Tyrese Proctor reclassifying

[SkyBrickey]

I'm willing to bet that Lebanon would not beat most ACC teams. Perhaps I am wrong.

Whether it’s a little better or a little worse than ACC competition, Tyrese is 18 years old playing with a team of grown men, like their top player, Thon Maker (25). These grown men, professionals, are not going to defer to “a kid” to lead them in international competition. The fact that he’s contributed as much as he has as one of the top scorers is a great sign. He was second on the team in pts per 40 min in the final.

Likewise we don’t need him to be a star this year. He could give us very efficient scoring and strong defense in 20 mpg off the bench and be the best 6th man Duke’s had in a long time. That could be a key ingredient to a championship run.

[UrinalCake]

I remember many years ago the Australian National team came into Cameron led by Andrew Gaze. Gaze was awesome but we beat them fairly handily. That was a long time ago, and the rest of the world has elevated their level of play.

Still, I agree that playing against older more developed guys puts Proctor at a huge disadvantage, so the fact that he more than held his own is a great sign.

[JasonEvans]

I've watched a bit of international basketball over the years and playing against teams like New Zealand, Korea, and Lebanon is not like playing some bush leaguers. While it is true that the athleticism may not be what we would see in a high-end college basketball game, the amount of skill and basketball savvy on display would put most college programs to shame. Proctor averaged 10.5 ppg while hitting 40.7% of his 3s against grown men who are making a living playing basketball. That's a big deal. I really would not have expected that of him. What's more, he earned a valuable rotation spot on an Australia team that has a bunch of notable international pros on their roster.

My expectations for him have really been raised as a result of this. The mere fact that he was not played off the floor tells me that his young body is going to be able to handle playing against ACC-level guards. I think we have a really special kid coming to Durham (hopefully very, very soon) and there's no way I see him as any worse than the first guard off the bench (and I think it is fairly likely that he will find his way into a starting spot eventually).

[SkyBrickey]

Jason, I agree with everything you said. I think he’s got a good shot to earn a starting spot by year-end. It’s still incredible to me that Coach filled our hole in the roster with Grandison + Proctor.

With Grandison able to guard the 3 and spell Whitehead and Proctor potentially able to backup Roach, we could see them both averaging 25+ mpg in competitive games.

But Mitchell, Schutt and Blakes will have a say in that too…

[johnb]

Of course the 99 sample size is very small as we pounded ACC teams into oblivion. I recall GaT keeping it under 10 points in Atlanta, but no other games concerned me.

One game from that season concerned me. I was in Vegas for a few days that winter. I made a modest Duke wager but had to give about 28 points. I sat with gamblers, watching an enormous screen. Duke was dominant, but as the lead grew to the high 30’s, the crowd grew in number and voice. Duke subs came in. The lead dwindled to 35 then 30 then 27. The crowd was getting more intently excited in almost a direct inverse proportion to the interest of any non-Duke fan who didn’t have skin in the game.

Back and forth, until a walk-on hit a shot pushing us to about 30, and then we shut down their last-second effort to squeeze under the line. Victory!

I don’t like gambling from a philosophical point of view, but it’s hard to argue against the dopamine rush.

[awhom111]

Back to the NBL1 Wildcard Series for Tyrese as he has 10 points in 16 minutes in a 98-56 win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles:
https://nbl1.com.au/games/8b0e6f0e-7...3ada3/wildcard

[superdave]

When does Proctor arrive in Durham?

[Steven43]

Back to the NBL1 Wildcard Series for Tyrese as he has 10 points in 16 minutes in a 98-56 win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles:
https://nbl1.com.au/games/8b0e6f0e-7...3ada3/wildcard

Does Manly have a women’s team?

[tommy]

Does Manly have a women’s team?

Careful. Could be getting close to PPB territory there . . .

[camion]

Does Manly have a women’s team?

In a dissimilar vein, at the Western Steer steakhouse in Durham many years ago the female servers were known as "steerettes."

How does that work?

[Jim3k]

In a dissimilar vein, at the Western Steer steakhouse in Durham many years ago the female servers were known as "steerettes."

How does that work?

None of us really wants to know. Nor, I suspect, do you.

[curtis325]

In a dissimilar vein, at the Western Steer steakhouse in Durham many years ago the female servers were known as "steerettes."

How does that work?

Udderly ridiculous!

[CDu]

In a dissimilar vein, at the Western Steer steakhouse in Durham many years ago the female servers were known as "steerettes."

How does that work?

Less offensive than calling them cows.

[awhom111]

Does Manly have a women’s team?

They do, but maybe that's the Warringah part?

Elsewhere in the league, Inner West has teams on both sides named the Bulls.

There are clubs where the two teams do have slightly different nicknames. Recent Duke grad Miela Goodchild plays for the Mackay Meteorettes as the men's team is called the Meteors.

The Bendigo Braves, which had former Duke player Chante Black a few years ago, might want to look into a new logo.

Sadly, they do not have a game scheduled against the Cockburn Cougars.

[heyman25]

When does Tyrese arrive at Duke campus? He needs to learn about campus life and his teammates. I think its a 24 hour travel from Australia to RDU if you count travel to and from airports.

[budwom]

Less offensive than calling them cows.

I remember when the unc frosh were commonly called the Tar Babies...i almost felt embarrassed for them.

[Indoor66]

I remember when the unc frosh were commonly called the Tar Babies...i almost felt embarrassed for them.

And Ad Penfield used to refer to the Distaff Devils.

[UrinalCake]

When does Tyrese arrive at Duke campus? He needs to learn about campus life and his teammates. I think its a 24 hour travel from Australia to RDU if you count travel to and from airports.

I don’t think we’ve ever gotten a definitive answer to that question, other than he’s expected to be available by the time fall practice begins. Typically there’s a break at the end of the second summer session where the players go home before the fall classes begin (maybe that’s where we are right now?) so I expect he’ll get to campus during that window. Agree that getting to know his teammates and his surroundings is important. He’s far more well-travelled than the typical 18 or 19 year old so I guess I’m less worried about the “first time being away from home” aspect of the college transition.

[awhom111]

I thought that not playing on Friday or Saturday might mean something, but he did play Sunday and had 20 points in 24 minutes in a 105-45 win over the Sutherland Sharks:
https://nbl1.com.au/games/8b1d505d-7...3ada3/wildcard

[scottdude8]

Found a nice writeup on Proctor's game from a Celtics blogger and high school sports reporter for the Boston Globe, complete with highlight packages: https://www.dukebasketballreport.com...ll-jon-scheyer

This guy pegs Proctor as a potential lottery pick, which I think the highest by some margin I've seen him projected. If he hits that, though, that means great things for our prospects this year.