Captains Named -- Guess Who?

[airowe]

http://www.goduke.com//ViewArticle.d...CLID=204947617

[CameronBornAndBred]

No suprise there..congrats to both. I wonder if it would have only been Nolan if Singler hadn't returned.

[SilkyJ]

Wow. This is way earlier than usual, no?

No surprise by any means, so I guess they were just getting the obvious out of the way...

[airowe]

Wow. This is way earlier than usual, no?

No surprise by any means, so I guess they were just getting the obvious out of the way...

Yes, very early. It was so obvious, I guess the coaching staff wanted to set the tone for the Summer before leaving for their USA Basketball duties.

Next season probably won't be so easy...

[SilkyJ]

Yes, very early. It was so obvious, I guess the coaching staff wanted to set the tone for the Summer before leaving for their USA Basketball duties.

Next season probably won't be so easy...

I was thinking the same thing Re: the summer, but I feel like Nolan and Kyle would be setting the tone this summer regardless as they are the lone seniors and best players on the team...but yes, it all makes sense.

[Osiagledknarf]

Really no shocker here... Smith and Singler were no brainers for captain this year. Both huge contributors and really along with Singler last year took on that leadership role. Congrats to these guys and look forward to seeing them flourish once again this season.

[DukeBlueNV]

maybe its just me... and this is meant as no slight to kyle but i see nolan as the unquestioned leader of this team. no evidence to back it up just a feeling i get from watching the team and their interactions on and off the court. kyle may go down as one of my favorite players at duke but i think nolan should have been the lone captain. dont slay me ppl just an opinion and like i said love kyle but im just callin it like i see it. i do understand k's motivations, encouraging singler to become more vocal and also maybe he thought i would be insulting to him after postponing his future for the benifit of the team... i guess that exemplifies qualities of a captain. still see nolan as the true leader of this team.

[cato]

maybe its just me... and this is meant as no slight to kyle but i see nolan as the unquestioned leader of this team. no evidence to back it up just a feeling i get from watching the team and their interactions on and off the court. kyle may go down as one of my favorite players at duke but i think nolan should have been the lone captain. dont slay me ppl just an opinion and like i said love kyle but im just callin it like i see it. i do understand k's motivations, encouraging singler to become more vocal and also maybe he thought i would be insulting to him after postponing his future for the benifit of the team... i guess that exemplifies qualities of a captain. still see nolan as the true leader of this team.

Yes.

It probably is just you.

[SilkyJ]

maybe its just me... and this is meant as no slight to kyle but i see nolan as the unquestioned leader of this team. no evidence to back it up

The classic "no evidence" line!!!!!

[cato]

No suprise there..congrats to both. I wonder if it would have only been Nolan if Singler hadn't returned.

That would be my guess. If any of the other returning players really stepped up during the season, K could have made him co-captain during the season.

You know, I like this type of speculation much better than wondering what would have been if Kyle had decided to go pro.

[airowe]

maybe its just me... and this is meant as no slight to kyle but i see nolan as the unquestioned leader of this team. no evidence to back it up just a feeling i get from watching the team and their interactions on and off the court. kyle may go down as one of my favorite players at duke but i think nolan should have been the lone captain. dont slay me ppl just an opinion and like i said love kyle but im just callin it like i see it. i do understand k's motivations, encouraging singler to become more vocal and also maybe he thought i would be insulting to him after postponing his future for the benifit of the team... i guess that exemplifies qualities of a captain. still see nolan as the true leader of this team.

I think it's easy to form opinions like the one you presented, seeing as how Nolan is so outgoing. But, I suggest you go back and watch Lance's Senior Speech to get a little taste of how respected Kyle is by the team. He's an absolute warrior on the court and has always gone about his work in a manner which commands respect. That is something that K has always respected in his players tremendously (Battier, Hurley, etc.) Just because Kyle is not on Twitter, on the DBP videos, what have you hamming it up does not mean he is not respected by his team.

This is one of the reasons Kyle came back, was to work on his leadership skills. Why would K not give him every opportunity to do so?

[CameronBornAndBred]

maybe its just me... and this is meant as no slight to kyle but i see nolan as the unquestioned leader of this team. no evidence to back it up just a feeling i get from watching the team and their interactions on and off the court. kyle may go down as one of my favorite players at duke but i think nolan should have been the lone captain. dont slay me ppl just an opinion and like i said love kyle but im just callin it like i see it. i do understand k's motivations, encouraging singler to become more vocal and also maybe he thought i would be insulting to him after postponing his future for the benifit of the team... i guess that exemplifies qualities of a captain. still see nolan as the true leader of this team.

So you're saying the one guy on the team most likely to have his jersey in the rafters should not be captain?

[SilkyJ]

maybe he thought i would be insulting to him after postponing his future for the benifit [sic] of the team

Kyle did not postpone his future for the benefit of the team, he did it for the benefit of Kyle.

Kyle was quite clear on why he was coming back: he liked college, he liked his teammates, and he wanted to come back. That means he did it for himself. And good for him.

If you watched his press conference and read any of his quotes, you would know this.

Haha, wow. Dude got slammed quick...

[ElSid]

maybe its just me... and this is meant as no slight to kyle but i see nolan as the unquestioned leader of this team. no evidence to back it up just a feeling i get from watching the team and their interactions on and off the court. kyle may go down as one of my favorite players at duke but i think nolan should have been the lone captain. dont slay me ppl just an opinion and like i said love kyle but im just callin it like i see it. i do understand k's motivations, encouraging singler to become more vocal and also maybe he thought i would be insulting to him after postponing his future for the benifit of the team... i guess that exemplifies qualities of a captain. still see nolan as the true leader of this team.

meh. i won't slay you but i will disagree. nolan is better on the twitter and is a more over the top personality. but i thought kyle showed a lot of leadership during the tourneys at the end...just taking control of the games. they have different styles.

[cato]

I think it's easy to form opinions like the one you presented, seeing as how Nolan is so outgoing.

Actually, I don't see how one can form that opinion. Many things about last year's Duke team made it special, but one of the most important things was how well the Big 3 played together. In years past, Duke teams suffered by having too few players who were ready to take over a game (essentially, 2005-2009) or too many (2002).

I still find it remarkable that the team last year featured three players that could all take over the game, but were so tight that none of them tried to outshine the others. Kyle did not seem to resent going from being the preseason main attraction to one of the Big 3. Neither Nolan nor Jon seemed to resent tweaking the offense midway through the season in order to get Kyle untracked.

Even without any inside knowledge, I cannot see why the coaching staff would even consider driving a wedge between the two remaining members of the Big 3 by elevating one above the other.

[DukeBlueNV]

jeez fellas... asked not to get ripped but okay. my point is that kyle will do what he does regarless of the captain lable. have u ever seen kyle rally the troops or even say anything to the other players on the court? there is no doubt he will lead by example and like i said in my first post im not putting down singler or his game (he may be me favorite duke behind battier jwill and redick). he is who he is, and slapping a captain lable on him wont make him the vocal leader that nolan obviously is. im sure that his teammates have respect for him as does everyone who plays, coaches or watches college basketball. i just think the lable of being the unquestioned captain for nolan would really benfit him and i could see him taking his game to an even higher level when the team needs and the one the team looks to when he is on the court. the team dynamics will play out in this way i believe regardless of who is named what. just making a point, wasnt tryin to cause a stir just some healthy debate for the offseason. and i dont think k made a mistake here im just saying there is some benifts to nolan being the lone captain, personally i dont think kyle would have cared either way but the safe and classy move was to name both team captains.

[airowe]

jeez fellas... asked not to get ripped but okay. my point is that kyle will do what he does regarless of the captain lable. have u ever seen kyle rally the troops or even say anything to the other players on the court?

You can't just make a blanket statement with no evidence and ask not to be ripped. Sorry, NV. I did so on my first post and got ripped for it and rightfully so.

As for the bolded part, are you sure you watched Duke games the last 3 years?

[DukeBlueNV]

You can't just make a blanket statement with no evidence and ask not to be ripped. Sorry, NV. I did so on my first post and got ripped for it and rightfully so.

As for the bolded part, are you sure you watched Duke games the last 3 years?

well i can tell u i've watched almost every duke game for the last 4-5 yrs (i missed one when i was on a snowboarding trip and another for my cousins bar-mitzvah) and i honestly cant remember seeing kyle do anything vocal on the court besides maybe yell after a dunk or talk a lil smack to whoever was guarding him as he ran back down the court. the most vocal thing i saw last year was when he wouldnt back down from booker after he blocked his shot (maybe it was the other way) but other than that i dont remember any times seeing him act any other way than just keeping to himself and playing his game. being vocal towards his teammates thats just not him... i recognize this behavior being a carolina panthers fan with peppers. GREAT, GREAT player... just not a vocal leader, doesnt mean he isnt respected or take away from his game, thats just not him.

[airowe]

There is a lot more to being a captain than being vocal. There is also a lot more to "rallying the troops" than getting in guys' faces.

Kyle has sacrificed his body and played out of position his first two years at Duke. He's a leader. Just because he's not in guys' grilles yelling at them doesn't mean he doesn't know how to lead his fellow Duke teammates into battle.

[cato]

i honestly cant remember seeing kyle do anything vocal on the court besides maybe yell after a dunk or talk a lil smack to whoever was guarding him as he ran back down the court.