One of the big curiosities and something we’re really looking forward to is what Duke will get from Kyle Filipowski.

Filipowski, as you probably know, had surgery on both hips. We don’t fully understand what the issue was, but the result is supposed to be increased flexibility, mobility and explosiveness.

And it’s not like he was suffering in those areas as a freshman. Filipowski was one of the best freshmen – well, really, one of the best players – in the country.

From the stands, it didn’t look like he was having many issues at all. Yet he clearly was because no one would have surgery for no particular reason.

Last year, Filipowski impressed us with his strength and quickness. What will his new and improved hips mean to his game?

Well, according to Jon Scheyer, a lot: “I think you’ll see even more versatility from him. Bringing the ball up, shooting three-point shots. His decision making and passing — in addition to what he did last year scoring and rebounding — I think all of those things can show….With his body and the work that he’s done this offseason, his defense is drastically improved. His ability to move his feet and protect the rim, defend the pick-and-roll — we need him to be a complete player for us.”

All that sounds really useful and exciting, but what if Filipowski does become a rim protector?

To be clear, we don’t think that he’s going to be the second coming of Dereck Lively or Mark Williams, but he doesn’t have to be: he just has to be a credible threat.

Scheyer said this on John Rothstein’s podcast. He also said that both Filipowski and Mark Mitchell, who had a knee injury, have been fully cleared for full basketball activities, which is very good news for the Blue Devils.

Mitchell would like to point out that he’s been cleared since June.