Can this team be a contender?

[Mac9192]

I still think we can make some noise, but our ball movement has to be like it was in the first half against Charlotte. Of course, we would like to see Stewart and Power improve, but I wouldn't stake our chances on either of them. We have seen Mitchell and Flip for one season, so these 2 are safer bets. But both of these guys haven't played to the level yet that we need. Mitchell plays like he's 6-4, and too soft around the basket. If he doesn't start playing tougher, our chances go down. That shooting stroke of his is awful. Flip has all the tools, but he's whining too much, and flopping/flailing all over the floor.

Ball movement and these 2 guys playing better are where it starts. And then let's hope a few of the other younger guys hit their stride. And right now I'd play Blakes a fair amount. The kid plays with an edge, and maybe some of that will rub off onto the others.

 

[jamsession2]

I still think we can make some noise, but our ball movement has to be like it was in the first half against Charlotte. Of course, we would like to see Stewart and Power improve, but I wouldn't stake our chances on either of them. We have seen Mitchell and Flip for one season, so these 2 are safer bets. But both of these guys haven't played to the level yet that we need. Mitchell plays like he's 6-4, and too soft around the basket. If he doesn't start playing tougher, our chances go down. That shooting stroke of his is awful. Flip has all the tools, but he's whining too much, and flopping/flailing all over the floor.

Ball movement and these 2 guys playing better are where it starts. And then let's hope a few of the other younger guys hit their stride. And right now I'd play Blakes a fair amount. The kid plays with an edge, and maybe some of that will rub off onto the others.

The presence of Dariq might've encouraged Mark to be a better player last year.

 

[denverexpat]

ESPN+ ..has a great article with the input of other coaches...if you have that subscription its worth a read...it outlines exactly what we need to be competitive...where are weaknesses are exposed. The conclusion was that we have the most potential upside of any team, whether we can reach that potential is another matter. As Charlie Brown said "there is no greater burden in life than potential'

 

[christophero]

You would think Mitchell would be unstoppable by now. He was injured, so that could be affecting his lift. His shot has gotten worse. Flip is kind of the same guy he was last year, but he battles and is a stat stuffer. Roach is probably our go to guy at the end of a game.

 

[GAAP]

You would think Mitchell would be unstoppable by now. He was injured, so that could be affecting his lift. His shot has gotten worse. Flip is kind of the same guy he was last year, but he battles and is a stat stuffer. Roach is probably our go to guy at the end of a game.

Mitchell earned 12 FTs last game

 

[BluePhil]

I personally think (talentwise) we are a really good post player away from a Championship caliber team.

That said, our other pieces come together, we get the right matchups we absolutely have a better than average chance.

 

[christophero]

We've already had 3 bad match ups this year.

 

[dukesince91]

17 games left to go. I think we lose 4 (split with UNC, at Wake, at NCST, at Miami). That would put us with 5 losses in the conference. I think 4 losses wins the conference. Hopefully we win one of those 3 road games.

 

[bullcity gamer]

I have hope with this team and I do believe they can be a contender. They are a together group. Prior to the 2nd half starting on Saturday night, I witnessed the Duke bench huddle up. McCain brings a lot of positive energy. We’ve seen flashes of them being tremendous offensively and their defense has really picked up since the Georgia Tech loss.

 

[Mac9192]

Wanted to bump this thread and get thoughts now that we’re into February.

Mitchell and Proctor have been disappointing, and I don’t think we have a chance if they don’t do better.

 

[AlanInNJ]

Yes, I think we could potentially string 4 games together and make the final 4, and from there, anything could happen. But I think that's a tall task.....not insurmountable, but a bit of a long shot to make that happen. We just cannot afford key players going MIA in big games or at any point in that 5 game stretch. Without question the talent and potential are there.

Maybe the tournament format will play to our advantage. Let's see what the ACC tourney brings. That will tell us a lot I think.

 

[K-oach Q]

I don’t think so. This team has a lot of problems.

1) Can’t stop the pick and roll when Flip is put into it. He doesn’t move well and the way we switch our guard onto the big and Flip onto the guard doesn’t work.

We haven’t made a single adjustment to it all year.

2) We lack inside presence. We don’t defend opponents bigs well, no shot blockers, and the bigs we do have don’t play through contact well (Flip-Cough)

3) We continually play 4 vs 5. Either Mark isn’t being guarded or Ryan isn’t being guarded. Sometimes we have both on the floor together. Someone always sags and doubles Flip or just clogs the driving space.

4) I don’t think Scheyer is good at in game adjustments. He seems to be better preparing beforehand but doesn’t adjust to what is happening in the game….or doesn’t adjust quickly enough.

5) Proctor has been almost MIA the entire year. Either the slow start to the season, injury, or disappearing vs UNC (Although he defended well).

If this team had a great PG we could overcome some of these things. Proctor has been disappointing IMO.

 

[Liftee]

We know what we'll get from Mitchell, Roach, Young and McCain. Flip has not been himself at times and I think that might be in his head--perhaps he is trying to do more than he is currently capable of doing as a 20 year old. He is not Zion, Bagley, or Paolo.

Proctor is a big disappointment to me because I expected so much from him. Maybe he is not ready to be "that guy" and he probably won't be around long enough to be "that guy".

I am OK with Scheyer still feeling his way. Sure I'd like to see the team be consistently intense and more movement on offense but I can't say for sure it's Scheyer. It may be that this group just isn't currently capable of sustained focus and intensity, and maybe that will change.

 

[pisgah101]

Talent wise yea

Effort wise heck no… First weekend L

 

[denverexpat]

Can? yes...will? I'm a no...the team has been very familiar for the last several + years ...talent but young...and missing key pieces....such as a strong inside presence, lock down defender, consistent outside shooter and leadership with experience. Not all at once but missing one or two of these on each team the past few seasons....come tournament time we run into teams that are physically stronger, older and more cohesive..and we lose...if you look at the top 5 teams in the rankings they have these qualities..and are built for March..until we either keep our talent longer or import some older quality players to help, our end game is Elite 8 at best, or if the chips fall our way..a Final Four..but a lot has to go our way to win another title in the short term is my belief.

 

[NCirishman]

I doubt FF this year.

If we had a true center probably a different story but we knew Lively wouldn’t be around.

Holmes from Dayton May have been that missing piece.

We have a good team probably finishing top 3 ACC, maybe a good ACCT, win tei or three NCAAT games.

Just good enough to win around 26 and not lose by 10 points.

 

[JimboSlice00]

We are not. Right now, we feel like a 6-7 seed and making it out of that first weekend would be a decent season. To me, the biggest issue is the tempo we play. If we are going to not have a true center and play a guard heavy lineup, we should be running up and down the court- and we just don't do that.

 

[Duke Blu]

No

 

[jeffrey236]

Way too inconsistent to go far in the tourney and our vulnerability to any team with a decent big is pretty apparent. Not to lay this all on Flip, but he looks like someone who is realizing that this season is going to be a personal failure and he’s dropping in the draft. His body language, his ill-advised shot selection and inability to finish against resistance and now even his foul shooting is just atrocious. I’m amazed the announcers keep hyping his pre-season AA, Wooden Award and ACC POY selections.

 

[t-towndomer]

Talent wise yea

Effort wise heck no… First weekend L

Exactly, and not just effort, but toughness as well.

Players have shown all year that they're perfectly fine with getting pushed around, no matter the talent level of the opposition.

 

[DaveChapelle]

I said at the beginning of the season your lack of a true Center, and being forced to play Filipowski out of position, was a major weakness.

So you're going to need some favorable matchups in the big dance. Teams that don't have a good true center for you to deal with. Or you'll just need to be very good from the 3pt line.

 

[denverexpat]

I said at the beginning of the season your lack of a true Center, and being forced to play Filipowski out of position, was a major weakness.

So you're going to need some favorable matchups in the big dance. Teams that don't have a good true center for you to deal with. Or you'll just need to be very good from the 3pt line.

Truth

 

[bullcity gamer]

Wanted to bump this thread and get thoughts now that we’re into February.

Mitchell and Proctor have been disappointing, and I don’t think we have a chance if they don’t do better.

As far as Mitchell and Proctor go, Mac, I would go to bat and say Mitchell was one of the two most consistent Blue Devils for Duke along with McCain in January. Proctor, I would say was rounding into form after the Pitt loss. Both of these guys played bad at Unc with the exception of Proctor’s defense on Davis.

Can this team be a Contender? (This will be long bare with me): Yes, this is why:

1) Clutch Leader: Duke has Roach, He’s not afraid of the bright lights and pressure that a single loss elimination tournament brings. He was HUGE in the 2022 Tournament Run, he hit clutch shots against Unc in 2023 in those two wins. Roach fits the mold of past National Champion Duke Clutch Guards: Scheyer, Smith, Cook, and Tyus.

2) Guards win in the NCAA Tournament: it is more important to have a great group of guards on your roster who can break down the defense and become dangerous playmakers than it is to have a “dominant” center. Duke has a great group of guards. I’m really hoping Blakes returns to increase the depth! Proctor, still has that “it” factor to him. McCain is evolving his game and showing more of his arsenal lately, I can definitely see him having a Carsen Edwards (from Purdue 2019 ncaa tournament run). Foster, is a guy that will go on a solo 8-0 scoring run in a couple minutes (he really went off against Michigan State and Baylor). Purdue has Edey, Kentucky had Tswiwebe, Illinois had Cockburn, all very early exits from the tournament recently.

3) This Duke team can score with the best of them, it definitely helps that they have 8 guys that can hurt you from 3 on any given night. The defense can be overwhelming (remember how they played against Baylor, @ Pitt, @ Virginia Tech). Also, remember that stretch when Duke was holding all of their opponents below their opponents scoring average on the season? Most of the time, the contenders are in both the Top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

4) The Camaraderie of this team looks pretty good from what I have seen in person and on tv. I don’t see the disconnect with this team as I did with the 06-07 team (Paulus, McRoberts, Nelson), 11-12 team (Rivers, Curry, and Dawkins), nor the 16-17 team (Tatum, Giles, Jackson, Allen, Kennard, Jefferson). I definitely did not see the 06-07 nor the 11-12 teams doing anything in the tournament. You could tell they didn’t really like playing with one another. The 16-17 team I felt had figured it out leading up to the ACC Tournament but they ran into a buzzsaw against South Carolina.

5) Scheyer is C,C,C: some on here get irritated because Jon doesn’t pace back and forth all game long and yell at his players. He doesn’t yell a lot, but I don’t see anything wrong with it personally. I see it as him being Calm, Cool, and Collected. Anyone remember Brad Stevens? He was the same way at Butler. He has given the refs an earful at times. We witnessed Coach K get on his players sometimes too and that didn’t seem to register to some of his most recent teams, they still would play bad at times and look terrible on defense.

6) Not Blown Out: Up to this point this season, this team has not gotten blown out in any of their losses. I said in the Duke @ Unc game thread, even Duke’s most recent National Championship Teams hit some lulls throughout the regular season to include getting beaten soundly by 15+ points. 2010 - Georgetown, St. John’s, @ NC State, 2015 - @ NC State and Miami at home.

7) Duke is not a 1 dimensional team: Teams need a multitude of ways to win in the NCAA Tournament. Duke scored the majority of their points in the interior @ North Carolina, Duke will hurt you in transition, Duke can hurt you from the 3, so opponents have to pick their poison.

Call me crazy, call me half glass half full guy, but these are all the observations I’ve made this season. There is no juggernaut in college basketball this season, we’ve seen it with all the upsets. Duke still needs to improve their free throw shooting and their overall team defense.

I see this group being a 2 or 3 seed when the bracket is released.

All in All, I Believe Duke is a Contender to cut the nets down on April 8th.

 

[dukesince91]

These next 4 weeks will tell us a lot. I really don’t see one dominant team out there. I think we still have much room for improvement, where as a lot of teams have hit their ceiling. Hopefully Jon will make the needed adjustments and push the right buttons. I can see us making the Sweet 16 and then it will come down to matchups and some luck for this Duke team.

 

[sheyduke]

No and for all the reasons mentioned .

Not giving up on the team just being real . Duke also has no bench outside of Foster and Stewart ( maybe even just Foster at this point ).

I also feel like Scheyer has fell into one of K’s habits of not producing a bench . With today’s transfer portal it’s almost like he’s recruiting like he already knows who’s leaving to it .

It would take Proctor becoming who many thought he would, Stewart and Young along with one of Power or Blake helping off the bench to truly make it out the first round .

 

[Mac9192]

It would take Proctor becoming who many thought he would, Stewart and Young along with one of Power or Blake helping off the bench to truly make it out the first round .

This is where I think perhaps our biggest key, Proctor. Our strength (on paper) is our guards. It's like since Proctor has come back, something is off with him and Foster. They don't look as comfortable as Roach and McCain. Those two just do their thing. We are watching Jared become a baller. That kid may arguably be our best overall player.

We can forget Power and Blake unless something drastic happens. Foster, Young and Stewart are our bench.

I know it's beating a dead horse, but Flip has to quit trying to do too much. He seems to be more concerned with jacking up 3's at a low clip, or doing that spin move that is sometimes out of control. And maybe I expect too much out of Mitchell. I just don't get a 6-9 athletic guy at Duke that is only effective at the rim.

It's not strength or experience that's missing with this bunch. It's a will to fight.

 

[denverexpat]

Bench development has been an Achilles heel of late. I find it hard to fathom that Power/Stewart couldnt give us at least 5-7 mins a game to bring energy or a different look to our opponents. I watch a lot of other teams and they seem to offer minutes to these types of freshmen at the beginning of the year so they are productive post Xmas etc.

 

[DukeMan1986]

I don’t see it. What bothers me is we don’t play to the style that the roster dictates. We are loaded at guard, with depth, and we obviously have some holes at the 4/5 position. Why aren’t we getting up and down the floor quicker and playing at a faster pace? We should be scoring 90 a lot more than we do. Per KenPom, we are 168th in Tempo. We should be in the top 20, we should be playing just like how Miami played last year.

A transfer big should have been added, and IMO that will ultimately be the death of this team, losing to a more mature and physical team, especially if we continue to play slow. Daron Holmes is averaging 20, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game for Dayton. We should have given him whatever NIL package was requested.

 

[sheyduke]

I don’t see it. What bothers me is we don’t play to the style that the roster dictates. We are loaded at guard, with depth, and we obviously have some holes at the 4/5 position. Why aren’t we getting up and down the floor quicker and playing at a faster pace? We should be scoring 90 a lot more than we do. Per KenPom, we are 168th in Tempo. We should be in the top 20, we should be playing just like how Miami played last year.

A transfer big should have been added, and IMO that will ultimately be the death of this team, losing to a more mature and physical team, especially if we continue to play slow. Daron Holmes is averaging 20, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game for Dayton. We should have given him whatever NIL package was requested.

If wouldn’t have mattered what you offered him Dayton was always where he was returning to.
The only thing I’m not worried about is Duke offered and no real big in the portal wanted to come end of story .

 

[christophero]

We offered 2 guys. Nobody wants to start at the 5 for Duke?

 

[timo0402]

We offered 2 guys. Nobody wants to start at the 5 for Duke?

Not that simple. And we fielded interest from more than 2.

 

[Mac9192]

We offered 2 guys. Nobody wants to start at the 5 for Duke?

Just my opinion, but I think it comes down to numbers and playing time.

 

[DukeMan1986]

Just my opinion, but I think it comes down to numbers and playing time.

I agree that Duke has had issues with “too many guys” in the past. But we had a startling center position available for a transfer, which is a big deal at Duke. And we struck out for whatever reason.

 

[Mac9192]

I agree that Duke has had issues with “too many guys” in the past. But we had a startling center position available for a transfer, which is a big deal at Duke. And we struck out for whatever reason.

Understand what you’re saying. Take the last 3 games though. Seven guys basically did all the playing, Had Duke landed a “quality” big, he’d want what, at least 20-25 minutes a game?
It’s easy to say “well this guy can play this many, and this guy this many,” but it doesn’t work that way.

I’m just giving my opinion, but we all know that unless it’s a rout, coaches trim their rosters down, with a core getting the bulk.

 

[bullcity gamer]

8 players was the magical number for Duke during the 2010 and 2015 National Championship Seasons once Duke was heading towards the post season

 

[jeffrey236]

There would have been all the minutes any transfer 5 could handle - that isn’t what held up our getting a big.

 

[Mac9192]

Based off over three months of watching, our 3 sophomores will determine how far we go. Mitchell has no jump shot, which I don't quite understand, but he can impact the game in other ways. Proctor has been a letdown. As of today, he hasn't played well enough to log major minutes.

Flip is averaging 17 points and 8 rebounds a game. Very solid. Sometimes I'd never know that's his stats by what I see out of him. He has got to clean up the moments where he more resembles a YMCA player than All ACC.

 

[KDSTONE]

Based off over three months of watching, our 3 sophomores will determine how far we go. Mitchell has no jump shot, which I don't quite understand, but he can impact the game in other ways. Proctor has been a letdown. As of today, he hasn't played well enough to log major minutes.

Flip is averaging 17 points and 8 rebounds a game. Very solid. Sometimes I'd never know that's his stats by what I see out of him. He has got to clean up the moments where he more resembles a YMCA player than All ACC.

His spin move would be unstoppable down at the Y, not so much in big time college ball. Proctor needs to be more aggressive. Mitchell needs to go back to the lab with his outside shot this off-season

 

[christophero]

Stewart and Proctor may be the key to us getting back to the FF. Stewart needs to stop trying to block everything. At least 4 head fakes he jumped on last night.

 

[DukeMan1986]

Stewart and Proctor may be the key to us getting back to the FF.

Jon should roll the dice and play Stewart more minutes than Young in the next 2 home games. Stewart has the athleticism to take us to another level. We need a guy willing to scrap for loose balls, fly in the air for block shots, and crash the offensive glass hard. We don’t have an enforcer, but we do have a freak athlete.

I appreciate what Young brings to this team, and he is such an underrated offensive rebounder. But I don’t see any scenario where we make the Final 4 playing only Young and Flip as our bigs. Stewart must emerge.