2011-2012 Rankings

[Jesus_hurley]

Start off with the preseason coaches poll

1.
2. Kentucky
3. Ohio State
4. Connecticut
5. Syracuse
6. Duke
7. Vanderbilt
8. Louisville
9. Memphis
10. Florida

[CameronBornAndBred]

Only 2 ACC teams with rankings. Only 2 more ACC teams with votes. (FSU and UVA). That sucks. Time for the rest of the league to make some noise.

[devildeac]

Only 2 ACC teams with rankings. Only 2 more ACC teams with votes. (FSU and UVA). That sucks. Time for the rest of the league to make some noise.

The rest of the league has been making noise for years, usually emanating from Blacksburg, College Park and Atlanta. It's called whining.

[Bob Green]

I'm a little bit worried as the season rapidly approaches. With all the talent and experience we've lost over the past two years, we are counting on a lot of unknowns in order to live up to a #6 preseason ranking. What are those unknowns I worried about?

1. Who are our big time scorers? Not a single player on the current roster has previously averaged double-digits scoring. Curry did it at Liberty but that doesn't count in my book.
2. Do we have an ACC quality point guard? With the exception of last year with Kyrie Irving, this has been a year in year out discussion point since Chris Duhon graduated in 2004.
3. Can the Plumlee brothers be a consistent force inside? I've stated it before and I'll state it again, we need Miles and Mason to solve the little issues, which are preventing them from being consistent players: dumb fouls, poor free throw shooting and being weak with the ball in the low post.
4. How good are our freshmen? Austin Rivers may be a superstar or he might be a bust. There are no guarantees. Quinn Cook could solve our point guard concerns, but is he really healthy? Alex Murphy is another guy I expect to challenge to play a lot of minutes on the wing, once he adapts to the speed of the game. The question is how long will that take.

If Duke is to stay in the Top 10 all season and challenge for the ACC Title, Curry and Dawkins are going to have be consistent scorers, someone has to establish themselves as the point guard, the Plumlees are going to have to be consistent inside, and the freshmen (not just Rivers) are going to have to grow up in a hurry!

Bob

[devildeac]

I'm a little bit worried as the season rapidly approaches. With all the talent and experience we've lost over the past two years, we are counting on a lot of unknowns in order to live up to a #6 preseason ranking. What are those unknowns I worried about?

1. Who are our big time scorers? Not a single player on the current roster has previously averaged double-digits scoring. Curry did it at Liberty but that doesn't count in my book.
2. Do we have an ACC quality point guard? With the exception of last year with Kyrie Irving, this has been a year in year out discussion point since Chris Duhon graduated in 2004.
3. Can the Plumlee brothers be a consistent force inside? I've stated it before and I'll state it again, we need Miles and Mason to solve the little issues, which are preventing them from being consistent players: dumb fouls, poor free throw shooting and being weak with the ball in the low post.
4. How good are our freshmen? Austin Rivers may be a superstar or he might be a bust. There are no guarantees. Quinn Cook could solve our point guard concerns, but is he really healthy? Alex Murphy is another guy I expect to challenge to play a lot of minutes on the wing, once he adapts to the speed of the game. The question is how long will that take.

If Duke is to stay in the Top 10 all season and challenge for the ACC Title, Curry and Dawkins are going to have be consistent scorers, someone has to establish themselves as the point guard, the Plumlees are going to have to be consistent inside, and the freshmen (not just Rivers) are going to have to grow up in a hurry!

Bob

1. I think Kelly, Curry and Rivers will lead the team in scoring averaging 12-15 points each.
2. K seems to think Seth will be one of the top 10 PG in the nation. I think he'll have a reasonable back-up in TT and I liked what I saw at CTC with Cook, specifically with his speed (not in Kyrie's league) and a nice long range jumper.
3, Los Plums had a good night at CTC with FT but picked up fouls at a, well, Plumlee-like rate. If we have 2 bigs in foul trouble, I think we'll go small with Hairston or Murphy at the 4 and the remaining big at the 5 spot.
4. I think AR will be very good. Not Irving type ready but I think he will be outstanding after 2-3 months of tutelage by K. I talked to Hairston and Murphy at a Brunchgate and they both said Cook is 100%. Rumors abounding that Murphy challenges for the starting 3 spot.

[Bob Green]

1. I think Kelly, Curry and Rivers will lead the team in scoring averaging 12-15 points each.
2. K seems to think Seth will be one of the top 10 PG in the nation. I think he'll have a reasonable back-up in TT and I liked what I saw at CTC with Cook, specifically with his speed (not in Kyrie's league) and a nice long range jumper.
3, Los Plums had a good night at CTC with FT but picked up fouls at a, well, Plumlee-like rate. If we have 2 bigs in foul trouble, I think we'll go small with Hairston or Murphy at the 4 and the remaining big at the 5 spot.
4. I think AR will be very good. Not Irving type ready but I think he will be outstanding after 2-3 months of tutelage by K. I talked to Hairston and Murphy at a Brunchgate and they both said Cook is 100%. Rumors abounding that Murphy challenges for the starting 3 spot.

Plumlee-like??? The proper descriptor is "Plumleesque" my English professors never described my literary efforts as Hemingway-like. Of course, in the spirit of true disclosure, they never descried them as Hemingway-esque either.

And as far as your list of leading scorers go, how about Dawkins? If Curry buys into the point guard role and succeeds, doesn't that mean he will look to involve others into the offense. Our success on the season might depend upon Dawkins scoring more than Curry. I'm convinced Murphy will play major minutes.

[devildeac]

1. I think Kelly, Curry and Rivers will lead the team in scoring averaging 12-15 points each.
2. K seems to think Seth will be one of the top 10 PG in the nation. I think he'll have a reasonable back-up in TT and I liked what I saw at CTC with Cook, specifically with his speed (not in Kyrie's league) and a nice long range jumper.
3, Los Plums had a good night at CTC with FT but picked up fouls at a, well, Plumlee-like rate. If we have 2 bigs in foul trouble, I think we'll go small with Hairston or Murphy at the 4 and the remaining big at the 5 spot.
4. I think AR will be very good. Not Irving type ready but I think he will be outstanding after 2-3 months of tutelage by K. I talked to Hairston and Murphy at a Brunchgate and they both said Cook is 100%. Rumors abounding that Murphy challenges for the starting 3 spot.

Plumlee-like??? The proper descriptor is "Plumleesque" my English professors never described my literary efforts as Hemingway-like. Of course, in the spirit of true disclosure, they never descried them as Hemingway-esque either.

And as far as your list of leading scorers go, how about Dawkins? If Curry buys into the point guard role and succeeds, doesn't that mean he will look to involve others into the offense. Our success on the season might depend upon Dawkins scoring more than Curry. I'm convinced Murphy will play major minutes.

I like 'Dre but I have seen him get lost too many times the last 2 years, understandably so with the 2010 NC team with Jon, Kyle and ndotsmitty as offensive weapons. Plus, the tragedy he had to endure in addition to him being a bit young having re-classified. I saw some of the same again last year, once again, due to Kyle and Nolan being such huge threats. Unfortunately, I still saw that in CTC. Yea, I know it's a scrimmage and I did not expect a Horvathian type (or should that be Horvath-esque ) performance but, even after 2 years+ in the system, he still looked a bit "lost." I'd love for him to be 10+ PPG and make us even more dangerous offensively but reading some of the reports, too, about Murphy and his potentially challenging for the 3 spot, makes me a bit concerned about 'Dre.

I'd be real happy if MP1 and MP2 also averaged about 10 PPG each this year, just as long as it is not predicated on long-range jumpers for either of them. My BP and pulse rise dramatically any time I witness either of them launch a 15+ foot jumper, though at this stage in their college careers, they should be able to nail that shot a reasonable %age of the time.

[lawgrad91]

Only 2 ACC teams with rankings. Only 2 more ACC teams with votes. (FSU and UVA). That sucks. Time for the rest of the league to make some noise.

The rest of the league has been making noise for years, usually emanating from Blacksburg, College Park and Atlanta. It's called whining.

Sometimes it's a giant sucking sound, as well.

[YmoBeThere]

I would think AR would be capable of 12-15 a game...

[Jesus_hurley]

#6 in the AP poll as well

[EarlJam]

For the reasons mostly articulated by Bob Green, I'd put Duke around #15 to start the season. We'll be fine, and will get better, but I see some real struggles early on. Along with stats, the intangibles lost from Singler and Smith will take some time to "recover" from. Going into January, I predict Duke to be at #15 or so, and that's cool.

-EJ

[Jesus_hurley]

Pre-season bracketology. I know it's waaay too early, but still fun

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

Duke is #2 in the West. I'd like those potential matchups.

[Jesus_hurley]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

6th in both polls still.