#15 R.P.I. Duke @ #69 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball is rolling downhill.

The Hokies are on the ‘rong side of the hill however after a mountainous o’fer set of roadies and now they return home to the icy/snowy New River confines of their very own Cassell. Now they catch one of the two signature All Coaching Conference basketball factory name-schools right in the O&M teeth. Albeit with a new, and less than a signature -at least thus far- head coach. Gone are the possible G.O.A.T. signature days of Coach “K”. Duke, (14 up against 5 down, (and: .625, or 5-2 in league play)); however, remains (recruiting) loaded for bear and the Hokiebird has found that finding snow-seasonal wins to be bearish indeed. “Winter has Come”. Nevertheless, what you wanna know is… who is gonna win and by how much, right(s)? So, read on… to find, out!

Duke Head Coach: Jonathan James Scheyer:  Age=37, 13–5 (.722) overall and @Duke. Has a rep’ for: backcourt-play, recruiting, and feistiness.
$9,700,000.oo!!!

Youngling Scheyer was born in Northbrook, Illinois, and is the youngest of three children of Laury and Jim Scheyer. He was raised in his father’s Jewish religion and became a Bar Mitzvah. He began dribbling a basketball at age three and played in his first AAU national tournament six years later. As a youth, he played in a league called the Fellowship of Afro-American Men (FAAM), in Evanston, Illinois. He received a scholarship offer from Marquette University’s Tom Crean as an eighth-grader.

Baller Scheyer… was pretty good. ***** or a penta-star (Scout) recruit in national terms. 72nd overall from Rivals. Pt.Guard1 Scheyer (who could and did score), only won one bling. AA Illinois ring as a Jr. This after being tabbed: -and: “לא” I ain’t making any of this up, K?- after being tabbed: “The Jewish Jordan”.  That, and the Glenbrook North High School Spartans’ state championship team is the only high school state championship basketball squad in the nation known to have included an all-Jewish starting line-up. Described as a Larry Bird ‘pistol’ Pete hybrid, this kid only won seventeen, that’s (17) scholastic State and/or National hoopster individual awards. Among ’em: 3x Illinois All-State First Team selection; 2x Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year (2oo5 & 2oo6) and 2x Illinois Hoops Player of the Year 2oo5 & 2oo6.

One example of his dogged pursuit of excellence is that while in high school, Scheyer refused to leave the gym one night until he made 5o consecutive free throws. After finally hitting 49 in a row, he missed his final attempt. His father encouraged him to join him and go home, yet – as his coach recalled – “Jon looked at him and said, ‘No. I’m starting over.’ Then he stayed until he made 5o in a row!
(Tenacious pug, ain’t he?)

After this, baller Scheyer had an okay+++ to good Duke career topped by 18.3 ppg as a Sr. He was only an A.c.c. Academic Honor Roll selection and oh yes… he only got one National Title, bling (2o1o)! Quad year starting Qb1, and he was a ferrous Ironman only missing a game with 144 total collegiate contests contested. For which he merely tallied twenty-five, that’s (25) individual hardwood awards. That and he had a clutch rep’ per the cardiac A.c.c. Tourney and Butler efforting(s) alike. Then he got, mono’. And went un-N.b.a. Drafted for it having missed most camps/combines/workouts.

Overseas however did work out. This after a NASTY eye injury during the Vegas Summer League (St.Mary bless!) As in… Scheyer needed five stitches to close a cut to his right eyelid, his eye’s optic nerve was injured, and he suffered a tear in his retina, which was surgically reattached. Sidelined initially with an eye patch and incapacitating headaches, he ultimately returned to the court wearing protective goggles to protect his eyes. Dangnation. Tho’ he did put in some sharp rally-cap D-League work, Scheyer inked with: Maccabi Tel Aviv (2o11 and 2o12). Then onto: Gran Canaria and then a quickie looksee by the Philly 76’ers and then 6′5″, 190 lbs., baller Scheyer was done.

Big Cheese Scheyer… following his overseas career, Scheyer was added to Duke’s men’s basketball staff by head coach Mike Krzyzewski in April 2o13 as a special assistant after the resignation of assistant coach Chris Collins. With the departure of Steve Wojciechowski from the Blue Devils staff, Scheyer was promoted to a full assistant coach on April 18, 2o14. Following the departure of associate head coach Jeff Capel to become the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh at the end of the 2o18 season, Scheyer was promoted to co-associate head coach along with Nate James. Scheyer served as acting head coach for Duke’s 83-82 win over Boston College on January 6, 2o21, filling in for Krzyzewski who had to miss the game because he was quarantined after being exposed to COVID-19.

On June 2, 2021, it was announced that Scheyer would become Duke’s next head basketball coach after Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement following the end of the 2o21–22 season. After Krzyzewski retired, he officially became head coach in April 2o22

Scheyer was a 2oo6 Inductee into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Poppa Scheyer and wifey, Marcelle (married May 2o17); Children, Noa (born January 2o18),
Jett (born August 2o19), and James (born May 2o22)

Duke at a glance:

• 3rd best in Rebounding Margin!!! (BONUS: 9th best on O-glass alone!)
• 13th best in FT percentage!!!
• 14th best in 3-point percentage D!!!
• 39th in Scoring D!
• 58th best in SWATs!
• 59th most in FTA’s. (i.e., still gettin’ some calls).
• 28oth best in Effective FG percentage O.
• 3o2nd best in 3-point percentage O!
• NO injuries listed. (‘THX” @Coach God!)

Returning Starters=1*

Duke Strengths:

• Heighty Dukie roster… most guys check-in at north of at least 6′5″ here.
• (Lindy’s 3rd-string All-A.c.c.): (Lindy’s Best A.c.c. Rebounder): Kyle Jarred Filipowski: true-C, 7′, 23o debut year lbs. ***** or penta-star baller and ranked as the No.10 overall player and No.2 at his position (Five or Center) per ESPN.com. 2nd posted baller in-state (Ny.). Massachusetts Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year the year before (2o21). 2o21 USA Basketball 3×3 U18 World Cup net-cutter-downer; where he led the Americans to the gold medal. 2o2p Prep State AA or dub-A State Champion. Magna Cum Laude H.S. grad’. (Per: (somehow) tallying a 4.o2 or beyond perfect grade on a four-point-scale!?!). Baseballer and water-polo savant who had next-level looksees here as well as hoops. In hoops itself, Flip’ only flips out for: the team-leading 14.9 ppg with the team-leading 9.2 rpg. That with: 1.3 apg, on 1.2 spg and o.8 bpg. Only the shooting is a bit early-bird career-wise laggin’… 42.4% overall and 25.8 long makes you wonder where he tallies once Special-K acclimates a bit more to the D-1 P5 level of contact. As he does not appear to (yet) enjoy big-time contact on tape to me. Also, some ‘whispers’ say he is mo’ parts Four (P/F) than he is true-parts true-C or Five. Momma-bear (Becka’) balled @Long Beach State, and poppa-bear (Dave) balled at Slippery Rock. Uncle (Randal) hooped @BeeCee. Aunt (Bev’) basketed @Darthmouth. Twin-bro’ (Matthew), is a freshman on the Harvard men’s basketball team in 2o22-23. Hell to da yah, I’d say all dat counts… student-athlete or mathletes rejoice! As the hoops.edu Genome Projects well both on and off-court, here. Lindy’s says that Flip’ is a ‘skilled big who can face the hoop and shoot and pass’. Almost a Tennessee Avenue man’s Point-C (Walton/older Sabonis) of sorts if you will. Will 2-hand dunk and ties to finish strong. Gets physically tested and nearly doubles all other Dukies up on FTA’s (~200% mo’) for it; (a solid: near 79% here). And frankly, some had him fourth of the 4-big-signees upfront for the Dukies this off-season. Po’ Duke, right? Tho’ there are those who wonder on headroom (remaining) here… although his opening digits are epic problems that nearly all of the other 35o menz D-1 squads would love to have. Is a pro’… the only question is: domestic or export?
• * Jeremy Roach: is your Point-G1; at: 6′2″, 18o lbs. and a Leesburg, Va. escapee. This third-year Roach clips yah fo’: a second-best: 11.9 ppg with 2.5 rpg, a 1st-best 3.2 apg, and a sprite-looking 1.1 bpg. This on  35.7% overall paired with: 32.3% from 3-ball range. (The playar’s among you are already seeing the trend emerge, n’est-ce pas?) Anywho… Jeremy is said to be a legit Leader, and he was voted Team Captain for it. Lindy’s says Jay.R. is their sole returning starter, albeit {sic: a} One who must improve his natural shot. As 38% overall for his Duke career might just speak to this. Roach is strong off-the-dribble, kinda like a more deliberate or dribbleriate version of N.Dame/La.Laker David Rivers; and he sure looks the same. 18th ranked baller outta H.S. (Rivals). Has a finisher or clutch tag in tow and that never hurt one iota (1ι). Does have a history of knee-knocks including one A.c.l. (in H.S., St.Nikon bless). St. Paul VI scholastic champion (AAA, D-1). Jeremy also pocketed a pair of gold medals with USA Basketball —at the 2017 FIBA Americas U-16 and the 2018 FIBA U-17 World Cup. Neat trophy case to be sure. His older bro’ (Jordan) played basketball at Christopher-Newport University and his older sis’ (Chloe) played at Eastern Mennonite University. So, again, might at least be some C.B.A. D.N.A. in play here. Roach is a solid Qb1 Pt.Guard, not a spectacular one… like a Steve Casey having his best hair-day Qb1 from way way back when if you know what Eye means. Fringe overseas guy.
  (UPDATE: toe-ding: “PROBABLE” for this one after having missed the last couple of weeks. St.Sebastian bless!)

  

• 6′8″, 22o lb., Mark Mitchell is your Four or P/F when Flip’ mans the C-spot. Marky-mark nets you: 9.7 ppg with 4.0 rpg and 1.3 apg. He prolly is the best pure shooting Dukie… what with his: 50% from the floor, 77.3% from the charity stripe, and his team alpha or 41.4% from deep. That is none too shabby work if you can get it either. #26th baller overall (ESPN), has a nice all-’round roundball game. Kinda a mini-me box-score stuffer at times. Jayhawker who got away from KU itself after making something of a name (****) for himself out on the: Under Armour Association circuit. Little bit tough/’hood or at least brash at times on film. Has a slasher and defensive tag attached; will get to the rim per the same. Long-armed, nearly a 7-footer wingspan wise; this helps him D you up too. That, and if the 3-point range development is legit, this is a very curious stem-to-stern prospect who is prolly at least an overseas Pro’.

Duke Weaknesses:

• Σ, total; roster… redux! Or, at least total rotational reboot. As NO one, I made notes on last year returned. Nadda, none, nil… zilch, zero, zip!
• …apparently, including some kinda Coach, what was his name?
• Either way, massssive turnover here folks. Unique, actually.
• Familiarity, gellin’, synergy… all wanting for it too.
  (This shows itself upon breaking tape as you’d rather catch them ’22 earlier rather than ’23 later just in case they do figure it all Marching home, out).
• NOT your typically sharp-shooting Dukie Dukes… somewhere j.Wayne is, crying.

Dukie ditch: (depth=4 to 5 deep)

r-shirt Sr.-year Graduate, Ryan Young, is a Five/C who stands 6′1o″, and weighs 23o lbs. By way of: Northwestern where Ry’ played under former Dukie Chris Collins. 8.3 ppg with 6.8 rpg and 1.4 apg in relief is downright solid and this Ry’ plus the above Flip gives Duke a quality 1-2 punch at the 5. 72.2% from the floor tells you where he shoots from (i.e., close) and how efficacious he does shoot it (i.e., sharp). Going .edu good for: a Three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar never sucked. And frankly less was prolly expected here. As this is a solid Nor.West. guy though never a Biggest-10 epic one. From a crew (rowing) or volleyball fam’. Solid substitute, does nothing to hurt you; tho’ has been dinged/dented every other year in his career. He smiles yearbook cheddar-eating grins (a lot) and may be coming to a social-needia account near you for it if he cannot find a non-North American backup hoopster home next year, “eh”. (N.A.F.T.A. or Great White North quality Montreal, Quebec hommie 1o1).

(Lindy’s 2nd-string All-A.c.c.): 6′7″, 22o lb., play-right-away good-looking Dariq Whitehead is a turnkey Three or S/F in his rookie or nugget voting year. Said to be ‘explosive’ as rim-attackers go, in particular in the open floor where he will highlight reel you in. Catch-n-release ain’t his thang, mo’ like slash-n-burn. Has even merited a few (lowercase to me) Dr. J comp’s. As Dariq was merely the #1 baller in America last year (2o22; Rivals). That is all, his five-stars (*****) suck, cut him now! This after being named: the 2o22 Naismith High School Player of the Year. This after being named: the 2o22 Gatorade Player of the Year in Florida. This after being named: Sports Illustrated’s 2o22 Player of the Year. Scrub!!! This after he helped Montverde Academy (Fla.) win back-to-back GEICO High School National Championships as a junior and senior. Dang. Geez. w0w! Yah; maybe he is a keeper after all? His older bro’ (Tahir) is only an N.f.l. back-up Lb4 for the Carolina Panthers. And he only coaches special-needs kid-os on the side. That is all. Again, he sucks. However, should you go kra-kra and choose to keep him? You would be keeping up with 8.1 ppg with 2.4 rpg and 1.1 apg all on 33.8% behind the arc. Said to have every phase of the game in two (.9 spg as well). Has been chilly of late after going on a Christmas Break (through) tear. Maybe he has hit the proverbial, ‘wall’? Though either way… this much freakiness with enough fundaments will hit back at some point. As Whitehead is a blackout curtain on O. He finds his big-O pop and you black out, back out, and prolly back, down. This is very likely an N.b.a.’er… not so much ‘if’… mo’ like: “when”?

(Lindy’s 1st-string All-A.c.c.): ^that^ all to say… Lindy’s A.c.c. Newcomer of the Year… and Lindy’s Best N.B.A. Prospect is none other than #1, a springy true-Five or Center or: one number, well; 1, or Dereck Lively II. Dereck goes 7′ and 230 very springy-looking lbs. As frankly, Lively II looks like he could fill in a bit mo’ even as a seven-footer at two-thirty. Lively is (per se) only getting you: 3.9 ppg with 3.3 rpg with an assist and a steal and yet the team lead at nearly 2 swats/game. This on 60% overall and yet 53% from the FT-line. So, this kid may be just a smidgeon less developed or a mite undercooked than some expected. As much was expected here to be sure. Lively has missed a few games with some dings, which is prolly retarding things a spate as well. Still yet, the numero uno (#1) baller in all the land (ESPN.com) and #1 Five (or: C) in all the land, and the #1 Penn.Sater or Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year in 2o22 in all the Keystone land never sucked. Neither did his Pa. State Title in 2o22 or his Nike EYBL touring team title after that. Said to have an: “unselfish” game and nobody says that a lot these myspacebook days. Lindys says he is: “a skilled pivot and excellent teammate”. Again, you do not always see plural or synergy T.E.A.M. (together everyone achieves mo’) swagg like millennial that. Or, maybe this is one of those rare kids you need(s) to encourage to ‘shoot more’? As this Lively II is a lively lotto pick in most peeps ping-pong-ball bouncing book. It just has not proverbially “clicked” for Derek; at least not, yet.

6′2″, 2oo lb., Jaylen Blakes is your initial year Pt.Guard2 who can shoot off the pine (5.2 ppg and 38% when dialing long-distance). 89th baller from ESPN overall. Got a single-A Jersey Shore title way back in 2o18 and yet did not do as much after that. Did seem to do mo’ and make more of a name for himself out on the A.A.U. tour. Said to be a: “sleeper recruit” for it —if there is such a thing at a basketball factory such as Duke? Though Eye tangent… Blakes is however one of only two eligible to-return Dukie ballers who elected to (actually) return. Solid backup One, good range, great handles (.7 tpg) and you could do Qb2 worse.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Dukes who could dunk @Tech=10'ish?

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is…

…had me a hard time figuring out how taken (or not) to be with this respun Duke 2o22-2o23 men’s hoops squadron?

They are not yet fully formed; granted.

They are on the ‘rong side of the new systemic Experience and Learning curves alike; granted.

---

---

Coach Next after Coach Best (possibly even in all of college ball), typically has k.Kong sized shoes to fill.

i.e., he had better buy a lotta… socks.
Granted.

Although just how good or great or not so great is this hire?

Or, am I better off asking: just how much chip Talent does Duke really have left?

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is shockingly enuff, only calling for a 9-point VicTory dance! As VeeTee has done better head-2-head vs. common foes than Duke. And not only that, it was not only a perfect correlation (4×4), we had perfect Home/Away splits to work with too. As the 3o4 says… “…kan’t beat dat wif a stick”. (That, and the Fourm Guide is 100% perfected itself this season thus far).

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… VeeTee is up a nearly nice +4% in shooting percentage margin (due: mainly to exhibiting mo’ tradecraft on O itself, as D was the slightest Duke edge); with VeeTee up a nominal looking +1% in 3-point percentage margin (from: being a little better on O although Duke was nearly the same ‘little better’ on D), and yet Duke is up a nearly whopping ~+8 caroms in rebounding margin for the duration. (Per: Duke is a bit better on the D-glass, tho’ they be climbing all kinda all over the O-backboard and getting 2nd chances or putbacks galore).

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… the Dukies are now up a near handsome +8% in shooting percentage margin (as: the Hokies have cooled on O and softened on D by an aggregate 1o% to the totally ‘rong on both ends combined. Duke is a mite off recently on O & D as well, just nowhere near that much comparatively); the F’n Gobblers however are now up +4% in 3-point percentage margin (off of: both teams be sucking here and V.P.I. won this in ugly double-negative |absolute value| terms. As both achieved a perfect quadratic correlation of weakening on O and on D alike, everywhere. No real winner here, tho’ Duke is the bigger L’er if you will), and yet the Dukies are now up +7 misses collected in rebounding margin in the last fortnight of runs. (’cause: and again, both are worse here of late, tho’ Duke is only marginally worse in Recency Effect as Windex Wipes went). Strange… as neither team is playing all that well at much of anything… tho’ Duke is playing less worse, if that makes any sense?

Armchair Pt.Guard’s:

Coach Ray Stevens:

The latest stinger came with Saturday night’s 5o-51 defeat @No.19 Clemson, giving the Hokies their longest L’ing streak in eight, that’s (8), years.

Big-man “on the come”…

Duke freshman Kyle Filipowski leads the country in double-doubles among freshmen with nine.

Duke is up +3% at the charity stripe for the year.
Duke is up +4 in R&R in the last fortnight of work.
VeeTee is a .8oo host; whereas Duke is .25o as a guest.

The Call…

No.29 Net Ranking Duke @ no.55 Net Ranking Virginia Tech:

So, both teams are down since they All Conference Calling title-tilt saw each other last.

Duke has been dinged-up, and now has a new coach, and this just in: rain is still rumored to be… wet.
Vah.Tech has also been dinged-up, has the same coach, and this just in: Snow is rumored to be… white.

Which is to say… neither club has been right; both squads have been getting a little healthier of late, and yet neither one has been able to super move the proverbial All-Coaching Conference needle, (much), in recent terms.

The one difference is… V.P.I. is .ooo for their last eight whereas Duke is a somewhat more blaming .625 over the same timeframe.

–oOo–

Or in other words… methinks it is a good thing to run the Home/Away splits and see if we finds any separation(s) or partition(s) here?

So, VeeTee is better @home and Duke is worse @away vis-à-vis as you prolly expected. The size/shape of the margin(s) Eye and my committee of one did not expect. Check it out…

VeeTee is up a virtual whopping +12% overall @home; (from: another perfect quad-count of all movements on both O & D alike, all moving in VeeTee’s favor. O&M better on O&D @home and Duke being worse on O&D @away). VeeTee is up another and downright whopping +14% in 3-point margin @home; (from: the very same perfect quad-correlation @home in VeeTee’s favor. Tho’ do notice that VeeTee only per se gained +3% @home, whereas Duke nearly fell apart when 3-pointing @away!) And, and, and… VeeTee is up a near umpossible +5 misses corraled @home compared to Duke @away! w0w.

The VerdicT:

Ergo, therefore, to Whit… this is a tough one to pick.

As everything statistically wants me to pick VeeTee @home. The Fourm Guide, most of the seasonal thingys, and all of the Home/Away split thingys— less recent play itself. Where Duke is trying to get a couple of better streaks together and yet VeeTee has been struck-down and completely winning struck-out since a week before Christmas ’22.

Meaning… one of these two is not as good as they seem and the other is not as bad as they seem.
Dickering which one out is which out is one tough row to hoe, though.

1, 2, 🏀, 4, 5

Eye do know that the longer this O&M L’ing streak goes the mo’ adhesive it becomes. I also know that Duke is a seriously bad match-up for us down low and off the ‘glass itself.

This tells me that this one is all about cat-calls or “🎼(Sittin’ On) the Dock of (Duck Pond) Bay🎵”.

IF, we catch even a reasonably ‘whistled’ game we should have enough going for us in margin terms to upset a nubile and still retooling set of Duke power tools @home.

IF, however, they catch all of their seeming benefit of the ‘whistle’ phantom calls and our Bigs get smaller or lowercase P.T. (playing-time), Duke might just sneak this one even balling @away.

^^^that’s^^^ your millibars of Mercury or in-game barometer folks.

So, I went Coach Spock science-fact and bothered to look it all up…

• Last year (’22) and farewell/twilight Coach-K and Duke finished with the 3rd least PF’s ‘whistled’ against in all of menz D-1 basketball.
• This year (’23) and nubile Coach-J and Duke are on pace to finish with the 77th least PF’s ‘whistled’ against in all of menz D-1 basketball.

The key however is gleaned in the differential… in ’22 and final-year Coach K and Duke had a +2.1 benefit of the doubt ratio ‘whistled’ in their favor. In ’23 and first-year Coach-J and Duke have a 2.o benefit of the doubt ratio ‘whistled’ in their favor!

i.e., “the mo’ things change the mo’ Duke stays the same.”

And if this Coach-J watches the Bee.Cee, Wake, and Clemson(s) tapes and dumps the ball inside—
he and his actually more physical style of play should feel beneficent indeed.

 

(51% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=75, Duke=77

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**