Can this team be a contender?

[Mac9192]

At this point very few have stepped up with their play to be on the court more, so Jon keeps rotating guys in and out. So in turn, we don't have a good flow. Power, Stewart, Mitchell, and Reeves (little faith in him though) have got to step up and help Flip. Young is smart, but is really limited. It also hurts when he has more fouls than points, while doing it in only 9 minutes.

I love the effort McCain plays with, but he has to start making shots. Foster hasn't found his either, but I like both of them though. Roach is doing what most of us thought he would do so far, and right now he's the only guard that is scoring when attacking the basket. We need the Proctor that we watched toward the end of last season, especially against Tennessee. The Proctor we have right now will lead Duke nowhere if he continues to play 30+ minutes a game.

I think everyone agrees that Flip is our best player. Right now I say he's good. He will be a superstar if he'd quit this whining at the refs, falling down, and committing silly fouls/turnovers. He can't start a game against solid teams with 2 fouls in the first 5 minutes.

Right now, I think we are a first weekend team. They have to get tougher. If Proctor and Flip start leading better, the others will follow.

 

[dukesince91]

What’s the over - under on Flip falling down each game? 3

He does need to stay on his feet and out of foul trouble. I don’t like to see any player whining to the refs, let Coach Scheyer do that. We definitely need Proctor back to he’s end of season performance from last year. McCain and Foster will get there, it’s just going to take some time.

 

[DBM0828]

Bigges takes thus far, 1. Proctor and McCain need to play better ASAP. 2. Mitchell needs to get to the paint, cause teams are giving him that 3, and either you knock it down or stop being out around the 3 line, it's totally screwing up the offense. 3. Experiment. Jon needs to try a lineup of (Reeves, Flip, Powers, Roach, Proctor) I understand Reeves is a far reach at the moment, but dang it dribble drive and a drop off alley-oop dunk is something I think he can do... just get in there be big and protect the dang rim, and rebound...

 

[2DDIMOND]

Not sure if my posts are welcomed here, but I've got 2 cents worth. This team definitely has the parts to go deep in March, but Scheyer has to push the right buttons to make it all fall into place before then. He's certainly capable IMO. I think a lot of Duke fans are overreacting, I'm more "stock up" on your team than most of you seem to be. You lost to the #2 team in the country, and in the most hostile non conference environment you've played in a decade (with the possible exception of Columbia in the '17 NCAA Tournament). Even though it's early, that's still only 2 losses, and neither was a bad loss. Baylor could be tricky, but looking at your schedule, beyond that I'll be surprised (but happy) if you lose a game in January. You could be looking at 17-3 or 18-2 when you play us. I bet that would change the tune on this board. Ga Tech could be a problem since it's on the road and they'll be fired up, but I think you win that game fairly easily.

 

[KDSTONE]

Not sure if my posts are welcomed here, but I've got 2 cents worth. This team definitely has the parts to go deep in March, but Scheyer has to push the right buttons to make it all fall into place before then. He's certainly capable IMO. I think a lot of Duke fans are overreacting, I'm more "stock up" on your team than most of you seem to be. You lost to the #2 team in the country, and in the most hostile non conference environment you've played in a decade (with the possible exception of Columbia in the '17 NCAA Tournament). Even though it's early, that's still only 2 losses, and neither was a bad loss. Baylor could be tricky, but looking at your schedule, beyond that I'll be surprised (but happy) if you lose a game in January. You could be looking at 17-3 or 18-2 when you play us. I bet that would change the tune on this board. Ga Tech could be a problem since it's on the road and they'll be fired up, but I think you win that game fairly easily.

Just about all the games on the road will be problematic. Hope I’m wrong

 

[christophero]

We certainly could be a contender. We also could easily get bounced in the first weekend. Super early, but right now we are looking like a 4/5 type seed like last year. I think the issue is we are a lot more experienced than last year, and yet are still struggling early on like last year. But we could go on a run like last year as well. You could argue that both losses were to tough teams, but preseason most were saying we would split those two games at worst. And Ark. did not have their best player. If I were to hazard a guess I would say 3 seed, but a lot of ball to be played. I'm assuming Jon gets this sorted out, but not a good November start. We haven't looked as cohesive as I thought we would with 5-6 rotation guys back.

 

[jeffrey236]

Not sure if my posts are welcomed here, but I've got 2 cents worth. This team definitely has the parts to go deep in March, but Scheyer has to push the right buttons to make it all fall into place before then. He's certainly capable IMO. I think a lot of Duke fans are overreacting, I'm more "stock up" on your team than most of you seem to be. You lost to the #2 team in the country, and in the most hostile non conference environment you've played in a decade (with the possible exception of Columbia in the '17 NCAA Tournament). Even though it's early, that's still only 2 losses, and neither was a bad loss. Baylor could be tricky, but looking at your schedule, beyond that I'll be surprised (but happy) if you lose a game in January. You could be looking at 17-3 or 18-2 when you play us. I bet that would change the tune on this board. Ga Tech could be a problem since it's on the road and they'll be fired up, but I think you win that game fairly easily.

Posts like that are most welcome, 2DD. You may be right about the overreaction, although I guess I’m included in that pack. Clearly Jon is trying to find the “right buttons”, as we are still relying upon some very young players, especially guys like Foster, McCain and Stewart, to step up and show they can play a significant role. Proctor was a disaster last year at this point, and had many of us questioning why he was getting any PT. But Jon figured that out, as he did with Lively, and we ended up having a decent team. Hopefully that will happen again this year. But clearly Flip with his cheap fouls, Proctor with, IMHO, some selfish and sloppy play and Mitchell with his frequent disappearing act, need to step it up. I put that more on them than on Jon.

 

[christophero]

I don't think anyone is overreacting. We are a good team that will make the tournament but we have underachieved so far so it is a valid point to question if we have the right stuff for a final four run. I think we do, but don't at the moment. But long season, and if Stewart, McCain and Foster become regular contributors that gets us to elite status, or at least I hope so. Odds are Proctor will play much better. Right now it seems like Flip in foul trouble will doom us against the better teams.

 

[sheyduke]

No and I’ll stand by that .

It does depend on match ups I’ll give the board that but the Southern Indiana game and the Arkansas loss showed Dukes weakest points and I don’t see them being fixed this season.
Rim/ Shot blocker and doubling down on Flip .
Teams are going to sag off Mitchell and yes he will hit some three point shots but they will be more worried about containing Flip and true shooters .
Rebounding will be an issue all season and Duke isn’t causing the turnovers on defense . This teams ceiling right now is the round of 32 .
I don’t see that changing unless Reeves , Stewart , McCain and Foster simply turn it all the way up and help . Oh, and still not a consistent three point shooting team to allow defenses to have to pay attention to every player on the court .

 

[christophero]

I hear you but the flip side is we have kind of been the worst version of ourselves so far. I would have to think that improves. If Mccain and Foster hit those open 3s that opens things up. But we do need to toughen up; Proctor does not seem to like contact and that needs to change.

 

[NCirishman]

Right now, none of the freshmen are ready. I wasn’t expecting that and I hope they all prove that they belong.

 

[LetsGoDuke83]

Imo no, too young and not physical enough.

 

[timritterus]

Sadly, no. Maybe we can get better but we seem to be a 15-25 team.

 

[IFaZe]

In my eyes it’s simple . There’s just too much thinking and not enough playing

 

[bleediteveryday30]

I think so. The roster is there. There's time to figure it out.

 

[pisgah101]

Can- yes

 

[Toeriver]

No

 

[JimboSlice00]

No

No? No is the answer if someone asks you if you can marry your sister. Crawl back to the woods of Kentucky and brush your one tooth.

 

[KDSTONE]

No? No is the answer if someone asks you if you can marry your sister. Crawl back to the woods of Kentucky and brush your one tooth.

We need to project a welcoming, all inclusive environment so we can show how enlightened and forward thinking we are.

 

[sheyduke]

One more thing. Teams already know McCain can shoot and dribble drive so they will guard him well.
Powers is a big piece to the puzzle as he seems by far the knock down shooter a lot though he would be but will he see the court often ?
A lot of time left in the season but the short coming of this team won’t be fixed with out Reeves and Stewart getting time .

 

[LetsGoDuke83]

One more thing. Teams already know McCain can shoot and dribble drive so they will guard him well.
Powers is a big piece to the puzzle as he seems by far the knock down shooter a lot though he would be but will he see the court often ?
A lot of time left in the season but the short coming of this team won’t be fixed with out Reeves and Stewart getting time .

There going to have to play Sean/reeves more and deal with the mistakes.

 

[JimboSlice00]

We need to project a welcoming, all inclusive environment so we can show how enlightened and forward thinking we are.

Right. Make sure you use he/his/they/them too. Don't want to offend anyone and have someone get their feelings hurt.

 

[Duke Blu]

When I watch the likes of Kansas and UCONN, and even UK (damn that hurt to say) maybe even UN uuugh can’t say it…………….I am not confident. But i am here to enjoy the season and see what happens! Lets go!

 

[bullettoothtony]

No we aren't. Not based on what I've seen so far.

 

[pisgah101]

Alright I’m in position to give my expert opinion now-


I think as of now no.. if the tourney was tomorrow I wouldn’t be confident against any team. However it’s not tourney time and if we follow the same trajectory as last year we most certainly can be there at the end. Ton of “talent” but we have to get the right combos.

Outside of talent though I am concerned with how soft we are, nobody seems to have toughness and I thought after the TN game last year these returners would be ready to battle, they just aren’t which scares me. We have a long ways to go and hopefully we improve because so far this years been a snooze fest

 

[DanTheDukeFan1982II]

This team could be a contender, but I’d bet we aren’t when it’s all said and done. Titles can be won in May, and we lost that chance by not adding a center. It was obvious, all Duke fans were harping about it, it was clear as day we had a missing piece. And we did nothing. We are Duke, we should get the first pick of the litter.

IMO our only chance to get back to being contenders is to spread the floor, play fast, and shoot a bunch of 3’s. Which could be troubling since we aren’t a good outside shooting team, but you have to adjust your style to the roster you have.

 

[sheyduke]

No again we aren’t . I don’t see Duke being one with out getting physical .

 

[JimboSlice00]

This team could be a contender, but I’d bet we aren’t when it’s all said and done. Titles can be won in May, and we lost that chance by not adding a center. It was obvious, all Duke fans were harping about it, it was clear as day we had a missing piece. And we did nothing. We are Duke, we should get the first pick of the litter.

IMO our only chance to get back to being contenders is to spread the floor, play fast, and shoot a bunch of 3’s. Which could be troubling since we aren’t a good outside shooting team, but you have to adjust your style to the roster you have.

I remember hearing all off season that we would see a faster offensive attack and we would play much faster with the guard heavy lineup...that has not remotely happened.

 

[pisgah101]

I remember hearing all off season that we would see a faster offensive attack and we would play much faster with the guard heavy lineup...that has not remotely happened.

Yep. I heard we’re going to run and play like 01…. Maybe 1901

 

[BlueDevils725]

As badly as I want to say yes, this team is just too soft. We look lost offensively, I don't know why Scheyer doesn't do a run and gun offense when we're built for this kind of thing. Against Arkansas, if we had ran the entire second half and focused on transition buckets, Arkansas would have gotten completely and utterly blown out. Our offense looks like Calipari's offense (pre this season) where we just stand around and wait for 1 guy to make a play. BIG changes are needed. If the chemistry issue is real, which I think it's kind of undeniable at this point, then we have way bigger issues. I love Scheyer as a player and person, but I'm starting to genuinely question if he's the right guy.

 

[Mac9192]

We don’t know if the staff went after a big in the portal or not. Some say we should be able to get what we want, but that’s the talk of a spoiled fan base. Simple as that. Especially when you consider we had Flip, Mitchell, Stewart, Reeves, Power, and Young already on the roster. That's six guys over 6-9.

The issues this team faces now are apparently chemistry driven. It doesn't matter how much size you have, if there's locker room issues, you aren't going to win. That's obvious. There has to be a leader on the court, and the others follow.

I've said it before, year two for Jon was going to be more of a challenge than his first. It's up to him to fix it, if not, his second season will be very similar to Hubert's second.

Not everything is X's and O's.

 

[sheyduke]

We don’t know if the staff went after a big in the portal or not. Even though some say we should be able to get what we want, that’s the talk of a spoiled fan base. Simple as that. Especially when you consider we had Flip, Mitchell, Stewart, Reeves, Power, and Young already on the roster. That's six guys over 6-9.

The issues this team faces now are apparently chemistry driven. It doesn't matter how much size you have, if there's locker room issues, you aren't going to win. That's obvious. There has to be a leader on the court, and the others follow.

I've said it before, year two for Jon was going to be more of a challenge than his first. It's up to him to fix it, if not, his second season will be very similar to Hubert's second.

Not everything is X's and O's.

The staff looked at a couple bigs and none ended up at Duke . The one that was high on Duke was said to end up in the same situation as Love at Michigan .

 

[christophero]

Starting to get 2020 vibes about this season. Jon needs to sort this out fast. He sorted it out last year, so he could again. But we seem to be getting worse at the moment. If the players don't get along that's a problem.

 

[jeffrey236]

I remember hearing all off season that we would see a faster offensive attack and we would play much faster with the guard heavy lineup...that has not remotely happened.

It’s hard to play a fast-paced game when you inbound the ball after a made basket. Which is the case more often than not. And our heavy guard lineup can’t shoot from the outside, continuing a trend that goes back to…I don’t remember, it was so long ago. On another thread it was reported that rumors of locker room issues - upperclassmen and the freshmen - may be going on. If that’s true, we’re toast.

 

[jamsession2]

The staff looked at a couple bigs and none ended up at Duke . The one that was high on Duke was said to end up in the same situation as Love at Michigan .

I was not concerned with the portal this summer. If Duke brought in a dominant ball first center, it would disrupt chemistry. Flip would not get touches and fans would scream. The BIGs we have need to play their role.

 

[christophero]

Disrupt what chemistry?
If the players aren't getting along (if true who knows) and it is spilling over to the court it is Jon's job to fix it. They don't have to be good friends but they do have to be good teammates. Maybe the freshman weren't expecting our guys back? Our guys don't seem to be enjoying themselves; but winning can cure that. Maybe too much pressure on them? Lots of questions.

 

[jamsession2]

Disrupt what chemistry?
If the players aren't getting along (if true who knows) and it is spilling over to the court it is Jon's job to fix it. They don't have to be good friends but they do have to be good teammates. Maybe the freshman weren't expecting our guys back? Our guys don't seem to be enjoying themselves; but winning can cure that. Maybe too much pressure on them? Lots of questions.

Not necessarily that chemistry of friendship, but the flow of the game. Flip and Roach dominated the ball last year. To bring in a player that wants the ball in the post first and his name not be Flip could've been an issue. If you look at any high profile transfer this year the offense starts with them. Texas, Kansas, etc...

 

[christophero]

Our last 3 games are Virginia, @NC State and UNC. That is a tough stretch. We should win the next two and then we have Baylor. Then Queens, Syracuse and Notre Dame. That's 10-4 if we lose to Baylor and beat Cuse and ND. Then Pitt 2x, GT and Louisville. So maybe 13-5? Then it gets harder.

 

[dukecorey]

Has anyone hear any update on Proctor?

 

[hart2chesson]

Right now Mac I would honestly say no. Regardless, it very much depends on MAXIMIZING FLIP. This IMHO, starts with another big as a consistent scoring threat to give Kyle some breathing room from double teams. I have been singing Power's praises as a shooting big, and will continue to do so.

For us to be a contender, our guards need to shoot like they did against Charlotte, or close to it. Charlotte contained Flip, but our guards made them pay by nailing treys.

We also need to draw on the D played by Blakes. Kid works his tail off on defense. This must be infectious, particularly minus a true rim protector.

A great deal out there to do. Fortunately it's still early. There's one other factor, an ardent Duke supporter mentioned to me the other day. "Will Jon ever stop being a player's friend, and play good cop/bad cop."

We don't want a K clone, but K would BLOW UP at a player during games and take him out. He would then send Jon or Chris, etc, to go talk quietly with said player. In short, Jon needs to get a little meaner, or he will just be a top notch assistant over course of his career.

OFC