Friar Basketball Newsletter: Behind Daquan Davis' efficient shooting numbers in Vegas, What's next for David Duke Jr., Underclassmen highlights, Previewing UConn, and more
1. Earlier this months, Daquan Davis and Team Thrill took home the title at the Sportradar Showdown in Las Vegas. Davis shot it very efficiently throughout that week against top-tier competition. He was 6-14 (42%) on catch and shoot opportunities, 11-24 on all jumpers (45%), and an impressive 5-9 (55%) when taking jump shots off the dribble.
Davis shot 47% from the field overall at the event, and 40% from 3-point range. The pace was well-suited for the future Friar, as ten of his 18 made field goals came in transition. He had just three turnovers in six games, and made 90% of his free throw attempts. Davis also led Team Thrill with eight steals.
Here are highlights of Davis from the Showdown:
2. David Duke Jr. spent his third consecutive July playing for the Brooklyn Nets’ Summer League outfit following a season in which he finished third in the G League’s MVP voting and was named 1st Team All-G-League. Duke averaged 22.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game playing for the Long Island Nets, and saw action in 23 games with Brooklyn last year.
With positional versatility, defensive upside, and production in the G-League, some Friar fans have questioned why Duke hasn’t earned himself a roster spot with the Nets. The answer could come down to his proficiency from beyond the 3-point arc. Duke shot 32% from three in the G-League last season, after making them at 30% as a rookie. When playing for the big club, Duke made 9-37 (24%) from deep as a rookie, and shot just 1-12 this past season. He did see a spike in his shooting inside the arc when playing for Brooklyn (.423 as a rookie to .530 last year), but the lack of consistency from three could be keeping him from sticking in the league.
Duke was solid for the Nets in this year’s Summer League, putting up 16 points and six rebounds per game, but still shot just 29% from three.
3. Justin Minaya averaged 12.5 minutes per game this summer for Portland and scored 3.4 points a game. He also struggled to find the mark from long range, making 1-8. Minaya played in four games for Portland late last season, scoring 15 points in his final two appearances.
4. The Athletic ran a terrific feature on Kim English’s adjustment to life as the head coach at Providence. There were all sorts of great tidbits in the story, but the most telling quotes may have come from Bryce Hopkins and George Mason-to-PC transfer Josh Oduro:
“He doesn’t get mad,” Oduro says. “What he gets is intense. When other coaches start taking it to 10, you’re kind of like, whoa, you’re tweaking right now. With Kim, it’s a little bit different, because you know he’s not yelling at you. He’s yelling for you. He’s trying to show you how to get to that level.”
And on English’s first tour of the practice facility, he met Hopkins, Providence’s All-Big East wing, and started work on earning the trust of a player with a lot at stake, selling a vision to put the ball in his hands all over the floor. “He’s letting me come off ball screens, just expanding my game so I’m not one-dimensional,” Hopkins says. “He knows what to do to get to the NBA. I’ve watched some of his film at George Mason. You could see the translation.”
4. English showed leadership skills going back to his Missouri days. Here is a great clip of him with ESPN’s Holly Rowe after winning the Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player award in 2012.
5. The Big 12 nabbing Colorado? It feels like a short-term fix to a long-term problem, according to CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli.
…I know our attention spans get shorter by the day, but to say the Big 12 "won" ignores all the losses in recent years. We can't forget why the Big 12 was desperate to poach Colorado from the Pac-12 and why it's still actively looking to expand.
It has to.
Colorado left the Big 12 following the 2010 season. Since then, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M all left like Colorado did, and they all left for the same reasons: A better situation and more money. Colorado is the only one returning because Colorado is the only one that didn't find its better situation. It made a mistake. Colorado threw its lot in with a league struggling to find a foothold in the television markets that now dominate the sport over everything else.
The problem the league faces is that while the $31 million Colorado and the rest of the league will pocket annually is better than what's on offer in the Pac-12, the Big Ten and SEC will still make far more. Every year, the gap between those two leagues and the Big 12 will widen a little further until the situation becomes untenable to somebody, and it will eventually find itself in the Pac-12's situation.
So while Colorado's move to the Big 12 is good for the school and conference in the short term, nobody wins here. The Big 12 is simply losing more slowly.
6. Providence announced its travel plans for a trip through Spain in August. PC will play its first game against the Madrid All-Stars on Friday, August 18 at 7:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. ET). The team will then return to action on Monday, August 21 against Valencia at 7:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. ET). Providence's final game is on August 23 at 6:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. ET) versus Cataluna All-Stars in Barcelona.
The school also shared that One Republic will perform at Late Night Madness on Saturday, September 30 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Tickets are on sale at Friars.com.
More from Friar Basketball:
In our first preview of Big East teams in 2023-24, we take a look at UConn — their returnees, newcomers, and a potentially intriguing center matchup when they play the Friars.
We also posted highlights of the freshman seasons of Jayden Pierre, Corey Floyd Jr., and Justyn Fernandez.
Great Read