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Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski comes into the 2009-10 NCAA basketball season having made the Sweet 16 three of the past five years. Last year, Duke finished second in regular season ACC play with a 11-5 conference record and 30-7 for the season and won the conference tournament. Unlike most years under Coach Krzyzewski, however, Duke only has three guards on the 2009-10 roster. Kyle Singer will be moving to play the SF position this year to help take the place of Gerald Henderson who left early for the NBA (drafted at nr 12 by the Charlotte Bobcats). A surprising loss from last year’s squad was Elliot Williams departing to play at Memphis due to a severe illness in the family. As a result, Andre Dawkins was able to finish his high school requirements a year early and join the Blue Devils basketball team for the upcoming seeason. Overall, Duke is expected to play to a much taller lineup this year than in past years with the greater depth in the front court.

2009-10 Duke Blue Devils Backcourt

Last season, Duke saw an immediate improvement in team performance when Jon Scheyer (6′5″, 190 lbs, 14.9ppg, 3.6 rpg) was moved from the 2 guard to the point. Even though he’s not the classic version of a point guard, he got the job done and is the clear choice to run the point again this season. Nolan Smith proved adept at being able to penetrate and score last season finishing the year at 8.4 ppg and 1.7 apg last year. Newcomer Andre Dawkins will be looked up0on to provide an immediate impact in scoring and to provide backup in the very thin Duke backcourt this season.

2009-10 Duke Blue Devils Frontcourt

Kyle Singer is going to pose significant matchup problems for opponents with shifting to the wing. His perimiter shooting and ballhandling ability will allow him to play in the post when needed as well as on the perimeter. He scored at a 16.5 ppg, 7.7 rbg, and 2.2 apg clip last year and is now at the position he will eventually play in the NBA. Duke returns 6′8″ senior Lance Thomas who averaged 18.6 minutes a game last year and 7′1″ Brian Zoubek who look to have a greater impact this season after solid junior years on the team. Newcomers Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly are also expected to have a signficant role on the team this year. Coach K is just going to have to settle on the right team chemistry that is going to work before hitting ACC play in the new year.

2009-10 Duke Blue Devils Basketball Prediction

Duke has some chemistry issues to sort out this season in the early stages of the year, but has plenty of talent on the squad to shoot for a repeat of their 30 win season last year. The depth in the backcourt is the biggest question mark for this year’s Blue Devils, but if the guards stay health, the Duke basketball team will be in the thick of the ACC regular and post season races.

Unfortunately, we have all witnessed the implosion of USC in the off-season with a number of the talent moving to other schools and the NBA from last year’s team. The leaders in the conference heading into the 2009-10 season are Washington and California with UCLA as the third team in my rankings. Just because Abdul Gaddy is going to Washington and not a traditional basketball powerhouse, we’re not seeing the press on what his impact is going to meant to the Huskies this season. Washington finished the 2008-09 season at 14-4 in PAC-10 play and a 26-9 overall record and are my prediction to win the PAC-10 this season. (Technorati Tag: uq6vg4p2h5 )

2009 PAC-10 Basketball Rankings

#1 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – Washington

Put Abdul Gaddy with Isaiah Thomas this season, and we just might see Washington with the most elite backcourt west of the Mississippi River by January. Through in senior Quincy Pondexter and Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Washington may be close to reaching 30 wins this season.

#2 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – California

It was a close call on picking Washington over CAL for my rankings, but Cal is not far behind. If the Bears had won the PAC-10 anytime in the last 50 years, I might have given them the nod, but for now keep them a close second. The team is lead by senior guards Patrick Christopher and Jerome Randle. Look for the Bears to significantly improve on their 11-7, 22-11 record from last season and try to go a bit deeper in the 2010 NCAA tournament.

#3 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – UCLA

We don’t have any NBA lottery picks on this year’s Bruins team, but Coach Howland has plenty of talent on the squad. There are 9 freshmen and sophomores on the team, so look for some early hiccups followed by the team peaking closer to tournament time.

#4 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – Arizona

Arizona squeaked into the NCAA tournment last year finishing the season 21-14 and 9-9 in PAC-10 play. The Wildcats have a new coach in Sean Miller and will have to work to make the tournament for a 26th consecutive season.

#5 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – Arizona State

Coach Herb Sendek brings back several veteran players from last season’s squad that finished 25-10, 11-7. The team lost James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph to the NBA, and will find it hard to replicate last seasons 25 wins this year.

#6 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – Oregon State

The Beavers bring back evreyone from last season’s 18-18, 7-11 team. They have an outside shot at qualifying for the NCAA tournament this season.

#7 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – Washington State

The team is led by premiere shooter Klay Thompson. This will likely be enough to get State above .500 this season, but may not prove to be quite enough fire power to get the team to the NCAA tournament.

#8 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – Oregon

Oregon is young, however, Coach Ernie Kent is lucky that USC and Stanford are expected to be down this season or they might have trouble matching their two PAC-10 conference wins from last season.

#9 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – USC

The program has been left in a mess and a lot of talent has left. The one bright spot on the roster is returning shooting guard Dwight Lewis who averaged 14.4 points per game last season.

#10 2009 PAC-10 Basketball Team – Stanford

The Cardinals are coming off of a 20-14 record last season but were 6-12 in the conference. The team is young, and will miss Anthony Goods, Lawrence Hill, and Mitch Johnson from last season. Landry Fields is the lone player returning who averaged more than 10 ppg last season.

I have to admit, I thought Patrick Patterson would go pro in the 2009 NBA draft when he started being projected to be a first round pick. He stayed in college for one more year to finish his degree and spend a year under new Kentucky Coach, John Calipari’s tutelage to help enhance his “away from the rim” skills. Patterson may see his overall numbers dip a bit now that the Wildcats have a few more options than have Jodie Meeks shoot the 3ball and Patterson shoot it inside, but he enters the 2009-10 season as one of the best inside-men in college basketball. The defending champion North Carolina Tar Heels, however, have Ed Davis coming back to help lead their national title defense. Two freshmen make my “top ten ” of power forwards based on their pedigrees entering their freshman seasons: Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins, and Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors. Yes, Cousins would be labeled a center at most colleges, but don’t be surprised to see him listed as a second PF on the lineup. Favors will get more touches at Tech, and look out for these two highly touted Frosh.

Top 10 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forwards

#1 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward - Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

Now that Kentucky has two big time post players to complement Patrick Patterson in DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton, we’ll finally get a chance to see what Patterson can do this season. Not that his 17.9 points per game last season were any small effort, but by making Patterson free to not have to guard the opposing center every game, Patterson could quickly become one of the Naismith Player of the year candidates this season at Kentucky. Expect to see him go high in the 2010 NBA draft.
#2 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Ed Davis, North Carolina
For the Tar Heels to have a decent shot at defending their 2009 NCAA Tournament title, Ed Davis will need to have a huge year. He’s capable of doing so, and now that he’ll be one of the primary focuses of the North Caroline offense, regular double-doubles out of Davis may become the norm when watching the Tar Heels play this season.

#3 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
It was surprising to see both Aminu and Patterson pass up a chance to go to the NBA in the 2009 draft. WIth Aminu returning for another season at Wake, expect to see his numbers increase and for Wake Forest to be in the thick of the ACC race.
#4 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Devin Ebanks, West Virginia

Devin Ebanks really started to grow-up as a basketball player last season at West Virginia. Over the last third of the Mountaineers season, he averaged more than 10 rebounds a game. He’ll be playing a key role in West Virginia’s Big East title hopes this season.
#5 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Craig Brackins, Iowa State
Craig Brackins has continued to increase his scoring and rebounding production over the past two seasons. Now he just needs to show he can help his team win more ball games this coming season.
#6 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
One of two incoming frosh on my top ten. It was a toss-up to me on whether to list Favors or Cousins in this spot, but since Favors figures to get more touches on offense, at first glance it apears as though his numbers will be higher this season than Cousins.

#7 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky
If you keep up with Kentucky basketball news, then you’ll know that Coach Cal has nothing but great things to say about Cousin’s inside game. Since it doesn’t seem to be “en vogue” to be listed as a center now-a-days if you’re under 7′ tall, expect to see Cousins listed as a second PF on Kentucky’s roster this season next to Patterson in the starting lineup.

#8 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Trevor Booker, Clemson

If Clemson can reliably get him the ball game in and game out, we’ll see a huge season out of Booker this year in the ACC.

#9 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Lance Thomas, Duke
I know, if you’re not a Duke fan you might be like ? Well, Lance Thomas didn’t crack the 6 ppg mark last season, but he nailed over 60% of his field goals and now that he’s entering his senior year, he’s primed to have a big season for the Blue Devils at the PF position.

#10 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Lazar Hayward, Marquette
Hayware averaged 16.3 points per game last season without ever really being the primary focus for the offense. Expect a big year from him this season.

Close to Making my list:

Renardo Sidney, Mississippi State - If we ever get to see him play alongside Vernado, then he enters the top 10 somewhere near Favors and Cousins….but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Daniel Orton, Kentucky – Its just not right to list 3 bigs from the same team. I don’t see Cal getting all three of his premiere bigs enough touches this season to list Orton, Cousins, and Patterson on the same list. It won’t surprise me, however, to see some big games out of Orton this season.