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Duke Recruiting General Discussion

Yeah, I think we've seen that strength matters a lot more than height when it comes to wings guarding the 4. Winslow and Moore never had problems or seemed worn down, and PJ Tucker fits a similar mold in the NBA.

Length is a big boost at the 5, if you can swing a real rim protector, but if you're putting a wing at the 4, you're really just trying to avoid him being:
  • A liability on the boards
  • A disastrous enough mismatch that it makes post offense efficient for the opposing PF (unlikely)
  • Too beaten up and worn down by post play
Griffin seems like he'd fit the bit pretty ideally to me.
 
Griffin is 6'7, with a legitimate 7 foot wingspan. The pic is at late 15/maybe 16 years old, too. He can grow more.

Doesn't really matter, like deeyoukayee has stated, but he absolutely can play the 4.

Image-1.png
 
I just look at Ryan Kelly as that stretch 4 that was such a problem for opposing teams. Granted, RK could block shots and grab boards. If Baldwin can knock down 3's at a high level, he can't be any worse at the 4 than Kennard was at the 3.
 
rhfarmer said:
I just look at Ryan Kelly as that stretch 4 that was such a problem for opposing teams. Granted, RK could block shots and grab boards. If Baldwin can knock down 3's at a high level, he can't be any worse at the 4 than Kennard was at the 3.
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Baldwin is probably the best 3 point shooter in the past couple of classes, and he does it at 6'9. He puts up 40% every season and was 35%- all on very high volume and variety- in AAU, which usually deflates 3 point shooting. Probably the best in all of high school basketball up there with Emoni Bates.

Shooting won't be his issue. Rebounding and defense (getting stronger and reaping those benefits) are where he needs to focus.

Realistically, if Patrick Baldwin Jr. were to take a few cycles of roids this year, and it didn't alter his shot, he'd be the best prospect since LeBron James.

He likely won't so he'll simply be a very good lottery pick. Probably outshined by Griffin.
 
That 21-22 team is going to be really heavy on the wings. Theoretically going to have Griffin, Christie, Baldwin, Keels, Baker. Mark Williams should be huge for that squad. I am worried about Jaemyn transferring but I guess we have all of this season to get that figured out.
 
I think Keels and Christie are probably mutually exclusive since they are 2 guards.

I really like Keels. He is more physically developed and can still stroke the 3. The only thing Christie is clearly better at than Keels, by the numbers, is FT shooting.

I worry that Christie would come in and be pretty one-dimensional (3s) and shoot Cam Reddish/Wendell Moore numbers when attacking and be bullied on defense.

Keels visited Duke right before the COVID break out. Christie has yet to do so. We will see what direction we go in.
 
Keels is 5 stars, 18th ranked player on the Composite. 6'5, 210.

Christie is 5 stars, 13th ranked player on the Composite. 6'6, 165.
 
I suppose if we land Baldwin then we should focus more on Keels. Having two of your starters being so one-dimensional and overlapping in skill set does not seem ideal. I like how strong Keels is.
 
Pantone287 said:
Yeah, I think we've seen that strength matters a lot more than height when it comes to wings guarding the 4. Winslow and Moore never had problems or seemed worn down, and PJ Tucker fits a similar mold in the NBA.

Length is a big boost at the 5, if you can swing a real rim protector, but if you're putting a wing at the 4, you're really just trying to avoid him being:
  • A liability on the boards
  • A disastrous enough mismatch that it makes post offense efficient for the opposing PF (unlikely)
  • Too beaten up and worn down by post play
Griffin seems like he'd fit the bit pretty ideally to me.
Click to expand...

while this is definitely accurate I really think the most crucial part of playing a real stretch 4 is whether or not they can be a good rebounder. That’s the issue with Wendell Moore- very strong and very physical athlete but there’s no way he can play the 4 because he doesn’t rebound.

this is also my concern with Baldwin. If he he’s not rebounding even decently at 6’9 in high school he’s not going to in college. Sure it would be nice having him at the 4 offensively but he would offer the exact same presence there at the 3. I don’t think a downshift from the 3-4 changes his offense but it will definitely impact his defense and rebounding.

I also don’t see any scenario in which Griffin will play the 4. He’s not a good rebounder either and when watching him play he’s definitely a guy who is going to dominate on the perimeter. I can see him at the 2/3 but I don’t think it really matters which one he’s playing- unless we land Baldwin because I really think Baldwin has to play the 3. He can defend that position, the rebounding isn’t as important, and his offensive game remains the exact same.
 
Carter said:
I suppose if we land Baldwin then we should focus more on Keels. Having two of your starters being so one-dimensional and overlapping in skill set does not seem ideal. I like how strong Keels is.
Click to expand...

i feel the exact same way.

I would rather land Baldwin than Christie if I had to choose. I think the ideal class to land would be Griffin-Baldwin-Banchero-Chandler-Keels. They all can play together and Keels is a good pickup and a likely 2-3 year player that won’t really bother the top 3 studs, like Grayson in the 2014 class.

assuming Coleman could develop a stand still 3 point shot and be competent offensively, the ideal lineup would be, IMO:
Chandler-Griffin-Baldwin-Banchero-Coleman

again assuming Coleman could develop some type of shot you would have good 3pt shooting and ball handling 3-5 which is just ideal for spacing. Banchero is an elite rebounder and I’m assuming Coleman will hold his own, and then you have big size advantages at the 2/3, so rebounding should be good in addition to really good offense.

off the bench you have Mark Williams, Keels, Baker. I would imagine that Moore and Hurt would definitely be gone in some way but who knows

we probably won’t land Banchero but damn I hope we do.
 
Patrick Baldwin, Jr. junior year stats:

FT: 83/95- 87.4%

3 pt: 67/155- 43.2%

24 ppg.

Wisconsin Gatorade POY.

I would like to see him transfer to a big school and get more physical his senior year.
 
The competition in Wisconsin is so bad. He would really benefit from transferring to an IMG or Montverde or Oak Hill but he probably won’t since his dad is a head coach in Wisconsin.
 
I feel like from everything I've read, we haven't really been recruiting Kuminga since the fall, right?
 
The Athletic released a top 40 players list regardless of class. Here are the rankings which I thought were relevant to Duke:

1.) Emoni Bates
2.) Jonathan Kuminga
3.) Cade Cunningham
5.) Patrick Baldwin Jr
8.) AJ Griffin
9.) Paolo Banchero
11.) Jalen Johnson
28.) Max Christie

for UNC Dayron Sharpe and Caleb Love are 27 and 32
 
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