2018-19 Basketball catch all thread

[Troublemaker]

reduce the number of early losses by playing a zone from the get go. Looks to be nearly a perfect team for that...

One thing about this is that Duke actually doesn't really have a problem with early losses, as we tend to take care of business in the preconference season. In the past eight seasons, we've produced 0 losses four times in the preconference, 1 loss twice, and 2 losses twice.

2018 - 0 losses preconference
2017 - 1 loss (Kansas)
2016 - 2 losses (Kentucky, Utah)
2015 - 0 losses
2014 - 2 losses (Kansas, Arizona)
2013 - 0 losses
2012 - 1 loss (Ohio St)
2011 - 0 losses

I would say that if 75% of the time you emerge from the preconference season with 0 or 1 loss (and 50% of the time, you emerge with 0), that's doing pretty well.

It's really the early ACC season that's been a problem for Duke. (Just a point of clarification, as you may very well have been referring to early ACC losses.)

As for becoming a zone-first program, I'd rather not. Both because all things being equal, I prefer watching m2m more and because there may be recruiting implications if Duke becomes a zone-first program.

Let's try to play m2m well and if we can't accomplish that, THEN move to zone.

[luburch]

Playing Indiana right after the Maui trip/Thanksgiving worries me a bit.

[NSDukeFan]

One thing about this is that Duke actually doesn't really have a problem with early losses, as we tend to take care of business in the preconference season. In the past eight seasons, we've produced 0 losses four times in the preconference, 1 loss twice, and 2 losses twice.

2018 - 0 losses preconference
2017 - 1 loss (Kansas)
2016 - 2 losses (Kentucky, Utah)
2015 - 0 losses
2014 - 2 losses (Kansas, Arizona)
2013 - 0 losses
2012 - 1 loss (Ohio St)
2011 - 0 losses

I would say that if 75% of the time you emerge from the preconference season with 0 or 1 loss (and 50% of the time, you emerge with 0), that's doing pretty well.

It's really the early ACC season that's been a problem for Duke. (Just a point of clarification, as you may very well have been referring to early ACC losses.)

As for becoming a zone-first program, I'd rather not. Both because all things being equal, I prefer watching m2m more and because there may be recruiting implications if Duke becomes a zone-first program.

Let's try to play m2m well and if we can't accomplish that, THEN move to zone.

This is my impression as well. Duke teams tend to come out of the gates very well in pre-conference play, but, because they are students, they struggle a bit around exam time (not a big deal, because the schedule usually has fewer, easier games.). Then, after a break, the team tends to struggle in its introduction to ACC play, especially on the road. If you want to look for potential losses, I would think the first ACC road game, or two or three, are potential candidates.
I am also optimistic about this team and expect, if healthy, they will lose 7 or fewer games. I am hoping that it won’t matter if it includes tournament play or not as I am hoping the team will have the same number of losses in either case.
I am also really excited to see what R.J. can do.

[tbyers11]

Playing Indiana right after the Maui trip/Thanksgiving worries me a bit.

Last Maui game is on a Wednesday. Indiana game is the the following Tuesday in Cameron. I don’t think you need to worry about the IU game from a travel perspective.

[COYS]

This is my impression as well. Duke teams tend to come out of the gates very well in pre-conference play, but, because they are students, they struggle a bit around exam time (not a big deal, because the schedule usually has fewer, easier games.). Then, after a break, the team tends to struggle in its introduction to ACC play, especially on the road. If you want to look for potential losses, I would think the first ACC road game, or two or three, are potential candidates.
I am also optimistic about this team and expect, if healthy, they will lose 7 or fewer games. I am hoping that it won’t matter if it includes tournament play or not as I am hoping the team will have the same number of losses in either case.
I am also really excited to see what R.J. can do.

Duke's struggles away from home in the early portions of the ACC calendar have seemingly become a trend. Duke has managed to win its first ACC road game only three times since 2008. And one of those years, 2016, should probably come with an asterisk as that team beat two particularly bad ACC teams on the road in Boston College (a miserable 204 in T-Rank) and Wake Forest (a not quite as terrible but still bad 107) before losing to its first decent road opponent (43rd ranked Clemson). To put it another way, Duke has only managed to win the first ACC road game twice since 2008 as long as the opponent is not ranked in the triple digits by KenPom/T-Rank. I'd love for this year's squad to reverse that trend, as it has probably cost Duke a few one seeds (2013, 2017, and 2018 come to mind).

I'll also say that this is still a small sample size and winning the first ACC road game doesn't really seem to have too much predictive power. One could also put asterisks on a number of these losses. The 2013 team lost @NC State in the first game after losing Ryan Kelly to injury. The 2017 team was trying to work Harry Giles and also dealing with Grayson's suspension when it lost to FSU. And, of course, both the 2010 and 2015 teams recovered from their early season blips to win the title (and also secure a one seed). And the 2012 team will never be remembered as one of Duke's best, yet it managed to go undefeated on the road in the ACC.

[flyingdutchdevil]

This is my impression as well. Duke teams tend to come out of the gates very well in pre-conference play, but, because they are students, they struggle a bit around exam time (not a big deal, because the schedule usually has fewer, easier games.). Then, after a break, the team tends to struggle in its introduction to ACC play, especially on the road. If you want to look for potential losses, I would think the first ACC road game, or two or three, are potential candidates.
I am also optimistic about this team and expect, if healthy, they will lose 7 or fewer games. I am hoping that it won’t matter if it includes tournament play or not as I am hoping the team will have the same number of losses in either case.
I am also really excited to see what R.J. can do.

They are such amazing students that they often graduate in one year

[NSDukeFan]

Duke's struggles away from home in the early portions of the ACC calendar have seemingly become a trend. Duke has managed to win its first ACC road game only three times since 2008. And one of those years, 2016, should probably come with an asterisk as that team beat two particularly bad ACC teams on the road in Boston College (a miserable 204 in T-Rank) and Wake Forest (a not quite as terrible but still bad 107) before losing to its first decent road opponent (43rd ranked Clemson). To put it another way, Duke has only managed to win the first ACC road game twice since 2008 as long as the opponent is not ranked in the triple digits by KenPom/T-Rank. I'd love for this year's squad to reverse that trend, as it has probably cost Duke a few one seeds (2013, 2017, and 2018 come to mind).

I'll also say that this is still a small sample size and winning the first ACC road game doesn't really seem to have too much predictive power. One could also put asterisks on a number of these losses. The 2013 team lost @NC State in the first game after losing Ryan Kelly to injury. The 2017 team was trying to work Harry Giles and also dealing with Grayson's suspension when it lost to FSU. And, of course, both the 2010 and 2015 teams recovered from their early season blips to win the title (and also secure a one seed). And the 2012 team will never be remembered as one of Duke's best, yet it managed to go undefeated on the road in the ACC.

I’m not sure if it’s statistically significant but I believe the first ACC road game (s) often correlate to the first predictions of Duke not making the NCAAT, losing 15 games, etc.

[coldriver10]

Duke's struggles...ACC.

This has nothing to do with what you said, but I'm curious...does your handle indicate that you're a Tottenham fan or is it a completely unrelated acronym? Apologies if the latter, but COYS if the former!

[COYS]

This has nothing to do with what you said, but I'm curious...does your handle indicate that you're a Tottenham fan or is it a completely unrelated acronym? Apologies if the latter, but COYS if the former!

A Spurs fan, indeed! It’s always nice to meet a fellow Tottenham supporter.

[Troublemaker]

Coach K was apparently on Jon Rothstein's podcast yesterday. Here's a 247 article with (at least) a partial transcript of the interview.

Excerpt:

How is Tre Jones similar to his brother Tyus?

"They're both incredibly smart and have great leadership skills. They're pass first players. They're different in that Tyus was not the penetrator, but he was a better shooter. Tre is a little bit taller and is a better driver. Probably gets rid of the ball even quicker than Tyus did. They both look to pass ahead. Both of them are really easy guys to play with and they do something that is an amazing luxury to a coach - they do real time leadership. They can lead your team in real time, while the game is going on on the court. A coach doesn't do it in real time, mostly in timeouts and stuff like that. But both these guys, they were really coached and brought up the right way. We're anxious to have Tre make all of us a little bit better."

[duketaylor]

Had to look at the link to know K said that about Tre. Good to know.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Coach K was apparently on Jon Rothstein's podcast yesterday. Here's a 247 article with (at least) a partial transcript of the interview.

Excerpt:

How is Tre Jones similar to his brother Tyus?

"They're both incredibly smart and have great leadership skills. They're pass first players. They're different in that Tyus was not the penetrator, but he was a better shooter. Tre is a little bit taller and is a better driver. Probably gets rid of the ball even quicker than Tyus did. They both look to pass ahead. Both of them are really easy guys to play with and they do something that is an amazing luxury to a coach - they do real time leadership. They can lead your team in real time, while the game is going on on the court. A coach doesn't do it in real time, mostly in timeouts and stuff like that. But both these guys, they were really coached and brought up the right way. We're anxious to have Tre make all of us a little bit better."

Interesting comments, thanks for sharing. This makes me think that we are going to see a very spread-out offense to allow for Jones, Barrett, Reddish, and Williamson to operate with space and lanes to the basket. From a recruiting perspective, Tre not being as good a shooter as Tyus might be a flag that Tre is going to end up as a multi-year player. Tyus was not a great shooter in college and has not been one in the NBA. He is becoming a really good NBA point guard and I hope to see him take over a starting role soon. But his shooting is still a weak point for him. If Tre is not going to be a 35% shooter from deep, then NBA teams will question his fit in the league. For very selfish reasons, I would love to see Tre Jones stay at Duke for 2 or 3 years. If his IQ and other attributes are as good or better than Tyus, he will be a real winner and might provide stability at the point guard position. A stable point guard situation seems is way past due for Duke!

[Pghdukie]

How does the ROY WILLIAMS COURT at the Dean Smith Center sound ? That's what UNC is going to do.

[devildeac]

How does the ROY WILLIAMS COURT at the Dean Smith Center sound ? That's what UNC is going to do.

Should that be the dean's myth center?

[Furniture]

Tricky Tre, Gary Trent and Wendell Carter are all back on campus

https://mobile.twitter.com/DukeNBA/s...184064/video/1

in the clip shown some guy floor slaps Gary who promptly dunks on him...

[Furniture]

https://mobile.twitter.com/swishcult...559232/video/1

If anyone is wondering about Frank Jackson....Um-hum.

[UrinalCake]

in the clip shown some guy floor slaps Gary who promptly dunks on him...

Looks like they’re playing pickup against some random scrubs on campus. How do I get into that game?

Cool to see them back.

[rsvman]

https://mobile.twitter.com/swishcult...559232/video/1

If anyone is wondering about Frank Jackson...Um-hum.

He's got game.

[Billy Dat]

Tricky Tre, Gary Trent and Wendell Carter are all back on campus

https://mobile.twitter.com/DukeNBA/s...184064/video/1

in the clip shown some guy floor slaps Gary who promptly dunks on him...

First off, glad that Tre and Wendell are back, considering the high and low profile recent reports of potential bad feelings about Duke.

Also, too funny that this clown slaps the floor in front of Gary, promptly gets blown by, and Gary doesn't just dunk, he alley-oops to himself off the backboard.

By the way, as a middle-aged alum who is not quite caught up with all the new facilities, I didn't recognize the gym...but have found that it is the Brodie Center on East which isn't really new anymore.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Interesting video comparing and contrasting 3 of the top freshmen: Who is the better prospect, Barrett, Reddish, or Williamson?

After the Canadian Tour, I am incredibly curious to see how Reddish and Jones fit into with Barrett and Zion. Reddish has the physical qualities to be an elite defender, playmaker, and shot maker. Physically, he is very similar to Jayson Tatum and Luol Deng at a similar age.