Way Too Early 2022-2023 Speculation

[Sixth_Sense]

Noone is coming back except Roach...and MAYBE Keels.

We really shouldn't get our hopes up on this...it's why losing in the tourney hurts more than it used to before the 1 and done era. You pretty much get one shot with these guys and then you're back to rebuilding. it's exhausting.

[jipops]

Just to pour more salt, the heels may very well return 4 of their starting 5.

[simplyluvin]

Just to pour more salt, the heels may very well return 4 of their starting 5.

Yeah just mentioned this in the postgame thread. There are some truly awful injustices in the world like what’s happening in the Ukraine. But for a Duke fan seeing your arch nemesis prosper like this, one who blatantly got away with mass academic deception and made no apologies, truly hurts. To think they’ll be better next year is just beyond heinous.

[Mak P]

Only believe Roach return and my god I hope he work on his 3pt shot. I hope Keels return and he as well work on his 3pt shot and FT's

We have a very strong 2022 class, might be our best, but we need to hit the transfer portal to bring some junior senior guys in that can contribute when the OAD's have their moments. Trying to win a title with mostly OAD's is ridiculously difficult. 3pt shooting 3pt shooting 3pt shooting my god its extremely important find shooters

[jipops]

Only believe Roach return and my god I hope he work on his 3pt shot. I hope Keels return and he as well work on his 3pt shot and FT's

We have a very strong 2022 class, might be our best, but we need to hit the transfer portal to bring some junior senior guys in that can contribute when the OAD's have their moments. Trying to win a title with mostly OAD's is ridiculously difficult. 3pt shooting 3pt shooting 3pt shooting my god its extremely important find shooters

Scoring has never been an issue in Duke’s OAD era. It has almost always been an issue of putting a team together that can defend at an elite level. This is an extremely difficult thing to do with a mostly freshman team, no matter how talented. This year’s team could not, and without that couldn’t offset a bad shooting night.

[Sixth_Sense]

It's funny how the pendulum swings.

I remember back in the day when people complained that Duke always had plenty of shooters but was too reliant on the 3 and lacked a true big man and athletic players.

Now we're back to wondering where the hell is Seth Curry or Andre Dawkins when you need them.

[Mak P]

Scoring has never been an issue in Duke’s OAD era. It has almost always been an issue of putting a team together that can defend at an elite level. This is an extremely difficult thing to do with a mostly freshman team, no matter how talented. This year’s team could not, and without that couldn’t offset a bad shooting night.

You need defense and shooting to win a title. 2 of our issues tonight which lead to this loss, 3pt shooting and free throws. Houston played amazing defense, but was 1-20 from 3 and lost to Nova. The ball needs to go in the hoop

[Native]

Jeremy is the only one we’re getting back. Paolo, AJ, Trevor, Wendell? and Mark are all gone.

[HayYou]

I think there is zero chance Moore is a 1st rounder. He just has not played that well on the offensive side of the ball in the 2nd half of the season. And, I think he is a bit over-rated defensively. That doesn't mean I think he will actually come back, but the kids future, if he has one in basketball, is overseas. Might as well come back and try to get a Natty.

Or he might decide to go ahead and get started on that overseas career.
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And you are right about his defense. Just because he was our best perimeter defender doesn't mean he was a great defender. He was good.
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The thing is, his return doesn't fix what look's to be Duke's weakness next year. Ditto Keels.
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Whitehead sees himself as a SG, and I think he's better than both of the possible returnees. Frankly, they might look worse next to him.

[HayYou]

You need defense and shooting to win a title. 2 of our issues tonight which lead to this loss, 3pt shooting and free throws. Houston played amazing defense, but was 1-20 from 3 and lost to Nova. The ball needs to go in the hoop

UNC had a rep for bad D this year. Deservedly so. But they've been playing better recently. I mean, TT and ARk were better on D. But not by a huge amount. UNC's O was worlds ahead of those guys.

[HayYou]

You need defense and shooting to win a title. 2 of our issues tonight which lead to this loss, 3pt shooting and free throws. Houston played amazing defense, but was 1-20 from 3 and lost to Nova. The ball needs to go in the hoop

Also, our D next year will be fine. Probably better than this year's. Mark is a great shot blocker and intimidator around the rim. Lively is a great shot blocker and intimidator around the rim. Mark is probably a little better the closer to the rim you get. Lively is a far better rebounder (Mark will really have to work on this in the NBA) and perimeter defender. We all held our breath when Mark was forced to the perimeter this year, and that won't be the case next year. Lively seems to be a far, far superior defender away from the paint, and almost as good in the paint. Mark was a good shot blocker because he's very tall, he's very long, he's fairly quick (for his size), he's a decent athlete (for his size), and he's got a good defensive IQ.
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Lively is taller, longer, quicker, more athletic, and he's got a GREAT defensive IQ. In the McD's game, he accurately read the offensive set up as he ran back on D and went straight to where he needed to go. I know I've been gushing about DL's D in the McD's game, but it was fantastic. And I think he was truly effing around. Dialed in would be something else. And I cannot stress the importance of rebounding. Lively will be great at it, and that is a huge part of defense. Because defense doesn't end until the defensive team has reclaimed the ball. We forced a lot of bad shots tonight, that they rebounded, which turned into very easy shots. Take away 3 of those and we win. Frankly, teams had started to realize that when Mark rotated over, you just had to throw it high off the board and let a rebounder put it back. I know UNC did it at least twice, which is four points.......That isn't all Mark's fault, but he needs to learn when to go after a shot, and when to get in rebounding position. He's a little over aggressive WRT blocks, which has its good and bad points.
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Roach played better D down the stretch. This figures to improve.
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Whitehead was a very engaged defender this year. He's taller, longer, and more athletic than Moore. I love Moore, but his D is slightly overrated by many here, me included. Fact is, he's a good defender on a team of bad defenders (excluding Mark). So, he's got one eye amongst a bunch of blind guards. DW will make a few more mistakes, but probably be close to as good on D (and far better on O, which is neither here nor there).
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God love Paolo, and he's been a stud the last 4 games, but he was a poor defender. Better these last 3 games than early in the season, but still bad on D overall, and only above average these last few games. Flip....is probably also bad on D. But Flip seems like a more motivated rebounder than Paolo (again, better tonight than previously). In that regard, Banchero and Flip are a wash on D. Attacking Banchero is a better offensive player than Flip, but passive and over dribbling Banchero was a problem as well. But, on D, probably a wash. Flip is a very smart player, and I expect him to eventually learn to play off of Lively on D better than Banchero did off of Mark. I don't expect as many failures to rotate over to cover Lively's guy, which our guys frequently forgot to do alongside Mark. I also don't expect Lively to be out of position going for blocks quite so often. I also think Flip will be a better rebounder. Flip has a bit of a mean streak. Flip's personality in Banchero's body would be nasty. I think Flip as is will be a bit more aggressive on the boards, which, again, is a big part of D.
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That leaves the wing. I see DW as the SG, and I basically call Dell our SG this year, and that is discussed above. That leaves Keels and Griffin. They were OK, combined, on D. Keels was pretty solid, and Griffin was not. AJ, that D is just as important as the 3 in the "&" equation. If Mark Mitchell, or a player to be named later, can handle that spot on D, Duke will be great on D by Christmas. Or, at least, noticeably better than we were this year.

[tommy]

Only believe Roach return and my god I hope he work on his 3pt shot. I hope Keels return and he as well work on his 3pt shot and FT's

We have a very strong 2022 class, might be our best, but we need to hit the transfer portal to bring some junior senior guys in that can contribute when the OAD's have their moments. Trying to win a title with mostly OAD's is ridiculously difficult. 3pt shooting 3pt shooting 3pt shooting my god its extremely important find shooters

We had one of the very best 3 point shooters in the nation on our team this year. He just couldn’t make one last night.

[heyman25]

We had one of the very best 3 point shooters in the nation on our team this year. He just couldn’t make one last night.

He didn't do much in Cameron either in the other UNC loss. Griffin has potential,but seems to wilt in high pressure games.

[BigZ]

One thing I’d like to see Sheyer do is go with a deeper bench

[Furniture]

Recent history says Roach stays and others go but I think Trevor could come back. Outside chance either Moore or Williams come back. Paolo and Griffin are gone

Maybe I read to much into Keels comments in the after the game presser. he said “I was happy I was able to come here”...

[TKG]

For Trevor, the latest mock draft from The Athletic has him in the second round. I have seen others where he is not mentioned in the second round,at all. So I guess it boils down to NIL $ versus G-League $.

[4Gen]

Just to pour more salt, the heels may very well return 4 of their starting 5.

Among elite high school players, UNC is now known as the graveyard of NBA aspirants. It's why they rarely sign the five stars. Duke, of course, has exactly the opposite reputation.

[Music man55]

Roach is the only regular who will return. The rest are gone, I’ll almost guarantee it. As for the cheats,hate to even say it, but the only starter who MIGHT even leave would be Caleb Love. He has the size and the shot to make it at the next level. But no nba team is even interested in the other four. You can put that in the bank. Cheats will be absolutely loaded again next year.

[4Gen]

Roach is the only regular who will return. The rest are gone, I’ll almost guarantee it. As for the cheats,hate to even say it, but the only starter who MIGHT even leave would be Caleb Love. He has the size and the shot to make it at the next level. But no nba team is even interested in the other four. You can put that in the bank. Cheats will be absolutely loaded again next year.

R J Davis is a good player and a likely four year guy. Bacot should be gone. He can't improve, and he may as well start making money somewhere. The often maligned Leaky might leave for somewhere also, including the portal where his fanbase won't deride him incessantly. Puff? Who cares? Same with McKoy (please come back and play). The jury is out on Dontrez Styles, who may have potential. And the front court will be awol (Garcia said goodbye with a vengeance). I don't think there are many Maneks out there in the portal to plug the gap.

UNC will be a far lesser team than this year's imho.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Roach is the only regular who will return. The rest are gone, I’ll almost guarantee it. As for the cheats,hate to even say it, but the only starter who MIGHT even leave would be Caleb Love. He has the size and the shot to make it at the next level. But no nba team is even interested in the other four. You can put that in the bank. Cheats will be absolutely loaded again next year.

Manek is out of eligibility, so they are guaranteed to lose at least one starter. I assume they hit the transfer portal for another stretch 4.

Bacot and Love are going to be in an interesting position. Love might get drafted. He has talent and can shoot the ball. A lot of other aspects of his game are lacking, but there's something there. He's a boom/bust kind of player. All it takes is one GM that buys the upside. Bacot, I don't see him as anything other than a rotational big at best. A guy like Toney Bradley barely gets playing time in the NBA and has a very similar skillset. Bacot gives you rebounding and effort if you're an NBA team, but that's about it. He isn't versatile enough on defense or able to stretch the court on offense. Still, he flirted with the NBA after last season. This might be a "strike while the iron is hot" kind of thing.

I'm not sure what Leaky Black will do. He still has the extra COVID year. I assume he returns. Davis is coming back for sure. He's too short to succeed in the NBA unless he seriously improves as a defender and more consistent scorer.