Duke hoops ’06-’07

[Jimmy Chitwood]

the Dookies have gotten much whiter over the past couple of seasons, and look to continue the trend under Coach K with two of their three recruiting commitments for next season being good ol' white guys.

6'8" small forward from Oregon, Kyle Singler

6'7" small forward from California, Taylor King

furthermore, Coach K has two white freshmen looking to make an impact this year, Parade and Jordan All-Americans Jon Scheyer (a 6'5" shooting guard from Illinois) and Brian Zoubek (a 7'1" center from New Jersey).

Jon Scheyer

Brian Zoubek

three all-conference caliber sophomores return, including the high-flying Josh McRoberts, ACC assists-leader Greg Paulus, and the explosively athletic Martynas Pocius.

McRoberts with a McDunk

Duke's likely starting backcourt, Pocius and Paulus

it is very likely there will be long stretches this season where the Blue Devils will have five white players on the court at once.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i should add that Greg Paulus was just the 4th freshman in ACC history to lead the conference in assists (narrowly beating out another white, freshman point guard last season, North Carolina's Bobby Frasor).

also, Paulus and McRoberts are the first two sophomore captains in Duke history.

 

[OC football]

It looks like Paulus has already recovered from his injury. At least for the most part. He should be able to get in there within the next few weeks. He might even start on Sunday.

Things are looking good for us at Duke as both Brian Zoubek and Jon Scheyer have been impressive. Especially for freshman.

The sophmore Pocius of Lithuania has done well in the pre-season.


With this we have Josh McRoberts, Brian Zoubek, Jon Sheyer, Greg Paulus, and Pocius all with a legitimate chance at starting. The only problem here is that Jon Sheyer and Greg Paulus play the same position. Coach K may not be able to start both of them if they can not be effective and versitile.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i was under the impression that Scheyer was primarily a shooting guard with some point guard skills... that would seem to fit in flawlessly with the following line-up: Paulus at the point, Scheyer at the 2, Pocius on the wing, then round it out with McRoberts and Zoubek.

hmmm... it would probably won't happen, but i'm getting excited just thinking about it!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Man, this is exciting. I might have to watch some of their games this year!

 

[ocaamikedm11]

They were on ESPNU last night, started 4 whites.. Scheyer, Zoubek (led scoring with 17), McRobers(7 boards), and Paulus (7 assists).. Paulus looked a step slow due to the injury so hopefully he regains his full speed soon.. they looked young and raw but man they have potential.. Scheyer looks REAL smooth, and the announces (in my opinion) wrongfully kept saying how he was like Redick as a freshmen, even in size.. Scheyer is a skinny kid who can handle the ball and shoot very good, Redick was not in the best shape and basically was just a lethal sharpshooter his freshmen year... I know this team is younger and they rely on Scheyer more, but don't buy into the comparisons... Scheyer looks like he's gonna be a good one though, and Zoubek is still kind of raw but has all the tools.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

how did Pocius play? he's their quickest guy, and is expected to develop into a top-notch slasher/defender.

 

[ocaamikedm11]

He had 9 pts on 3-6 shooting the first game and played 19 minutes, but scored 0 pts in only 7 minutes in their 2nd game last night.. McRoberts looked good last night with 16 pts and 6 boards..Scheyer put up 11... Zoubek who started game 1 and led the team in scoring with 17 didn't start in this one and only played 8 minutes

 

[sunshine]

If McRoberts was black the announcers and the media would be swooning and slobbering all over themselves regarding his athletic ability. Instead he gets the ritual muted excitement treatment by virtue of being white.

 

[ocaamikedm11]

The media can't poison McRoberts because he's already touted as an NBA prospect and Duke gets so much exposure that casual fans will have plenty of chances to fall in love with his abilities. He's simply too good and has so much of an upside that he has to be given a fair shot.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i saw their last game, and they looked very sloppy which is typical this early in the year. i was surprised that Pocius didn't get more minutes, though. the announcers mentioned that Zoubek had a minor ankle sprain, and they didn't need him against such weak competition.

McRoberts was literally leaping over people. the guy's ceiling is unbelievably high!

(please excuse the pun)

 

[bigunreal]

Wow- this brings back memories of those great white Duke teams of the '60s, led by Geoff Mullins. It will be really exciting watching the Blue Devils this season.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

coach K plays a lot of guys, although they usually start 4 whites: Paulus, Scheyer, McRoberts, and Zoubek. (demarcus nelson being the lone black. he's a good ball player.)

at times there may be 5 whites on the floor, but for some reason Pocius seems to have fallen out of the primary rotation... so there are usually 3-4 whites and 1-2 blacks with occasionaly being 3 blacks and 2 whites.

 

[GreatLakeState]

Totally out-classed by Marquette's guards.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Duke will get better and soon they won't be losing those games.

 

[GreatLakeState]

McRoberts won't shoot 25% from the floor every game. Maybe. Unless the Coach K poison has already eroded his game. Shav is playing at lot for the Sixers, because he escaped. It's no place for 6-10 white guys. Josh's best bet is to get hurt and stil get drafted high, before Coach K destroys him like he did Chris Burgess.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

GLS, you are right that Duke got out-played by Marquette's backcourt. i don't think they were out-classed, though. i think they were out-toughed.

Marquette was smaller, but they were much more physical. they attacked on both ends of the floor. the Dookies are going to have to learn to play harder very quickly. and youth is no excuse, because the best player on the floor was a Marquette sophomore guard. little dominic james (he's listed as 5'11", but is probably closer to 5'8") was the biggest reason Duke got beat.

and McRoberts has to finish in close. he was trying to put it up soft inside, but in traffic you have to up with authority. hopefully, he'll learn from this game and start trying to dunk on people.

 

[OC football]

Next years probable starting lineup

Center.............. Brian Zoubek
Power Forward....... Josh McRoberts
Small Forward....... Kyle Singler
Shooting Guard...... Jon Scheyer
Point Guard......... Greg Paulus

An all white starting lineup.

Probable Second String includes....

Small Forward......... Tyler King
Small Forward......... Lance Thomas
Shooting Guard........ Demarcus Nelson
Shooting Guard........ Gerald Henderson
Shooting Guard........ Martynas Pocius

Third String........

Small Forward......... David McClure
Small Forward......... Jamal Boykin
Power Forward......... Eric Boateng

The second string has two white guys: King and Pocius. I see Jon Scheyer beeting out Demarcus Nelson next year to become the starting Shooting Guard. Jon Scheyer is 3" taller while just as athletic as Nelson. At Center 7'0" Brian Zoubek will start. Incomming small forward Kyle Singer should take the small forward position over Lance Thomas. Singer is one of the top prospects in the nation. Martynas Pocius will probable remain relegated to second string and may not see a good amount of playing time. Tyler King is a great player but he will have to beat out Lance Thomas if he wants significant playing time off the bench.
Edited by: OC football

 

[GreatLakeState]

What's with McRobers and the jump"shooting"? He needs to get his back
to the basket ... another 6-10 high school All-American ruined by Coach
K? Already?

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

good question. he needs to become much more aggressive. his perimeter skills are very impressive, but right now Duke needs somebody to destroy people down low. until McRoberts gets nasty and Paulus quits playing like an old lady, Duke is going to struggle.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Duke's Boykin to leave

By Luciana Chavez, Staff Writer
DURHAM - Duke sophomore Jamal Boykin, who has missed the Blue Devils' last six games with mononucleosis, has decided to transfer out of Duke.
The forward out of Fairfax High in Los Angeles, Calif., informed Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski on Thursday evening, the school announced today. Boykin averaged 1.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in the three games he played before coming down with the illness.

"Jamal is a great young man and we wish him the best in his future," Krzyzewski said. "We're friends and we totally support him through his illness, his impending transfer and whatever family concerns he has."

Boykin, who had already returned to California last week, played 26 games as a freshman last season. Boykin quickly became a crowd favorite because of his energy, enthusiasm and tenacity on defense.

Duke loses a big body inside. Boykin, who is 6-7 and 230 pounds, was the one player who could put a body on an inside player without getting shoved around.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

any reasoning mentioned? i'm guessing it was because of lack of PT...

 

[ocaamikedm11]

Many people were dissing Duke and their #9 rating, but after a nice showing over all black cinderella George Mason I think they deserve some respect. Only one loss so far this season and a #6 ranking in a "rebuilding" year... What a great program Coach K is running with all these good white players too...

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i've been talking quite a bit about Josh McROberts needing to be more assertive and learn to take over the game, well maybe he figured that out against Kent State. in the second half, he ruled the court!

he ended the game with a career-high 19 points, but more impressively was his all-around dominance: a career-high 6 blocks, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 6 rebounds (McRoberts is the first player in Duke history to have a game with at least 4 points, boards, steals, assists, and blocks.)

Scheyer has an impressive first half, and finished with 17 on 5-9 shots and 3-3 free throws.

Paulus played better, but he looks very tentative. he ended with 12 and 5 assists.

i've watched a lot of Duke hoops so far in this young b-ball season, and they need to get much tougher. that's their biggest problem, and it's pretty big. reserve wing Marty Pocius looks to be their best on-ball defender, but he gets virtually no playing time.

i'm stll trying to figure out Coach K's rotation scheme, but it doesn't make much sense to me as of yet... 7-0 freshman Brian Zoubek gets nothing but praise from the coaching staff, and a front-row seat during the games. Pocius is the quickest Dukie, and has tremendous hops, and the aforementioned D, but he usually joins Zoubek as an assistant coach. we'll see how the season plays out.

up next, Duke plays the Zags on Thursday night!

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Duke won a really ugly gameagainst the Zags. didn't get to see the first half because ESPN wouldn't cut away from the Pitt-Oklahoma State game, but the score at the half was 21-20 Zags. so surprisingly it looked like a grind-it-out defensive game...

the second half, however was very ragged. the officiating was very erratic and neither team was able to find a rhythm because of it. both teams had star players constantly in foul trouble because of questionable touch fouls, and so forth.

all in all, a very disappointing evening.

the one bright spot was the play of Paulus. he played an outstanding game, and demonstrated the toughness that i've been waiting for. he even got his chin laid open when he dove out of bounds to save a ball, and came right back in as soon as it was bandaged. maybe this game was a turning point for him this year.