Defense is key to this years team. Like Virginia for the last few years, if we play strong intimidating defense, we can win every game but like Virginia you can lose in the first round even to a 16 seed. You can't always shoot well but you can play suffocating defense every game. I would not be surprised if we lost 5 games before the end of the year but tighten up and become a powerful team by tournament time.
I believe Cassius was measured at 6'3 1/2"" in socks at camps a few years back, and was generally listed at 6'5" (presumably with shoes) on recruiting sites until very recently. He's clearly shorter than Alex and Wendell, though, and not that much taller than Tre. Would guess he's in the 6'3 1/2" to 6'4" range.
I instantly thought of Ricky Price for Cassius the first time I saw him — the build, the game and the LA provenance. He’s Ricky Price but better.
According to this link from GoDuke.com, Tommy Amaker was selected as a first-, second-, or third-team All American by at least one nationally recognized All-America selection panel (I assume third-team, and not consensus, but still). Ferry was not All-American in 1987, but he was in each of the next two seasons, and what I said was, two players on the 1987 Duke team "made an All-America team at some point in their career." Plus, even as a sophomore, Ferry had more star power than anyone on this year's Duke team.
But, whatever. When the OP said that this year's Duke team has an "80's blue collar feel," I suspect he wasn't talking about 1987 anyway.
I was there in ‘87. Like my user name? Ferry was a budding superstar ranked #1 in his hs class, but I wouldn’t say that team was more star studded. As Jim pointed out, there were only two future NBA players on the roster and I suspect we have 4-5 on this team.
I like the comparison of this team to those late 80s teams. Defense was definitely our trademark. Tommy Amaker, Billy King, and a deep roster of defenders. Teams would wilt under the pressure. It was fun as a fan. And it’s fun to see a return to that type of team this year.
I don't like THill or Ewing as a comp because they were shooters first, not really slashers, and certainly were not the kind of elite athletes (at least in terms of run-jump) that Cassius is. I think that is why people are largely gravitating toward dudes like Maggette, Dahntay, and Ricky Price who had major ups.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
nobody likes my Rodney hood comparison? he's got the same build as him although Hood is taller...Price has the same build but Maggette and Dahntay look physically different...Hood was a slasher and a shooter...while Cassius hasn't shot much from the outside...think he has great form and seems less emotionally that a Jones. anyway it's a fun comparison
"I wanted it to be in my hands," Roach said of his game-sealing drive. "I wanted to take—I wanted that moment."
"Definitely was a bit personal for me," Roach added. "I mean, what happened last year, obviously, but just wanted to come out here and do anything I can to get this win, and we did that." Duke-Carolina, Cameron Indoor, Feb. 4th 2023
They have somewhat similar body shapes, but Hood is a lefty and about 3 inches taller. His go to scoring move was his pull up jumper, so it's tough to justify his as a good comp. Stanley is definitely a slasher first. I honestly don't think there is a great comp for Cassius, at least from former Duke players.
I gave it some more thought, and he could possibly be similar to Demar DeRozan (although Demar was still pretty powerfully built, even as a freshman at USC), or for the old school people here, Latrell Sprewell. Gerald Henderson would be the closest Dukie IMO.
Last edited by kAzE; 11-14-2019 at 12:07 PM.
Interesting, this is the first mock draft I've seen projecting Stanley as a first round pick: http://www.nbadraftroom.com/p/2020-nba-mock-draft.html
Coincidentally, this guy also compared him to Latrell Sprewell
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
That mock also has Hurt and Moore staying until their soph seasons... I can live with that.
As previously mentioned (repeatedly) by me, Stanley's NBA stock is impacted by him being really old (20 in August) for his class. It removes some of the "potential" tag that often elevates younger NBA prospects. I also wonder if his lack of length may concern some NBA scouts. His wingspan is only 6-6, the same as his height. That is somewhat unusual for a NBA prospect and could be seen as limiting his defensive potential. I also strongly suspect the NBA will want to see more evidence of long range shooting prowess from Cassius before using a 1st round pick on him
-Jason "all of this is good news for Duke as a multi-year Cassius would be a very, very good thing for our program " Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?