2017 Basketball Recruiting Thread

[Volunteer Duke]

Like I said, we will be different. We likely won't have anyone as good at C as Jefferson was or as good on wings as Jones was. So we won't play defense the same way as we did this year. Maybe we would rebound better. Maybe the combo of Duval and a more experienced Jackson would make for better on-ball defense than this year. Maybe Allen is the returnee and commits to elite defense.

Defense isn't a "sum of individual parts" thing. It is a team thing. And since our individual parts will be different, the defensive roles and approach will be different.

Mo Bamba is a much better defender than Amile Jefferson. The combo of Bamba-Carter could be sensational.

Duval is a much better defender at the point than Allen or Frank Jackson. Trent is a much better defender than Luke.

[Pghdukie]

I hope I'm wrong, but I see Bamba going to Kentucky. I hope I'm right, but I see Duval and Knox coming to Durham. Just my .02 worth.

[Newton_14]

Exactly. There was literally no choice but to play Singler at the 3 in 2010. And once Lance and Zoobs were gone in 2011 and both Seth and Kyrie arrived, Singler played primarily the 4 until Kyrie got hurt which coincided with Ryan shooting lights out for a time. From that point on Kyle probably still played around 50% at 4. Kyrie, Seth, Nolan and Kyle were going to play big minutes. Dawkins was also in the rotation so No way was Kyle going to sit so Ryan, MP1 and MP2 could split 80 mpg at 4 and 5.

And had that happened that is zero chance we would have won the National Championship because Zoubek would have never seen the floor and the Plumlee's minutes would have been drastically cut. K would have rolled with Lance at the 5 and Kyle at the 4 and out we go in the Sweet 16 or sooner vs winning the Title.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Mo Bamba is a much better defender than Amile Jefferson. The combo of Bamba-Carter could be sensational.

Duval is a much better defender at the point than Allen or Frank Jackson. Trent is a much better defender than Luke.

Can you share with us your basis for making these very confident statements? Are you a verified authority on recruits? Please justify your hyperbole.

In particular, I highly doubt that as a freshman Bamba will come in and have the defensive influence (which goes well above and beyond just "playing defense") that Amile had as a fifth year senior. Even the best defensive player will take a while to master being the quarterback of the defense with the switches and help assignments that even the most knowledgable posters here don't fully understand. I hope you are right but I highly doubt it.

[CDu]

Can you share with us your basis for making these very confident statements? Are you a verified authority on recruits? Please justify your hyperbole.

In particular, I highly doubt that as a freshman Bamba will come in and have the defensive influence (which goes well above and beyond just "playing defense") that Amile had as a fifth year senior. Even the best defensive player will take a while to master being the quarterback of the defense with the switches and help assignments that even the most knowledgable posters here don't fully understand. I hope you are right but I highly doubt it.

Yeah, I have no doubt that Bamba will be a better shotblocker than Jefferson was. I also have very little doubt that he won't be as good defensively - as a freshman - as Jefferson was as a fifth-year senior. It takes time to learn how to defend in a team concept.

[dukelifer]

Mo Bamba is a much better defender than Amile Jefferson. The combo of Bamba-Carter could be sensational.

Duval is a much better defender at the point than Allen or Frank Jackson. Trent is a much better defender than Luke.

The lessons from this year- Freshman have a lot to learn about defense at the college level.

[SkyBrickey]

We will be different. I would expect Jackson to make great strides on defense. I would expect whichever of the two of Giles/Bolden and whichever of the two of Kennard/Allen (especially if Allen comes back for a senior year) returns to each be better versions of themselves. Same for DeLaurier. I would expect Carter to help much more than Giles and Bolden did this year. And Duval would increase the team's perimeter athleticism.

Yes, we lose our two best defenders. But we would gain in continuity and repetitions over this year. And not least importantly, the staff KNOWS the team is losing its best defenders, and will be spending the offseason working on a strategy to make up for that loss.

If we just tried to run it back the same way as this year with a new team? Yeah, we would be worse defensively. But we won't do that.

Loved Amile but Frosh Carter will be a better defender and rebounder.

[CDu]

Loved Amile but Frosh Carter will be a better defender and rebounder.

Better rebounder? Maybe. Better defender next year? Not a chance.

[OZ]

The lessons from this year- Freshman have a lot to learn about defense at the college level.

Not intending to be snarky, but what was the difference in 2015? We started three freshmen, with a fourth coming off the bench.

[Furniture]

Rivers a Stud...wow maybe with stats added up. Rivers was and still is an overrated and underachieving signee...but he is rich and still plays for his father. The rest I can agree on.

Why is he overrated? I am no expert but an average of about 14 ppg (50% fg%) has to be pretty good for the last 5 games. 2.4 assists. 3.4 rb...

To my eyes his D looks fairly intense.

[elvis14]

Why is he overrated? I am no expert but an average of about 14 ppg (50% fg%) has to be pretty good for the last 5 games. 2.4 assists. 3.4 rb...

To my eyes his D looks fairly intense.

Rivers, like many OAD players was drafted on potential. He took a while to fulfill that potential and he barely stayed in the league. The Clippers are on at night a good bit and being a night owl (insomniac) I watch the games (I'm always up to watch JJ play). I'm happy for Austin and impressed by his improvement. No way he improves that much without hard work. I just don't get the hate and that shot...oh my that shot!

[DukieInBrasil]

Not intending to be snarky, but what was the difference in 2015? We started three freshmen, with a fourth coming off the bench.

only one of them played defense worth a damn. Both Jah and Tyus were routinely acknowledged as bad defenders, but by the tournament though, everything was clicking. It's hard to pinpoint any one thing in particular. Part of it was that Quinn really upped his defensive effort. Jr Jefferson and So Jones were also skilled defenders. Had Jackson, Allen or Kennard played defense as well as Quinn did his Sr year, we might still be playing now. Having 2 really skilled backcourt defenders is of course better than only 1, but it makes it more difficult to drive to the rim, which is what this team anti-excelled at. If we could have just been mediocre at preventing dribble penetration i think we'd still be playing b/c our offense is really good. Ifs and buts...

I am skeptical that the arriving Fr. will have the defensive concepts down well enough to improve the defense from last year.

[elvis14]

only one of them played defense worth a damn. Both Jah and Tyus were routinely acknowledged as bad defenders, but by the tournament though, everything was clicking. It's hard to pinpoint any one thing in particular. Part of it was that Quinn really upped his defensive effort. Jr Jefferson and So Jones were also skilled defenders. Had Jackson, Allen or Kennard played defense as well as Quinn did his Sr year, we might still be playing now. Having 2 really skilled backcourt defenders is of course better than only 1, but it makes it more difficult to drive to the rim, which is what this team anti-excelled at. If we could have just been mediocre at preventing dribble penetration i think we'd still be playing b/c our offense is really good. Ifs and buts...

I am skeptical that the arriving Fr. will have the defensive concepts down well enough to improve the defense from last year.

I remember Jah being labelled as bad at defense (he was and is) but Tyus? He wasn't a great defender but I don't remember him being bad.

[chriso]

I remember Jah being labelled as bad at defense (he was and is) but Tyus? He wasn't a great defender but I don't remember him being bad.

My 2 cents about what made 2015 different. We not only had 3 impact freshman who stayed healthy, we had 3 impact freshman who plugged our 3 biggest holes and played the 3 most crucial positions; point guard, athletic wing who could defend, and space eating scoring big. Those were not your typical freshman; not even typical elite freshman. They were mature beyond their years. And Tyus was crazy good and clutch. You can reload but that was a class for the ages....

[ncexnyc]

Can you share with us your basis for making these very confident statements? Are you a verified authority on recruits? Please justify your hyperbole.

It sounds like the kool-aid many of our members were guzzling prior to last season doing the talking. I think I'll wait to see how these kids perform in several of the all-star games before making any bold predictions.

[Troublemaker]

It sounds like the kool-aid many of our members were guzzling prior to last season doing the talking. I think I'll wait to see how these kids perform in several of the all-star games before making any bold predictions.

Not sure that's being all that circumspect. I think if one is going to be skeptical of freshmen, one should probably continue to be skeptical through the early non-conference season at least. Playing well in some high-school all-star games probably shouldn't affect your opinion all that much.

[Indoor66]

Mo Bamba is a much better defender than Amile Jefferson. The combo of Bamba-Carter could be sensational.

Duval is a much better defender at the point than Allen or Frank Jackson. Trent is a much better defender than Luke.

Please. On what basis do you think that this freshman will be a better defender than Amile Jefferson, a fifth year senior? Just physical maturity alone negates that comment.

[Troublemaker]

Please. On what basis do you think that this freshman will be a better defender than Amile Jefferson, a fifth year senior? Just physical maturity alone negates that comment.

It wouldn't be all that surprising. Time will tell whether Bamba deserves to be mentioned with Anthony Davis or Karl-Anthony Towns as defensive talents, but I don't think there's any question that Davis and Towns were better defenders than Amile. And Davis was thin and not as physically mature as Amile.

That said, I don't endorse Volunteer Duke's definitiveness about it. My take is the typical "it's possible but let's see them play some games." Incidentally, I think Wendell Carter could be a better defender than Amile, too.

[CDu]

It wouldn't be all that surprising. Time will tell whether Bamba deserves to be mentioned with Anthony Davis or Karl-Anthony Towns as defensive talents, but I don't think there's any question that Davis and Towns were better defenders than Amile. And Davis was thin and not as physically mature as Amile.

That said, I don't endorse Volunteer Duke's definitiveness about it. My take is the typical "it's possible but let's see them play some games." Incidentally, I think Wendell Carter could be a better defender than Amile, too.

Davis? Yes. I'm not so sure about Towns. I'd say it is unlikely that either is a better overall defender as a freshman than fifth-year senior Jefferson. Especially so for Carter, who isn't known for his defensive prowess. Possible, but unlikely.

[COYS]

It wouldn't be all that surprising. Time will tell whether Bamba deserves to be mentioned with Anthony Davis or Karl-Anthony Towns as defensive talents, but I don't think there's any question that Davis and Towns were better defenders than Amile. And Davis was thin and not as physically mature as Amile.

That said, I don't endorse Volunteer Duke's definitiveness about it. My take is the typical "it's possible but let's see them play some games." Incidentally, I think Wendell Carter could be a better defender than Amile, too.

Can I ask, what's the reason for your optimism with Wendell Carter's defense. Just curious