A lady at a grocery store was hagging me about my Duke T-Shirt. She loudly proclaimed "You need to be a Carolina Fan, everybody loves UNC". I responded, "Yes, your are right, there are more UNC fans but Duke fans are like the MARINES...The Few and The Proud" and we support our teams with honor and true integrity unlike UNC and their multitude of "bandwagon fans".
Anyway, we lost out on HB but keeping up with the theme of the Marines, Duke will adjust and adapt to the current situation. We've responded well from adversity before and will continue to do so.
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced" - James Baldwin
Ok, I want to talk about big guys. Next year we will have the Plumlees and Josh Hairston. Singler can play PF as well but is more naturally a SF. Kelly also seems like a 3/4. Quincy Miller (if he comes) is listed as a PF. Marshall Plumlee is big but I would suppose his game to be simlar to his brothers.
So from the looks of things, the closest player to a true center we will have from 2010-2012 is Miles Plumlee. Is anyone else concerned by this? I know that Duke's offense does not rely on a traditional post player, but it still seems odd that we will not have one on our roster. Am I missing some other targets on our recruiting radar? It seems like most of the attention on the boards has focused on guards and wing players, but to me landing a big guy is a more pressing need.
I think Miles fits the bill pretty darn well. I love having him at the five. He'll probably be 6-10, 240-odd for the next 3 years, which is certainly big enough for a center, but IMO he plays even bigger than that due to his extremely quick jumping ability and affinity for physical contact. I'm doing my best not to get excited until we play some real teams with big guys that are his size, but it's nice to finally have a "beast" under the basket. I loved when the UNC-G big guy tried to get tough and back him down on an iso, and Miles just stood him up, cuffed his shot and threw it back down into his face.
If he can learn to a) avoid picking up body-contact fouls on defense and b) learn some power post moves like a drop step that would make use of his explosiveness around the rim, I really think he'll develop into a huge presence down low. He'll probably never be a polished, HansWow-type 20 ppg scorer, but it just helps everything else so much when you have an agile, mobile and hostile big guy holding down the fort inside.
I wouldn't necessarily have been scared of a Shavlik Randolph or Josh McRoberts if I was an opponent, or really even Shelden Williams. However, I just wouldn't really want to mix it up with Miles... he's the kind of athlete that can just embarrass you.
Josh Hairston is going to be a monster down low for us. Watch as he blows up at Montrose Christian this year.
I'm not quite as knowledgeable as some of the other people on the board. Can someone explain the difference between a 4 & 5 (PF and C)? I'm not sure how they are used differently, and what that means in terms of ideal physical talents.
There is essentially no difference. In college, they are same thing. However, in these cases, 5 would guard the other teams' biggest player, 4 would guard the more perimeter oriented of the big men. They usually play that role on offense too. That is why Miles plays "5" and Mason "4." Mason has more perimeter skills, maybe not as inclined to play inside. Miles like to dunk and shoot hook shots. It seems we prefer them to be interchangable, but the bigger guy usually takes the other teams' bigger guy. I think both Miles and Mason have similar skills and will be great in both roles.
In today's game (mostly the NBA, but to a lesser extent college ball too), I think players are asked to be versatile. Nonetheless, there are core skills for each position, and it can be seen as a continuum: at the small end, PG's have to be able to handle the ball, drive, pass, and run the offense. At minimum. (It's also tough for them to be effective if they aren't 3-point threats.) At the other end of the spectrum, centers really should be able to establish position in the low post and score with their back to the basket. Whatever else they can do is gravy. PFs are generally expected to be able to play in the low post, but maybe aren't tall enough to count on being able to do it against any and every opponent, which means they also need to be able to hit midrange jumpers and score facing the basket. Wings are not usually asked to post up, but need to be able to hit outside shots and penetrate.
But again, versatility is the name of the game these days because it creates mismatches. in the 90's, George Karl routinely would run isolation plays for Gary Payton so he could post up smaller point guards. And on the other end, Sabonis would routinely shoot the three-ball. That trend has only continued.
What the heck happened to Kendall Williams? I remember he was a 5 star prospect who committed to UCLA real early. I can't find why but does anybody know why he's no longer committed there?
the position you play is not always determined by what you play on offense but who you can guard on the defensive end.
also the position you play has a lot to do with your teammates.
for example:
duncan was a center in college
he played power forward to start his career because of david robinson. stayed playing the power forward position most of his career, when the spurs had guys like nestorvic and elson, but now duncan has taken the center position for the spurs because he playing with guys like mcdyess, blair, bonner. but he is list as pf/c.
Have you seen Josh play? I have seen him play a couple of times and he is no monster down low. He doesn't seek contact. I wouldn't say he plays afraid of contact but he is definately more finesse than power down low. Against smaller inferior HS competition Josh often would put the ball on the glass instead of dunking (with a 4-5" height advantage). Reminds me of a mix between Lance and Joey Beard (as a SR in HS). I'm curious to see how he does at Montrose this year. If he does blow up at Montrose than I could see him playing more his first year than I was previously thinking. If he doesn't blow up than i think it will take Josh some time to get strength and confidence at the college level (like Ryan Kelly).
Josh has already put 15 lbs of muscle since he arrived at Montrose. With the increase in bulk I expect his willingness to initiate contact will increase as well.
That's my biggest concern - who is going to guard guys like Deon Thompson or Trevor Booker down at Clemson? Ever since Shelden we haven't had an answer for the big centers who can just pound it inside. Our strategy is typically to use single coverage, let the big guy get his points and try to shut down everyone else, but I think this is somewhat out of necessity rather than by choice. And the jury is still out as to whether Miles can be that kind of defender, even with some size around him to help.
It doesn't seem like we're pursuing any prototypical centers with our recruiting, so I'm not sure if deliberate or if it's just that there aren't any of those players available in the next two classes.