The Athletic Looks At Dereck Lively, Dariq Whitehead And Jon Scheyer’s Vision

We should start by saying we don’t always understand The Athletic’s scheme. Sometimes you see an article that looks interesting, hit it and you hit the paywall. Other times, it clicks through.

So we honestly don’t know if this one will click through for you or not, but we hope so because it’s a good read as Brendan Marks looks at Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead and how they fit into Jon Scheyer’s vision.

We’ll see soon where Scheyer diverges from Mike Krzyzewski - he will, the question is how much and in what ways - but versatility will remain a touchstone for Duke.

Lively says here that he will work on switching onto guards and wings and that having Kyle Filipowski on board will let both develop even more: “He can put the ball on the floor very well, he can get to his shot, he can get past players. Knowing that he can do that, it’s gonna make my defender help off, so it’s gonna get my shots open as well. And whenever I have the ball, the person who’s guarding him is gonna help off.”

As for Whitehead, he may be the Class of 2022’s poster child for versatility. He is pretty much the prototype for what the NBA is looking for these days: a mid-sized player who can shoot, pass, defend, rebound.

And keep in mind what Jeremy Roach says here too: “The style of play might be a little different. (Scheyer) might want to get up and down a little bit more than (Coach K).”