Do NOT Believe Duke Hype: Lose 5 Of Top 8 Rotation, 60% Pts, 67% Made 3s, 50% Reb

[Darryl]

A coach that very rarely depends on more than 1 frosh will have at least 4 in his 8 man rotation. Okafor is
supposedly terrific (I personally think he is over rated) and Winslow looks good. Tyus Jones may not even
start.

Dukes loses Parker, Hood, Thornton, Dawkins, and Hairston. That is losing:

54% of the minutes played
60% of the points
50% of the Rebounds
67% of their made 3s, which is their main weapon

They will be top 3 pre-season, but will be the most over rated team in the nation all year. As bad as I hate them,
UNC will be better in the ACC. Heck, UL may be.

Darryl

[StuBleedsBlue2]

I never believe the Duke hype. I'm right way more than I'm not, especially in recent years.

[jazyd]

Only Cal could do it, even Self failed in the NCAA tourney. duke will make it past first weekend, maybe, only because they will be at home again. Every time they lose they will move up in the polls.

A coach that very rarely depends on more than 1 frosh will have at least 4 in his 8 man rotation. Okafor is
supposedly terrific (I personally think he is over rated) and Winslow looks good. Tyus Jones may not even
start.

Dukes loses Parker, Hood, Thornton, Dawkins, and Hairston. That is losing:

54% of the minutes played
60% of the points
50% of the Rebounds
67% of their made 3s, which is their main weapon

They will be top 3 pre-season, but will be the most over rated team in the nation all year. As bad as I hate them,
UNC will be better in the ACC. Heck, UL may be.

Darryl

[Doc]

Of all Duke frosh, I like Winslow the best. Okafur and Jones will get the most hype but Winslow is the most complete player. It will be interesting though to see how he "fits" in the Duke concept. My hunch is he won't.

[catmanjack]

I posted the same thing in another thread.
Not very impressed with Okafor at all.

[Catcookie]

I think Okafor looks pretty good but I'm not buying on the Duke hype yet.

[Kacat]

Okafor is a beast and a terrific player. But if he tries to play defense he will foul and then Duke has no options when he goes to the bench.

[ajp40505]

Okafor is a beast and a terrific player. But if he tries to play defense he will foul and then Duke has no options when he goes to the bench.

I agree that Okafor is a player, but he's 6'10" not 7'0" like he was listed in the Jordan game. He's a Sullinger type post player, but runs the floor better. I like Winston the best of all their freshmen.

There's no doubt they will be over-hyped from the get go, but I have no problem with them starting the season ranked number one. We don't need the burden that goes with that.

[JPScott]

I don't know about Duke next year but I never liked the argument of looking at what a team is losing. People use that argument against UK all the time. It's what a team has coming back and coming in that counts.

I do think that as more schools start to rely more on the 'one and done' players (i.e. Kansas, Duke etc.) it will become clear that it's not as easy as people assume to get a lot of freshman to play effectively together (no matter how talented they may be).

[TRUCKERCATFAN]

I think Duke will be good but Carolina will be better. Could be 2012 all over again where UK and UNC are head and shoulders above the field.

[kingcat]

Lots of very good players distributed all around the country means there will be a lot of very good teams. Great point guards, great quickness, and great size are the distinguishing characteristics in college basketball. Great coaches can accentuate those strengths.

Duke will be very good as I like Jones a lot at point guard and Okafor will be a load inside for teams lacking an inside defensive presence I think. Top ten by seasons end is very likely...maybe top five

[ShoesSwayedBlue]

Duke is going to be paper thin in the paint and won't have the same offensive spacing or matchup problems for opponents they had this year. Parker was a pain on the offensive end because he played center a lot for them and Duke is hard to zone. Opposing centers and power forwards couldn't keep up with where he was. Really, without Parker and Hood, they'll be a smaller, more defensively challenged team than this year. Okafor isn't really a rim protector either. They sure can't allow him to get in foul trouble even trying to do that.

[jazyd]

I just hope our hype comes to pass

[Doc]

Okafor looked very good yesterday, one of the better performances I have seen him put in.

[Catcookie]

Okafor looked very good yesterday, one of the better performances I have seen him put in.

I think he's the real deal. I'm not going to diminish his abilities because he chose Duke instead of UK. if he had come here, he'd be our starting 5.

[TRUCKERCATFAN]

If the Harrisons come back, I truly believe UNC is the only team that can rival us next year. They will be big and deep. Really like that Justin Jackson kid they are bringing in. He can fill it up. Still think UK will be better with the twins back.

[dan_bgblue]

Doc, I agree with you on both counts about Winslow. I like him a lot

[Darrell KSR]

I do think that as more schools start to rely more on the 'one and done' players (i.e. Kansas, Duke etc.) it will become clear that it's not as easy as people assume to get a lot of freshman to play effectively together (no matter how talented they may be).

I've said that has been the most impressive part of John Calipari’s coaching since he arrived in Lexington, topping even his recruiting.

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