Originally Posted by
Kedsy
I'm not entirely sure to what "role" you are referring, but if I had to describe Z's role last year I'd say on offense he was an on-ball screener and a rebounder and on defense he was a help defender and a rebounder. Other than the help defender part, I disagree that it's a critical role that "must" be filled. Duke has rarely had a guy who focused almost exclusively on rebounding (and we've never had an offensive rebounder like Z), but our teams have generally fared pretty well without such a player.
And as for screening, this year's team will be much less reliant on on-ball screens -- really none of our perimeter guys need them. We'll hopefully see some off-ball screens, but in the halfcourt offense our bigs' primary role will be to be to sneak to open spots when their defender turns his head to help and then to receive dump off passes and alley-oops (and hopefully finish them). Of course, this year our bigs will also be expected to run the floor, something Z never really did. Defensively, our bigs will still have to rotate and help, but I think pressuring the passing lanes will be more prevalent than sitting back in rebounding position.
Just my opinion, of course.