I mostly agree. I mean, I hope that Roach can make that jump next year, but he's really the only guy we have in the mix who could fit that bill (at least in terms of guarding against quicker players).
Moore has a lot of versatility and physical strength, but he's not been great at protecting the ball in his two seasons, isn't much of a 3pt shooter, and isn't terribly quick so he is better defensively against bigger guards and forwards.
Keels, if we get him, is a shooter scorer and a bigger SG, isn't much of a ballhandler, and isn't very quick.
We have good ballhandlers and shot creators at SF and PF in Griffin and Banchero, but it would be nice to have a quicker, smaller guard in the rotation.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
I wonder if Goldwire knew about Steward’s decision. If we get Keels, I’m not sure we could find a better fit for our needs in the transfer portal than JG. Ballhandling, defense, leadership. I hope he reconsiders. This team will have championship potential.
I think it's going to be hard for Baker, especially if Keels comes. That's 3 guys (Moore, Griffin, and Keels) who are simply better than him at the wing spot. No, Moore and Griffin aren't the shooters that Baker is (and this is possibly true of Keels as well). But they do the other stuff better.
Maybe Baker makes a big leap next year, but it feels very much like he'll be the odd man out again.
Do guys go back to schools they considered in original recruitment but did not attend? I could see the reasons for it (liked the school a lot during initial recruitment, already have some familiarity with the school and coaching staff, etc) but also the drawbacks (potential damaged relationships from initial rejection, coaches not wanting to get turned down twice, players wanting a totally clean start, etc). With all of the transfers the last few years has this been something that has happened with any frequency? Juzang at UCLA the best example but that may be more location/family than school? I don't follow recruiting or transfers enough to know if this happens.
Freshman DJ was a better player than Freshman Boogie, but Soph Boogie was pretty similar to Frosh DJ, except being a better shooter from distance (38% from 3, but worse from the line and from 2). Would fit in very nicely with the roster if there is mutual interest.
Yeh, it will be hard for Joey to get major minutes with the players we have now. However he did work hard to improve his defense and I think there was improvement. But he will never be able to defend a PG or SG and probably the same for a SF. But if he does in fact return and can begin the season shooting lights out from 3, he should get 10-12 mpg. Someone is probably going to have to replace Hurt's 3 point shooting. It won't be DJ and I'm pessimistic about Wendell, Moore and Coleman. Getting Keels would help but I'm not holding my breath that he'll be in a Duke uniform next season.
GoDuke!
For sure. And he could also not improve, which would put him towards the end of the bench.
I hope Coach K doesn't put his eggs in the Baker basket and looks to other avenues (the transfer portal seems like a wonderful place!)
I love the Boogie Ellis idea, but I get the feeling he's looking for a starting role and not sure Coach K will guarantee that.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Honestly, I'm not sure Ellis would make a huge impact at Duke. He was a good 3pt shooter (38.6%) last year, but brought very little else to the table and wasn't a starter for Memphis. Yes, Memphis was comparable in quality to Duke this past year, but I expect next year's Duke team to be much better than this.
He wouldn't address the ballhandling need or the "defends quicker guards need".
I wouldn't say "no" if Duke added him, but I wouldn't be wildly enthusiastic about it either.
If we get Keels, I'll agree that Goldwire was nearly the perfect guy for what we would want/need. Hopefully we can find someone with similar attributes.
In other recruiting news, it seems that Charles Bediako is ready to decide. His previously announced final five are Duke, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, and Alabama. I think everyone expects him to pick Alabama. Mark Williams' emergence makes it tough for Duke in this one.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Right now, we know for sure we have 1 player who can play the 1 or the 2. We say Adrian Griffin can, but he's 6-7 (with reports saying he's more 6-8 and he's listed as a SF on most sites) and will likely have issues guarding the 1 or the 2. And we all know Coach K loves playing small. The only player I can think of who has a similar profile to Griffin and played the 2 was RJ Barrett, but this made sense because you had to play Barrett, Zion, and Cam lots of minutes together.
If Keels joins, great! But I highly suspect he's going to have issues guarding the 1 or 2 as well. He's not particularly quick and a solid 6-5, 210. Boogie would add to highly needed depth, especially to guard the 1/2
And I agree with Goldwire; he would be a great "addition" to this team.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
I doubt Griffin will play much (or at all?) at SG next year. I'd expect Moore/Roach and either Keels or another transfer (or both) to play the PG and SG spots. Assuming of course that Moore and Roach return.
Ellis would add depth, but I don't think he adds quality. Especially not in terms of defense against 1s and 2s.
Agreed (obviously). Hopefully we can find someone to fill that role. I just don't really think Ellis is that guy.
Now, if we don't get Keels, then Ellis and his 3pt shooting become more relevant. But if we get Keels, then I think the guy we need is a guy who has shown he can guard well on the perimeter.