2006/2007: DUKE in Review

2006/2007 Duke Blue Devils Basketball Season

Well the year certainly did not turn out the way we had hoped, especially with Duke losing in the first round of both the ACC and the NCAA Tournaments to NC State and Virginia Commonwealth, respectively. What's ironic is that I am a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth yet an avid DUKE fan, so you could imagine I was a little upset at the loss. But I'm a big fan of Anthony Grant and Jeff Capel's recruits so the loss was a little easier to take than say, a loss at Cameron to North Carolina. Nonetheless, it was quite the disappointing season finishing only 22-11 (When was the last time Duke had double-digit losses?)

Why was it a disappointing season?

In my assessment the reason is two-fold.

First, this was Duke's youngest team since World War II and two of their three captains were SOPHOMORES with only 1year of experience. With Duke's system, leadership positions are rewarded to those of significant achievements. Being only sophomores, both McRoberts and Paulus just did not have what it takes to be a leader in Duke's system. Neither of them was Grant Hill either! Duke lacked a true leader, although Paulus showed signs of becoming a leader as he stepped it up with points AND assists during the second half of the season, attributed to his finally getting the system. Afterall, he was a quarterback in high school - he knows, and finally gets, what it takes to be a leader. More on Paulus later....

Second, Duke lacked a consistent scorer, a go-to-guy. This isn't in my first point about leadership because being a leader on the team does not necessarily mean the go-to-guy. If you think about it, most of the more successful Duke teams had that go-to-guy whether it was Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Jason Williams, Shane Battier, Elton Brand, or JJ Redick. Those guys were true go-to-guys. McRoberts could have been that guy, but he wasn't.

Why? Well I think he was more comfortable as a tall and athletic 4, which suits his abilities better than being the 5 and the low-post presence. Don't agree? Look up "Josh McRoberts" at Google Videos and you tell me whether he looked more comfortable being a 4 (complimentary to Shelden and JJ) or a 5. His points average was higher this season, but taken into context with minutes averaged it's not much different from his freshman season.

Last Word on 2006/2007

Well it was definitely a season of spontenaety and unexpectedness. The first event that hit Duke fans pretty hard was the fact that Paulus had injured his foot and would be out for several weeks because of it. His foot healed enough to play the whole season, but according to the article on GoDuke.com it was bothering him and hampering his play all season. It is important to note that Paulus himself said his foot was "no excuse" for his performance throughout the season and his team's performance as a whole. But also in that article it is noted that Paulus waited until after the season for surgery and now it should not bother him at all. KUDOS!

The second piece of information to hit Duke fans was the departure of Jamal Boykin from the Duke basketball team and the Duke community as a whole. Personally, I thought Jamal Boykin could have been the 7th man off the bench for 2006/2007 given the fact that there was a huge hole to fill, left by Shelden Williams, as far as rebounds are concerned. He would have provided Duke with depth at the forward position and given his physique, he could have easily stacked up enough boards with McRoberts, McClure, and Thomas to make up for the loss of the rebounding monster Shelden Williams. But, I was proved wrong. Boykin could have easily been a starter in any program in the nation other than Duke and North Carolina in 2006/2007. Unhappy with his lack of minutes, Boykin withdrew from the team before the end of December and in the process transferred to Cal where he will be eligible to play starting January 2008.

Finally, but not surprising, was Josh McRoberts' declaration for the 2007 NBA Draft. At this point in time, McRoberts is a lock for a first-round pick. Many mock drafters have McRoberts going anywhere from 21st (Phila) to 24th (Phoenix) overall. He has signed an agent, so McRoberts will DEFINITELY not be returning. After all it "was [his] time to go, to move on." It will be intriguing to see if he ends up with either Philadelphia or Phoenix. If by some chance he ends up on the 76ers, it'll be pretty neat to see him playing with former Dukie Shavlik Randolph, who seems to be making some headway going from undrafted in 2005 to having a spot on the 76ers roster in 2006.

On the other hand, if Phoenix gets McRoberts it'll be AWESOME to see him play with the likes of Steve Nash (best PG in the WORLD), Shawn Marion, and Amare Stoudemire. Plus I think McRoberts will appreciate Mike D'Antoni as a coach. Notice the Coach K-D'Antoni link here? D'Antoni is an assistant to Coach K on the USA Men's Senior National Team.

Here's to 2007/2008! Let's see what Duke can do sans McRoberts but with three new McDonald's All-Americans in Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, and Taylor King.

Next blog:

2007/2008 PREVIEW: Paulus the clear cut leader, the new guys, possible starting lineups and their pros and cons.

2007 Recruiting Class in Full Effect!

Singler to Duke, Other 2007 Recruiting Notes

Perhaps the biggest piece of news swirling around Duke Basketball at the moment is the fact that on Friday, Coach K got the crown jewel of his recruiting class as Kyle Sinlger, a 6'8"/6'9" (depending on who you ask) multi-position forward/wing player from Medford High School in Oregon, verbally committed to Duke. [Photo below provided by Rivals.com]



What's promising about the kid is that according to Rivalshoops.com AND Scout.com he is the #4 recruit in the entire 2007 recruiting class. He models his game after one of the greatest players of all time - Larry Bird, which just adds even more fire to the excitement.

On top of that, Duke also has committments from 6'3" Oak Hill Academy (elite player factory where Carmello Anthony went) guard Nolan Smith and 6'7" sharpshooter Taylor King and even have their eyes on a strong 6'8" power forward from Huntington, WVa by the name of Patrick Patterson. So we shall see how Patrick Patterson's recruitment pans out in an already deep 2007 class for Duke. My guess is Patterson will see that Duke is already going to be deep for next year and that he goes to Kentucky, but we shall see.

[The following photos provided by Google images]

[Nolan Smith]

[Taylor King]

Welcome to K-Ville!

The sign says it all.

Open Practice, October 27th, 2006.

Matt and I started out on our road trip from Farmville, VA in the rain around 1pm and headed to Durham, NC to catch the Blue Devils in action for the very first time. With all the new guys on the roster a lot of Duke fans are excited and nervous about the upcoming season. Even with all the young guys on the team, some have them picked to finish #2 in the ACC, behind a very strong and talent-laced UNC.

This will be a challenging year for Coach K, having just 1 junior and the rest being underclassmen. The young guys bring a certain excitement and energy level to the roster. Like the UNC of last year these young guys will learn a lot together, truly becoming a team. With all the competition in the ACC these young guys will learn quick what it is to play in the best and most tradition laiden conference in all of college sports.

Let's introduce the new guys and what their game is all about.

Jon Scheyer
Scheyer is a great outside shooter. He can handle the ball nicely and has the ability to penetrate and dish, or lay it up. He moves well without the ball and is more mobile than a purely set shooter. Some have already called him the next J.J., but he's a little taller and a lot more mobile than J.J. Redick and has a point guard-like vision for the game.

Gerald Henderson
The son of a former NBA player, Henderson has abilities all over the chart. He can handle the ball as well as take it to the rack and score. Defenders might have trouble with his athleticism and determination, being the slasher that he is. In a previous article, somebody said they hadn't seen Coach K this excited about a talented freshman since Grant Hill.

Lance Thomas
Thomas is a tall and VERY athletic forward at 6'8 1/2". He is definitely a presence on the block. Scoring won't be too hard for this guy, he has a mid-range shot and can flush it without much effort. Look for him to be playing high-post at times with McRoberts down low.

Brian Zoubek
Zoubek is a 7 footer Duke will desperately need to help McRoberts handle things down low. Zoubek has great presence down low and knows how to work the block and works physically to score. Throughout the practice we could tell Zoubek was irritating McRoberts, sometimes getting the best of him on the block.

Practice Time

Practice started with warming up the legs with leg lifts and jogging. Then came the stretching. Drills started shortly after, with a few "WOW" dunks here and there by McRoberts and Thomas. Even Greg Paulus was on the floor shooting around, walking on his hurt foot, rehab seems to be going great. Throughout practice Coach K would stop the players and give them some pointers on how to break a trap, or how to position yourself down low for scoring.

One interesting element we saw was the rivalry between the 2 big guys, McRoberts and Zoubek. At times you could tell McRoberts was getting a little frustrated having to play on both sides of the ball against a taller opponent. Matt made the comment that Zoubek reminded him of Paul Davis, formerly of Michigan State.

Martynas Pocius suprised the heck out of us. Out of all the players he seemed to be the most active on all sides of the ball. Quite a few times Pocius would strike down the middle and put it in the basket. Pocius ALMOST dunked on McRoberts, but a slight hack prevented him from doing so. Look out for Marty because he may be one of the starting five.

Jamal Boykin was also another active player, and has shown vast improvement from last year. He will be one of the clean up guys down low. Lance Thomas is just a natural athlete he can grab boards and score on anyone. Thomas and McRoberts led the way in wowing the crowd with dunks. Nelson would have won the dunk contest with his backjam though.

Some people describe Scheyer as a more mobile J.J. Redick, but he can also bring the ball up if needed. A healthy Dave McClure was also participating actively, which is good news for Duke's problems with depth down the stretch.

The starting line-up will include McRoberts, Paulus, and Nelson. The other 2 spots are undetermined and are really a toss-up. Henderson, Pocius, Thomas, and McClure all have what it takes to be starters. From what I've seen I have come up with my starting 5:

McRoberts, Paulus, Nelson, Thomas, Pocius

Matt's Starting five looks just a little different:

McRoberts, Paulus, Nelson, Henderson, Thomas

We'll see how that plays out. Overall, we are very excited about this season and can't wait to sit back, relax, yell at the refs, and watch another Duke season unfold.







McRoberts practicing his J




Coach K talking with Jay Bilas and others




McRoberts doing what he does best.




Boykin showing his dunks




Free throw during 5 on 5




McRoberts pleasing the crowd.




McRoberts again.




Gerald Henderson showing his hops




Lance Thomas flushin' it

This is The Greater Blue!

The Greater Blue
Brought to you by Thomas & Matt Santerre

You're probably wondering what this blog is all about. . .

Well if you can't tell, by "the greater blue" we mean Duke, as opposed to North Carolina, or Duke blue as opposed to 'Carolina' blue (which is really sky blue - they violated copyright). In short, we are super Duke fans who cancel everything on the calendar as soon as mid-October creeps around, which marks the beginning of college basketball, celebrated as "Midnight Madness" all around the country by every school [that has a basketball team of course].

Now you're probably wondering who we are

I'm Matt Santerre and my accomplice in this Duke fanaticism, that would be Thomas Santerre. I'll start you off with a little bio of us. On May 2, 1984 God chose a nice spring day to give the world twins who just so happened to become Duke fans. Why? Well, I'll be honest with you, I liked them because my favorite color as a little rugrat was blue and my Dad would always watch Duke games (he actually worked in concessions there a LONG time ago as a kid himself). And naturally, being twins, we both started to root for Duke.

Our earliest memories of Duke begin with the 1991-1992 team with the likes of Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, Thomas Hill, Brian Davis, and Antonio Lang to name a few. And since then we have been avid Duke fans, spreading the good word of all that is Duke to our native land. Okay, we're fans.

Now at the age of 22, we are THE biggest Duke fans in Virginia and in the United States and will be for the rest of our lives. It won't stop there either - our kids will be raised as Duke fans and nothing else.

Why did we want to start a Duke blog? Well, we've just been fans for so long it was natural for us to start a blog about Duke because that's all we talk about 24/7. Our obsession with Duke does not end in March; in fact, it will never end. Also, it took us 17 years being Duke fans before we made it out to Cameron Indoor Stadium...FINALLY!

So welcome to our blog, which brings us to our first official Duke post.

The Greater Blue is in full effect.