Starting Five

[Dattier]

I think a lot of people are selling Luke short. At the worst, he's the 7th man, the top back-up at each position 1-3, and top 5 in PT. He's versatile, smart, and stretches the D.

Marshall is going to be a really important player for us this year, but it might be in a similar role as his high minute games last year: strong emotion, intelligent play, glue in good team D, good communicator, leader, energy. Amile and Chase will definitely play some 5, and Marshall is bigger and stronger, so he'll bring a different look and challenge for opponents. But he is unlikely to average as high as 22 minutes per game. He might start, but there will be at least one player off the bench who plays more minutes, if not two players.

Brandon is going to play the stretch 4 the most and be a mismatch w/ a lot of opposing PFs. Think about how Justise was used last year: the move to the 4 helped him get over a little injury-influenced midseason funk, but he was essentially the same player. It was the team play that changed, making us a little faster and interchangeable on the wing. We're going to want to use our speed this year, too, and that's going to be best achieved w/ Brandon at the 4.

 

[Showenuff]

I think Kennard is that middle of the season explosion. He may very well end up JJ like with that jumper. The kid is damn good.

 

[Showenuff]

AMILE has really improved on that jumper as well. His tenacity on defense can't be ignored.

 

[ACC Bball Fan]

Duke has 4 returnees and 4 frosh plus Sean Obi who is a tweener.

Duke also has 4 combo guards (Thornton, Allen, Jones and Kennard) 4 bigs (MP3, Jefferson, Jeter and Obi) and one natural SF in Ingram

Would not be surprised to see coach K set the tone with 4 returnees and either Thornton or Ingram.

In general in OOC I expect 3 of the 4 returnees and 2 of the 4 frosh on the floor together. with returnees averaging close to 30 MPG and frosh averaging 20 MPG.

Since MP3 likely cannot go 30 minutes, some minutes for Sean Obi.

Spread the 80 minutes across the 4 frosh any way you like either 20 each, or 25 for Thornton, 15 for Kennard and 25 for Ingram, 15 for Jeter, etc.

Bigs:

25-30 Jefferson
20-25 Plumlee
15-20 Jeter
10-15 Obi

Guards say 20 each +/- 5 plus time for Jones/Allen at SF

20 Thornton paired with Jones
20 Kennard paired wirh Allen

SF

20 -25 Ingram
10 Jones
05 -10 Allen

I expect this would continue until ACC play and then the rotation shortens with Jeter/Obi odd man odd.

Given that Ingram had but 1 rebound I have backed off on idea of him playing a lot of PF.

Try to always have at least 2 of the 3 captains on the floor, and try to minimize 3 frosh on floor together.

Returnees

30 Jones
25-30 Allen
25-30 Jefferson
20-25 Plumlee

10-15 Obi

110-130 with average of 120 minutes and 3 non-frosh on the floor

Frosh

20 -25 Ingram
20 Thornton paired with Jones
20 Kennard paired with Allen
15-20 Jeter

75-85 with average of 80 minutes a 2 frosh on floor

 

[Dattier]

Duke also has 4 combo guards (Thornton, Allen, Jones and Kennard) 4 bigs (MP3, Jefferson, Jeter and Obi) and one natural SF in Ingram

Thornton is a pure PG.
If Matt is combo anything, it's on the wing as a G/F.
Grayson's SG skills are well ahead of his PG skills based on his one college season instead of his prep rep.
Luke is a true combo guard.

Brandon is a classic Duke stretch 4. Jahlil Okafor had a total of only 3 rebounds in a game twice last season. Does that mean he is not a true center?

 

[aah555]

IMO, it's highly unlikely that we have any set starting lineup all season -- and that I'd guess we see at least 4 or 5 of the combinations described above. I think Amile, Ingram and Grayson are most likely to start from wire-to-wire, but I wouldn't be shocked to see each of them see a spell on the bench at some point. The other two spots really look like they'll be in flux depending on the competition and how the team is playing.

 

[ACC Bball Fan]

OK with me Dat if we remove the word combo and just say guards, as all are more guard oriented than tradition SF was my point.

What you say about Ingram being a Duke 4 may be true, but somebody has to play 3 and for balance purposes, Duke has 4 bigs, 4 guards and Ingram who offers a ton of flexibility if not weight.

 

[Dattier]

What you say about Ingram being a Duke 4 may be true, but somebody has to play 3 and for balance purposes, Duke has 4 bigs, 4 guards and Ingram who offers a ton of flexibility if not weight.

Matt played the default 3 a lot last year, and Luke is pretty big. We've often played 3 guards. I think you're trying to categorize things too narrowly. It's more about match-ups than strict, numbered positions. If, for example, Brandon gives up some weight and strength at the 4 but stretches the D for 3-pt opportunities, driving lanes, and passing lanes -- if the balance breaks in our favor, or we have reason to believe it can through force of will, execution, team cohesion, etc, there's plenty of precedent for that here.

 

[Dattier]

IMO, it's highly unlikely that we have any set starting lineup all season -- and that I'd guess we see at least 4 or 5 of the combinations described above. I think Amile, Ingram and Grayson are most likely to start from wire-to-wire, but I wouldn't be shocked to see each of them see a spell on the bench at some point. The other two spots really look like they'll be in flux depending on the competition and how the team is playing.

Our best teams dictate match-ups to the opponent, not the other way around, so I hope you're wrong on that third bold part. There will likely be some adjustments based on how we're practicing and playing, but hopefully it won't be b/c of who we're facing.

I'd put Matt second behind Brandon as a likely starter. His D and leadership are big. He and Amile bring similar qualities, but at different positions. Unless one or both of them have become much more reliable offensive weapons, I think one will be the 6th man.

 

[aah555]

Our best teams dictate match-ups to the opponent, not the other way around, so I hope you're wrong on that third bold part. There will likely be some adjustments based on how we're practicing and playing, but hopefully it won't be b/c of who we're facing.

I'd put Matt second behind Brandon as a likely starter. His D and leadership are big. He and Amile bring similar qualities, but at different positions. Unless one or both of them have become much more reliable offensive weapons, I think one will be the 6th man.

As I mentioned, I think it's both how we're playing / the individuals are playing and who we're playing. With that said, I think a lot may change from night-to-night depending on whether Ingram can be shifted down to the four. While there are a lot of teams you can get away with that lineup, you're not going to get very far playing Ingram at the 4 against teams like UNC, Kentucky, etc. where the other squad is going to be running out legitimate PFs who outweigh Ingram by 30-45 pounds. I always assumed DT could get penciled in at the starting 1, but K's recent comments suggest to me that we could see a starting lineup where Grayson and/or Kennard run the point.

It's possible that we end up always starting Ingram at the 3, and only moving him to the 4 situationally late in games, but I can't see a scenario where he's our regular starting 4 throughout the season against every opponent. It just wouldn't be smart.

 

[Dattier]

Well, we're probably getting distracted too much by the concept of "starting," as we can be prone to do. He's going to see some time at the 4 every game. He'd get eaten up by Meeks or Johnson down low, but I would hope by February he'll be pretty confident at taking advantage of them away from the basket, too.

 

[DevilDJ]

I follow this guy on Twitter. He made a vid featuring this year's roster....

http://www.dukeblogger.com/my-2016-hype-video-lemme-know-what-you-think/

 

[ericrossiu]

IU fan here, curious as to what you guys think will be staring 5 against IU in acc challenge. I think it will be a great game!

IU starting 5

Thomas
Williams
Johnson
Blackmon
Yogi

 

[HuffyJB]

I don't know a ton about IU, but I know they don't have many question marks, with four starters and three double figure scorers coming back. Duke has more stuff to figure out and literally everyone on the roster will be in a new role in some capacity. I think the issue with IU last year was, while they could score with about anyone, they weren't good defensively. They return almost everyone, but they are guys who lost 14 games and didn't win an NCAA game. They will be better, but how much better seems to be a product of how much better the D gets.

The game is at Cameron, so that is obviously to Duke's benefit. Duke will have already played 7 games at that point, including games against Kentucky, VCU, and either Georgetown or Wisconsin (none of which will be in Cameron), so they will have been tested. The IU game will be Duke's first "big" home game. It really looks like a terrific match-up and an exciting game.

 

[ericrossiu]

I don't know a ton about IU, but I know they don't have many question marks, with four starters and three double figure scorers coming back. Duke has more stuff to figure out and literally everyone on the roster will be in a new role in some capacity. I think the issue with IU last year was, while they could score with about anyone, they weren't good defensively. They return almost everyone, but they are guys who lost 14 games and didn't win an NCAA game. They will be better, but how much better seems to be a product of how much better the D gets.

The game is at Cameron, so that is obviously to Duke's benefit. Duke will have already played 7 games at that point, including games against Kentucky, VCU, and either Georgetown or Wisconsin (none of which will be in Cameron), so they will have been tested. The IU game will be Duke's first "big" home game. It really looks like a terrific match-up and an exciting game.

Thanks for the reply!
I agree this game will be fun to watch as a fan!!
How do you guys think you will do against UK?
Early on I think UK has the edge, but who knows. Both programs are dominate!

 

[pisgah101]

We beat UK they aren't going to be as dominate as people think u less Ullis who I like a lot turns dominate. Idc who you bring in losing 7-8 guys is a big deal. Also as for IU I love yogi he's a good player for y'all. Good luck during the year

 

[ericrossiu]

We beat UK they aren't going to be as dominate as people think u less Ullis who I like a lot turns dominate. Idc who you bring in losing 7-8 guys is a big deal. Also as for IU I love yogi he's a good player for y'all. Good luck during the year

Good luck to you guys too!!!
Should be a fun year to watch!!!

 

[Willcampbell]

IU fan here, curious as to what you guys think will be staring 5 against IU in acc challenge. I think it will be a great game!

IU starting 5

Thomas
Williams
Johnson
Blackmon
Yogi

Welcome, IU guy. As you can see on this thread, there is debate about Duke's starting five, but unanimity that it will evolve and really doesn't matter. IU/Duke should be a great game between two great schools. Can't wait.
OFC

 

[ericrossiu]

Welcome, IU guy. As you can see on this thread, there is debate about Duke's starting five, but unanimity that it will evolve and really doesn't matter. IU/Duke should be a great game between two great schools. Can't wait.
OFC

Thank you for the hospitality!!! I too think this game will be great!!
Thinking about a road trip down for the game, can't imagine scoring tickets. Where would be a good place to watch it if tickets are not possible?

 

[Willcampbell]

Thank you for the hospitality!!! I too think this game will be great!!
Thinking about a road trip down for the game, can't imagine scoring tickets. Where would be a good place to watch it if tickets are not possible?

Home, with a cold one. That's where I'll be!
OFC

 

[HuffyJB]

Thanks for the reply!
I agree this game will be fun to watch as a fan!!
How do you guys think you will do against UK?
Early on I think UK has the edge, but who knows. Both programs are dominate!

The difference in the UK matchup vs. the IU matchup, I think, is the notion I mentioned before about IU being much more of an established commodity as far as roles and such. UK has more eventual NBA guys than any other team in the country, but they are figuring themselves out a little as well. I would agree that UK has the edge in most ways, but I feel okay because Duke has the biggest individual edge, meaning the guy in the first chair. He will give Duke a chance against every team they play as they work to determine what groups and sets work for them.

 

[DevilDJ]

Quickie DBP vid...

 

[Dattier]

Brandon Ingram looks like he's stoned. I think that's just what he looks like.