Miles and Ryan named captains!

[SilkyJ]

GoDuke.com Article (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205275124&DB_OEM_ID=4200)

[CDu]

Good for them. Definitely surprised that Curry wasn't named a captain. But congrats to those guys for earning the responsibility/honor. Hopefully they do great things as leaders on this team.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Congratulations to Miles and Ryan! WooHoo!

[anon]

Awesome! This is going to be the deciding year for Ryan. He has the talent to lead this team. Now he needs to execute.

[loldevilz]

Great choices! Would've liked to see Seth get the nod, but there is always next year!

[weezie]

Two fine young men. Very proud of both of them.
How cool is that, Captains of the Duke Basketball Team!

[sagegrouse]

Good for them. Definitely surprised that Curry wasn't named a captain. But congrats to those guys for earning the responsibility/honor. Hopefully they do great things as leaders on this team.

Seth needs to work on his full beard. I think Duke is going with Old Testament leadership look for the next year.

sagegrouse

[Newton_14]

GoDuke.com Article (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205275124&DB_OEM_ID=4200)

Congrats to both! I am especially glad for Miles. Great story there. Miles has come a long way since being recruited to Stanford as a 3-4 Star recruit. He has worked hard, improved year over year, and has earned the chance to be a leader. Good for him. I hope this gives him confidence in himself, and he comes out of his shell a bit vocally.

Great for Ryan as well, and don't mean to slight him. He has worked hard on his game as well, and like Miles, needs to step up and get vocal on the court.

A little surprised that Seth was not chosen, but captain or no, I expect Seth to have a great year and be a leader on the court.

Less than a month to CTC and the start of practice! Getting pumped!

[Ultrarunner]

I like the choices for captains. A bit surprised that Seth didn't get a nod but I suspect it was close.

With Miles, I think we'll see an emotional leader for the team (and I expect him to have a Senior Zoubs type of year) who also plays our best post defense.

In Ryan, a heady player that seems to make good decisions and has put in the work to allow him to finally showcase his skills.

Different kinds of leaders and, hopefully, complementary.

[OldPhiKap]

Great for both.

Unusual to have both as inside guys, I would imagine a guard may join them sometime down the line.

Either way, two great leaders for our university and team.

[Newton_14]

Great for both.

Unusual to have both as inside guys, I would imagine a guard may join them sometime down the line.

Either way, two great leaders for our university and team.

I thought about that too. Was trying to remember a Duke team in the K Era that did not have a guard as a captain? Will defer to Mr Sumner to enlighten us...

[Oriole Way]

I thought about that too. Was trying to remember a Duke team in the K Era that did not have a guard as a captain? Will defer to Mr Sumner to enlighten us...

Wasn't Shane Battier the only captain on the 2001 National Championship team?

[Starter]

Wasn't Shane Battier the only captain on the 2001 National Championship team?

Nate James and J.D. Simpson were also selected as captains that year.

[uh_no]

Nate James and J.D. Simpson were also selected as captains that year.

Pretty sure Nate James decided Nate James was goint to be captain....and nobody argues with Nate James.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Pretty sure Nate James decided Nate James was goint to be captain....and nobody argues with Nate James.
Nate's a badass! :cool:

[CDu]

Nate James and J.D. Simpson were also selected as captains that year.

Yeah, 2001 was the last season that Duke had no ballhandler as a captain. Simpson only played garbage time, so I don't count him). And James was a wing/forward and not really a guard in the sense of creating offense or handling the ball. And of course Battier wasn't a guard.

[NSDukeFan]

Yeah, 2001 was the last season that Duke had no ballhandler as a captain. Simpson only played garbage time, so I don't count him). And James was a wing/forward and not really a guard in the sense of creating offense or handling the ball. And of course Battier wasn't a guard.

If a player's position is determined by who they are guarding, than wouldn't Battier have been classified as a guard...and a forward...and a center? ;)

[Starter]

J.D. may not have been a ballhandler, but he was a fine thespian. (I took an acting class with him.)

[MCFinARL]

Very happy about Miles, whose hard work and dedication have been apparent even when he has slumped or gone through periods of shaky decision making on the court. Ryan should also be a solid captain.

While I understand people's surprise that Seth was not chosen, and that no guard was chosen, I wonder if the big crowd in this year's backcourt may have something to do with that--with Seth, Andre, Austin, Tyler, maybe Quinn if he is ready to go competing for minutes, and with a lot of different potential combinations of strengths and skills one could put on the court at any given time, maybe it seemed wiser not to choose one of these players as the top dog. Everything Coach K has said so far indicates that Seth will be, practically speaking, the first among equals, at least to start. But it may be the relationships among these players will work more smoothly this year without a guard as a captain. Or it may be, given how much Seth will need to focus on his own role on the court if he is the starting point guard, that Coach K wanted to give him more time to settle into that role before giving him captain responsibilities as well.

Just guessing, of course.

[Kedsy]

Very happy about Miles, whose hard work and dedication have been apparent even when he has slumped or gone through periods of shaky decision making on the court. Ryan should also be a solid captain.

While I understand people's surprise that Seth was not chosen, and that no guard was chosen, I wonder if the big crowd in this year's backcourt may have something to do with that--with Seth, Andre, Austin, Tyler, maybe Quinn if he is ready to go competing for minutes, and with a lot of different potential combinations of strengths and skills one could put on the court at any given time, maybe it seemed wiser not to choose one of these players as the top dog. Everything Coach K has said so far indicates that Seth will be, practically speaking, the first among equals, at least to start. But it may be the relationships among these players will work more smoothly this year without a guard as a captain. Or it may be, given how much Seth will need to focus on his own role on the court if he is the starting point guard, that Coach K wanted to give him more time to settle into that role before giving him captain responsibilities as well.

Just guessing, of course.

It's also possible Coach K wanted a captain on the floor at all times, and this was the closest he could get to that. Either Miles or Ryan will almost always be out on the floor, but if he chose, say, Miles and Seth, I'm sure there will be times when neither of them is in the game.

Alternatively, maybe K is working a psychological angle -- making Miles and Ryan captains shows them his confidence and will make them strive to justify that confidence. He's already done that for Seth by making him the starting PG and praising him so highly in his press conferences. My recollection is K wasn't satisfied with the last time we had tri-captains, so if he wants to anoint these three as leaders, this was the only other way he could do it.

[CDu]

It's also possible Coach K wanted a captain on the floor at all times, and this was the closest he could get to that. Either Miles or Ryan will almost always be out on the floor, but if he chose, say, Miles and Seth, I'm sure there will be times when neither of them is in the game.

Alternatively, maybe K is working a psychological angle -- making Miles and Ryan captains shows them his confidence and will make them strive to justify that confidence. He's already done that for Seth by making him the starting PG and praising him so highly in his press conferences. My recollection is K wasn't satisfied with the last time we had tri-captains, so if he wants to anoint these three as leaders, this was the only other way he could do it.

I think the second argument is a stronger one. I don't think there'd be that many minutes in which both Curry and either Plumlee or Kelly are off the floor. Certainly not too much different than the years we've had one captain.

I'd say the "confidence" argument may have something to do with it. Curry doesn't seem to lack for confidence, and Coach K has been very open in his preseason praise of Curry as well. Kelly and Miles have shown less outward confidence in the past few years (Miles especially) and have tended to be very deferential. This honor certainly shows Coach K's confidence in them, but also hopefully boosts their confidence as leaders on the team.