This isn't a shock, or undeserved. Duke is paper thin, having lost at least one or possibly two key players we didn't expect to lose to the league. The returning guys have tons of potential, but have never been asked to really contribute... Plumlees highest scoring average has been a whopping 2ppg, and Allen had a monsterous 4ppg. Three freshmen have to contribute 30+ minutes a night, and two aren't top five type of talents... They are top 15 types, and as you guys certainly know there is a vast gulf of difference between top five type talents and top 20 talents in terms of reliability and consistently and, most importantly, skill. And the loss of Jefferson, who was is possibly the most important player on the team given his rebounding, scoring, leadership, and the lack of depth up front, is a lot to make up for.
When Amile comes back, I expect Duke to be one of the top teams in the country, with younger guys having figured out their role and having grown a bit (albeit painfully). But a team that only has six players, five of whom are essentially guards, and half of whom are freshmen... Eh, in this sort of basketball environment, with a lot of parity, this isn't so crazy. Some spoiled Duke fans are upset, but I'm not really... It occurred to me very early in the year how "young" this team is, in terms of both age and experience, and I realized I would enjoy the year a lot more if I just enjoyed the development and fight of the young guys, and didn't have some bloated expectation shaped by teams past. I'll tell you what... I've enjoyed the season quite a bit, even if a few games went the "wrong" way in the last possession or two
And Dick has always been a front runner. Duke has been the top program for the last thirty years, so he has been consistent in his praise. That's all it is.
![[laughing]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/laugh.r191677.gif "Laughing [laughing]")
