UConn Offers CG David Duke

[UConnStats]

 

[husky429]

What do we know about the kids? @Matrim55 ??

All I really know is that he's recently picked up offers from us and Kansas. Has some Ivy League and local schools before now if I'm not mistaken. Is he poised to make a big jump in rankings similar to Emmanuel Dowuono?

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

We know that he has an unfortunate name.

 

[UConnStats]

What do we know about the kids? @Matrim55 ??

All I really know is that he's recently picked up offers from us and Kansas. Has some Ivy League and local schools before now if I'm not mistaken. Is he poised to make a big jump in rankings similar to Emmanuel Dowuono?

Even moreso than Dowuono. Corey Evans thinks he's top 50 material as of last week. He's a stud.

I would liken David Duke to Jalen Carey. Quick, pretty athletic, 6'3 or 6'4 combo guard. Both can play the 2 and are above average passers for the position. Carey may have a bit more of a scoring instinct, whereas Duke has a stronger frame.

Reeves is 6'5 or 6'6 depending on the publication now, and can score from all 3 levels. He's athletic too and has thrown down some pretty impressive dunks this year. He'll spend time on the wing in college most likely, but can play the 2 and 3.

 

[husky429]

Even moreso than Dowuono. Corey Evans thinks he's top 50 material as of last week. He's a stud.

I would liken David Duke to Jalen Carey. Quick, pretty athletic, 6'3 or 6'4 combo guard. Both can play the 2 and are above average passers for the position. Carey may have a bit more of a scoring instinct, whereas Duke has a stronger frame.

Reeves is 6'5 or 6'6 depending on the publication now, and can score from all 3 levels. He's athletic too and has thrown down some pretty impressive dunks this year. He'll spend time on the wing in college most likely, but can play the 2 and 3.

Thanks. I haven't really taken any time to check out Duke's play, but I have watched the other two.

My guess is the staff is trying to get one of Carey or Duke in to play guard.

Reeves and the other prospect as a 3.

Shittu or another 4.

And Dowuono and others at the 5.

Probably looking at a 4-man class then? Ideally, that is.

Also on Reeves, I wouldn't call him an "athlete" personally. He's got long arms and is athletic for normal standards, but he seems more laterally slow and earthbound than the other guards. It's just their play type. I'd say he's about 1/2way between a Vance Jackson who is very slow, and someone like Carey, who is quick and has pretty decent hops (just not on a Hami D level).

Personally, I'd rather go for the late risers, rather than someone who's been slipping in the ranking like Reeves. Or both? =)

 

[Matrim55]

Also on Reeves, I wouldn't call him an "athlete" personally. He's got long arms and is athletic for normal standards, but he seems more laterally slow and earthbound than the other guards.

This is the book on Reeves. Very good north-south athlete but very limited lateral quickness.

Still, give me a 6-foot-6 shooter who can pass any day and I'll be happy, even if he's dropped from top 30 to top 75 in the last year.

 

[husky429]

This is the book on Reeves. Very good north-south athlete but very limited lateral quickness.

Still, give me a 6-foot-6 shooter who can pass any day and I'll be happy, even if he's dropped from top 30 to top 75 in the last year.

Anyone in the top 100 we should be taking if they want to commit! Maybe with the exception of PG.

What is it that makes duke such a fast riser? I don't see much film of him at a quick glance. But from the little I saw looks fairly athletic, good frame, a couple good passes, and made some shot with decent (but not perfect) form.

 

[FriarJ]

Anyone in the top 100 we should be taking if they want to commit! Maybe with the exception of PG.

What is it that makes duke such a fast riser? I don't see much film of him at a quick glance. But from the little I saw looks fairly athletic, good frame, a couple good passes, and made some shot with decent (but not perfect) form.

Cooley has been on him for a while. He's pretty good at noticing talent before they blow up (hasn't helped land them though, Gabriel, Abu, Mitchell, etc...) But he should be Top 60 soon. This kid is very good. Swider, Duke; been a while since RI has had two high major talents in the same class.

 

[Matrim55]

What is it that makes duke such a fast riser? I don't see much film of him at a quick glance. But from the little I saw looks fairly athletic, good frame, a couple good passes, and made some shot with decent (but not perfect) form.

Explosive athlete with great body control, which means he's an elite finisher in traffic. Think about all those missed layups from Rodney... Duke's biggest strength is he makes those.

Also supposed to be a total SOB/competitor, which is what Mass Rivals is known for. New England kids are tough!

 

[Silk31]

Let's continue to build that Mass Rivals Pipeline!

 

[RipCity]

Explosive athlete with great body control, which means he's an elite finisher in traffic. Think about all those missed layups from Rodney.. Duke's biggest strength is he makes those.

Also supposed to be a total SOB/competitor, which is what Mass Rivals is known for. New England kids are tough!

Never got the explosive vibe from Duke, although he is definitely an athletic kid. He looks like a good finisher, but not like the type to dunk in traffic.

Adding two guys who've already played together would be a definite plus, and they've both played behind MAL too.

 

[Matrim55]

Never got the explosive vibe from Duke, although he is definitely an athletic kid. He looks like a good finisher, but not like the type to dunk in traffic.

I'll definitely defer to you here, as I've not seen Duke play in person at all. Passing on what I've heard from other folks, some professional evaluators and some not.

Has @Ricker given us his opinion on Duke yet?

 

[RipCity]

I'll definitely defer to you here, as I've not seen Duke play in person at all. Passing on what I've heard from other folks, some professional evaluators and some not.

Has @Ricker given us his opinion on Duke yet?

I've only seen what you've seen I'd assume, which is about 2.5 min of YouTube reel.

Hopefully Ricker can weigh in but Duke wasn't someone scouts paid much attention to until recently, so we may be fairly in the dark until the summer when Mass Rivals gets going again.

 

[husky429]

Explosive athlete with great body control, which means he's an elite finisher in traffic. Think about all those missed layups from Rodney.. Duke's biggest strength is he makes those.

Also supposed to be a total SOB/competitor, which is what Mass Rivals is known for. New England kids are tough!

That will be nice to have, though Rodney was a terrific finisher in high school. We could use that ability.

It's actually amazing to see how much his game as changed. In high school he was a bulldog on offense who dunked constantly in transition and couldn't really shoot worth a look. Now look at him... He's a spot up 3-man and elite defender. Amazing transition, really.

 

[superjohn]

We need to be better about locking down the top studs in New England. We got Jalen and MAL which is awesome but seen a lot go elsewhere who would have been studs here and in some cases the missing piece. I always thought Reeves was a slam dunk for us but doesn't seem like it's at all the case anymore.

 

[Matrim55]

It's actually amazing to see how much his game as changed. In high school he was a bulldog on offense who dunked constantly in transition and couldn't really shoot worth a look. Now look at him.. He's a spot up 3-man and elite defender. Amazing transition, really.

In the last 2 months his evolution in terms of catch-and-shoot has been remarkable. So much more confidence and no more useless ball fakes.

We need to be better about locking down the top studs in New England. We got Jalen and MAL which is awesome but seen a lot go elsewhere who would have been studs here and in some cases the missing piece. I always thought Reeves was a slam dunk for us but doesn't seem like it's at all the case anymore.

Agree 100%

 

[King Husky]

This is the book on Reeves. Very good north-south athlete but very limited lateral quickness.

Still, give me a 6-foot-6 shooter who can pass any day and I'll be happy, even if he's dropped from top 30 to top 75 in the last year.

Exactly what I noticed too. Not that I'm comparing these two as players, but wouldn't you also say Purvis is a very good north-south athlete, but not laterally? (Although I think it's more of a basketball IQ/instinct type of thing, rather than a lack of athleticism in Purvis's case).

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Exactly what I noticed too. Not that I'm comparing these two as players, but wouldn't you also say Purvis is a very good north-south athlete, but not laterally? (Although I think it's more of a basketball IQ/instinct type of thing, rather than a lack of athleticism in Purvis's case).

Purvis is way more athletic than Reeves.

 

[AfgHusky15]

 

[Silk31]

Purvis is way more athletic than Reeves.

But the real question is, can Reeves put more than two dribbles together in the open court without falling over himself???

 

[husky429]

Exactly what I noticed too. Not that I'm comparing these two as players, but wouldn't you also say Purvis is a very good north-south athlete, but not laterally? (Although I think it's more of a basketball IQ/instinct type of thing, rather than a lack of athleticism in Purvis's case).

Purvis is a terrific defender at this level BECAUSE of his lateral speed. He makes up for his lack of iq with speed. He is always guarding the opponents best 1-3.

I'm liking Duke the more I read up on him.

 

[Matrim55]

Purvis is a terrific defender at this level BECAUSE of his lateral speed. He makes up for his lack of iq with speed. He is always guarding the opponents best 1-3.

Agree for the most part. Rodney is let down by his short arms, small hands and lack of body control - he struggles to take a hit and finish.

 

[Ricker]

I'm afraid Duke is a player I have never seen so I have no opinion.

Today I did go to Brewster Academy's game vs St Thomas Moore. Tomorrow they play Putnam Science and Saturday they play Commonwealth Academy. It's 45min away so I may not go to all. Today Makai had 13 and Sidney Wilson 20 pts.

Makai never continuously plays hard. He floats and watches and then turns it on with a burst. Today's 13 points were 4 hard drives to the hole with contorted successful finishes a la Jalen Adams. 2 for 3 from the line, and 1 for 1 from 3. He missed a 8 ft pull up jump shot which was the only other non lay-up he tried. Wilson was all in the flow of the game and also at the rim and foul line, no jump shots I recollect, (I missed the first 4 minutes of the game). Wilson had one explosive ally-oop from Makai, and, he created an impressive baseline move, otherwise all the scoring was pedestrian. I think Vital will play ahead of Makai unless the game situation requires ball handling, which Makai is stronger with the ball. He jumps well and rebounds as Vital does. Wilson is growing on me but he is a complimentary player, not a 'go to' type.

As a player I have seen Makai in person 6 or more times and I have yet to see a top 30 player in terms of individual play or conspicuously making other players better. However, Brewster is 23-0 and Makai is the leader, and, this is on top of the 22-0 AAU team record where he was the leader. The rest of the team is never overwhelming so there is clearly something intangible he brings with him. I'll take winners every time.

As an aside regarding the Brewster team of 2 years ago, Jalen Adams is our leading scorer and we know his play, Donovan Mitchell is leading scorer on Louisville, (and has a huge number of steals), and David Crisp is the #2 scorer on Washington. Marcus Dickerson has good stats at Georgetown, and they are all shooting just under 40% from 3, (Crisp has taken 167). Justin Simon is sitting out with his transfer from Arizona to St Johns. I think I made the statement years ago that that team could compete in Div 1 and I stand by it.

As a second aside, Kyle Washington of Cincinnati that gave us fits played at Brewster in 2013, I didn't know that.

 

[JMick]

Agree for the most part. Rodney is let down by his short arms, small hands and lack of body control - he struggles to take a hit and finish.

he also seemingly lost some bounce after his RSSO season. I know he had some lower body injuries so I wonder if they played a part.

 

[King Husky]

Purvis is a terrific defender at this level BECAUSE of his lateral speed. He makes up for his lack of iq with speed. He is always guarding the opponents best 1-3.

I'm liking Duke the more I read up on him.

I meant on offense, where Purvis is a north-south when he has the ball in his hands.

 

[husky429]

I meant on offense, where Purvis is a north-south when he has the ball in his hands.

He has no handle or footwork. He travels much more than is called. He can move laterally, but doesn't have the ball skills to. I think it really just comes down to he was bigger and stronger than the competition for most of his playing career; D1 was the first time he had to adapt and NEED footwork.

I imagine if he had decided to play middle linebacker as a kid, he would have had a hell of a career.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

He has no handle or footwork. He travels much more than is called. He can move laterally, but doesn't have the ball skills to. I think it really just comes down to he was bigger and stronger than the competition for most of his playing career; D1 was the first time he had to adapt and NEED footwork.

I imagine if he had decided to play middle linebacker as a kid, he would have had a hell of a career.

Everyone travels much more than called.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

We know that he has an unfortunate name.

At least he's black. It would freak me out if he were white and his name was David Duke. Then again, if you are a black family, why name your kid David Duke? Is it wrong that I don't want him just based on his name?

 

[pj]

Is it wrong that I don't want him just based on his name?

Yes.