Duke struggling to fill Cameron?

[glenn__davis]

Maryland has been the game most of the time recently, since they've been generally good and the Maryland/Duke game has been one of the best in the conference. I'm pretty sure that Wake Forest was the second game the year that Chris Paul was there. I don't think that Maryland was the game last year either, since I went to that game (the last home game of the year for Duke) and there were only a couple tents still up when I got there 3 or 4 hours before gametime.

OK, but the other game isn't "random". Maybe Undisputed4 just used a poor choice of words -- maybe "fluctuating" would be more accurate. It's not like they just put the other home games in a hat and pull one out.

[YardBirds13]

BTW, SG, I was looking at Duke's OOC schedule this season, and it seems pretty weak compared to normal Duke standards. Are they in a tournament I'm not seeing on there, because from what I can see UVa has a little tougher OOC schedule than Duke does.

You guys play Wisconsin, Michigan, at Pitt, at Temple, St. John's and Davidson. Is there a tournament I'm missing?

UVa has at Arizona, Drexel, Northwestern, Syracuse, and at Xavier. Throw in the small tourney at the Palestra where they play Penn at the Palestra and probably Seton Hall.

Both play one really tough road game (Pitt, Arizona) both play a tough mid-major (Drexel, Davidson) both play a potential slip game on the road at an !-10 team (Temple, Xavier).

We have Syracuse, Northwestern and the Penn tournament, Duke has Wisconsin, Michigan and St. John's.

Is Duke in a tournament, cuz if not, that's a pretty weak OOC schedule in terms of what Duke normally faces.

[Sports Guy]

BTW, SG, I was looking at Duke's OOC schedule this season, and it seems pretty weak compared to normal Duke standards. Are they in a tournament I'm not seeing on there, because from what I can see UVa has a little tougher OOC schedule than Duke does.

You guys play Wisconsin, Michigan, at Pitt, at Temple, St. John's and Davidson. Is there a tournament I'm missing?

UVa has at Arizona, Drexel, Northwestern, Syracuse, and at Xavier. Throw in the small tourney at the Palestra where they play Penn at the Palestra and probably Seton Hall.

Both play one really tough road game (Pitt, Arizona) both play a tough mid-major (Drexel, Davidson) both play a potential slip game on the road at an !-10 team (Temple, Xavier).

We have Syracuse, Northwestern and the Penn tournament, Duke has Wisconsin, Michigan and St. John's.

Is Duke in a tournament, cuz if not, that's a pretty weak OOC schedule in terms of what Duke normally faces.

THey are in Maui next week.

[YardBirds13]

THey are in Maui next week.

There you go. I figured they had to be in one of them. Princeton is their opener down there, who else is with them?

[Sports Guy]

There you go. I figured they had to be in one of them. Princeton is their opener down there, who else is with them?

http://www.mauiinvitational.com/teams/schedule.asp

[Flosman]

SG has much as it pains me to admit it Duke is a better team this year. They look pretty good. They might have trouble with big real athletic teams but otherwise they are real solid.

On a note about ESPN's talking heads: Did anyone catch the BS they were saying about Paulus being the best Shooting point guard ever at Duke. I admit he looks much better this year, but come on.

[Ruzious]

SG has much as it pains me to admit it Duke is a better team this year. They look pretty good. They might have trouble with big real athletic teams but otherwise they are real solid.

A much better team - even without McRoberts. They know how to play, they can definitely shoot, and they seem to be all over the place - almost like they're playing 6 on 5.

[Sports Guy]

SG has much as it pains me to admit it Duke is a better team this year. They look pretty good. They might have trouble with big real athletic teams but otherwise they are real solid.

On a note about ESPN's talking heads: Did anyone catch the BS they were saying about Paulus being the best Shooting point guard ever at Duke. I admit he looks much better this year, but come on.

Some don't think Paulus is the awful player you make him out to be.

Yea, I am really liking this Duke...I have little doubt that they will be the second best team in the conference this year.

[Sports Guy]

A much better team - even without McRoberts. They know how to play, they can definitely shoot, and they seem to be all over the place - almost like they're playing 6 on 5.

As much as McRoberts' size would help them right now, they are better without him because of chemistry...Apparently he really hurt that.

[Flosman]

Some don't think Paulus is the awful player you make him out to be.

Yea, I am really liking this Duke...I have little doubt that they will be the second best team in the conference this year.

I don't think he is an awful player, I just do not think he can be counted on to be more than a role type player. With the right players around him he can be real good. Give him a great shooter and a dominate big to go to and he is OK. I also think you better have a shut down defender to handle great guards because I don't think he can. With all that being said he is not a horrible player.

[Sports Guy]

I don't think he is an awful player, I just do not think he can be counted on to be more than a role type player. With the right players around him he can be real good. Give him a great shooter and a dominate big to go to and he is OK. I also think you better have a shut down defender to handle great guards because I don't think he can. With all that being said he is not a horrible player.

You just described at least 80% of the players out there.

He is a solid college PG.

[Flosman]

You just described at least 80% of the players out there.

He is a solid college PG.

I think that was the problem with Duke last season. Because McRoberts was a dissapointment inside Paulus by default had to become the go to guy to often. It appears that the cast he has this season will not force this to be the case very often, much like when he was a Frosh.

[RayFink1e]

I didnt mean completly random. Of course they are gonna do it for a what they see as a potential rival game that year. Like when Chris Paul was at Wake forest they camped out for it. Or when Georgia Tech and Maryland were good

Paulus was the number one PG coming out of high school, thats why everyone expects so much out of him. Plus he didnt perform high enough his freshman year when they needed him too.

[YardBirds13]

I understand the Paulus hate. Plays for Duke, highly recruited out of high school, does all those annoying "Duke" things on defense, sprints to K's huddles and just looks really, I dunno, annoying, I guess.

All that said, he is a solid PG. I actually think Duke may be better off having Smith running the point later in the season and letting Paulus play on a wing. His jump shot really isn't that bad when he can set up and shoot it.

I really think Duke is going to be a small-ball, run and gun type team this year. With Smith, Paulus, Scheyer, Henderson, Pocious, Nelson, King, Singler and Thomas forming a rotation that can run with anyone, and jack up a ton of 3's.

I don't usually say this about Duke teams, but I think they will be fun to watch this year with a rally up-tempo style of play.

January 13th in Cameron they get to deal with a certain PG who loves the up-tempo game. I don't think Paulus wants any part of him.

[SteelerG]

The guy to watch out for this year is Gerald Henderson. He reminds me of a combination of Grant Hill and Phil Henderson. Smooth with the ability to shoot. Interesting combination, I know - but I see facets in his game of each player. This year he will be known for much more then simply busting Hansbrough's face as he will be a force putting up double figures.

The key to Duke this year will be their ability to score in a half-court set. Their objective is to run, press, and basically outhustle their opponents with their tremendous speed and depth. They also a host of players who can shoot the three - making their patented kickout even more dangerous. How they handle teams who pack it in will be interesting.

Their weakness - without a doubt - is not having a real presence over 6'8. Zoubek is a liability in a man defense because he has poor footwork. He also has very little offensive presence. As SG earlier noted - their matchup with Wisconsin will be very intersting as it is truly a clash of tempo. I will be interested to see how they handle this - being such a young team.

You can also count on the new Dookie to be most heraldly boo'd will be Taylor King. He is one of the most arrogant players to come to Duke in a while - but he has the game and shot to back it up. I like the punch they bring in off the bench.

This will be a fun team to watch...