What does Duke need to do to get back on track?
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Play devil's advocate
dandurham - Devil's Advocate
Submitted by jamesb51750 on May 2, 2007 - 7:25am.
Bingo! Exactly right. I agree with everything you have pointed out that now limits Duke's ability to reign supreme again. With today's parity and well-distributed atheletic talent, you must have both a strong inside game and skilled outside game to be successful in March. I hope the Duke coaching staff reads your comments!..LOL
With Brand, Deng, etc., I thought Cherokee Parks would be the last tall but weak inside player to get a lot PT at Duke. But McRoberts carries on that tradition, and Zubeck isn't the answer either. Did K and his staff not try to recruit the big men we've seen step it up in this year's NCAA (and ACC) tournament, or were they not sucessful in "selling the program"?
This year showed how much JJ's outside shooting covered up the big hole inside, stretching defenses well beyond the three point line. When Paulus made a high percentage of his shots, Duke won. But there were several games during the two losing streaks (mid season and MD/UNC/NC State/VCU) where the outside shots didn't drop enough and/or teams had a lot of success down low.
K got what he wanted from the NBA -- high school graduates have to play at least a year in college. So far, that has only benefitted the recruting classes at other schools. There was an "article" on The Onion's website this year about how Coach K had a hard time adjusting to officials calling an even game. Maybe there is some truth to that?
What can Duke do to get back on track?
Submitted by robert451 on April 17, 2007 - 8:45pm.
Figure out how to kick an extra point, and you can at least TIE Carolina and Wake, you pathetic wretches.
Robert Moore
Overhaul recruiting strategy and coaching staff
Coach K needs to change his recruiting strategy and stop recruiting 'soft' big men like Josh McRoberts and Shavlik Randolph who prefer to play on the perimeter. He needs more athletic 'bigs' who can run the floor, rebound, have good low post games and can play tough interior defense (a la Elton Brand and Carlos Boozer). The drive, draw and kickout for a '3' offensive strategy has left the Blue Devils vulnerable on poor shooting nights - and without a legitimate low post presence, defenses can lock up on and challenge the perimeter shooters. Also, I think he needs to gently push Collins and Wojo 'out of the nest' and hire two new assistants - at least one of which has proven and credible experience recruiting and coaching big men. Duke needs to play more 'inside-out' than 'outside-in'. And, in the absence of more physically gifted athletes on his team, Krzyzewski needs to get past his ego and stubborn refusal to play more zone defenses. Duke has difficulty guarding teams with more athletic guards, wings and post players (see the Georgetown and LSU losses from last season, and any of their losses from this season).