DWBB 2022-23 Season

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Originally Posted by DoubleBlue

In the ESPN article, the write-up states "Jackson can play on and off the ball, shoot along the perimeter and pass the ball well for coach Kara Lawson's open-floor style of play."

I had not seen the term "open-floor style of play" to describe Duke's squad last year. I'm not sure there was any coherent coaching style since the roster was always changing and it seemed undisciplined and inconsistent at best. Has Lawson eluded to anything like this or is it perhaps an observation with Duke or with Kara's international coaching?

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Personally, I think "open-floor style" is an apt descriptor. Kara has made a conscious effort to play on offense as fast as possible and to spread the floor with lots of movement. She has explicitly said that one reason for the different lineups is that she wants her players to be free to go all-out while on the floor. She wants defense to lead directly to offense as much as possible. Last year Duke definitely had execution issues, both on the break and in the half court, and therefore had limited success with that approach. I'm not sure if that makes the play "undisciplined", but it certainly was inconsistent, and Kara has said that she's very aware of that inconsistency and is trying to address it. I'm hopeful some of the new personnel will help with that, beginning with an entirely new front court that appears able to catch the ball in traffic and act with court awareness and a sense of purpose once they have it.

Sigh. I've said it before but I guess it bears repeating. We were ranked #14, had beaten Iowa and Notre Dame (and came within 9 points of South Carolina), when our best player was injured in the 3rd game of the conference schedule. Our top 5 players had never played a single game with any of the others before becoming teammates at Duke.

For pete's sake.

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Originally Posted by dudog84

Sigh. I've said it before but I guess it bears repeating. We were ranked #14, had beaten Iowa and Notre Dame (and came within 9 points of South Carolina), when our best player was injured in the 3rd game of the conference schedule. Our top 5 players had never played a single game with any of the others before becoming teammates at Duke.

For pete's sake.

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I agree. I wish people weren't so negative about everything.

Celeste Taylor's injury, combined with some covid absences, really took our season off the rails last year. This year, there's a legit chance that reigning ACC freshman of the year Shayeann Day-Wilson is our 4th-best player. We may not be able to favorably compete with the likes of South Carolina, Stanford, or UConn, but we have a very real chance of climbing into the top 25, maybe even top 15, if our new bigs pan out. To me, that's progress.

Just my perspective of course, but given the circumstances, the outcome of the last half of the season were below expectations. Duke was 11-2 after beating Syracuse, where Taylor was injured. After that they were 6-11, with some really ugly losses. I'm not discounting the fact that it was Lawson's first full season as a head coach. To me, there were many coachable moments that seemed to slip by. I've detailed them in previous posts. We can agree to disagree and enjoy the upcoming new season as it unfolds.

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Originally Posted by DoubleBlue

Just my perspective of course, but given the circumstances, the outcome of the last half of the season were below expectations. Duke was 11-2 after beating Syracuse, where Taylor was injured. After that they were 6-11, with some really ugly losses. I'm not discounting the fact that it was Lawson's first full season as a head coach. To me, there were many coachable moments that seemed to slip by. I've detailed them in previous posts. We can agree to disagree and enjoy the upcoming new season as it unfolds.

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YEAH! They lost their best player! Shy lost her only reliable backcourt partner. I loved Miela but she was inconsistent last year and Vanessa was another point guard (averaged 4 points). The frontcourt had already graduated in their minds and moved on to their post-basketball careers.

For pete's sake!

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Originally Posted by dudog84

YEAH! They lost their best player! Shy lost her only reliable backcourt partner. I loved Miela but she was inconsistent last year and Vanessa was another point guard (averaged 4 points). The frontcourt had already graduated in their minds and moved on to their post-basketball careers.

For pete's sake!

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So your insisting that we all have to agree with you?

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Originally Posted by DoubleBlue

So your insisting that we all have to agree with you?

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I don't think it's unreasonable, on a Duke Basketball fan board, to expect "fans" to deal in facts.

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Originally Posted by dudog84

I don't think it's unreasonable, on a Duke Basketball fan board, to expect "fans" to deal in facts.

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We've each laid out facts, but have reached different conclusions. Let's just leave it at that.

Yes!!! Delaney Thomas, 6-2 forward out of D.C. (ranked #29 (#4 forward) by espn) has committed to Duke.

Way to go Kara and team!

https://mobile.twitter.com/SCNext/st...27271262547969

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Originally Posted by dudog84

Yes!!! Delaney Thomas, 6-2 forward out of D.C. (ranked #29 (#4 forward) by espn) has committed to Duke.

Way to go Kara and team!

https://mobile.twitter.com/SCNext/st...27271262547969

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Thanks for posting this. Great news.

Welcome to Duke Delaney!

A little more on Delaney. On the U16 national team she averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds. Between that and the D.C. circuit, she's faced a lot of top-tier competition. She averaged 17.6/7.5 in 26 minutes as a junior.

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Originally Posted by chrishoke

Thanks for posting this. Great news.

Welcome to Duke Felaney!

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Edit! :D

I was looking for something else and stumbled upon this espn article from the summer, where they have a comment on our previous commit:

Jadyn Donovan, Best Jumper/Leaper

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Donovan can fly, and that might not do her superb physical ability justice. There is a photo from December's Capital Invitational in which she essentially recreates the Jumpman pose. There's a viral video of her attempting a breakaway dunk at the Atlantic City Showcase from this past May. The 6-foot Donovan can catch lobs in the back of a zone or have a LeBron James-esque chase-down block. Donovan is a leaper in a category of her own.

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https://www.espn.com/womens-college-...e-superlatives

When's the last time we had sumthin' like that?!?

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Originally Posted by dudog84

I was looking for something else and stumbled upon this espn article from the summer, where they have a comment on our previous commit:

Jadyn Donovan, Best Jumper/Leaper



https://www.espn.com/womens-college-...e-superlatives

When's the last time we had sumthin' like that?!?

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EWill. A lot of her blocks came because opposing players didn’t realize how great her leaping ability was. I also saw her on a breakaway in a regular season game clearly contemplating a dunk. I confirmed with her after the game that the reason she didn’t attempt it was just to avoid the coach’s ire if something went wrong.

Our lone exhibition game is today at one pm. No streaming option.

Starters are:

Volker
Oliver
Brown
Taylor
Corosdale

Not a fan of the scoreboard changes. The score is much less prominent.

Entire lineup swaps leading to a lineup of:
Jackson
Day-Wilson
Heidi
Richardson
Balogun

We seem committed to interchangeability.

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Originally Posted by Phredd3

Entire lineup swaps leading to a lineup of:
Jackson
Day-Wilson
Heidi
Richardson
Balogun

We seem committed to interchangeability.

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D is disruptive. Need shooters though

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Originally Posted by dukelifer

D is disruptive. Need shooters though

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Agreed. De Jesus just hit a nice one. Jackson with some freshman shooting jitters.