Originally Posted by
mapei
I think we are weak (compared to other top programs and compared to past Duke teams) at the 3, 4, and 5 positions. At the 3, DeMarcus would be a 6th man on Duke's final four teams, not our leading scorer. At the 4, McClure is steady and really easy to like with his clutch "glue" plays, but he doesn't offer much scoring and fouls too much. Thomas contributes little. At the 5, we're playing someone who really is a 4 or even 3.
This is also a slow team compared to what I'm used to from Duke. I saw the 2001 Duke/MD game on espnClassic earlier this week. That team would beat this one by about 20, and had four guys who are better than any of our current guys. And the starters were all underclassmen except for Shane, so that team was young, too.
As for Brandan Wright, he would make not only our team but *any* team much better. He's a great talent. We don't have anyone on our roster that good.
Will we be a top 5 team in two years, as someone said? Yes, if we get better players. I think Paulus, McClure, Nelson and McRoberts are playing now about as well as they are going to. They may have some upside, but not a lot. And I don't see it in Zoubek or Thomas either, though I'll love it if I'm wrong about that. Scheyer and Henderson, yes - those guys look like they have it to me, and so might Marty, though my opinion on Marty may not matter if K disagrees.
Bob G mentioned that we make great plays at times and only lack consistency. Yes, that's what keeps mediocre teams from being great ones. That observation would define about 50 other NCAA teams in addition to Duke.