Kyrie is No. 1. Literally.
John Wall. Michael Beasley. Kevin Love. Kevin Durant. What do these guys have in common? All were highly touted recruits who ended their one-year college careers as consensus first team All-Americans.
Come next year, Kyrie Irving’s name will be added to that list.
College basketball is a young man’s—well, child’s—game. Durant ushered in the era of the youngest man in 2007, setting a new standard by collecting a slew of postseason awards never before claimed by a freshman. Prior to Durant, there hadn’t been a freshman named to the consensus All-American first team since 1989. Simply put, we are all witnesses to a fundamental shift in the power structure of college basketball.
Great Duke teams of lore and last year excelled by relying on veteran leadership. This year’s team will embrace the pattern of the freshman phenomenon, give the ball to Irving and watch him dominate. Jon Scheyer, may he rest in Duke Basketball heaven, was not a threat to slash and dash to the hole. Defenses will have to guard against Irving doing just that, and Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and the rest of the team will benefit from Irving’s control of the offense. Early season results and comments from head coach Mike Krzyzewski confirm this theory.
“When you have a really good player like that, and he’s young, you need to let him show you what he is capable of doing and give him encouragement to do that,” Krzyzewski said of Irving after Countdown to Craziness Oct. 15.
In his unofficial debut for the Blue Devils, Irving led both of his squads to victories in two 12-minute intrasquad scrimmages. In the second contest alongside fellow freshmen Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston, Irving piloted his Blue team to a win over the White team—senior captains Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith’s White team.
“All my points came from [Kyrie], so I thank him for that,” Hairston said after the scrimmage. “There were so many times when I felt like I wasn’t going to get the ball and I wasn’t open, and the ball just ended up in my hands. It’s crazy how he’s able to do that.”
St. Augustine was the first victim of the Irving era. He opened the game with a trey from the right corner and then promptly followed with a half-court alley-oop to Mason Plumlee. Irving finished the Oct. 23 exhibition with 17 points and seven assists in 20 minutes of play. Not bad for a freshman.
Of course, Irving’s dominance comes as a surprise to no one. He is kind of a big deal, to put it lightly. He is the only college basketball player followed on Twitter by the king himself, Lebron James. Not since Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus arrived on campus in 2005 as the top recruits from their respective positions have expectations been so high for a Duke freshman. In case Irving needed any extra motivation to deliver on the hype, he received some earlier this week—it was North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes, and not Irving, who was chosen as a preseason All-American. Just wait for the list at the end of the season.
And as a Blue Devil point guard hailing from New Jersey, Irving has a rather high standard to meet. After all, Jason Williams was a national champion and consensus first-team All-American as a sophomore in 2001. In 2002, he was named the best player in college basketball.
But, according to the man who coached both of them in high school, Irving is better.
“Jason Williams, great kid, very bright too,” legendary AAU coach Sandy Pyonin, who coached both Williams and Irving, along with 31 other NBA players, told me last June. “Very gifted athlete, well skilled, an outstanding talent, but not nearly as good as Kyrie. Not even close.”
Better than Jason Williams? How could he not be Duke’s MVP?
Singler is still the man
Let’s face it—no one expected Kyle Singler to return to Duke this year.
He had just climbed to the pinnacle of college basketball after winning a national championship and being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. His performance all but guaranteed him a spot in the middle of the first round of the NBA Draft. Plus, rumors of an impending NBA lockout made staying for his senior season seem like a questionable financial decision.
But against all odds, Singler is back. And with him, the Blue Devils are the consensus favorite to cut down the nets in Houston this year as well.
Without him, though, this Duke team wouldn’t even be a title contender.
And that’s not just because of his prolific talents—the forward averaged 17.7 points and seven rebounds per game last season, and was the top vote-getter on the AP Preseason All-America team.
No, what Singler provides is a versatility that no one else on the Blue Devils, nor really anyone else in America, can provide. For all the talents of Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving or the Plumlees, opposing coaches can game plan for any one, if not all, of them.
But Singler is a truly unique player.
Anywhere he plays, he presents an almost insurmountable matchup problem. On the perimeter, he’s almost invariably taller and stronger than his defender. He’s also able to draw slower defenders out to the wing and then blow by them to the hole.
All this was true of Singler during his first three years in Durham too, but something always seemed to hold him back—his inexperience his freshman year, the constantly shifting lineup his sophomore year, or adapting to a new position last season.
But as a senior, Singler is poised to dominate now that all those roadblocks are behind him. He’ll know his role and truly be comfortable in it, allowing his multitude of talents to shine through fully.
That, and only that, will bring balance to this Duke team. Without Singler, this Blue Devil team would be essentially one-dimensional, relying on the athleticism of Irving, Smith and the Plumlees and the 3-point shooting of Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry.
But with Singler, opponents can’t focus on any one aspect of Duke’s offense. If they decide to try and shut down the Blue Devil perimeter, Singler can take his smaller defender in the post. If they go big to shut down Singler and the Plumlees down low, Singler can use his perimeter jumper to draw his slower defender outside.
And that’s what will push this Duke team over the top. Although other teams have dynamic point guards, explosive shooting guards or athletic bigs, none have a player as complete as Singler.
All this doesn’t even acknowledge the psychological impact Singler’s return has on this team. If Singler had left for the NBA, this team would have had only two upperclassmen, only one of which had been a consistent contributor last season in Smith. But with Singler, the Blue Devils have a balance of youth and experience that has rarely been seen in the NCAA since one-and-dones became prevalent.
Singler might not lead this Duke team in scoring this year. He may not even be the most talented player on this team. But he’s the engine that will make the Blue Devils run and the player that makes them different from any other team in the country.
No other team has an experienced leader who can score inside and out, dominate the boards and play solid defense. In short, no other team has a Kyle Singler.
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