FWIW - thought I'd report on having attended the Saturday practice as part of a fundraiser for the Emily K Center. Perhaps this was discussed elsewhere, but I didn't see it and it seems pertinent to the minutes discussion. These are just impressions and not meant to be a well-organized narrative.
- Big men and guards worked on skills separately from 9-10
Practice, mostly run by K and Capel, went from 10-12.
They worked hard in practice, with very little downtime.
They mostly worked on getting organized with specific offense and defense approaches, with occasional sprints worked in.
It seemed like all the players stayed on after 12 to work on shooting.
Grayson didn't practice due, I think, to a sore shoulder - not a biggie. Harry Giles was walking around pretty well for a guy who had had recent surgery.
Matt Jones looked skinny and a bit quicker perhaps, though he's still not an explosive athlete. One of the team's leaders.
Amile Jefferson was also a leader, as you'd expect, and also obviously knows what he's doing. I did not see evidence of a dramatically improved shot.
Frank Jackson IS an explosive athlete...oh my goodness...his combination of speed, strength and ball-handling is reminiscent of Jason Williams. Not saying he'll be that good, but he's got talent.
Luke Kennard looked stronger and shot the ball pretty well. His ball handling is outstanding.
Jayson Tatum is obviously a talented player, though he did not stand out in this practice as a one-and-doner.
Javin Delaurier is very quick and athletic and is going to be a good player for Duke before long.
Jack White looked better than I thought he would, including some good drives. He'll play some, IMO.
Chase Jeter still moves well but did not really get a chance to impress in this practice.
Antonio Vrankovic moves well for a big guy! Seriously. Being tall is not enough at this level, that's for sure.
Marques Bolden is going to be a very good player for us...moves well and has very long arms for his height.
They had seven managers at practice...it's like a game in that sense.
K was very generous with his time at lunch afterwards with the attendees - I came away thinking that he's a very good psychologist.
My 14-year old son and I got our picture taken with K.
My son left the brief visit quite convinced that I had not, in fact, played basketball for Duke.