2019 Men's Basketball Recruiting

[UrinalCake]

Bagley is an interesting case for this argument. loved the player, seemed like a really good guy and it was pure joy watching him play. that said, I thought as a team we played out best basketball sitting the 3-4 game stretch in which he was out with an injury.

Part of that is because we switched to the zone at the exact same time Bagley went out. Opponents were taken by surprise and had no way to game plan against us. But after a few games (when Bagley returned) they had enough tape to expose our weaknesses. Also my memory is a bit fuzzy but I believe our schedule was pretty easy during that stretch.

In retrospect we can see some possible chemistry issues that arose from Carter when Bagley came so late. But we would have been a much worse team overall without Bagley IMO.

[CDu]

Part of that is because we switched to the zone at the exact same time Bagley went out. Opponents were taken by surprise and had no way to game plan against us. But after a few games (when Bagley returned) they had enough tape to expose our weaknesses. Also my memory is a bit fuzzy but I believe our schedule was pretty easy during that stretch.

In retrospect we can see some possible chemistry issues that arose from Carter when Bagley came so late. But we would have been a much worse team overall without Bagley IMO.

Our schedule was indeed pretty easy during that stretch. At Ga Tech and Tech lost its PG; home vs Va Tech; at Clemson with Clemson missing their PG; home vs Louisville.

[BlueDevil16]

So without Stewart is there anyone else that we stand a realistic chance with? Still think PG is a weakness next year, someone might reclassify.

[jimsumner]

Every highly rated recruit is a "potential NBA all star" until you actually see them play in real games. Stewart is the #6 recruit in a weak class, while Bolden was #14 in a strong class - I don't see a huge difference there.

I don't think it is at all crazy to prefer having Bolden as a Sr. next year over freshman Stewart. Bolden is already the highest rated player from his class still in school. Carolina had some pretty good results the last couple of years from similarly situated Srs. Jackson and Pinson.

Pinson made it to his senior year at Carolina, as did Brice Johnson, Kennedy Meeks, Joel Berry and Isiah Hicks, all of whom helped UNC to post-season success.

Jackson, however, left after his junior year, as did J.P. Tokoto. Tony Bradley left after his freshman season.

So, lot of counter-examples here. But among this group, only Jackson has carved out a real niche in the NBA.

So, maybe it wasn't much of a sacrifice to stick around.

[richardjackson199]

So without Stewart is there anyone else that we stand a realistic chance with? Still think PG is a weakness next year, someone might reclassify.

Yes there is. I have no clue who it is. But I've followed Duke recruiting long enough to know that K always has a plan. Duke is good and a contender almost every year and he is recruiting at the highest level ever. Remember when we got Bagley at the 11th hour out of nowhere? Pulled Zion out of a hat when it looked like we were his 4th choice.

No clue whatsoever as I don't even pay for any recruiting tea leaves. But if I had to guess I'd say Duke could have had EJ Montgomery last year and backed off him to stay loyal with Bolden who assured us he would stay. I'd guess exact same thing happened with Stewart this year. I'm guessing we were on verge of getting Stewart and Bolden assured us that he will be back next year so we also backed off Stewart at last minute. So Stewart is going to Washington. But K has a plan for next year and isn't worried, including pg position. I don't even have a theory on what that is. But I know we'll see and it will work.

Just be patient and enjoy this season. Next year we'll be great again, but probably not this great.

[cato]

In retrospect we can see some possible chemistry issues that arose from Carter when Bagley came so late. But we would have been a much worse team overall without Bagley IMO.

There may well have been chemistry issues, but it is impossible to know if so and to what extent. I’m not sure it was ever clear who the leader was. Grayson and Bagley never seemed to mesh well.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

There may well have been chemistry issues, but it is impossible to know if so and to what extent. I’m not sure it was ever clear who the leader was. Grayson and Bagley never seemed to mesh well.

yeah, let's just say that I like the frosh on this years team a LOT more than last year's team....and this years' team, so far, has far superior chemistry.

[NSDukeFan]

It’s funny how the narrative for a season changes so much based on whether a shot that rolled around the rim a few times drops in or out of the basket.

[Kedsy]

It’s funny how the narrative for a season changes so much based on whether a shot that rolled around the rim a few times drops in or out of the basket.

So much this. Thanks for saying it.

[JayZee]

In the Chronicle’s pic of Hurt with Nolan, Hurt is wearing an Adidas sweatshirt. Who knows if it’s a sign, but it does seem a touch odd given that he’s visiting a Nike school. Probably not a coincidence where he grabbed any random sweatshirt at the top of his laundry pile though.

[Ian]

It’s funny how the narrative for a season changes so much based on whether a shot that rolled around the rim a few times drops in or out of the basket.

It all depends on whether one believe things happen the way they do for reasons, or things happen on they way they do on dice rolls.

[DavidBenAkiva]

In the Chronicle’s pic of Hurt with Nolan, Hurt is wearing an Adidas sweatshirt. Who knows if it’s a sign, but it does seem a touch odd given that he’s visiting a Nike school. Probably not a coincidence where he grabbed any random sweatshirt at the top of his laundry pile though.

Zion was an Adidas guy on the high school and AAU circuit, I believe.

At any rate, Duke is hosting a Top 10 forward tonight against a Top 5 team in the Nation. That's pretty cool. Let's Go Duke!

[SavDukeGrad]

Great game and great win for Matthew Hurt to experience!

Was that Wendell Moore sitting next to Matthew Hurt behind the Duke bench?

[Gorilla]

Zion was an Adidas guy on the high school and AAU circuit, I believe.

At any rate, Duke is hosting a Top 10 forward tonight against a Top 5 team in the Nation. That's pretty cool. Let's Go Duke!

Zion still wears Adidas gear on campus lol

[lotusland]

Yes there is. I have no clue who it is. But I've followed Duke recruiting long enough to know that K always has a plan. Duke is good and a contender almost every year and he is recruiting at the highest level ever. Remember when we got Bagley at the 11th hour out of nowhere? Pulled Zion out of a hat when it looked like we were his 4th choice.

No clue whatsoever as I don't even pay for any recruiting tea leaves. But if I had to guess I'd say Duke could have had EJ Montgomery last year and backed off him to stay loyal with Bolden who assured us he would stay. I'd guess exact same thing happened with Stewart this year. I'm guessing we were on verge of getting Stewart and Bolden assured us that he will be back next year so we also backed off Stewart at last minute. So Stewart is going to Washington. But K has a plan for next year and isn't worried, including pg position. I don't even have a theory on what that is. But I know we'll see and it will work.

Just be patient and enjoy this season. Next year we'll be great again, but probably not this great.

It’s hard to replace an OAD PG every year and it’s even tougher when the likelihood of Tre coming back wasn’t known until well into the season and still isn’t. Unlike Quinn and JWill, Tre isn’t a combo guard so Anthony probably didn’t want to get stuck playing off the ball. Maybe we can get back in with him since it looks like Tre won’t be back but there doesn’t appear to be any other good options left.

[NSDukeFan]

It all depends on whether one believe things happen the way they do for reasons, or things happen on they way they do on dice rolls.

I don’t believe that Grayson’s shot that rolled around the rim missed because Bagley and Carter and Grayson didn’t have the magical chemistry that this year’s team does. I am loving watching this year’s team and believe they have a very reasonable chance at hanging some banners. That does not take away from how much I enjoyed watching last year’s team and how close they were to hanging a regional championship banner.

[Ian]

I don’t believe that Grayson’s shot that rolled around the rim missed because Bagley and Carter and Grayson didn’t have the magical chemistry that this year’s team does. I am loving watching this year’s team and believe they have a very reasonable chance at hanging some banners. That does not take away from how much I enjoyed watching last year’s team and how close they were to hanging a regional championship banner.

If there is one thing I wish we can see less of on this board, it's the kind of simplistic analysis that reduces the loss against Kansas to one Grayson Allen shot that missed, as though a game that lasted 45 minutes, with over 150 offensive and defensive possesions played, can be reduced to one play.

The truth is that in the last 90 seconds of regulation alone, Duke had 4 chances where if they executed in any of them they would have won the game, and failed all 4 times. The fact that Allen's miss was the last of the those 4 chances doesn't make it the only play that Duke failed, only the last in a string of failed chances. And that doesn't even take into account the fact the miss only forced OT, where Duke still have multiple opportunities to execute and win and did not do so.

[Kedsy]

If there is one thing I wish we can see less of on this board, it's the kind of simplistic analysis that reduces the loss against Kansas to one Grayson Allen shot that missed, as though a game that lasted 45 minutes, with over 150 offensive and defensive possesions played, can be reduced to one play.

The truth is that in the last 90 seconds of regulation alone, Duke had 4 chances where if they executed in any of them they would have won the game, and failed all 4 times. The fact that Allen's miss was the last of the those 4 chances doesn't make it the only play that Duke failed, only the last in a string of failed chances. And that doesn't even take into account the fact the miss only forced OT, where Duke still have multiple opportunities to execute and win and did not do so.

I'm with NSDukeFan. If Duke had won that Kansas game and gone on the Final Four, people who now talk pretty much exclusively about the 2018 team's flaws would be singing a much different tune. In that context, it's entirely appropriate to point out that the one-possession game against Kansas (and thus the positivity or negativity of the comments about the team) hinged on one possession.

[Steven43]

I'm with NSDukeFan. If Duke had won that Kansas game and gone on the Final Four, people who now talk pretty much exclusively about the 2018 team's flaws would be singing a much different tune. In that context, it's entirely appropriate to point out that the one-possession game against Kansas (and thus the positivity or negativity of the comments about the team) hinged on one possession.

Technically true, it was a one-possession game in regulation. However, Duke choked that game away. They should have beaten Kansas by at least 6-8 points. Duke had superior talent top to bottom. But that team was just missing an important element or two.

Maybe it was chemistry. Maybe it was a better PG. Maybe it was poorly constructed with the two bigs playing too many minutes together, resulting in clogging up the lane as well as eliminating the chance of getting better 3-pt shooting into the game more often. Anyway, Duke would have gotten blasted by Villanova in the Final Four by double-digits, so what does it really matter if they had beaten Kansas?

[Saratoga2]

Who we need as recruits is predicated on who leaves for the NBA draft or who graduates. Clearly Zion and RJ are special players and will go high in the draft, even though neither has an NBA outside shot and both are just so so at the FT line.

So, who among the others is a likely high NBA prospect as we are around the half season mark and we are getting to know our players.

Cam Reddish comes to mind as he has NBA size and athleticism. So far his defense and rebounding have been good but his outside shot has been inconsistent and he is turnover prone when going to the basket. There are many players in his size range that are having better seasons, DeAndre Hunter, Phil Cofer and Rui Hachimura to name a few, and they will likely push Cam down to the second round unless his second half gets a lot better. Should Cam look for a second season with Duke? I think so.

Tre Jones is a uniquely gifted player with a special defensive game and on floor leadership. He is 6'2" and his outside shot is not that great. I am of the school that believes great shooters are born and may develop to some degree but not to the premier level. Against the bigger and more active defenses he had trouble getting his shot to fall when going to the rim. I wonder if he will go in the draft and if so, at what point in the draft?

I think Jack is a nice college player but not big enough or quick enough to make an NBA roster and Javin has some of the physical characteristics but is not playing at a level to get serious consideration in any draft. Marques has the size and length to play in the NBA but is neither a scoring threat nor a strong rebounder. He might get picked up late in the draft and his status probably won't increase with another year of play. So does he stay and get his degree rather than play in the D or G leagues?

The only other player who has good size and quickness to fit the shooting guard spot in the nBA is AOC. He just has not shown the court awareness to even play well at the college level to date. No chance of him making an NBA roster after this season, but maybe with 15 pounds and him finally gaining confidence he might make the jum.

In my opinion, only two players from this team should depart for the NBA this year, although Tre may feel he won't make a significant improvement by staying another year. Wonder if coach K thinks he is getting Cam and Tre back for another season?