things have changed in such a short time frame. I'll admit winning the national championship was kind of the trump card....meaning I was ready to handle a "down" year by our standards. But I think K just raised the bar again. Based on talent alone, there's no reason we shouldn't be a top 10 team nationally again in 2015-16.
 
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It's amazing how much things have changed in such a short time frame. I'll admit winning the national championship was kind of the trump card....meaning I was ready to handle a "down" year by our standards. But I think K just raised the bar again. Based on talent alone, there's no reason we shouldn't be a top 10 team nationally again in 2015-16.

K is going right over that sucker.
Coach%20K%20Pole%20Vault%20Bar.jpg


OFC
 
My surprise player pick is definitely Sean Obi. Seems almost everyone, even at other boards , pays him very little mind. Dude, he was good at Rice. And what makes me take notice, is his attention to this season. His heart is 100% Duke. He represented with class all season. He worked hard in practice. He's a huge man and has great rebounding technique. He worked vs Jah all season. He knows how it all rolls out, from opening day all the way to the ship'. He's very smart and seems to be the kind of guy who buys in to whatever K wants. He's gonna be huge man, I feel it.
 
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Obi looked like a beast on the bench last year. He shouldn't have any trouble boxing out. Luke Kennard reminds me of Chris Mullins
 
My surprise player pick is definitely Sean Obi. Seems almost everyone, even at other boards , pays him very little mind. Dude, he was good at Rice. And what makes me take notice, is his attention to this season. His heart is 100% Duke. He represented with class all season. He worked hard in practice. He's a huge man and has great rebounding technique. He worked vs Jah all season. He knows how it all rolls out, from opening day all the way to the ship'. He's very smart and seems to be the kind of guy who buys in to whatever K wants. He's gonna be huge man, I feel it.

I agree with this and hope you're right. Other than Amile at times, we did not have a dominant defensive and rebounding presence this year. Okafor could rebound, but that was not always his focus. I think it will be a great thing to have Obi clogging the lane and getting after every rebound. In my best Raftery voice: GO GET IT BIG FELLA!
 
My surprise player pick is definitely Sean Obi. Seems almost everyone, even at other boards , pays him very little mind. Dude, he was good at Rice. And what makes me take notice, is his attention to this season. His heart is 100% Duke. He represented with class all season. He worked hard in practice. He's a huge man and has great rebounding technique. He worked vs Jah all season. He knows how it all rolls out, from opening day all the way to the ship'. He's very smart and seems to be the kind of guy who buys in to whatever K wants. He's gonna be huge man, I feel it.

I think the primarily concern with Obi will be his height / lack of vertical leaping ability. He's listed at 6'9, but he looks to be no taller than 6'8 (and probably closer to 6'7 or 6'7.5). I think the real concerns with him will be whether (i) he can adequately protect the rim as our starting 5, and (ii) he can finish over guys who are 2-3 inches taller than him. While I think his size / weight should help, I think these are both really big open questions for him. I'll also be curious to see how Obi moves laterally on the defensive end. For all the talk about Okafor's D this year, the combination of his height + freakishly long wingspan gave lots of guys trouble when trying to finish directly over him.
 
That's one of the reasons Sean won't be playing a ton of 5. Those minutes will go to mp3 and Jeter. Sean will play, and spell Amile at the 4. No doubt the kid can bang though.
 
I don't know how one of Jones/Allen/Ingram/Jefferson doesn't start, but it's very very likely. This is one year where I'll be paying closer attention to the reports coming out of practice in October/November. So many unknowns. Last year, we knew for the most part a year ago that Tyus, Quinn, Justise, and Jahlil would be starting.
 
great to have much more depth this year! i expect coach k to adjust lineups based on what he sees against different opponents...going small with ingram at the 4 and jeter at the 5 when opposing PF/C are small and going big with amile and obi against meeks and johnson of unc to start games

as long as this team keeps as close knit as the last group then i see us as a top 5 team throughout most of the year
 
I don't know how one of Jones/Allen/Ingram/Jefferson doesn't start, but it's very very likely. This is one year where I'll be paying closer attention to the reports coming out of practice in October/November. So many unknowns. Last year, we knew for the most part a year ago that Tyus, Quinn, Justise, and Jahlil would be starting.
Not really accurate going into the summer. We knew Tyus, Jah would definitely start. Justise, came out of nowhere- when we recruited him we didnt think he'd start right away, but hoped he'd become a player we couldn't keep out of the line up. However, he had such a monster summer that he took the starting spot. TOOK being the key word there, and the person he TOOK it from was Sheed. Matt Jones also did a great job this summer, K talked about him a lot on how he gelled with the other guys...don't think many of us saw him starting this year either on a team that loaded. (granted he didn't start the year but finished it). Quinn, let's be honest was a guy we HOPED would be able to lead, and be the senior captain, I for one was questionable, boy did he prove to be not only a starter all year but the Leader.
 
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