Duke Basketball Roundup

The NBA Draft is this week, and we conclude our preview of the 5 Duke Blue Devils whose names we expect to be called on Episode 429! We welcome back the Czar of the Bilastrator, Jay Bilas, to discuss both Wendell Moore and Trevor Keels, from what they accomplished in college to how they can have long pro careers. Of course, we talk about their strengths and deficiencies as well as how their game w...

Time for a deep dive into what Duke's newest recruit, "old man" Jacob Grandison means for the 2022-23 Blue Devils. The DBR Podcast crew has plenty to say about how his experience, defensive leadership, and shooting will impact all those freshmen surrounding him. You will really love some of the cool stats the podcast guys found to back up their assertion that Grandison is the perfect missing piece...

It was supposed to be a quiet few days for the DBR Podcast crew. The guys were all set to do a few NBA draft preview episodes and just enjoy the early days of summer... and then Jon Scheyer went out and did it again. The new Duke coach landed another huge piece for the 2022-23 Blue Devils bringing in transfer wing Jacob Grandison, formerly of the Fighting Illini. The podcast guys plan to do a deep...

We are back with Episode 426 of the DBR Podcast, and we begin a 5-part series on each of the Duke Blue Devils that hope to hear their names called in this month’s NBA Draft. For that, we call in Friend of the Podcast and ESPN analyst Jay Bilas to begin our series with Paolo Banchero! However, before we start on the series, we discuss the news yesterday of the hiring of Rachel Baker, who will serve...

Of course, we come out with an episode after a 2-week break, and more news comes that we gotta jump back on and talk about! Tyrese Proctor, a 6’4” guard from Australia, decided to reclassify to the Class of 2022 and play for the Duke Blue Devils this upcoming season, and we discuss it quickly on Episode 425! Proctor’s reclassification gives him a guaranteed year in Durham, as he will be eligible t...

It's been a bit of a long layoff for the Duke Basketball Report Podcast, owing in equal parts to the lack of Duke Basketball news and the relative inaccessibility of your hosts. Today, however, we are back, with the NBA draft removal deadline having passed. We start, then, with the news that Trevor Keels is remaining in the draft, so he will definitely not be returning to Duke and Durham in the fa...

It came as a shock on Wednesday when it was announced that Joey Baker had entered the transfer portal and would be looking elsewhere for his final year of college basketball. Just weeks ago, Joey had confirmed to the world that he planned to finish his career as a Blue Devil. So, what made him change his mind? The DBR Podcast gang have a few theories, one of which is that Duke appears to be homing...

Donald, Jason, and Sam dive into the mailbag for some questions to ponder about the future of Duke basketball. Up first, a question about how Jon Scheyer will be different from Coach K. The DBR Podcast gang also dive into some rival teams and answer the question, "which team in college basketball would you hate to be a fan of?" The guys also discuss which Dukie from history would you count on to g...

On this episode of the DBR Podcast, we are drafting one-and-done teams from Duke history, and we have a special guest to help evaluate our picks. That guest is Mitch Davis, one of the winners of the DBR bracket challenge this year. Mitch won that crown by picking Kansas over Duke in the championship game, and he comes armed with great Duke Basketball and other college basketball stories that you w...

On this episode of the DBR Podcast, we're breaking down two new members of the Duke Basketball family: assistant coach Jai Lucas, who joins Duke from a similar role at Kentucky, and senior transfer Ryan Young, who comes to Duke from Chris Collins and Northwestern. Lucas is the big headline for us, though, as Duke has added an assistant without any Duke ties for the first time in almost 30 years. L...

There's a new Dukie in town and his name is Kale Catchings. While not the impact player that some folks are eager to get out of the transfer portal, there is a lot to like about what this former Harvard player brings to Durham. The DBR Podcast crew is here to break it down and also look at some of the other names to watch out for as Coach Scheyer looks to use the transfer portal to fill out the 20...

The Duke Blue Devils have had some more players decide to head to the NBA Draft, and we discuss it on Episode 418. But first, we discuss the announcement that Jeremy Roach will return to Duke for his junior season. We’re very excited at Roach returning to be a leader on the court and provide that veteran presence that a young team will need. We also discuss the departures of Trevor Keels and Wende...

The DBR Podcast gang pays tribute to the great 2021-22 Dukies who have ended their time in Durham and are now headed into the NBA Draft. First of all, the guys debate where Paolo Banchero stands in the ranks of the all-time great Duke one-and-done players and then they talk a bit about Mark Williams compared to the great defensive centers ever at Duke. The conversation then shifts to a couple guys...

The off-season means roster construction and the DBR Podcast crew is here to chat about the latest moves that will make up the 2022-23 Duke Blue Devils. They start with this week's announcement that Joey Baker is coming back to Durham for his "super senior" 5th year in the program. Though there was a lot of speculation that Joey would not play for Duke next season, the podcast guys are very excite...

On this episode of the DBR Podcast, we're giddy over Duke's two most recent commitments, a pair of juniors in the 2023 class, who both declared for Duke late last week. First, we dive into Tyrese Proctor, an Australian who will play on the wing for Duke. Proctor should be an impact player from the start in Durham, given his ranking and his ability to score. Then, we talk about Mackenzie Mgbako, wh...

Now that the Duke season is over, we get to find out the winner of the Stats Game on Episode 414! Jason, Donald, and Sam are back together to go through the results of the Stats Game, beginning with a quick discussion on a technicality. We then get into the different categories, from points per game to number of players to lead the team in scoring to number of 10-5-5 games for Wendell Moore. Jason...

The national championship was played last night, but the first topic on this edition of the Duke Basketball Report Podcast is the expected departure of Nolan Smith to become the lead assistant coach at Louisville. We are so sad to see Nolan leave, but we also understand why he is making this move. The DBR Podcast has some "inside" knowledge of what led Nolan to make this choice and there is a lot...

The 2021-2022 season is over for the Duke Blue Devils, as it ends at the Final Four with a 81-77 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels. We react to the game on Episode 412. Jason and Sam were in the building in New Orleans, while Donald endured a 15-hour flight from Qatar to get back to DC in time to watch with friends. Donald hosts as Jason and Sam, live from a coffee shop in Mobile, describes the...

With less than 48 hours to go until the huge game with the Tar Heels, the Duke Basketball Report Podcast ventures into enemy territory. We invite on Al Hood from the SB Nation website Tar Heel Blog to tell us what the Carolina community is saying about playing Duke in the Final Four. Al has some surprising notions about what Carolina needs to do to compete with Duke and even gives us his somewhat...

On this episode of the DBR Podcast, the crew are all back together to do our official game preview for Duke's Final Four matchup against UNC in New Orleans on Saturday. Before we get into it, though, Jason and Sam have to talk a bit about their travel plans for this weekend. Duke and UNC are more similar in team makeup than our respective fanbases may care to admit, and we're here to break down al...

The moment the Duke Basketball Report Podcast crew realized that Duke would be facing their hated rivals from down the road in the Final Four, the guys knew they had to talk to Jay Bilas about it. Jay watches as much ACC hoops as anyone and has a close relationship with the players and coaches on both sides. Plus, he has one of the best analytical minds around when it comes to college hoops. Liste...

They did it! The Blue Devils made it to the Final Four as their offense again proved to be more than enough to foil one of the best defenses in the nation. DBR Podcast hosts Jason, Sam, and Donald got together just moments after the game ended to discus how Duke dismantled Arkansas 78-69. The podcast crew has plenty of praise for Duke's big men and for some clutch shooting from the Duke guards. An...

Wowowowowow! The Blue Devils win a nail-biter against Texas Tech and the DBR Podcast gang jump on line to give their immediate reaction. The story of the game was Jeremy Roach's amazing drives into the lane, something that was supposed to be impossible to do against Tech... either that or the story was Paolo Banchero raining threes down on the Red Raiders and showing more offensive versatility tha...

After hours of research and video study, the DBR Podcast crew is ready to give you all you need to know about Duke's Sweet 16 opponent, Texas Tech. And it all starts with their vaunted "No Middle" defense, a scheme that has allowed the Red Raiders to post the best defensive efficiency ratings in all of college basketball. Jason, Sam, and Donald tell you what Duke needs to do to succeed against it...

During a thrilling opening weekend of the NCAA tournament, Duke and Michigan State delivered another classic matchup between longtime rivals Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo. The DBR Podcast is back to tell you how Coach K pulled off another win over the Spartans, this time an 85-76 victory in Greenville that allows Duke to advance to a Sweet Sixteen matchup against Texas Tech on Thursday night. We co...