I'd pretty much agree with you on all of them. I think Necas is they key. While I think he's more naturally suited to the 3, I think he'll be the main PF this year. I think he can do a lot of what Drame did for us this year, a little bit of everything and whatever the team needs that game. His defensive game was stellar from the get go, but his offensive game developed nicely towards the end of the season. Hopefully that continues, and I expect big things from him next year and going forward. 

Even though he's always been listed as a forward, I've always considered Dixon a center. He's much more athletic than most centers (although perhaps slightly undersized), but his game screams big man. One of my favorite quotes from this season was in the off day during the tournament when he was asked about defending Dainja in the 2nd round. He gave a great answer and capped it off with "I fear no man." If we had a superstar center I'd say we should play a big lineup with Dixon at the 4 spot, but we don't. We also don't seem to be going after any big men in recruiting. So look for Dixon to be the starting center. With only Barre to back him up, he should get plenty of time as long as he can stay out of foul trouble. Luckily he did a much better job of that late in the season. 

Barre gives good mobility for a center, but I don't think he should be playing forward except in dire circumstances. His skill set is good around the rim both ways. I don't think he has the quickness to defend "power forwards" which would have been called wings 20 years ago.

Hronsky has good size, but with his skill set even calling him a small forward is a bit of a stretch. To me, he's a shooting guard in a forwards body. He impressed me early on, but his game hasn't seemed to develop much since he arrived. He'll need to take a big step forward as an upperclassmen if he's going to  be more than a role player. He seems to be a high character guy and definitely has raw talent, so there's no reason it can't happen. It just hasn't seemed to yet for whatever reason.

As for Jake at the point, I really don't see it. His dribble penetration is solid, but I don't know if he has the true ball handling skills for a point guard at this level. He made some very nice passes this year too, but I don't know if he has the court vision to run the offense. I didn't see him in high school at all, and with the inconsistency of the big men offensively this year we desperately needed a third scorer. So I don't know how much of it was lacking the skill set and how much was him filling the role he was asked to. If he does have it in him, it would take massive amounts of work to transform his game that much though.

I hate what the transfer portal has done to college sports, but I am liking it this year because we have a lot to replace from the best Dukes team in generations. High school recruiting hasn't brought in much either. So we are really in need of help in the portal. Dru has been the recruiting coordinator at both stops in his coaching career, so hopefully we'll get it.

Then again we may get Bronny an AJ Price or two, Carey from Miami or a Deloach from Georgia. Who knows at this point.

I'm pretty confident that by skill level and work ethic alone that Hronsky and Necas will be total studs next season.

Rayrich wrote:

I'm pretty confident that by skill level and work ethic alone that Hronsky and Necas will be total studs next season.

I agree. Both are very good, but by next year they should be great.

Rayrich wrote:

NapaDuke wrote:

Rayrich wrote:

I'm pretty confident that by skill level and work ethic alone that Hronsky and Necas will be total studs next season.

I agree. Both are very good, but by next year they should be great.

Yeah man. Necas is a future NBA star, Can just see it coming.
 

Like to see him next to a tape measure and find out exactly how tall he is.

phil95 wrote:

What makes you think that such a growth spurt is coming for Necas? Growing 2-3" after your 20th birthday is not that common of an occurrence. He's listed at 6'8". Is he already taller than that?

He looked taller then 6'8" against BYU. Just before or after that game KD even mentioned Necas as around 6'10" . When he said that, I figured he might have grown  some from the preseason stat of 6'8". 

The only things I will add for discussion as most of what has been said I concur:

1.  What do you think about Chabi and Big Dave on the floor at the same time?  There will be a new cast of characters come fall but a nice big lineup could include Chabi, Big Dave, Jakob “The Eastern Block” Necas.  I don’t think Chabi is a 25 minute a game player yet but at times the Dukes could play very big with those 3

2. I love Matus and expect a big step forward this season but I’m not sure in what way. I don’t see him as a traditional guard. He’s too powerful and large to live on the perimeter and I don’t see him him driving and kicking either to any great success. Matus is an excellent positionless player.  He’ll have to find his role on offense