Duke’s October intra-squad game wasn’t even called Countdown to Craziness in October of 2007. But it still was a good chance to get an early read on the team, especially the freshmen.
There were three that season, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Taylor King, respectively the number 6, 18 and 27 consensus recruits in the country.
King was a 6-7 sharpshooter from Southern California. He had been ranked much higher in his class before questions began to arise about his overall game.
But he could shoot. At least he could on that night. He came down court time after time and dropped a series of 30-foot bombs. Singler was trying to guard him but was left shaking his head in frustration.
How could you guard anyone that tall, that far from the basket? And no one was better able to maximize that kind of shooter than Mike Krzyzewski, the coach of Chris Collins and Trajan Langdon and J.J. Redick.
King was a can’t miss prospect, in several meanings of the term.
We know how that turned out.
And Taylor King isn’t the only Duke player to significantly underperform that first impression.
And it can go the other way, too. Remember how concerned we all were this time last year about Kyle Filipowski? The game clearly is too fast for him.
You probably see where I’m going with this. CTC is a snapshot of a team only a few weeks into formal practice, a scrimmage, albeit one with 9,000 or so more fans than a typical scrimmage.
So, did we learn anything from Friday’s 16-minute scrimmage?
Well, the White team beat the Blue team 33-18. Yea, White team?
That might seem like first team versus second team but Jon Scheyer said they tried to match the teams up evenly. The White team started Jeremy Roach, Kyle Filipowski, Tyrese Proctor, Jaylen Blakes and Christian Reeves, with T.J. Power coming off the bench.
The Blue team started Mark Mitchell, Ryan Young, Caleb Foster, Jared McCain and Jaden Schutt, with Sean Stewart coming off the bench. Walk-ons Neal Begovich and Spencer Hubbard got cameos.
What accounted for the score discrepancy?
Simple. The veteran guards schooled the freshmen guards.
“I do think you saw the maturity from Tyrese and Jeremy,” Jon Scheyer said, “the chemistry that they have. They’ve played under the lights many times before. Caleb and Jared have such a bright future. They’re tough guards, they’re really good. Now it’s time to actually play together against somebody else.”
The White team never trailed. Proctor assisted Roach on a 3 and Filipowski twice found Reeves inside on some high-low action and it was 7-2 after three minutes.
“It was great,” Reeves said of Filipowski’s passing. “He was able to find me over the top and I was able to finish. It definitely was a little piece we’ve worked on in practice.”
Reeves had eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
Filipowski missed about a week with a concussion--no hip issues-but gave his side five points, three rebounds and three assists.
“He’s still getting back in the flow of things,” Scheyer said.
The White team assisted on 10 of 13 made field goals, the Blue team 2 of 8, both assists by Foster.
Proctor joined Filipowski with three assists, without a turnover. In fact the White team only had one turnover, that by Reeves. Maybe the Blue team could have played better defense but remember Mitchell was on that side. Maybe Proctor and Roach were that good.
Again, try not to draw too many over-arching conclusions. But Roach (12 points, 3-6 on 3s) said he loved this team’s chemistry.
“Sharing the ball is a big thing this year, playing happy, playing free.”
Scheyer added that “Jeremy and Tyrese had such great control over their team tonight. The ball didn’t stick in their hands. It starts with them.”
Scheyer said that Duke needs to play somebody else, to work on specific situations, time and score, that sort of thing.
But for now “we need to continue to define roles. I learned some things tonight. The closer the season has come I’ve felt the excitement even more.”
I get the feeling it wasn't a very big deal. More precaution than anything else.
Tyrese and Jeremy seem to be two of the premium guards in the country. They each can shoot, assist and drive, and apparently they like playing together. Tyrese's jugular PG instincts, combined with Jeremy's shoot, drive and assist skills make for a top 10 team backcourt.
With that back court, I see an embarrassment of mix-and-match riches on both O & D for Scheyer: Go Small; Go Big; Go Fast; Go relentless D; Take out our opponents' best players by aggressive D [by Jaylen Blakes, et al], because we have the bench; Let several of our sharpshooters, such as Schutt, get a couple of extra tries, because we know he can light it up, and we have a cushion.
Really enjoyed the play of Christian Reeves. Yes, as Jim pointed out ["past performance is no guarantee of future results"], but he looked good out there supported by our two premier guards. I am delighted that Christian will face our other Bigs in practice, and steel sharpens steel. I am excited that our coaching staff, including Ryan Young, will help Christian get better every day in practice.
My dear wife, who cares about my well-being, rightfully reminds me of Lucy, who [for anyone just arriving from another planet] snatches the football at the last moment from Charlie Brown, who, in media res, is attempting to kick a field goal. Like Charlie, I stand my ground. I believe that we have all the components of having a very successful, exciting season. Don't know about Final Outcome, and I don't mostly care about that. I am thrilled that we are likely to see a team that will not suffer from freshman-itis. Our two premier guards, along with Flip, Mark and Ryan, will guide, inspire and settle our talented frosh. In the age of OAD, and, yes, the Transfer Portal, I am expecting a fun season of excellent Duke basketball.
Take that, Lucy! Go Duke!