Trey Zeigler

[BlueDevilBrowns]

Where is all this coming from? He averaged 15.8 points per game and 6.2 rebounds for CENTRAL MICHIGAN of Conference USA, for crying out loud. He was rated 35th out of high school. He is now going to play the 1, 2 and 3 for Duke? What are you smoking?

As has been mentioned, I never asserted that Ziegler had the ability to play 3 positions at the same time, just that he was versatile enough to play either 2 or the 3 and MAYBE the 1. I think you would agree that the LACK of versatility from our backcourt and 3 spot this year was a major concern, primarily defensively. It's my thought that Trey would help solve some of these issues. To me, scoring 16 and 6 for 2 years at the D-1 level should hold a LITTLE more weight than similar stats at the high school level. Yes, he was "ONLY" top 35 in high school, but where was Seth, Miles, Josh, Tyler, Andre(after he re-classified), and Quinn coming out of high school? They all seemed to contribute this year.

The fact that Coach K is interested in him should be all the confirmation you need as to how Ziegler could/would help Duke, so maybe you should ask K what HE is smoking?

[BD80]

If he can DEFEND the 1, 2, or 3, ANY one of the three, he would add a dimension missing from the 2011-2012 squad.

If Trey can defend all 3, he is a valuable tool for a Coach like K.

Trey may also be the type of leader that we missed this past year.

In a way, it reminds me a bit of Chris Carrawell v Mike Chapell. Chapell was so smooth and a great shooter and looked great in practice. Chris was not very polished-to the point you thought we were down a man on offense early in his career. Chapell never really adjusted to the physicality and speed of top-flight college ball. The tougher things got, the better Chris played.

Maybe Trey has some CC in him.

[turnandburn55]

Methinks if Trey Zeigler were 6'1, he wouldn't be getting the time of day from us

[BlueDevilBrowns]

Methinks if Trey Zeigler were 6'1, he wouldn't be getting the time of day from us

And if Wojo were 5'6", he'd be a really bad "big man" coach!

[CDu]

Methinks if Trey Zeigler were 6'1, he wouldn't be getting the time of day from us

If he were 6'1", he probably wouldn't have averaged 15.8ppg and 6.2rpg, either. Thankfully, he's not 6'1".

I don't think we should be expecting a superstar game changer. But he's a guy who has proven himself against college competition (even playing very well against major conference foes) and could very easily be a double digit scorer and solid defender at the SG/SF spot in the ACC next year (if he were to come here and be eligible next year).

[turnandburn55]

If he were 6'1", he probably wouldn't have averaged 15.8ppg and 6.2rpg, either. Thankfully, he's not 6'1".

Thank you for making my point for me.

To elaborate, I suspect that K probably grew a tad frustrated with that fact that our team could only play really big or really small. Think he misses having a team with a 6'5" point guard, a 6'9" small forward who can play inside and out, and a 6'8" power forward who can defend just about every position? 2010 was a great year..

This year we were stuck trying to figure out how to incorporate a 6'4" shooting guard who can't defend and a 6'1" point guard who nobody respects on offense. Add in Curry, Cook, and Rivers-- we aren't exactly talking about Mike Dunleavy's clone army here. K is probably psyched to add a perimeter player with enough height and length to bother dudes.

[CDu]

Thank you for making my point for me.

To elaborate, I suspect that K probably grew a tad frustrated with that fact that our team could only play really big or really small. Think he misses having a team with a 6'5" point guard, a 6'9" small forward who can play inside and out, and a 6'8" power forward who can defend just about every position? 2010 was a great year..

This year we were stuck trying to figure out how to incorporate a 6'4" shooting guard who can't defend and a 6'1" point guard who nobody respects on offense. Add in Curry, Cook, and Rivers-- we aren't exactly talking about Mike Dunleavy's clone army here. K is probably psyched to add a perimeter player with enough height and length to bother dudes.

Yes, I think improving our defensive versatility (as well as simply the quality of our defense in general) is going to be a big theme moving forward. The players on this year's team were simply not versatile at all defensively. Hopefully that changes next year. With a year of development for Gbinije and Murphy and (hopefully) Zeigler or Muhammad in the mix as well, we'd have 2-3 guys who can defend the 2, 3, and 4 (at least against smaller PF). That would help in substitutions/rotation and it would help with regard to switching on screens.

I expect the team to look a fair bit different next year, not just because we don't have Rivers. Whether or not we're as good or better remains to be seen, as it is asking a lot of our returning players to improve as well as asking a lot of our incoming player(s).

[jimsumner]

Methinks if Trey Zeigler were 6'1, he wouldn't be getting the time of day from us

If Tony Parker were 6-5, would he be getting the time of day from Duke? How much PT would a 6-3 Josh Hairston garner?

What a curious line of reasoning.

[RepoMan]

If Tony Parker were 6-5, would he be getting the time of day from Duke? How much PT would a 6-3 Josh Hairston garner?

Would Sumner get a look if he was 7' 2" and 18 yo?

[devildeac]

Would Sumner get a look if he was 7' 2" and 18 yo?

I guess that would depend on his vertical, his wingspan and whether he had hands of granite or hands of Boozer/Brand...

[Cameron]

If Tony Parker were 6-5, would he be getting the time of day from Duke? How much PT would a 6-3 Josh Hairston garner?

What a curious line of reasoning.

Better yet, what about a one-foot tall Christian Laettner? If Christian were only 12 inches, would he still have been the same brash, in-yo-face killer? Based on Christian's greatness, I'd say probably actually.

Can you imagine how livid Kentucky fans would be if a one-foot tall Duke player beat them on a last-second shot to go to the Final Four? Now that's something to picture.

[Lennies]

Can you imagine how livid Kentucky fans would be if a one-foot tall Duke player beat them on a last-second shot to go to the Final Four? Now that's something to picture.

I'll have some of what he's smoking.

[FerryFor50]

Better yet, what about a one-foot tall Christian Laettner? If Christian were only 12 inches, would he still have been the same brash, in-yo-face killer? Based on Christian's greatness, I'd say probably actually.

Can you imagine how livid Kentucky fans would be if a one-foot tall Duke player beat them on a last-second shot to go to the Final Four? Now that's something to picture.

Is Tiny Laettner related to Tiny Elvis?

[turnandburn55]

If Tony Parker were 6-5, would he be getting the time of day from Duke? How much PT would a 6-3 Josh Hairston garner?

What a curious line of reasoning.

I'm sorry, I suppose I'm not following. A 6'1" guard is not all that unusual in the college game. A 6'3" to 6'5" post player is highly unusual, so your analogy doesn't quite work. My "line of reasoning", as I have already detailed, is that K probably is interested in having a perimeter player who happens to be a taller, longer fella than our current guard lineup.

[CDu]

I'm sorry, I suppose I'm not following. A 6'1" guard is not all that unusual in the college game. A 6'3" to 6'5" post player is highly unusual, so your analogy doesn't quite work. My "line of reasoning", as I have already detailed, is that K probably is interested in having a perimeter player who happens to be a taller, longer fella than our current guard lineup.

A 6'1" guard/forward is about as rare as a 6'5" post player. Actually, it's probably more rare. Zeigler is as much a forward as he is a guard.

[NashvilleDevil]

Is Tiny Laettner related to Tiny Elvis?

What about mini Ditka?

[Greg_Newton]

A 6'1" guard/forward is about as rare as a 6'5" post player. Actually, it's probably more rare. Zeigler is as much a forward as he is a guard.

I agree with you and others here (obviously), but just to underscore the physical limitations of our team this year... we really did have a 6'1" guard/forward this year. While Thornton sometimes dribbled the ball up the floor when started alongside Rivers and Curry, he was often our SF, for all intents and purposes.

[jimsumner]

I'm sorry, I suppose I'm not following. A 6'1" guard is not all that unusual in the college game. A 6'3" to 6'5" post player is highly unusual, so your analogy doesn't quite work. My "line of reasoning", as I have already detailed, is that K probably is interested in having a perimeter player who happens to be a taller, longer fella than our current guard lineup.

The suggestion was that a 6-5 wing forward might not be recruited if he were 6-1. The same way that a 6-9 post might not be recruited if he were 6-5.

Duke is recruiting Zeigler to play the 3/2. That's the logical position for someone his size. Duke is recruiting Tony Parker to play his logical position, as Duke plays Josh Hairston at his logical position. Trying to extrapolate whether they would be able to play another position if they were four inches shorter doesn't seem to be especially fair to the young man being recruited.

[SilkyJ]

Is Tiny Laettner related to Tiny Elvis?

They're both related to this little guy:

gerbil.jpg

[SMO]

Would Sumner get a look if he was 7' 2" and 18 yo?

Depends on how many cinderblocks wide he is.