Summer scrimmage video #2

[Kedsy]

* Blakes again looks like more than just a practice body. Not saying he's getting 20 mins a game but he looks like he'll be part of the regular rotation.

Do you think he'll be ahead of Schutt in the rotation? Or Young? Or Grandison or Proctor or Mitchell? Because if the answer to those questions is no, then Blakes is the 10th man (in 2022-23). If you think he's ahead of one of those guys, then he's the 9th man (and that's assuming he's ahead of Catchings and Johns and Reeves (or Reeves redshirts, as expected), which is probable but not a lock). Obviously we don't know how Coach Scheyer will deploy his rotation, and I don't know your definition of "part of the regular rotation," but there aren't many coaches who play their 10th (or even 9th) man a significant number of minutes.

[The_Dukester]

Do you think he'll be ahead of Schutt in the rotation? Or Young? Or Grandison or Proctor or Mitchell? Because if the answer to those questions is no, then Blakes is the 10th man (in 2022-23). If you think he's ahead of one of those guys, then he's the 9th man (and that's assuming he's ahead of Catchings and Johns and Reeves (or Reeves redshirts, as expected), which is probable but not a lock). Obviously we don't know how Coach Scheyer will deploy his rotation, and I don't know your definition of "part of the regular rotation," but there aren't many coaches who play their 10th (or even 9th) man a significant number of minutes.

I think Blakes can carve a roll out for himself similar to Goldwire. He has the physical profile with his length, build, lateral quickness and athleticism to be, if not the best on-ball defender on the team, top 2. He's already a better offensive player than Goldwire was at this point in his career. If he defends at an elite level he can definitely get minutes, especially if he can knock down a spot up 3 enough to keep teams honest. A lineup of Roach, Blakes, Whitehead, Mitchell or Grandison, Lively could be an outstanding switch everything, wreak havoc, get out in transition lineup. He could be Duke's version of what GP2 was for the Warriors. His minutes may not be consistent. Some games just a few minutes situationally, some games the 1st player off the bench to ramp up the defense.

[dukelion]

Do you think he'll be ahead of Schutt in the rotation? Or Young?

Definitely think he'll be ahead of Schutt and as much as I'd love to see Young get major consistent minutes, I'll believe it when I see it. We have a lot of versatile bigs (i.e. Mitchell and Flip) that will be hard to leave off the court for extended periods of time. Really view Young as a chess piece to use when the match-up calls for it which means his minutes may be all over the place.

Blakes OTOH, seems to be a reliable backup PG who could replace for Roach for 4-5 mins a game for rest or foul trouble. Again, not saying he'll get major minutes but if we play a 40 game season he'll get meaningful minutes in most of them.

[scottdude8]

Blakes OTOH, seems to be a reliable backup PG who could replace for Roach for 4-5 mins a game for rest or foul trouble. Again, not saying he'll get major minutes but if we play a 40 game season he'll get meaningful minutes in most of them.

Yeah, on teams that don’t use a K style short bench there’s room for a 5 mpg guy at the point, who maybe gets more in the odd game where there’s foul trouble or an odd matchup. Blakes wasn’t ready for that role last year, but it’s looking like he could be this year. That would be invaluable as it would allow Proctor to focus on playing off the ball rather than having to worry about splitting his attention between two positions as a young freshman.

[dukelifer]

I view it differently:
- they split up the two best PG/playmakers (Roach and Whitehead)
- they split the two lower-tier guard/wings (Blakes and Schutt)
- they put a walk-on on either side (Catchings and Johns)
- they split the two PF options (Mitchell and Filipowski)
- they split the two Cs (Lively and Young)

Seems pretty balanced to me given the limitations of the available players.

Yes- this looks to be the way the split it up. It was interesting to see Schutt on top making passes. In this video, Mitchell stood out. He is going to compete to be on the floor and he attacks on every play. Hopefully he can shoot free throws as he will be fouled. The talent is there but it would be great to see everyone playing. Grandison and Proctor are two extremely talented pieces that will affect the lineups and who will ultimately get playing time. The good news is that these scrimmages will get even more competitive and will foster the development. Right now, Young is using his experience to get in position to score on Lively. I would be interested to see Grandison on Whitehead. I most concerned about D next year. These guys could be great- but there is so much to learn. It will be very interesting to watch.

[JasonEvans]

In the wake of the summer scrimmage, it appears the team has found another sport in which to excel: Fun video here