{"id":38892,"date":"2015-11-12T17:47:05","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T22:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/?p=38892"},"modified":"2015-11-12T17:47:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T22:47:05","slug":"duke-blue-devils-2015-16-basketball-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/duke-blue-devils-2015-16-basketball-preview-38892\/","title":{"rendered":"Duke Blue Devils 2015-16 Basketball Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Coach<\/a>
Coach K is taking on three potential one and done talents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Duke<\/strong>
\n Odds to win title: +850<\/strong>
\n 2014-15 record: 35-4, 15-3 ACC<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Mike Kryzewski has come to accept that to be a top program he has to play host to \u201cone and done talents,\u201d the latest of which was No. 3 overall NBA pick Jahlil Okafor.<\/p>\n

This year Duke has three potential one and done talents to go with some returnees. Four regulars from last year\u2019s squad are back, but none of them were stars and this year\u2019s freshman will play a bigger role.<\/p>\n

College basketball lines here!<\/a><\/p>\n

In the backcourt, Grayson Allen and Matt Jones were both McDonald\u2019s All-Americans and both became role players last year. Allen averaged 4.4 points and 1.6 rebounds per game but is considered to be a first round talent. Jones is a steady role player who averaged six points per game and 2.3 boards per contest.<\/p>\n

Derryck Thornton will run the point position and Luke Kennard will come in off the bench to add some distance shooting to the mix. Thornton is a pure point guard and will be handed the reigns right away, and he is good at penetrating and finishing at the rim.<\/p>\n

Sportsbook reviews!<\/a><\/p>\n

Thornton\u2019s shooting stroke needs some work, but his aggressiveness in looking for his own offense will be mostly a good thing. Allen is capable of playing a major role this season and he is a rugged guy who will get at opposition. He can step out and hit deep threes too, which is a nice feature in making the leap to the next level. Kennard and Jones will vie for minutes and Kennard is an excellent shooter and passer who could keep the second unit flowing well.<\/p>\n

Duke\u2019s frontcourt is going to feature 6\u20199\u201d swingman Brandon Ingram, who should be an impact player. He can pass well and handle the ball and is going to be a premier talent in the draft. He will need to take Coach K\u2019s instruction to become a bigger threat on the blocks and begin to take advantage of his frame, but his natural gifts are undeniable.<\/p>\n

Chase Jeter, a 6\u201910\u201d big man is good down low but needs to continue to add bulk. Marshall Plumlee is going to clean up messes at the hole and he averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds last year in limited duty.<\/p>\n

Senior Amile Jefferson averaged 6.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and he could be primed for a much bigger role. He is a good rebounder and can finish well around the basket, but he is not a star. Just getting maybe 8-11 points from Jefferson would constitute a huge success. \u00a06’11” center Antonio Vrankovic adds depth and is good on the boards with nice shooting touch.<\/p>\n

But Duke is reliant on three freshman carrying it as far as it can go.<\/p>\n

Coach K is now embracing the chance to coach premier talents for one year, rather than adopt a less aggressive stance and try to only take three and four year players. There are enough vets on the team to keep it stable, and it should really just be a huge influx of talent.<\/p>\n

It is hard to bet against Coach K with a loaded deck, and Vegas oddsmakers agree setting the line for Duke at just +850 at Bovada.<\/p>\n

Purchase our premium pick plans for the 2015-16 NCAA basketball season!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Duke Odds to win title: +850 2014-15 record: 35-4, 15-3 ACC Coach Mike Kryzewski has come to accept that to be a top program he has to play host to \u201cone and done talents,\u201d the latest of which was No. 3 overall NBA pick Jahlil Okafor. This year Duke has three potential one and done […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40250,"featured_media":19175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1444],"tags":[9289,7155,6544,9280,7877],"class_list":["post-38892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-basketball","category-headlines","tag-acc-basketball-betting-previews","tag-college-basketball-oddsmakers","tag-duke-blue-devils-basketball","tag-ncaa-basketball-championship-odds","tag-ncaa-basketball-picks-and-predictions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38893,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38892\/revisions\/38893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}