Duke Basketball Preview: The Front Court
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by Wrmjr
While Josh McRoberts never became the elite scoring forward that Coach Mike Krzyzewski hoped for, his early departure for the NBA leaves a hole that will be difficult for the Blue Devils to fill this year. On paper, Brian Zoubek would appear to be the heir-apparent at the Power Forward/Center spot. The 7-1, 260 pounder could certainly be a space eater on the inside. However, last year he got pushed around a bit on the inside. His off-season strength training was derailed a bit by a foot injury. Zoubek still has promise, but he’ll need to make great strides in the early part of the season to be ready for significant work during the January and February conference games.
A more likely candidate to be an inside presence is Lance Thomas. At 6-8, 220, he will be undersized against some big men. The Duke Basketball Report calls him “a versatile defender who can guard almost any position” and note that if he can get 12-foot jumpers to stick, he’ll force opposing big men to chase him around the floor.
In fact, Duke’s attack this year is likely to be one that forces opposing big men to work on offense and then try to deny them the ball on defense. Freshmen Taylor King (6-6, 230) and Kyle Singler (6-8, 220) are serious offensive threats who can spread the floor (Singler has been compared to Larry Bird!). David McClure (6-6, 200) is a slashing forward who makes good passes. He should be able to break down some defenses and draw defenders, leaving his shooting partners open.
Given this group in the front court, Duke could clearly have some problems with offensive-minded big men. Tyler Hansbrough is a handful for anyone, and at this point I doubt Zoubek is ready for him. After Zoubek, there is no one taller than 6-8 on this team. Instead, Duke will attack with a very athletic group that will force opposing big men to expend lots of energy defending on the perimeter. Duke will be a very difficult team to play a zone defense against this year, and that means opposing centers will have to come out of the lane.
Duke’s success this year will depend upon how well they shoot from the outside and how well this group can rebound in the front court. Another important variable in Duke’s season will be the play of the back court. That will be the subject of my next article.
