I don't post anywhere as much as I used to but this Devils Illustrated HOF'er doesn't blow smoke with proclamations like this unless I truly believe it. Don't be down about Saturday as these kids wanted that game badly and they fought hard and should have won it. Had the correct call been made (as the ACC has stated it should have been) then one free throw wins the game. They're not going to finish first or maybe even top 4 and they're unranked right now which will have them off the local and national radar but that's fine. They're ridiculously young and have taken their lumps, Jon has not had his full roster of players for most of the season which only increases the learning curve and it's no secret on what they have to improve on. A big one being the damn turnovers. We can already see subtle changes taking place that could make a big difference later. I like having Proctor take a larger role in ball-handling duties which not only frees up Jeremy to be that attacking guard with his quickness, it allows Procter with his height and ability to read situations to make plays himself or find open guys. That mid-range jumper he has utilized quite a bit is a good example. The dunk he had off the bounce the other night was sensational, and I thought for sure UVA had it almost stripped before he made the one handed throw down. As the announcers love to remind us, he could still be in high school.
Lively/Fillipowski/Young are an excellent quartet of bigs. We saw what Lively did to Carolina, effectively owning the interior on the defensive end whether it was slowing down Bacot or swatting driving guards. Kyle has been great all year, UVA was certainly his worst game, he might even say the worst game he's played in his entire life but that's also a credit to Tony Bennett. No doubt in my kind that Tony game planned strongly for Filipowski knowing the tear he has been on and the potential damage Duke could cause inside. Dariq Whitehead gives them that versatile forward who can shoot and attack off the bounce he just needs game action. He's back now and two bad decisions with the ball aside Saturday, his scoring allowed Duke to take that lead. Mark Mitchell doesn't have the consistent shooting, however he is a warrior/disrupter defensively and averages over 8 a game.
Looking at the guards Jeremy Roach obviously is THE key guy you want on the court for his experience and abilities, he is a terrific attacking guard with excellent quickness. As mentioned earlier you can see what Jon is doing with Proctor/Roach at times in a way that his Coach utilized him and Nolan Smith. Then you have the shooter Grandison and people forget that this guy averaged 41% or higher from 3 at Illinois the last two years and he's only averaging 34% 3-point shooting so far this season for Duke which is another of those "potential" areas of improvement that would really help this team. With Blakes you have a physical guard who is a good defender, if Jon could just get more offense from him that would be a plus.
This is already a top two defensive team in the ACC allowing only 63.2 ppg. Youth, turnovers, discipline, decision making with the ball etc. a number of things that need to continue to improve. Currently Duke is a respectable 17-8 and 8-6 in the league and they are @Notre Dame, @ Cuse, host a very bad Louisville team and a decent Virginia Tech team in their next four games. Duke has a great chance to achieve a 21-8 overrall record and a 12-6 league record the next couple weeks before closing it out hosting a very good NC State team and then @ the K-Dome for the RS finale.
Keep your spirits up with this squad because they are absolutely a very dangerous team at full health that can make a run in both post-season tournaments. They're not going to do it blowing people out, they're going to do it with defense, the question is just how much can they improve on some of the issues as they have a great opportunity here the next four ball games and I'm sure the staff knows it.
Thoughts? am I preaching to the choir or could some of our folks use a little uplifting message?
Lively/Fillipowski/Young are an excellent quartet of bigs. We saw what Lively did to Carolina, effectively owning the interior on the defensive end whether it was slowing down Bacot or swatting driving guards. Kyle has been great all year, UVA was certainly his worst game, he might even say the worst game he's played in his entire life but that's also a credit to Tony Bennett. No doubt in my kind that Tony game planned strongly for Filipowski knowing the tear he has been on and the potential damage Duke could cause inside. Dariq Whitehead gives them that versatile forward who can shoot and attack off the bounce he just needs game action. He's back now and two bad decisions with the ball aside Saturday, his scoring allowed Duke to take that lead. Mark Mitchell doesn't have the consistent shooting, however he is a warrior/disrupter defensively and averages over 8 a game.
Looking at the guards Jeremy Roach obviously is THE key guy you want on the court for his experience and abilities, he is a terrific attacking guard with excellent quickness. As mentioned earlier you can see what Jon is doing with Proctor/Roach at times in a way that his Coach utilized him and Nolan Smith. Then you have the shooter Grandison and people forget that this guy averaged 41% or higher from 3 at Illinois the last two years and he's only averaging 34% 3-point shooting so far this season for Duke which is another of those "potential" areas of improvement that would really help this team. With Blakes you have a physical guard who is a good defender, if Jon could just get more offense from him that would be a plus.
This is already a top two defensive team in the ACC allowing only 63.2 ppg. Youth, turnovers, discipline, decision making with the ball etc. a number of things that need to continue to improve. Currently Duke is a respectable 17-8 and 8-6 in the league and they are @Notre Dame, @ Cuse, host a very bad Louisville team and a decent Virginia Tech team in their next four games. Duke has a great chance to achieve a 21-8 overrall record and a 12-6 league record the next couple weeks before closing it out hosting a very good NC State team and then @ the K-Dome for the RS finale.
Keep your spirits up with this squad because they are absolutely a very dangerous team at full health that can make a run in both post-season tournaments. They're not going to do it blowing people out, they're going to do it with defense, the question is just how much can they improve on some of the issues as they have a great opportunity here the next four ball games and I'm sure the staff knows it.
Thoughts? am I preaching to the choir or could some of our folks use a little uplifting message?
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