2021 Men's Basketball Recruiting Thread

[dukelifer]

Unless you posted previously that you didn’t want him here, then not only does it sound like sour grapes—it IS sour grapes.

A top 5 multi-positional prospect, potential top-5 pick with a sweet stroke...or Wendell Moore who probably has no NBA future. If you prefer more Moore then you don’t know how to win basketball games.

To be fair- Moore is a sweet stroke away from having an NBA future. He is still only 19- turns 20 in Sept. Baldwin turns 19 in Nov. Moore is getting better and could have a breakout season. I am not yet sure of his NBA limit.

As for who is better- yes Baldwin is the clear NBA prospect- but he just had a serious ankle injury and has a lot to learn about the college game. He would likely start over Moore because he is a tough matchup.

[lotusland]

Unless you posted previously that you didn’t want him here, then not only does it sound like sour grapes—it IS sour grapes.

A top 5 multi-positional prospect, potential top-5 pick with a sweet stroke...or Wendell Moore who probably has no NBA future. If you prefer more Moore then you don’t know how to win basketball games.

Thanks but I really don’t need advice on how to be a Duke fan your opinion is irrelevant to me.

[DukieTiger]

Unless you posted previously that you didn’t want him here, then not only does it sound like sour grapes—it IS sour grapes.

A top 5 multi-positional prospect, potential top-5 pick with a sweet stroke...or Wendell Moore who probably has no NBA future. If you prefer more Moore then you don’t know how to win basketball games.

For all we know, Baldwin will give up as many points as he scores. He-like many freshmen - is a complete question mark on the defensive end.

Is Baldwin actually functional at multiple positions? Can he handle the ball enough to be a 2? (Moore can) Can he stay in front of college 2s and 3s? (Moore can) Is he strong enough to defend and/or rebound from the 4 spot? (Moore is)

It’s absolutely not a foregone conclusion that he will be a more valuable player than Moore next year.

[budwom]

^ perhaps true (I respectfully disagree vis a vis Moore) but Baldwin was K's favorite player in the class. Sorry we missed on him, next play.

[duke79]

Oh, my! Duke University is a huge selling point to recruits, even the OAD crowd. What distinguishes Duke from other major hoops powers is the well-recognized academic reputation, the all-world fellow students (who are an education in themselves), the connections later on through the friends at Duke, the alumni network and -- frankly -- the halo effect from having gone to Duke. Lots of Duke players in front of the camera or in NBA front offices.

And then there's the "Brotherhood."

Do you honestly think that K would have been as successful if he had gone to coach at other schools? From being around Duke for most of my life, I am impressed that Duke attempts to be first rate in everything it does -- and succeeds much of the time.

I agree with you here, Sage, and I don't think Coach K would have had the success he has had if he had gone to a "lesser" school. No doubt Duke University was very, very lucky to hire Coach K back in 1981 (and it was obviously a huge gamble at the time; I'm not even sure Tom Butters knew how successful he would become) BUT I also think Coach K was VERY lucky to get the Duke head coaching job. If he had taken the Iowa State job (which, I believe, he was also offered at that time), would he have had a hall-of-fame career; won multiple national championships with over 1000 total wins, etc. ? Not a snowball's chance in hell, IMHO. If you believe, as I do, that recruiting is a big part of being successful at the top levels of Div. 1 college basketball, then no doubt Coach K leveraged all of the advantages of Duke University (and his own program) to bring in some of the best HS b-ball players over the decades. I just don't think this would have been possible at a less desirable school. I analogize it's like being a recruiter for Goldman Sachs vs. working for a small, third-rate investment firm. It's MUCH easier to recruit the best talent to GS than the small firm.

[DukieTiger]

^ perhaps true (I respectfully disagree vis a vis Moore) but Baldwin was K's favorite player in the class. Sorry we missed on him, next play.

Oh I’m bummed we missed on him too, just felt the need to defend Moore’s honor a bit. K loves WM too

[budwom]

Oh I’m bummed we missed on him too, just felt the need to defend Moore’s honor a bit. K loves WM too

Indeed, any concern some may have had (not me) about too many bodies should be mitigated. I agree that we only need eight, but one must account for the Foot Fairy who enjoys life on the Duke campus...

Hoops these days reminds of when I managed a softball team many years ago. You need 10 players, you'd like a few spares for no-shows (work conflicts, etc), yet EVERYONE wanted to play, it was a pain in the butt...the days of hoop kids biding their time on the bench is pretty much done as well except for the lower ranked recruits teams like Duke only get in very modest numbers.

Seems like we have a good-ish number of bodies at this point, fingers crossed.

[jimsumner]

Indeed, any concern some may have had (not me) about too many bodies should be mitigated. I agree that we only need eight, but one must account for the Foot Fairy who enjoys life on the Duke campus...

Hoops these days reminds of when I managed a softball team many years ago. You need 10 players, you'd like a few spares for no-shows (work conflicts, etc), yet EVERYONE wanted to play, it was a pain in the butt...the days of hoop kids biding their time on the bench is pretty much done as well except for the lower ranked recruits teams like Duke only get in very modest numbers.

Seems like we have a good-ish number of bodies at this point, fingers crossed

Oh, my goodness, tempting fate is one thing, mocking it is something else. I'm not sure crossing your fingers is going to be enough to save this one.

[budwom]

Oh, my goodness, tempting fate is one thing, mocking it is something else. I'm not sure crossing your fingers is going to be enough to save this one.

I have left out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for the Foot Fairy, not sure what else I can do...

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I have left out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for the Foot Fairy, not sure what else I can do...

Get in your DeLorean and undo what you wrote.

[cbolden1]

His defense is wild

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNpby5OldqM

[Pghdukie]

Oh, my goodness, tempting fate is one thing, mocking it is something else. I'm not sure crossing your fingers is going to be enough to save this one.

It is what it is. Duke basketball will be exciting next year. Will it hit our expectations - that's why we're fans

[JasonEvans]

His defense is wild

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNpby5OldqM

Now that was fun to watch. Great find!

[jimsumner]

It is what it is. Duke basketball will be exciting next year. Will it hit our expectations - that's why we're fans

I believe you may have missed my point, which was the suggestion that Duke might have enough warm bodies. Given Duke's recent propensity towards injuries, well, you can figure out the rest.

And, yes, the references to curses and fairies and such are a little tongue in cheek. A little.

[budwom]

Get in your DeLorean and undo what you wrote.

hey, I said we had to watch out for the Foot Fairy! Not sure what else I could write...

[jv001]

His defense is wild

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNpby5OldqM

Thanks for the link. I think that was in 2019? Griffin looked to have very good awareness on defense as he blocked shots from off the ball. I will be anxious to see how he guards his own man and how he handles switches in Duke's man2man. If that was 2019, I'm pretty sure AJ has added some strength since then, however he looked to be pretty stout in that video.

GoDuke!

[DavidBenAkiva]

Thanks for the link. I think that was in 2019? Griffin looked to have very good awareness on defense as he blocked shots from off the ball. I will be anxious to see how he guards his own man and how he handles switches in Duke's man2man. If that was 2019, I'm pretty sure AJ has added some strength since then, however he looked to be pretty stout in that video.

GoDuke!

Duke has some fun combinations of players for next season. AJ and Wendell are going to be interesting to watch as both are big and long and could guard 2-4. The length is fun as it could generate a lot of deflections and open-court turnovers. Then in the frontcourt there's Paolo and Mark. Depending on the matchup, those two could guard either frontcourt position. Of course, we'll want to see Mark close to the rim on defense as much as possible.

The really interesting question is how versatile Paolo is on defense. He showed impressive lateral movement and defensive acumen in the 1-on-1 drill during the Iverson Classic. He also showed his ability to jump passing lanes on the perimeter during scrimmage and game action. Can he really defend out to the perimeter and not get burned in the pick and roll? If he can, then things could get really interesting. I don't think we've seen enough to know if Paolo can defend the pick and roll. It's something I'll be watching early on.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Duke has some fun combinations of players for next season. AJ and Wendell are going to be interesting to watch as both are big and long and could guard 2-4. The length is fun as it could generate a lot of deflections and open-court turnovers. Then in the frontcourt there's Paolo and Mark. Depending on the matchup, those two could guard either frontcourt position. Of course, we'll want to see Mark close to the rim on defense as much as possible.

The really interesting question is how versatile Paolo is on defense. He showed impressive lateral movement and defensive acumen in the 1-on-1 drill during the Iverson Classic. He also showed his ability to jump passing lanes on the perimeter during scrimmage and game action. Can he really defend out to the perimeter and not get burned in the pick and roll? If he can, then things could get really interesting. I don't think we've seen enough to know if Paolo can defend the pick and roll. It's something I'll be watching early on.

There is a strong chance that Duke, for every game, has a size advantage from the 2-5. Roach is a pretty small dude, but AJ is massive for a 2/3 as is Moore. Banchero, while not heavy, is tall, long, and powerful for a 4. And I assume Williams will add 20lbs to his wiry frame in the off-season to match his enormous 7'0" frame and 7'0" wingspan.

Sprinkle in Keels (tall and heavy for a 2), John (weighs 255lbs), and Blakes (6'3" for a PG), and this is a biiiiiiiiiiig team all around. The only bench player who is likely to give up size is Baker (he isn't quick and suspect he isn't going to guard the 2/3 very much).

[Natty_B]

Duke has been pretty healthy the last two seasons - certainly no vigil's as far as I can recall. And yeah I'm not counting Johnson's foot "injury" - YMMV.

[CDu]

Duke has been pretty healthy the last two seasons - certainly no vigil's as far as I can recall. And yeah I'm not counting Johnson's foot "injury" - YMMV.

I would argue that Johnson's injury/"injury" was pretty impactful to our results this past season. For a young team trying to figure out their identity, the in-and-out-and-in-and-out nature of Johnson's season was a pretty big drag on our team's development.

I think we would have been unquestionably better had we either had him available all season or had we never had him at all. But the foot vigil as it played out was a big deal.