Duke Post Season Player Evaluations 2010-2011 – Forwards/Centers

Continuing our evaluations, let’s head inside the paint and take a look at the forwards and centers.

#5 Mason Plumlee -

Season Review – 7.2 PPG, 1.6 APG, 8.4 RPG, 1.7 BPL, 0.9 SPG

Mason Plumlee has shown flashes of being great; the issue is his talent level makes flashes of greatness a little disappointing.  There were a lot of other times were Mason looked lost and passive.  Athletically we all know that Mason has every tool needed to become a great presence inside for Duke, but it is the mental part of the game that Mason needs to find this off season.  Add a consistent mid range game, a go to back to the basket move, and some strength and Mason will be a huge contributor for Duke next year.

Expected Role Next Year – Starting at the 5 position

Needs Improvement – Back to the basket move, overall basketball awareness, mid range jumper and FT%.

#12 Kyle Singler–

Season Review – 16.9 PPG, 1.6 APG, .321 3P%, 6.8 RPG, 0.3 BPG, 0.9 SPG

Kyle Singler took a step back in all statistical categories other than FG% (43%) and FT% (80%).  Some of this could be due to Nolan Smith and for 11 games Kyrie Irving’s emergence as big time scoring options.  Yet you cannot blame that for Singler’s big drop in 3P%.  There were still a lot of times where Singler would take a game over for Duke and rose up to the #3 spot on the all time Duke scoring list.  Singler had one of the greatest careers in Duke History and still had a great season this year even if it wasn’t up to his potential.

Expected Role Next Year – NBA Reserve

Needs Improvement – Consistent outside shooting, foot speed and strength

#15 Josh Hairston –

Season Review – 1.4 PPG, 0.1 APG, 1.2 RPG, 0.1 SPG

Josh Hairston didn’t get much playing time this year, and may not again next year.  With only Singler leaving the 4 position and possibly 3 new freshmen (Alex Murphy, Marshall Plumlee and possibly DeAndre Daniels) coming in that can play that position.  Yet when you see Hairston play, you can see a very Lance Thomas-ish style of player that could develop over a 4 year career.  Hairston may not give Duke much next year, but I think we will hear a lot from him before his career with Duke is over.

Expected Role Next Year – 4^th forward off the bench.

Needs Improvement – Strength, offensive and defensive game

#21 Miles Plumlee –

Season Review – 4.8 PPG, 0.4 APG, 4.9 RPG, 0.5 BPG, 0.6 SPG

Much like his brother Mason, you only see flashes of what Miles could be.  With Miles those flashes are less flashy and less frequent.  The elder Plumlee would disappear for weeks at a time this year, then have a nice game…then go back to irrelevance.  Going into his senior season Miles will have a lot of competition for playing time.  Here's hoping that the competition makes Miles better.

Expected Role Next Year – Possible back up at the 5 position

Needs Improvement – Consistency, back to the basket move, FT% and awareness

#34 Ryan Kelly –

Season Review – 6.6 PPG, .8 APG, .319 3P%, 3.7 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 0.7 SPG

Ryan Kelly was one of the most improved players on the Duke team last year.  He was probably the most consistent big man on the team.  You would never know what you would get from the Plumlees, but when Kelly was out there you knew you’d get open shots falling, solid defense and solid rebounding.  Kelly isn’t going to blow anyone’s doors off with moves or athleticism but he will knock down an open shot and give all he has defensively and on the boards.  Kelly looks like he will be a great contributor for his last two seasons at Duke.

Expected Role Next Year – With DeAndre- backup Without DeAndre- possible starter at the 4 spot

Needs Improvement –Strength, 3P% and work on low post game.

Next week I’ll take a look at the incoming freshman class that continues to grow.  DeAndre Daniels is expected to announce his decision within the next week.  I will post after his announcement.

Alex Murphy to Enroll at Duke in 2011

A great recruiting class for Duke next year just got better, 5 star recruit (#2 rated SF in 2012) has met his academic requirements to attend Duke in 2011. 

Whether or not Murphy plays next year will be decided at a later date, as he maybe redshirted if it is found he won't see much playing time.

Will this affect the decision of DeAndre Daniels, another 2011 SF who just visited Duke this past weekend?  We will have to wait and see.

Here is more info from Scout.com:

http://duke.scout.com/2/1065768.html?refid=400

More to come on this and all the incoming freshman in the coming weeks on Mr. Duke.

Harrison Barnes Returning to Chapel Hill: The Mr. Duke Reaction

If, like me, you are a fan of a NBA team that is in the lottery for the NBA Draft this June, you’re going to want your team to get one of the top 2 picks.  Reason being, after the first two players’ (Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams…pretty much a lock) the impact players are hard to come by.  The guy who could have made the impact players “duo” a “trio” in this year’s draft announced April 18^th that he would be returning to school. 

Harrison Barnes took more time in his announcement to the basketball world than his teammates Tyler Zeller and John Henson did.  All 3 had high first round draft outlooks and now all 3 will be returning to Chapel Hill.  With Barnes being predicted to be taken in the top 3, he by far was the most likely to jump to the NBA.  In the end though, the draw of a possible championship run combined with a run at Player of the Year at UNC was greater than the draw of instant millions as a top 3 pick.  UNC now will be voted, by most, as the preseason #1 and favorite to win it all and Barnes voted as a Preseason Player of the Year candidate for the ACC and NCAA.

In a previous post on STOB, we predicted (way too early) the NCAA preseason top 10; this announcement will not change my predictions at all:

1. UNC

2. Ohio State

3. Duke

4. Texas

5. Kentucky

6. Syracuse

7. Memphis

8. Louisville

9. Michigan

10. Cincinnati

Predicted Final Four – Duke, Louisville, UNC and Michigan

Predicted Champion – UNC

Possible Issues even with Barnes -

With Barnes back it would be easy to say that UNC will just coast through and dominate their way to a championship.  Yet, even with all the scoring that UNC will have inside, their outside shooting will still be a bit suspect.  The addition of the sniper freshman PJ Hairston (#4 ranked SG) will help, but UNC will need consistent three point shooting from last year’s inconsistent shooting Barnes (34%), Dexter Strickland (25%), Leslie McDonald (38%), Kendall Marshall (37%) and Reggie Bullock (29%). 

Defense is an area that UNC always, it seems, only focuses on from time to time.  This lack of engagement on the defensive side of the ball could definitely throw a detour on the road to the championship for UNC.  The ability to play good defense is there with the talent on the floor, but defense isn’t about skill, it’s about “want to”.  Roy Williams will need to instill a commitment to defense if UNC is to reach its championship potential.

Barnes started slow last year, but consistently got better and better throughout the season.  If he can continue this growth, he very well could be the best player in college basketball next year on the best team.  Sounds like a pretty good incentive to stay in school and put off millions for just one more year, I guess Barnes agrees.

As a Duke Fan –

How does a Duke fan not take this as bad news?  Kyrie Irving, who also was a lock as a top 3 pick like Barnes did jump to the NBA.  UNC will return its entire starting five, while Duke’s starting five will look very different with (when everyone was healthy) 3 of the 5 headed to the Association.  Poor little Duke has no chance next year.  How could it get any worse?  Where will you find a positive light that you can take and shine on this decision by Harrison Barnes?

Let’s take a little look at a couple teams minus team names whose situations, match up very well with Duke and UNC this spring.

Team A –

Team will be coming off of a National Championship and returning 2 leading scorers and best players after they decide not to go to the welcoming NBA.  In the upcoming season Team A will be bringing in a top recruiting class to add to an already impressive list of returning players.  Team A is chosen as the preseason #1 after the announcement of its final player, a 6’8 SF, considering the NBA Draft that he is coming back.

Team B –

Coming off a disappointing season.  A season that at most schools, would be considered good or acceptable, is not near the expectations that this school has.  Arch rival, Team A, is coming off a better season.  Team A is now announcing the return of their best players, while also bringing in more great recruits.  Team B has some hope though; they are adding the #1 recruit in the country.  A player everyone says could go to the Association from High School if rules allowed such a move.  Other great recruits are also coming with the #1 recruit, and offers hope.

End result?

You are all smart…you have by now figured out that Team A is Duke last year at this time and Team B was UNC last spring.  Duke (Team A) had a nice season with the preseason hype, but finished their year behind UNC (Team B) in the ACC regular season standings and didn’t last as long in the NCAA Tournament (Duke – Sweet 16, UNC – Elite 8). 

I think if you compare the two it’s amazingly similar.  Duke will be young and inexperienced next year.  They will be led by a much hyped Austin Rivers, just like Barnes led UNC last year.   Also like UNC last year, I think it will take some time for Duke to find its roles and how to work together to be the best they can be this year.  I think like Duke last year, UNC will come out firing from the beginning.  Seeing as the core of the team is returning that has already learned how to play together is returning, and only the freshman will need to figure out their roles.  I’d say that this time last year, UNC was actually in a worse situation than Duke is now, when looking strictly at the rivalry.

Will it end up just like last year?  Will UNC max out its potential and not continue to improve all year and end up behind a Duke team that starts slow and improves all year in 2011-2012?  These are question for which the answer can only be found in time.  Yet, if you are a Duke fan, this is the hope that currently I can find in a situation that in all ways is pointing towards “The Rival” having the upper hand in the upcoming season.

Duke Post Season Player Evaluations 2010-2011 - Guards

Now that the season is wrapped up and Kyrie Irving has made his decision, what is left to do?  Well let’s take a look back at the players who played this year and review their performance.  Also let’s take a look at the players and what I think they need to improve for next year.  First up this week: The Guards. 

#1 Kyrie Irving -

Season Review – 17.5 PPG, 4.3 APG, .462 3PT%, 3.4 RPG, 0.5 BPL, 1.5 SPG

In just 11 games Kyrie Irving did enough this year at Duke to possibly be the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft this summer.  No one knows how good this Duke team could’ve been if Irving hadn’t hurt his toe against Butler in December.  In the 3 games in the tournament it was obvious that Duke was still trying to figure out how to work Irving back into the flow.  Irving was the best player on the team in the first 8 games this year and his playmaking ability was missed while he was out.  He had a great year, even if it was way too short.

Expected Role Next Year – NBA Starter

Needs Improvement – Strength and defense

#2 Nolan Smith –

Season Review – 20.6 PPG, 5.1 APG, .350 3P%, 4.5 RPG, 0.1 BPG, 1.2 SPG

ACC Player of the Year.  In his 4 years, Nolan Smith improved and improved and improved.  By his senior year he was arguably the best player on the team (Irving?).  Nolan Smith improved his 3 pt shot from last year and overall outside shooting.  He took over after Irving went down with his injury and led Duke to a 1 seed.  Austin Rivers will have big shoes to fill in trying to replace Nolan Smith next year as “the guy”.

Expected Role Next Year – NBA Reserve

Needs Improvement – Playing PG and outside shooting

#3 Tyler Thornton –

Season Review – 1.6 PPG, 1 APG, .267 3P%, 0.6 RPG, 0 BPG, 0.5 SPG

Tyler Thornton came into this year behind Kyrie Irving and as a freshman wasn’t expected to play much at all.  Instead he played much more than expected after Irving went down.  Thornton developed into a defensive minded energy guy for Duke and even earned starts in the middle of the year.  Moving forward Thornton gained some great experience this year, which could be the silver lining in the Irving injury. 

Expected Role Next Year – Battling Quinn Cook for starting PG position

Needs Improvement – Strength and offensive skill set

#20 Andre Dawkins –

Season Review – 8.1 PPG, 0.6 APG, .427 3P%, 1.9 RPG, 0.1 BPG, 0.6 SPG

Andre Dawkins was tough to figure out this year.  He would be great, then disappear for a week or two…then come back and be huge for Duke.  Coach K was down on Dawkins at times this year due to a lack of interest on the defensive end.  Dawkins found himself on the bench even more after Seth Curry’s coming out party against UNC in the rivalry’s first matchup this year.  Dawkins will again be battling a lot of other great players for playing time again next year with 2 (possibly 3 with DeAndre Daniels) wing players in Gbinije and Rivers coming in.

Expected Role Next Year – Possible starter or sniper off the bench

Needs Improvement – Defensive focus, strength and variety of offensive skills

#30 Seth Curry –

Season Review – 9 PPG, 2 APG, .435 3P%, 1.8 RPG, 0.1 BPG, 1.4 SPG

It took a little while, but once the UNC game came around, we finally saw it.  Curry showed us his game changing offensive ability and took the game over with Nolan Smith to get Duke the victory at home.  Curry now needs to add to his shooting and improve his offensive variety much like Dawkins.  In the end though the future is very bright for Seth Curry at Duke, and I for one can’t wait to see his improvement next year.

Expected Role Next Year – Possible starter or sniper off the bench

Needs Improvement –Strength and variety of offensive skills

Next week I’ll take a look at the big men and forwards.

Reaction: 11 Great Games and Kyrie is Gone

So the announcement has been made.  Kyrie Irving is done at Duke.  With Irving back, as stated before, Duke would’ve been a title contender.  Now without Irving, Duke is still a contender but even younger in leadership than they would’ve been if a would be sophomore with 11 games of experience had come back.  Duke will more than likely now be lead by freshman Austin Rivers.  Rivers will be the main scorer and with what I’ve seen of his maturity he will also be the main vocal leader.  But that is a discussion for later on; let’s focus on Irving right now.  I have two reactions to this expected announcement. 

Fan Reaction:

As a fan I am not happy.  I wish he’d come back and given us all the thrill of seeing Irving and Rivers paired up in the back court together next year.  I wish Duke would’ve again been the favorites to win it all next year, even though in the past decade the favorite preseason rarely wins it all in the postseason.  I wish I could’ve seen more than just 11 games, 8 healthy and 3 not quite 100%, of Irving in a Duke uniform.  In the end though that is me being a selfish Duke fan, and isn’t really fair.

Big Picture Reaction:

If you are a guaranteed top 3 pick, like Irving is, you go pro.  There is no reason to risk dropping in the draft and losing as much as 4 million in just a few picks.  Even if Irving had another great year, didn’t get injured and led Duke far into the tournament, he still may not be top 3 next year.  New prospects come into the NBA sights and more of your flaws are shown the more you play as a prospect, and the “experts” out there would start picking on Irving for not having as much upside as some other freshman phenom.  I think it’s the right move for Irving to be moving on if I look at his situation without letting my fandom enter into my opinion.

Coming soon, we’ll look at the future of Duke next year more and move on from the players who will never suit up for Duke again.

Also, podcasting coming soon on STOB.

Kyrie Irving Going Pro

The news is out, Kyrie Irving is done after 1 year at Duke. 
Can you blame him? No.

Am I worried about Duke competing for a title next year? No.

Do I think Irving made the right choice?  As stated here before, he wouldn't have made a bad choice either way.


Those are my very quick reaction's to Irving's announcement, much more to come tomorrow.

With a Champ Crowned: What does the future hold? Irving? Barnes? Plumlee? Lockout?

If you aren’t a fan of UConn, today you maybe wondering what to do until college basketball starts up again.  If you are a UConn fan, you are probably continuing to burn down Storrs to show…how happy you are?!?!  As a Duke fan I have a few things I’ll be keeping my eye on closely over the next few weeks.  Some decisions that will be made in the upcoming weeks will greatly affect the outlook of the 2011/12 season.

Kyrie Irving’s Decision –

As discussed ad nauseam here, Irving is weighing his decision on whether or not to go pro after 1 injury robbed year at Duke.  What we know? He is in most people’s mind the #1 selection if he leaves.  NBA lockout sounds imminent.  He has unfinished business at Duke after getting bounced in the Sweet 16 and missing most of the year with an injury.  Kyrie has tweeted (he announces a lot via Twitter. Not on Twitter? Follow him on Mr. Duke) he will make an announcement in the next week.  If he comes back, Duke will battle arch rival UNC for the top spot in preseason polls. 

Harrison Barnes’ Decision –

Monday it was announced Barnes would announce his decision to stay at UNC on Tuesday.  As this post was written that announcement hadn’t come to fruition, but an announcement saying that Barnes’ announcement would come in the next week has been announced.  So like Irving, we can only speculate, and speculate we will.  I see Barnes returning, he has definitely given stronger signals that he is leaning that way than his pal Irving has.  Like Irving, if Barnes returns his team will then become a favorite next year.

DeAndre Daniels’ Decision –

DeAndre Daniels is a top SF recruit that, in most “expert’s” opinion, has Duke as his most likely destination next year.  At 6’8, Daniels seems like a very nice replacement for Kyle Singler at the SF/PF (PF maybe a stretch with his slight frame) flex player for Duke.  Daniels is lean and will need to add some strength this summer, but with a great shooting stroke and ability to score in a lot of ways, Daniels could be the cherry on top of Duke’s already great recruiting class sundae.  Daniels is scheduled to visit Duke April 15^th, an announcement regarding his decision could come soon after.

Mason Plumlee Decision?! –

At the beginning of this year I was worried that Mason would possibly jump to the pros after his sophomore year.  Following a mildly disappointing season for Mason, I wasn’t expecting to hear he was still considering it.  Yet he is because the NBA loves long and athletic big men who play at big schools, because of this Mason has some NBA scouts loving his upside.  With a very weak draft class only getting weaker as big men like Jared Sullinger decide to stay in school, it is possible Mason sees an opportunity to get drafted higher than he probably should this year. 

Although I think it’d be a mistake by a NBA team to take Mason, I would not be entirely shocked by Mason making the decision to go.  Mason again isn’t going to be a focal point of the offense next year, in fact he maybe even less of a focal point as he will have more competition for minutes and inside touches.  Marshall Plumlee is said to possibly be the best of the Plumlees, and with him coming into the fold in 2011/12, Mason may actually be a little overshadowed and lose NBA value.  Keep an eye on Mason, I hope if anything he just tests the NBA waters and gets some tips on improving and gauging his value without jumping into the draft in full by hiring an agent early.

NBA Lockout Talk –

There will be draft this summer.  The question is when will those drafted be able to play?  NBA insiders are making it sound like the owners will be making some demands that will be very tough for the player’s association to accept.  With that in mind, the insiders are thinking it is almost a lock that the lockout will continue into the regular season and cause the NBA to miss a month or two of games.  Why does this matter to a college basketball fan?  If the talk of a lockout continues to be pessimistic in tone, college basketball players with NBA hopes will be more prone to stay in school.  The more quality players staying in school, the better the college product next year and hopefully we don’t have to relive the Butler-UConn championship game next year. 

In fact there is a lot of talk that coming from the labor negotiations a 2 or 3 years in NCAA play requirement maybe agreed upon.  Meaning that if you commit to play in college, you will have to play 2 or 3 (whichever is agreed upon) years prior to being able to play in the NBA.  The rule already is in affect in MLB and the NFL and would improve the college game greatly by creating teams that stick together longer than one year.  Imagine some of the super teams that would have been playing in this years NCAA tourney had all the kids who have left early in the past 3 years been required to stay in school until after their junior year…wow.

College bball is over.  A champion has been crowned.  Yet, the intrigue within the college basketball world is anything but over, in fact STOB is already looking forward to next year.  Stay tuned.

NCAA Championship Game: UConn vs. Butler

Well we’ve finally made it to the destination all college basketball fan’s (including me of course) wanted their team to be, in the title game Monday night.  Unfortunately if you are not a fan of UConn or Butler, your team’s season has ended in disappointment.  Even if you are a fan of UConn or Butler, one of you will also be just as disappointed as the rest of us as you lie your head down tonight for some restless sleep.  Which fan base will be disappointed?  Well I’ve already made my pick, and since I got lucky and predicted the semi-finals correctly there is no need for me to make another prediction.  The question is; why do I think Butler will win?

Butler will win simply because better than anyone else in the past two years (including Duke), they play as a team.  Defensively and offensively they play together like no other team has.  There were a lot of ways, outside of Hayward’s half court heave that barely missed, that Butler could be defending their championship and not just trying to avenge their loss.  Duke has been the only team in the past two years now that has actually been able to beat Butler in the tourney. 

Like Duke, UConn without argument has more talent on their team than Butler.  Like Duke, UConn is led by a coach with multiple championships to his name.  This time though, Butler has been here before and you could see on Saturday night there is a determination to their play this year that they will not be denied. 

How to deal with Kemba?

Ronald Nored is the best perimeter defender in the nation.  He will be assigned the unenviable job of trying to slow down Kemba Walker tonight.  The great thing for Nored is that he will have a lot of buddies ready to help him.  Butler plays amazing team defense and the problem for UConn is that, outside of Walker and Jeremy Lamb, they are short on offensive threats.  They have made it to the championship game with only two scorers, but I think they have now run into their kryptonite in Butler. 

Nobody in the past two years (again, including Duke) has been able to get Butler to play any game other than the game Butler wants to play.  The same cannot be said for teams playing Butler, they always, unwillingly, begin playing the exact game that Butler wants them to.  Butler will not allow Kemba to do what he usually does, and outside of Provo, Utah no team relies on one guy to do what he does in order to win more than UConn.  Once off of their game, UConn will begin to fold and Butler will pull out the victory.

I look forward to tonight’s game.  I love watching Brad Stevens coach and I am hoping he will get the ultimate award for his hard work these past two seasons with a title.

Butler 62 – UConn 57

Harrison Barnes Going Back to UNC: Kyrie Irving's Decision Soon to Follow?

Per Marty Tirrell’s Twitter page, Harrison Barnes is going to comeback for his sophomore season at UNC. 

That does this mean?

It means that if John Henson and Tyler Zeller follow Barnes’ lead, UNC is going to be really, really good.  We all witnessed how UNC grew this year into a title contender after starting the season in disappointing fashion.  If given another off season to mesh and improve while adding in a nice recruiting class, you can see some people predicting a title in Chapel Hill next year.  As a Duke fan, I am not too happy with the idea of having to defend Barnes again next year, but I am optimistic that this could lead to Kyrie Irving making the same decision.

Does Kyrie Irving follow his buddy Barnes’ lead?

I predicted in my Kyrie Irving post that; whoever decides to or not to go pro first between Irving and Barnes the other would do the same.  I now hope more than ever that this prediction comes true.  I think all college basketball fans would hop on board this “hope wagon” I am driving.  Everyone loves an underdog, but in order to have an underdog, you need top dogs and if Irving copies Barnes there will definitely be two big top dogs next year in Duke and UNC.  Stay close to a computer and monitor the twitter feeds of you favorite college basketball tweeter because now that news is coming out about Barnes, Irving’s announcement is sure to be coming soon.

Kyrie Irving’s Decision: Either Way a Good Choice

Time to play “pretend”. 

Pretend you’re a 19 year old kid and you have a choice to make.  On one hand you can accomplish your dream of playing in the NBA and get selected in the draft, at worst being a 3^rd pick.  With this choice you are guaranteed to be making multi millions per year for 3 years.  Combine your talent and a little luck with injuries (or lack there of) you have 15-18 more years of playing basketball making millions every year doing what you love. 

Your other choice is to go back to a dream that you have already accomplished in playing at Duke University.  It just so happens that your best friend is enrolling next season (Austin Rivers) and you two would combine to be the best backcourt in the nation from day one of the season.  Duke, with you back, instantly becomes the favorite to win it all.  Play your normal game and at the end of your sophomore year you will again have the opportunity to be a top 5 draft pick.  The millions still waiting, only this time with no fear of a NBA lockout hanging over the draft like there will be this year. 

What would you do?

This is the choice that Kyrie Irving has to make in the next week or two.  Kyrie is coming off of a very interesting year, that hasn’t included much of him playing.  He only played in 11 games this year due to his toe injury suffered in early December.  When the NCAA started it was rumored he would be back for the opening game, and that rumor became fact.  After months of rehab Kyrie put the rumors to bed and took the court against Hampton.  In 3 tournament games Kyrie led Duke in scoring in 2.  Unfortunately though the season ended in the 3^rd game against a red hot Arizona team, in Kyrie’s final game of the season he had 28 points.  His impressive play coming off the injury has NBA teams foaming at the mouth again at the opportunity to draft him.

Reasons To Go -

It seems that the decision to go pro is more likely to be Kyrie Irving’s choice this spring.  In most mock drafts, Irving is listed as the top pick.  It is very tough to pass on the NBA when you're projected to be a 1^st round pick, so to be projected as the #1 overall pick makes it even tougher. 

It is obvious that Irving has the talent and mental grasp of the game of basketball to make it in the pros.  Will he be a superstar?  That is never guaranteed, but with Kyrie’s basketball awareness and physical talents he is pretty much a sure thing to be a quality NBA contributor for years to come.  NBA teams love guys with big upside, guys who are just raw talent.  The issue is those type of players are a big boom or bust potential.  Then there comes along a player like Kyrie, who has boom potential but almost zero bust potential.

Kyrie has already dodged a serious injury affecting his draft prospects.  If he comes back to Duke and gets injured again, it will definitely get him the label of being injury prone.  It’s rare a player can only play 11 games in a season due to injury and still be a projected as a top pick.  Almost any other player in college basketball would be guaranteed to come back to college for another year in order to prove themselves to the pro scouts on the court.  Kyrie Irving is different; in his 11 games he showed the scouts all they needed to know that he is an impact player.  Going pro now will not allow the draft experts to take the label of “impact player” and replace it with “injury prone” if he would be unlucky enough to get injured again at Duke next year.

One thing I am very sick of hearing whenever a high profile player in any sport is on the cusp of making the decision to go pro or not is: He should stay in school and get an education.  This is the dumbest argument of all time against going pro from college or even high school.  If you are a lock to be a 1^st round pick in any sport, you are guaranteed to a contract.  Even if you never sign another contract after that, and you don’t spend all of your money on gold plated toilet paper, you will have enough cash to go back to school.  You can complete schooling in the off season or after your playing year's are over.  “Once they leave, they’ll never go back to school.”  That might be true for many of the players, but guess what?  If that player isn’t that interested in a degree after they leave, they are probably not that interested in it even when they are in college.  So if they stay and play all 4 years of their eligibility in athletics, they still won’t graduate, they’ll fill their credit requirements with racquetball classes, never declare a major and still try to go pro after 4 years.  It’s a terrible argument to make against a kid going pro, so please never try this argument in my presence…thanks.

Reasons Not to Go -

He can’t leave with a feeling he didn’t accomplish all he wanted to accomplish at Duke.  11 games is less than I am going to play in my men’s league this spring.  He got a taste of the regular season in non-conference games, he got a taste of the NCAA Tournament in March, yet he missed out on ACC play and Final Four play.  He has to feel like this year was a bit of a lost year.  Also Kyrie must feel there is a ton more that should’ve been and can be accomplished next year at Duke.  He was on the bench and watched Nolan Smith have a National Player of the Year campaign, and if he decides to comeback, he will be a leader to go after that prize next year. 

We’ve seen in the NBA, "buddies" deciding in free agency and via forced trades going to play with their buddies and passing on bigger money to stay put.  That mindset this spring could come over to the college ranks.  Kyrie Irving and Austin Rivers are great friends.  This will be a big deciding factor for Kyrie, to have the chance to be “big men” on campus together with his best bud.  The Irving/Rivers backcourt would be the best in the country, hands down.  Duke would be again a favorite to win it all, largely due to the leadership of the two youngsters, Irving and Rivers. 

Speaking of buddies, another buddy of Kyrie Irving’s could make Irving’s decision to comeback easier.  Harrison Barnes and Irving are buddies as well, and Barnes considered Duke even more after Irving committed last spring.   Instead Barnes went to the arch rival of Irving’s choice in UNC, instantly creating a (more friendly than the rivalry itself) rivalry between the buddies.  They talked trash at the McDonald’s AA Game last spring, talking about whose team would be better, Duke or UNC.  Irving though never got to play head to head against his buddy/rival due to his toe injury.  I feel there is a good chance that what Barnes decides to do, Irving will do and vice versa.  I don’t think one will decide to go pro and then the other decides to stay in college.  I think these two will be talking to each other over the weekend, if Barnes says he is coming back to Chapel Hill, Kyrie won’t be able to pass up the opportunity to play against him in Duke blue next year, something he wasn't able to do this year.

Then there is just the behavior of Kyrie Irving throughout this year after his injury.  I don’t think a lot of players put in Irving’s shoes would’ve sat on the bench for each game, being the team’s biggest fan.  Not many would’ve risked re-injury to get back ahead of schedule for the NCAA Tournament knowing if they had not come back they were still being projected as a top 3 pick.  All of that shows me a kid who loves the college game.  It shows me that college basketball means a lot to Kyrie Irving, enough so that he did already risk his fortune awaiting him in the NBA for the NCAA Tournament this year.  If he can risk it this year, he can do that same thing again next year for the love of college basketball. 

Next year there is a good chance part of the NBA season is missed due to a lockout.  The NBA and the players after the season will need to agree upon a new collective bargaining agreement.  This chances of not getting paid and just sitting there waiting for the season to start after everyone makes up and agrees that, this many million belong here and this many million belongs there, are high.  Unfortunately once an agreement is come to, you will likely have a much shorter training camp, making an already tough task of acclimating to the NBA even tougher.  Many rookies that don’t figure out the league in their first year, get a bad rap, not only from fans but from their own teams and teams around the league.  This can follow you for your entire career as once you’re labeled as “not getting it” its tough to get that label taken off (just ask Adam Morrison).  Kyrie has to be thinking that risk may not be worth it.  He may decide to go and try for a championship with Duke and then come out next year when the labor negotiations have long been completed.  This will allow Irving the maximum opportunity to get ready to play in the league. 

Duke Fan’s Perspective of the Decision –

As a fan, I am really hoping that Kyrie makes the right decision for Kyrie Irving.  Without a doubt if he walks the campus at Duke he will hear classmates and fans telling him to come back.  If he watches ESPN or reads blogs (who reads those?) he will see many people saying he’d be crazy not to go pro.  In the end he needs to make the decision that he’ll be happiest with.  As a Duke fan, focusing on the team only, I would love to have Kyrie come back to Duke and seeing him play next to Austin Rivers.  The projected lineup with Irving back is stacked:

PG-Irving

SG-Rivers

SF-Curry

PF-Mas.Plumlee

C-Mar. Plumlee

Bench: Dawkins, Gbinije, Mi. Plumlee, Kelly, Cook, Hairston, Thornton and possibly Daniels (Don’t know some of these names?  Check back here for previews of the incoming and returning players for next year’s team)

Without Irving next year, I still think Duke has a championship caliber team.  Quinn Cook would start more than likely from day 1 at point guard, due to his superior offensive ability over Tyler Thornton.  We still would have one of the best backcourts in the country, and definitely one of the deepest.  With Cook, Curry, Rivers, Dawkins, Gbinije and Thornton, talent will not be hard to find.

So as you can see, Kyrie Irving’s decision will affect a lot in college basketball.  The great thing is, either choice for Kyrie Irving is a good choice.  Duke will be great with or without him, sure maybe better with, but still great without.  He is ready for the NBA now, but could be better prepared for it if he did comeback.  He has a fortune awaiting him either this year or next.  Most importantly the best part of this choice is that Kyrie Irving will handle this decision like he has handled his career at Duke up to this point, with class (looking your way Lebron).

Hey!  Now that you've read 2000 words about Kyrie Irving, are you wondering, "Boy, I wonder what this writer is listening to while writing this blog?".  YOUR IN LUCK!  Check out my other blog for the answer.