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
Wait, where would Hurt and Moore go?
IMO, that's a bit of a stretch . . . Justise was already a very good playmaker as a freshman at Duke, and an all-America level defender. Wendell may resemble Justise physically, but talent-wise, Justise is just on a completely different level. He was killing it as a starting POINT GUARD for the Heat before his latest injury. I would envision Wendell as more of a rotation guy in the league, while Justise at full health has, at the bare minimum, starter level talent, and potential for much more.
But at the same time, I sort of agree that Wendell is more likely to go pro than Hurt based on his/his family's quotes from before this season. He fully expected to be a OAD player. I'm sure Hurt did as well, but was much less outwardly demonstrative of it. But neither of them has any business going pro yet.
Is there any indication that Tre Jones is leaving? Everyone seems to put that as a certainty.
Yes, on the radio broadcast, in the traditional postgame locker room interview segment with Coach, he said that it wasn't just the seniors' final game in Cameron but also Tre's.
Also, we already have 3 point guards next season in JGold, Roach, and Steward. And our centerpiece recruit in Jalen Johnson is a guy that loves to play PG. We've recruited to Tre's departure.
The biggest difference (but not the only difference) is that Justise was much more athletic.
I do expect improved decision-making and a fairly big frosh-to-soph jump for Wendell next season.
Winslow was bigger and much stronger than Moore, and a better 3pt shooter let in his FR season. I would hope that a 6-5/6-6 Moore doesn't get to 225/230.
I could see how they both could do many things in the court which might give them some comparisons but I think it ends there.
Moore, if he returns, could be the team man-to-man defendive stopper so to speak and he will contribute offensively> If i had to guess he could average around 10pts per game.
The phantom 6-6 Stanley is probably more appealing than the real 6-3 Stanley...having said that, anyone can go these days..but I do agree Moore, while having an NBA body, does precious few things well (e.g. handle, shooting) other than defending.
He may well go, but he'll be riding buses.
Everything has changed, and I don’t believe just in the short term. The NBA Is part of that. We have no idea what the business of basketball will look like this spring, summer next year or five years from now. The college game will change as well, if there even is a game, and it remains to be seen how they fit together in what will become the eventual new normal.
This senior class is in limbo. Hard to say how it will effect individual players. Who knows. If, for example, there is no basketball for another year or so, these guys may opt to stay in school to get a degree, if there is a “school.”
Like I said, everything has changed.
Stanley's athleticism and competitiveness will sure draw the eyes of some NBA teams, and they will watch to see how he shoots the ball. This year he was a surprise because not only did he come in late, but he earned a starting spot as a 4 star and had some great games. With that said, his season was not consistent but will NBA scouts see that as a thing that NBA teams can develop. He for sure checks the boxes for athleticism and potential. IMO, why not declare. See what happens and make a decision. I do feel, he leaves.
Moore is athletic too but not to the Stanley level. Who knows what anyone might be saying about Moore if he didn't miss all of the games because of the injury. If he can knock down shots and be better with the ball, even a little bit better than this year, he is going to be very good next year. Moore on the 2020-2021 roster with all of those players, I think will allow him to be seen. If, and its a big if, Hurt comes back, I am guessing that K might tinker with a line up of Williams, Hurt, Johnson, Moore and Roach.
This is from NBA Draftroom.
L.J.'s 2020 NBA Draft Prospect Rankings (March Edition)
1.Cole Anthony/PG/North Carolina Tar Heels
2.Anthony Edwards/SG/Georgia Bulldogs
3.James Wiseman/C/Memphis Tigers
4.RJ Hampton/CG/New Zealand Breakers
5.LaMelo Ball/PG/Illawarra Hawks
6.Obi Toppin/PF/Dayton Flyers
7.Deni Avdija/SF/Israel
8.Saddiq Bey/SF/Villanova Wildcats
9.Isaac Okoro/SF/Auburn Tigers
10.Vernon Carey/PF-C/Duke Blue Devils
11.Tyrese Haliburton/PG/Iowa State Cyclones
12.Jalen Smith/PF/Maryland Terrapins
13.Onyeka Okongwu/PF/USC Trojans
14.Isaiah Stewart/C/Washington Huskies
15.Markus Howard/PG/Marquette Golden Eagles
16.Jahmius Ramsey/SF/Texas Tech Red Raiders
17.Tre Jones/PG/Duke Blue Devils
18.Immanuel Quickley/CG/Kentucky Wildcats
19.Precious Achiuwa/PF/Memphis Tigers
20.Daniel Oturu/C/Minnesota Golden Gophers
21.Myles Powell/SG/Seton Hall Pirates
22.Jordan Nwora/SF/Louisville Cardinals
23.Devon Dotson/PG/Kansas Jayhawks
24.Tyrese Maxey/CG/Kentucky Wildcats
25.Josh Green/SG/Arizona Wildcats
26.Aaron Nesmith/SF/Michigan State Spartans
27.Nico Mannion/PG/Arizona Wildcats
28.Cassius Stanley/SG/Duke Blue Devils
29.Makur Maker/PF-C/High School(Pacific Academy, CA)
30.Aleksej Pokusevski/PF/Serbia
31.Reggie Perry/PF/Mississippi State Bulldogs
32.Killian Hayes/PG/France
33.Matthew Hurt/PF/Duke Blue Devils
34.Luka Garza/PF/Iowa Hawkeyes
35.Kira Lewis jr./PG/Alabama Crimson Tide
36.Jaden McDaniels/PF/Washington Huskies
37.Lamar Stevens/SF/Penn State Nittany Lions
38.Theo Maledon/PG/France
39.Cassius Winston/PG/Michigan State Spartans
40.Zeke Nnaji/C-PF/Arizona Wildcats
41.Kaleb Wesson/PF/Ohio State Buckeyes
42.Ashtan Hagans/PG/Kentucky Wildcats
43.Amar Sylla/PF/Senegal
44.Nick Richards/C/Kentucky Wildcats
45.Payton Pritchard/PG/Oregon Ducks
46.Devin Vassell/SF/Florida State Seminoles
47.Udoka Azubuike/C/Kansas Jayhawks
48.Tyler Bey/SF/Colorado Buffaloes
49.Malachi Flynn/PG/San Diego State Aztecs
50.Leandro Balmoro/SG/Barcelona
"One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese
From the sound of it, the idea of seniors getting extended eligibility is not a pie-in-the-sky idea. Personally, I think this would be not only the kind, but logical thing for the NCAA to do... which means it probably won't happen.
That said, if it does, it throws EVERYTHING into flux, not just for Duke but everyone across the country. Do all teams want their seniors back if they've planned for a future without them? Would this shift correspond with some sort of increase in scholarships for a year, or would teams have to somehow choose between their seniors and their incoming freshmen? Would freshmen who expect to play right away want to explore their options if a senior at their position were to come back? There are so many darn unknowns at this point.
Before yesterday, I would've agreed with everyone about Tre and Vernon being 99% gone, Cassius being mostly gone, and Hurt and Moore returning. I think that would've left us with a pretty solid core for next year... there's every reason to think Hurt and Moore could take big leaps between their freshmen and sophomore years (just like Tre did), and that could lead to them more closely realizing the sky-high expectations we had for them. A team with them two at the core, alongside a projected lottery pick in Jalen Johnson, would be a pretty insane 2-4 in the starting lineup, with JG likely providing a stabilizing force as a senior PG (and a potential "bridge" while Roach gets up to speed with the college game). The 5 would be a question mark, but that wouldn't be as much of a glaring issue in modern college basketball as it would've been 10 years ago.
Now? Who the heck knows? We know how much Tre loves Duke. Can he really stomach his career ending like this? This team as a whole seemed so close (which is part of why I loved them, even amidst the mid-season skid)... if the opportunity arose, would they want to try and run it back together? If JRob got a chance to come back and continue his growth, could we possibly say no to that?
So many unknowns. And so much time to speculate! Man this is weird.
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
It goes without saying that we are entering this off-season, pre-draft period with more unknowns than ever, which suggests that some things we are used to looking at are gonna change. For example,
1) Adam Silver suggests that if the NBA resumes the season after a month long or six week hiatus, that the finals could be played in mid to late July. Obviously, this would push back every date on the NBA calendar, including declaration dates, draft dates, etc. And it may push the draft close to or after the beginning of the college academic year, which might be a new factor to influence players. https://sports.yahoo.com/commissione...005522242.html
2) Schools - Who knows when the colleges reopen campuses to students, or when the university decides to resume intercollegiate competition. This changes summer plans for players who, for example, might be taking extra classes to complete their eligibility earlier, or other academic changes that effect eligibility
3) Waiver for seniors - With athletic seasons being cut short or eliminated, there is likely to be discussion of waivers for an extra year for senior athletes. We know nothing about this yet, whether it's even possible, how it would effect rosters, whether basketball would even be on the list of sports eligible for waivers if they were granted, etc. But this could change both the shape AND size of rosters in unpredictable ways.
This time of year is always about information gathering and uncertainty. This year we have a lot more uncertainty and a lot less information (What do teams really think of Moore/Stanley/Hurt's NBA potential, which of these players staying another year will improve their stock enough to warrant them staying).
Right now, we are in a situation where everything changes everything and we really don't know what we don't know.
Tyus has been a career back-up, but he hasn't struggled to stay in the league. The Wolves picked up the team option for his fourth season - without really any speculation that they would do otherwise - and then Memphis signed him to a 3-year, $26M deal a few days after he became an unrestricted free agent for the first time.