No. 4 Duke basketball plays No. 5 Kansas tonight at the United Center in Chicago, a homecoming for a number of Blue Devils including Coach K, Jabari Parker and Jon Scheyer.
In anticipation of this highly anticipated matchup, that features Parker against the nation's No. 1 recruit Andrew Wiggins, we fielded some questions on Twitter from our account @dukebasketball.
Off we go:
We got a lot of questions about the Parker-Wiggins showdown, and as hyped up as that may be, there's a chance we don't see a lot of the duo actually guarding each other very often. Parker may play the three in the NBA, but he's a two in this Duke offense.
From all indications, Rodney Hood will draw Wiggins on the defensive end, providing a tough matchup for the young phenom. Hood has the physicality and body of a forward at 6-foot-8 but the athleticism to play on the perimeter.
That could potentially make things difficult for Wiggins on both ends of the floor. Defensively, he'll have to contend with Hood, who shot 9-of-10 from the field in the opener against Davidson and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Offensively, Hood is bigger than most people that will be guarding him all season.
Well, if we knew the answer to this we'd know the winner of the game, right?
But this question strikes to the core of this matchup. Duke could have one of the most exciting offenses in the nation this year, featuring a starting lineup of five players who can run and gun past even the best defenses. With Quinn Cook running the point, Sulaimon or Thornton at the two, and Hood, Parker and Amile Jefferson rounding out the starting five, few teams can match the Blue Devils' athleticism.
On the other hand, Kansas has tremendous size and defensive capabilities. When asked about Wiggins after the Davidson game, Coach K made sure to note the potential of the Jayhawks' freshman center Joel Embiid, a 7-footer from Cameroon. His game is raw, and he comes off the bench, but he has the body and upside of a potential NBA star. In just 11 minutes against UL-Monroe in Kansas' opener, Embiid scored nine points, going to the line for 10 foul shots. Bill Self also has talented post players in sophomore Perry Ellis and Memphis transfer Tarik Black, who the Blue Devils also tried to get.
It will be interesting to see how Coach K attempts to combat Kansas' size advantage. Will he stick to his guns and go with a smaller lineup that may give up too many rebounds but exploit Kansas on the other end of the floor? Will he give Duke's only 7-footer, Marshall Plumlee, early minutes? Matchup-wise, this couldn't be a more intriguing game, just to see how two of the game's best coaches deal with the others' advantages.
No official starters have been announced, but Rasheed Sulaimon certainly showed why he started most games as a freshman in the team's opener. Despite coming off the bench, he played 25 minutes, scoring 20 points and grabbing seven rebounds. He has the ability to drive and shoot the three, hitting 3-of-4 from downtown against Davidson.
Thornton isn't as dynamic as Sulaimon on the offensive end, but he's a heady defender who could help out against Wiggins at times while providing fullcourt pressure against the Jayhawks. Thornton also has a knack for timely 3-pointers. Remember the two treys in the final two minutes he hit in Maui at the beginning of the 2011-12 season to help the Blue Devils beat Kansas? Ultimately, we won't know who's starting until game time. But who actually starts may be moot: expect 'Sheed to play significant minutes once again.
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