The time of year when us Duke fans finally shift away from our struggling football team to focus on our dominant basketball team. So what can we expect from our young team this year?
Countdown to Craziness is this Friday and I don’t know about you but I could not be more excited. For the first time in a long time Duke has a favorable non-conference schedule, and then as soon as we get into conference play we should have no problem as the usual ACC powerhouses are significantly weaker in 2017-18 (except for Duke).
Duke is a very young team this year as they have only one senior, and two juniors. So this team may take a little while to mesh, kind of like the Duke team we had last year. The good news is we have a favorable non-conference schedule as we play only one team that is ranked in NBC’s preseason poll. That team is however number two, Michigan State.
With that being said Duke’s young freshman core should be able to get to know each other on the court throughout their non-conference schedule in time for ACC play.
Non-Conference Schedule:
November 10th: Elon @ Duke
November 11th: Utah Valley @ Duke
November 14th: Michigan State vs Duke in Chicago, State Farm Champions Classic
November 17th: Southern @ Duke,
November 20th: Furman @ Duke, Phil Knight Invitational
November 23rd: Portland State vs Duke, in Portland, Phil Knight Invitational
November 24th(If Duke beats Portland State): Butler/Texas vs Duke, in Portland, Phil Knight Invitational
November 26th(If Duke beats Portland State & Butler or Texas): TBA vs Duke, in Portland, Phil Knight Invitational
November 29th: Duke @ Indiana, ACC/B1G Challenge
December 2nd: South Dakota @ Duke
December 5th: Saint Francis @ Duke
December 20th: Evansville @ Duke
February 3rd: Duke @ St. Johns
At the absolute worst, Duke should come out of their non-conference schedule at 11-2, with losses against Michigan State and in Indiana. But really they should come out undefeated seeing that Duke will be the undoubted preseason number one.
Depth Chart:
Note: This depth chart is my opinion of what it should be, Duke has yet to state their depth chart and starting five.
PG: Trevon Duval, Gary Trent jr., Jordan Goldwire
SG: Grayson Allen, Alex O’Connell, Brennan Besser
SF: Wendell Carter jr., Jordan Tucker, Jack White
PF: Marvin Bagley III, Javin Delaurier, Justin Robinson
C: Marques Bolden, Antonio Vrankovic
This starting lineup goes away from Duke’s traditional style of play. Duke normally plays three guards in the starting five, and they shoot, shoot, shoot. With this starting lineup they have a 6’3″ guard, a 6’5″ guard, a 6’10” forward, a 6’11” forward, and a 6’11” center.
This starting five will allow them to go away from that mentality of “shooters gonna shoot” and they will be able to put the ball down low, for higher quality shots. That mentality of shooting hurt Duke often last year and most notably in the second round of the NCAA tournament against South Carolina.
With this new way of basketball Duke should be able to be more consistent, get more boards and win more games.
Predictions for Every Game This Season:
vs Elon, W
vs Utah Valley, W
vs Michigan State, L
vs Southern, W
vs Furman, W
vs Portland State, W
vs Butler/Texas, W
vs TBA, W
@ Indiana, W
vs South Dakota, W
vs Saint Francis, W
@ Boston College, W
vs Evansville, W
vs Florida State, W
@ NC State, W
@ Pittsburgh, W
vs Wake Forest, W
@ Miami, L
vs Pittsburgh, W
@ Wake Forest, W
vs Virginia, W
@ St. Johns, W
@ North Carolina, W
@ Georgia Tech, W
vs Virginia Tech, W
@ Clemson, W
vs Louisville, W
vs Syracuse, W
@ Virginia Tech, W
vs North Carolina, W
ACC Championship
Round One: Bye
Round Two: Bye
Quarterfinals: W
Semifinals: W
ACC Championship: W
NCAA Tournament:
Round of 64: W
Round of 32: W
Sweet 16: W
Elite Eight: W
Final Four: W
National Championship: W
Some might think its outrageous for a team to go 37-2 but is it? This is one of the best teams we have ever seen in college basketball, and it is by far the best team on paper since those 2015 Kentucky Wildcats (Duke won the championship that year in case you forgot).
The only reason I have this team losing to Miami is because it is very hard to believe they get through the ACC untouched. Duke will most likely lose at least one ACC game which they shouldn’t and I picked Miami to be that team to take down Duke.
This teams ceiling is the roof as Michael Jordan would say. In my opinion there is no way this team does not win the ACC championship and hoist their sixth banner next October to go with it.