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Abraxas
11-05-2008, 09:51 AM
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/8746984/No.-6-Duke:-Henderson-key-for-Blue-Devils

"Season Outlook

Duke lost just one player from last season's team, DeMarcus Nelson, and he shouldn't be that difficult to replace.

In fact, look for Gerald Henderson to make another jump and become the Blue Devils' go-to guy and someone that coach Mike Krzyzewski can rely on — which wasn't always the case with Nelson."

I start by disagreeing with his initial two assertions. Unfortunately, DeMarcus closed with a bad game (under influence of the flu), and that has tainted his legacy for some sportwriters. I do believe that Henderson will replace Nelson as the go to guy. Although Henderson has considerable more athleticism and has better offensive potential, DeMarcus is a better defender. It will take another year for Henderson to get to that level.

jimsumner
11-05-2008, 10:14 AM
Goodman is wrong about one fact. Duke lost Nelson and King from last year; that's two players.

6th Man
11-05-2008, 10:52 AM
That is funny. I had totally forgotten about Taylor King also. How soon we forget.

elvis14
11-05-2008, 03:28 PM
I think that the comment about DeMarcus being not to difficult to replace makes sense when in context. What I mean is that considering what we have on the Duke current roster (GH, JS, and NS a year older and better specifically), replacing DN is not too difficult. I fully respect the role that DN filled but for a good, deep team to only have to replace 1 player isn't a slam, it's a blessing. And we have the players who can can step up and not just make replacing DN possible but guys that can make us better than last year. As for Taylor King, personally I liked the kid and hated to see him go but considering how much playing time he received last year....well lets just say replacing nothing isn't worth mentioning :-)

Just 3.5 hours until the next exhibition game...whooo hoooo

Diddy
11-05-2008, 03:47 PM
I think that the comment about DeMarcus being not to difficult to replace makes sense when in context. What I mean is that considering what we have on the Duke current roster (GH, JS, and NS a year older and better specifically), replacing DN is not too difficult. I fully respect the role that DN filled but for a good, deep team to only have to replace 1 player isn't a slam, it's a blessing. And we have the players who can can step up and not just make replacing DN possible but guys that can make us better than last year. As for Taylor King, personally I liked the kid and hated to see him go but considering how much playing time he received last year....well lets just say replacing nothing isn't worth mentioning :-)

Just 3.5 hours until the next exhibition game...whooo hoooo


Because of DN's size and who he guarded, we continue to think of him as a Guard. Last year, he was almost our PF for large portions of the game. A solid effort by Thomas and Plumlee should more than make up for DN's post contributions, while improvement and new faces could easily make up for DN's perimeter numbers.

DN was a warrior, and did a lot of unsung stuff for Duke. But we are Duke, and we don't rebuild, we reload. We love Demarcus, but to an outsider he looked a lot like a good but not great player. Those guys are supposed to be replaceable by elite level teams.

johnb
11-05-2008, 07:29 PM
Another way of evaluating the loss of DN is to say that, on average, basketball teams lose 25-30% of their firepower every year (that's a guess, of course). DN was obviously less than 25-30% of our team--even when added to TK--and he played a position--wing--where we have one of the better players in the country.

I too hadn't given King a thought since he decided to transfer, and, as I look at the team, I don't think he'll be missed a bit--of course, if he'd stayed, I might feel differently, but it's hard to see where he would've gotten minutes.

DukieBoy
11-05-2008, 09:23 PM
That is funny. I had totally forgotten about Taylor King also. How soon we forget.

Ya i definitely forgot him too. he's one of those players who will leave an impression in your mind forever from the plays he made :)

RelativeWays
11-06-2008, 08:33 AM
DN was a warrior

He still is a Warrior ;)