ACC preseason poll

[Pedro Cerrano]

Paulus averaged 5 ppg more last year than he did in his freshman year. His FG and 3 poing FG % were both way up.

His turnovers were actually down slightly from his freshman year but the assists were down....Agree he has to improve both areas.

BTw, in terms of TOs per minutes played, GP was right there with most of the PGs...Lawson was the best.

But yes, Paulus has to improve but i don't see him as some major question mark at all.

Yes, unfortunately, you guys don't have many question marks this year. Neither does UNC. Going 3-0 against both of those teams last year was a dream but I doubt it happens again. Still, I objectively think that MD will be better than most in the nation do.

[Sports Guy]

Duke

1 Paulus

2 Scheyer

3 Nelson

4 Singler

5 Thomas

Zoubek © Henderson (SF), McClure (SF), Pocius (SG), Smith (SG) , King (SF)

I hate everything about Duke, but I think it is a stretch to look at that roster and say it is not talented.

To me, they are clearly right with MD as the 2nd best team in the conference.

Paulus was horrible pretty much most of the year, but he did come on towards the end… before the VCU guard sliced and diced him.

Scheyer isn't Reddick, but he is a capable scorer.

Nelson is a decent athlete, and is willing to play defense.

Singler is apparently really a SF, but he was a Top5 player in his class.. Figures to have trouble rebounding, defending against true post players, but scoring should not be a problem.

Thomas isn't a true Center, but Duke will be looking to get the ball up and down the court in transition…. In that roll he will be ok.

They could really use some positive minutes out of Zoubek off the bench……. They have plenty of wings/guards off the bench to rotate in, but we all know that K only goes 7-8 deep.

Against MD, they really will have trouble matching up.

Don't see how they deal with Gist, Dupree, Osby, Burney, and Walker.

Milbourne and Tucker should at least equal Nelson and Henderson at the 3.

Paulus and Hayes is interesting at the 1…..

Scheyer and Vasquez at the 2 are conflicting styles… Scheyer is a better shooter, but gives up several inches to Vasquez, who is much better at creating. Scheyer was hesistant in clutch situations last year, where Vasquez clearly relished a leadership roll.

Duke will struggle with MD's size, as they usually do. But they only play them twice.

MD's big guys will probably struggle on matchups and running up and down the court with the Duke players.

[Flosman]

SG on a serious question did Duke bring in a real PG this year? I am not trying to be an a$$ but Paulus is medocre at best IMO. They will be a good team but I highly doubt they are any better than last years bunch. I know you will strongly disagree with me about Paulus you did last year too, but Duke will not seriously compete for a NC or even an ACC championship with him at the point unless they has a dominant inside guy and Hurley gets another year of eligibility.

[Sports Guy]

SG on a serious question did Duke bring in a real PG this year? I am not trying to be an a$$ but Paulus is medocre at best IMO. They will be a good team but I highly doubt they are any better than last years bunch. I know you will strongly disagree with me about Paulus you did last year too, but Duke will not seriously compete for a NC or even an ACC championship with him at the point unless they has a dominant inside guy and Hurley gets another year of eligibility.

To say Duke won't be better than last year is completely ignoring these facts:

1) Chemistry is better with McRoberts...He seemed to be a bigger problem than a solution in terms of the team aspect.

2) Much more talented....And to go with this, much more experienced.

3) One of the best freshman in the country.

4) Much deeper

5) Faster

6) More athletic

Not sure how anyone could look at this Duke and see them as a 8-8 ACC team...That is just absurd.

As far as a backup PG, i think Nolan Smith is more of a 2 guard but he can play the point....This poll had him as one of the top 3 freshman goinginto the season.

[Sports Guy]

For what it is worth, this preview has Paulus as a Top 10 College PG…

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=727515

I'm not sure he is that good, but I don't think he is as poor as some MD fans believe he is.

He did come on down the stretch scoring wise…

Will be interested to see him vs Hayes this year.

Plus he is a junior this year.

He was given the reigns of a top program in the best conference in the country in one of the most basketball crazed areas in the world.

[YardBirds13]

Says alot about the ACC.

Top 10 PG's in the country and 4 are from one conference.

BTW, beaner, can you believe Lawson is ahead of Singletary???? It's unreal!!!

[Jenius]

MD's big guys will probably struggle on matchups and running up and down the court with the Duke players.

The latter is not likely except maybe when Dupree is in there. Gist's athleticism and ability to run the court on the break are established, and many will be surprised to see that the freshman Shane Walker is as athletic as any player in the country 6'10" and up. Again, Dupree is our only frontcourt player (besides the little-used Dave Neal) who would be less than a plus running the court.

On the other hand, with so much burden on the underclassmen, they no doubt will make some silly mistakes (fouls, TOs etc)...but it's not like we didn't get a lot of those mistakes when Ibekwe was around.

[Sports Guy]

The latter is not likely except maybe when Dupree is in there. Gist's athleticism and ability to run the court on the break are established, and many will be surprised to see that the freshman Shane Walker is as athletic as any player in the country 6'10" and up. Again, Dupree is our only frontcourt player (besides the little-used Dave Neal) who would be less than a plus running the court.

On the other hand, with so much burden on the underclassmen, they no doubt will make some silly mistakes (fouls, TOs etc)...but it's not like we didn't get a lot of those mistakes when Ibekwe was around.

Yea, Gist won't have a problem.

[beaner]

Says alot about the ACC.

Top 10 PG's in the country and 4 are from one conference.

BTW, beaner, can you believe Lawson is ahead of Singletary???? It's unreal!!!

Crazy considering Singletary is the greatest player in the history of College Basketball. In fact, he might be the greatest athlete I've ever seen. Actually, If ESPN were to update their Sportscentury series, Singletary would be a no brainer for #1. Wait, i just heard that Singletary was awarded the Nobel Prize in breaking down a defense. Way to go Sean!!!!

Truthfully, Singletary should've been rated higer if only because of seniority..Great player, no question.

As for Paulus, he's a pretty good player, and i expect to see more improvement from him. I hope he's better to be honest, I'd like Duke to be able to keep the games against Carolina close, at least for a little while..Are you listening Rob? We're coming for you......7 out of 8 is it? It's good to be king.......again.

[YardBirds13]

Crazy considering Singletary is the greatest player in the history of College Basketball. In fact, he might be the greatest athlete I've ever seen. Actually, If ESPN were to update their Sportscentury series, Singletary would be a no brainer for #1. Wait, i just heard that Singletary was awarded the Nobel Prize in breaking down a defense. Way to go Sean!!!!

Truthfully, Singletary should've been rated higer if only because of seniority..Great player, no question.

As for Paulus, he's a pretty good player, and i expect to see more improvement from him. I hope he's better to be honest, I'd like Duke to be able to keep the games against Carolina close, at least for a little while..Are you listening Rob? We're coming for you......7 out of 8 is it? It's good to be king.......again.

Well played sir.

I'll bring that post back up when he torches your boy this season!

[square634]

It's OK, UPenn is gonna torch both Virginia and North Carolina this season! No team, not even from the ACC, comes into the Palestra and leaves with the W! What mascot is more intimidating than the Quakers?!?

[Sports Guy]

Crazy considering Singletary is the greatest player in the history of College Basketball. In fact, he might be the greatest athlete I've ever seen. Actually, If ESPN were to update their Sportscentury series, Singletary would be a no brainer for #1. Wait, i just heard that Singletary was awarded the Nobel Prize in breaking down a defense. Way to go Sean!!!!

Truthfully, Singletary should've been rated higer if only because of seniority..Great player, no question.

As for Paulus, he's a pretty good player, and i expect to see more improvement from him. I hope he's better to be honest, I'd like Duke to be able to keep the games against Carolina close, at least for a little while..Are you listening Rob? We're coming for you......7 out of 8 is it? It's good to be king.......again.

Do you mean this to be record in games played? Duke has won 7 of the last 11....UNC has won 3 of the last 4 though.

And do we need to get into what the record was from the late nineties as well? What was it at one stretch? 15 of 17?

[beaner]

Do you mean this to be record in games played? Duke has won 7 of the last 11....UNC has won 3 of the last 4 though.

Is that all? Damn, ok, save that message for the next two years then..My fault.

[beaner]

Well played sir.

I'll bring that post back up when he torches your boy this season!

Can't wait...We've all endured another awful Orioles season, the Red Sox more than likely will roll through the World Series. And Kevin Millar hanging out with his old friends has become bigger than the Kennedy assassination...Needless to say, I'm ready for Hoops and to smile again.

[Sports Guy]

Is that all? Damn, ok, save that message for the next two years then..My fault.

They will split this year.