I give the edge to the Heels. If Hicks & Meeks can stay out of foul trouble and play consistent they will give opponents fits this season.Duke frontcourt is talented without a doubt and both matchups should be classics this season.
Hicks, Meeks & Bradley Vs. Jefferson ,Bolden & Jeter
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I give the slight edge to us based on that 3 vs 3 match up. But throw in Giles and they have a better and deeper frontcourt than us. I don't really think that's debatable. And that's from someone that usually doesn't respect freshmen until they've proven themselves.
Jefferson is a good player. He's certainly not elite. But he's a smart veteran that plays good defense and will be a team leader. Jeter will be much improved this year I'm sure. Bolden could end up being a monster. Great measurables even if he's only an average athlete. I know nothing about his attitude or coachability. And while I'm not sold on Giles being a Chris Webber clone, he's certainly an elite player. We can only hope that he struggles to get acclimated after having to sit for a while at the beginning of the season.
Yeah, I definitely like our three better than their three. I think Bradley is going to be really good though. With Giles, their frontcourt has to be considered better though.
Curious if these injuries have stunted his development at all. He was a freaking Kevin Garnett clone at Peach Jam before he got hurt.
I think if this were Giles, Tatum, and Bolden duke has the strong talent edge and we have the experience edge. But 2 of those 3 dukies are injured so who knows when that trio will be on the court together. Without those 2 I do think the over all edge swings back to us.
In addition to Giles, they also have DeLaurier, Obi and 7-footer Vrankovic. The assumption seems to be that DeLaurier will be this year's Jeter (needs a year to make the transition) but that won't hurt them because they don't actually need him to play big minutes with all that depth. I can't figure the story with Obi or Vrank. Roy would have played them but K hardly did - and then bitched about being shorthanded. You aren't really shorthanded if you choose not to play your people.
I'm hoping "talent" is the same thing that du and ky got and are counting on from last year. Meaning, we c what happened to all those 5*s last year for them. "they just didnt pan out." I know, different day different dollar, no pun, but you have to develop. And you have to have leaders. Sorry, I'm now coming off my box...
Obi"s knees are so bad that he cannot practice and Vrank was a players who when recruited was not expected to contribute until he was a junior
If Obi's knees are that bad I guess I have to give K a pass on that count. But he still could have played Vrank. I mean he did play him, but only 14 minutes for the whole season.
He definitely had players he could have played last year. He just chose not to, which is cool. Like you said, they weren't really all that shorthanded though. That was just the narrative.
Amen Cory. K perpetuating one of the biggest urban myths of all time, saying he only had 5 players when he had Obi(almost averaged a double double as a freshman at Temple), Kennard, and Jeter(top 30 coming out of high school). He is such a tool.
^obi played at Rice, but both are owls=)........kennard played 27mpg...when amile went down we played 6 w/ jeter.....obi is broke down and yeah vrank maybe should have gotten some more action, but that was it....no one else
The issue with ratty is he refuses to develop peeps when his team is healthy! Nobody cares what he does after injuries because it is out of his hands. If he developed his bench by giving them playing time early (when wins and losses matter less) he would have peeps ready to step in at need. Roy plays his entire team and then the next man is ready to step up!
I'll take our talented experience over their supposedly uber talented inexperience any day of the week. Jefferson is the only big with any significant experience so I give us a decided edge.
puke and ratty suck anyhow so our team or frontcourt is by definition better! Who is afraid of Obi won't Getoffthebench or Weird AL Vrancovich?
I'll take our talented experience over their supposedly uber talented inexperience any day of the week. Jefferson is the only big with any significant experience so I give us a decided edge.
puke and ratty suck anyhow so our team or frontcourt is by definition better! Who is afraid of Obi won't Getoffthebench or Weird AL Vrancovich?
Then why did Knight Lite say he only had five players, Boogie? My whole point is he's a whiny liar. Jeter could have played a lot more than he did, as could have Vrank. And where was the talk of Obi being "broke down" last year?
When you choose not to play your depth, and then complain that you have no depth, it is farcical. He whines to get sympathy because his team underachieves and dook fans and the media believe that myth and promulgate it.
"Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."
When you choose not to play your depth, and then complain that you have no depth, it is farcical. He whines to get sympathy because his team underachieves and dook fans and the media believe that myth and promulgate it.
"Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."
He did not play him Capel played him in the game K was sick.plan was for him to RS last year
Let's be rationale here. He had 8 healthy scholarship players. 3 of those guys played center - Plumlee, Jeter, Vrankovic. So yes, having 5 guys man 4 spots is very limited.
As far as the big man argument, Jeter continues to play soft when fed the ball down low. Uninspiring. Bradley is ahead of him in my mind. Isaiah and Kennedy were actually 2nd and 3rd on the team last year in efficiency, behind only Brice. Their numbers will go up significantly with Brice's departure. I expect Isaiah to make one of the All-ACC teams this year. With all that being said, our trio > Dook's trio. With Giles in the mix, I'd probably give them the edge.
As far as the big man argument, Jeter continues to play soft when fed the ball down low. Uninspiring. Bradley is ahead of him in my mind. Isaiah and Kennedy were actually 2nd and 3rd on the team last year in efficiency, behind only Brice. Their numbers will go up significantly with Brice's departure. I expect Isaiah to make one of the All-ACC teams this year. With all that being said, our trio > Dook's trio. With Giles in the mix, I'd probably give them the edge.
Hicks is gonna be real good this season I believe. I think they hope to redshirt Vrank, it depends on Giles recovery time and his effectiveness considering he has played two seasons in the last four, one in the last three. He was a monster in Vegas for CP3 when I saw him, but he has had surgery again. Meeks can play, no question...both games will be tough as usual, especially the way UNC plays completely unintimidated in CIS, it scares them...not. Britt will be a big part of putting pressure on Duke guards.
"Let's be rationale here. He had 8 healthy scholarship players. 3 of those guys played center - Plumlee, Jeter, Vrankovic. So yes, having 5 guys man 4 spots is very limited."
Let's see:
Allen 21.6 PPG
Ingram 16.8 PPG
Kennard 11.9 PPG
Jones 10.8 PPG
MP3 8.2 PPG
Thornton 7.5 PPG
Jeter 1.9 PPG
Vrankovic 0.7 PPG
Obi 0.5 PPG
That's 9 players available to the LOM, only 6 of which got significant PT. Whose fault is that? BTW, Obi is listed as a forward and Jeter as a F/C. And Jeter was ranked 11th in the class of '15 by ESPN. Yet he got minimal PT.
Don't drink the dook koolaid and buy K's BS about only having 5 players. He chose not to play more guys. Do you think guys like Luke or James would have ever gotten off K's bench? Roy builds depth by playing it, and in meaningful situations.
Let's see:
Allen 21.6 PPG
Ingram 16.8 PPG
Kennard 11.9 PPG
Jones 10.8 PPG
MP3 8.2 PPG
Thornton 7.5 PPG
Jeter 1.9 PPG
Vrankovic 0.7 PPG
Obi 0.5 PPG
That's 9 players available to the LOM, only 6 of which got significant PT. Whose fault is that? BTW, Obi is listed as a forward and Jeter as a F/C. And Jeter was ranked 11th in the class of '15 by ESPN. Yet he got minimal PT.
Don't drink the dook koolaid and buy K's BS about only having 5 players. He chose not to play more guys. Do you think guys like Luke or James would have ever gotten off K's bench? Roy builds depth by playing it, and in meaningful situations.
Bolden is the best of the 6 players in the hypothetical match up OP proposed. I think I will be validated by this opinion in only a few short weeks--this guy is really good. Meeks from a talent standpoint should be the second best but he has mostly disappointed those who want to see consistency. For the sake of argument, I will say he is the second best. Hicks and Jefferson are about equals in my opinion and tie for third. And i'd put Bradley slightly ahead of Jeter. I give it a push overall. But because only 2 of these players will be on the court at the same time, I give the advantage to Duke with Bolden and Jefferson.
But I don't think that tells the whole story. DeLaurier is a bigger, but more raw, Justice Winslow. And Harry Giles is the top high school player in the world. I don't think Maye and Pinson compare favorably here.
But I don't think that tells the whole story. DeLaurier is a bigger, but more raw, Justice Winslow. And Harry Giles is the top high school player in the world. I don't think Maye and Pinson compare favorably here.
I have often sat in front of the TV and said to myself "Why won't he play "insert name here", and even some announcers over the years have mentioned that there are scholarship players on the bench who can't see the floor. K plays a very short rotation and that is one thing I wish would change, but he will be around only 2-3 more seasons and I don't see it changing. Even his Assistants I believe, such as Capel, would like to see kids get some burn. I was a HS varsity coach before retiring and I found that I also stuck with a limited line up way too much and had to make a point of getting some bench kids in games when it mattered as I got more experienced. Roy and Pitino, plus Clemson will put kids in in tough minutes much more than K. He won't change in his final season(s) most likely. Definitely a minus but it is what it is.
The story with Obi is he has bad knees and may never be able to play basketball, unfortunately. After watching the first exhibition game it looks like Jeter needs 2 years or more to make the transition however DeLaurier looked pretty good. I don't think Vrank is there yet.
Jeter played and set a new land speed record for fouling out in under 4 minutes.
From the little I saw, Jeter was surprisingly unready for this level of play. He did seem to be catching on right at the end of the season, though. Might surprise this season. But with all the tall timber, if he isn't ready, Duke will still be powerful up front.
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