But the difference is that the level of defense played in summer leagues is much less than that played in D-1 college ball (both in terms of capability and effort). So showing capability in the summer leagues doesn't really mean much with regard to capability in college ball. Dawkins has spent considerably more time practicing against D-1 players at Duke. I'm guessing his lack of confidence in his ballhandling stems from not being very successful with it at that level of practice.
Right, that's why I stated you could not compare performance in the Summer League to performance in College. I also stated that was not my point. You guys keep missing that because you made up in your mind what I was trying to state. So, throw out every mention of the summer league. (One side bar though: Both of you are dismissing something you have never seen, as meaningless. Some of the games out there when both teams are loaded up with the Top D1 players and a NBA guy or two, can get competitive. The majority of the games are played with no team defense. You get some good one on one matchups where they D each other up strongly, but no team defense approaching the level of college defenses. Now the girls games, on the other hand, are very competitive and similar to real womens college games.)
But back to Andre. Ball handling is still a skill that can be assessed in different environments, much like shooting. Having seen Andre play, in person, in numerous college games, 3 CTC games, a couple of Duke practices, and the aforementioned totally worthless, meaningless, waste of time league that K must be crazy to let his kids compete in, I have come to the conclusion that Andre can be an adequate enough ball handler, that he should not be afraid to dribble in college games. He is never going to be a great ball handler, but he is not so bad at it, that he would get the ball stolen every time he attempted to dribble against college defenders.
For whatever reason, he freezes up in games to the point where he treats the ball like a hot potato. I believe that to be a mental issue. You are welcome to both disagree and have the last word, as I am done on the subject.
I can also say with great confidence that we will not be adding Oriakhi now that Mason has decided to return. Oriakhi will be going somewhere he can start, and that opportunity no longer exists at Duke.
I also think it's unlikely that Sulaimon is the #3 SG and #3 PG next year. He's going to play. He's very good.
I agree Sheed is good. He isnt very good though at least not yet. Better than Dawkins (defensively, ball handling) and better than Thornton (scoring, attacking offensively). But he isnt going to start right away. And he is coming off the bench.
Until Oriakhi decides on a school. Duke is still in contention for him.
And if Oriakhi decides on Duke, he will start over Kelly.
Oriakhi would not start over Kelly. Kelly is a stretch 4, not a 5. Oriakhi is a 5 all the way. If you thought our offense stagnated without Kelly last year, think how it would stagnate with Oriakhi in there. He's a big body, rebounder and post defender. Not an offensive force.
He would back up Mason and play at the 5 with Mason for big lineups.