Alex Oriakhi to Missouri

[CDu]

Well someone will get squeezed even if we don't add anyone else to the mix. Sulaimon as a freshman is as good a bet as anyone else. It may be Dawkins, Cook, Gbinijie, Murphy, Marshall, or some combination. We are only losing 2 maybe 3 players and we already have 3 joining. Gbinijie and Hairston (until Kelly was hurt) were squeezed out this year so we can expect 2 or 3 to be squeezed out in the coming year, more if anyone else gets on board.

Completely agree that someone will get squeezed. I just have a suspicion that it won't be Sulaimon. And I was just noting for full disclosure that someone is going to be getting squeezed so long as we have 10 or 11 recruited players on the roster.

[loldevilz]

Completely agree that someone will get squeezed. I just have a suspicion that it won't be Sulaimon. And I was just noting for full disclosure that someone is going to be getting squeezed so long as we have 10 or 11 recruited players on the roster.

You don't have to squeeze. FSU plays 10 deep and it works for them. Coach K squeezes because he wants to develop leaders and he wants to play his stars. It works for him. I agree that Sulaimon won't get squeezed. I think that Gbinije will be the one squeezed. One that I've come to understand is that the easiest way to get on the court at Duke is not to play defense, its to shoot threes. When's the last time Coach K has benched a great 3 point shooter?

[Indoor66]

I am amazed that no one thinks that Marshall will get any burn. He is 7' and what - 245-250. He has been in the system for a year and practicing against the current Duke bigs. He may surprise the posters here.

[moonpie23]

i think marshal surprises ALL of us...i noticed during some video of the team in hawaii that the kid is cut...hard...

he's been watching the elder bros for years....he knows what he has to bring to the table...

[loldevilz]

i think marshal surprises ALL of us...i noticed during some video of the team in hawaii that the kid is cut...hard...

he's been watching the elder bros for years....he knows what he has to bring to the table...

I've seen him around campus and he is definitely tall than his bros but he looks kind of skinny to me- more like Mason than Miles.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

You don't have to squeeze. FSU plays 10 deep and it works for them. Coach K squeezes because he wants to develop leaders and he wants to play his stars. It works for him. I agree that Sulaimon won't get squeezed. I think that Gbinije will be the one squeezed. One that I've come to understand is that the easiest way to get on the court at Duke is not to play defense, its to shoot threes. When's the last time Coach K has benched a great 3 point shooter?

Andre Dawkins

Taylor King

Just off the top of my head... give us some time and I'm sure there's more.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I am amazed that no one thinks that Marshall will get any burn. He is 7' and what - 245-250. He has been in the system for a year and practicing against the current Duke bigs. He may surprise the posters here.

I'm with you. As I stated earlier in this thread, you don't sit a guy with that much size that has spent the last year learning the system. And as I said, IF he does ride the pine next year, I would think we'll see some talk about a possible transfer. I don't think he would be into giving up two years of his athletic life to sit on the bench, knowing that at several other schools he'd be getting tons of minutes.

[CDu]

You don't have to squeeze. FSU plays 10 deep and it works for them. Coach K squeezes because he wants to develop leaders and he wants to play his stars. It works for him. I agree that Sulaimon won't get squeezed. I think that Gbinije will be the one squeezed. One that I've come to understand is that the easiest way to get on the court at Duke is not to play defense, its to shoot threes. When's the last time Coach K has benched a great 3 point shooter?

Clearly you don't HAVE to squeeze guys out. FSU and UNC are examples of that, and there are others. But we're discussing Duke, and Duke has historically not gone more than 8-9 deep except in very rare circumstances and we've frequently trimmed to 6-7 deep come tourney time. The reality is that if we've got 10 or more guys, someone is likely to get squeezed.

As for benching 3pt shooters, we've had this discussion before. Coach K benched Dawkins this year and he played Dawkins as little as possible as a freshman (despite only having 3 guards on the roster). He benched Paulus his senior year. He benched Taylor King. He benched Ryan Kelly as a freshman. He benched Lee Melchionni. Shooting 3s will not by itself keep you on the court. You have to bring more to the table than that.

[CameronBornAndBred]

He's been officially released, so that hurdle is crossed. It looks like there isn't much interest in us, but I bet unc will look pretty appealing to him, especially since they are probably gonna have some seats open very soon.

A source close to the situation said Kentucky, North Carolina, Missouri and Duke are among the teams that have contacted Oriakhi. There appears to be mutual interest with the first three, but it seems unlikely that Oriakhi will consider Duke.

http://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/...#ixzz1qR39e5TI

[nocilla]

I'd only dissent to the extent that - if Mason leaves and no one else comes - the "squeezing" will be minimal and come only in the second half of the season. In the 10-man-roster-scenario, I'll guess that K might have a legitimate 9-man rotation all season long, with the 10th guy still playing a few minutes late-season most games. Marshall might be the most likely 10th guy, but if we have but 10 players, and but 3 other bigs, none of whom is a traditional 5, Marshall would not likely slide all the way to DNP.

This whole discussion really belongs in the 'Looking ahead to next year' thread.

The 10 man roster is what we had this year. Gbinijie was squeezed out and Hairston played sparingly. If that is what you mean by minimal squeezing then yes. Because even if Mason leaves and no one else joins, we will still have 10 scholarship players plus Zafirovski next year. If Mason returns or anyone else joins, we will have more guys looking for minutes next year than we did this year.

[superdave]

This whole discussion really belongs in the 'Looking ahead to next year' thread.

The 10 man roster is what we had this year. Gbinijie was squeezed out and Hairston played sparingly. If that is what you mean by minimal squeezing then yes. Because even if Mason leaves and no one else joins, we will still have 10 scholarship players plus Zafirovski next year. If Mason returns or anyone else joins, we will have more guys looking for minutes next year than we did this year.

I do think distribution of minutes is important in the Oriakhi thread, because it illustrates that our bench is long and minutes are few.

[unexpected]

I am amazed that no one thinks that Marshall will get any burn. He is 7' and what - 245-250. He has been in the system for a year and practicing against the current Duke bigs. He may surprise the posters here.

Height and weight do not make a basketball player. Nick Horvath, Brian Zoubek, Michael Thompson, and Eric Boateng were all big, tall centers who did not get incredible amounts of minutes in the early parts of their careers.

[mr. synellinden]

You don't have to squeeze. FSU plays 10 deep and it works for them. Coach K squeezes because he wants to develop leaders and he wants to play his stars. It works for him. I agree that Sulaimon won't get squeezed. I think that Gbinije will be the one squeezed. One that I've come to understand is that the easiest way to get on the court at Duke is not to play defense, its to shoot threes. When's the last time Coach K has benched a great 3 point shooter?

I think the complete opposite is true. Andre Dawkins is the best example of this. Andre Dawkins is one of the best shooters to play at Duke, and so far has been one of the worst defensive players. Thomas Hill started over Billy McCaffrey and it was not because he was a better 3-point shooter.

[A-Tex Devil]

I do think distribution of minutes is important in the Oriakhi thread, because it illustrates that our bench is long and minutes are few.

Is our bench long, though? In scholarship players, sure, but in guys that can give >10+ effective minutes off of the bench on both sides of the floor? I'm not sure we know that yet except with Curry, Kelly, Plumlee, Cook/Thornton as an amalgamam (if only we could combine them into 1 super PG), and perhaps Dawkins. Everyone else could be all-ACC or they could be Joey Beard.

Oriakhi (to bring this back) is more or less a proven commodity. I don't have any doubt he'd log 15-25 minutes a game for us if he came in.

[superdave]

Is our bench long, though? In scholarship players, sure, but in guys that can give >10+ effective minutes off of the bench on both sides of the floor? I'm not sure we know that yet except with Curry, Kelly, Plumlee, Cook/Thornton as an amalgamam (if only we could combine them into 1 super PG), and perhaps Dawkins. Everyone else could be all-ACC or they could be Joey Beard.

Oriakhi (to bring this back) is more or less a proven commodity. I don't have any doubt he'd log 15-25 minutes a game for us if he came in.

We're losing Miles' 20 minutes, Austin's 33 and maybe Mason's 28.

I am assuming Sulaimon, Murphy, Marshall and Gbinije would all be able to play 15+ each, with Murphy and Sulaimon maybe earning more.

The thing is, if you add another big guy - Parker, Oriakhi, Jefferson - then our rotation is bigger, at the expense of the wings. If you do not add another big guy and Mason goes pro, our wings can slide up and we go small and our rotation has a little more breathing room. One more big guy really changes the nature of the team quite a bit, in my opinion.

[Devilsfan]

Ok, so we are unable to add another big. Who gets these multiple minute wings the ball? Do we assume that they are that good that we don't need at least as many second chance opportunities as our opponents? Or do we believe that a red shirt big that wasn't ready for team play this year has a tremendous transformation and becomes the next Anthony Davis or KU's Robinson? I hope the latter is the right answer. I hope our developmental coaching works wonders over the summer, but we will have to wait and see. Go Devils!

[superdave]

Ok, so we are unable to add another big. Who gets these multiple minute wings the ball? Do we assume that they are that good that we don't need at least as many second chance opportunities as our opponents? Or do we believe that a red shirt big that wasn't ready for team play this year has a tremendous transformation and becomes the next Anthony Davis or KU's Robinson? I hope the latter is the right answer. I hope our developmental coaching works wonders over the summer, but we will have to wait and see. Go Devils!

I think if we get one fewer big (ie Mason goes pro and we get none of Jefferson/Parker/Oriakhi) then Murphy would play some at the 4 vs smaller teams and some at 3 vs bigger teams. Murphy splitting time at the 4 with Josh means minutes at the 3 would be split by Dawkins and Gbinije.

If Oriakhi is good enough as a fully developed college player to earn 25 minutes, as people are suggesting, the competition for minutes at the 3 and 4 will be fierce for only a few minutes a piece. That worries me. An unhappy bench is not a good thing.

If the Coaches think they can compete for a title by bringing in Oriakhi, so be it. If they do not think Oriakhi brings a shot at a title, then I think we should pass and spread those minutes amongst the guys on the team today, namely Marshall, Murphy and Gbinije, to get them lots of reps for the future. This is a good problem to have.

[CDu]

I think if we get one fewer big (ie Mason goes pro and we get none of Jefferson/Parker/Oriakhi) then Murphy would play some at the 4 vs smaller teams and some at 3 vs bigger teams. Murphy splitting time at the 4 with Josh means minutes at the 3 would be split by Dawkins and Gbinije.

If Oriakhi is good enough as a fully developed college player to earn 25 minutes, as people are suggesting, the competition for minutes at the 3 and 4 will be fierce for only a few minutes a piece. That worries me. An unhappy bench is not a good thing.

If the Coaches think they can compete for a title by bringing in Oriakhi, so be it. If they do not think Oriakhi brings a shot at a title, then I think we should pass and spread those minutes amongst the guys on the team today, namely Marshall, Murphy and Gbinije, to get them lots of reps for the future. This is a good problem to have.

I think it's pretty clear what should be expected of Oriakhi. Before being supplanted by Drummond (perhaps a mistake?) Oriakhi was a rebounding and defensive force who put up only slightly lesser numbers as a sophomore than Mason put up this year as a junior. I'd expect at least that kind of production next year. I see Oriakhi and Mason as fairly comparable players in terms of size, athleticism, and offensive polish (or lack thereof). Mason is a little more efficient in terms of FG%, but otherwise I see a lot of similarities. Granted, there'd be some hurdles in terms of learning the ropes that would be difficult for Oriakhi as Duke's defensive concepts and communication patterns aren't easy to jump in and handle. So it's not a given that the transition would be seamless.

I'd assume, based on Duke having reached out to Oriakhi, that they think he could help next year. But if we don't get him or Parker and Mason goes pro I think we're still in decent hands. That team gets much quicker (which can actually help on the boards at times) perhaps taller on the wings (which will also help on the boards) and more able to handle the ball than with Oriakhi or Parker. And it'd allow guys to develop with game action.

Granted I'm not sure that team would be threatening for a title next year. But it could go a long way in setting the path for a special team in a year or two.

[Kedsy]

Oriakhi was a rebounding and defensive force who put up only slightly lesser numbers as a sophomore than Mason put up this year as a junior.

What makes Oriakhi interesting to me is his defensive prowess. Add that to Rasheed Sulaimon's supposed on-ball defensive acumen, Seth's quick hands and/or Tyler's strong off-ball D, plus the possibility of more size at the 3, and all of a sudden we're a very strong defensive team. On offense, we'd have a whole bunch of shooters (Ryan, Seth, Andre, Rasheed) and some decent size up front (Oriakhi plus Ryan and Alex or Michael) which combined with our newfound strong D would make for quite the formidable team.

Sounds like it's a longshot that Oriakhi comes to Duke, but it is an interesting possibility.

[uh_no]

What makes Oriakhi interesting to me is his defensive prowess. Add that to Rasheed Sulaimon's supposed on-ball defensive acumen, Seth's quick hands and/or Tyler's strong off-ball D, plus the possibility of more size at the 3, and all of a sudden we're a very strong defensive team. On offense, we'd have a whole bunch of shooters (Ryan, Seth, Andre, Rasheed) and some decent size up front (Oriakhi plus Ryan and Alex or Michael) which combined with our newfound strong D would make for quite the formidable team.

Sounds like it's a longshot that Oriakhi comes to Duke, but it is an interesting possibility.

To me, Oriakhi looked lost on defense all year at Uconn. The switching was awful, for the most part. I have huge doubts whether he could catch on to the likely more complex defense that K would run...especially if he has to help often, depending on what the perimeter D looks like next year.