The Devil's Den: A Duke Athletics Podcast The Devils Den Podcast, Duke, Duke basketball, Duke athletics, Duke Blue Devils

Josh and Raul are back with John Watson of thedevilsden.com to get his thoughts on Duke's wild offseason. Topics discussed include:

The loss of seven player to the transfer portal

The causes behind the mass exodus

The additions of Mason Gillis and Maliq Brown

A possible commitment from Sion James of Tulane

What Duke is hoping to change about its culture

Recruiting strategies and roster construction in the portal era

The relative silence around the 2025 recruiting class

Duke's position in the NIL landscape

How Duke maintains its brand if it shifts away from being an NBA pipeline



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Josh, Dustin, and Raul react to offseason which saw seven players from Duke's 2023-24 roster enter the transfer portal. They talk about the fits of Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell on Baylor and Missouri respectively, as well as what it means to lose promising players like TJ Power and Sean Stewart. They discuss the difficulties of maintaining fan engagement in an era of ludicrously high turnover. They debate what Duke's roster-building strategy should look like in this new climate.

Next they turn their eye to Duke's transfer portal commitments, Maliq Brown of Syracuse and Mason Gillis of Purdue. How will these players fit on the roster and how can they help next year's team? Where should they play positionally? Who should start?

Lastly, they talk about whether Duke will add anyone else in the portal. What is the area of biggest need?


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Josh and Raul are joined by Brendan Marks of The Athletic. First they discuss the 2023-24 season for Duke and for the ACC as a whole. How did Duke's season stack up against the lofty expectations? What led to UNC's turnaround from missing the tournament to a 1-seed? What do NC State and Clemson's tournament runs say about the health of the conference?
Then they turn their attention to the 2024-25 season. What do Tyrese Proctor's and Caleb Foster's returns mean for Duke? What kind of player(s) should Duke add in the portal? What will Duke's starting lineup next year be and what will the product look like on the court?

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Josh, Dustin, and Raul go through the over/under picks they made for various team and player stats at the beginning of the season. They react to their guesses and discuss why a player or the team fell short or exceed their predictions. A winner is announced and gets nothing but bragging rights.
Note: this episode was recorded before Mark Mitchell entered the transfer portal and before Tyrese Proctor announced he'll return back to school for his junior season. Another podcast will be released next week discussion this and any other developments in the coming days.

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Josh, Dustin, and Raul look back at Duke's 2023-24 Season. Topics discussed include:


What it means for Coach Scheyer to make the Elite Eight in his second season

How much differently they would feel if Duke had made the Final Four

Missed opportunities

Favorite games and moments from the season

Biggest pleasant surprises (players, aspect of team play, coaching)

Biggest disappointments

Potential departures and returnees for next season

Who Duke needs to return to be a contender



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Josh, Dustin, and Raul are joined by Brian Geisinger of 247Sports to preview Duke's matchup with the Houston Cougars in the Sweet Sixteen. They talk about the keys to a Duke victory and pitfalls to avoid. Topics discussed include:

Containing Jamal Shead's off-the-dribble game

Limiting Houston's offensive rebounds and winning the field goal attempts battle

Avoiding live-ball turnovers when Houston blitzes the ball screen

Filipowski as a pressure release valve when the guards are blitzed

Houston's backside help principles and rim protection

Mark Mitchell as a baseline cutter

Tyrese Proctor's as a hit-ahead passer and movement shooter

Duke's baseline out-of-bounds and after-timeout plays

Jared McCain in flex action

Empty side ball screen with Jeremy Roach

Roach's ability to attack the middle of the paint

Other actions Duke can run (DHOs, split action, inverted pick and roll) to avoid the blitz altogether


Then Raul gives his prediction for the outcome and score of the game while Josh and Dustin dodge the question altogether.

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