2018 Basketball Recruiting Thread

[lotusland]

Are we even sure Cremo is better than a sophomore Alex O'Connell? As well as Cremo played last year, I don't think it's totally unreasonable to think that Alex could put up similar numbers in the America East Conference next year.

I doubt he’d come to Duke expecting to play behind AOC.

[kAzE]

Who would he start ahead of, Tre Jones, Cam Reddish, or RJ Barrett?

None. Zion at center, with Cam, RJ, Tre, and Cremo.

[mph]

I see you are determined to take the discussion in a cheesy direction.

PS It must be off-season.

Yes, because threads absolutely never devolve into a stream of groan-inducing puns during the season.

[53n206]

Another way to look at him is with info we now have would we take him if he were a high school senior?

[cato]

None. Zion at center, with Cam, RJ, Tre, and Cremo.

A starting five who have played zero minutes for Coach K at the beginning of the season?

That is something I will have to see to believe.

[lotusland]

I hope he's thinking I need to keep working hard and doing the right things. If he is and does, he is going to have a successful career at Duke regardless of who else Coach K brings in.

I am thrilled that Coach K is leaving no stone unturned. Next year's team is extremely talented but lacks depth across the board. Injuries and other unpredictable things happen. Tough-minded, hard-working players who can shoot the ball will always have a shot at gaining plenty of playing time over their careers at Duke. I see AOC as being one of those guys, and I believe will be a valuable contributor in our program over the next three seasons.

Between AOC and Cremo, one of those guys would take Jordan Tucker’s spot on the bench next year. I hope AOC likes that spot better as a sophomore than JTuck did as a Freshman.

[kAzE]

A starting five who have played zero minutes for Coach K at the beginning of the season?

That is something I will have to see to believe.

That's a valid point. I'm not guaranteeing my prediction, I'm just confident in it

Unless Marques or Javin suddenly becomes a threat outside of 5 feet and/or Alex O'Connell makes the biggest freshman to sophomore year leap I've ever seen, I think Cremo has a strong case to start over all those guys. I'm just not sold on the value of pairing Zion with Marques or Javin. I think it would cause a lot of the same spacing issues we dealt with this previous year.

Also, Cremo is a legit perimeter defender. I think Coach K will enjoy that.

[jimsumner]

None. Zion at center, with Cam, RJ, Tre, and Cremo.

I would be absolutely gob- smacked to see this starting lineup. Even in the absence of Bolden and Montgomery, Duke would almost certainly start DeLaurier at the 5 rather than a 6-5 freshman.

[lotusland]

I suspect a guy like Zion had a conversation with Coach K about how he’d be used before deciding to come to Duke considering he could play anywhere he wanted to play. I doubt he agreed to spend his 1 year of college playing center.

[kAzE]

I would be absolutely gob- smacked to see this starting lineup. Even in the absence of Bolden and Montgomery, Duke would almost certainly start DeLaurier at the 5 rather than a 6-5 freshman.

He's 6'6", 270 pounds, with a 46 inch vertical. If anybody else is the starting center, it would be Bolden. Javin would just get bullied against ACC centers. Charles Barkley started at center for Auburn standing 6'4" I think Zion can more than handle himself.

I suspect a guy like Zion had a conversation with Coach K about how he’d be used before deciding to come to Duke considering he could play anywhere he wanted to play. I doubt he agreed to spend his 1 year of college playing center.

He obviously wouldn't play as a traditional back to the basket center in that lineup. It would be the college version of the Golden State Warriors' lineup of death, with Zion as Draymond. He would still handle the ball on the perimeter. The matchup problems this lineup would cause for opponents would be insane.

[jimsumner]

I'm pretty darn certain both that Zion Williamson will not start at center for Duke next season and that Cremo would not start at Duke next season over DeLaurier.

Doesn't mean Cremo wouldn't play. There will be lots of perimeter minutes available off the bench.

[kAzE]

I'm pretty darn certain both that Zion Williamson will not start at center for Duke next season and that Cremo would not start at Duke next season over DeLaurier.

Those two statements make no sense together. Even if Javin started along with Zion, Zion would still be the center in that lineup. He'd still be the one guarding the biggest guy on the other team, thus the center.

Positions don't matter on offense. Only on defense.

[proelitedota]

It's in our best interest to keep the physical contact down-low limited to Bolden and Delaurier only. We don't want to wear out Zion like we did to Carter and Bagley. Those two regularly got elbowed, hacked and grabbed during conference play.

We can run Zion at 5, but I don't want to see that lineup unless it's against scrubs, in garbage time, in comebacks / close games, and in the NCAA tournie.

[kAzE]

It's in our best interest to keep the physical contact down-low limited to Bolden and Delaurier only. We don't want to wear out Zion like we did to Carter and Bagley. Those two regularly got elbowed, hacked and grabbed during conference play.

We can run Zion at 5, but I don't want to see that lineup unless it's against scrubs, in garbage time, in comebacks / close games, and in the NCAA tournie.

I don't understand what you mean by the first part of that post . . . we want to keep Zion away from physical contact? The dude is 270 pounds. Opponents are the ones who should be afraid of physical contact. Of course Bagley and Carter got grabbed and elbowed. That's what happens in big time ACC games.

The 2nd part of your post is something I could see happening. Even with the Warriors' lineup of death, it was not something they started games with. During that era, they typically went with Andrew Bogut at center to start the game, bringing Iguodala off the bench, but the top 5 minutes played on that team were still Draymond Green, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Harrison Barnes. I could see us doing something like that, with Bolden as the nominal starter, but not in the top 5 for minutes.

[kshepinthehouse]

I don't understand what you mean by the first part of that post . . . we want to keep Zion away from physical contact? The dude is 270 pounds. Opponents are the ones who should be afraid of physical contact. Of course Bagley and Carter got grabbed and elbowed. That's what happens in big time ACC games.

The 2nd part of your post is something I could see happening. Even with the Warriors' lineup of death, it was not something they started games with. During that era, they typically went with Andrew Bogut at center to start the game, bringing Iguodala off the bench, but the top 5 minutes played on that team were still Draymond Green, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Harrison Barnes. I could see us doing something like that, with Bolden as the nominal starter, but not in the top 5 for minutes.

Very good analysis in my opinion. I think that’s what will end up happening. I honestly can’t see Bolden and Delaurier staying out of foul trouble enough to play 30+ mins a game anyway. I think each willl be around 20.

[coldriver10]

I apologize if this was posted elsewhere and I missed it, but I thought this was good enough to share. Here's a well-written, insightful article by Darius Bazley on why he spurned college ball for the G league.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en...o-the-g-league

[English]

I'm pretty darn certain both that Zion Williamson will not start at center for Duke next season and that Cremo would not start at Duke next season over DeLaurier.

Doesn't mean Cremo wouldn't play. There will be lots of perimeter minutes available off the bench.

Does this assume Marques is gone, or that Cremo would be behind both Bolden and DeLaurier in the pecking order?

[jimsumner]

Does this assume Marques is gone, or that Cremo would be behind both Bolden and DeLaurier in the pecking order?

No. it means that rather than start Williamson, Barrett, Reddish, Cremo and Jones, Duke would more likely start DeLaurier, Williamson, Barrett, Reddish and Jones. So, the fifth starter would either be DeLaurier or Cremo and I'm reasonably certain that DeLaurier would be the fifth starter in this scenario and I'm reasonably certain that this makes sense to most readers of this board.

Should Bolden return, he would most likely start, with DeLaurier as the front-court Swiss Army Knife.

And there's no guarantee that Cremo is coming to Duke. Could happen. But it only makes sense for either party if he's a clear upgrade over O'Connell. Who would absolutely lose PT. No reason for Cremo to come to Duke if he's not going to get the bulk of the backup perimeter minutes.

DeLaurier as starting center in 2019 would be roughly analogous to Amile Jefferson as starting center in 2014, i.e. rebound, defend, protect the rim, offensive targets of opportunity. Note that DeLaurier is already bigger than Jefferson was in 2014.

Duke did not recruit Williamson nor did Williamson come to Duke with the expectation that he would be guarding ACC centers.

[freshmanjs]

No. it means that rather than start Williamson, Barrett, Reddish, Cremo and Jones, Duke would more likely start DeLaurier, Williamson, Barrett, Reddish and Jones. So, the fifth starter would either be DeLaurier or Cremo and I'm reasonably certain that DeLaurier would be the fifth starter in this scenario and I'm reasonably certain that this makes sense to most readers of this board.

Should Bolden return, he would most likely start, with DeLaurier as the front-court Swiss Army Knife.

And there's no guarantee that Cremo is coming to Duke. Could happen. But it only makes sense for either party if he's a clear upgrade over O'Connell. Who would absolutely lose PT. No reason for Cremo to come to Duke if he's not going to get the bulk of the backup perimeter minutes.

DeLaurier as starting center in 2019 would be roughly analogous to Amile Jefferson as starting center in 2014, i.e. rebound, defend, protect the rim, offensive targets of opportunity. Note that DeLaurier is already bigger than Jefferson was in 2014.

Duke did not recruit Williamson nor did Williamson come to Duke with the expectation that he would be guarding ACC centers.

I'm not sure. I think we may see a lot of small-ball next year. Whether that is reflected in the starting lineup, I have no idea.

[kAzE]

Duke did not recruit Williamson nor did Williamson come to Duke with the expectation that he would be guarding ACC centers.

I'm fairly certain if Zion guarding centers is the best way for Duke to win basketball games, Zion will guard centers. I don't think Justise Winslow expected to guard power forwards. I don't think Quinn Cook expected to give up his starting point guard spot. I don't think Jon Scheyer expected to come off the bench as a sophomore. I don't think Rasheed Sulaimon expected to get kicked off the team. Who cares about expectations? Are we trying to meet expectations or are we trying to win?

Besides, a guy like Zion should relish matching up with traditional centers. He would run circles around them on offense, and dunk on everyone else. Matching him up with quicker power forwards weakens his biggest advantage. He's not a guy who plays with his back to basket and bullies smaller defenders. He's a guy who takes slower defenders off the dribble. If you understood his game, you would agree that center is his best college position.