Loss of Williams big trouble for Duke
Jul 1, 2009
There never seems to be a shortage of stuff going on around the Duke basketball program. It's not surprising considering you have one of the winningest coaches of all-time there.
Recently internet reports had him going to the L.A. Lakers if Phil Jackson retires, he still has to decide whether to keep coaching Team USA, and a star freshman just left his program.
The good news is Coach Mike Krzyzewski just said on Tuesday that he is not going to the Lakers, and that he will leave Duke when he leaves coaching. Since that's over we can look at his Duke squad for 2009-10. The one that now only has two guards on it, a big problem.
A team that had at least six legitimate guards last season including Gerald Henderson in that realm, now has less than half of that.
First of all, losing Elliot Williams in an unexpected turn is a huge loss not just because he gave depth at guard, but because he was a rising talent. He had experience starting, he proved he could score the ball at times, and he was a boost to the team defense and rebounding.
I thought of him as a lesser Gerald Henderson, maybe getting to that level if he improves his offense and shooting in the next years. He has a similar body structure and can do the high-jump over a basketball rim. Having Williams leave Duke just plan hurt. Now on top of it all, it leaves the team with just two guards.
What do they do now? Have someone named "Rudy" come tryout for the team as a walk-on?
Krzyzewski isn't looking at this issue as much of a problem because he's never referred to his players as specific positions.
"Because somebody has to give them positions you call them guards, forwards and centers, but I've never liked doing that," Krzyzewski said Tuesday at a press conference. "I think we have a good team, obviously you want everyone healthy and back who you thought would be back, but I'm good about our team."
When I heard Coach K's thoughts on positions I had a horrible vision of Brian Zoubek bringing the ball up the floor.
The good thing is that the two guards who remain are very good players in Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer, both probably starters. But there is such a thing as depth, and it's useful at every position.
What happens if one or both those players gets into foul trouble or has an injury? There won't be anybody there to reliably run the offense or match-up with opposing guards.
Duke will have some talent on the team, and for once most of them will be bigger guys. Kyle Singler, Lance Thomas, new-comers Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly will all be contributors. But I don't believe you can just throw four or five talented big guys out on the floor and have them play. That could put you at a disadvantage when you play teams with smaller, quicker guards.
It's too bad the recruiting class for this year only brings in Plumlee and Kelly. They are both great recruits, but ball handlers could have been useful this year. Now Duke runs the risk of being one injury away from some real trouble.
