The Answers for the First Duke Q/A Mailbag

Which Duke players are you most looking forward to seeing this basketball season?

Chris: Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram have been the most-hyped players for Duke this preseason and most fans will be excited to see how the #1 freshman class plays this season, but the Blue Devil I’m most excited to see is actually Marshall Plumlee. Plumlee will have a much more expanded role this year with All-American center Jahlil Okafor gone and him performing well in the post as a defender and offensive option could be an extremely key piece to Duke repeating as national champions. The 7-0 senior captain started in both of Duke’s preseason games averaging 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 21 minutes per game in the exhibitions shooting 11-13 including 5-5 vs. Livingstone.

Mike:

Of course I am excited to see every Blue Devil on the court this year but if I had to choose one it would be freshman Brandon Ingram. He is the player on the team that has the highest upside in terms of the NBA. He can shoot, play defense as well as jump out of the gym.

Ingram has to step into the shoes left by

Justise Winslow

which is no small task. There is no doubt that Ingram has similar talent compared to Winslow but will he do the things necessary to win a game the same way Justise did? Fight for loose balls, grab rebounds in-between two defenders, lock down the opposing team’s best player. We will find out soon enough.

Can Duke repeat as national champions this season?

Chris: I definitely think it’s possible because of the talent coming in and several key players who won it all last year returning. I do think it will be a little more difficult with this team because Coach K noted in the preseason that last year’s #1 freshman class was extremely close with each other as friends and teammates before arriving at Duke from playing together with USA Basketball, AAU tournaments, etc. (Okafor and Tyus Jones were friends since elementary school). The 2015-16 freshmen don’t have that same chemistry coming in, but if they can develop it as the season progresses and Grayson Allen improves as much as expected then they will have a great chance.
Mike: Duke always has a chance to win the national championship and this year is no different. Now the path getting there is always different. This freshmen class is not last year’s. Okafor, Jones and Winslow do not come along every year. While Duke has to rely on freshmen again this year, that does not necessarily mean we will see the Duke team from last year. Take Luke Kennard for example. Nobody on last year’s team compares to him. Every freshman this year brings something to the table that last year’s freshmen potentially did not have. That could be either good or bad. This year’s team has more depth but the top end talent is not as high. But overall, I am excited for the season to start and with Coach K at the helm the Blue Devils can potentially win a national championship every year.

Thank you for the questions this week and send in your questions to us for next week!