Lol Whitehead was starting outside of injury and Flip is a modern day five or center although against stronger competition he did not do well. Just like you said he was a point forward and could direct the offense . Only thing I remember is every time he dribbled the ball in it was an automatic turnover but what do I know about basketball.
Seriously yes he was ! You must be Scheyer or on the staff then . So your telling me the number two kid came to Duke to come off the bench ? Please
Had Lively and Whitehead never been injured Dukes starting five was always perceived to be Roach , Proctor, Whitehead, Flip and Lively .
My guess would be Proctor and Mitchell. I hope Flip stays but he is projected in the later first round. It would make sense for him to go; but I wouldn't complain if he returns.
Where is this info coming from? Or is this trolling?
Not so sure of that. Whom would he replace? Certainly not Proctor or Roach or Lively or Flip. Toss-up with Mitchell. Also, it could be that he was overrated. Never saw any flashes of brilliance. Not the best defensive player. Sad thing is that we will never know how good he could have been. OFC
Agreed. Mitchell's play confirmed his strarting value. Other than a few made 3's, Whitehead's done nothing to support that he would have been a lock starter sans injury.
We have a long offseason to go before I’d feel comfortable protecting the ceiling of this team. But yes, if Flip returns: I’d feel good saying we will start out the season as a top 3 or top 5 team.
So you’re saying Scheyer guaranteed him a starting spot? 😂
I said he was a stretch/finesse 4. He’s not a traditional 5, that’s what you were arguing. That argument was killed a long time ago.
I am concerned Mitchell's injured status vs Tennessee pushes him out the door.
Spot on Shey. Whitehead was relegated to coming off the bench only because whatever happened to him, seemed to get in his head as well. He handled it well, or it looked that way to me. This isn’t a knock on Mitchell, who had a solid freshman season.
Oh I am very optimistic about our chances of bringing at least 2 of them back.
Mitchell . Mitchell wasn’t a perceived starter and I don’t remember one person on this board thanking so until after CTC. He was given the chance when Lively and Whitehead were out and who were you going to replace him with once Whitehead stayed injured ?
Yeah I’m not even sure why this is even a discussion and it comes off as criticizing Mitchell which we aren’t. A healthy Whitehead is arguably one of the best players in the country. However, he got injured at the end of august. Awful timing from the standpoint of the fact we had a full roster all summer and the most talented guy goes down with a foot injury. Takes a while for him to get back- much of which he admitted. Then on top of it Lively gets hurt. Like we gotta use some common sense here.
It’s amazing that some still think recruiting services are 100% accurate. Healthy or not, Dariq is not one of the best players in the country. Let’s not get carried away. He’s talented but he has a weak handle, isn’t very fast (particularly lateral), and he’s not overly athletic. He needs more time to be considered one of the best in the country and I’m not convinced he ever would be. Moot point though as he’s one of those kids that smiles in front of the camera and is super polite, but he can’t wait to get off of campus fast enough to grab that check.
Aren’t most of these kids ? It’s not their fault the NBA draft rules are what they are . You get good players like Paolo and Zion who loved the college experience but don’t ever think they were ever staying past a year from the moment their LOI was signed . It’s just sports and business that’s all .
Let’s be clear - I’m not blaming him for the draft rules. If they could go straight from HS, he would’ve gone. He’s talented but the hype (and his crew) have him being better today than he actually is. Happens a lot though so can’t really blame him.
Toughness was not a thing Whitehead was lacking. I think he showed plenty of toughness when he was on the floor. He mixed it up defensively. He dove for loose balls. So in my opinion that’s a false accusation. If you want to question his mental state after the injuries he was the first to admit that the injuries messed with his head and that’s unfortunate bc we never got to see his true confidence. That happens to many many athletes.
Guess I should have been clearer on what I think is a "dog mentality". Not his toughness out there but his drive to take over a game. Even in the games that he shot well, he never had that mentality where his mindset was to take over a game. He was extremely passive out there offensively. Like I said before, hope he proves be wrong but I just didn't see it yet while at Duke.
Got it that’s a fair critique. Wish he would have asserted himself more and I do think that’s where that mental hurdle that it took him so long to get over hurt his progression. He worked really hard to be a serviceable cog and established himself as a shooting specialist. Coming in before the injury he was going to be much more than that. But injuries are part of the game, bummer.
Lively is in the same boat. We find out that he has no real offensive game. So, highly over-rated in high school. OFC
It’s tough because Lively has a significant defensive strength that covers his offensive weakness. His presence defensively was awesome, I just wish he could’ve posted up some offensively.
Limited offensive skills at this time. I seriously doubt he's a finished product at this point.
At this time is all that matters Duke wise. I wish him the best and have a hard time believing he can’t develop some sort of post game eventually, but this ain’t AA ball. We need players that score at Duke. That said, without his defense and rebounding we prob wouldn’t have won the ACC or swept unc so I’m trying to be glass half full
