Happy off-season, Duke Nation! I'd seen a lot of chatter around the potential return of Jeremy Roach, and many people insisting that this could result in substantial use of three-guard lineups. I break down every single potential three-guard lineup, in order to see which ones are most and least viable, which players are most well suited for playing three-guard lineups, which pairs of players are unlikely to be able to play together, and, most importantly, if Jeremy Roach returns, if there are enough three-guard lineups to keep everyone on the roster happy and prevent transfers. The answers, un ..read more

What's the best NBA team you could make out of Duke players? Ryan-- @TheDukeNation on Twitter-- and I set out to answer that question with a snake-style fantasy draft. Do we go with talent? Roster versatility? Offense or defense or both? You'll have to listen to find out! (When you finish the episode, tweet at us with #TeamRussell or #TeamRyan-- let us know who did the better job!) With the Fayetteville State preseason game looming tonight, we also discuss what we've seen/heard so far in the preseason with the Blue-White Game and the Houston secret scrimmage. Is there anything to be learned in ..read more

New year, new coach, new players-- an astonishing amount of unknowns heading into next Duke season, perhaps more than there've been in 40+ years. And we see a wide range of expectations from fans on social media. So I figured it'd be worth breaking down the individual players on an offseason episode-- what their best possible realistic outcome would be, what their worst possible realistic outcome would be, and, assuming that most players land somewhere in the middle, what should a reasonable expectation be, for both the players as individuals and for the team as a whole? So to discuss this, I ..read more

WE'RE BACK FOR MARCH! Duke plays Oral Roberts on Thursday. Should Duke fans be supremely confident? Should Duke fans be terrified? The answer, as always, lies somewhere in the middle. I'm joined by America's favorite objective college basketball voice, Jim Root from the Three Man Weave, to discuss Oral Roberts's play style, how Duke beats Oral Roberts, how Oral Roberts beats Duke, and other various matchup-related questions. We also play true or false with some of the claims from Twitter: Can a Summit team handle a high major team's physicality? Is this Oral Roberts team better than the one in ..read more

It's hard to not overreact to the first week of Duke basketball-- and yet overreact we do. Never you fear, however: I am here to help you understand whether your small sample size reaction is justified or completely out of line. We talk Jaylen Blakes, Christian Reeves's redshirt, Flip's start to the season, the quality of Duke's defense, and more. I also discuss how weak the ACC is for the second straight year-- and I preview the Duke-Kansas game to the best of my ability given the small sample we have from both teams. Per usual, please shoot any and all feedback to @DukeBetter, and I'll hope ..read more

The offseason is here, so I've invited Jim back to get an objective voice into the mix as we play Fact or Myth about a number of Duke/ACC/NCAA topics. Including:  - Is Paolo Banchero a Top 4 one-and-done in Duke history? - Would you rather have sophomore Trevor Keels or an elite transfer? - Is Jeremy Roach a Top 2 ACC PG next season? - Will Duke bring in any big names from the portal? - What's Duke's biggest problem next season? - Will Duke have a first or second-team All-American? - Is UNC overrated going into next season? - Will Virginia lose double-digit games again? - Is the WCC holdi ..read more

After a wonderful weekend of basketball, beer, and Banchero, I discuss the narrative of "the ACC is underrated" and dive into the matchup with Texas Tech.  Per usual, please shoot any and all feedback to @DukeBetter, and I'll hope to improve with Episode 11. As always, #DDMF and #GTHC ..read more

The NBA Draft is tomorrow, and Duke Twitter is abound with questions like: where do we want Duke players to go? who's being undervalued? who's being *overvalued*? and why are some of these other guys getting taken above our beloved Duke players? So I invited back America's favorite objective college basketball voice, Jim Root from the Three Man Weave, to discuss these and several other questions, including some of our favorite sleepers in the draft, why there's such disparity between mocks... and if we were starting an NBA team and could only choose Duke players, how would we rank the players ..read more

After a long and much needed break, I had a lot to talk about-- so I brought in my friend Jim Root from Three Man Weave and Field of 68 to talk analytics, bracketology, Duke's chances at a 1 seed, Duke's strengths and weaknesses as a tournament team, and, finally, which teams would Duke want to see (and avoid) in their region.  Per usual, please shoot any and all feedback to @DukeBetter, and I'll hope to improve with Episode 9. (Also, go follow Jim on Twitter-- @2ndChancePoints-- and check out his podcasts/YouTube shows.) As always, #DDMF and #GTHC ..read more

Listen to this if you enjoy the unhinged ramblings of a man grappling with the reality that there are possible outcomes in which Duke loses to its rival on Saturday, and allow him to explain, through incoherent mumbling and bursts of manic laughter, that the stakes have never been higher, and all fans can do is pray the coin lands on the correct side ..read more