Duke Basketball Roundup

#508 - Whitehead chooses NBA, McDonald’s All Americans on the menu

We have our first departure to the NBA Draft, and we discuss it on Episode 508. Dariq Whitehead is leaving Duke for the NBA, and we are not surprised given his draft prognosis falling somewhere in the mid-to-late first round. We discuss what he brought to the table and where he could fit at the next level. There’s a nice discussion about the Dariq Whitehead that was expected when he arrived on Duke’s campus as well as how he evolved with the injuries he suffered in the preseason and during the regular season. We’re all in agreement that his workouts will determine where he ends up in the draft.

After the break, we discuss the McDonald’s All American games that took place last night in Houston. Duke had 3 recruits in the Boys Game - Sean Stewart, Jared McCain, and Mackenzie Mgbako - and Jadyn Donovan in the Girls Game. We break down how each of them did, and we’re pretty convinced: the future is bright for both Duke Men’s and Women’s Basketball.

We will be back in your feeds again soon once we find out some of the other guys that have yet to make a decision about their futures. Until then, send us some questions that we could react to on a future episode at DBR Podcast at Gmail dot com.

#507 - Proctor returns

On this episode of the soon-to-be-renamed and now vaguely pre-rebranded Duke Basketball Report Podcast, we're talking Tyrese Proctor's return to Duke for his sophomore campaign, Celeste Taylor's news about the same, and Duke recruits' performance in the skills events at the McDonald's All American Game festivities on Monday.

Proctor announced his return with a quick social media post, and Jason and Sam are giddy, not just because they correctly predicted that Proctor would return, but because Proctor could be the latest Duke guard to show significant improvement in his second year, with recent examples like Tre Jones, Luke Kennard, and Grayson Allen for him to look up to. Jason tells us how much these guys improved after their move to West Campus, and we speculate about the ways that Proctor will distinguish himself with a full summer working with the staff and team in Durham.

After the break, we dive into Celeste Taylor's decision to return to Duke for one last season, and we finish with Jared McCain's performance in the three-point contest and Sean Stewart's in the dunk contest, both of which were winning displays. Duke fans have a lot to look forward to this fall when the team returns.

We'll be back to talk further NBA Draft and high all-star circuit news. Stay in touch like always at dbrpodcast at gmail.com!

#506 - Who Stays & Who Goes - Part 2

If you missed the last episode of the Duke Basketball Report podcast, go back to #505 right now and listen to it. Only once you have heard the podcast crew break down the stay or portal or NBA decisions of the perimeter players on the Duke team are you allowed to listen to episode #506 in which they do a deep dive on the big men. Kyle Filipowski, Mark Mitchel, Dereck Lively, and Christian Reeves all face decisions that could make or break Duke's future. The podcast gang even takes a few minutes to look at what the future holds for the one big man who has made his intentions known, 6th year senior Ryan Young. As with the last episode, the pod gang gives you their predictions on what each player WILL do and what they SHOULD do, and the answers are not always one and the same. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#505 - Who Stays & Who Goes - Part 1

Do you want to know which Blue Devils will be back for another year in the Gothic Wonderland? Wondering whether the NBA or the transfer portal is going to come calling for your favorite 2022-23 Dukie? Well, the DBR Podcast is here with all the answers. Ok, ok, we don't really have the answers but we do have what you might charitably call "educated opinions" about the decisions the 10 scholarship players with remaining eligibility may make. On this episode, Jason, Donald, and Sam will do a deep dive into the guards and wings -- Tyrese Proctor, Jeremy Roach, Dariq Whitehead, Jalen Blakes, and Jaeden Schutt. Tune in to hear what the guys think each player will do... and what they should do. You may be in for a few surprises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#504 - Stats game recap

We're all still reeling from the abrupt end to Duke's season in the first weekend of the tournament, but as is tradition on the DBR Podcast, we are back today to recap the stats game, our special way of previewing the season. You will have to listen to find out who won, but it was not a pretty thing. It turns that Duke's season took many different turns than what we anticipated, from the good (Kyle Filipowski 2nd team All-ACC! Tyrese Proctor's emergence!) to the new as good (mostly injuries and Jacob Grandison not hitting his threes). All that said, though, we are holding ourselves accountable to our picks, at least the ones that were easy enough to track. After the break, we review what happened in the second round of the women's NCAA tournament, where Duke lost a heartbreaker in Cameron to Colorado. Similar to the men, it's a frustrating way to end the season, but also similar to the men, the future appears to be bright, so we eagerly await the return of Duke Basketball this fall. Stay in touch with us throughout the offseason as Duke players make their decisions for next year, and we will be back soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#503 - The end of Scheyer’s first season

It's certainly not the most fun mostly annual tradition, but the podcast is back to talk about Duke's loss to Tennessee on Saturday, a loss that ends Jon Scheyer's first season in the head coaching role. We dive deep into how the Volunteers dismantled Duke on defense. The Blue Devils had their lowest first half scoring output of the season, and without Mark Mitchell, Duke didn't have enough playmakers to counter Tennessee's attack at either end. Turnovers returned to plague Duke in a way we thought Scheyer's squad had shored up given their performance in the first round. All that said, we have to spend a few minutes on the officiating, which most of us were not thrilled with. It was an overly physical game, and Duke couldn't figure out how to overcome the circumstances. After the break, we have to touch on Duke Blue Planet's feature video on Dereck Lively II and his mother and on Purdue's loss to Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round of the tournament. We'll be back on a future episode to recap the season and speculate about all of the players' pending NBA draft decisions, but until then, stay in touch with us via email and we will talk to you again very soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DBR Bites #22 - We Volunteer this preview

The Duke Blue Devils are in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, and on DBR Bites Episode 22, we preview their upcoming game against the Tennessee Volunteers. Duke is riding high off its victory over Oral Roberts, but they are meeting a team that has been great defensively all season. Jason gives us the metrics on what Tennessee has been doing great and where they may have weaknesses. They are missing their star point guard, but they have plenty of reasons why they are still a really good team. After he takes off, Sam and Donald continue the preview by highlighting Tennessee's season and how they've struggled in recent weeks. Sam discusses some of the other key players and gives us a warm bath on Rick Barnes and the most recent times Duke has taken on Barnes-led teams. We will be back at some point after the game on Saturday, which is at approximately 2:40pm ET. Let's go Duke! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#502 - Making easy work of Oral Roberts

The NCAA Tournament began yesterday, and the Duke Blue Devils starred in a big victory over Oral Roberts. We recap everything on Episode 502! After some of the great headlines we received, we get into the good. Duke had a ton of good in this game, beginning with the defense. We spend about 10 minutes discussing how great the defense was in this game and how some players who may have had off days on offense excelled on the defensive end for the Blue Devils. Oh don’t worry, we discuss the offense as well, with Jeremy Roach destroying everyone and Dariq Whitehead raining 3s. Duke was tremendous on the night and it led to it being a very relaxing evening for fans. We do pinpoint a couple of items that Duke could improve on as they advance in the tournament. After the break, we dish out our favorite plays, and there were plenty to choose from. Then, we have to talk about a couple of the major upsets from Day 1, including Furman over Virginia and Princeton over Arizona. We will be back in your feeds literally this afternoon! We have another game tomorrow against the Tennessee Volunteers, and we will preview what to expect in a Bites episode, so stay tuned! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices