When will the Dominoes start falling into place?

[lilblue]

Who will be our next commit (and when) and who will follow suit?

[BD80]

When will the Dominoes start falling into place?


Around 1980. It will be an historic show from thence forward ...

[hudlow]

Around 1980. It will be an historic show from thence forward ...

Retro Dominoes?

[lilblue]

Oh my! :)

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

While I know your reference was to basketball recruiting, I'm thinking there may be some other dominoes about to fall. The next two Saturday's will give us a hint as to whether this is the year for a break through season in football..... living in the moment!:cool:

[lilblue]

While I know your reference was to basketball recruiting, I'm thinking there may be some other dominoes about to fall. The next two Saturday's will give us a hint as to whether this is the year for a break through season in football..... living in the moment!:cool:

True, very true

[Tappan Zee Devil]

While I know your reference was to basketball recruiting, I'm thinking there may be some other dominoes about to fall. The next two Saturday's will give us a hint as to whether this is the year for a break through season in football..... living in the moment!:cool:

hate to join the grammar police, but it is "Saturdays", not Saturday's" . There is no apostrophe in a plural!! This is one of my hot button issues.

Again - sorry for going after you personally since it is so widespread.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

hate to join the grammar police, but it is "Saturdays", not Saturday's" . There is no apostrophe in a plural!! This is one of my hot button issues.

Again - sorry for going after you personally since it is so widespread.
It was a test to find out if you were reading this thread!:cool:

[ThePublisher]

Allow me to preface this by saying I have absolutely zero inside knowledge of Duke basketball recruiting beyond what I read on various sites. That said, my gut tells me that Nichols will be the first to commit.

[Edouble]

hate to join the grammar police, but it is "Saturdays", not Saturday's" . There is no apostrophe in a plural!! This is one of my hot button issues.

Again - sorry for going after you personally since it is so widespread.

Why would you hate to join the GP? We need new recruits badly!!! Thank you, sir!

[jimsumner]

Semi Ojeleye is likely to be the first Duke target to make a decision.

Duke is considered the team to beat for him.

[lilblue]

What is the general feeling regarding Theo Pinson and Tyus Jones? Seems like an eternity since Amile and Hood commited. I was somewhat expecting (hoping) for that Olympic Gold to help reap some recruiting rewards! :D

[Kedsy]

What is the general feeling regarding Theo Pinson and Tyus Jones? Seems like an eternity since Amile and Hood commited. I was somewhat expecting (hoping) for that Olympic Gold to help reap some recruiting rewards! :D

I think it's unrealistic to believe top five 2014 recruits are going to commit more than a year before they can sign a letter of intent. Winning a gold medal may have helped with these guys (it certainly didn't hurt) but it's not enough to make them commit a year before they otherwise would. You're just going to have to be patient.

My question is about 2013. Jim tells us that Duke leads for Semi Ojeleye. Suppose he commits and then Austin Nichols. That would leave only one scholarship open with two huge targets (Julius Randle & Jabari Parker) still out there. How's that going to work? Do we still accept the commitments of Ojeleye and Nichols, essentially saying we're going to get at most one of the other two? Do we expect somebody who currently has a 2013-14 scholarship leaves the program? Or do we just play it by ear, because these things tend to work themselves out? Just wondering.

[lilblue]

Hey Kedsy the two comments were independent of one another I know they're '14 recruits, but was curious as to where we stand with them. The Olympics comment was geared more towards the '13 recruits :p. Could be possible we take first come first serve regarding Semi and Austin with hopes of commitments from one or both of Jabari and Julius?

[jimsumner]

Hey Kedsy the two comments were independent of one another I know they're '14 recruits, but was curious as to where we stand with them. The Olympics comment was geared more towards the '13 recruits :p. Could be possible we take first come first serve regarding Semi and Austin with hopes of commitments from one or both of Jabari and Julius?

Duke would gladly take committments from both Ojeleye and Nichols, should they be forthcoming. Then try to get one of the supers in the spring.

[CampbellBlueDevil]

Semi looks like a real possibility. We are stronger with Julius than I thought we would be at this stage in the recruitment. Parker I'm no longer concerned with, thanks to Hood coming in. Nichols... who knows.

[SupaDave]

Semi looks like a real possibility. We are stronger with Julius than I thought we would be at this stage in the recruitment. Parker I'm no longer concerned with, thanks to Hood coming in. Nichols... who knows.

Nichols shows and gets a lot of love. He's one to keep an eye on.

[UrinalCake]

I know we've discussed this before, but it looks like our highly-ranked targets (Parker, Randle) are waiting until the spring to decide, while our not-quite-as-highly-ranked targets will be choosing in the fall. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

As for when the dominoes will start to fall, I'd say winning a title, getting the overall #1 recruit two years in a row, then bringing in what is essentially a four-man class, three of whom are top-20 talent, with two more excellent players already locked up for next year... all seem to indicate that the dominoes have indeed already started to fall.

[CampbellBlueDevil]

I know we've discussed this before, but it looks like our highly-ranked targets (Parker, Randle) are waiting until the spring to decide, while our not-quite-as-highly-ranked targets will be choosing in the fall. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

As for when the dominoes will start to fall, I'd say winning a title, getting the overall #1 recruit two years in a row, then bringing in what is essentially a four-man class, three of whom are top-20 talent, with two more excellent players already locked up for next year... all seem to indicate that the dominoes have indeed already started to fall.

Anthony Davis and Harrison Barnes played for us? Now of course Kyrie ended up being the number 1 freshmen, but he wasn't ranked it.

[Kedsy]

Anthony Davis and Harrison Barnes played for us? Now of course Kyrie ended up being the number 1 freshmen, but he wasn't ranked it.

You're right. Both Kyrie and Austin Rivers were the overall #2 recruit in the country (according to RSCI). I think UC's point still holds.

[Olympic Fan]

No inside data, just my projection -- but I think the plan is that Duke will sign three players this fall ... Matt Jones for sure, one more wing (probably Semi Ojeleye) and one big man -- hopefully Nichols ... maybe Marcus Lee.

Then they'll chase Randle and Parker into the spring. Yeah, it would be great to fantasize about getting both, but in the real world, that's extremely unlikely. Even getting one is chancy -- although I like our chances of getting one.

If they whiff on Nichols/Lee (a distinct possibility), then I think the staff expands their big man search to make sure they bring it at least one big body next spring.

Of course, Randle would solve a lot of post issues.

Still, I like the combination of multi-year guys and one-and-dones. Jones, Ojeleye, Nichols and even Lee appear to be multiple year guys. Randle/Parker are one and dones.

[Kedsy]

No inside data, just my projection -- but I think the plan is that Duke will sign three players this fall ... Matt Jones for sure, one more wing (probably Semi Ojeleye) and one big man -- hopefully Nichols ... maybe Marcus Lee.

Then they'll chase Randle and Parker into the spring. Yeah, it would be great to fantasize about getting both, but in the real world, that's extremely unlikely. Even getting one is chancy -- although I like our chances of getting one.

If they whiff on Nichols/Lee (a distinct possibility), then I think the staff expands their big man search to make sure they bring it at least one big body next spring.

Of course, Randle would solve a lot of post issues.

Still, I like the combination of multi-year guys and one-and-dones. Jones, Ojeleye, Nichols and even Lee appear to be multiple year guys. Randle/Parker are one and dones.

It would be interesting to see how things go if this comes to fruition and we have all 13 scholarships taken by either seniors or top tier recruits. Would K stick to his usual 7-man rotation? Even an 8- or 9-man rotation would leave several extremely worthy players stuck at the end of the bench in 2013-14.

[-jk]

It would be interesting to see how things go if this comes to fruition and we have all 13 scholarships taken by either seniors or top tier recruits. Would K stick to his usual 7-man rotation? Even an 8- or 9-man rotation would leave several extremely worthy players stuck at the end of the bench in 2013-14.

I'll repost one of my older arguments:

It's not about "depth" so much as talent differential. It's axiomatic: K likes to win. He likes to win more than he likes to develop talent during game time. He'll play down the bench during blowouts where the chance of losing is minimal, but when the games tighten up, he plays to win, and that means the best 5 on the court. If the sixth player is a big drop from the fifth, we won't see him so much. If the eighth is a drop from the seventh, he'll sit more.

Obviously, this is a factor among many - wanting to play up-tempo means accepting a bit more differential to stay fresh.

The question then is where the talent differential falls. Hard to know this early.

-jk

[BD80]

It would be interesting to see how things go if this comes to fruition and we have all 13 scholarships taken by either seniors or top tier recruits. Would K stick to his usual 7-man rotation? Even an 8- or 9-man rotation would leave several extremely worthy players stuck at the end of the bench in 2013-14.

As such a coup would yield many "blowout" victories, the 11 - 13 players could see quite a lot of PT during the season.

Come tourney time, I think you would see Coach K follow his Olympic strategy, go 9 - 10 deep with continuous defensive pressure to wear the other team down. As in the Olympics, you would see some guys that are starters that are not necessarily closers.

[CampbellBlueDevil]

As such a coup would yield many "blowout" victories, the 11 - 13 players could see quite a lot of PT during the season.

Come tourney time, I think you would see Coach K follow his Olympic strategy, go 9 - 10 deep with continuous defensive pressure to wear the other team down. As in the Olympics, you would see some guys that are starters that are not necessarily closers.

I don't know if I'd compare Coach K's Olympic strategy with his Duke basketball strategy. I'd look at his past Duke strategies for a sign of what he'll do with future teams. I do not see 9-10 man rotation happening, especially late in the season.

[MChambers]

It would be interesting to see how things go if this comes to fruition and we have all 13 scholarships taken by either seniors or top tier recruits. Would K stick to his usual 7-man rotation? Even an 8- or 9-man rotation would leave several extremely worthy players stuck at the end of the bench in 2013-14.

We can start the playing time debates a year before the players set foot on campus, or even before some of them commit! What an advancement for DBR! :)

[jimsumner]

No inside data, just my projection -- but I think the plan is that Duke will sign three players this fall ... Matt Jones for sure, one more wing (probably Semi Ojeleye) and one big man -- hopefully Nichols ... maybe Marcus Lee.

Then they'll chase Randle and Parker into the spring. Yeah, it would be great to fantasize about getting both, but in the real world, that's extremely unlikely. Even getting one is chancy -- although I like our chances of getting one.

If they whiff on Nichols/Lee (a distinct possibility), then I think the staff expands their big man search to make sure they bring it at least one big body next spring.

Of course, Randle would solve a lot of post issues.

Still, I like the combination of multi-year guys and one-and-dones. Jones, Ojeleye, Nichols and even Lee appear to be multiple year guys. Randle/Parker are one and dones.

I'm glad you mentioned Matt Jones. Sometimes the fan base gets so focused on the guys we're chasing, that we forget about the guys who've been caught.

Jones appears to be a keeper. A four-year keeper.

[rsvman]

As such a coup would yield many "blowout" victories, the 11 - 13 players could see quite a lot of PT during the season.

Come tourney time, I think you would see Coach K follow his Olympic strategy, go 9 - 10 deep with continuous defensive pressure to wear the other team down. As in the Olympics, you would see some guys that are starters that are not necessarily closers.

I think Coach K took that strategy in the Olympics precisely because there really wasn't much "talent drop-off" from the starters to the bench. So, in the event that Duke ever builds a team wherein the 10th guy is almost as good as the first guy, he'll probably go 10 deep.

Until then, I wouldn't hold my breath.

[NSDukeFan]

I think Coach K took that strategy in the Olympics precisely because there really wasn't much "talent drop-off" from the starters to the bench. So, in the event that Duke ever builds a team wherein the 10th guy is almost as good as the first guy, he'll probably go 10 deep.

Until then, I wouldn't hold my breath.

I think you could make a reasonable argument that there is a very big difference between LeBron James and Andre Iguodala.