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October 30th,
2006
By Joel Welser
jwelser@collegehoops.net
Broadcast Basketball
Duke Blue
Devils
Overall Rank:
#15
Conference
Rank:
#3 ACC
2005-06:
32-4, 14-2, 1st
2005-06
postseason: NCAA
 It
doesn’t really matter that
Duke lost its two best players.
Every time we think that the Blue Devils are going to have a
down year, there they are in March in the Final Four. This year
it doesn’t even look that bad for Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s
squad. There have been depth issues in Durham in recent years,
but barring any more injuries, this team will have depth, albeit
youthful depth.
Who’s Out:
The
absence of the long range shooting and 26.8 points per game of
J.J. Redick will obviously be missed. So will the 18.8 points
and 10.7 rebounds of Shelden Williams. Fellow starter Sean
Dockery will be missed on the defensive end and Lee Melchionni
proved to be a valuable contributor during his career at Duke.
Eric Boateng has transferred and seldom used Patrick Davidson,
Patrick Johnson and Ross Perkins won’t be returning to play at
Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Who’s In:
But like
every year at Duke, the excitement is not about the guys
leaving, it is about the guys coming. Gerald Henderson is the
best of the great bunch. The 6-4 wing has amazing athleticism
and will get to the hole and finish and give plenty of reasons
for the Crazies to go crazier. Lance Thomas’ late commitment
massively improved the depth in the paint. He is an intense
rebounder and can do a little scoring as well. Jon Scheyer is
the closest thing to a J.J. Redick clone that Duke could find in
this class. The long range shooting is there, the intangibles
are there, the strength is not and the quickness is not…yet at
least. That sounds a lot like Redick heading into Duke. Brian
Zoubek, the only non McDonald’s All-American incoming freshman,
is a crafty low post scorer. At 7-1 and 250 pounds, the
potential is limitless for Zoubek. David McClure returns after
missing last year with a knee injury. The 6-6 forward earned
three starts during the 2004-2005 campaign.
Who to Watch:
You’re good when you show up at Duke as a freshman and start 33
games at the point. Greg Paulus, now a veteran sophomore, will
be the team leader and look to turn last year’s All-Freshman
honors into All-Conference honors this year. If Paulus’
sophomore status makes him a veteran, DeMarcus Nelson is the old
man of the squad. The 6-4 junior guard should have a starting
job waiting, but he will have to compete hard to hold onto it.
Martynas Pocius saw limited minutes on the wing as a freshman
and will look to increase his role in 2006-2007. With Paulus
re-aggravating a foot injury, Duke will have to reshuffle the
rotation. That may mean less up tempo play and force Nelson and
Scheyer to handle the point duties until Paulus returns. That’s
not a bad thing on the defensive end, but it raises tons of
questions around the issues of floor leadership and ball
handling.
Final
Projection:
Josh McRoberts
is the stud in the paint. Without Williams eating up all the
stats, McRoberts will dramatically improve on his 8.7 points and
5.2 rebounds per game. Jamal Boykin never really worked his way
into the regular rotation as freshman, but has the talent and
potential to contribute at both forward spots. Ten of the 12
players on the roster have at least two years of eligibility
remaining after this season. Luckily with Duke, we won’t have
to worry about how much they’ll dominate in two years, since
most of these guys will be in the NBA by then. For now, Duke
will have to overcome some freshmenitis, but it’s been done so
many times before and there is little doubt that the Blue Devils
won’t let a down year happen.
Projected
Post-season Tournament:
NCAA
Projected
Starting Five:
DeMarcus Nelson,
Junior, Guard, 7.1 points per game
Jon Scheyer,
Freshman, Guard, DNP last season
Gerald
Henderson, Freshman, Guard, DNP last season
Lance Thomas,
Freshman, Forward, DNP last season
Josh McRoberts,
Sophomore, Forward, 8.7 points per game
Also:
Complete ACC Preview & Ranking
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