Please comment and give your honest opinion
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Ugh....you again.
K will get a point guard. Bank on it. Allen and Jones will play significant minutes. My guess is Kennard plays a role similar to Sulaimon before his dismissal. That, of course, assumes we get Ingram....which I don't feel as good about as some.
K will get a point guard. Bank on it. Allen and Jones will play significant minutes. My guess is Kennard plays a role similar to Sulaimon before his dismissal. That, of course, assumes we get Ingram....which I don't feel as good about as some.
^ Fact, do not feel we land Ingram.. used too but that feeling is slipping. K will get a PG, I'd bet cash money on it.
I also think that Jones will gradually fade into the dark with the emergence of Kennard. If the hype is real with Kennard he's going to be special. Jones to me was love or hate last year. That's just my opinion on him. I think Grayson will emerge next year as one of the go to guys on this team. Give him a full off season with this program and he will be deadly.
Under your scenario of Duke landing a PG and missing on Ingram, don't see Jones fading anywhere at all. We'd literally only have 4 perimeter players for 3 positions. If that ends up happening, I bet we end up with each of these guys playing about 30 minutes a night -- with Jones being out there to add toughness and defend the opposition's best player. While I think Kennard's going to be very good offensively, I think defense may be a bit of an issue -- and I'm not sure Grayson or DT are good enough to compensate for that. I think we'll need Matt out there a bunch to keep the opposition's best perimeter player in check.
This post was edited on 4/17 12:27 PM by aah555
Agree with the poster stating Jones will fade. I posted that during the regular season. Matt definitely played well in the tournament so maybe I'll be wrong. But I think both, Luke and Grayson are much better players. Jmho.
Well, Matt is a bit of a known commodity. What I mean by that is Duke fans have seen him for two years so they assume he'll be next year what he was this year. I think Matt, like so many players before him, is going to continue to grow and expand his offensive game. We already know how he defends. So there really isn't a scenario I can foresee where he isn't one of the main cogs on the 2015-16 Duke team.
I like your use of the word continue because that's exactly it, Matt progressed a great deal from freshman year to sophomore year. He was a stand still shooter in his freshman year and his shooting numbers were not very good. From his freshman year to his sophomore year his shooting numbers improved, his defense improved and he actually developed his game to the point where he was driving the ball to the hoop when the opportunity presented itself. Matt is your typical 4 year Duke guy that is going to glue a lot of different teams together and do whatever is necessary to maximize the overall success of each team. 9 one and dones is a great thing to have but come March I want a blend of the talent that comes with a one and done and veteran leadership that you get from glue guys like Matt and Amile and Quinn.
Right now I think the only guaranteed starters are Amile and Matt. It is going to be an interesting offseason to say the least. I think Grayson will probably end up starting at the 2 if we don't land Ingram (With Matt at 3 and Amile at 4). So that leaves the 1 and the 5 up for grabs. No matter the situation, I think Allen, Jones and Kennard will see at least 10 mpg. We will not have two PG's on the court at the same time for half the game like last year. That opens up a lot of minutes for the wing players. I think they will all be satisfied with their minutes. I'm more intrigued with how the minutes in the post will be disbursed. I say Amile gets 25-30 and then between Marshall, Sean, and Chase it's a crapshoot and will end up being whoever improves and plays the best in the offseason and practices leading up to the season. We won't be as talented as last season, but I'm confident K will land a solid PG (transfer or Thornton), and we will be a top 10 team for the length of the season.
Matt will fade based on what? He has only progressed in his first two years at Duke and plays lock down defense. K also likes to play him. Sounds like a guy who is primed to play big minutes to me. Of course I base this all on K's history and the fact that Matt Jones has already proven he can play.
Potentially losing out on Ingram doesn't mean Duke will not pursue/land another player at that position.
Totally disagree with what has already been posted. Matt Jones took a major step in his development from his freshman to sophomore years. He improved his shot and became a lock down defender. There's a reason why he started and Amile Jefferson, even with his upperclassman leadership, did not. I think Amile and Matt will both be captains next year.
Matt starts at the two next year if we get Ingram. Grayson Allen will be the sixth man who can give us a lift off the bench. If we don't get Ingram then Matt moves to the three and Allen starts at the two.
Allen and Kennard will be interchangeable from positions one to three. We'll likely get Derryck Thornton to reclassify and come early, but if we don't then I would expect Dylan Ennis to be our starting point guard.
Matt starts at the two next year if we get Ingram. Grayson Allen will be the sixth man who can give us a lift off the bench. If we don't get Ingram then Matt moves to the three and Allen starts at the two.
Allen and Kennard will be interchangeable from positions one to three. We'll likely get Derryck Thornton to reclassify and come early, but if we don't then I would expect Dylan Ennis to be our starting point guard.
I know some duke fans that are not big on Matt Jones. I see it in that sometime his shooting is streaky, but the overall numbers are pretty strong. His defense is top notch and will secure him a starting spot for Coach K for the next two years. I like the idea of Grayson being first off the bench as a change of pace.
Why does everyone think that if we get Ingram GA becomes a sixth man? I think GA is one of it not our best player next year. From what I have seen and what I have read this incoming class does not compare to the class before it or the class after it. I think a sophmore GA starts over a frosh Ingram. IMO.
I'm in the camp who think Matt will play a very major role and, if we miss out on Ingram, I think all the guards will play pretty significant minutes. With that said, it's impossible to really know until we (i) see who else is on the roster; and (ii) see how productive our returning guys / current commits are offensively. If we miss out on Ingram -- which seems to be the general view here, I think next year's squad may have a lot of difficulties scoring and generating offense. If that's the case, then I think the team gets built around Grayson / Kennard -- who will probably be the two most offensively dynamic players we have. If DT, Amile, or Chase Jeter can offer some type of consistent scoring punch, then I think we may see more Matt and less Grayson or Kennard. If we're basically getting nothing out of our 4 and 5 offensively (ala 2011-12 or 07-08), then I think we probably see more Grayson / Kennard on nights where Matt's not hitting his shots. It's impossible to evaluate until we know how the rest of the roster performs.
If we miss on Ingram, I think that puts a lot of pressure on Amile -- particularly -- to become more of offensive threat. I definitely think he can be more dynamic offensively than he's shown to date (largely b/c he's been deferring as the secondary option to Parker / Hood and then Okafor / Winslow), but something that's going to be really important to balance out the roster. Without Ingram, I don't think our perimeter will have enough talent / experience to carry the load by itself.
This post was edited on 4/17 3:35 PM by aah555
If we miss on Ingram, I think that puts a lot of pressure on Amile -- particularly -- to become more of offensive threat. I definitely think he can be more dynamic offensively than he's shown to date (largely b/c he's been deferring as the secondary option to Parker / Hood and then Okafor / Winslow), but something that's going to be really important to balance out the roster. Without Ingram, I don't think our perimeter will have enough talent / experience to carry the load by itself.
This post was edited on 4/17 3:35 PM by aah555
While I really like Grayson as a prospect, I do tend to think that the Wisconsin game may have left us with a very unrealistic impression of his current skill-level offensively. If you rewatch the title game, a large number of his points came in transition and off of straightline drives to the rim where he simply outathleted Wisconsin's somewhat slow-of-foot perimeter players -- and, in some cases, where they simply let him drive to his strong hand. I doubt a lot of those looks will be available against quicker guards and / or teams who gameplan to take away his strengths. I think he's got a lot of natural talent and will only get better. But, not sure if he's got enough ball handling creativity, mid-range game, etc. to be a consistent, high-volume scoring punch if teams are focused on stopping him -- unlike Wisconsin, whose scouting report on Grayson was probably like 2 lines discussing alley-oops and 3s.
Ingram probably hurts on defense, but his shooting ability / length ensure that he'll be able to fill-up the offensive box score at the collegiate level. With enough touches / looks, Ingram's easily a 15+ scorer on day 1.
This post was edited on 4/17 3:48 PM by aah555
Maybe, but when I look at Grayson's skill set I see a kid who is ultra athletic, has a smooth shot and can get to the rim and finish around contact. Personally I have much more confidence in Grayson taking a big step forward than an incoming freshman who is likely to be pushed around due to his slight frame. Does Ingram have a ton of talent, yes. But I have seen Grayson succeed on the biggest stage that college basketball has to offer and am confident that he will work on the areas of his game, namely ball handling, that need improving. I fully expect Grayson to be a leader next year and am optimistic that if all goes well he may be 2 and done. You are right that he is slightly overvalued right now because it was the championship game, but if NBA scouts like his skill set, so do I.
keep in mind Grayson had to work for every minute he got this year. He was at the end of the rotation and it wasn't until Sheed was dismissed that he got consistent minutes. Even then he was in the shadow of talents like Okafor, Winslow and Jones. You say the championship game over valued his talent, I say the championship game gave him the confidence needed to become a star next year.
Grayson Allen, coming into Duke last year, was known as a slasher who attacks the paint. It is his best attribute and one that scouts, everywhere, know about. Sometimes the player gets to his strong hand for a reason. Sometimes a player is just better and quicker than his defender. Allen took a few people off the dribble that were bigger defenders. He will certainly have to adjust when defenses start focusing more on him, but good player do adjust. Heck Allen adjusted this year when team crowded him on the 3 point line. He took them off the dribble. Which was his strength anyway.
Yes, agreed. I think Wisconsin clearly wasn't quick enough on the perimeter to stay in front of him -- and Grayson will have success against some teams doing exactly that. My point is only that Wisconsin's Achilles heal on defense all season was their inability to stop dribble penetration, and the fact that Grayson could beat guys like Gosser / Dekker off the dribble when they were basically left on islands (i.e., Wisconsin refused to help off our shooters to cut off his drives) doesn't necessarily tell me a ton about how he'll do against far more athletic perimeters (especially now that teams will be far more aware of him on the court). I am particularly thinking of a bunch of games even late in the season when he was getting minutes -- like ND and @ UNC -- where he struggled to get any penetration and got forced into a number of somewhat wild layup attempts from tough angles.
Again, I really love Grayson's natural ability and upside -- but I'm not sure if it's going to take a couple years for his ballhandling / midrange game to reach the point where he can go from a minor role player to 15-17 point leading scorer -- as many people seem to be expecting after that Wisconsin game. From what I've seen, I think Ingram's offensive game is more potent at this stage b/c he's already such a matchup nightmare on the offensive end -- b/c he's such a consistent shooter that he should be consistently good looks (for him) by just rising up over 2s and 3s, and he's too quick / skilled for 4s to try and defend him on the perimeter. IMO, Ingram's problems will be on the glass and on defense -- not on offense.
This post was edited on 4/17 4:49 PM by aah555
Ingram From McAA Practice
Matt Jones will come in 10 lbs. lighter and be a new man off the dribble. We will get at least one more guard, maybe 2.
The OP is annoying.
The OP is annoying.
I'm still laughing at DukieJays initial reply. Well played and even more credit for answering!
I think Ingram goes elsewhere (UNC or UK) and Luke plays a lot of "3"....
Jones will be consistent, and that's what Duke will need.
I think Ingram goes elsewhere (UNC or UK) and Luke plays a lot of "3"....
Jones will be consistent, and that's what Duke will need.
I also see Grayson as potentially our best player next year. Potentially. In a way, at the end, he kind of reminded me of Rasheed's freshman year. There were games his fresh year where Sheed got into the lane at will. At times, he looked like our best player, even though we had some upper class stars. I thought Sheed and Cook were going to be the best backcourt in the country in 13/14. Combined with Hood and Parker, I thought that team was going to be a lot tougher.
Well, Sheed never turned into that star player. Flashes, yes, but very inconsistent. Hopefully, being that Grayson was our "hardest worker" in practice, he accomplishes what we all hoped for Sheed.
As for Matt, If he didn't "fade away" as a soph with Quinn, Tyus, and Justice ahead of him, how does he fade away as a Junior?? Yes, Justice started playing the 4, but K never does that if Matt isn't there to play the 3. Even if Allen turns into a star as early as next year, Kennard and two other newbies would have to sign on and surpass Matt.
Well, Sheed never turned into that star player. Flashes, yes, but very inconsistent. Hopefully, being that Grayson was our "hardest worker" in practice, he accomplishes what we all hoped for Sheed.
As for Matt, If he didn't "fade away" as a soph with Quinn, Tyus, and Justice ahead of him, how does he fade away as a Junior?? Yes, Justice started playing the 4, but K never does that if Matt isn't there to play the 3. Even if Allen turns into a star as early as next year, Kennard and two other newbies would have to sign on and surpass Matt.
I'm sticking with Grayson is our best player next year no matter what. The Wisconsin game wasn't jus a fluck that's how he's always played through thigh school and really showed flashes of that anytime he got the chance to play. WF game? Anyway I'm not high at all on Matt and hope we get a lot of Allen and Luke next yr
I hope Brandon Ingram goes to Carolina where his heart is. We will be fine if we can find a point guard.
I agree. If UNC is his dream then that's where he should go no matter the ever so slight possibilities of some sanctions. I can imagine if I were the elite player he is and being a Duke fan and Coach K wanting me the way HOF Coach Roy Williams wants Ingram there is no doubt I would go to Duke no matter what is going on within the program. I f he doesn't go to UNC being the UNC fan he is he won't be happy. OFC
Personally, I don't view recruiting in such stark terms. While it would be great if everyone who played here grew up dreaming of playing at Duke, reality is we wouldn't have a very good team if we limited ourselves to only recruiting players who bleed royal blue through and through. J-WIll and QCook obviously come to mind immediately (guys who wanted to go to UNC and, in J-Will's case, resented the fact that they didn't offer him), but even others like Luke Kennard -- who grew up a hardcore UK fan, but ultimately turned down UK, Jon Scheyer -- who hated Duke and rooted against us when attending the 01 title game, or Jabari Parker, who by all accounts initially had his heart set on going to MSU, are only a handful of the many guys who ultimately picked Duke b/c their heads eventually told them that Duke afforded them the best opportunity to achieve their athletic and academic goals.
Regardless of Ingram's specific reasoning (whether it be fear of NCAA sanctions, playing time, concerns about the academic reputation of basketball players at UNC in view of the scandal), I am all for Ingram picking Duke if he comes to the conclusion that we are best positioned to help him achieve his dreams. I don't there's any reason to think that he wouldn't be happy here simply b/c, at some point in the recruiting process, he liked UNC a bit more.
This post was edited on 4/19 12:37 PM by aah555
Duke gets a second in-home with Ingram? Could be a good sign. I remember it proved really telling in the HB recruitment.
Ingram 2nd In-Home
Ingram 2nd In-Home
In this scenario I would think Kennard would get the least amount of minutes but he would still get 6-10 mpg, maybe slightly more. If we get a PG and Ingram I think we will start both of them plus Matt with Grayson and Luke off the bench. That's 5 players for 3 positions so not too crowded and of course in late game situations and perhaps other situations we'll have 4 of the 5 on the floor.
If Ingram chose elsewhere, Duke would still be really good with either Kennard or Allen at the 3. Both have good size to play the college 3 as does Matt and both can score the basketball. IMO, a PG is a bigger need but still would love to get Ingram as his height and length could add something different into the mix.
This post was edited on 4/19 11:55 PM by mo.st.dukie
If Ingram chose elsewhere, Duke would still be really good with either Kennard or Allen at the 3. Both have good size to play the college 3 as does Matt and both can score the basketball. IMO, a PG is a bigger need but still would love to get Ingram as his height and length could add something different into the mix.
This post was edited on 4/19 11:55 PM by mo.st.dukie
I doubt Kennard's minutes would be anywhere near that limited even if we land Ingram and DT. For starters, DT's got quite a jump from being a jr. in high school to a starting PG at Duke. While I think he'd be the primary option on day 1, I doubt he's going to be more than about a 25-30 min. guy on average -- with Kennard assuming the backup PG duty. Also, I anticipate that Ingram will probably see a decent number of minutes at the stretch 4 where the matchups allow it (i.e., against teams that play undersized or lean 4s) -- which will open up minutes at the 1-3.
Agreed. His defense is really good and he should be a candidate for the All-American Defensive team his senior year. And, has he continues to work on his shooting and ball handling - he could be a really solid player. But, defense will get him a lot of minutes.
Allen's defensive intensity really was transformed over the season and you saw that in the tourney. If he brings that every game he'll get a lot of minutes and could be a starter (I can see us starting 3 guards a lot).
Kennard will be there b/c of his ball handling abilities and scoring. But, I have no idea what kind of defensive intensity he will bring.
The front line will be the more interesting situation. I think there are a ton of question-marks as to how much Obi and Plumlee will actually see the floor; Amile should start early but his minutes could decline a bit as well; and we really don't know how good Chase Jeter is. Should start but, whether he goes 30+ a game is another question.
Ingram could make things crowded but that seems rather iffy right now. I don't have a good feeling about it b/c he seems to be a lean toward UNC and even if his concern is sanctions, I don't see that as hindering him (unless Roy looks like he will retire).
If Ingram goes elsewhere, I think Jefferson is a 30+ minute guy at the 4 spot and a vital member of the team all season. It gets a little trickier for him with Ingram, b/c I'd expect that Ingram plays at least some minutes at the 4 -- raising the question of whether we see Amile's minutes get cut or whether he'll play some as an undersized 5 ahead of Marshall and Jeter.
I like Chase's long-term potential, but, IMO, he's got a long ways to go before he's even an above average ACC center. Without Ingram in the fold, my guess would be that Marshall gets close to 20 min. night and starts on a number of nights -- at least as long as our perimeter guys and Amile can carry the scoring load.
I like Chase's long-term potential, but, IMO, he's got a long ways to go before he's even an above average ACC center. Without Ingram in the fold, my guess would be that Marshall gets close to 20 min. night and starts on a number of nights -- at least as long as our perimeter guys and Amile can carry the scoring load.
What's weird about this is that he was a much better player in Year 2 than he was in Year 1. So why would anyone think he wouldn't get any better from Year 2 to Year 3? Sure, he could plateau, but I don't know why that would be anyone's default assumption based on the evidence. The dude played serious minutes on a National Championship team --- I can't understand why anyone would think he's going away.
As for Grayson, I imagine he'll get better as well. I would predict a PPG in the low double figures. Maybe he becomes a certified star, but I would guess that's two years away.
Yeah, anyone who thinks Matt is going to fade hasn't been paying attention. Anyone who thinks Grayson isn't going to light it up, doesn't know squat. Anyone who doesn't also want Ingram....man, smh
