Duke's Backcourt

[RainingThrees]

crunch time = Smith, Paulus, Scheyer, Henderson, Singler. Absolutely no doubt about it whether or not any of us agrees or disagrees.

With this lineup we only have one guy that is 6'8" or above. Who is going to rebound in the middle? Remember what happened vs West Virginia we were horribly out-rebounded.

[RainingThrees]

West Virginia rebounds 45. Duke rebounds 19 with the most by any individual being four. If I'm not mistaken defense and rebounding are very key in the crunch. You have got to limit your opponents second chance opportunities.

[SilkyJ]

At crunch time, I predict Nolan Smith guards the PG and Elliot Williams guards the SG regardless of their quickness/size, which leaves Henderson or Scheyer to guard the Wing/SF.

Wow! Bold-statement Bob! I have to say I would be almost shocked if this were the case, but if it is, then I am REALLY excited about our backcourt this year and in the future. If Ewill has the ability displace greg and/or scheyer/henderson then more power to him. You just got me REALLY excited about this year...

On a sidenote: I predict that this particular argument will be a common one on the board this year. Namely, "Who should have been on the floor at the end when it was close?" With so much depth people are going to start picking favorites and arguing for them...

OHH yes. I definitely agree. I think last year that debate occurred as well, b/c while it was clear that paulus, demarc, scheyer, henderson, Singler were the 5 best players on the team, we obviously were at a serious size disadvantage when K would use them all together, which he often did at the end of games. Let's hope one of our big men besides Singler has the ability to earn crunch time minutes this year...

[jv001]

Wow! Bold-statement Bob! I have to say I would be almost shocked if this were the case, but if it is, then I am REALLY excited about our backcourt this year and in the future. If Ewill has the ability displace greg and/or scheyer/henderson then more power to him. You just got me REALLY excited about this year...



OHH yes. I definitely agree. I think last year that debate occurred as well, b/c while it was clear that paulus, demarc, scheyer, henderson, Singler were the 5 best players on the team, we obviously were at a serious size disadvantage when K would use them all together, which he often did at the end of games. Let's hope one of our big men besides Singler has the ability to earn crunch time minutes this year...

Great point. We need one of our big men to earn minutes at crunch time so we will not be outrebounded so badly.

[natedog4ever]

With this lineup we only have one guy that is 6'8" or above. Who is going to rebound in the middle? Remember what happened vs West Virginia we were horribly out-rebounded.

I never said this is what I would recommend. This is definitely what will happen. We can revisit after the first game under five points in the last few minutes.

[greybeard]

With this lineup we only have one guy that is 6'8" or above. Who is going to rebound in the middle? Remember what happened vs West Virginia we were horribly out-rebounded.

Shot terribly and did not turn them over. First-round power forward had great game and strong guard had game of his life. That happens this team looses.

On the other hand, with added depth, maybe Singlar isn't exhausted, completely shot by the tournament. You also might see much more of an inside game from Lance and perhaps also Z. If so, bigs on competition might be otherwise occupied a little more.

[COYS]

West Virginia rebounds 45. Duke rebounds 19 with the most by any individual being four. If I'm not mistaken defense and rebounding are very key in the crunch. You have got to limit your opponents second chance opportunities.

Not to say that rebounding isn't important, but, IIRC, West Virginia out-rebounded us by that ridiculous margin by playing small-ball far better than we played that day. Early foul-trouble for Singler limited his effectiveness. Markie's tough luck illness contributed to his lackluster play. With those guys limited, WVU went small, often leaving Joe Alexander (who is similar in size to Singler) as the tallest man on the floor. In fact, the 6-8 Alexander and the 6-2 guard Mazulla each paced WVU with 11 rebounds apiece. Size didn't hurt us as much as the brick-fest from three and the fact that neither Markie nor Singler could get it going (remember, we only got three field goals from the two of them combined . . . that's a much worse sign than the rebounding margin). This is not to say that having some super-talented, ultra-rebounder isn't important, as i think everyone on this board would love to have a guy like that in the game. However, if that person is a liability in other areas, the advantage in rebounding becomes moot, especially when WVU goes small and quick. We'd need a strong rebounder, a good FT shooter, a good defender, and a solid offensive threat to justify benching one of Scheyer, Singler, Henderson, Paulus, or Smith. Zoubek has proven he can rebound, but he's inconsistent on defense (especially when he's caught out on the perimeter) and on offense (great potential, questionable footwork). He also is a mediocre FT shooter. LT is not much better from the line, is a solid defender even if he fouls, but hasn't shown much offensively. When we're ahead, we need the FT shooting. When we're behind, we need offense during crunch time. It would bode well for this team of one of the forwards (freshmen included) step up and begin to rival the aforementioned "crunch-time five" for playing time, but it would take major improvements in a number of these areas for either to rise to the task . . . and if our guards plus Singler continue to improve as well, it will certainly be difficult to bench them.

Here's the box score for reference.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=284000044

[SilkyJ]

Shot terribly and did not turn them over. First-round power forward had great game and strong guard had game of his life. That happens this team looses.

On the other hand, with added depth, maybe Singlar isn't exhausted, completely shot by the tournament. You also might see much more of an inside game from Lance and perhaps also Z. If so, bigs on competition might be otherwise occupied a little more.

Great points all around. Singler also added 10-15 lbs I believe, so that should help. Maybe dkbaseball's prediction will be correct and Olek "The" Czyz can surprise us all and grab some minutes as well...

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

crunch time = Smith, Paulus, Scheyer, Henderson, Singler. Absolutely no doubt about it whether or not any of us agrees or disagrees.

I agree these are probably our best clutch players but the lineup is likely to vary based on the situation. Very likely we could end up with a true big in there (Zou or Plumlee) if sized is needed, especially to guard. And a guy like Plumlee could be effective in dragging an opponent's center out of the lane. Also, I would never under-estimate K's intuition in certain situations based on who has been playing well during a particular game or stretch of games.

[Bob Green]

Wow - so you think that in crunch time, both Paulus and either Scheyer or Henderson will be sitting? I am a big Nolan fan as well, but I would wager a lot of money that the above scenario doesn't happen this year for any meaningful period of time.

Wow! Bold-statement Bob! I have to say I would be almost shocked if this were the case, but if it is, then I am REALLY excited about our backcourt this year and in the future. If Ewill has the ability displace greg and/or scheyer/henderson then more power to him. You just got me REALLY excited about this year...

Obviously, my initial statement was a little simplistic as our line-up at crunch time will vary according to the strengths/weaknesses of the opponent. When our opponent is a team with excellent team speed including multiple speedy guards, I fully expect to see Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams playing at crunch time. Jon Scheyer is an excellent wing defender and he will be on the court to handle the ball due to his free throw shooting ability.

[VaDukie]

Great points all around. Singler also added 10-15 lbs I believe, so that should help. Maybe dkbaseball's prediction will be correct and Olek "The" Czyz can surprise us all and grab some minutes as well...

Singler has indeed added a good deal of muscle. He looked noticeably bigger in the pro-am games this summer.

[greybeard]

Singler has indeed added a good deal of muscle. He looked noticeably bigger in the pro-am games this summer.

I love watching the kid play, and am excited to hear that he has added muscle; should help him weather the "tactics" that some ACC teams like the "U" threw at him last year; might even make some of the coaches who employ such tactics think twice--if not them, then perhaps their henchmen ("Coach, you want me to do what?").

[RainingThrees]

I am very excited that Kyle put on muscle but some may forget that a 4 guard 1 foward in the crunch won't work as good as last year. You all know how good a rebounder Demarcus was. So even though Kyle will be a stronger force inside, I don't think it will surpass or make up for Demarcus.

[DukeDevilDeb]

Totally agree with you, Jumbo. I'm not sure why Jon gets put down like this... perhaps people are busy talking when Jon's man gets the ball. Scheyer impressed the heck out of me defensively last year!

Go Devils

[DevilDan]

Good Point: the 4 guard, 1 forward lineup just isn't going to get it done for us this year. We absolutely must have good minutes from Lance or Brian -- or we will merely come back a year smarter, and a year stronger. Maybe that translates into 30-4, up from 28-6, a two-game improvement (with a slightly less challenging non-conference and overall schedule helping?). But I think we are looking for more ... in MARCH.

I am hoping Lance comes back with the fire that Duke fans say they saw during the Summer League; I am praying that Brian comes back from his injury and period of inactivity with a burning desire to board, D-up, get some blocks and putbacks. If neither evolves, I hope Coach K will take a strong look at Miles & Olek. Whatever it takes, we GOTS to get some respect inside.

The game is one of adjustments -- other teams will find a way to beat the winning formula we used last Nov-Dec, and knock us out again ... unless we can get the size we DO have to produce and be an added weapon. GO DUKE !

[BlueintheFace]

When Superman goes to sleep at night he wears Greg Paulus pajamas... that should let you know how good our backcourt is.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I am very excited that Kyle put on muscle but some may forget that a 4 guard 1 foward in the crunch won't work as good as last year. You all know how good a rebounder Demarcus was. So even though Kyle will be a stronger force inside, I don't think it will surpass or make up for Demarcus.

If Zou is healthy, Lance plays tough like we hope, and we get good minutes from Miles, then Singler won't have to play inside nearly as much as last year and I think our rebounding will still be as good or better. I am really looking forward to seeing what Singler can do playing his more natural position this year. Plus it will help him stay fresher toward the end of the season. He was spent by the time March rolled around.

[RainingThrees]

I agree, I think our rebounding will get better this year... if we have more than one foward playing at most times. I was saying last season the only way we were able to pull off a 4 guard 1 foward lineup was because Demarcus was such a good rebounder as a guard.

[Jumbo]

Not to say that rebounding isn't important, but, IIRC, West Virginia out-rebounded us by that ridiculous margin by playing small-ball far better than we played that day. Early foul-trouble for Singler limited his effectiveness. Markie's tough luck illness contributed to his lackluster play. With those guys limited, WVU went small, often leaving Joe Alexander (who is similar in size to Singler) as the tallest man on the floor. In fact, the 6-8 Alexander and the 6-2 guard Mazulla each paced WVU with 11 rebounds apiece. Size didn't hurt us as much as the brick-fest from three ...

Exactly. When you shoot like Duke did against WVU, you're going to give up a ton of rebounds because, you know, you're missing shots. WVU went small all game and executed well.

[Jumbo]

Interesting discussion. Someone early on mentioned that a downside of Nolan at the point was his ability to run the offense. If I remember correctly, wasn't there a fair bit of the time last year with Nolan and Jon on the floor that Jon ran the offense? Nolan may have brought the ball into the frontcourt, but once there I remember Jon running the offense. Jon seems quite capable of doing this, in fact he played the true point a fair bit as a freshman I think as well. If this happened again this coming year, then one of the downsides of Nolan playing the point in place of Greg would be less important.

Yup, this happened at the end of last year. Late in the season, when Nolan came in for Greg, Jon ran the offense. And, depending on what scheme we're running this year, the need for a "true" point isn't huge. For instance, if we're running pure motion, anyone can initiate the offense. If we keep running last year's offense, the need for a pure point isn't great either, since we ran so many ball-screens along the wing.

You can argue, in fact, that Paulus is not a true point guard either, and that Scheyer is actually the most effective playmaker on the floor. I don't think it's wise to force him to bring the ball up the court (especially against pressure), as he needs to save his energy for so many other tasks. But he needs to the ball in his hands in the half-court set, and if Nolan's not up to the task of setting up his teammates just yet, Jon certainly is.