"In Uconn's last two tournament runs, they played one team higher than a 3 seed (Purdue)"
Top Recruiting Classes Are Getting Old
- Thread starter dukeblue77
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And he’s holding a dumbbell and it looks like he has located a weight room. Even better news.
I’m old enough to remember when Duke was not getting the top 1-2 recruiting classes each year. Couldn’t get passed the Sweet 16 from 2005-2009 despite returning players and no OADs. Remember how we couldn’t land elite BIGs? Former players in the league? Fa get about it! Be careful, we can always go back to that.
I hear this a lot Q, but that also culminated in a very satisfying 2010 title, and we probably win Kyrie's year if he stays healthy a few years later. If McRoberts had stayed 4 years that may have been different as well.
Losing Deng and Livingston after the 04 season were daggers. Think K was a little upset at them and the system.
His coaching and recruiting over the next few seasons slipped.
His coaching and recruiting over the next few seasons slipped.
It’s a shame we never got to see Livingston play college ball
I’m not sure any are sweeter than 2010 other than that first one I guess. First one always has to be the sweetest, especially when you slay the dragon (Vegas) but man when we heard Jim Nantz exclaim “and Duke is the king of the dance 2010”!!!
It was just an incredible feeling made even more intense by having to dodge two potential game winning buckets by Butler in the last 20 seconds and having to endure two unc-chapel hill branch titles in 05 and 09 and them stealing Harry Barnes. Duke wins it all with a team that was old school with hard nosed juniors and seniors. Physical, dominating on the glass, terrific defense and efficient as hell offensively and so few ever saw it coming lol! 35-5 speaks for itself though.
to make matters worse, Unc was kicking Duke’s rear both on and off the court from 2005-2009. Unc had won 2 national championships, 3 final fours, and 4 elite 8s, meanwhile Duke couldn’t even make it to a regional final.
Was 09 around the time K got into coaching the Olympics? I remember our recruiting getting a helluva lot better after that
We were a big man away from being elite. I remember us missing on several bigs. The Plumlees and Zoubek putting it all together changed that.
The summer of 2005 was when Coach K took over coaching USA Men’s Basketball.
There’s no doubt you win it in 2011 if Kyrie doesn’t get injured. McRoberts & K had friction, there was no way he was coming back for year 3, much less 4. Kind of like Shavlik, they both wanted out as soon as they could make it happen.
I liked McRoberts. He didn't have the best talent around him. His attitude could have been better, but he could play. He seemed frustrated with Paulus in particular. He might be seen in a better light if he played on a better team, but he and Paulus seem to catch the flack for those years.
Now watching from Heartbreak to Mountain Top from 2015. My goodness.
Now watching from Heartbreak to Mountain Top from 2015. My goodness.
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McRoberts was a problem for the coaches. He was not what he seemed to be. I heard stories from guys around the program that he was at gas stations buying cigarettes and beer in the middle of the night when they had a game the next day, and that he was lazy and entitled. He couldn't get to the NBA quickly enough from what I heard.
Well that's a shame if true. He averaged 9 and 5 for a year in the NBA; you don't do that without serious talent.
Yes, but his mother was quite attractive.
Yep, and I remember early on when people thought his time away with USA was hurting Duke and recruiting. That changed dramatically a few years later when everyone started saying K had an unfair advantage with recruiting. In the end, it probably didn't make a huge difference either way.
Only weakness I see in John. I do however, think we end up getting a couple decent quality veterans from portal this year.
OFC
Flag looks like he is ready. Not sure about other guys. We got get 3: experience places to transfer in.
If we’re rolling with Flagg and the current roster then we shouldn’t expect a championship.
I never expect a championship, but I always hope for one.
We probably do need a couple pieces from the portal this year.
The 6-8 Stanford shooter looks good and he is a senior. I believe he visited this week averaged 13ppg.
No but you also are taking a gamble if the guys you bring from the portal mesh with the class or are simply coming for the exposure of Duke for NBA scouts .
I also ask this , how will portal players move your needle toward a championship? What if they aren’t top notch portal players ?
I agree with the OP.
1. We need to scout better in the HS ranks. Find some gems who will stay and develop.
2. Jon has reverted to the Coach K of the prior 15-20 yrs and using a short bench. If the talent he recruits doesn’t play no mid level talent or transfers will want to come in and stay.
3. We still need to recruit the portal better and be aggressive. And those recruits need to know they will get PT as well as a great degree.
4. We need to do better in player development. That includes a revision of our whole training regimen. It has to become a part of the draw. The players need to see they will be challenged to develop their game and their body (which doesn’t happen much at Duke. Either you bite when you are a pup or you usually don’t ever at Duke). And know they will get PT. A kid like Power isn’t going to be his best at 216. He needs to come into October next year at 225, and have developed his apparently quality 3 point shooting. He could still be a good player. Hes got to get some strength and power to his game. And Duke has to take responsibility for developing that.
1. We need to scout better in the HS ranks. Find some gems who will stay and develop.
2. Jon has reverted to the Coach K of the prior 15-20 yrs and using a short bench. If the talent he recruits doesn’t play no mid level talent or transfers will want to come in and stay.
3. We still need to recruit the portal better and be aggressive. And those recruits need to know they will get PT as well as a great degree.
4. We need to do better in player development. That includes a revision of our whole training regimen. It has to become a part of the draw. The players need to see they will be challenged to develop their game and their body (which doesn’t happen much at Duke. Either you bite when you are a pup or you usually don’t ever at Duke). And know they will get PT. A kid like Power isn’t going to be his best at 216. He needs to come into October next year at 225, and have developed his apparently quality 3 point shooting. He could still be a good player. Hes got to get some strength and power to his game. And Duke has to take responsibility for developing that.
The Danny Green nuts to Paulus face was a low, low point followed by Tyler Hands Off Me Bro winning 4 straight at Cameron. Ughhhh.
Once K started recruiting more OAD’s we stole their thunder and knocked Calipari off course as well! That was the reason why I’m glad we started going after No. 1 classes cause if not, Roy and Cal would have probably won atleast 2 more titles. Sometimes, the best offense is a great defense. K blocked unc and uk from stockpiling ALL of the elite talent.
We’ve gone to the Elite 8 four times since 2018. uk (2019) and unc (2022) has only been to the Elite 8 once since then.
It did, but we can’t expect that would happen with every four year class though. We didn’t think we’d win the title at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, end of the year, beginning of the tournament or even at the Final Four.
We are going to see now that Cal has left uk if the OAD model is truly over. Some Duke fans sound like uk fans who are tired of OAD players and want to go back to the old days. So, they are a case study.
Again, people are upset at an NBA rule. I really wish players could go straight to the NBA from high school.
But if an elite player wants to come to Duke, Scheyer would be a fool not to get him. Cause if Duke doesn’t, someone else will. Better to stockpile talent than have to face it. Just my 2.
With all the NIL money to throw around, I think you would be a fool to take a pass on elite talent. At least now you have a better chance of keeping some of them for two years, maybe more. I would always try to get the best and see how it shakes out. Duke is always in the mix for a run, most programs are one year wonders.
I know we all want talent, but it has to be a good fit. If not, Duke will continue to look good, but not be real contenders.
I like most of your posts, but who are the contenders year in and year out and what model are they using. This portal stuff is new, I think Jon will figure it out.
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Right! There is no one way to win. Me personally, I’ll take my chances with talent. Duke has consistently won 20-25 games a year and hasn’t lost 10+ games in a long time! Not all programs can say that!
I realize nothing is guaranteed. My point stands though that the talent has to fit, and ideally, be blended with experience. Which I do think Jon is trying to make happen.
Agreed. I'll ALWAYS take as much talent as possible. I realize we do need experience to some degree, but Duke brings in enough talent to be ultra competitive every year.
Bolden started in the NBA this weekend and played well. My goodness that Zion team was talented. Did that MSU team that beat us have any pros? Maybe the PG.