If you look at them, not as potential pros but as college players, they're pretty comparable:
Code:
Player Pts/40 oRating dRating PER eFG trueSh% FTR OR% DR% Asst% stl% blk% TO% usg% ws/40 OBPM DBPM BPM
KF 22.2 110.6 89.7 25.3 48.2 54.0 43.1 11.2 26.6 10.5 2.6 3.4 14.5 30.0 0.212 5.4 3.2 8.5
PB 20.9 113.8 98.1 24.2 52.0 55.7 36.6 6.4 19.1 17.5 1.9 2.7 13.3 27.5 0.191 5.4 2.3 7.7
Paolo was a much better passer and slightly better shooter. Flip is a much better rebounder (he's actually on track to have the best defensive rebounding percentage in Duke history, or at least since 1987 when they started tracking defensive rebounds) and a much better defender (with the caveat that defensive stats are somewhat unreliable).
Which begs a player by player comparison with last year's team, with a look toward the postseason.
Banchero/Filipowski
Williams/Lively
2022 Roach/2023 Roach
Keels/Proctor
Moore/Whitehead
Griffin/Mitchell
John/
Young
Baker/
Grandison
B Jones/
Blakes
The bottom of the rotation is clearly better this season. If Paolo and Flip are comparable college players (and I believe they are) and if Lively can consistently play to his potential (e.g., the Miami and Ga Tech games; not talking about pro potential), the major differences are (a) Griffin's offense (especially shooting) vs. Mitchell's defense; (b) John's defense vs. Young's offense; and most importantly, (c) Moore vs. Whitehead. Before the season, we thought Dariq would be able to bring much of the same advantages as Wendell did. So far, that hasn't been remotely true. But if Dariq comes back and suddenly "gets it," I think this year's team will be primed for a post-season run. If we're a #4 to #7 seed, nobody will want to face us.