It's just one game, but AD wasn't this good early on. Not even close. Barrett became the new standard last night. Part of it was because Coach K gave him so much freedom. AD was forced to play a role on a team instead of being allowed to demonstrate all of his skillset. But by March, it was clear where he stood. Barrett's comfort in game 1 against Kentucky was almost disturbing. The question is how much will he improve during the season. Crazy thing is, it's possible Zion Williamson becomes their best player. I normally despise Duke but I'm pumped to watch every one of their games. Makes me feel dirty.
Did you forget about Doncic. Kid is already surpassing LeBron's rookie numbers and is arguably a better team defender than rookie LeBron.
Everyone is sleeping on Cam Reddish, apparently. It's like Duke is the GSW of college basketball. You have Zion and Barrett who are the big names (Steph, KD) but Reddish is like the Klay/Draymond; really, really good player. From stuff that I've read online, that trio is projected to be going in the top 5 of the draft. Pretty darn crazy. If Duke doesn't win it all this year, that's a major disappointment.
Irving and Tatum say hi. That’s such an old and dumb argument. Give me any blue blood programs who produce tons of NBA players, I’ll guve you tons of flops. It’s called the law of large numbers.
If Duke doesn't win it all this year, that would mean Coach K is really overrated. Plenty of coaches have won the NCAA with far less talent.
lol what a silly post. as opposed to what other school that just breeds stars left and right every year Duke is right behind Kentucky with the most players in the NBA today. but apparently they're failure
I don't know. I guess i'm the only one who doesn't see anything "special" in RJ Barrett. Sure, he looks like a future All-Star for todays NBA, 20ppg 5rpg 5apg type. Poised, good pace. Someone who can thrive on a Celtics like team, but i just don't see anything can't miss about him. Then again, i also don't see anything special about a lot of stars of today. They're all the same player almost. I'd take Zion personally. Unique. Exciting uber star level that can turn a franchise around on his own-type of prospect IMO. Absolutely can't miss. Either way, i hope neither especially Zion get stuck in Cleveland and just because i hate them-Dallas. RJ with Booker and Ayton could be special one day. Zion in NY would be awesome. Ultimately hope both go EAST.
Zion's got one of the ugliest shooting forms... He also doesn't seem like a playmaker too... And I don't know about his defense at the next level. It will be hard for him with all that weight to keep up laterally with NBA caliber wings, and he won't have an overwhelming strength advantage against a lot of NBA caliber PFs like he has in college.
You're smoking. His jumpshot just has to be functional, not pretty. Zion is a freak athlete who has basketball skills. He's going to be one of the strongest players in the NBA the second he puts on a uniform. Wings will have hell trying to guard him. He needs to lose about 20lbs which is a concern but NBA training and a better diet could take care of that. He's a unique prospect.
I don't know about basketball skills. He still hasn't shown me anything that he could do at an elite level in the NBA. Sure, he has a freakish jumping ability, but there's so much more to basketball than that. I know it's easy to get sucked into his hype because of his dunks, and I don't blame you for that, but think to yourself - if you take his spectacular dunking highlights from him - is he really that amazing of a prospect? I don't think so. We've seen so many freak athletes getting drafted just because IN THEORY their ceilings are very high... But it's so ****ing rare that these raw athletes learn all these skills required to become a SUPERSTAR. That almost never happens.