It was great seeing Marques out there healthy and showing the skills many of us knew he had. Hoping he makes it back in time to enjoy a deep run in the NCAAs.
There are only 4 years of eligibility. The “Grad Transfers” you hear about are players who red-shirted a year so that when they graduate they still have a year of eligibility remaining. Grad “transfers” are not treated like other transfers who have to sit out a year. Technically, they are not transfers, they are incoming graduate students who happen to have a year of eligibility. I think officially, you have to be enrolling in an academic program that is not available at the school you got your under graduate degree, but from what I hear that is easy to get around.
Marquis has never redshirted, so wouldn’t have a fifth year available to him.
It was great seeing Marques out there healthy and showing the skills many of us knew he had. Hoping he makes it back in time to enjoy a deep run in the NCAAs.
Did anyone hear coach say when Bolden might return? I watched the presser and he really had no idea. The MCL sprain could be anywhere from a couple days to season ending.
I really don’t understand this first weekend gloom and doom. Yes, some previous Duke teams have flamed out in the first weekend, but those Duke teams couldn’t play defense - this team can. It sucks to lose Bolden at this point in the season, but he was still the fifth option on offense. His replacement is Javin, who probably has the worst hands since Warren Chapman (how’s that for a reference old timers?), but he will still be the fifth option on offense. Many people on this board have long said the death lineup is our strongest team and it doesn’t include either Bolden or Javin. What team in the first weekend has three players like Zion, RJ, and Cam on either offense or defense? Of course we could lose the first weekend and the matchups get harder as we progress, but expecting to lose the first weekend - I don’t think so.
Bolden's contributions this season have been legit. Here's hoping we get to see him have a chance to play for us again...
"One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese
Agreed on both fronts. He's had some excellent games for us over the past couple of months and has shown some really improved defensive tendencies. He isn't one of our primary scorers but can get some buckets when set up. I haven't checked the stats, but his defensive rebounding has looked better too. He is also able to productively provide solid minutes, something that matters as we appear to be playing our guys really extended minutes.
Not to mention that if we see him it means 1) He is healthy, and 2) We are still alive deeper in the tourney
I suspect Williamson, DeLaurier and White will get the 4/5 minutes, with Barrett playing some in smaller lineups. Duke has been down a big man or two a lot over the last few years and Vrankovic has not seen the floor. I doubt whether trading Bolden for Williamson will alter that equation.
Agreed. Williamson, if I remember, kind of angrily speed-walked off the court under his own strength and still technically isn't back yet. That was what, 11-12 days ago? I wouldn't be shocked if Bolden is done. ... and of course it goes without saying I wish everyday for his recovery to come sooner than later, but were under 30 days before one team scales the tallest mountain in college basketball for 2019. Not a lot of time to play with...
I’m all in favor of playing small, but I don’t think it’s sustainable for an entire game. Especially when Javin is so foul prone (he did do a great job avoiding fouls yesterday) and Zion is still coming back from injury. We need another big body in the mix. The flip side is that we can potentially get another shooter on the floor in O’Connell or even (gasp) Baker.
Cheats were a good matchup for Jack, not so much AOC.
Syracuse was a good matchup for AOC, not so much Jack (albeit he was in his slump).
Miami was a good matchup for both.
Coach K seems to give several players a look early, then go with what he likes in the second half. I expect both will get their chances.
If we play Syracuse, I like that matchup a lot. Bolden only played 10 minutes in that game. Jack didn't play at all. Zion, of course, didn't play at all either. I would think that's a good start, in a matchup where we could play a lot of guys low minutes, for us to play three games in three days.