Duke Nuggets
Dying for some info about Duke and their players? Here’s some of the more interesting items of the past couple of weeks.
Former Duke point guard Greg Paulus is set to become an assistant basketball coach at Navy. I guess that means in a few years if a spot opens up you might see him back in Durham.
Duke 1991-92 team is the 12th most hated team of all time. I think this might be a bit underrated. If a JJ Redick team had won, they might have been higher.
Former Duke guard Jon Scheyer’s chance to make the Heat take a huge hit. The injury may have affected his chance to make any 2010-11 roster.
Why JUCO transfer Carrick Felix changed his mind about coming to Duke and ended up going to Arizona State. I really don’t mind if ASU does well because I have a soft spot for Herb Sendek, who got screwed by North Carolina State.
Coach K on PTI 5 Good Minutes
Just like last year, Nolan Smith may be the most overlooked Duke player on this years squad. Instead of being the third guy in the Big 3, he is being forgotten behind freshman Kyrie Irving and transfer Seth Curry.
Why Coach K does not dine in Chapel Hill. Who can blame him?
James. Wade. Bosh. Scheyer?
Could Jon Scheyer go from National Champion to World Champion?
This weekend Scheyer traveled to Las Vegas to begin the summer league season with the Miami Heat. The former Duke guard went undrafted in the most recent NBA Draft which makes him a free agent, signable by any team.
“It’s obviously a possibility, but for me I’m just trying to take it one day at a time,” Scheyer, who won a national championship at Duke last season, said during an interview on “The Waddle and Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000.
Scheyer has many things going for him to make the Miami team.
One, he is a three-point shooter. A perfect role player on any team, especially on one where the three stars are going to draw more than their fair share of attention on the offensive end. Scheyer is a smart enough player to find open spaces on the floor when teammates get in trouble and good enough to knock down the open shots. He shot 38% from three-point range last year.
Two, he is a free agent. As an undrafted player he could be brought in cheap. With the majority of their cap space eaten up by 6-3-1 the Heat are going to need some cheap players. He will fit the bill.
Three, he is a smart player. Scheyer wasn’t the most athletically gifted player in the ACC, yet was runner-up as ACC Player of the Year. He wasn’t beating people off the dribble or breaking ankles out on the perimeter, yet scored 18 points per game and had a 3-to-1 turnover to assist ratio. How?
He outsmarted them. Picking and choosing his spots to score, also knowing when to get teammates involved. Scheyer knew what his team needed to win games, more importantly he knew what his couch needed from him. Co-captain of a Duke team, yeah, you need to be smart to get the ‘C’ from Coach K.
Four, he is a team player. Last year’s Duke team was the ultimate team; no superstars, everyone knew their role and they performed them perfectly. That was the only way they were able to win it all.
The Heat are going to need players like that, people whose only interest is in winning the game, not trying to get what they think they deserve. With three All-Stars on the team there is going to be a shortage of opportunities for the others. Guys who moan about not getting enough touches or minutes aren’t going to help this team.
If Scheyer does make it onto the Heat he is going to have to make the transition from being in ‘The Big Three’ to being ‘and the other guys.’
He shouldn’t have any problems, after starting all but one game his freshman year he was asked to come of the bench as a sophomore. He did so without question and turned in a great season, third in minutes, fourth in points, third in assists and the best assist-to-turnover ratio on the team.
Once it got late into the second round, Scheyer was actually hoping not to get drafted.
“When it got to be about the last half of the second round, I was somewhat hoping I wouldn’t get drafted because I knew there were options out there for me, Miami being one of them.”
Where ever Scheyer ends up that team is going to get a proven leader, a team player and a champion.
Duke Tuesday Tidbits
Not content on just being the next Duke point guard, Kyrie Irving is spending his summer trying to make the under-18 US National team. He’s doing a real good job too, as he is the best player on the court.
“And it’s not even close,” said one observer who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Irving is also spending his summer taking down former Blue Devil point guards in one-on-one. Here’s the recap.
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Joining Irving in the 2011-12 season will be Michael Gbinije. The small forward looks like he will take over for Kyle Singler.
Gbinije (pronounced Ben-ih-jhay) is a different player than Singler, he’s more agile than the senior. He will need to get stronger, especially for him to stand up to the intense ACC grind, but his quickness will allow Coach K to return to a more up tempo game when he arrives in the fall of 2011.
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Remember Taylor King, the three point specialist who was in the same freshman class as Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith who transferred to Villanova? Well, he ‘voluntarily’ left the Villanova team. He’s still at the school, but no longer on the team.
Tuesday Tidbits
Its been a relatively quiet time for the Duke Basketball team. Since winning their fourth National Championship there’s been very little to talk about. Kyle Singler quickly decided to come back, their incoming class was already in place and Coach K just made it clear that he’s not going anywhere. Especially since he made over $4 million dollars for the 2008-09 season.
The seniors they did lose don’t look they will factor in the NBA Draft, but they should end up somewhere. Here’s a talk with one of those seniors, Jon Scheyer.
With the incoming class set, its time to start looking forward to the freshman on the 2011-12 team. Here’s a look at Malcolm Gilbert, a 6-11 defensive force inside.
For the first time in a long time I am actually interested in the Duke Football team, normally I tell people that Duke doesn’t have a football team.
This year is different. David Cutcliffe has turned this program around, the only question is just how far he can go. He is the right coach for this team and his commitment to the school has been proven. When the Tennessee job opened this off season, I thought he was gone, but he stayed in Durham.
Cutcliffe was an assistant coach at U of T for 19 years, but he chose to stay at Duke. Not sure if that says more about the condition of the Tennessee program, or the make of the coach. To find out more about the Duke Football coach, get a preview of a Fox Sports South program about him.
Last years team won 5 games and was poised to go to a bowl, but dropped their last four games. Making a bowl is the next step for the program. They did lose their senior quarterback, but Cutcliffe added one of the best classes at Duke in a long time and the skies is the limit for this program. It would have to be, since they were so bad for so long.
Coach K Interview
The Krzyzewski-to-the-pros talk looks like its been put to rest. This ABC interview has Coach K saying the things that all Duke fans want to hear.
“I’m coaching here [Duke] forever, for as long as I coach.” When asked about the NBA he said, “I’m not going to go to the NBA… not ever.”
When coaches say things like this, everyone takes it with a grain of salt. If you heard John Calipari or Rick Pitino say something like this you’d laugh and then bet your friends how quickly he was leaving his college job.
There are some coaches that you cannot picture leaving their college jobs, Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams, and before this week I would have included Tom Izzo on this list. Although I don’t see Izzo leaving Michigan State without LeBron James in place in Cleveland.
Why would he bother going to Cleveland if the games best player won’t be there? If its about the money, then take the New Jersey Nets job. More about Izzo here.
As for Coach K, If the Lakers job ($40 million/5 years and part ownership) didn’t lure him out of Durham, I can’t see another job that would. If he wants to coach some pros, he should continue to coach the Olympic team. Its a good fit for him and it allows him to do what he truly loves, coach college kids.
