Sports Illustrated says Duke Doesn't Have a Top 15 Backcourt

[BlueintheFace]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/

Look at some of the backcourts they place ahead of us... I'm a little baffled.

[Bluedog]

Lawson [...] would have been a first-round draft pick in June, had he not had a run-in with the law in Chapel Hill.

Huh? All mock drafts I saw had him going early second (although some late first). But NBA GMs directly stated that his arrest did not affect their opinion of him. But, yeah, agree that it's hard to believe Duke doesn't have a top 15 backcourt. That's ok. Would rather sneak up on people! (Although Duke can't sneak up on anybody since we are still Duke)

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

The SI Curse is real. This is great news for us!

[kramerbr]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/

Look at some of the backcourts they place ahead of us... I'm a little baffled.

That should change once the season gets started. You can't tell me the Duke guards won't see this and use it as even extra motivation.

[Ignatius07]

That list is so ridiculous it's hard to even get angry about it. It is an absolute joke to put USC, Florida, or Syracuse above us, at the very least. And I am not sold at all on Purdue or Memphis either. I would put Duke around #6 here. The great thing is we'll match up with Purdue and (probably) UCLA.

I respect Luke Winn, but this list is difficult to understand. I am pretty sure he doesn't regard us as worse than #15 in the country (though he might). But seeing as how there is no way we have a top-15 frontcourt, how do we not have a top-15 backcourt?

Maybe he is not counting Gerald Henderson as a guard, despite the fact that we play him (mostly) as one. Even without him I think we'd be somewhere low on that list.

[Wander]

That list is so ridiculous it's hard to even get angry about it.

Exactly. Not only does Duke have a top 15 backcourt, we have a top 5 backcourt and maybe - maybe - a top 1 backcourt. This is just something to be ignored.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The first sentence from their preview of Duke

"Despite the loss of wing DeMarcus Nelson - Duke's leading scorer last season - few teams have a better collection of talent, depth and experience on the perimeter."

P.S. Rivals.com, not scout.com

[dukelifer]

Exactly. Not only does Duke have a top 15 backcourt, we have a top 5 backcourt and maybe - maybe - a top 1 backcourt. This is just something to be ignored.

Duke definitely does not have a top 15 frontcourt- and if not a top 15 backcourt- how are they ranked in the preseason top 10 by many experts? K must be the best coach in America.

[DukieInBrasil]

I´m a bit baffled that Duke doesn´t get a top 15 backcourt as well. How on earth can you put a backcourt that will have 3 of 4 players as Fr. with a so-so returning PG ahead of The Gerald, Scheyer, Paulus, Smith, EWill and Pocius? No doubt some Fr. are super talented, but they have proven nothing yet. GH, JS, GP have proven that they can do things that others in the article were praised for (score >10ppg, >3.2apg, >40% 3pt etc) while Smith showed some flashes of what other Fr. (who once again haven´t proven anything yet) were praised for; and EWill is a top-flight recruit as are some who were praised; and Pocius is at least a serviceable sub; yet Duke doesn´t get the nod? Mysterious...
Frasor is the best back-up PG in the nation. Really?
Press like this will hopefully (as already mentioned) be used as motivational fodder for these guys to destroy everyone (but mostly UNC)...

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

(a) I would be surprised if our guys cared that much about something like this.
(b) I hope if they need motivation they find something more meaningful that embraces a true team perspective.
(c) I don't get the obsession with continuously trying to analyze and debunk meaningless rankings. Who cares?

[Ignatius07]

(c) I don't get the obsession with continuously trying to analyze and debunk meaningless rankings. Who cares?

It generates discussion as to who actually has the best backcourt. Some of us think it is interesting.

[dukeballer2294]

Just some comments, but for me it sucks that the top 2 ranked backcourts are my least favorite teams. Second it doesn't matter what anyone says right now. Within the first month of the season they will see how good henderson, scheyer,smith, williams, paulis, etc are.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

It generates discussion as to who actually has the best backcourt. Some of us think it is interesting.

Well, discussing who has the best backcourt would be a great topic. I just don't get why it has to be in the context of a meaningless ranking like this one. Besides, the "discussion" thus far has focused on why we should have been included in the silly ranking and how the guys could use it as motivation.

[RelativeWays]

Top arbitrary number lists are traffic bait and thus usually have some manufactured controversy for that reason. Duke fans have proven to be easy targets because they're pretty passionate. Meh, who cares, once you see these lists for the transparent farces they are, you'll hardly care about another one again.

[SilkyJ]

Huh? All mock drafts I saw had him going early second (although some late first). But NBA GMs directly stated that his arrest did not affect their opinion of him. But, yeah, agree that it's hard to believe Duke doesn't have a top 15 backcourt. That's ok. Would rather sneak up on people! (Although Duke can't sneak up on anybody since we are still Duke)

DBR posted an article saying Larry Bird was very high up on Lawson before he got the DWI. I recall Roy saying that he wasn't going to punish Lawson b/c he had already been punished enough by falling out of the lottery or whatever...

Not sure if this is the same article, but it has some of the quotes I am think of:

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/c...y/1187012.html

[Kedsy]

DBR posted an article saying Larry Bird was very high up on Lawson before he got the DWI. I recall Roy saying that he wasn't going to punish Lawson b/c he had already been punished enough by falling out of the lottery or whatever...

Not sure if this is the same article, but it has some of the quotes I am think of:

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/c...y/1187012.html

Just before Lawson withdrew from the draft, the word was that Denver was looking very seriously at him. The Nuggets said the DWI wouldn't affect their decision. I doubt they had the same view of him no-showing a workout in Denver, which I expect was the last gasp for his 2008 draft chances.

[kramerbr]

Well, discussing who has the best backcourt would be a great topic. I just don't get why it has to be in the context of a meaningless ranking like this one. Besides, the "discussion" thus far has focused on why we should have been included in the silly ranking and how the guys could use it as motivation.

We could talk about the NL Pennant instead....

Sorry in advance.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

We could talk about the NL Pennant instead....

Sorry in advance.

Thanks for the low blow.

[Diddy]

I think the earlier poster hit the nail on the head with Henderson. If Winn is looking at the traditional Backcourt, ie a PG and a SG, then Duke might not have a top 15 Backcourt. If Hendo is a SF, Duke might actually have a top 15 frontcourt instead.

With Hendo as a forward, our backcourt is (probably) Paulus at PG, Scheyer at SG, wth Smith and Williams capable of backing up either position. With regards to the backups, there is a ton of potential. But we didn't see enough of Smith last year to justify a lofty ranking this year. We have heard that he improved, but we haven't seen anything yet. Williams is in much the same territory. He is a frosh. And though he was a McD's AA, he was not one of the instant superstar catagory. He will be great, I have no doubt, but probably not from Day 1 a la Rose, Mayo, or Stephenson. Point being, no one, ie Winn, has any idea how good he will be. There is nothing to base an evaluation of Williams on.

As for our starters, Paulus and Jon, they are good. But not great. They each have a weakness, and unfortunately it is the same weakness, athleticism. Jon is a solid athlete, and Paulus is, well, Gutsy. Offensively, they are fine, being good ball handlers and shooters. But neither is a real threat to penetrate and break down the opposing D. Ironically, our starters and backups are almost polar opposites. The Starters are skilled and proven, but have athletic limitations, while our backups are great athletes but are unproven and need to polish their skills.

There is potential in our backcourt, but based on what is known about us, there is a reasonable argument that a backcourt of starters Paulus and Scheyer, backed up by Smith and Williams, is not a top 15 backcourt. I don't agree, but there is a valid argument behind that belief.

Conversely, if Hendo counts in the frontcourt, Duke might actually have a top 15 front court. With Hendo at SF, and Singler at PF, we are great. Admittedly, the center position may or may not be a complete wasteland, but few teams in the nation have such quality players at both PF and SF. It is something to think about.

[brevity]

It generates discussion as to who actually has the best backcourt. Some of us think it is interesting.

I agree. A well-written article that analyzed a few candidates for the nation's best backcourt would always be a good read, even in the preseason.

But a list that gives us, say, the #14 backcourt in the nation is of limited value and somewhat ridiculous.