BleedGopher
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per The Ringer:
Duke’s magic ran out in its 68-67 loss to Michigan State on Sunday. After surviving nail-biters against UCF and Virginia Tech in the previous two rounds, the Blue Devils were the ones on the wrong side of the biggest plays in the final minute. It was the second consecutive year that a Duke team with multiple freshmen destined to be NBA lottery picks lost in agonizing fashion in the Elite Eight. Coach K hasn’t made a Final Four since winning it all in 2015, despite having 11 first-round picks in the NBA draft, if you count this year’s group, in that span. There is an element of luck in advancing through the NCAA tournament, but the way that Duke lost highlighted the downsides of relying so heavily on one-and-done players.
This group of Blue Devils had been living on borrowed time. It didn’t matter how dominant freshman superstar Zion Williamson was in the postseason. His numbers in four games (26.0 points on 61.6 percent shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.8 blocks) were right in line with his historic regular-season production, but Duke never figured out how to build a balanced team around him. Michigan State, like every other team the Blue Devils faced over the past two weeks, packed the paint with defenders and swarmed Zion almost every time that he touched the ball in the half court. One player can do only so much. A team still needs counters when the defense double- and triple-teams its best player.
Duke couldn’t afford for even one of its star freshmen to underperform. There was no margin for error in their roster. The Blue Devils didn’t return a single player from last year’s team who averaged more than four points per game, and the limitations of their supporting cast prevented Coach K from having much flexibility over the course of the game Sunday. He never developed much trust in any of his three perimeter reserves (sophomores Jordan Goldwire and Alex O’Connell and junior Jack White) so he never went small against Michigan State. He alternated between juniors Javin DeLaurier and Marques Bolden at center for all 40 minutes, and neither had the shooting ability to open up the Spartans defense.
It was the same story for the Blue Devils last season, when their starting lineup was made up of one senior (Grayson Allen) and four freshmen (Marvin Bagley III, Wendell Carter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., and Trevon Duval). While all four were consensus top-15 recruits, only Bagley and Carter lived up to expectations. The backcourt of Trent and Duval could not handle their share of the burden. They couldn’t space the floor or take care of the ball for their star big men, and they combined to shoot 4-of-16 from 3 with four turnovers in their 85-81 loss to Kansas in the Elite Eight. Not every five-star recruit is destined for big things. Trent was taken with the no. 37 overall pick in last year’s draft and has barely played as a rookie. Duval went undrafted.
It’s almost impossible to develop a supporting cast when so much of the team turns over on an annual basis. Duval and Trent would probably have been better off returning to school rather than declaring for the NBA draft before they were ready to contribute at the next level. Their problem is that they were forced out by this year’s recruiting class. Trent would have come off the bench behind Barrett and Reddish, while Duval would have had to fight for playing time with Jones. Whatever NBA buzz they still had would have disappeared if their production had slipped from their freshman to sophomore seasons. They would have had to stay in college until at least their junior year, when they would have been yesterday’s news at a school that regularly reels in the top recruiting class in the country.
Not every recruit that Duke signs expects to go pro after one season. The issue for the ones who do stick around is that the identity of the team changes so dramatically each season that there is no continuity within their roles. Coach K has to start from scratch each summer. Last season’s team was built around two more traditional big men (Bagley and Carter) who struggled to defend in space, so he played a zone and slowed the tempo (no. 105 in the country in pace) to pound the ball inside. This season’s team was built around three 6-foot-7 players with inconsistent jumpers, so he played pressure defense and tried to speed up the pace (no. 27 in the country) to get out in transition. It’s no wonder his bench couldn’t keep up. Players without as much natural talent need to learn to play within a system on both ends of the floor.
https://www.theringer.com/march-madness/2019/4/1/18290521/duke-coach-k-one-and-done-failure
Go Gophers!!
Duke’s magic ran out in its 68-67 loss to Michigan State on Sunday. After surviving nail-biters against UCF and Virginia Tech in the previous two rounds, the Blue Devils were the ones on the wrong side of the biggest plays in the final minute. It was the second consecutive year that a Duke team with multiple freshmen destined to be NBA lottery picks lost in agonizing fashion in the Elite Eight. Coach K hasn’t made a Final Four since winning it all in 2015, despite having 11 first-round picks in the NBA draft, if you count this year’s group, in that span. There is an element of luck in advancing through the NCAA tournament, but the way that Duke lost highlighted the downsides of relying so heavily on one-and-done players.
This group of Blue Devils had been living on borrowed time. It didn’t matter how dominant freshman superstar Zion Williamson was in the postseason. His numbers in four games (26.0 points on 61.6 percent shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.8 blocks) were right in line with his historic regular-season production, but Duke never figured out how to build a balanced team around him. Michigan State, like every other team the Blue Devils faced over the past two weeks, packed the paint with defenders and swarmed Zion almost every time that he touched the ball in the half court. One player can do only so much. A team still needs counters when the defense double- and triple-teams its best player.
Duke couldn’t afford for even one of its star freshmen to underperform. There was no margin for error in their roster. The Blue Devils didn’t return a single player from last year’s team who averaged more than four points per game, and the limitations of their supporting cast prevented Coach K from having much flexibility over the course of the game Sunday. He never developed much trust in any of his three perimeter reserves (sophomores Jordan Goldwire and Alex O’Connell and junior Jack White) so he never went small against Michigan State. He alternated between juniors Javin DeLaurier and Marques Bolden at center for all 40 minutes, and neither had the shooting ability to open up the Spartans defense.
It was the same story for the Blue Devils last season, when their starting lineup was made up of one senior (Grayson Allen) and four freshmen (Marvin Bagley III, Wendell Carter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., and Trevon Duval). While all four were consensus top-15 recruits, only Bagley and Carter lived up to expectations. The backcourt of Trent and Duval could not handle their share of the burden. They couldn’t space the floor or take care of the ball for their star big men, and they combined to shoot 4-of-16 from 3 with four turnovers in their 85-81 loss to Kansas in the Elite Eight. Not every five-star recruit is destined for big things. Trent was taken with the no. 37 overall pick in last year’s draft and has barely played as a rookie. Duval went undrafted.
It’s almost impossible to develop a supporting cast when so much of the team turns over on an annual basis. Duval and Trent would probably have been better off returning to school rather than declaring for the NBA draft before they were ready to contribute at the next level. Their problem is that they were forced out by this year’s recruiting class. Trent would have come off the bench behind Barrett and Reddish, while Duval would have had to fight for playing time with Jones. Whatever NBA buzz they still had would have disappeared if their production had slipped from their freshman to sophomore seasons. They would have had to stay in college until at least their junior year, when they would have been yesterday’s news at a school that regularly reels in the top recruiting class in the country.
Not every recruit that Duke signs expects to go pro after one season. The issue for the ones who do stick around is that the identity of the team changes so dramatically each season that there is no continuity within their roles. Coach K has to start from scratch each summer. Last season’s team was built around two more traditional big men (Bagley and Carter) who struggled to defend in space, so he played a zone and slowed the tempo (no. 105 in the country in pace) to pound the ball inside. This season’s team was built around three 6-foot-7 players with inconsistent jumpers, so he played pressure defense and tried to speed up the pace (no. 27 in the country) to get out in transition. It’s no wonder his bench couldn’t keep up. Players without as much natural talent need to learn to play within a system on both ends of the floor.
https://www.theringer.com/march-madness/2019/4/1/18290521/duke-coach-k-one-and-done-failure
Go Gophers!!
