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Sean Stewart

DanTheDukeFan1982II said:
I like the idea of starting the 5 best players, which it seems to be trending that way.

I don’t think we will get killed on the boards, Flip is an incredible rebounder, as is Mitchell. I am much more worried about rim protection than rebounding.
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Flip is not an incredible rebounder lol. He’s a good player and rebounder but bruising in the paint isn’t a strength of his. He benefited by being surrounded by other bigs that generally did the dirty work. Mitchell has yet to play much as a true 4, so to be seen on how effective of a rebounder he is when not alongside 2 other bigs.
 
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Fourteen44 said:
Flip is not an incredible rebounder lol. He’s a good player and rebounder but bruising in the paint isn’t a strength of his. He benefited by being surrounded by other bigs that generally did the dirty work. Mitchell has yet to play much as a true 4, so to be seen on how effective of a rebounder he is when not alongside 2 other bigs.
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Agree to disagree. I’m of the opinion that a freshman who averaged 9 rebounds while primarily floating on the perimeter on offense is an elite rebounder. Flip could get to 12-13 rebounds per game this year IMO.
Mitchell had some of the biggest rebounds of our season last year, primarily in both UNC wins.

We won’t be a dominant rebounding team by any means. But I don’t see it as a glaring weakness. Your more worried about rebounding than rim protection?
 
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DanTheDukeFan1982II said:
Agree to disagree. I’m of the opinion that a freshman who averaged 9 rebounds while primarily floating on the perimeter on offense is an elite rebounder. Flip could get to 12-13 rebounds per game this year IMO.
Mitchell had some of the biggest rebounds of our season last year, primarily in both UNC wins.

We won’t be a dominant rebounding team by any means. But I don’t see it as a glaring weakness. Your more worried about rebounding than rim protection?
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Flip is an excellent defensive rebounder. His 24.6 defensive rebound % ranked #11 among high major players.
 
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Right now I’m not worried about rebounding or rim protection. My concern is who gets the main minutes. I’m hearing Power is looking good, I’ve heard McCain is legit, Foster can play, Stewart is impressing, Reeves will be hard to keep off the floor due to his size…

On paper, Jon has a lot of options.
If we don’t have chemistry, none of this will matter.
 
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Flip also rebounded well because he did not have to bang down low and Mitchell rebounded well because you had to account for Lively and Flip on the block out opening up lanes for Mitchell to rebound ( as he should at 6’8” playing the wf spot ).
It’s not the front court rebounding ability rather the back court . Proctor is 6’5” and McCain and Roach between 6’1”-6’3”. That’s a small backcourt
 
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Shey, yes our guards are small, but Proctor is an elite defender and Roach holds his own on the defensive end. Duke’s defense was solid more often than not last season.

Mac, from what I’ve seen online the team seems pretty tight knit, they’ve been shown going to Duke football games together. I also read that Roach, Young, and Proctor were asking the coaching staff to make McCain a 4th Captain. Hopefully, the team bonding continues!!!
 
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bullcity gamer said:
Shey, yes our guards are small, but Proctor is an elite defender and Roach holds his own on the defensive end. Duke’s defense was solid more often than not last season.

Mac, from what I’ve seen online the team seems pretty tight knit, they’ve been shown going to Duke football games together. I also read that Roach, Young, and Proctor were asking the coaching staff to make McCain a 4th Captain. Hopefully, the team bonding continues!!!
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He’s a good defender I don’t know about Elite . He came on strong down the stretch and was one of his areas of growth and improvement. Roach is good but struggles with bigger guards .

It’s not the defense in the back court it’s simply the rebounding . The back court should be able to apppy all the on ball pressure they want for the entire game given the depth .
 
Its tough because we are super deep at guard. If Power could man the 3 that migbt help but right now McCain and Foster are ahead of him. Foster is 6-5 maybe he can play the 3.
 
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to start out the year we know the 4 sure fire starters are:

Proctor
Roach
Mitchell
Flip

Guys and Gals, Coach Scheyer knows what he is doing and will start the guy that shows out from now until November 5th.
 
DanTheDukeFan1982II said:
Agree to disagree. I’m of the opinion that a freshman who averaged 9 rebounds while primarily floating on the perimeter on offense is an elite rebounder. Flip could get to 12-13 rebounds per game this year IMO.
Mitchell had some of the biggest rebounds of our season last year, primarily in both UNC wins.

We won’t be a dominant rebounding team by any means. But I don’t see it as a glaring weakness. Your more worried about rebounding than rim protection?
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A lot easier grabbing boards as a 7-footer not hanging in the paint versus being THE 7-footer banging in the paint. Lively and Young freed up a lot of boards for Kyle. With the lineup Chris mentioned, this ALL changes.
 
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sheyduke said:
Flip also rebounded well because he did not have to bang down low and Mitchell rebounded well because you had to account for Lively and Flip on the block out opening up lanes for Mitchell to rebound ( as he should at 6’8” playing the wf spot ).
It’s not the front court rebounding ability rather the back court . Proctor is 6’5” and McCain and Roach between 6’1”-6’3”. That’s a small backcourt
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Some people here are hung up on numbers and not seeing a completely different concept with a small lineup.
 
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For the first time since Zion's year I think this team is a clear cut number one seed. With the opportunity to be special
 
christophero said:
For the first time since Zion's year I think this team is a clear cut number one seed. With the opportunity to be special
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It’s October let’s pump the breaks a little with the seeding and simply see what the starting line up even is first .
 
3 five star sophs, a junior and 2 seniors. Been a while since we had that. There are no guarantees in a one game elimination tournament, but our odds of going to the final four are the best they have been in a while. Stay healthy, play as a team and we should be good.
 
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And UNC was the unanimous number one at the start of last season after beating Duke in the final four and how did that work out for them ? With all upper class men , size and a very good back court .
 
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sheyduke said:
And UNC was the unanimous number one at the start of last season after beating Duke in the final four and how did that work out for them ? With all upper class men , size and a very good back court .
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Pitiful analogy. Unc barely got into the tournament the year before and ran six guys into the ground. They were extremely overrated based on some really fortunate happenings in the tournament.

I’ll be willing to bet we have none of the internal turmoil they had on that team as well.
 
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timo0402 said:
Pitiful analogy. Unc barely got into the tournament the year before and ran six guys into the ground. They were extremely overrated based on some really fortunate happenings in the tournament.

I’ll be willing to bet we have none of the internal turmoil they had on that team as well.
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But my point is , you guys were talking a number one seed before one real game just like they picked UNC the unanimous number one while returning all upper class men (which was mentioned in the post about Duke having experience returning) and it didn’t lead to a number one seed it lead to an NIT turn down . My point in reference is that no one can really fore see what a season holds in early October .
No matter how good the talent looks on paper .
 
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Shey I'm not sure what your point is. Of course we cannot predict the future. Nothing is guaranteed. But we have 6 proven returning guys and a great freshman class, and our best chance to make a deep run in years. No one is saying 40-0. I'd take that any day over one rotation guy returning. I've been complaining for years that we rarely get the 50/50 NBA guys back, and this year we got 3 back.
 
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christophero said:
Shey I'm not sure what your point is. Of course we cannot predict the future. Nothing is guaranteed. But we have 6 proven returning guys and a great freshman class, and our best chance to make a deep run in years. No one is saying 40-0. I'd take that any day over one rotation guy returning. I've been complaining for years that we rarely get the 50/50 NBA guys back, and this year we got 3 back.
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Flip, Mitchell, Proctor and Roach are proven . Then you have Young who is a valuable back up . Who is the sixth ?
My point is that people are saying a number one seed before a single game is played . There was a post made earlier about people posting after one game posters saying Duke won’t make it out the first round or Duke won’t win another game and like I mentioned it was due to all the hype on players and preseason hype . I get Duke has the best team of Scheyer's early career with returning players but nothing is given . In off season work outs we’ve already seen Mitchell sitting out with Injury , Flip and Reeves coming off , off season surgery and Roach had cases of turf toe last season .
My point is just enjoy the ride , watch the team progress, watch what freshman actually do step up . it’s not even CTC and people are saying Duke is a number one seed so if they don’t get a one seed does that mean the season is a let down ?
 
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sheyduke said:
Flip, Mitchell, Proctor and Roach are proven . Then you have Young who is a valuable back up . Who is the sixth ?
My point is that people are saying a number one seed before a single game is played . There was a post made earlier about people posting after one game posters saying Duke won’t make it out the first round or Duke won’t win another game and like I mentioned it was due to all the hype on players and preseason hype . I get Duke has the best team of Scheyer's early career with returning players but nothing is given . In off season work outs we’ve already seen Mitchell sitting out with Injury , Flip and Reeves coming off , off season surgery and Roach had cases of turf toe last season .
My point is just enjoy the ride , watch the team progress, watch what freshman actually do step up . it’s not even CTC and people are saying Duke is a number one seed so if they don’t get a one seed does that mean the season is a let down ?
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Good post Shey, and all sound points. There are so many variables. I am reminded of my friend the great and late Duke grad Bill Brill. He wrote "A Season Is A Lifetime,"
based on the '92 season (2nd year of back to back titles).

Grant and Bobby both were hurt (short term), the chemistry (Laettner did have his dark side), wasn't ALWAYS great. Duke won it all of course, but had to fight thru some things. @dukesince91 and @Mac9192 are spot on. "Health" and "Chemistry" are so fragile in any season. Can a team overcome the pitfalls???

Chemistry wise, I only think Duke has blended it well two or three times in last ten or so years: '15 (natty), '16 (depth shy, but K squeezed max from that team), and the '20 team (team began playing well at UNC, and carried it on, but Covid stopped everyone). I ALSO think Jon brought us along QUITE WELL last season (Mitchell's absence killed us against UT).

To answer your question, not getting a 1 seed is only a "letdown," if we allow it to be. That's part of team chemistry!

"Enjoy The Ride." Rant over.

OFC
 
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We have plenty of experience for modern college basketball IMO. A 5-star sophomore who started all of the past season is more seasoned than a JR or SR who didn’t play much early on and is now getting his chance. We have 2 of those guys, plus Roach who has as much experience as anyone.

We are the only program that didn’t lose/add a single guy to the transfer portal. I’m not sure why people are questioning the chemistry so much? Sure, we have to see it to believe it, but I think this team will hit the ground running. We are going to play some freshman, but they aren’t going to be the focal point of the offense.

And my god some of these Caleb Foster practice/scrimmage highlights have me excited to watch him. He could have the highest ceiling of anyone on the team, he is just filthy going to the bucket.
 
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sheyduke said:
Flip, Mitchell, Proctor and Roach are proven . Then you have Young who is a valuable back up . Who is the sixth ?
My point is that people are saying a number one seed before a single game is played . There was a post made earlier about people posting after one game posters saying Duke won’t make it out the first round or Duke won’t win another game and like I mentioned it was due to all the hype on players and preseason hype . I get Duke has the best team of Scheyer's early career with returning players but nothing is given . In off season work outs we’ve already seen Mitchell sitting out with Injury , Flip and Reeves coming off , off season surgery and Roach had cases of turf toe last season .
My point is just enjoy the ride , watch the team progress, watch what freshman actually do step up . it’s not even CTC and people are saying Duke is a number one seed so if they don’t get a one seed does that mean the season is a let down ?
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Well Said!
 
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The video they released last week is good, and Foster looks much more seasoned than a frosh. But Flip sits out the entire scrimmage. In practice drills a he looks fine, but they’re holding him back during scrimmages. Hopefully just precautionary. I guess we’ll get a better feel at CTC.
 
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jeffrey236 said:
The video they released last week is good, and Foster looks much more seasoned than a frosh. But Flip sits out the entire scrimmage. In practice drills a he looks fine, but they’re holding him back during scrimmages. Hopefully just precautionary. I guess we’ll get a better feel at CTC.
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Yeah it’s precautionary.

The point people are making is that there is serious reason to be optimistic about this year. As has been said, we’ve got a ton of experienced talent on this team. They’ve played together, lost together and learned how to win together. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but barring injuries I’d be stunned if this team doesn’t have a huge year. We will lose some games, we will get the obligatory “I told you so’s” and we will continue to build and win. The freshmen this year are going to compliment the four returning starters, not be asked to lead the team in scoring. If they do, that’s either really good, or Flip and Proctor didn’t improve. I’m pretty sure I know. Flip and Proctor (my preseason vote for ACC POTY) will have huge years. There is a lot of reason to be optimistic, and what happened to UNC isn’t even a consideration for me bc of a multitude of factors- HC, lack of depth, internal team turmoil, and the year prior’s finish was a fluke. None of those things can be attributed to Duke.
 
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christophero said:
Duke should be final four or bust. That is a good position to be in. That is all you can hope for, to be a serious contender. I also think we need Flip healthy to get there
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And Roach . I’ve always been high on Foster . His frame is NBA ready and he plays more like a combo but can run a team .
I just want to see the rotation . Early on when Duke is blowing teams out do we rest Roach , Flip, Mitchell and Proctor which there is enough depth to do so . I’m just not sold on a couple of things headed into CTC that I’m sure will be answered as the season progresses.
 
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My biggest concern is we run into another team that wants to muck it up with us because they have inferior talent and nothing to lose, like Tenn. last year, South Carolina in Tatum's year, Mich. State Zion's year and that West Virginia team years ago. Are we going to be tough enough? Will the freshmen deal with the pushing and shoving and stand their ground and give it back?

Until maybe mid February Proctor didn't play tough. By the end of the season he was gritty and IMO played the best of anyone against Tenn. The freshmen have to do the same thing and get stronger as the year progresses.
 
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I don’t see, in particular, Flip, Stewart or Young being intimidated by physicality. And as Lifteee noted, Proctor was tough as nails by season end, although he certainly didn’t start the season that way. And Roach has seen it all over his 3 years. Bottom line, if someone wants to muck it up, i think we’ll be ready.
 
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DanTheDukeFan1982II said:
We have plenty of experience for modern college basketball IMO. A 5-star sophomore who started all of the past season is more seasoned than a JR or SR who didn’t play much early on and is now getting his chance. We have 2 of those guys, plus Roach who has as much experience as anyone.

We are the only program that didn’t lose/add a single guy to the transfer portal. I’m not sure why people are questioning the chemistry so much? Sure, we have to see it to believe it, but I think this team will hit the ground running. We are going to play some freshman, but they aren’t going to be the focal point of the offense.

And my god some of these Caleb Foster practice/scrimmage highlights have me excited to watch him. He could have the highest ceiling of anyone on the team, he is just filthy going to the bucket.
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Don’t quite agree with your 2nd paragraph about chemistry, and saying you aren’t sure why some are questioning it so much. Everyone should be concerned about it. If you aren’t, I think you haven’t watched much basketball over the years. I mean it’s easy for everyone to get along in the preseason.
It’s not like Duke brought in one or two top rated kids, they brought in four. We have rumors of Power impressing, McCain looking good, and you even said Foster looks filthy. We have 4 guys back that started last season, plus Young, Reeves, Blakes and Schutt.

It’s basic math. Maybe the newbies blend in perfectly. But if one of them is really disgruntled, or if they take minutes away from a returner, how will they act?

If they all put the team first, great. It makes this team potentially dangerous.

But it’s not like we haven’t seen the lack of chemistry hurt a few Duke teams in the past.
 
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