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Duke Basketball Preview
By Jason
November 20, 2008 6:14 pm
Jon Zaidman, 3rd String Safety Duke Reporter, chimes in with his thoughts on the upcoming Duke Season.
The Duke Blue Devils seek to improve upon a 28-6 season and a second round upset to West Virginia in the NCAA tournament in March. Duke returns four of its starters to a veteran team, while losing the first team all ACC and ACC defensive player of the year, and leading scorer Demarcus Nelson to the NBA, and also Taylor King to transfer. Despite losing their captain, the Devils bring in an impressive freshmen class lead by 5 star shooting guard Elliot Williams (6-4, 180), 4 star PF Olek Czyz (6-7, 240), and 4 star PF/C Miles Plumlee (6-10, 230).
Duke’s projected starting lineup (edited following exhibition games)
PG: Nolan Smith
SG: Jon Scheyer
SF: Gerald Henderson
PF: Kyle Singler
C: Miles Plumlee
Bench:
Greg Paulus, Elliot Williams, Martynas Pocius, Dave McClure, Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas, Olek Czyz, Jordan Davidson, Steve Johnson
Coach:
US Olympic Gold Medal Winning Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Duke’s strength will once again be around the perimeter, with an excellent collection of talent and experience. The team will be lead by Junior SF Gerald Henderson and Sophomore PF Kyle Singler, both of whom are possibilities to leave for the first round of the NBA draft following this season. Last year, Duke had one of the highest scoring offenses in the country, and look to play the same fast paced offense once again this year. On defense, nobody teaches it better than Coach K. Duke constantly is among the country’s leaders in defensive efficiency, and this season should be no different. They more than make up for a lack of size with exceptional on the ball pressure and teamwork. Even though there might not be a dominating Center on this team, Duke is loaded with able bodies who can handle the post. Depth down low is something Duke has been lacking since Shelden Williams was there, but with an improved Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek, and the additions of Olek “The shiznit” Czyz and Miles Plumlee, the Blue Devils should be just fine to get important contributions in scoring and rebounding from this position.
With the preseason underway, it appears Miles Plumlee has been the most impressive of the bigs and could possibly have earned a starting role for the opener. His play could be a huge boost for this team and he could be that missing piece. Plumlee is not the only player who may have played himself into a starting role. Sophomore Nolan Smith started the first exhibition game, and by all accounts has been outplaying 3 year starter Greg Paulus. Competition makes these players better, and if Smith is outplaying Paulus, he should start. I have no doubt that Paulus will be in there in those close late game situations though. Look for Paulus to be this team’s 6th man like Scheyer was last year.
The Blue Devils should definitely be battle tested come March. The non-conference slate features games against ranked power teams. Duke will be at #10 Purdue (12/2), at Michigan (12/6), vs. Xavier (12/20), vs. #20 Davidson (1/7), vs. #18 Georgetown (1/17) and have the possibility of meeting #4 UCLA in the finals of the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament at Madison Square Garden (11/21). This is a very tough schedule and we should be able to see how good the Devils really are before they begin ACC play.
Duke will start the season ranked #5 overall in the country, with the rival Tar Heels taking the top spot. Duke and North Carolina split last year’s meetings, with each team victorious on the road. The Heels will be without #1 defender Marcus Ginyard for 2 months, so it would not be shocking to see them drop a game early on in a tough contest, clearing the way for another team to take the top spot. Also, Tyler Hansbrough may get off to a slow start this year with his injury. Look to #7 Michigan State on the road 12/6, or a possibility of meeting #9 Notre Dame or #8 Texas in the Maui Invitational. Besides, the Heels are not without question marks themselves. Remember, Lawson, Ellington and Green are returning to UNC not to win a championship, but rather to improve their NBA draft stock. They won’t be improving that much by watching Hansbrough take all the shots. All they need is one bad game in March, like the Kansas game, and this same bunch can start packing their bags. Also, arguably the top two NBA draft prospects from these two teams are on Duke, in Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler.
Prediction:
If Duke can get solid production from any post player in addition to Singler, this team should be able to contend with UNC for the top spot in the ACC, and win. Freshman Miles Plumlee has been extremely impressive in exhibition play. The keys for Duke will be consistent shooting from Paulus and Scheyer, improvement to superstars for Henderson and Singler, tough play from Nolan Smith, and if freshman Elliot Williams can emerge as another threat both offensively and defensively, which he is more than capable, Duke will be a sure bet to go deep in March this season. The chances of a Final Four appearance for Duke are a real possibility.
Topics: College Basketball, Duke |