Duke Basketball 2023-2024

[rome8180]

I don't think it was 2015 being so recent. I think it was who was returning and what was being added to that. Grayson Allen was coming off one of the best individual season in Duke guard history. Amile Jefferson was returning as a 5th year senior after having been a very solid defender and scorer for us 2013-2015. Matt Jones was a limited player, sure, but he was a good defender and shooter. Luke Kennard had shown promise his freshman year. Despite not being able to make open threes, he still had posted stellar efficiency (123 offensive rating) due to his ability to make shots inside the arc, draw FTs, and not turn the ball over.

A team of just those four with a single other competent player could have been a middle-of-the-pack ACC team. But then you were adding Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, Marques Bolden, and Frank Jackson to the mix. Giles had been the #1 prospect in the class pre-injury and was supposed to be a Kevin Garnett type. I watched several of Tatum's high school games and was blown away. I remember in one, he pushed the ball in transition on every play and drew 20 FTs and made something like 19 of them.

But then Allen struggled to fit into his new role, Giles amounted to nothing, Tatum took several months to reach his potential, and Matt Jones' 3pt percentage fell from 41% to 34%. Only Amile and Luke really lived up to or surpassed expectations.

 

[rome8180]

It's hard to overstate how good sophomore Grayson was. If you somehow get something closer to that (on lower usage) and you get February/March Tatum right away, maybe none of the rest of that stuff matters.

 

[Hammy-O]

As frustrating at Kyle’s body language was, I still really enjoyed watching him play. He made mistakes and often let “bad” calls and mistakes affect him mentally. But I do think he played with an edge and a competitiveness that I really liked. So I’m disappointed we weren’t able to really maximize him. Fitting that his final foul seemed totally out of frustration :/ He has to work on moving on after real or perceived bad calls. Same with Stewart. I think if Kyle didn’t have a (deserved) reputation as a complainer, we would have a much stronger appreciation for him.

Mitchell is the piece that I don’t see fitting in because his shooting is so bad. And I don’t even think more reps with that form is going to help. He had a rough season and it seemed to take a toll on him. He did come to play defensively though.

I do not follow recruiting at all anymore, so I’m unsure if anyone we went after in the portal or missed and recruiting would have changed our season significantly. Coleman and Brakefield were the recent transfers I remember and I don’t think either would have plugged holes (although I did enjoy Brakefield). It’s not like the post Shelden years where we are running Singler at center and saying DAMN I wish we’d gotten Patrick Patterson or Greg Echenique or whatever (just throwing out names I remember ).

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

What I did not expect is to have a sad, empty feeling on the day/day after the season. And I do.

Keep trying to think about how before Thursday I just wanted UNC gone and then things changed.

 

[Hammy-O]

Who were the players from the transfer portal that we thought we were going to get but didn’t get through admissions?

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

I don't think any playable transfers were expected to come to Duke. There were guys who seemed like great fits that fans wanted to see Duke go after, but Duke didn't really go after any of them.

 

[LastHearth]

Udeh is the guy who couldn't get through admissions. He ended up played a bench role at TCU, 17 mpg 4 pt and 5 rb. We definitely could have used him as another big body yesterday though as he is listed at 6-11 250.

 

[dukebluedevils05]

Who were the players from the transfer portal that we thought we were going to get but didn’t get through admissions?

The kid that transferred from Kansas but ended up at TCU, Ernest Udeh, for one.

Doesn’t seem like he did much this season, though.

Sorry, didn’t see Hearth’s post before responding.

 

[Pantone287]

Who were the players from the transfer portal that we thought we were going to get but didn’t get through admissions?

The kid that transferred from Kansas but ended up at TCU, Ernest Udeh, for one.

Doesn’t seem like he did much this season, though.

Sorry, didn’t see Hearth’s post before responding.

DaRon Holmes and Adem Bona were the other two who we seemed to think we were getting at one point or another but then stayed put and didn't enter the portal. Either would have been nice to have.

 

[physicsfactor]

I really wish we could have gotten A Bona

 

[bfactor]

I really wish we could have gotten A Bona

These layered rosterbation jokes are really next level.

 

[rome8180]

I don't think any high level big was transferring in to play the role we had to offer. The best fit would have been Shedrick. But for some reason, we had no interest in him.

 

[Slap the Floor]

 

[LastHearth]

Last years finals drew 14.693 million viewers, Duke-UConn finals would have been huge ratings.

 

[Rollins]

these viewership numbers are reassurance that duke isn't getting left behind in conference realignment.

 

[Devilsforlife]

these viewership numbers are reassurance that duke isn't getting left behind in conference realignment.

Basketball is a ratings juggernaut and the premier brand in the sport, and football has been P5 average at worst for 12 years now. Would make no sense for us not to get a seat at the table.

 

[rome8180]

these viewership numbers are reassurance that duke isn't getting left behind in conference realignment.

What were the numbers? Either I'm not seeing the post or someone I have blocked posted it.

 

[aiw]

 

[rome8180]

Glad we lost on national TV in two of the most watched games ever.

 

[Devilsforlife]

My final analysis of the roster, a few days on from the end of the season:

-McCain and Flip were two very nice pieces, the latter sometimes being a bit under-appreciated. Roach also had the best senior year since Grayson, though he wasn’t quite as consistent after his injury.
-Proctor was very good defensively, but he didn’t make the jump to being an elite PG who could control the game and consistently hit big shots. He might develop into one as an upperclassman, should he stay, but it didn’t happen in 2024.
-Defenses respecting Mark’s shot so little they didn’t even bother guarding him on the perimeter was an unfortunate development.
-Foster was a more significant loss than one would’ve initially thought. There were plenty of times where we just didn’t have enough shooting on the floor after he went down.
-Young was an important role player, but we should’ve gotten a beefier center in the portal. Getting bullied inside was a theme in both UNC and State losses, the Arizona game, and even the escape against Clemson.