Hey everyone, I'm a die hard basketball fan from Dayton, Ohio. I follow the Dayton Flyers. I hope you've heard of us. We went to the Elite Eight two years ago and to the Sweet 16 last year. We have a pretty good ball club. Not as good as yours but pretty good. With that being said, a lot of us Buckeyes want to know if Luke will start this year. Luke is from Franklin, Ohio which is just down the road about 30 minutes from Dayton. I've never seen him play but he filled the local newspaper sports section over the last few years. So many people ask me if he will start this year. I have no idea. What do you think?
Luke Kennard
- Thread starter YOU ARE THE BEST_rivals
- Start date
Elaborate bait or naive enthusiasm?
Luke will not start, but will be unique enough to see real time.
Luke will not start, but will be unique enough to see real time.
I couldn't care less if he starts. I just happen to be the college basketball expert where I work (lol) so I was just trying to get some feedback from you all.
Talk around town here is that he got too many fouls called in his favor. He allegedly got nearly 25 foul shots a game. I'm not sure if this is true but he won't get those calls in college.
Okay, well I have some insight on what you think of Luke Kennard. I will report this to my fellow workers on Tuesday. Thanks for your input. Off subject, how do you think my beloved Dayton Flyers will do this year?
I don't think that was called for. I complimented your team which is well deserved, however, my team is pretty good too.
Dayton beat uncheat in the NIT one year. I really like them.
I think if Luke starts this year, it would mean a couple important pieces will either not play well or Will be injured. Either case is bad for Duke. That said, I do think he will have his moments this year and will be better in time.
His size and versatility indicate he'll see PT from the word go. If he is smart and make good decisions, that will also play in his advantage. From what I understand he may have a bigger adjustment than many freshmen for having less experience against top notch competition.
He'll likely see some time as the back-up PG and as a SG or wing in 3-guard sets. He really isn't competing for time w/ Thornton; he's just there to spell him. He is competing with Grayson and Matt in the backcourt. If the post depth develops well and allows Ingram to play the 3 as opposed to the stretch-4, backcourt minutes will be squeezed.
Ingram is likely to play some 3 and some 4, so we're looking at 5 guys (DT, Grayson, Matt, Luke, BI) for 3- 3 1/2 spots. There will be minutes.
He'll likely see some time as the back-up PG and as a SG or wing in 3-guard sets. He really isn't competing for time w/ Thornton; he's just there to spell him. He is competing with Grayson and Matt in the backcourt. If the post depth develops well and allows Ingram to play the 3 as opposed to the stretch-4, backcourt minutes will be squeezed.
Ingram is likely to play some 3 and some 4, so we're looking at 5 guys (DT, Grayson, Matt, Luke, BI) for 3- 3 1/2 spots. There will be minutes.
Agreed. There's going to be a squeeze. The question will be whether it will be in the frontcourt or the backcourt. Although K has a long trackrecord of historically going smaller, this is a bit of an unusual year because our only 2 seniors and 2 of our 3 captains are front court players. Then throw in the fact that Chase Jeter is almost certainly going to get a decent number of minutes and our most talented player may not have the strength to play anywhere but 3 -- and I tend to think that we're probably going to go with a lot of bigger looks. IMO, Thornton and Grayson are the clear wild cards. Thornton because we have no idea how ready he is after reclassifying early and not even getting a full summer to adjust, and Grayson because it's unclear whether he's ready to become the player he was against Wisconsin on a consistent basis. If Grayson emerges as a consistent frontline player, then I think that means kennard doesn't get a ton of minutes. If Grayson is up and down, then I bet Kennard / Grayson split time as the scoring off guard.
NIT? Folks, Dayton beat UNC in the Final Four, back in 1967. Lost to UCLA in the title game. Then again, so did everyone else.
I'm reasonably certain Kennard didn't get 25 free throws per game in high school.
The Duke coaches love Kennard's skill set, basketball IQ and passion for the game. They think he will be an exceptional player for Duke.
But he faces pretty intense competition for PT this season. The presumptive perimeter starters are Derryck Thornton at the point, Grayson Allen at the two and Brandon Ingram at the three. It's not a reach to see all three of these guys as top-15 picks in either the 2016 or 2017 drafts. And don't forget Matt Jones, who started for the second-half of an NCAA championship season.
Like I said, pretty intense competition.
Duke expects Kennard to be Thornton's primary back-up at the point and he should play some at the two. So, something in the 15-20 mpg range seems reasonable. But stardom might be further down the road.
I'm reasonably certain Kennard didn't get 25 free throws per game in high school.
The Duke coaches love Kennard's skill set, basketball IQ and passion for the game. They think he will be an exceptional player for Duke.
But he faces pretty intense competition for PT this season. The presumptive perimeter starters are Derryck Thornton at the point, Grayson Allen at the two and Brandon Ingram at the three. It's not a reach to see all three of these guys as top-15 picks in either the 2016 or 2017 drafts. And don't forget Matt Jones, who started for the second-half of an NCAA championship season.
Like I said, pretty intense competition.
Duke expects Kennard to be Thornton's primary back-up at the point and he should play some at the two. So, something in the 15-20 mpg range seems reasonable. But stardom might be further down the road.
I think a coming out party to win the title game is reasonable. I think it's happened before.
15 to 20 minutes sounds pretty good to me. I know all players want to play as many minutes as possible, but with all the competition for minutes I think that gives him ample opportunity to showcase his abilities and to help this team. If he shows out I'm sure K will take that into consideration. I'm looking forward to seeing the young man play.
OFC
I have watched this kid play since 5th grade. In high school he did shoot a ton of foul shots, one game I think he shot 40. He probably averaged 15 or so a game. Shoots 90% plus from the line. He is a pure shooter there is no doubt about that. He is a very smart kid on and off the court. The league he played in wasn't very challenging for him. It was what some people would call a farm school league. Most schools have about 150-200 kids in a class. I don't think there was another kid in the league that went D1, a few went to D3 schools. He will need to get stronger as most freshmen do, he isn't overly athletic but is sneaky fast and uses both hands well. His teams almost never played man to man defense, so it will be interesting to see how that goes. He will knock down the open 3.
It all depends on how Luke plays and how he practices, just like everyone else on the team. I think Luke is a much better shooter than Grayson but Grayson is an athletic phenom that can drive the lane at will... I just want to see more consistency with Grayson this season- and I believe we will. Having 5 star recruits fighting for playing time is a great problem to have folks.
Yep. We seem to always get excited about the new guys coming in and forget about the ones that are giving us the 3 and 4 years. If we hadn't had those 3 and 4 year guys the last two championships we wouldn't have won either of them. As a matter of fact if it hadn't had those 3 and 4 yea guys we wouldn't have won any national championships. Here's to Marshall, Amile and Matt. OFC
Can Matt handle the ball well enough to be a starting sg. Unless he has developed some ball skills, I don't see him starting there, but who knows, I'll let Coach K decide.
In no way shape or form do I see Luke starting this season (barring injuries). I think the talent and experience ahead of him will give him a chance to see the game from the sidelines, learn some things, the speed of the game etc. He'll play- how much is up to how well he plays in practice and just as much on how the guys ahead of him are doing. Between Grayson and Matt- a case can be made for either one of them. Personally- I think this will be Grayson's team- think he's just got that 'it' factor and broke through the floodgates last march/april. So personally i think he'll be starting- now matt might as well, but I've got Grayson at the 2.
Yep and Matt was never asked to handle the ball. Tyus and QC handled the ball 99% of the time.
Isn't it nice to be arguing over which awesome player will start? LOL!
Not only will Kennard start he will be the leading scorer. This is another young team coming up and the need for a reliable go to guy will be acute. The only caveat is will Kennard rise to the occasion on the defensive side of the ball. If not, his playing time will be much less. This is not to knock Grayson. He has a champion's heart and good athleticism. But the team needs a consistent spark and that is Kennard.
I think Ingram ends up being the team's leading scorer, followed perhaps by Grayson. Throughout the year I don't think you'll see one name necessarily top the scoring column consistently, but I think Ingram is someone to look at as a leading scorer this early in the game.
Dayton is a great program, and we should show our visitor some respect, I mean damn, we are not Carolina fans! That being said, doubtful that Luke starts this year, I asked a question about our starting 2 spot from a guythat is really in the know and it is a toss up. The question will be if Grayson can lock down the perimeter like Matt, and how consistent Matt's jumper is, and what value his offense places in conjunction with his D. Luke will get alot of run though, do not think his impact will depend on whether or not he starts. Firepower off of the bench isalways a good thing.