Despite the departure of starters Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek, Duke remains the overwhelming favorite this year to cut down the nets in Houston.
After all, the Blue Devils broke out the scissors last year in Reliant Stadium after winning the South Regional. Why not do it again?
Duke’s roster is loaded. Kyle Singler, who spurned the NBA Draft to play for the Blue Devils as a senior, could be in for one of the most notable years in recent Duke basketball history. Averaging 19.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the last month of the season, Singler may well live up to the hype of being a preseason All-American.
Then there’s Nolan Smith. The second member of the Triple-S combo of a season ago, the senior co-captain serves as another formidable scoring threat, capable of shouldering the offense load on the nights when Singler doesn’t shine. Stepping up in big situations, such as the South Regional championship game in which he dropped a career-high 29 points, Smith gives Duke a second clutch option in close games.
Sophomore Seth Curry kicks off the street clothes this year to provide another perimeter weapon for head coach Mike Krzyzewski. With Curry, Singler and Smith—not to mention a more experienced sophomore Andre Dawkins—Duke may well have the deepest 3-point shooting team in the country.
Yet who will pass the ball to all these lethal shooters with Jon Scheyer gone? None other than the top point guard recruit in the class of 2014: Kyrie Irving. Praised as a passer that can make an immediate impact on a quality team, Irving is the most talented natural point guard Duke has had since at least Jay Williams. He has speed, explosiveness, court vision and a knack for rising to the occasion. His ability to find others will heighten the Blue Devil attack in the 2010-11 season.
On the inside, the Blue Devils have a more skilled and knowledgeable 6-foot-10 duo of junior Miles and sophomore Mason Plumlee. While they provided moments of brilliance last year, Miles and Mason should give Duke a more consistent performance on the boards this season. Though both can score, rebounding and defense will be the brothers’ focal points in the repeat campaign.
Not only do the Blue Devils sport one of the best teams on paper this season, their competition has seen better days. Every single player who was a consensus first or second team All-American in 2010 has either graduated or declared for the draft. Kentucky sent virtually everyone but John Calipari to the NBA. West Virginia and Kansas lost most of their starting five. Butler’s Gordon Hayward, Baylor’s Ekpe Udoh, Georgia Tech’s Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors, Georgetown’s Greg Monroe, Syracuse’s Wesley Johnson and Ohio State’s Evan Turner all left early. The only top player that didn’t leave was Purdue’s Robbie Hummel—and that’s because he was injured!
With the talent lacking in the NCAA at the moment, and Duke boasting its most talented team in years (yes, even more so than last season), there is no reason that the Blue Devils should not put a fifth banner in Cameron this year.
Lastly, there is an X-factor for the season—the charmed number of the Class of 2014. Think about it: If luck equals seven and repeating equals two, then by the multiplication property, the class is just what Duke needs to see its first successful title defense in 19 years.
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