AOC vs Cassius vs Boogie, who do you think gets the last starting spot?

[proelitedota]

The 2 position is the biggest unknown. We have no incoming recruits or returning players that seem to be the sure-fire lock down for the spot.

Outlier scenario is that Jack starts, shifting Wendell down to the 2. This is not optimal due to the fact that Wendell and Jack are more athletically suited to the 3 and 4 spot respectively.

So who do you think / hope starts at the 2 next season?

IMO since we should have enough shooting already from Carey, Hurt, and Tre, I am thinking the best defender of the three gets the start. AOC with an extra summer of strength training seems to be the best case scenario, but Cassius has the athleticism and the reputation of a defender.

[907bluedevils]

There could be an argument made to start Baker here also.

[ChillinDuke]

The 2 position is the biggest unknown. We have no incoming recruits or returning players that seem to be the sure-fire lock down for the spot.

Outlier scenario is that Jack starts, shifting Wendell down to the 2. This is not optimal due to the fact that Wendell and Jack are more athletically suited to the 3 and 4 spot respectively.

So who do you think / hope starts at the 2 next season?

IMO since we should have enough shooting already from Carey, Hurt, and Tre, I am thinking the best defender of the three gets the start. AOC with an extra summer of strength training seems to be the best case scenario, but Cassius has the athleticism and the reputation of a defender.

Great question.

I hope AOC starts because I am rooting for a major breakout, knockdown shooting (~40%), and more upperclassmen leadership.

I think Boogie will start because I'm not confident in AOC actually taking the opportunity mainly because he didn't take the opportunity this season when we sorely needed a shooter to step up basically all year long.

I think a darkhorse starting lineup involves a Tre+JG backcourt anchoring the defense around three other freshmen. Although, I admit this would require a fairly significant improvement in JG's long range shot.

But I'll admit I haven't thought very much about lineups for next year yet, given the recent moving pieces.

- Chillin

[Troublemaker]

This would be better in poll format, and in a more generalized form: "Whom will be the 5 starters?" Because, actually, people aren't going to even agree on the other 4 starters. And the poll shouldn't be started until after we know about Javin and Marques. I'll probably do it then.

Anyway, to the question posed, my guess is Cassius beats out AOC and Boogie. Not something I'm real confident in, but forced to choose between those three and only those three, that's what I'd guess.

[kAzE]

It's also possible that Wendell Moore could be the starting 2 guard, meaning someone like Jack White or Joey Baker could start at the 3.

[UrinalCake]

I would suppose it is Alex’s spot to lose until the freshmen arrive and start practicing. I also think Ellis may play some at point. Definitely a good problem to have!

[cato]

The 2 position is the biggest unknown. We have no incoming recruits or returning players that seem to be the sure-fire lock down for the spot.

Outlier scenario is that Jack starts, shifting Wendell down to the 2. This is not optimal due to the fact that Wendell and Jack are more athletically suited to the 3 and 4 spot respectively.

So who do you think / hope starts at the 2 next season?

IMO since we should have enough shooting already from Carey, Hurt, and Tre, I am thinking the best defender of the three gets the start. AOC with an extra summer of strength training seems to be the best case scenario, but Cassius has the athleticism and the reputation of a defender.

I think K will play whoever can hit a forking shot.

[ChillinDuke]

It's also possible that Wendell Moore could be the starting 2 guard.

Yeah, if nothing else, this question really gets a Duke fan to realize how versatile and deep this team might be.

- Chillin

[kAzE]

So, it's probably safe to assume that the title is referring to the 4 relatively safe starters being Vernon Carey, Matthew Hurt, Wendell Moore, and Tre Jones.

The 5th spot as of right now is AOC's job to lose, but going by the little information we have, I'd lean slightly towards Cassius Stanley. I'm not sure he's a very good shooter, but going by the scouting reports, he plays really hard and is extremely athletic, so I would expect him to be pretty good defensively, at least 1 on 1. He also gives the team a boost in athleticism, which ought to help us get some easy points in transition.

I like the trio of Tre Jones, Wendell Moore and Cassius Stanley on the perimeter defensively. Those guys should be pretty solid at containing opposing guards.

[bullettoothtony]

Hard to say. Hearing about how good a scorer and shooter Boogie is makes me think it'll be him but at this point I just don't know.

[jipops]

There could be an argument made to start Baker here also.

Based on his one made 3?

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Based on his one made 3?

Well that's one more than a couple of guys in this conversation...

[Cheese]

Based on his one made 3?

Baker was ranked ahead of Moore, Stanley, and Ellis before he reclassified to the class of 2018. (The Chronicle notes he was 13th before the reclassification: https://www.dukechronicle.com/articl...classification.) It’s hard to imagine he got worse practicing with Duke this season. Obviously recruiting isn’t precise, but we shouldn’t assume the new guys are better than the old guys, just yet.

[ice-9]

Minutes are going to be hard to predict next season, as only Carey has the kind of rank that implies a sure-fire starter. And even then we may have two seniors he would have to compete with.

The only given is Tre. I’d argue Hurt is a likely starter given he is unique as a shooting big who can defend. And let’s say Carey slides in there at the 5, with Bolden and Javier backing him if they return.

That leaves AOC, White, Goldwire, Baker, Moore, Ellis and Cassius for two spots. None of the freshmen listed in the previous sentence have the kind of ranking (and thus implied ability) to ensure a starting spot preseason, so it’s going to be hard to predict who gets it and it’ll come down to practice and fit.

If I had to guess I’d say Baker and AOC will start. The experience means our perimeter will already know our defensive schemes. Ellis will be the first off the bench to provide instant offense. Moore and Cassius get backup minutes. Jack and Goldwire won’t play much at all.

[ice-9]

Correction - Jack will get minutes backing Hurt at the 4. So...

Tre
AOC
Baker
Hurt
Carey

And then

Ellis
Cassius
Moore
White
Bolden / Javier

Finally the season we go deep?? 🤣

I wonder if we’ve been too spoiled by recent freshmen making a huge impact. Cassius, Moore and Ellis aren’t likely to be like Zion, Tatum or Jabari. They may not be OADs and may not even play all that much this season.

[mattman91]

Yeah, if nothing else, this question really gets a Duke fan to realize how versatile and deep this team might be.

- Chillin

Yep. Might go from a 7 man rotation to a 7.5 man rotation...if we are lucky.

[UrinalCake]

Breaking it down by position, I think the depth chart will look like

PG: Tre, Ellis
SG: O'Connell, Ellis, Stanley
SF: Moore, Stanley, White
PF: Hurt, Delaurier, White
C: Bolden, Carey

I think that Baker and Goldwire are out of the rotation, no way we play more than 10. If Bolden or Javin leave then White would be the biggest beneficiary and we'd see some small lineups. If they both go, then yikes we better hope Hurt is ready to bang inside.

[UrinalCake]

Cassius, Moore and Ellis aren’t likely to be like Zion, Tatum or Jabari. They may not be OADs and may not even play all that much this season.

Totally agree. There's a big dropoff between top-5 and top-30 when it comes to ability to produce right away. Those three are ranked in the 20's and 30's, which puts them more in line with guys like Grayson, Delaurier, Kennard, or Matt Jones. They'll have moments where they look great, but they're not going to have overwhelming natural ability that allows them to dominate from day one.

[MrPoon]

I think Baker has a role to play next year. Not to rekindle the argument but they don’t burn the redshirt unless his performance in practice implied he could contribute. It didn’t work out but I wouldn’t be stunned if he passes AOC at some point. Shooting and D will really dictate.
Stanley being 20 may help him to acclimate.

[scottdude8]

I’m not sure who it’ll be, but I’d bet that the person starting at the 2 to start the season won’t be the same at the end. Just a hunch. This tram has a lot of pieces that could/should develop throughout the season.