What They're Saying

Here are some comments
from the good guys at The Bootleg, but we're not sure where they are getting
their stuff from.  Mike Dunleavy in particular might be interested in some
of their comments.  We've seen him play in pickup and in two games. He had
one edgy game against the Aussies, but most freshmen do at some point. He's a
player.  Battier might also be interested to see how they see him stacking
up against Madsen. Maybe they're right, but it would fire us up a bit. The
Sanders comment is just off. We love Casey's potential, but we have yet to see
him shoot outside.  They're good guys, we're not picking on them, but,
well, read for yourselves.  Below are some other comments from different
people.

 

• Jason Williams becomes the center of their offense not only in scoring, but in the passing game to distribute the ball. Stanford has great outside shooting aside from whatever McDonald tries, and they have a tremendous trio of talent inside. Mike should not have to score or create. His number one role is a ball-handler, second a distributor. Mike will do a great job in both roles and will fulfill Stanford's point guard needs every bit as much as Williams does for Duke. With that perspective, call this position a draw. 
• Nate James should start here for Duke, though this honestly is not the right position for him. He would be better suited to be a scoring small forward, but the personnel in Durham dictate that Nate will have to play the off-guard. While he was a great 3-point shooter in high school, he has yet to show the touch at the college level. If he can't deliver from outside, he really won't contribute as much for Duke as fans might hope.
• Dunleavy will likely play and our chances improve greatly. He may be very well coached and intellectually sound, but don't expect him to blossom in this early game.
• Madsen should repeatedly get his position and put the ball in off the glass.
  The only real fear is if he tries to play too far away  from the rim, which would favor Duke's personnel. We just have too many players with too much talent - advantage Cardinal. 
• Like Borchardt, [Sanders] has an affinity for the outside shot, but again Coach K needs his middle men to play big inside. 
• [R]eports say [Dunleavy] has been very shaky since arriving in Durham, and may need time to develop/adapt. 

 

 

"You can talk about the kids they lost, and obviously sympathize with how good they would have been coming out of the gate, but you also understand how good they are and how good the players they have in the program (are). The guys they had tended to overshadow say (Chris)
Carrawell, or even (Shane) Battier, but if you look on tape, those guys are tremendous basketball players. And I think it's going to be their time to shine. Jason Williams is a tremendous point guard, and probably in many respects will be better than what they had. And I say that, I think (William) Avery developed, but wasn't a pure point guard with pure tendencies. I think Jason Williams is. So they're going to be tenacious defensively, they run great motion, and they've got three or four guys that can really play, just as individuals that have great talent."
Mike Montgomery

 

"It's a hard tournament when you're starting out the season because all the tape you watch is on a year ago. That changes everything because personnel changes. At SMS last year we
played Duke and Stanford so we have a little bit of feel, and Coach Walker played against UConn so we at least have a member on the staff who has played against all three of these
programs last year." 
Steve Alford

"Jason is still learning how to be a point guard. He didn't play point guard all the time on his high school team."
Coach K

''We don't want to give up on his ability to be a scorer and to be a
threat. But for right now, if Mike could run our club and get us where we need to be, keep his poise and deliver the ball
to the shooters and get it inside, that would be a real plus.''
Mike Montgomery on Mike McDonald

 

"I'm anxious to see how our team will do. How will we react to being in New York and being on national TV (ESPN2)? Duke's been on national TV a few times, but these kids haven't been on. They haven't been in Madison Square Garden, and they haven't played a top opponent like Stanford."

Coach K