Proctor and Grandison

[Bluedog]

Interesting quotes, but they raise the question "what is pace, in the context of college basketball". Is this the modern version of John Wooden's statement: "be quick, but don't hurry"?

Hahahaha, I think so. I think Jon is basically saying they play fast but don't go so fast as to be out of control with the ball...So a "controlled fast." Maybe?

[Indoor66]

Hahahaha, I think so. I think Jon is basically saying they play fast but don't go so fast as to be out of control with the ball...So a "controlled fast." Maybe?

How finely can this concept be split?

[MChambers]

How finely can this concept be split?

Pretty finely, because Grandison has "great pace" and Proctor has "really good pace". And Jon's just getting started.

[KKDL19]

To be completely honest, Proctor looks legit. He is a perfect fit next to Roach. I can only imagine what it will be like when Whitehead returns too. Keels, AJ, Moore were good last year, but in my opinion, Proctor, Grandison, Whitehead have more potential

[DukieInBrasil]

To be completely honest, Proctor looks legit. He is a perfect fit next to Roach. I can only imagine what it will be like when Whitehead returns too. Keels, AJ, Moore were good last year, but in my opinion, Proctor, Grandison, Whitehead have more potential

Keels had a fine season, but after teams figured out how limited his skillset is, they were able to limit his effectiveness if they had the personnel to do so. AJ also had a fine season, but was also similarly limited, but in the opposite direction. A great (at times) 3-pt shooter, AJ ended up offering very little else on a consistent basis. I know that potential is not the same as versatility, but versatility hews closer to on-court value than potential. Of those 3, Wendell brought more versatility, and subsequently, more value than Trevor and AJ. Wendell also brought 2 more years of NCAA experience, so his "potential" may not be as high as Trev or AJ, but he was more valuable to the team.
I like that Proctor has played with Australia's international squad and gained high-level experience, and i like that Grandison brings multiple years of high-level NCAA experience (and excellent FT shooting!). Seems that Dariq's pre-season injury kinda mirrors AJ's injury, in terms of pre-season prep time. It would be great if this year's 3 (mentioned here) match or exceed last year's 3 in on-court production. Although Grandison's stats from last year match or exceed Wendell's stats from his So. year, I don't think his on-court value will be as high as Wendell's Jr. season (this speaks to my perception of his potential). It seems that both Proctor and Whitehead could be more versatile than either Keels or AJ.
Can't wait for the season to start!!!

[scottdude8]

To be completely honest, Proctor looks legit. He is a perfect fit next to Roach. I can only imagine what it will be like when Whitehead returns too. Keels, AJ, Moore were good last year, but in my opinion, Proctor, Grandison, Whitehead have more potential

Keels had a fine season, but after teams figured out how limited his skillset is, they were able to limit his effectiveness if they had the personnel to do so. AJ also had a fine season, but was also similarly limited, but in the opposite direction. A great (at times) 3-pt shooter, AJ ended up offering very little else on a consistent basis. I know that potential is not the same as versatility, but versatility hews closer to on-court value than potential. Of those 3, Wendell brought more versatility, and subsequently, more value than Trevor and AJ. Wendell also brought 2 more years of NCAA experience, so his "potential" may not be as high as Trev or AJ, but he was more valuable to the team.
I like that Proctor has played with Australia's international squad and gained high-level experience, and i like that Grandison brings multiple years of high-level NCAA experience (and excellent FT shooting!). Seems that Dariq's pre-season injury kinda mirrors AJ's injury, in terms of pre-season prep time. It would be great if this year's 3 (mentioned here) match or exceed last year's 3 in on-court production. Although Grandison's stats from last year match or exceed Wendell's stats from his So. year, I don't think his on-court value will be as high as Wendell's Jr. season (this speaks to my perception of his potential). It seems that both Proctor and Whitehead could be more versatile than either Keels or AJ.
Can't wait for the season to start!!!

While I'll withhold final judgement until the season starts, I'm optimistic that these analyses will hold water. It's worth remembering too how young Trevor was... Tyrese will be young too given his reclass, but he'll be nearly 6 months older than Trevor was at the start of their respective seasons. Couple that with Tyrese's international experience which we've been discussing, and it's very fair to expect him to be more ready on Day 1 (even though Trevor's day 1 against Kentucky was pretty great) and perhaps more ready to be consistent.

I loved AJ, and think his impact was severely blunted by his injury history plus COVID, but it's well documented that in a Duke uniform he was a bit of a one-trick pony offensively and limited defensively (though I'm optimistic he'll be able to address that as a pro). Tyrese, on the other hand, has a very balanced offensive game and the potential to be a plus defender. While Dariq's shot isn't his strong suit, it's by all accounts not a minus (i.e., he's not going to be Trevon Duval), and he can attack both at the rim and in the midrange while being a major plus defensively. Combined with what we know about Jeremy, that seems to all fit together very nicely, even more so when you take into account the additional combos we can put out there with Slim Jake.

I can't wait for the season to start. We don't have a Paolo-level talent (although Dariq and Dereck may come just below that as lottery-level talents), but we have more depth and more versatility. Unless we're very pleasantly surprised, obviously a frontcourt of Dereck and Kyle will be less than last year's arguably generational frontcourt of Paolo and Mark. But I think it's very likely that the combo of Jeremy, Tyrese, Dariq, and Jake ends up exceeds the production of last year's Jeremy, Trevor, Wendell, and AJ.

[Kedsy]

I can't wait for the season to start. We don't have a Paolo-level talent (although Dariq and Dereck may come just below that as lottery-level talents), but we have more depth and more versatility. Unless we're very pleasantly surprised, obviously a frontcourt of Dereck and Kyle will be less than last year's arguably generational frontcourt of Paolo and Mark. But I think it's very likely that the combo of Jeremy, Tyrese, Dariq, and Jake ends up exceeds the production of last year's Jeremy, Trevor, Wendell, and AJ.

Also, we'll be a lot deeper, with Mitchell, Young, and Schutt giving us a much more competitive bench than last year's 7 to 9 of John, Baker, and Bates Jones.

[HayYou]

While I'll withhold final judgement until the season starts, I'm optimistic that these analyses will hold water. It's worth remembering too how young Trevor was... Tyrese will be young too given his reclass, but he'll be nearly 6 months older than Trevor was at the start of their respective seasons. Couple that with Tyrese's international experience which we've been discussing, and it's very fair to expect him to be more ready on Day 1 (even though Trevor's day 1 against Kentucky was pretty great) and perhaps more ready to be consistent.

I loved AJ, and think his impact was severely blunted by his injury history plus COVID, but it's well documented that in a Duke uniform he was a bit of a one-trick pony offensively and limited defensively (though I'm optimistic he'll be able to address that as a pro). Tyrese, on the other hand, has a very balanced offensive game and the potential to be a plus defender. While Dariq's shot isn't his strong suit, it's by all accounts not a minus (i.e., he's not going to be Trevon Duval), and he can attack both at the rim and in the midrange while being a major plus defensively. Combined with what we know about Jeremy, that seems to all fit together very nicely, even more so when you take into account the additional combos we can put out there with Slim Jake.

I can't wait for the season to start. We don't have a Paolo-level talent (although Dariq and Dereck may come just below that as lottery-level talents), but we have more depth and more versatility. Unless we're very pleasantly surprised, obviously a frontcourt of Dereck and Kyle will be less than last year's arguably generational frontcourt of Paolo and Mark. But I think it's very likely that the combo of Jeremy, Tyrese, Dariq, and Jake ends up exceeds the production of last year's Jeremy, Trevor, Wendell, and AJ.

We don't have a Paolo-esqu offensive talent. I think Dereck might be that level of player on Defense.

I don't think he'll be quite the rim protector in the paint that Mark Williams was. But DL will be close to Mark, and I think far closer to that than many here realize/expect.

But whereas Mark was nasty at the rim, the further from the basket he got, the less effective he was. We held our breath when he got shifted onto mobile PFs, much less wings or guards.

I don't think Lively will lose much away from the rim/paint. He'll be almost as good near the basket as Mark was, and DL will be almost as good at the half court line as DL will be in the high post on D.

I have basically stopped worrying about offense WRT a Duke team. Sure, that was coach K for the last few decades, but his staff was heavily involved with the offense. What has really let Duke down in recent years has been perimeter shooting and defense. Shooting is a harder, and longer term, fix. IDK what to do other than hope newbies can make shots.

Defense is improvable. In the short term. I think this year's team won't be quite as good on offense this year as last year. At least, our peak this year is likely to be lower than the peak last year, which happened during the tournament, when Paolo basically went God Mode with a big helping of Cheat Code thrown in.

But I think our peak D this year will be much better than last year's peak D.

[brevity]

"Proctor and Grandison"? Sounds like a consumer goods corporation. The recruiters at Cincinnati and Xavier must be kicking themselves.

Anyway, Duke Basketball just posted an all-access video of Tyrese Proctor:

[UrinalCake]

The fact that these freshmen still live in the dorms is pretty awesome. In the age of NIL I expect them to have luxury apartments, and the program could certainly afford a multi-million dollar complex for the players like they have at Kansas and Kentucky, but the Duke program prioritizes having the players live among the regular student body. Obviously they receive huge benefits too, but to me it’s refreshing to see.