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  1. #1

    2009-2010 MBB team

    I think we will be very good next yr. but some are not as optomistic given that we don't have a true big man in the recruiting class. But even if you're not convinced next yrs. team has what it takes to win it all next yr., the Duke 2009-2010 team certainly will have a great shot.

    I know, I know. This is way too early. But just for fun, imagine the possible roster:

    C L. Thomas Sr.
    PF K. Singler Jr.
    SF G. Henderson Sr.
    SG J. Scheyer Sr.
    PG N. Smith Jr.

    Key players off the bench:
    C B. Zoubek Sr.
    SF. T. King Jr.
    SG. E. Williams So.
    PF Mason Plumnee Fr.
    SG M. Pocious Sr.
    SF O. Cryz So.

    What if we sign Kenny Boynton and Leslie McDonald? What if we also get a big guy like DeShawn Painter?

    You can't tell me that if all these what ifs happen that Duke wouldn't be dominating.

    I don't know what the point of my post is really, excepy maybe to say to those who think Duke is "down" that maybe Duke's next trip to the final four could be sooner than you think.

    Maybe I'm just jealous of Carolina right now.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina
    Personally, I'm with you in your optimism about 2009-2010, and I'm actually pretty optimistic about next year as well.

    Duke has a young team of players, all of whom will likely stay 4 years. Think about that. These are talented players, top recruits, who will stay 4 years. No one else has that. Think about the teams that "overachieve" in March, and how frequently you can trace it to experience - experience playing at the college level, and experience playing with each other.

    The core of the 2008-2009 team will be juniors and sophomores, with a senior PG/SG and a senior "glue guy". Next year's team will be better than this year's. Unless Henderson goes pro after his junior year or Singler goes pro after his sophomore year, which I doubt, the 2010 will have a combination of depth, cohesiveness, and experience that is not likely to be matched by any other team in the nation.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Quote Originally Posted by houstondukie View Post
    I think we will be very good next yr. but some are not as optomistic given that we don't have a true big man in the recruiting class. But even if you're not convinced next yrs. team has what it takes to win it all next yr., the Duke 2009-2010 team certainly will have a great shot.

    I know, I know. This is way too early. But just for fun, imagine the possible roster:

    C L. Thomas Sr.
    PF K. Singler Jr.
    SF G. Henderson Sr.
    SG J. Scheyer Sr.
    PG N. Smith Jr.

    Key players off the bench:
    C B. Zoubek Sr.
    SF. T. King Jr.
    SG. E. Williams So.
    PF Mason Plumnee Fr.
    SG M. Pocious Sr.
    SF O. Cryz So.
    Umm, you are aware that with the exception of Plumlee, that is our roster for next year, right?

    Duke will be preseason top-5 or higher next season.

    --Jason "just sayin..." Evans

  4. #4
    2009-2010 should definitely be a good year, possibly regardless of how the rest of 2009 recruiting goes (of course, a bad year in 09 would hurt us down the road, but not really in the 09-10 season), if - as you mention - Henderson and Singler stay.

    Just for fun, I would guess the odds of Gerald going pro after next season are above 50-50. From how I envision his career trajectory, he is going to have a monster year next year, both to make up for DeMarcus and because he'll continue his already considerable improvement. I would imagine he'd score above 15 or 16 points a game and be a likely candidate to go pro.

    Singler is a much tougher read. I kind of think he is slightly below 50-50, of course depending on how the season unfolds. If, as I believe, next season becomes a sort-of three-headed monster on offense (Gerald, Jon, and Kyle), there is a good shot his stock will be pretty high. Would it be high enough (eg lottery) to make him go pro after his sophomore year? Tough to say - though it will supposedly be a weak draft.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    New York City
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Umm, you are aware that with the exception of Plumlee, that is our roster for next year, right?

    Duke will be preseason top-5 or higher next season.

    --Jason "just sayin..." Evans
    And Paulus. But I agree with the point though ... as I've stated in other threads, Duke is a definite top 5 team next year and depending on who leaves other teams (e.g., UNC, Texas, UCLA) might be pre-season 1,2 or 3.
    Singler is IRON

    I STILL GOT IT! -- Ryan Kelly, March 2, 2013

  6. #6

    Tough Competition

    Quote Originally Posted by Ignatius07 View Post
    2009-2010 should definitely be a good year, possibly regardless of how the rest of 2009 recruiting goes (of course, a bad year in 09 would hurt us down the road, but not really in the 09-10 season), if - as you mention - Henderson and Singler stay.

    Just for fun, I would guess the odds of Gerald going pro after next season are above 50-50. From how I envision his career trajectory, he is going to have a monster year next year, both to make up for DeMarcus and because he'll continue his already considerable improvement. I would imagine he'd score above 15 or 16 points a game and be a likely candidate to go pro.

    Singler is a much tougher read. I kind of think he is slightly below 50-50, of course depending on how the season unfolds. If, as I believe, next season becomes a sort-of three-headed monster on offense (Gerald, Jon, and Kyle), there is a good shot his stock will be pretty high. Would it be high enough (eg lottery) to make him go pro after his sophomore year? Tough to say - though it will supposedly be a weak draft.
    We will be very good at offense again with Henderson, Scheyer and Singler as you point out, but we will also have Paulus, Smith, Elliot and Pocius to provide additional scoring.

    We do look questionable on front court defensive and offensive presence. We know Singler can play a good 4 but we need solid backups. Zoubek, Thomas, King and McClure are okay but they need to make a lot of progress to make this team competitive with the best. Since there is not new front court help coming this year except for Czyz, it doesn't appear that the problem will be solved. Plumlee comes a year later. Too early to tell what other changes will happen to the front court by then.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Duke will be preseason top-5 or higher next season.

    --Jason "just sayin..." Evans
    I dunno Jason. The media folks will be intent on keeping Duke down. I hope I'm wrong and you're right but they sure have enjoyed the pile on.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by houstondukie View Post
    I think we will be very good next yr. but some are not as optomistic given that we don't have a true big man in the recruiting class. But even if you're not convinced next yrs. team has what it takes to win it all next yr., the Duke 2009-2010 team certainly will have a great shot.

    I know, I know. This is way too early. But just for fun, imagine the possible roster:

    C L. Thomas Sr.
    PF K. Singler Jr.
    SF G. Henderson Sr.
    SG J. Scheyer Sr.
    PG N. Smith Jr.

    Key players off the bench:
    C B. Zoubek Sr.
    SF. T. King Jr.
    SG. E. Williams So.
    PF Mason Plumnee Fr.
    SG M. Pocious Sr.
    SF O. Cryz So.

    What if we sign Kenny Boynton and Leslie McDonald? What if we also get a big guy like DeShawn Painter?

    You can't tell me that if all these what ifs happen that Duke wouldn't be dominating.

    I don't know what the point of my post is really, excepy maybe to say to those who think Duke is "down" that maybe Duke's next trip to the final four could be sooner than you think.

    Maybe I'm just jealous of Carolina right now.
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but if no one leaves and the above roster is correct, we will only have room for one scholarship player. A lot of that will have to do with how Henderson and Singler perform next year. Assuming we want a big man, we won't be able to take Boynton or McDonald. Would we take the best available player (Boynton) or would we go with Painter?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Toledo
    We will probably be lucky to keep Gerald around after his junior season, but, even if he leaves, what a nice thought it is to know that Elliot Williams will be ready and waiting. Wow, that is special.

    Like Jason, I think we'll be a top five preseason next year. We have everyone back, are bringing in a scintillating freshman guard, and have a sophomore Kyle Singler. I know that sounds simple, but it's true. Singler could be an All-American next year, and I expect him to be in the running. He'll be our go to guy, that guy that we really lacked down the stretch (see? that thread saying we didn't need one was not quite right after all).

    I really like our chances.

    With that said, though, we would still be playing right now with one solid big man. Had we had that one big presence inside, we'd still be dancing. That might stop us from a Final Four next season. At least it could make it a lot tougher for us. If we can pull one in for 2010, or if Czyz or Mason or Lance or Brian really end up producing big in the paint (or if Kyle turns into that Laettner type leader), then I think we can win it all.

    I'm hoping not, but I have a fear in the back of my head that says next season could spell out much of the same once we hit the later rounds (i.e Sweet 16 or Elite 8). Hope not, however.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Bethesda, MD

    hilarious

    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Umm, you are aware that with the exception of Plumlee, that is our roster for next year, right?

    Duke will be preseason top-5 or higher next season.

    --Jason "just sayin..." Evans
    that's exactly what i was think . . . plus we will have a senior pg that shoots the lights out and an excellent role playing rebounder defender in mcclure. sounds like a nice team with plenty of big time experience from this year.

    remember how much jason williams struggled early his freshman year? nolan will be a star.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Umm, you are aware that with the exception of Plumlee, that is our roster for next year, right?

    Duke will be preseason top-5 or higher next season.

    --Jason "just sayin..." Evans
    Jumbo, I do realize this and that is why I am excited about next year too. But the key difference is the "class yr" that is next to everyone's name. Take Zoubek for example. Everyone hopes that by next yr. he will turn into a very good player, but by his senior yr. everyone will expect him to be one.

    Plus, Kenny Boynton off the bench would be amazing.

  12. #12
    i have a question when i get the chance to watch Duke on tv i notice that King doesnt play much but when he does he always has a really good stroke from 3 range. There was one game a remeber were he could not miss.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Bethesda, MD

    there is a whole

    Quote Originally Posted by DukeandKSUFanatic View Post
    i have a question when i get the chance to watch Duke on tv i notice that King doesnt play much but when he does he always has a really good stroke from 3 range. There was one game a remeber were he could not miss.
    thread on the taylor king topic. check it out. this and many other in depth thoughts are addressed. but the quick answer is, his defense was suspect early, then he got cold from long range later. next year, he will get more consistent playing time, but later in the year he had too much to catch up on to be part of the real rotation.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Virginia
    Quote Originally Posted by ForeverBlowingBubbles View Post
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but if no one leaves and the above roster is correct, we will only have room for one scholarship player. A lot of that will have to do with how Henderson and Singler perform next year. Assuming we want a big man, we won't be able to take Boynton or McDonald. Would we take the best available player (Boynton) or would we go with Painter?
    I'm counting 11 players listed and you;re allowed 13 scholarships, so that would leave 2 open spots assuming no one leaves early.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Virginia
    Quote Originally Posted by Cameron View Post
    Like Jason, I think we'll be a top five preseason next year. We have everyone back, are bringing in a scintillating freshman guard, and have a sophomore Kyle Singler. I know that sounds simple, but it's true. Singler could be an All-American next year, and I expect him to be in the running. He'll be our go to guy, that guy that we really lacked down the stretch (see? that thread saying we didn't need one was not quite right after all).

    I really like our chances.
    I generally agree that things look good next year but I think that the team needs to develop a solid chip on its shoulder. We seemed to have it earlier this year but lost it down the stretch. I'm hoping that Paulus, Scheyer and Henderson become strong leaders next year and carry an us against the world attitude through out the entire season.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cameron View Post
    With that said, though, we would still be playing right now with one solid big man. Had we had that one big presence inside, we'd still be dancing.
    I don't know if we could hit 2 or 3 out of 15 3 pointers we would probably be dancing longer too.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    North of Chicago

    Top 5?

    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Umm, you are aware that with the exception of Plumlee, that is our roster for next year, right?

    Duke will be preseason top-5 or higher next season.

    --Jason "just sayin..." Evans
    Whether or not will be ranked in the top 5 -- and I don't think we will -- should we be?

    We lose Markie. Markie was the best defensive player in the conference. He was our best rebounder outside of Kyle. More than that, he was a steadying influence for our team. We see how much we struggled the last couple of weeks when he wasn't effective, whether it nerves against UNC or the flu in the tourney.

    Just as much, we see how important having two penetrating wings was for our offense when Gerald went down with his wrist injury. The character of our offense changed drastically when we only had one wing that could create off the bounce and get offense in the lane. Considering that we all seem to think that Jon's going to take the lion's share of Markie's minutes, we're going to need Jon to really develop his ability to score off the dribble and be able to do it pretty consistently like Markie did for our offense to continue to work as well as we'd like it to. Our offense this year really struggled when we had to have long stretches of Greg and Jon on the floor, and we're going to have to improve drastically to even be where we were when we were a top 5 team this year.

    We're also not really adding parts that will help fill the holes this roster had even this year. We're going to have to count on Brian and Lance to improve more this offseason than they did the last -- and yes, if Brian's healthy, that will make a difference -- to fill the hole up front that was really problematic for us this year, especially in the last third of the season when we had no post offense at all.

    I know there's a stark disagreement on this board about Greg, but even his defenders will (hopefully) admit that he's got limitations because of his lack of athleticism. Nolan Smith might well fill those holes in defense and creation of offense with the dribble, but Greg's going to get the lion's share of minutes. We all know that.

    I know there will be improvement from season to season and development -- especially from Kyle, Nolan and Taylor -- but even with that development, we are what we were this year, a competative, talented but fatally flawed team. Even in a watered down college basketball world, that's not a top five team. At least it isn't if voters look beyond the name on the jersey and the Hall of Famer on the sideline.

    I also don't think we'll be ranked in the top five -- although it's a lot of speculation until you see who will and won't reutrn.

    I think for UNC to be ranked behind us, they'll have to lose all of Psycho-T, Lawson and Ellington.

    UConn has no seniors of note and might only lose Thabeet to early entry.

    Texas has no seniors of note, and even as important as Augustin is, I don't think they should be ranked behind us, whether DJ's in Austin or not.

    Purdue was younger than we were, had a very good year and doesn't lose a player like Markie. Notre Dame only loses Rob Kurz.

    Tennessee loses Lofton and one of the Smith's, but they bring back everyone else, and Lofton didn't carry that team much this year. He's a loss though.

    Stanford could bring back everyone other than Finger -- who was pretty much a role player -- and Washington.

    You've also got teams that suffer more substantial losses -- Michigan State for example -- that suffer losses, but were young, talented and more complete teams than we were. Michigan State should be ranked ahead of us going into next season. That's just one of those teams.

    So I don't think we should be in the Top 5, and I actually don't think we will be in the Top 5.

    And I know it doesn't matter.

    I think we're all more worried about finishing strong, beating a team in the NCAA's seeded higher than an 8, seeing the second weekend of the tourney. Regardless of what the media ranks us next November, I'm more concerned about March, and I'm more concerned about overcoming the flaws that did us in this year, and will still be there next year.

  17. #17

    This much is true

    Quote Originally Posted by houstondukie View Post

    This is way too early.
    I guess it is fun though.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina
    I don't think we'll be preseason top 5 either, and, franky, I hope we aren't. Duke needs to PROVE itself, and I don't want this team handed one thing. They need to come into the season with a chip on their shoulder. They need to be pissed about the 2nd half collapse against WVU. They need the media to dismiss them as the same team that lost to WVU, only without Nelson.

    I do think, however, with the extra year of experience and development, they will contend at the end of the year. And, by that, I mean that they'll contend for the ACC title and be a factor in the NCAA tourney.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Steamboat Springs, CO

    Question Not sure I agree about "media keeping Duke down"

    Quote Originally Posted by weezie View Post
    I dunno Jason. The media folks will be intent on keeping Duke down. I hope I'm wrong and you're right but they sure have enjoyed the pile on.
    Weezie:

    Duke is the poster child for an outstanding athletic program with a sensible balance between athletic excellence and academics. And the networks certainly bow in this direction in every program featuring Duke. With an improving football program, the picture would be complete.

    Moreover, the leaders in the sports media appear to have enormous respect and evidently some affection for Coach K.

    Now exactly how is the sports media keeping Duke basketball down or piling on? Are you talking about grads from the UNC School of Journalism, who have a lot of jobs in the Southeast? Or are we referring to a couple of guys at ESPN? To me, the locals seem to be more cheerleaders than anything else, which is true everywhere except the big city dailies and tabloids.

    I thought the critical articles about last year and the NCAAT this year were justified and certainly predictable -- given duke's basketball pedigree. (That news hole for columnists is gaping and needs to be filled with something every couple of days.) And when you have as much success as Duke has had over the past 25 years, articles about the end of the dynasty are inevitable.

    sagegrouse

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Inman, SC & Fort Myers, FL
    I don't believe it is terribly important where we are ranked preseason. What matters is what we do postseason. When I was in high school in the midwest, we had a really, really good team (our center was Don Nelson). Our coach said, OK we can be ranked #1 all season (which we were), or we can we can win the state tournament (which we did not). We cannot do both, because it matters when we peak.
    Many posters have made the point that we peaked too early this year. I agree. I don't know how to fix that problem, except by playing a whole lot of players a lot of time early. I don't think that Coach K wants to do that, and I would not dream of second guessing Coach K. So, I will go with him and hope for the best.

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