It's their board I get it. But I never badmouthed Kentucky on there and rarely mentioned Duke. I'm going to stay out of the basketball threads, clearly they don't want an outsider's opinion.
Transfer portal thread
- Thread starter pisgah101
- Start date
Reeves would have been a lot higher had it not been for Covid and I think it was a hamstring injury in high school.
This, but it’ll get refuted or downplayed by some here lol.
That’s what I keep telling myself when I think about the situation. I don’t think he’ll be the guy from the start, but I think he can be a very solid piece of this team come March. That’s my belief and I’ll fully admit I’m wrong if that’s not the case
I second this. The kid has the tools . Lively didn’t really turn it on until the second half of the season . Many forget Lively was rated anywhere from 1-4 recruit in the nation as well .
I think most of us have this take. Wait and see before we say he is going to be the second coming of the landlord or he’s complete trash. No one knows. We hope he will step up and if he can first and foremost take over Young’s minutes that’s good for us and him. And this is with no disrespect to Young, who is absolutely serviceable, because it means he’s improved a great deal and carved out a needed role.
Duke has 7 returning players, a lot of us on here have wanted some continuity. The top 4 scorers from last season’s team is back
Grad - Young (does the little things)
Senior - Roach (proven clutch player/final 4 under his belt)
Junior - Blakes (heck of a pest on defense)
Sophomores - Flip (NPOY candidate), Proctor (true point guard/playmaker), Mitchell (best defender on the team/rim runner/mr energy/capable shot maker), Reeves (athletic 7 footer who can run the court), and Schutt (good 3 point shooter)
Plus the talented freshmen in McCain, Foster, Stewart, and Power.
A lot of you are hanging your hat a little too tight on the Tennessee loss. Have faith in the coaching staff making opponents adjust to Duke’s style of play, just like the Duke players, the coaching staff will grow. The Blue Devils got going in conference season, when there were many Debbie downers here in January.
Grad - Young (does the little things)
Senior - Roach (proven clutch player/final 4 under his belt)
Junior - Blakes (heck of a pest on defense)
Sophomores - Flip (NPOY candidate), Proctor (true point guard/playmaker), Mitchell (best defender on the team/rim runner/mr energy/capable shot maker), Reeves (athletic 7 footer who can run the court), and Schutt (good 3 point shooter)
Plus the talented freshmen in McCain, Foster, Stewart, and Power.
A lot of you are hanging your hat a little too tight on the Tennessee loss. Have faith in the coaching staff making opponents adjust to Duke’s style of play, just like the Duke players, the coaching staff will grow. The Blue Devils got going in conference season, when there were many Debbie downers here in January.
I like this assessment. I liked Young . He came in and gave Duke what they expected out of him . Reeves doesn’t have to be an all star , he simply needs to just play and be effective while on the court .
I believe Reeves will be a solid piece at some point this year. We may not all agree on that, but one common ground I know most of the Duke fans I speak with regularly agree on is Young.
We all appreciate him and I'm glad he's on our team, but he is not the answer at the 5. Anymore than 12-14mpg from him is very bad news for us.
We all appreciate him and I'm glad he's on our team, but he is not the answer at the 5. Anymore than 12-14mpg from him is very bad news for us.
And again it’s no disrespect to Young. He gets that Duke Fuqua degree and does what he was brought into do. Play that serviceable role. That’s why to me, it’s on Reeves to jump that hurdle first. If he does that he’s on his way. If he doesn’t, then that doesn’t bode well for him going forward at Duke. And that’s fine. He’s a guy who was supposed to redshirt and said no thanks, I can do this. We shall see now that there is no one in front of him other than Young.
Pretty spot on. Only argument I’ll make is that I think Proctor is the best defender. Dude locks up opposing guards. But Mitchell is elite too and can also guard multiple positions so I can’t argue too much.
I think Mitchell will be dominant next year. Like he was in the scrimmages. How lucky are we to have 4 five stars back?
Excellent Assessment. Tennessee was mature. Duke will be mature. That should end the conversation. Plus, Mitchell didn't play that game, it mattered.
He had 16 and 7 against Tenn. in the first round. He was ranked 20th in Zion's class!
Seems like a solid player. But, the better he is, the more court time it will take away from others. Is it worth the risk.
I say no due to chemistry. But then again, I'm just a fan.
The kid is solid and has always been good. Is he a chemistry problem?
Is he in the portal as a grad transfer? I do know he was their go to guy so he looks good and has nice size, but I believe the roster is set.
Brown was the Pac 12 6th man of the year at Arizona. He is a grad tranfer and former McDonald's All American. Sounds better than Shedrick and Udeh, have no idea of his plans. Might be the best guy left in the portal. Would love to get him but highly doubtful we do.
Last edited:
Seriously ? Someone get Scheyer's number for Chris . If he don’t get a big out the portal the season is lost 
I have zero idea how adding a guy like this would be a chemistry problem, when no one here knows the kid or his personality and how that would affect others. It is just total speculation.
I’m intrigued as he has size and years of experience. Plus it seems like taking graduate transfers is easier for Duke to do than transfers.
Maybe the older guys want another guy to hang out with? It’s been discussed how Roach isn’t a natural leader due to how quiet he is, maybe we need another voice in the locker room? The point is, no one knows. What we do know: he has put up numbers against major teams.
I’m intrigued as he has size and years of experience. Plus it seems like taking graduate transfers is easier for Duke to do than transfers.
Maybe the older guys want another guy to hang out with? It’s been discussed how Roach isn’t a natural leader due to how quiet he is, maybe we need another voice in the locker room? The point is, no one knows. What we do know: he has put up numbers against major teams.
Last edited:
That's fair to say. Here's what I meant by chemistry, 'touches'. Jordan is proven. He's seasoned in the NCAA. He's a former McD All - American. I think he deserves touches. My concerns are he's a post player 1st option, and he knows he can produce. Do we want Flip to be the 1st option? Does Jon's coaching style parallel Jordan's style of play?
I fall in the opinion of you aren’t going to win big in March playing Young more than a few minutes here and there. Reeves is still a complete question mark. Stewart is a freshman, undersized, and more of a natural 4. And Flip should only be playing the 5 in certain matchups and only for small stretches.
Without getting into style of play, which I’m not sure. It seems like we have plenty of 5 man minutes available. Flip will be the #1 option regardless. You take a hard look at this guy if he is interested in being part of a championship team and earning a graduate degree from Duke. You don’t take this guy if he wants to average 20 & 10 because that won’t be happening here.
You're correct to a point. What made Zou effective on a championship team? His Size? Playmaking? The wings doing all of the scoring? Lance? Or the Plumlee Brothers backing him up? Stewart, Mitchell, and TJ can play the Lance role. Young is a solid backup. But yes, Reeves is the wildcard. If he can do what Zou did... You see I did not even mention Flip. Flip speaks for himself, if he can repeat last year's performance.
Of course we are just speculating on here about how a certain player will fit within the team, and if it will hurt the chemistry. We also don’t know how well the current roster will play together.
My opinion is of looking at the roster right now. We have multiple guys that are alphas. Flip, Roach, and Proctor. No idea on the freshmen. It’s more than fair to suggest a decent big could want a certain amount of touches, and/or minutes. Which then makes it fair to wonder how adding someone else would affect things.
One of the most talented teams Duke has had since 2015, the 18 one, comes to mind. The talent to win it all, but not the chemistry.
My opinion is of looking at the roster right now. We have multiple guys that are alphas. Flip, Roach, and Proctor. No idea on the freshmen. It’s more than fair to suggest a decent big could want a certain amount of touches, and/or minutes. Which then makes it fair to wonder how adding someone else would affect things.
One of the most talented teams Duke has had since 2015, the 18 one, comes to mind. The talent to win it all, but not the chemistry.
I felt Zou was able to flourish in 2010 because he knew his role and it did not involve needing to score at all. Dominate the glass and alter shots is what Zou did in 2010 and it took us over the top. I have rewatched the tournament run that year, and whenever he got a offensive board, he didn’t even look to score, he found shooters for open 3’s.
TJ is another wildcard I see. Will he be a solid contributor or is he a year away? If both TJ and Stewart pan out, then we are extremely deep. What I do know: this freshman class nationally has been said to be one of the weakest over the past 10-15 years. And honestly, I’d love Reeves to pan out and then we definitely don’t need another body.
I agree that the 2018 team did not have enough chemistry to get it done. However, I’d argue that there have been many more Duke teams that have been a piece or 2 short than teams that had the horses and lacked chemistry.
We have had plenty of talented teams that lacked a true 5 and got exposed. Same with plenty of talented teams that lacked a PG or a true shooter and got exposed.
I get what you're saying, and I agree in general. If this was as recent as say 2014, I'd be on the welcoming committee to bring a solid big in. But my opinion is based off the roster Jon has, but more importantly, the overall culture of the era we are in now.
I could be wrong and the entire team is in Jon's ear to get a big. I would be surprised though, given the higher rated kids can see where they're projected to go in the draft at almost any moment of the season. And for most of them to get what they want requires court time.
Man I loved that 2018 team and there were so many times that season I thought #6 was already sitting in the trophy case. College basketball has never seen anyone like Zion.
The 2018 team was the Bagley, Carter, SR Grayson team I believe. An incredible starting 5, not any depth at all. Duval wasn’t the elite PG he was projected to be, though he was our best player against Kansas in the tournament. IMO that team had the talent to be a 37-3 38-2 title team but the chemistry was off.
The Zion 2019 team I thought the chemistry was fine. They had zero depth and shooting woes, especially when Jack White went ice cold.
Yeah Shey it's unfortunate. His one year at Duke? Never seen anything like it and I'll always appreciate the kid.
Didn’t mean any disrespect. @Mac9192 brought up the 2018 team as lacking chemistry, and I agree. But the Zion team IMO knew where their bread was buttered and the chemistry was fine, other than the last 6 minutes against MSU.
I’m not sure everyone on the Zion team knew where our bread was buttered..,
The ball was definitely in the wrong hands at the end of a few close games.
That and poor shooting range was the undoing.
The ball was definitely in the wrong hands at the end of a few close games.
That and poor shooting range was the undoing.
You are so right Irish. I thought after the miraculous comeback at L'ville we were on our way,
and a final four shoo- in. I really thought we would ultimately cut 'em down. Not to be, and you make a good case why we didn't. OFC