We all know about Bolden's injury history,looks like he's healthy and ready to go this season,i'm looking for a good year from him.Any chance he can make himself into a first round pick?The only problem I see for him may be endurance,how much will he play each game? I expect 15-20 minutes a game early in the season,hopefully up for 20-25 by tournament time....R.J.should see the most time at 30 plus,Cam and Zion at 25 plus,Alex and Javin at 15-20....
Next years team
- Thread starter Canadian Dukie
- Start date
Tre
RJ
Cam
Zion
Marques
Bench by terms of minutes
Alex 15-20 mpg
Javin 10-20 mpg
Jordan 5-15 mpg (backup PG minutes only, and I've also read Cam can actually play some backup PG, so who knows)
Jack 5-10 mpg
I'd be shocked if anyone else sees time, barring major injuries, and Joey Baker is still a huge wild card, I have no idea what we will do with him.
Your question on Bolden: he is starting to show up on 2019 mock drafts. Believe draft-express recently had him around 25, nbadraft.net currently has him around 45. And yes, I believe he will begin his professional career after next season. Biggest 5 month's of Marques's life is coming up.
RJ
Cam
Zion
Marques
Bench by terms of minutes
Alex 15-20 mpg
Javin 10-20 mpg
Jordan 5-15 mpg (backup PG minutes only, and I've also read Cam can actually play some backup PG, so who knows)
Jack 5-10 mpg
I'd be shocked if anyone else sees time, barring major injuries, and Joey Baker is still a huge wild card, I have no idea what we will do with him.
Your question on Bolden: he is starting to show up on 2019 mock drafts. Believe draft-express recently had him around 25, nbadraft.net currently has him around 45. And yes, I believe he will begin his professional career after next season. Biggest 5 month's of Marques's life is coming up.
Good post. Bolden is such an important piece. Of course his health is important, but his foot speed and capability to hit a mid range shot will be big as well.
Really hope our freshmen are as good as advertised, and they blend well with the returning guys. Jack White is my sleeper. Think he can provide so much to the team, even if he doesn't score a lot.
On paper, we have a chance to be good. I'm not nearly as concerned losing a couple early, hope to see gradual improvement as the year goes.
The conference this season is going to be a war.
Really hope our freshmen are as good as advertised, and they blend well with the returning guys. Jack White is my sleeper. Think he can provide so much to the team, even if he doesn't score a lot.
On paper, we have a chance to be good. I'm not nearly as concerned losing a couple early, hope to see gradual improvement as the year goes.
The conference this season is going to be a war.
Really rooting for Bolden. Came in with big hype and I didn't hear a peep of complaint about limited PT or thoughts of (gasp) transfer. I hope he dominates and goes on to a productive pro career. He's certainly put in the time.
OFC
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Amen Will- he's hung in there, would love to see him as an 8 and 10 guy per game this year!
OFC
I was a little turned off by him his freshman year, but I'm really rooting for him now. I don't know what kind of pro career he'll have, but he can definitely be an 8 an 10 guy like hart mentioned.
to be fair Quinn was solid in 2013 when he started with Sheed, S Dot, Kelly, and MP2
Outside of Quinn being MVP of that tournament in the Bahamas his sophomore year, where we beat eventual national champ Louisville, I agree.
The starting 5 seems obvious and yet I don’t think that’s our best lineup to run at a title.
Not unlike last year, we have too many players that score best around the rim. For Duke to be a title team...IMO...One of Barrett, Zion, Bolden need to be sitting so Duke has another shooter on the floor.
That doesn’t even take into account our other bigs who aren’t shooters.
Not unlike last year, we have too many players that score best around the rim. For Duke to be a title team...IMO...One of Barrett, Zion, Bolden need to be sitting so Duke has another shooter on the floor.
That doesn’t even take into account our other bigs who aren’t shooters.
IDGAF about Bolden's offense. And he shouldn't either. All we'll need from him, and Javin, is quality defense, especially around the rim, and rebounding. If Bolden can defend the rim, and the PnR, he's a mid 20s draft pick, or better. The NBA demands that bigs defend and rebound. Any scoring of top of that is gravy. Obviously, the unicorns are extant, but Bolden probably won't ever be an all star. But he can be a quality rotation guy for a decade if he'll focus on D and the boards. If you will give an NBA team quality minutes of Defense, and get 10ish boards a game, you'll make 9 figures over your career.
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Next year's team could look a lot like modern NBA squads. A PG, 2-3 wings, a small ball PF (possibly the prototypical small ball PF), and a rim protecting C. If Bolden really takes care of business on that end, NBA playoff teams will see a guy that can fit in and contribute immediately, with the potential to be a quality starting C in the future. And those guys get drafted.
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Next year's team could look a lot like modern NBA squads. A PG, 2-3 wings, a small ball PF (possibly the prototypical small ball PF), and a rim protecting C. If Bolden really takes care of business on that end, NBA playoff teams will see a guy that can fit in and contribute immediately, with the potential to be a quality starting C in the future. And those guys get drafted.
Ditto. Further, I think Cam will be a good shooter, and I have high expectations for Tre as well. And AOC is likely to be a very dangerous shooter off the bench.
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I really think Baker will RS. He floated the idea at the USA camp, and I think that was his plan all along. A year in the weight room at Duke, and defending our wings all year, will be better for him than another year in HS.
While I agree with those that believe shooting should be our biggest concern next year, the only option as a shooter off the bench will be Alex.
Alex is a starter on most ACC teams, but I just don't see him starting over our 3 stud guards, barring injury.
He fits the bill perfectly off the bench as a shooter, and also someone we can bring in to score when the starters are struggling.
I'm sure once we lose a game or two, people will be calling for Alex to start. Problem is..if we start Alex, then we would have ZERO shooting off the bench.
We need Javin and Jack to do Javin and Jack things, but they aren't gonna be outside shooters.
Jordan should be steady, but I'd say at this point in his career, he will still be a reluctant outside shooter.
Alex is a starter on most ACC teams, but I just don't see him starting over our 3 stud guards, barring injury.
He fits the bill perfectly off the bench as a shooter, and also someone we can bring in to score when the starters are struggling.
I'm sure once we lose a game or two, people will be calling for Alex to start. Problem is..if we start Alex, then we would have ZERO shooting off the bench.
We need Javin and Jack to do Javin and Jack things, but they aren't gonna be outside shooters.
Jordan should be steady, but I'd say at this point in his career, he will still be a reluctant outside shooter.
Shooting is important, but next year's team won't be as susceptible as last year's team (or even the year before that).
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While no one EXPECTS our three perimeter frosh players to be deadeye marks men from the 3pt line, they aren't exactly TD, Javin, or Bolden. In other words, they can't simply be left alone out there. If you give any of CR, RJ, or Tre acres of space, they'll shoot 60%. So they can't be left alone. But you don't want to be up on them because CR and RJ will murder opponents by driving, especially vs what will be a much more open post with only 1 true big on the court.
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Side Note: Teams will want to play up on Zion as well. He's probably not the threat to rain down threes that the others are, but NO opposing coach will want to see what happens when Zion gets a running start at the rim. Opposing defenders won't stand strong in the face of that. Sure, Zion will get a few charges. But he'll also get a slew of demoralizing dunks.
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We will have two guys on the court, at all times, that can play any of the perimeter positions, and some PF as well. Versatile and interchangeable.
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Offense won't be a problem. Defense will. If the frosh commit to D, and Jav/Bolden guard the rim, Duke will be nasty come March.
Quinn frosh was what it was....but as a soph he averaged 12/5/4 and led the team to the Elite 8........jr year took a back seat to the hood/parker show...and we all know his sr year efforts
Tim hopefully the extra hard work RJ is doing on his jumper this summer will result in making him a true perimeter threat.Also I truly think AOC will see some time in a so called "small ball" lineup at times w/the freshmen. That would put Z at the 5.
OFC