Thoughts from Coach K's press conference

[AsiaMinor]

So who will be filling in Andre's dream 3's?

[OldPhiKap]

I'd kinda like to see him play before pre-ordaining a nickname.

Or, perhaps see what his teammates who know him well call him.

But I'm organic that way.

[NM Duke Fan]

I agree with other posters who believe that Rasheed Sulaimon is likely to get more minutes of playing time than some are currently projecting. Who else on the roster has his size at the guard position, his obvious defensive mindset and skills, lateral quickness, and capacity for filling up the basket? What I have observed on video and read in reports of his play leads me to think he could even be the starter at the 2 by the semester break. Combine that with Cook getting major minutes hopefully, and Murphy bringing size and skill to the 3, and this has the potential to be an excellent collection of perimeter players that could go head to head with just about any competition by the end of the year Combined with Jefferson adding his length and energy, and the two Seniors Ryan and Mason, I like the chances of this being a visibly improved team!

[Kedsy]

I agree with other posters who believe that Rasheed Sulaimon is likely to get more minutes of playing time than some are currently projecting. Who else on the roster has his size at the guard position, his obvious defensive mindset and skills, lateral quickness, and capacity for filling up the basket? What I have observed on video and read in reports of his play leads me to think he could even be the starter at the 2 by the semester break. Combine that with Cook getting major minutes hopefully, and Murphy bringing size and skill to the 3, and this has the potential to be an excellent collection of perimeter players that could go head to head with just about any competition by the end of the year Combined with Jefferson adding his length and energy, and the two Seniors Ryan and Mason, I like the chances of this being a visibly improved team!

Well, Seth will be a senior, too, and he was on an All ACC team last year. I agree Rasheed will get plenty of minutes, but if he starts (a big if), I think he has a better chance of starting over Quinn than he does of starting over Seth.

[CDu]

Well, Seth will be a senior, too, and he was on an All ACC team last year. I agree Rasheed will get plenty of minutes, but if he starts (a big if), I think he has a better chance of starting over Quinn than he does of starting over Seth.

I agree. I don't see Curry's role diminishing next year. He's going to be the starter, and he's going to be a big scorer for us. I could see Sulaimon eventually taking over as the PG (with both he and Curry being combo guards). But I don't think Coach K is going to bench Curry this year.

If Murphy and Jefferson can work out at the 3, I think it's going to be a very good season.

[Greg_Newton]

One other thing, I will give pitchfork points to everyone who refuses to refer to him as "Sheed". Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Surely we can come up with a non-unc-cheat related nickname that is a little more creative..

Unfortunately, he already refers to himself as such... twitter handle is "sheed_ctmd1". I suppose we could go with the other half, though (something along the lines of "cuttomudwon"?).

And I do have to say... Bad Sheed (i.e. Wallace) has grown on me. Any former NBA all-star who not only shows up, but goes all out at every summer league game in that sweaty NC Central gym each year gets some props in my book!

[Greg_Newton]

I agree. I don't see Curry's role diminishing next year. He's going to be the starter, and he's going to be a big scorer for us. I could see Sulaimon eventually taking over as the PG (with both he and Curry being combo guards). But I don't think Coach K is going to bench Curry this year.

If Murphy and Jefferson can work out at the 3, I think it's going to be a very good season.

The Sulaimon storyline will certainly be an interesting one to follow. Just looking at what he brings vs. what we need, it seems that he should play a lot. However, where does his PT come from?

PG - Do JR Tyler and SO Quinn really combine for less than 40 MPG at the point? Seems like it would be pretty disappointing if so, and the only way I can really see that happening is if Cook gets injured or is somehow so bad he falls out of the rotation completely. Cook is generally considered the key to the season, and there's no way Thornton's toughness, leadership, experience and intangibles don't find a way into a young and/or finesse-centric perimeter rotation. Throw in the fact that Sulaimon really isn't a creating-PG at the college level (yet, at least), and it seems pretty unlikely to me.

SG - Does Seth play less than 30 MPG as a returning All-ACC, 5th-year senior? Once again, seems incredibly unlikely.

So really, that leaves backup SF minutes (assuming Murphy is who we expect him to be and is our main SF) as Sulaimon's main opportunity to get more than 10, maybe 15 MPG as a third guard, a la Rivers last year.

And then, if things weren't crowded enough, you've got K talking about using Amile and maybe even Hairston on the perimeter, presumably as backup SFs. I can't imagine they'd be a better option against most teams than giving Sulaimon the extra minutes, but who knows.

I've been on the "get longer and quicker on the perimeter" train forever, and I think by 2013-2014, we will be quite long and quick. However, next year, I think we ultimately settle with getting longer and more athletic ~70% of the time with Alex at the 3, and stay with the three-guard lineups for the remaining minutes. I don't really see how it shakes out otherwise unless either A) Curry gets leapfrogged by Sulaimon, or B) either Cook or Thornton gets effectively knocked out of the rotation.

[OldPhiKap]

And I do have to say... Bad Sheed (i.e. Wallace) has grown on me.

Penicillin will cure that.

[SilkyJ]

Your overall take makes sense, but I'd guess we see Sheed for more minutes, whether that involves the traditional 2 spot, or some PG on occcasion, or SF/Wing.
25 minutes plus, maybe 30? I just think he's that good (esp. defensively) and K will find ways to utilize him.

Sorry Silky, but have to agree with Roy here. Rasheed is going to play and play a lot. Especially with Andre out of the mix. He has great tools and I feel he is going to be ready to contribute from day 1. Hope that does not jinx him, but thats how I see this kid.

This seems to be the prevailing notion, and I agree he seems to be completely legit, I just struggle to see where his minutes come from. I was going to write a more detailed response, but Greg summed up what I was going to say below so I'll just agree with him: barring injury there's zero mpg at PG, and 8-10mpg at SG, so if you're right (and given K's fondness for 3 guard lineups, I won't disagree) he'll have to play at least 10-15mpg at the 3, which is realistic given Murphy is unproven at this point. As Greg points out this means we'll be small on the perimeter at times, despite what K has said...either way it'll fun to watch K put the pieces together.

The Sulaimon storyline will certainly be an interesting one to follow. Just looking at what he brings vs. what we need, it seems that he should play a lot. However, where does his PT come from?

PG - Do JR Tyler and SO Quinn really combine for less than 40 MPG at the point? Seems like it would be pretty disappointing if so, and the only way I can really see that happening is if Cook gets injured or is somehow so bad he falls out of the rotation completely. Cook is generally considered the key to the season, and there's no way Thornton's toughness, leadership, experience and intangibles don't find a way into a young and/or finesse-centric perimeter rotation. Throw in the fact that Sulaimon really isn't a creating-PG at the college level (yet, at least), and it seems pretty unlikely to me.

SG - Does Seth play less than 30 MPG as a returning All-ACC, 5th-year senior? Once again, seems incredibly unlikely.

So really, that leaves backup SF minutes (assuming Murphy is who we expect him to be and is our main SF) as Sulaimon's main opportunity to get more than 10, maybe 15 MPG as a third guard, a la Rivers last year.

And then, if things weren't crowded enough, you've got K talking about using Amile and maybe even Hairston on the perimeter, presumably as backup SFs. I can't imagine they'd be a better option against most teams than giving Sulaimon the extra minutes, but who knows.

I've been on the "get longer and quicker on the perimeter" train forever, and I think by 2013-2014, we will be quite long and quick. However, next year, I think we ultimately settle with getting longer and more athletic ~70% of the time with Alex at the 3, and stay with the three-guard lineups for the remaining minutes. I don't really see how it shakes out otherwise unless either A) Curry gets leapfrogged by Sulaimon, or B) either Cook or Thornton gets effectively knocked out of the rotation.

[CDu]

This seems to be the prevailing notion, and I agree he seems to be completely legit, I just struggle to see where his minutes come from. I was going to write a more detailed response, but Greg summed up what I was going to say below so I'll just agree with him: barring injury there's zero mpg at PG, and 8-10mpg at SG, so if you're right (and given K's fondness for 3 guard lineups, I won't disagree) he'll have to play at least 10-15mpg at the 3, which is realistic given Murphy is unproven at this point. As Greg points out this means we'll be small on the perimeter at times, despite what K has said...either way it'll fun to watch K put the pieces together.

Sorry, I see to have double-posted the same thought. See my post below.

[CDu]

PG - Do JR Tyler and SO Quinn really combine for less than 40 MPG at the point? Seems like it would be pretty disappointing if so, and the only way I can really see that happening is if Cook gets injured or is somehow so bad he falls out of the rotation completely.

I'd argue that it'd be more disappointing if Sulaimon isn't good enough to take Thornton's minutes away. He's simply a far more talented player than Thornton. He has all of Thornton's defensive gifts, but adds tremendous offensive skills that Thornton can only dream of. Sulaimon is probably also better than Cook, though their skill sets are a bit different. He's not the playmaker that Cook is, but he's a better shooter and a much better defender.

I'd not be at all surprised to see Sulaimon playing ~10mpg at PG, ~10mpg at SG, and maybe ~5mpg at SF.

[roywhite]

I'd argue that it'd be more disappointing if Sulaimon isn't good enough to take Thornton's minutes away. He's simply a far more talented player than Thornton. He has all of Thornton's defensive gifts, but adds tremendous offensive skills that Thornton can only dream of. Sulaimon is probably also better than Cook, though their skill sets are a bit different. He's not the playmaker that Cook is, but he's a better shooter and a much better defender.

I'd not be at all surprised to see Sulaimon playing ~10mpg at PG, ~10mpg at SG, and maybe ~5mpg at SF.

That sounds about right to me. I think Sulaimon gets some minutes at PG along with SG and SF/Wing, and my way early guess is that he plays 25-28 minutes a game total.

[Greg_Newton]

...so if Cook improves enough to take over as primary PG, JR Tyler Thornton basically gets frozen out of the rotation completely?

I have an extremely hard time seeing that, especially given that Sulaimon is far from a court general, drive-and-dish PG, no matter what position he might have played in some all-star games. I'll admit that I was pleading for a similar scenario early last year on here (Rivers at PG, Gbinije at SF), which never came close to happening, so I'm not really expecting it to happen with this year's edition of 6'4 combo guard and Cook and Thornton fully healthy and a year further into their development.

I also think that Thornton's abilities are getting sold way short by essentially saying that Sulaimon is superior to Thornton in every way. The further we get from meaningful, tight games, the less we appreciate what he does...

[Biscuitboy]

K was a point guard who played for Bobby Knight. There's a thread about all time best Duke lineups, and Amaker is underappreciated. I'd give Hurley the nod as the best all-time Duke point guard. Amaker comes in a close second. Amaker was a lock down defender who distributed the ball and could knock down the outside shot. Quinn Cook could be a more compact version of Tommy Amaker.When in a groove, he has the court awareness, fluidity, and skills to make the team work.
Can he deliver on that potential? Tricky because you have Seth Curry and Tyler Thornton competing for some of those minutes. The backcourt chemistry and production will define who Duke is in 2012-2013. There's a lot of talent and Tyler Thornton is a captain. His toughness and leadership helped shape the team in 2011-2012. How the backcourt shakes out, and how productive it is, especially on the DEFENSIVE END, will determine our season. Stopping ball penetration and recovering to fast break off of turnovers needs to be who we are.
Up front we have Mason, who should dominate and Ryan Kelly who should dominate and compliment, and a mix of Josh Hairston, Alex Murphy and Amile. Maybe some Marshall.
In the all time Duke lineups I believe Singler is underappreciated as well. He showed the killer instinct. He showed the will to compete and win as well as any Duke player ever. He was not dominant like Elton Brand or Jason Williams, he simply scrapped and worked and delivered more times than not. He is a warrior. If our team heading into this year can capture that competitive spirit and ethic, we will be fine.

Finally, not much has been said about how the Olympics will affect our team. The focus and energy that our coach will put towards USA Basketball success will be tremendous. How will he transition back to another collegiate season? His track record is beyond reproach. It's still a lot to ask and to deliver. I hope that the team we put on the floor for 2012-2013 will grow into its full poetential. It's up to the players to embrace their opportunity.
Ryan Kelly's presence on the floor makes our team better. I believe that he has underachieved. He is the X factor heading into this year. He has the ball smarts and skills to make everyone he plays with better. I would like him to demand and demonstrate that he is a powerfull force that must be reckoned with. His achievemnt on the floor will propel us to an elite status or his invisibility will deflate us. Mason and Kelly should be better than Zeller and Henson last year. Ryan has so much to give.