Azubuike24;1394493 wrote:The player everyone is forgetting about is Rodney Hood.
He was in a brutal situation last year on a team with very little passion and a lame duck coach.
With their size and athleticism, Parker and Hood will be a nightmare combo. Throw in Suliamon, Cook, Murphy, Dawkins and Jones, lots of shooting options for the Blue Devils. My question is who is going to really step up and be a force inside? Jefferson, Plumlee and Hairston? Will it be enough?
I can't wait for Hood. Coach K and Chris Collins have both already commented that Hood might be the best player at Duke
right now. Some of that may be coach speak -- you obviously want to build your players up, especially when they are sitting out as red shirts, in order to bolster their confidence and belief that they are already integral parts of the team -- but I saw him play in the Blue-White game, and he was by far the most natural talent out on the floor. He's a 6-8 swingman with the ability to put the ball on the floor and attack as well as float around the perimeter and drill the three. A perfect small forward in the Duke system.
As for the state of the front court next year, there's no way Marshall Plumlee will be ready to contribute anywhere near starter's -- or even sixth man's -- minutes. Which leaves Duke without a true center. I think the Blue Devils will be forced to play small with Amile Jefferson at center or in some special cases even smaller with Parker and Hood manning the front court -- in certain scenarios that combo could create a major problem for opponents -- and Dawkins, Sulaimon and Cook on the perimeter. Jefferson has shown flashes of an almost Stacey Augmon-like game with the way he can contort and stretch his body and will his way to the basket to score. I'm confident he'll continue to develop and provide Duke a tough force inside. I think he can be a great player. Hairston is a role player and I just don't see him ever progressing beyond that.
