2008 Duke Basketball Predictions & Season Preview
Written October 5, 2008 by Jack Jones
The 2008-09 Duke basketball team is going to have to finish a lot stronger than they did last March in order for this to be considered a successful year. The team made big improvements by going 13-3 in the ACC and 28-6 overall, but losses in three of their final five games stung a little bit. The loss at home to North Carolina cost them the ACC regular season title. The second round loss against West Virginia sent them home early from the NCAA tournament. With all eyes on North Carolina this year, Duke has a chance to go under the radar. Make no mistake about it though, this is a very good team who has a legitimate title shot with four starters coming back. The odds on Duke winning the national title are +1000, meaning that a $100 bet would net you $1,000. In our ACC basketball predictions article, we placed Duke 2nd in the conference.
The frontcourt for Duke isn’t very deep, and if someone doesn’t step up it could be their Achilles heel like it was last season. Kyle Singler is a stud, there is no question about it. He was the ACC Freshman of the Year while averaging 13.3 ppg and 5.8 rpg. Singler did all that while playing mostly out of position, since he’s a small forward type who likes to face the basket. The trouble he ran into was being tired late in the year, from playing too many minutes. That means that like junior Brian Zoubek needs to stay healthy to eat up minutes and freshman Miles Plumlee needs to contribute immediately. If one of those two comes through, then this team will be right there contending with North Carolina.
Greg Paulus is a senior leader from the point guard position who can shoot the rock. He made 83 3-point attempts last season to lead the team, but he is a little slow defensively. Jon Scheyer can also shoot the ball, making 47 threes of his own, but like Paulus has trouble guarding quicker players. The real key to the Duke offense will be Gerald Henderson, who will try to fill the shoes left by DeMarcus Nelson. Henderson will average 15+ points per game as a junior and his ability to drive and kick the ball out to the shooters is key to making this offense work. Elliot Williams is a McDonald’s All-American that should see time right away and will come in to help out on defense due to his quickness and speed.
Final Analysis
We expect some big things out of Duke this year. They lost a big contributer in Nelson, but have the talent to make up for it. If the Blue Devils can get some frontcourt help for Singler, and Henderson can drive and kick back to the sharp shooters, this team will do well. It should also help that for once they are out of the spotlight and won’t be the ones with a big target on their backs, as the Tar Heels have taken over the role of the favorites. If you think Duke has potential, bet them at Sportsbook.com where you get a 100% bonus on your first winning wager!
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