Future This Year

[youngman42]

Obviously there are a lot of unpredictable events that can happen one way or another with the team. Positive or negative.

But, all else being equal, I think the real key is how well Coach K incorporates A.J. Griffin. Talent wise he is probably number three or number four on the team. He flashed against Kentucky and in a couple of other games but really has been rather quiet and unused.

If Duke is going to make a significant run to the final four I just don’t see it happening without Griffin becoming a serious player with serious minutes. He doesn’t have to start but he has to be getting 20+ minutes in the ACC or this team is going to struggle to go deep in the tourney with only seven players. Especially when one of those 7 is Baker.

Hoping with two weeks off from games that we see him getting his feet wet with some easy games. And then starts to flash in the ACC.

Thoughts?

 

[Mac9192]

I think this Duke team is on the fence to either being (just) good, or a true contender. I think there’s a few things that have to happen to be contenders.

Guard play. Keels, Roach, with Baker and maybe AJ, have to help Moore. The team also has to figure out this crazy cramping issue with Banchero. And, he needs to play a little more down low. 6-10, 250 with plenty of skill. I know it’s not “sexy” to post up because it’s not how they play at the next level, but it still works some in college. We are very fortunate to have Williams and Theo, and they need some touches too.

Finally, I hope we move the ball, and not resort to this iso crap. Makes us too stagnant.

 

[df64]

Mostly agree. This team has a lot of potential for growth. We are lousy calls and a collapse in the last 4 minutes against OSU from being 8-0 and undisputed #1.

That is with nothing from AJ. AJ developing alone puts us over the top. Even without him, and the OSU collapse, we are #3. And, we have gotten inconsistent efforts from Paolo and Trevor, poor outside shooting from Trevor and Roach, and had cramping issues.

Bottom line is we are #3 with just scratching the surface of our potential.

 

[GAAP]

This team has a lot of potential for growth…

Talk about massive potential for growth, we are the little acorn that becomes the oak.

 

[christophero]

You say collapse in the last 4 minutes like it wasn't our fault, ha. Maybe it was a fluke, or maybe we were exposed a little bit. I agree that AJ coming on would throw a new wrinkle in and make it harder for teams to gameplan us. AJ could be the difference between a final four run and us wearing down in the sweet 16. Him getting 25 minutes would help keep guys fresh. Gonzaga appears to not be that good at this time. Keels has come back to earth a bit. We could have just been tired at Ohio State, but that could happen in the tournament as well. We are good, but I'm not sure if we are great. We will see.

 

[df64]

As far as "our fault" goes, lousy reffing wasn't our fault, poor shot selection, poor shooting, lack of ball movement was. As for being tired/lack of depth and passive on D? Reffing and AJ not being ready was not our fault. Silly reaches by Theo and Mark were our fault.

Most of our issues during the collapse are fixable. As I said, AJ getting healthy and up to speed goes a long way.

 

[timritterus]

If Gonzaga isn't that good now, then what do we make of UCLA and Texas?

 

[sheyduke]

I’ll put this Duke team in the sweet 16 at a low margin. They have games to improve however in the areas of Passing the ball, shooting and free throws. There are a lot of “if’s” with this team but IMO, they got wore out the last four minutes and a seven man rotation won’t work come march. It’s either improve and lengthen the bench for help or Sweet 16 is the best I see this team doing . Ohio st was also without two key players and were ranked number ten when Duke was nine . Sorry to be blunt but a JV squad at this moment can put together a defensive game plan to stop this Duke team.