Paulus Tradeoff?

[dukejunkie]

I am a big fan of Paulus and think he will be a great asset when fully healthy next year. I was wondering (and this is hypothetical with no implications one way or the other) would you have chosen, if the option was available early in the season, for Paulus to have had surgery and red shirt? This would have effectively ended Duke’s string of NCAA tournament appearances but also most likely ensured a healthy Paulus for next year with 3 yrs of eligibility left.

Forget whether this was a possibility or even if Duke should have or shouldn’t have let Paulus play injured (as argued in an earlier post). If there were two scenarios, which would you choose?

A) Paulus having had surgery and red shirting.
B) Duke making the NCAA tournament.

I know in reality these weren’t mutually exclusive but I do believe Duke wouldn’t have made the tourney without him.

[freedevil]

I think Paulus redshirting would have been a poor decision for multiple reasons: 1) obviously Duke would have been very rough on offense, but, more importantly, 2) I think Paulus would have been very tentative coming back in a year. While this year was tough on him, I think he learned a multitude of good lessons while working through his injuries.

He learned how to guide in and play in an offense that didn't have two predominant scorers. He learned how to deal with people bashing him (that includes me), which certainly made him tougher mentally. I could go on and on, but I like the toughness he showed by grinding this year out.

[VaDukie]

I don't think Paulus is the type of player who needs to be motivated, but after all the people bashing him when he wasn't at 100%, I'm looking forward to him coming out next year and kicking some people's teeth in.

[gep]

I don't think Paulus is the type of player who needs to be motivated, but after all the people bashing him when he wasn't at 100%, I'm looking forward to him coming out next year and kicking some people's teeth in.

I saw a "fight" in Greg throughout the entire season... even when he was benched in the VT game (I think) when Wojo (I think) was in his face on the bench coaxing him on... and Greg was eye-to-eye, taking everything in... and TOTALLY cheering his team on from the bench (anyone else would have just sat at the end of the bench, moping). Greg is one tough competitor, and he showed it more and more as the season went on. I like Greg's outlook for next season. As JJ said, Greg will be the next "hated" Dukie by the time he graduates. ;-)

[dukeENG2003]

so who would have played point? Scheyer would have started at point, I suppose, but we would have had ZERO backup point guards, it would have been even worse than when Jeff Capel was forced to play out of position at point.

[Madrasdukie]

so who would have played point? Scheyer would have started at point, I suppose, but we would have had ZERO backup point guards, it would have been even worse than when Jeff Capel was forced to play out of position at point.

Nelson can play the point some. He's seemed to have absolutely no problem bringing the ball up the court. He has in the past played back-up to Sean and Daniel.

[dukejunkie]

I agree that Paulus showed some true guts and will be better off come next year. However, in my own selfish way I wouldn't mind having him for three more years. Duke isn't winning more than a couple NCAA Tourney games max next year. However, if they get someone like Monroe to come in for the '08-'09 season they could be right in the mix again with an experienced team around him. With no defections the '09-'10 would have to be the favorite to win it all. It would have a 5th year point guard (with the red shirt), 4 seniors, and 3 or four McD's juniors. I know that is a pipe dream and players like GH might not stay but that would have been pretty appealing.

The point of my initial question was whether you would have traded Duke's tourney appearance this year to make a future run that much more credible? Either way you would have to believe in Paulus.

Hopefully, Duke gets a nice point guard to take over or Smith can fill that roll and return Duke to prominence in the next couple of years.

[greybeard]

This would have effectively ended Duke’s string of NCAA tournament appearances but also most likely ensured a healthy Paulus for next year with 3 yrs of eligibility left.

I agree that they would have had no hope for the tournament without Paulus.

I doubt that his "recovery" in the short term (the next ten years) will be effected by whether he had the surgery before the season or after, but who knows (undoubtedly the doctors think that it will not). The issue of long term impact is something else. The doctors might say that, from an anotomical perspective, if they were going in to fix it, they could fix whatever further damage was done as easily as what was there already, or some such.

The problem with that perspective is that it looks at the ankle in a vacuum. I doubt that K or Larry Brown ever had a hip injury, ever in their lives. I bet also that they had numerous foot/ankle injuries and came back and played tough, found ways to work around the injury. Those ways are often quite effective, and become ingrained, whether the ankle gets better or not. So you stop using the ankle as a true ankle, and the flexion, stress, gets taken up someplace else. Nature (the laws of physics) know no other possibility. So the hip becomes a shock absorber much more than the body intended. You get to be fiftyish, now, with all the training and year round play and such, it probably will be much sooner, and you need a new hip, not to mention, your back problems and maybe tennis elbow or rotator cuff problems on the opposite side.

Anyway, to really recover as best one can from a surgery causing injury like Paulus had, I believe, requires a paridigm shift. Different questions need to be asked by the professionals and the injured person, a greater "respect" for the body and how it functions needs to be developed, and an appreciation that the body has changed and will require greater attention for a long time has to be front and center.

Will Paulus be 100 percent next year under either scenario is an interesting question. Sadly, today, it is the only one being asked.

[Troublemaker]

I don't think the doctors or K would've allowed Paulus to play if the injury could be made worse by playing. At any rate, I'm pretty sure Duke would've still made the tournament even if he had to sit out. We would've found a way especially since the schedule wouldn't change and the schedule almost guaranteed a high RPI.. Plus, we racked up most of our wins this season during a time when Greg wasn't playing well.

[CMS2478]

Nelson can play the point some. He's seemed to have absolutely no problem bringing the ball up the court. He has in the past played back-up to Sean and Daniel.

Nelson is the worst decision maker on the team and frequently dribbles it off his foot/leg. A PG is someone who gets the whole team involved not looks to drive and score everytime. I like Markie but he is definetely NOT a PG option.

[Saratoga2]

Nelson is the worst decision maker on the team and frequently dribbles it off his foot/leg. A PG is someone who gets the whole team involved not looks to drive and score everytime. I like Markie but he is definetely NOT a PG option.

I agree that Nelson is no point guard, and that is too bad for him, since at 6'3" his pro prospects would probably be limited to that position. His shooting is not good enough for shooting guard. His pro hope depends on him making a major improvement in both ball handling and shooting his senior year. He is a tough kid and an excellent athlete so will help our team next year, but he does need to improve in key areas to look beyond college.

[Madrasdukie]

Nelson is the worst decision maker on the team and frequently dribbles it off his foot/leg. A PG is someone who gets the whole team involved not looks to drive and score everytime. I like Markie but he is definetely NOT a PG option.

You are right, his decision making is not sound. But in the past he has been quite effective in bringing the ball up the court against a full-court press for instance - which is why I said he can play the role of a back-up PG "some". The coaching staff did use him in this capacity esp. when Sean was hurt and Daniel was the PG, in '05.

[greybeard]

Nelson probably has the ability to make real money, and have some wonderful experiences, playing in Europe. The NBA and the average 5mil salaries, that is another matter. But, getting paid well to play a game you love, and live in Italy, or Greece, or Spain; not bad.

Nelson could not have handled the point for Duke. Scheyer probably yes but that would have been destructive of his development. Paulus took the heat for this growing year, did it on one foot; that is what upper classman in K's system do, and none have ever done it better than Paulus. It's not just ability we are talking about here, it's the emotional strength and maturity, whether it turns out good or bad, that I think K would be most concerned about. Indeed, handling the successes of being "the man," whether it's the point or the last shot taker, could well require more maturity than handling the failures. IMO, that is why K put as much weight on Paulus's shoulders as he did.

Again, while I'd have preferred to see Paulus have made a different choice, I have nothing but respect for how he helped the team, especially the younger guys get off to a healthy start in K's system.

[greybeard]

I think that he also deserve high marks for stepping out in front to lead the team. This is just intuition talking again (okay, I'm guessing here), but I think that Nelson had been asked by K to try to score the ball more than he would have with a more senior club. As a consequence, he felt less able to just "let the game come to him," than he might have otherwise chosen. Especially in an offense that sought to run clock, I think that K was looking for McRob, Paulus, and Nelson to take the lion's share of the shots as the clock ran down.

Scheyer I think was more under directions to "let the game come to him," to shoot if he really felt it, or the clock absolutely dictated it, but otherwise to pass it. Again, an emotional development thing. I think Scheyer was given a longer leach as the season grew. I also think that Henderson was on a similarly short leach, and that you really ain't seen nothing yet concerning his offensive play. If he comes on the way I think he will as a more mature sophomore that K will let take a bigger roll, look for Nelson to seem much more reliable in those areas, judgments, flat jump shots, ball handling miscues, that folks are talking about.

On the other hand, I'm just schmoozing about the great game. Who really knows anyway.

[bird]

I am proud that Paulus plays for Duke. What he tried to do for the team in the late season on what we now know was a bad wheel puts him on track to join the All Heart Team.