Duke Basketball 2016: Roles Will Change, But How?

It's a bit early for this, but here's an article discussing who will start for Duke in the backcourt.

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Taking it for granted that Derryck Thornton will be the point guard - which is likely - Anthony Balladeres goes over the arguments for Grayson Allen, Matt Jones and Luke Kennard.

Let's presuppose also that Amile Jefferson will start, as will Brandon Ingram and, at least at the beginning, Marshall Plumlee. It's his time.

As Duke goes through the normal lineup shuffles and tinkering, Chase Jeter and Sean Obi may get a shot at starting if Plumlee falters.

Still, who pairs with Thornton?

Let's say it's Allen.

So: Allen, Thornton, Plumlee, Jefferson and Ingram. That's really a good defensive unit but maybe not great offensively.

We don't know yet what to expect of Thornton as an offensive guard, but Kennard is a powerful offensive player and Jones can shoot and certainly defend.

So maybe the best way to think of it from this remove is that Duke can prep for various situations.

Plumlee has never scored a lot but he's become a powerful presence who can inject passion into any play. He brings far more intensity than either of his brothers did.

Jeter can relieve him, if he doesn't move past him, and bring a nice jump hook, mobility, and shotblocking.

Jefferson is a tremendously smart player who is also not a great scorer. But he's a great teammate and fits with whoever is on the floor and he can also defend the post.

Obi can provide rebounding at the least. We haven't seen enough of him to know much yet, but he rebounded well at Rice.

What will happen is what always happen: the experiments and finding guys who work well together until the most coherent possible unit is on the floor.

That may mean some guys don't get the roles they expected. Last year, that affected two juniors: Jefferson and Rasheed Sulaimon.

They handled this in very different ways. Jefferson willingly sacrificed and as a result won a national title. Sulaimon grew unhappy and became the first player ever kicked off of a Mike Krzyzewski-coached Duke team.

However things work out, that's a pretty clear lesson for everyone and it's no coincidence that Jefferson was, and will remain, an esteemed team captain.