Most Improved Player?

[A-Tex Devil]

I agree with you re: Scheyer, but this board needs to tone down the "play like the olympians" rhetoric.

In China, K had Lebron, Kobe, and D-Wade, arguable the three greatest players alive today, and certainly the three best wing players in the world. While our wings are good, the probably are not the best wing tandom in the nation, and may not be the best wing group in the state. Also, we don't have a post like Redeem had.

I know that people are talking about style of play, but what worked in Beijing will not work for Duke. We don't have players that much better than everybody we will play.

I didn't explain myself very well, but I think that style of play will work for us on the offensive end pretty well if we can shoot it at all. The US post play on the offensive end was hardly dominant in the Olympics. We have three guys (maybe four with E. Will? Five if you count Paulus at times) that can drive the lane, an inside out big, and potentially a "planted in the paint" big man (although that obviously slows down the break). Better (relative to the competition) 3 point shooting as well.

Duke should be pretty strong offensively and like last year, shouldn't have to rely on any single player to have a good game if someone else steps up. People saw this in Duke last year (e.g. Dantoni's Suns) before they inexplicably hit the wall in February. This has the chance to be a really, really good offensive team.

Defensive end... well we'll see and how we end up there may dictate a lot of what we can do on the offensive end.

[watzone]

Changing the culture of Duke Football means that fans need to follow recruitng The Blue Devils have a few openings in the class of 2009 and Dontae Aycock, a talented athlete from Florida fits the bill. He is the latest on Aycock.

http://bluedevilnation.wordpress.com...cruiting-news/

[watzone]

Changing the culture of Duke Football means that fans need to follow recruitng The Blue Devils have a few openings in the class of 2009 and Dontae Aycock, a talented athlete from Florida fits the bill. He is the latest on Aycock.

http://bluedevilnation.wordpress.com...cruiting-news/

Sorry, wrong thread. Mods - please remove.

[sagegrouse]

I agree with you re: Scheyer, but this board needs to tone down the "play like the olympians" rhetoric.

I agree with you but for different reasons. I believe Duke will play like the Olympians, but the arrow of causality goes the other way. The Olympic team used the Duke system.

sagegrouse

[SilkyJ]

I know that people are talking about style of play, but what worked in Beijing will not work for Duke. We don't have players that much better than everybody we will play.

And we dont have a lebron james type person who is as fast as any PG and as strong as any Center and can literally play all 5 positions on offense and defense. For me, I thought his versatility really brought that team to a new
level.

Fortunately, the only team in the world with a player like that is the cleveland cavaliers.

[Oriole Way]

I'll go with guys I HOPE make big steps.

One would be Nolan Smith. I think he has the talent to make a William Avery-esque improvement, and if he does, I think Duke becomes an easy Final Four favorite instead of a possibility.

The other would be Brian Zoubek. We desperately need someone consistent to rebound and provide a presence in the interior. I don't think Lance Thomas has the skills to be much more than an energy guy. If Zoubek can stay healthy, play a little more than 20 minutes a game, and provide us with 8 pts. and 8 rebounds a game or so, we definitely can contend for a national title.

[heyman25]

I did not intend to say Henderson,Singler and Scheyer have the abilities of Kobe LeBron and Dwayne, I just think they are the 3 that bring the most talent on the court to Duke Basketball next Season.Just as I felt that the 3 superstars of the NBA were the biggest impact players for USA 2008.

[micah75]

I'll go with guys I HOPE make big steps.

One would be Nolan Smith. I think he has the talent to make a William Avery-esque improvement, and if he does, I think Duke becomes an easy Final Four favorite instead of a possibility.

The other would be Brian Zoubek. We desperately need someone consistent to rebound and provide a presence in the interior. I don't think Lance Thomas has the skills to be much more than an energy guy. If Zoubek can stay healthy, play a little more than 20 minutes a game, and provide us with 8 pts. and 8 rebounds a game or so, we definitely can contend for a national title.

I agree with you about Thomas. Maybe my memory is foggy, but I just don't remember him dunking much, or being as athletic as some say he is. I remember Raftery chiding him for his "speed dribble" when Lance nonchalantly brought the ball up court on what was supposed to be a fast break. On the other hand, I can see Zoubek making big strides. He's almost automatic as far as getting rebounds and making putbacks, provided he avoids the turnovers. If Z can avoid the fouls and TOs, then he could quite easily give us a solid 8/8 type of game, which would be a vast improvement.

I can also see Paulus being even more improved than he was last season. He's such a fiery competitor, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a much improved defense along with Battieresque-type leadership skills.

And of course, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see either Scheyer or Henderson have a huge breakout season.

On the other hand, although I believe Pocious is capable of a breakout year, I just don't think he will get the PT to showcase his all-around talents.

[Got_Duke]

Lance Thomas needs to freakin' open up and unleash the best within

if we see Zoubek improving my bets are that Lance Thomas improves as well since Zoubek will get more time at the 5 spot it'll give Lance so time to play the 4 spot and do [kinda] what McRoberts did with Shelden at the 5 which was wreck havoc

he's gotta light his own personal fire under his I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.

[greybeard]

Mr Lance Thomas

I wouldn't offer to die behind this, but I think you might well be onto something here.

Lance has a knack for receiving the ball on the move, moving in the direction of the basket, with advantage. Let's see all these good wing players get him the thing. So far, the only one who has showed talent in that regard is Kyle. If Lance had not hurt his hand, I think he would have been scoring in double figures down the stretch.

People will look to help on Kyle and stop dribble penetration from the wing without leaving folks open for the three. K and his minyons must, I say must, build in passing looks inside from close quarters by wing penetrators to take advantage to Lance's well timed routes. Then he must finish, laying it in not slamming it down.

[Edouble]

I agree with you re: Scheyer, but this board needs to tone down the "play like the olympians" rhetoric.

I know that people are talking about style of play, but what worked in Beijing will not work for Duke. We don't have players that much better than everybody we will play.

We certainly don't have players the calibre of Kobe, LeBron, and D Wade, BUT the Olympic team was playing vintage Duke basketball themselves. I think that people are suggesting that we are deep and athletic enough this year to run a full throttle Duke defense where we help on everything, clog the passing lanes, and turn defense into offense. We seem to have lost our legs towards the end of the season lately, and so I think a lot of people are hoping we'll go 8 deep and be flu-free in March.

[MonitorMom]

share that Nolan is playing like a crazy man. High praise from boys in blue.

[elvis14]

If I had to make a prediction, I'd go with Nolan. We really need him to step up and fill that PG role. I can see where Brian can be greatly improved as well. As others have said, as little has BZ has been able to contribute due to injuries, he has some easy room for improvement. I think he could really be a vital piece to Duke's puzzle this year. Last year, I really thought that Lance was going to make that jump that some are wanting/predicting. He didn't. I still hope he can because I have seen some aspects of his game that are really good but he needs to be finishing stronger, developing a mid-range game, and most importantly, he needs to be rebounding much better.

I can see where we can get improvements out of lots of guys. What I really want to see is team improvements. I want to see our defense shutting guys down better, I'd like to see some more interior passing, I'd like to see us put teams away, I'd like to see us finish the half strong (a Duke trademark that didn't happen much last year). Individual improvements are great, and we'll have plenty of them, but what I'm excited about is what the team can do with all this talent!

[Jeffrey]

Hi,

Playing the odds, my money is on a guard. I think Greg may make another major leap forward and Nolan will be the most improved relative to last season.

Best regards,
Jeffrey

[goduke91]

I really want it to be Zoubek, but I have been continually dissapointed with him the past two years. As a 7'1" center, he should be WAY more dominate, but people like Demarcus Nelson and Jon Scheyer were more aggresive on the boards than he was.