Don't remind me... I got chewed out by K for asking him if he was worried about the PT of his starters in the pre-senior night press availability in 2010. It wasn't my question, but one my editor asked me to ask... but I never (personally) saw K get more offended by a question than he did there.
Most of us have pined after a "deep" team for years and years, and the 2019-2021 period may be the best we ever get in that regard (assuming the returnees we expect for next season). But I think judging a Duke team's "depth" based on MPG played alone is a bit of a red herring. The more options we have at the beginning of the season, the more likely we are to find a starting 5 that clicks and bench guys who can fill important roles. But with K's philosophy, that "depth" of options may not always translate to X number of guys getting Y number of MPG.
One of the many mysteries from this year that we'll never know the answer to is how K would've handled the rotation in March. If senior night was any indication, it's possible we could've been trending towards a more "traditional" rotation, perhaps without a true "starting 5", that had a core 7-8 of Tre, Vern, Cassius, Wendell, JG, some combo of Javin/JRob/Hurt, and perhaps Joey. Our depth would've still been helpful, and possibly could've won us a game or two in a tournament setting (especially given Jack's versatility and AoC's ability to get hot), but we probably wouldn't have been playing the 10 man rotation we often saw this season.
Alas, we'll never know. And now I'm sad again.
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!
Lesson learned is that when asking him a possible leading question such as this, be sure to preface it by stating, "Coach, this is a question my editor is insisting I ask -- so out of concern for my job and not pissing you off -- take it with a grain of salt... but..."
Or simply stand by the door -- ask the question as you're running out (you should be able to hear a couple nuggets as you escape).
You can also go with the ubiquitous... "Now with all due respect, and I did say, all due respect..." But I like the more specific deflecting to your editor.
Granted, this was years ago, and you're not there now. But I'm sure you'll end up in a press situation with K again soon (if not already).
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!
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Indeed, I have never quite understood K's response to some pretty reasonable questions. For just this reason, I have often chuckled about how K would have handled the press had he gone to the NBA...The NC press has learned how little probing he tolerates...Watching K handle the NYC, Boston, or other big city media would be something to behold.
Frank Jackson as a Player of the Year candidate in his sophomore year?? Had he been a Duke sophomore he likely would have been behind at least two members of his own team — Grayson Allen and Marvin Bagley, and maybe Carter as well — for POY honors.
Maybe if Jackson had stayed 3 or 4 years at Duke he might have become a legit POY candidate, but not in his second year. That’s my opinion, anyway. I could well be wrong.
Joey Buckets seems to have an interesting take on things. His most recent tweet:
In internet speak, I think Joey is saying "2TAY (slang for #2 [Cassius] should stay at Duke for a sophomore year). Look at Cassius, everybody."2TAY ::eyes emoji:: @cassius_stanley
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Sorry to the board for digressing, but that was one of my all-time favorite Duke teams. I loved the upperclassmen leading the way, especially Zoubek roaring to life down the stretch of his senior year after a career waylaid by injury and foul trouble. Scheyer (an earlier version of Kennard who was just as good IMHO), Nolan, Singler, the extremely tough and determined Lance Thomas, a fantastic win against Baylor in the regional final — what a great year.
Jeremy Woo from SI has his latest mock draft up. Of interest:
- Vernon # 27 to the Knicks
- Cassius # 29 to the Lakers
- Tre # 35 to the Kings
https://www.si.com/nba/2020/03/31/nb...dness-canceled
I think having Stanley back next year will be as big as Tre’s return was this year. Yuuuge!
Going to quibble because, let's face it, what else do we have to do - and it's a DBR tradition.
Scheyer was much better than Kennard at most aspects of the game but especially on defense. Scheyer seemed to see the whole court about .5 seconds earlier in a play's development than anyone else and had a knack for disrupting the other team's offense just by being in the right spot to be a pest. Amazing talent that doesn't show in the box score. If Scheyer had not suffered the eye injury, I think he would have developed into a solid rotation player despite some physical limitations.
Not taking anything away from Kennard - he's just a different type of player than Scheyer.