Duke introduced its 2022-’23 men’s basketball team Friday night in the intrasquad game that culminates Countdown to Craziness.
Well, sort of. More on that later.
Longtime readers know that I try not to draw too many overarching conclusions from this sort of thing, in any sport. These guys have been practicing against each other--informally and then formally-for months and a player who struggled today might have dominated a few days ago. Or vice versa.
Of course those practices weren’t in front of a raucous crowd, many of whom were attending their first game in Cameron, just as many of the players were playing in front of their first Cameron crowd.
So, there’s that.
Back to the sort of. We know going in that Dariq Whitehead wouldn’t play. He’s still recovering from a broken bone in his right foot. But Dereck Lively II also sat out, nursing a calf injury. We found that out earlier in the day.
Jon Scheyer said Duke was “being really cautious with both of those guys. We want to be really smart. We’ll take it step-by-step.”
Scheyer suggested we might be looking at weeks not days for both. But not months.
The scrimmage was one 16-minute block of time. The rosters were divided into what looked like equal sides. On paper.
But after falling behind 6-0, the Blue team pulled away from the White team for a 41-26 win. And they did so on the backs of a couple of players who probably don’t project to be rotation players.
Or didn’t. Christian Reeves is a 7-1 freshman, the prototypical late bloomer. Three weeks ago he told me he definitely was red-shirting.
But he didn’t look like anyone’s late bloomer. In 13 minutes Reeves had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and a single assist and continually frustrated grad-student transfer Ryan Young, who shot 2 for 6. Reeves made all four of his field goal attempts and all three foul shots.
Still a redshirt candidate?
Here’s what Scheyer said.
“Anything’s on the table. The growth that he’s made since stepping on campus has been incredible. We need to evaluate everything. We’ll work with Christian and his family on that and decide what’s best.”
Then there’s Jaylen Blakes, a sophomore guard who played all of 94 minutes last season. Blakes and Jeremy Roach played on the Blue team, taking turns at the point. Roach did about what you would expect, 12 points, 3 assists, 3 for 3 from beyond the arc, in complete control.
But how about Blakes? Ten points, 4 rebounds, an assist and some pretty physical defense.
Scheyer said Blakes had worked himself into becoming a better player.
“Jaylen works his butt off. He can really defend, I thought he did a good job tonight of making everyone better. He’s tough to keep out of the paint. We’re going to need him. He can play a really big role for us.”
Roach noted that he and Blakes are roommates this year.
“We talk all the time. We came out and executed the game plan.”
Jake Grandison shot 1 for 7 from the field--0 for 4 from beyond the arc- but led everyone with 8 rebounds, reaffirming the narrative that he’s the kind of player who can help his team even if his shot isn’t falling.
“I just kept playing. I missed. I don’t really care. I’m still out there playing basketball.”
The only member of the White team who matched that effectiveness was Aussie freshman guard Tyrese Proctor, who fought for every one of his 10 points.
Proctor was the White team’s primary ball handler, a role he told me he was comfortable filling.
“I can take control. I think I’m a good pick-and-roll player and I can find my teammates. But I can only do that with the ball in my hands.”
Harvard transfer Kale Catching was the White’s second-leading scorer with seven points, including a triple.
The other freshmen struggled. Mark Martin and Jaden Schutt (White team) each shot 1 for 6 from the field, while Kyle Filipowski (Blue team) had 5 points and 5 rebounds but also 4 fouls in 16 minutes.
Duke is hardly a finished product and Scheyer made no attempt to suggest otherwise.
“There’s a lot we have to work on. We’re still coming together as a team. I think for our guys, we’re tired of playing against each other. It’s time to start playing other people.”
Thank you, Jim!
I really like this team, primarily because of their spirit.
In this age of 1&Ds, having Roach as our PG is, IMO, huge. Other teams may match our b-ball competence, but they may not have such an equally accomplished PG.
[Gentle hint: I would love to hear your competitive landscape view regarding how many of our top 20 opponent shave seasoned, top quality PGs.]
From Tyrese Proctor:
“I can take control. I think I’m a good pick-and-roll player and I can find my teammates. But I can only do that with the ball in my hands.”
I love this bodacious statement. We have a backup PG with swag and skills. Roach will have to bring his A game to every practice and game. [I believe that Tyrese and Jeremy are roomies. If I'm wrong about this, I apologize. After some sleep, I'll google it.
I am convinced that we have a wonderful B-ball season awaiting us. I'll appreciate whatever our W/L record is. But this team is highly talented and will fight hard and together, in Duke spirit.
Go Duke@
Jim, always enjoy your recaps. Hope you’ll continue to do them each game this season.
I expect this to be one of our best defensive squads in a while with a starting 5 of Lively, Whitehead, Mitchell - all who project to be outstsnding defenders - and Roach, Proctor/Grandison - who project to be above average defenders.
After last night, I now expect that Blakes is ahead of Schutt in the rotation, further cementing a strong defensive identity. Blakes attacking on the ball defense against Proctor last night was fun to watch. There will be minutes for that level of perimeter defense.