Inside Duke Basketball practice notes

[BD80]

My goodness! Haven't heard that name in awhile (not that I missed it). What am I missing? Why on earth would he be at a Duke preseason practice?

Checking out the cheerleaders

[Troublemaker]

Here is Picasa link to pictures from yesterday's practice. Taking pictures from the stands is not ideal and I still need lots of practice. But, it gives some idea of the intensity of practice.


https://picasaweb.google.com/tommyk5...ctice10172014#

Great practice reports riverside and tfk! Thanks for the pictures, too, tfk!

I especially like picture 13, which is a little bit more grist for my "we're going to defend pick-n-rolls the Thibs way this year" mill

[Kedsy]

I especially like picture 13, which is a little bit more grist for my "we're going to defend pick-n-rolls the Thibs way this year" mill

Well, Jahlil certainly isn't hedging in pic 13, but if this is ICE, Grayson didn't do it very well. He allowed Matt to successfully use the screen to get into the middle of the court. Jahlil will have to allow a pretty much uncontested shot from just beyond the free throw line or be susceptible to Marshall's roll. Or in this particular case, Matt will also have the option of Justise posting up Tyus, I assume due to an earlier switch.

In other words, in the next few frames the screening team has a pretty good chance to score, meaning our attempt at ICE (assuming that's what this shows) isn't working so well yet.

[MCFinARL]

Coach made a point of with only 10 scholarship players, he is not able to substitute in practice. As noted, once they got to the scrimmage, Obi did not enter. Coach felt he could get as much out of 90 minutes with 10 players as in 120 minutes with 13 players. Downside is that he does not see what substituting fresh folks will be like. Said he will have to wait to games for that.

I think he made this comment once earlier, in a video or interview, as well. I find this interesting because, of course, there are actually 11 scholarship players on the team. It's true Obi cannot play in games this year, but he is not a walk-on. On the one hand, of course the emphasis has to be on getting the players who will actually play this year ready. But on the other hand, if Obi is to develop as a player and benefit from his transfer, one might expect him to play a little more. Certainly during Hood's redshirt year, we heard a lot about how good he was in practice. Not really sure what conclusion to draw here, if any.

When I heard him talk about UNC last year and they way they handled his leaving- he was pretty bitter. Perhaps he has seen the light and is becoming a Duke fan.

Could be--or maybe Doherty just wants to support the Emily K Center for some reason--which can't be a bad thing. Edit: Made this post before seeing BD80's brilliant alternative explanation.

[Troublemaker]

Press was allowed into today's practice. Couple interesting articles written by Wiseman (H-S) and Keeley (N&O)

First, the Herald Sun article says that Sheed is embracing selflessness and sacrifice for the team this season, even if that means fewer minutes. Coach K calls him Duke's best on-ball defender.

A snippet I enjoyed reading:

...Shane Battier — recently retired from the NBA’s Miami Heat — spoke to the team about the 2001 NCAA championship season and how everyone sacrificed to make it happen.

“One of the main things he said was `Everyone talks about sacrificing until you have to be the one to sacrifice,’” Sulaimon said. “When you are the one who has to sacrifice, are you willing to do it?”

Sulaimon is proving, at least in practices, that his answer to that question is yes. He’s guarding freshman guard Tyus Jones hard every day, showing his defensive acumen while helping prepare the newcomer for the ACC’s rigors.

“You’re probably not going to like me,” Sulaimon said he told Jones, “but I’m going to get into you. I’m going to pick you up full court. I’m going to try to make it hell for you. I’m going to do that because there is nobody else in the nation that can do what I am going to do to you on an everyday basis.”

That meshes with the practice reports above in which Sheed never wears the white jersey during scrimmages. If Tyus is always going to be on the white team, Sheed is always going to be on the blue team, preparing him.

[Troublemaker]

Next, the News and Observer article has quotes from Amile about a simplified defense and the Jahlil's defensive impact.

A snippet I enjoyed reading (Amile discussing Jahlil):

“He takes up a lot of space, and he moves his feet really well, so that’s the best thing,” Jefferson said. “We can do things like ice the ball screens. It really helps our guards a lot because he moves so well. When a big comes out for a screen, he can jump out and then recover. And he’s so good at the ball, he blocks shots. He’s a rim protector. It helps our guards get up into the ball more. And it helps our defense feel more confident.”

N&O photographs of practice. In photo 12 of 16, Matt is once again on the white team. It's possible he's more of a threat to start at SG than previously thought.

[subzero02]

Next, the News and Observer article has quotes from Amile about a simplified defense and the Jahlil's defensive impact.

A snippet I enjoyed reading (Amile discussing Jahlil):



N&O photographs of practice. In photo 12 of 16, Matt is once again on the white team. It's possible he's more of a threat to start at SG than previously thought.

Matt's status as a starting shooting guard is contingent upon him maintaining his ability to guard and vastly improving his ablility to shoot. I am sure he spent countless hours shooting 3's from the wing and baseline this summer... Hopefully his shot has been falling consistently in practice.

[sagegrouse]

Some whoop-te-do out of practice -- this from Laura Keeley:

Okafor rejected a few shots in practice Tuesday, an element that was completely absent from last year’s squad. Often after his swats, his team would move quickly up the other end of the floor. And at the end of practice, when he was paired with Tyus Jones, Matt Jones, Grayson Allen and Justise Winslow – four freshman and one sophomore – the young ones trounced the team Quinn Cook, Amile Jefferson, Semi Ojeleye, Marshall Plumlee and Jefferson 36-22.

Probably meant Rasheed for the last name.

[roywhite]

Probably meant Rasheed for the last name.

Ha...spotted that error, and knew someone would mention it.

The DBR board is getting some pre-season work in, too; posters swat away misspellings, grammatical errors, and weak assertions like Jahlil defends the rim.

[Kedsy]

The DBR board is getting some pre-season work in, too; posters swat away misspellings, grammatical errors, and weak assertions like Jahlil defends the rim.

Come on. Protects the rim.

[OldPhiKap]

Come on. Protects the rim.

I prefer "defeats those who seek the rim" but that's just the Tolkien talking.

[MCFinARL]

Some whoop-te-do out of practice -- this from Laura Keeley:



Probably meant Rasheed for the last name.

Maybe--although if one team had only four members (counting Jefferson twice), that might explain why the other team trounced them...

[jv001]

Some whoop-te-do out of practice -- this from Laura Keeley:



Probably meant Rasheed for the last name.

Makes sense sage, Rasheed always on the team opposite Tyus. Good catch. GoDuke!

[devildeac]

Maybe--although if one team had only four members (counting Jefferson twice), that might explain why the other team trounced them...

Unless DUMC cloned Amile in the off-season and we now have an Amile and a Jefferson. Certainly possible, after all, there are 3 Plumlees who played MBB at Duke.

[wk2109]

Matt's status as a starting shooting guard is contingent upon him maintaining his ability to guard and vastly improving his ablility to shoot. I am sure he spent countless hours shooting 3's from the wing and baseline this summer... Hopefully his shot has been falling consistently in practice.

Coach K spoke with the media for about 20 minutes yesterday (available on goduke.com) and said that if there was a game today, Matt would probably start. He said Matt is a glue guy and has the best defensive instincts on the team.

[Kedsy]

Coach K spoke with the media for about 20 minutes yesterday (available on goduke.com) and said that if there was a game today, Matt would probably start. He said Matt is a glue guy and has the best defensive instincts on the team.

With Rasheed AND Justise coming off the bench? Wouldn't that be something?

[COYS]

With Rasheed AND Justise coming off the bench? Wouldn't that be something?

It would also indicate that K is planning on actually using an 8-man rotation deep into the season OR playing a fair amount of small-ball. I would find it extremely surprising if Rasheed and Justise aren't firmly in the rotation. This would mean that either Matt is poised to join Tyus, Quinn, Rasheed, Amile, Jahlil, Justise and Marshall in the rotation or that Marshall is less likely to see significant minutes. Given that it would be surprising for Jahlil to play as many as 30 minutes per game (though if he stays out of foul trouble, I would imagine he could reach that mark), there will probably be some long stretches when Jahlil is off the floor.

Also, I have managed to turn this thread into a discussion of minutes. Apologies all around.

[MCFinARL]

Unless DUMC cloned Amile in the off-season and we now have an Amile and a Jefferson. Certainly possible, after all, there are 3 Plumlees who played MBB at Duke.

Awesome idea. Maybe the team can borrow the invisibility cloak invented by Duke researchers and hide either Amile or Jefferson--then he could be a true "6th man."

[Kedsy]

Coach K spoke with the media for about 20 minutes yesterday (available on goduke.com) and said that if there was a game today, Matt would probably start. He said Matt is a glue guy and has the best defensive instincts on the team.

Listening to Coach K talk about his team is always fascinating. One thing that stuck out to me in that interview is he said so far there hasn't been much "separation" among the players. Which might explain why many of the scrimmages seem to be close games -- someone mentioned this in this or another thread and suggested it may be cause for concern, presumably because it means our "good" players aren't as good as we thought they were. But maybe it means the opposite, that the players at the end of the bench are better than we thought they were. In other words, we know Tyus and Rasheed and Quinn and Justise are very good players, but if Matt and Grayson and Semi are essentially just as (or almost as) good, then wow.

The other thing about not having so much separation is it argues for a longer rotation. No reason to sit Matt, Grayson, Semi, and Marshall if there's little or no drop off when they come in. I know I've usually been the one to argue Coach K would never do it, and frankly I'm a bit skeptical of it now, but listening to him in that interview it sure sounds like he plans to try a 9 or even 10 man rotation.

Obviously we'll have to wait and see, though looking at our schedule, we may not know for sure until almost halfway through the conference schedule -- our toughest pre-season stretch is three games in five days, so Coach K might spread out the minutes to keep everyone fresh. Other than that stretch the only tough pre-season games we have are Wisconsin and UConn, so we might see some evidence then, but our first four conference games are BC, @Wake, @NCSU, and Miami. While ACC games always have the potential to be competitive and @State should be tough, we may not get to really see whether Coach K is going to winnow down his rotation until the latter part of January, when we play @Louisville, Pitt, @St. Johns, @Notre Dame, and @Virginia in a two week span.

[wk2109]

It would also indicate that K is planning on actually using an 8-man rotation deep into the season OR playing a fair amount of small-ball. I would find it extremely surprising if Rasheed and Justise aren't firmly in the rotation. This would mean that either Matt is poised to join Tyus, Quinn, Rasheed, Amile, Jahlil, Justise and Marshall in the rotation or that Marshall is less likely to see significant minutes. Given that it would be surprising for Jahlil to play as many as 30 minutes per game (though if he stays out of foul trouble, I would imagine he could reach that mark), there will probably be some long stretches when Jahlil is off the floor.

Also, I have managed to turn this thread into a discussion of minutes. Apologies all around.

A few more interesting points from K's media session:

1. Justise can play the 4 spot if Duke wants to be fast
2. There isn't much separation of talent: "All 10 guys can play" (K specifically mentioned Marshall, Semi and Grayson as guys who have played really well)