Duke's depth for it's bigs

Jake1985

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Duke has big bodies with Marshall, Amile, Chase, Obi and Vrank but as it was exposed today there's really not quality depth.
Marshall plays with high energy. He's big, strong and physical but he's foul prone. Great teammate. He just has shortcomings that come out in every game. Gotta love the guy but he's not going to do it alone without another true big next to him. I think his small successes are a result of Amile being next to him.
Amile- team MVP in my mind so far but not injured and out indefinitely. Heart and soul of the team. Can't replace a guy like that.
Chase is just not ready and it shows both mentally and physically. He has postental but based on what he has given and shown in games he's still learning. Not sure what to expect expect from him or when the light balb will go off.
Obi and Vrank. Not the answers

If Duke gets in foul trouble and has to have Ingram at the 5 then teams that are solid in the paint will feast. Look at today. Utah's bigs made a living against Duke even with Plumlee in the line up. This is a concern.
 

BOOGIEMAN1914

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chase and vrank should be given a legit shot in the long beach and elon games...we need the size
 

baseballlover14

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This team is very young. This is Marshall first minutes that he basically has every got that is counted on. As the season goes on Marshall and chase will get better. I think amile getting hurt can help us Come March because chase and Marshall will gain the time needed
 

pisgah101

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Let me repeat YOU DONT WANT OBI PLAYING. Especially in a game like today. If it came down to him being in everyone fouled out or for hurt
 

dukiejay

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We may have misevaluated on Obi. Trust me, he's not even part of the answer.

I thought Chase would be a bit further along. At times he looks good then really lost. His hands, or lack thereof, missed some golden opportunities today. We're going to be primarily a six, and sometimes seven man rotation until Amile returns. That's just reality.
 

BOOGIEMAN1914

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competition aside obi had a good frosh year @rice...bball is bball.....is he hurt?
 

jamsession3

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This team is very young. This is Marshall first minutes that he basically has every got that is counted on. As the season goes on Marshall and chase will get better. I think amile getting hurt can help us Come March because chase and Marshall will gain the time needed

I agree with Baseball, Chase and Marshall will get better. The perimeter guys will need to carry the team.

I was always worried about a player this year that we can put in the books every game for 15 to 18pts a game. Grayson and Brandon are the closet.

Obi is a big body, just taking up space in a zone or even laying on someone can help. The kid looks sad on the bench. Reminds me of Mike G and Eric Boat sitting there.
 

skysdad

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Chase has to get better. He needs a big game soon. Perhaps the Elon game will give him an opportunity to put up some numbers. Do you guys remember how we used to talk about Amile and how he needed to step up. Could any of us imagined back 3 years ago that we would miss Amile this much. We all need to be patient with Chase but in the breath wish for the return of a healthy Amile ASAP. OFC
 

Jake1985

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I'm not saying all teams need 2 players at both the 5 and the 4 that get regular playing time but it sure doesn't hurt.
 

DukeDenver

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Obi isn't sad. He's getting an incredible education for free and he'll be part of the Duke family after he graduates.
 
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Duke has big bodies with Marshall, Amile, Chase, Obi and Vrank but as it was exposed today there's really not quality depth...This is a concern.
Our lack of depth is almost shocking, and I think it's happened for a couple of reasons. First were our misses at PF in 2014: Reid Travis (Stanford) and Kevon Looney (UCLA). Looney especially was expected to commit (granted he was a 1AD.) In 2015 we missed on Swanigan (Purdue), Ellenson (Marquette), and as I mentioned in another thread, Chase Jeter lost some luster as a senior. Someone else mentioned that Obi was just a miss, I think that's true, unfortunately. So if you go back 18 - 24 months, I suspect the staff expected at least 1 and possibly 2 of Travis, Swanigan, and Ellenson, that Chase would be further along, that Obi would contribute, and that Marshall would be...a little more like his brothers.

Granted, none of that helps us now, but it may at least explain how we got to this point...
 

Dattier

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That Poeltl kid is no joke and Utah has a lot of cogs in place from last year. This is our second game post-Amile. Amile was/is more rock than rockstar. He was never going to be our leading scorer. That was always going to come from the perimeter, and Grayson was sick yesterday. We're going to drop a few we'd projected as Ws before Amile's injury. It's Marshall, Chase, and Brandon with more focus on team rebounding, and that's the best we have unless Amile can come back effectively.
 

Crank_it_loud

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I'm actually surprised Vrank hasnt seen more burn because of what I've heard in some practices. If Jeter doesn't get it together, k may need to give Vrank a little time to spell Marshall.
 
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pisgah101

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I'm actually surprised Vrank hasnt seen more burn because of what I've heard in some practices. If Jeter doesn't get it together, k may need to give Vrank a little time to spell Marshall.
I see Vrank getting more meaningful burn than Obi. We lost to a good Utah Team that's all
 

BOOGIEMAN1914

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Was I dreaming or did I see on the sports center ticker that amile is expected to be out only a month...anyone else see????
 

hpnole

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Chase has to get better. He needs a big game soon. Perhaps the Elon game will give him an opportunity to put up some numbers. Do you guys remember how we used to talk about Amile and how he needed to step up. Could any of us imagined back 3 years ago that we would miss Amile this much. We all need to be patient with Chase but in the breath wish for the return of a healthy Amile ASAP. OFC

Good post---- This team has a lot of growing to do and a short time to do it ...
 

Jake1985

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Vrank has offensive skills that are good in the paint and around the hoop. He has a very good basketball IQ and you can't teach that size. So in practices he does well bc at that tempo under those conditions he can play at his own pace in which he looks pretty solid.

BUT... Vrank has very limited mobility, explosion and strength This was evident even in his HS games when he was the last guy down the floor and could not run the floor without being exhausted. He needs at least one good year of the Duke strength and conditioning coach and for him to eat, sleep and breath that mentality of getting fit
 

imajericho_rivals

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Came to ask about Jeter but this thread seems to answer my questions regarding him.

Amile Jefferson is legit good though and has been pretty solid every year too. Hopefully his injury isn't too serious.
 

Dukesince90

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Came to ask about Jeter but this thread seems to answer my questions regarding him.

Amile Jefferson is legit good though and has been pretty solid every year too. Hopefully his injury isn't too serious.
Give that UNC guy a shank.
 

Jake1985

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Duke is looking at other bigs in the 2016 class if they miss on Bolden. I've heard a lot of talk of Bruno and Udoka and possibly a third. They will always keep an eye on 5th year guys.
 

K-oach Q

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Just read a good article from after the loss to Utah. It sounds as if the staff missed on evaluating Obi and he isn't anywhere near what they were hoping.

The loss of Jefferson is huge and it seems like we will be playing mainly six guys with some spot minutes from Jeter. We will only go 6 1/2 deep as K was hoping Jeter could develop behind Amile and Plumlee but now we don't have the luxury.

It sounds as if K really isnt pleased with the makeup of this roster as we have a Lot of "wings" but no bigs to help and very young and inexperienced play from the PG position. He said it is what it is....what are you going to do.

I expect if we are only running mainly six deep this will be much like 2007 for this team. Losing Amile was a traumatic loss with this teams makeup. If he's out long which K says is closer to two months this teams future doesn't look to bright. We will have many losses in ACC play I think.