Josh Hairston Interview

[airowe]

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke/story/7629898/

[CoBlueDevil]

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke/story/7629898/

Good interview. Josh sounds like an upstanding dude. Gotta love that he likes the Nuggets and Carmelo.

[Big Pappa]

Thanks for the article airowe. Love the confidence, "And with that comes high expectations for his 2010-11 squad, 'Repeat. Expect a repeat. We're comin' for it.'"

[Kedsy]

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke/story/7629898/

If Josh is happy playing the Lance Thomas defensive role, and if he's capable of it (which is a big if), he'll get a lot more floor time than most of us have been expecting.

[SilkyJ]

^Big, big if. I think Kyle will end up in that role most often (the LT/Defenisve stopper role) and will be forced to guard a lot of other team's top wings/forwards this year as I expect him to be on the floor with both Plumlees quite a bit.

That said, I can see Felix and Hairston battling it out for the role of defense ace and maybe the 2nd person of the bench (assuming #1 is Seth)..and I'm not trying to get into a rotation/lineup discussion, just saying that I think K Felix and Hairston, at least next year, will both be trying to fit into that LT/defensive stopper role.

[MChambers]

^Big, big if. I think Kyle will end up in that role most often (the LT/Defenisve stopper role) and will be forced to guard a lot of other team's top wings/forwards this year as I expect him to be on the floor with both Plumlees quite a bit.

That said, I can see Felix and Hairston battling it out for the role of defense ace and maybe the 2nd person of the bench (assuming #1 is Seth)..and I'm not trying to get into a rotation/lineup discussion, just saying that I think K Felix and Hairston, at least next year, will both be trying to fit into that LT/defensive stopper role.

Seems to me that the biggest questions about next year are on defense. In that regard, you raise a good point. Kyle is a very good defender, but who else in the frontcourt will be a key defensive player? I know Miles and Mason can block shots, but there's more to defense than that. My guess is that Hairston, Myles, Mason, Kelly, and Felix all will need to show their team defensive skills to earn big minutes.

[hedevil]

I like the artcle. REPEAT!! I don't know if Josh will be able to fill Lance's role this year. Contribute? Yes. I envision him (Hairston) making substantial improvement from year to year, kind of like Lance did, but I mainly see him playing backup minutes at the 4 this year. I'm eager to see his development over the years.

[Big Pappa]

^Big, big if. I think Kyle will end up in that role most often (the LT/Defenisve stopper role) and will be forced to guard a lot of other team's top wings/forwards this year as I expect him to be on the floor with both Plumlees quite a bit.

That said, I can see Felix and Hairston battling it out for the role of defense ace and maybe the 2nd person of the bench (assuming #1 is Seth)..and I'm not trying to get into a rotation/lineup discussion, just saying that I think K Felix and Hairston, at least next year, will both be trying to fit into that LT/defensive stopper role.

Good point about Kyle and especially about Carrick. I think because of his style of play, his build, and his college experience already, he will most likely be a guy that we bring to lock someone down if one of our normal rotation guys can't. I'm not saying he won't be a part of the normal rotation this year, he certainly could be, I just don't see more than 5 mpg for him right now. The one guy that I can see him coming in to lock down is HB.

[Kedsy]

The one guy that I can see him coming in to lock down is HB.

I understand why you're saying this, but I don't buy it. If the guy is good enough to lock down someone who might be one of the top players in the ACC, he will get more than 5 mpg. Conversely, if he isn't advanced enough to get more than 5 mpg, he will not be called on to lock down a top 15 team's leading scorer, at least not for very long.

Although if we are playing UNC and we have foul trouble, or an injury, then I could see Carrick earning his place in rivalry lore by coming out of nowhere to neutralize HB. Wouldn't that be fun?

[Newton_14]

^Big, big if. I think Kyle will end up in that role most often (the LT/Defenisve stopper role) and will be forced to guard a lot of other team's top wings/forwards this year as I expect him to be on the floor with both Plumlees quite a bit.

That said, I can see Felix and Hairston battling it out for the role of defense ace and maybe the 2nd person of the bench (assuming #1 is Seth)..and I'm not trying to get into a rotation/lineup discussion, just saying that I think K Felix and Hairston, at least next year, will both be trying to fit into that LT/defensive stopper role.

Finally! Someone making sense. Defense rules with K. Always has, always will. Hairston and Felix are the 2 wildcards. With their size, their defense will get them on the floor a lot faster than their offense will. If either of these 2 can rise up and play Duke defense in their 1st year that would be a huge boost to the team defense.

I agree Kyle will be our number 1 defensive stopper of wings/forwards. Miles made great strides with his defense last year and I expect he continues that progress as well.

Hairston is an interesting prospect. He could very well be better than we are anticipating. Would be super great if he exceeds expectations out of the gate.

Hey this WRAL/620 recruit interviewing is in it's 3rd week and this is obviously Duke week. I know Seth is on the schedule. Did he go Tuesday? Anyone on the schedule tomorrow? If there is a thread on that, my apologies, as I have somehow missed it.

[Saratoga2]

Finally! Someone making sense. Defense rules with K. Always has, always will. Hairston and Felix are the 2 wildcards. With their size, their defense will get them on the floor a lot faster than their offense will. If either of these 2 can rise up and play Duke defense in their 1st year that would be a huge boost to the team defense.

I agree Kyle will be our number 1 defensive stopper of wings/forwards. Miles made great strides with his defense last year and I expect he continues that progress as well.

Hairston is an interesting prospect. He could very well be better than we are anticipating. Would be super great if he exceeds expectations out of the gate.

Hey this WRAL/620 recruit interviewing is in it's 3rd week and this is obviously Duke week. I know Seth is on the schedule. Did he go Tuesday? Anyone on the schedule tomorrow? If there is a thread on that, my apologies, as I have somehow missed it.

I think he will be good defensively and also bring more offense than Lance was able to provide.