Here it is! Our roster for next year:
#0 Jayson Tatum 6-8 F
#1 Harry Giles 6-10 F/C
#2 Chase Jeter 6-10 C
#3 Grayson Allen 6-4 G
#5 Luke Kennard 6-5 G
#12 Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier 6-8 F
#13 Matt Jones 6-5 G/F
#15 Frank Jackson 6-3 G
#21 Amile Jefferson 6-9 F
#30 Antonio Vrankovic 7-0 C
#34 Sean Obi 6-9 C
#41 Jack White 6-8 F
#45 Nick Pagliuca 6-3 G
#50 Justin Robinson 6-8 F
#53 Brennan Besser 6-5 G
And . . .
Marques Bolden 6-10 F/C
Let the speculation commence.
Perhaps coach K can petition for a 48 minute game for next year
It'll be a long off-season. I'm not allocating minutes yet but rather bucketing.
Order is who I think gets the most minutes
Gonna get minutes:
-Grayson
-Tatum
-Amile
-Harry
-Jones
-Kennard
Probably gonna get minutes:
-Jackson
-Marques
Outside-looking-in on minutes:
-Jeter
Duke-up-30-points-with-2-min-left:
-Javin
-Obi
-Vrank
-White
-Robinson
-Pags
-Anyone else?
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Starters
Player: Minutes
Harry Giles: 28
Amile Jefferson: 28
Matt Jones: 27
Grayson Allen: 32
Jayson Tatum: 29
Bench
Luke Kennard: 24
Marques Bolden: 16
Frank Jackson: 11
Chase Jeter: 4
This is pretty new territory. Not sure we've had a team this deep, like, EVER. This team has nine 5-star kids. I was looking at the 98-99 team, and this team still has more highly rated guys. However, I still think it'll become an 8 man rotation, even if it means a really talented kid isn't playing much.
Kaze, I think you can change the title of this thread to:
Phase -1: Keys to the minutes discussion
1. Health:
Obi is already hurt, will he be able to play at all next year? Surprisingly the biggest X factor in the minutes discussion (see 3 and 5).
If anyone gets hurt next year, every minutes discussion will be moot.
2. Minutes Locks
Allen, A. Jefferson, Tatum, Giles, M. Jones, Kennard all a lock for minutes. Thats 6 of an 8-9 deep rotation
3. Minutes Knocks
Unlikely to get minutes from Vrank, J. Rob, J. White, and Javin (AKA How do you spell Delaurierierieer?).
Obi probably also makes this list, because of injury and lack of improvement. Would need a heck of a summer...
4. Guard Battle (AKA Just how good is Frank Jackson really?)
He'll probably play, but just how much will Jackson eat into Jones/Kennard minutes? Is he good enough to start? Can he earn MORE minutes than either of these guys?
5. Jeter Vs Bolden
Who's more ready, the big body center freshman or the somewhat tested sophomore. There is also a chance neither get significant minutes and they get distributed into a 3 man big rotation of Jefferson, Giles and Tatum. Also Obi?
I am very tempted to go with the same prediction I used last year, when Duke looked 9 deep, before we learned that Obi had bad knees, Jeter wasn't ready, and Amile had a broken foot. Everyone of the 9 gets slightly more than 22 mpg, except for blowouts, when the other player take some minutes.
Maybe I should give this more thought. . .
I do see Allen, Jefferson, Tatum and Giles as likely starters. The freshmen will have to play defense to maintain that role. It is probably up in the air as to whether Jones starts. The real issue will be to find a consistent PG. Jackson has a chance at that role as does Kennard. Jones is a good defender but not so much a PG or a guy that can create his own shot. Whichever player starts the others will be getting solid PT. I see Bolden as a sub for Jefferson and Jeter for Giles, but a lot of fluidity there based on performance. A lot will depend on how quickly guys pick up defensive skills and rebounding. Beyond them, the others will have to work and improve to see any or much PT. Maybe there will be positive surprises with Delaurier, White and Vrank. Stranger things have happened. Obi's physical condition may keep him out of contributing in any meaningful way.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Matt Jones brings a lot to the table. He's experienced, likely to be a captain, plays good on-ball defense, knows the system, and Coach K loves him. If he's not a starter, things must be going very well for the good guys. I can easily see GA handling the ball on offense in many (most?) situations, which makes room.
By February it will be a 7-8 man rotation, at most..........kidding folks, just kidding.
It's possible it will end up a 7-man rotation, if Jayson Tatum ends up playing primarily at PF. More likely it will be an 8-man rotation, with three bigs and five perimeter guys (including Jayson).
But if Chase Jeter ends the summer vastly improved, I think there's a possibility that K goes outside his comfort zone and plays nine guys regularly (in non-garbage time situations). It would essentially be unprecedented but, as others have pointed out, this year's very deep team is even deeper (both qualitatively and quantitatively) than other teams that we thought at the time were very deep (but turned out not to be).
- Nine-man rotation -- take it to the bank. Similar to the rotation in Elton Brand's two years. Check it out.
- Chase Jeter will play, although he won't start. He was contributing significantly by the end of the season, and productive players never go to the end of the bench at Duke. He's in the mix.
- Who's gonna be defensive stoppers other than Amile and Matt Jones? Grayson and Luke will help, but what about the others? When it comes to freshmen, you gotta "show me." We are counting on Tatum, Giles, Bolden and Jackson as part of the rotation. Duke team defense is hard to learn. The distribution of minutes after mid-January may be quite different than in the first half of the season.
- Surprise of the upcoming season? Luke Kennard makes second-team All-ACC.
Enough predictions for now
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013