Off-season thoughts
- Thread starter pisgah101
- Start date
It ain’t our money being spent so honestly what’s it matter. I don’t like it but I sure as heck ain’t going to stop watching (for now) because of it
I probably watched 5 games live this past year, but that was mostly due to work and wanting to be outdoors on Saturdays.
There was some tom foolery in getting him to Princeton, too, iirc. @jimlsumner probably knows the details. Something like getting him on the wrong bus or train or something?
Some crystal ball prediction’s for Dame Sarr to Duke now. He is an impressive ball player.
Agreed pisgah. For me, I’m just too passionate of a Duke basketball and men’s college basketball fan to ever see myself stop watching it.
The players should be making money. For decades the schools and the ncaa were making money off the players when all along it was the players putting butts in seats and getting eye balls on the television sets.
I cannot fault the players for wanting to better their situations and transferring to schools who improve their financial and/or game action situations.
I liken it to my situation. If I was ever in a position where I could earn more money by accepting a promotion and thus improving both my financial and quality of life, then I am taking that promotion 100 times out of 100 times.
Me , Chris and Bleed are starting the Duke oversight pay committee. Chris and bleed handle the NIL while I handle , well nothing a course . I’m over the Bleed don’t have a panic attack committee and Chris don’t go back to his all Coors and Nathan diet . Still a lot of moves to be made .
I wanted Coward or Boogie, but Sarr is good. He has some RJ Barrett to his game. RR thinks the Fland 7 mil thing is BS that it is around 3 million.
7 million is more then most late first round pics .
Not the free throw shooting, I hope.
I read Sarr needs to work on his shot selection and turnovers. We were spoiled with Kon, Sion, Proctor and Cooper, who didn't really turn the ball over. Except for the last few minutes of the Houston game where the ball seemed to be covered in butter for us lol. I'd prefer Coward over Sarr just because he probably can help us more next year and is more of a finished product. That said Sarr is very talented and would likely start for us. The other board is debating Coward. He is testing great, but the flip side he has put up good numbers against sub par comp and didn't play the best against good teams. It depends on how much stock the NBA puts into testing and measurements. If I had to guess he would go in the late 20's but it is a weak draft so someone may take a chance on him earlier. If Coward wanted to come to Duke and improve his stock the option is there; but you could argue his stock may never be higher than it is now; especially if he is underwhelming at Duke. Sion and Proctor both seem to be in the mid second round which can be no man's land. I watched a video of Proctor working out; he looks so skinny next to the other guys. He is tall though; he measured at 6-4 and a half. Proctor did okay in the shooting drills but did not distinguish himself. Sion measured at 6-4 without shoes.
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Reading the tea leaves it seems Sarr is awaiting a decision from Coward. Definitely an either/or situation. The latest word from Givony is Coward is "increasingly unlikely" to set foot on campus at Duke. Sarr recently visited Illinois and Kansas, so he will likely visit Duke soon and then decide.
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I wonder about chemistry. We have scoring, we have length, and we have quality depth. I think whoever we get in addition to the current roster is icing, that assuming that we are getting another starter level player. But what about chemistry? Which one will push our bench guys to be better players, get Slim the ball where he wants it, and feed the post when our bigs are cooking. That's more intriguing to me than ppg and 3pt%
Chemistry matters. We had it this past year, but not every year.
Although we made a nice run in '24, I felt like "chemistry" was missing.
OFC
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Why not go after Jamir Watkins from FSU? College experience, he has his best shooting season from 3. I think he is 6’7.
Watkins is good but we don't seem to be pursuing. Maybe if Sarr picks Kansas. The Crystal Balls seem to be changing weekly for Sarr so who knows. They change their picks whenever he visits a school.
Wow I didn't realize Watkins averaged 18 and 5. Scored 21 against us and 26 against UNC. Good but not great shooter, 6-7. NBA frame
Second round right now.
Wow I didn't realize Watkins averaged 18 and 5. Scored 21 against us and 26 against UNC. Good but not great shooter, 6-7. NBA frame
Second round right now.
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Chemistry is important but will be a challenge for every team YoY due to the portal. My concern is defense and I don’t think this team looks very athletic especially after losing Henderson. The team seems to have a lot of good but not plus athletes that play at or below the rim.
The last few videos of Sarr I watched had a lot of Evans to his game. Lots of contested or spot up 3’s, shaky handle at times and not super direct off the bounce
The last few videos of Sarr I watched had a lot of Evans to his game. Lots of contested or spot up 3’s, shaky handle at times and not super direct off the bounce
Luckily we kept our guys this year as opposed to the mass exodus last year. Hope we can keep that up. As for athletes, we were not the most athletic team last year and we were pretty good on D. Kon and Procter were probably less than plus athletes, but they understood positional D. I think we will be fine this year, Big Boozer has a solid Defensive reputation and hopefully our coaches are working on that as we speak.
Chris this from sportskeeda.com several weeks ago, but is still probably fairly accurate per Watkins:
"The Blue Devils are a bit of a long shot, but Jon Scheyer will likely keep an eye on Watkins' situation. Duke stands to lose several players to the NBA, and given the emphasis on developing pro talent, an annual roster rebuild will be part of Scheyer’s plan."
OFC
Last I heard Louisville led for Watkins, although unc maybe making a strong push.
OFC
Deeper dive on Duke's courtship of Wilkins:
Sebastian Wilkins draws three head coaches on day one of 3SSB Session 2, updates recruitment | Zagsblog
By SAM LANCE COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA — […]
www.zagsblog.com
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Coop, Mal and Sion were all plus athletes and Coop/Mal’s athleticism covered up for others with their rim protection ability. It also allowed Jon to do what he likes and switch 1-5. Maliq is an elite on ball and passing lane defender - he is not a rim protector. The closest thing you have to that is Pat. I think this becomes a bigger issue next year because Evan - who is allowed to get better - was a negative defender. He was unplayable against Arizona in the tournament because Tommy Lloyd hunted him in switches relentlessly. He also is very light in the shorts which poses switching problems against mature guards and wings that can bully him.
I would feel better if Sarr was more Thompson brothers and less Isaiah 2.0
As for Sarr, hearing he will visit Duke this week. I would rather have Coward, but that may no longer be an option. I would prefer to get older rather than younger. Sarr visiting will likely cause Coward to make a decision if he hasn't already. I like that Jon is being proactive.
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Sarr is a virtual shoo-in if Coward remains NBA bound.
"But with Duke transfer Cedric Coward seeing his draft stock surge, Jon Scheyer seemingly persuaded Sarr to keep his options open for the time being." From Duke Wire
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"But with Duke transfer Cedric Coward seeing his draft stock surge, Jon Scheyer seemingly persuaded Sarr to keep his options open for the time being." From Duke Wire
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