Duke to Dominican Republic (cancelled; knee)

[wsb3]

http://duke.247sports.com/Bolt/Duke-...ugust-52864213


First trip since 2011...This has to help with such a young team.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

http://duke.247sports.com/Bolt/Duke-...ugust-52864213


First trip since 2011...This has to help with such a young team.

Interesting. Thanks. Looks like Calipari and his consigliere Orlando Antigua are no longer there and the coach is now a local. I'm assuming Towns is not traveling back to the DR for these exhibitions.

This will be a great opportunity for the team to work together and try to gel. This was likely also a nice selling point in the effort to get Duval as I'm sure it has been in the works for a while.

[duke79]

I'm surprised Coach K has never taken a team to Poland, the birthplace of his parents.

[Troublemaker]

Oooh, excited to hear this.

And now, for the first time, I'm actually worried about ESPN's cutbacks. If I recall correctly, ESPN showed all our scrimmages for the China trip, which was awesome and probably left many Duke-haters seething. Unfortunately, I'm not sure ESPN is going to be willing to cover our scrimmages this time around, despite the travel costs being much less to the Dominican Republic. If ESPN's tightening the belt, this seems like one of those things that would get cut out, and it'd be an easy decision.

If I'm right, hopefully GoDuke steps up to the plate. Send Spatola over there and give us some coverage and a streaming option.

[Bluedog]

Oooh, excited to hear this.

And now, for the first time, I'm actually worried about ESPN's cutbacks. If I recall correctly, ESPN showed all our scrimmages for the China trip, which was awesome and probably left many Duke-haters seething. Unfortunately, I'm not sure ESPN is going to be willing to cover our scrimmages this time around, despite the travel costs being much less to the Dominican Republic. If ESPN's tightening the belt, this seems like one of those things that would get cut out, and it'd be an easy decision.

If I'm right, hopefully GoDuke steps up to the plate. Send Spatola over there and give us some coverage and a streaming option.

ESPN didn't actually send anybody over to China/Dubai, though. They had Gottlieb and somebody else view it on a TV monitor and do the commentary from the US. Obviously, the cameramen and equipment needed to broadcast it have to be there, though, but I assume that can be done relatively cheaply/with local resources. I assume this is going to be like a "junior" DR national team? Similar to what we saw in China.

[Troublemaker]

ESPN didn't actually send anybody over to China/Dubai, though. They had Gottlieb and somebody else view it on a TV monitor and do the commentary from the US. Obviously, the cameramen and equipment needed to broadcast it have to be there, though, but I assume that can be done relatively cheaply/with local resources. I assume this is going to be like a "junior" DR national team? Similar to what we saw in China.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I agree that it'll most likely be a junior team (U21/22/23) we face.

[JasonEvans]

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I agree that it'll most likely be a junior team (U21/22/23) we face.

Actually, I would not be surprised if we played the DR National Team. There are no current NBA players on that team, though they would all be considerably older and likely stronger than Duke's players.

Their best player is probably Francisco Garcia, who was a very good player for Louisville in the mid-2000s and a late first round draft pick after coming out his junior year. He played 10 years in the NBA and averaged better than 12 ppg a couple times with Sacramento. Their starting PG is also a Louisville product, Edgar Sosa, who was a starter for the Cardinals until he graduated in 2010. They also have Eloy Vargas, who was on a few very good Kentucky teams, but did not play a lot for them. The rest of the DR National Team is guys who largely did not play for significant college basketball teams. Most of them play in the Dominican professional league, league though a couple play in Spain and Greece, which are among the better international leagues.

It would be hard for Duke to match up physically with these MEN, but we would likely be more skilled. It could be a very good game.

-Jason "that said, I would not be surprised if we played a younger national team -- no reason to get beat up at the start of your college career" Evans

[MarkD83]

This is a carry-over discussion from the 2017 recruiting thread...so anyway...

I really like this trip for this Duke team. I hope they concentrate on team defense and if they lose a few games so be it. I think the 2017 team suffered from injuries early and games where team D could have been taught and improved but Duke did not have the right players available.

[BD80]

...

-Jason "...-- no reason to get beat up at the start of your college career" Evans

There's a VERY good reason - to get the attention of the youngsters, to show them that raw skill isn't everything, to show them how much work has to done in the weight room, to show them how tough the road ahead might be.

I have complete confidence in one of the best leaders of men on the planet to pull the right strings.

This, and better health at the start of the season, is what last years team needed.

[Olympic Fan]

Actually, I would not be surprised if we played the DR National Team. There are no current NBA players on that team, though they would all be considerably older and likely stronger than Duke's players.

Their best player is probably Francisco Garcia, who was a very good player for Louisville in the mid-2000s and a late first round draft pick after coming out his junior year. He played 10 years in the NBA and averaged better than 12 ppg a couple times with Sacramento. Their starting PG is also a Louisville product, Edgar Sosa, who was a starter for the Cardinals until he graduated in 2010. They also have Eloy Vargas, who was on a few very good Kentucky teams, but did not play a lot for them. The rest of the DR National Team is guys who largely did not play for significant college basketball teams. Most of them play in the Dominican professional league, league though a couple play in Spain and Greece, which are among the better international leagues.

It would be hard for Duke to match up physically with these MEN, but we would likely be more skilled. It could be a very good game.

-Jason "that said, I would not be surprised if we played a younger national team -- no reason to get beat up at the start of your college career" Evans

Just one note -- we will probably play several games (at least three) in the DR. And don't worry much about the results. Duke was 4-3 in the summer of 1983; 3-7 in the summer of 1988 (although that team played several European Olympic teams that were just getting ready for the Olympics) and 3-1 in London in the summer of 2002.

[awhom111]

Actually, I would not be surprised if we played the DR National Team. There are no current NBA players on that team, though they would all be considerably older and likely stronger than Duke's players.

Their best player is probably Francisco Garcia, who was a very good player for Louisville in the mid-2000s and a late first round draft pick after coming out his junior year. He played 10 years in the NBA and averaged better than 12 ppg a couple times with Sacramento. Their starting PG is also a Louisville product, Edgar Sosa, who was a starter for the Cardinals until he graduated in 2010. They also have Eloy Vargas, who was on a few very good Kentucky teams, but did not play a lot for them. The rest of the DR National Team is guys who largely did not play for significant college basketball teams. Most of them play in the Dominican professional league, league though a couple play in Spain and Greece, which are among the better international leagues.

It would be hard for Duke to match up physically with these MEN, but we would likely be more skilled. It could be a very good game.

-Jason "that said, I would not be surprised if we played a younger national team -- no reason to get beat up at the start of your college career" Evans

Yes, we should expect it to be against the full national team preparing for the FIBA AmeriCup scheduled for August 25th-September 3rd. The Dominican federation does not have the resources of China's, so they can't really afford to be gathering extra teams. I would not expect a full strength team with Al Horford or KAT and some bigger name players like Feldeine probably would not be expected, but the remaining players will have pretty solid experience and be trying to earn spots on the final roster and for qualifying games later in the year.

I will wait until the official announcement to judge how I feel about the location and opposition. I would assume that we would play some other teams besides the Dominican Republic, especially given how many national teams will be preparing during that time, so I think the competition should be pretty solid. I think that there are some other locations that I might have preferred. Going to Australia for Jack was probably a more difficult fit given the targeted time, but it would have been cool. Going to Croatia and other parts of Europe for Antonio would have been nice too with plenty of national teams in action at that time.

[BD80]

... I think that there are some other locations that I might have preferred. Going to Australia for Jack was probably a more difficult fit given the targeted time, but it would have been cool. Going to Croatia and other parts of Europe for Antonio would have been nice too with plenty of national teams in action at that time.

How about Turkey to play against Enes Kanter? Oh, wait ...

[Troublemaker]

Yes, we should expect it to be against the full national team preparing for the FIBA AmeriCup scheduled for August 25th-September 3rd. The Dominican federation does not have the resources of China's, so they can't really afford to be gathering extra teams.

Thanks, awhom, that make sense and is exciting. I would still expect us to arrange some scrimmages against lower-level competition (perhaps some DR club teams) before taking on the DR national team. Let's say we end up scrimmaging 5 times while down there. I would expect us to scrimmage 3 times against teams that we should be able to take care of and then 2 times against the DR national team.

As you know, a college team going against ANY country's national team is no joke. That 2014-15 Kentucky team that started 38-0 lost to the Dominican Republic on their preseason trip (but also impressively notched a win over them as well).

[sagegrouse]

http://duke.247sports.com/Bolt/Duke-...ugust-52864213


First trip since 2011...This has to help with such a young team.

No details yet:

According to multiple sources, the Duke Basketball team will travel to the Dominican Republic in August to face off against the Dominican National Team. The program has not taken an overseas trip preseason since 2011 when they went to China and Dubai to play four exhibition games against the U-23 Chinese National Team and the United Arab Emirates National Team.

[Olympic Fan]

Great news, if confirmed.

The beauty is not the exhibition games the team will play in the DR, but the fact that teams making summer/fall trips are given 10 days of full practice to prepare for the trip.

That will be invaluable for such a young team.

It's funny, but K is the reason that such a trip is possible. In old days (like when Duke made its first overseas trip to Italy before the 1983-84 season), incoming freshmen were not allowed to go. But in the fall of 2002, K got around the rule by going in the fall, allowing freshmen JJ Redick, Shelden Williams and company to play. Opponents screamed that he had done something wrong, but before long, everybody was doing it. The NCAA -- probably in an effort to keep too many teams from missing class time -- modified the rule to allow freshmen to participate in summer tours if they were enrolled in school.

The Duke teams that have made foreign tours have started very well on the season. The 1984 team (coming off an 11-17 season) won 14 of its first 15 games. The 1989 team was in Europe for 21 days in the summer of 1988. They won their first 13 games. And that 2003 team that went to London won its first 12 games. The 2012 team that went to China and Dubai won 12 of its first 13.

So expect this trip to help next year's team get off to a fast start.

[MartyClark]

Good news for a very young team.

I have airline miles and am willing to burn them on Duke basketball.

Has anybody been to the Dominican Republic? I assume, but don't know, the games will be in Santo Domingo.

Go Duke!

[flyingdutchdevil]

Good news for a very young team.

I have airline miles and am willing to burn them on Duke basketball.

Has anybody been to the Dominican Republic? I assume, but don't know, the games will be in Santo Domingo.

Go Duke!

Been. Solid place. Some very touristy areas (Punta Cana, Cabarete) and some really chill, unexplored parts of the island. Contrary to it's reputation, DR is very safe (and I assume that reputation is because of it's proximity to Haiti and how it treats Haitians).

I mean, it's the Caribbean, so you can't go wrong. Never been to Santo Domingo but I assume it's similar to a Central American city: pretty big, concrete, but a solid launching point to areas of interest.

If I haven't already been to DR, I'd love to go. Sun and Duke basketball? Yeah - it's pretty solid.

[devildeac]

Guessing K won't include Cal, even with his experience recruiting, err, coaching in the Dominican Republic.

[trinity92]

Good news for a very young team.

I have airline miles and am willing to burn them on Duke basketball.

Has anybody been to the Dominican Republic? I assume, but don't know, the games will be in Santo Domingo.

Go Duke!

Thank me laterBARCELO GRAN ANEJO.jpg

[kAzE]

Amazing news. I am very glad we are doing it this year, with the youngest team of Coach K's tenure. I wonder how many games we will play against them. The more, the better. We need all the reps we can get.

I expect us to probably lose at least the first game. Nobody should expect a bunch of young kids who have played together for 10 days to defeat a team of men who have played together for years, even with the huge disparity in talent. We probably aren't as good as that UK team from 2015, although they were without Willie Cauley-Stein on that trip. If we win the first game, it would definitely increase my feelings of optimism for this team.

I really hope these games are televised . . . Duke basketball in August would be a dream come true.