To estimate just how good combo guard Austin Rivers is going to be right away as a freshman, balance what the recruiting rankings suggest -- that he has the talent to be one of the country's best scorers and a one-and-done Lottery Pick -- with the language Krzyzewski uses about the McDonald's All-American. Before Kyrie Irving had even arrived at Duke in 2010, Krzyzewski said Irving had the ability to "transform" the Blue Devils' offense. That was 100 percent accurate. Before Irving suffered a toe injury eight games into last season, he was the best player in the country. He completely changed Duke's offense, and went on to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
While the Blue Devils were stretching at the beginning of Tuesday's 8 a.m. practice, I asked Krzyzewski what kind of player Rivers would be, and the coach said, "I don't know."
He said that the team's August trip to China was huge for Rivers' development, but he needed to continue to improve. When I noted the difference in descriptors used for Irving and Rivers, Krzyzewski said, "He's not as ready as Kyrie was." While offering the caveat that it was easier for Irving to "transform" the team from the point guard position than it would be for Rivers from the off-guard spot, Krzyzewski added, "Part of it is that [Rivers] needs to learn to have fun with other parts of the game than offense -- with defense, with rebounding, with communicating."