We are not THAT tall but our guard depth is thin.
Just thought I'd point out that while Duke is exceptionally tall this year, so are our marquee opponents. Seems like a big year in college basketball, overall. Hopefully, the fact that we have guys that are big AND fast will make a huge difference.
It's also interesting that we will face the most talented Bigs in college basketball: Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Craig Brackins (Harrison State), Jerome Jordan (Tulsa), Solomon Alabi, Derrick Favors, Gani Lawal, Al-Farouq Aminu, Trevor Booker, Ed Davis, and John Henson. Almost all of these guys (excepting Lawal and Booker) have been discussed as lottery-type talent. Wow.
DUKE: (from GoDuke)
F Miles Plumlee 6-10/240, Soph.
F Mason Plumlee 6-10/230, Fr.
F Kyle Singler 6-8/230, Jr.
G Nolan Smith 6-2/185, Jr.
G Jon Scheyer 6-5/190, Sr.
UCONN: (projected starters from Rivals)
C Alex Oriakhi, 6-9/240, Fr.
F Gavin Edwards, 6-10/230, Sr.
F Stanley Robinson, 6-9/220, Sr.
G Jerome Dyson, 6-4/190, Sr.
G Kemba Walker, 6-1/172, Soph.
GEORGETOWN: (Rivals)
C Greg Monroe, 6-11/247, Soph.
F Henry Sims, 6-10/220, Soph.
F Hollis Thompson, 6-8/197, Fr.
G Austin Freeman, 6-4/216, Jr.
G Chris Wright, 6-1/205, Jr.
Tulsa: (Rivals)
C Jerome Jordan, 7-0/250, Sr.
F Steven Idlet, 6-10/240, Soph.
F Bishop Wheatley, 6-6/225, Sr.
G Justin Hurtt, 6-4/195, Jr.
G Ben Uzoh, 6-3/205, Sr.
FSU: (Rivals)
C Solomon Alabi, 7-1/251, Soph.
F Xavier Gibson, 6-11/240, Soph.
F Chris Singleton, 6-9/227, Soph.
G Derwin Kitchen, 6-4/204, Jr.
G Michael Snaer, 6-5/200, Fr.
GA TECH: (Rivals)
F Derrick Favors, 6-10/246, Fr.
F Gani Lawal, 6-9/234, Jr.
F Zach Peacock, 6-8/235, Sr.
G Iman Shumpert, 6-5/209, Soph.
G Mfon Udofia, 6-2/187, Fr.
CLEMSON:
F Trevor Booker, 6-7/240, Sr.
F Jerai Grant, 6-8/220, Jr.
F Milton Jennings, 6-9/225, Fr.
G Demontez Stitt, 6-2/175, Jr.
G Tanner Smith, 6-5/220, Soph.
WAKE FOREST (Rivals)
C Chas McFarland, 7-0/235, Sr.
F Al-Farouq Aminu, 6-9/215, Soph.
F Ari Stewart, 6-7/190, Fr.
G Ishmael Smith, 6-0/175, Sr.
G L.D. Williams, 6-4/210, Sr.
UNC:
F Deon Thompson 6-8/245, Sr.
F Ed Davis 6-10/215, So.
F John Henson 6-10/185, Fr.
G Marcus Ginyard 6-5/220, Sr.
G Larry Drew 6-1/180, So.
We are not THAT tall but our guard depth is thin.
In looking at team height, it may also be worth remembering that our 4 top reserves are 6'8, 6'4, 7'1 and 6'10, which adds a bit to our being a tall team this year.
Good point regarding the starters. But our "tallness" also includes the bench, which will rotate the following big guys into the game:
Zoubek 7-1
Kelly 6-10
Thomas 6-8
Czyz 6-7
And Dawkins (at 6-4) has good size for a guard. I'm not sure how many of those other schools also have this kind of height ready to come off the bench. UNC is close close though, with Zeller and the Wears.
Last edited by El_Diablo; 10-25-2009 at 09:43 PM. Reason: NSDukeFan beat me to it!
Duke is actually ridiculously tall this year. The team's average height is 79.7 inches. That would have ranked #1 in the country each of the past 3 years. Florida State was the tallest last year at 78.9 inches and we're almost a full inch taller on average.
Riiiight, so I guess I was asking more a rhetorical question rather than "omg are Miles and Mason actually 6'10 and is Kyle Singler actually 6'8"?!?!"
What i'm saying is, look at our marquee opponents this year. They all have good size at the 3 through 5 positions, and they match up well against our bigs. It doesn't mean much to me if the average team height is a few inches taller than the other guys. What matters more are the actual matchups.
Food for thought.
Of the 30someodd games Duke will play this year, we have the height advantage overall in all of them. When you start a thread with a the title "Is Duke really that tall this year?" you'll get a lot of people pointing that out.
Now, if you wanted to start a thread called "While Duke is tall this year, will that height have a dramatic impact on our games against our top competition?" I am sure you would get difference responses
Sure, and I was just pointing out that other teams might have size as well in their lineup, but it seems likely that they'll all still be smaller, especially when you add in the bench. I agree with your point that the effect of that height advantage will vary based on the opponent, but when you're taking an overall look at what could potentially happen to the team this season, being the tallest team in the nation will obviously be an advantage.
Plus, I just wanted to put the actual numbers out there, in case no one had mentioned it yet.
I think something else is how well we use this height. I know that we still don't have great post players, but, IMO, i think we need to run an offense to utilize the height we do have.
We've seen from other ACC teams in previous years that, despite having the height advantage, that doesn't automatically translate into wins. I have full faith in Coach K to do that, and I'm anxious to see some of the different line-ups we could have this year with Kyle possibly at the 2 and the Plumlees and Z/Czyz/Kelly in the game
That sound's a little inapporiate but in the basketball way i agree.
All right boys, gym class is over let's try to focus...
The two noteworthy and somewhat unique things about Duke's height this year are 1) the depth of the height and 2) the fact that we will likely use our size in ways other schools do not.
#1 is pretty obvious and others have already made mention of it. Having Zoubek, Thomas, Kelly, and others to come off the bench at 6-8 to 7-1 really gives us phenomenal tall depth.
But I think it is #2 that makes us really different. It is possible, nay even probable, that we will see Kyle Singler playing some SG this year standard caveat about positions at Duke). Imagine how big we will be with:
PG- Scheyer: 6-5, a couple inches taller than most PGs
SG- Singler: 6-9, a half a foot or more taller than most SGs
SF- Thomas or Kelley: 6-8 or 6-10, at least a couple inches taller than most SFs
PF & C: Mason, Miles, or Zoub: all slightly taller than most players at their position.
It is when we move that 6-9 guy to the SG position that we look really, really imposing. The nice part is that we all know Kyle has the ballhandling and shooting skills to play that position too. And if anyone goes worrying about defensive matchups, we can easily switch Thomas onto a particularly quick SG on defense.
So, to answer the question-- YES, Duke really is all that tall this year. even compared to other big teams around the nation.
--Jason "Singler's versatility is a major weapon for us!" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
According to Ken Pomeroy, it's the average height of your two tallest players on the court that matters. For Duke that height should be in the neighborhood of 6'10".
Also keep in mind that many schools play perimeter-oriented guys who are around 6'4" at the three spot. Singler should be able to use his height to his advantage by backing them down inside.
Also, aren't we all forgetting about length, aka wingspan?
This thread is getting silly.