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  1. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Ocala, FL (formerly Black Mountain, NC)
    Quote Originally Posted by Greg_Newton View Post
    I'm pumped for the inevitable Singler at point-forward experiment next year. I think he could be quite effective in a Turkoglu-like role, and it would simultaneously solve most of our lineup issues.
    This would be interesting. I just wonder, does he have the handles to pull this off? (I'm not saying he doesn't, I just want other's opinions as well)

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Nashville
    Quote Originally Posted by johaad View Post
    This would be interesting. I just wonder, does he have the handles to pull this off? (I'm not saying he doesn't, I just want other's opinions as well)
    Supposedly improving his guard skills is his number one focus this summer, and he's dribbling a tennis ball around everywhere he goes. I wouldn't necessarily put him up against a PG in a full-court press all game, but I bet he'll at least have the handles to run a half court offense pretty well by next winter. I don't know, we'll see what K decides to do...

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Cary, NC
    From the article: "Wall could do for Kentucky what Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans did in their one-and-done seasons at Memphis under Calipari. "

    In light of the recent allegations, Kentucky better hope not!

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Cary, NC

    PG play

    Quote Originally Posted by Greg_Newton View Post
    Supposedly improving his guard skills is his number one focus this summer, and he's dribbling a tennis ball around everywhere he goes. I wouldn't necessarily put him up against a PG in a full-court press all game, but I bet he'll at least have the handles to run a half court offense pretty well by next winter. I don't know, we'll see what K decides to do...
    I expect a lot of teams to full-court press us next year due to our lack of a true PG, and I also expect we'll do a lot of passing up the court rather than dribbling. Having mobile, athletic big men will help a lot with this. Once in the half-court, there's really no need for a "pure" PG operating in our motion offense.

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Wherever the wind blows and the leaves dance.
    Quote Originally Posted by UrinalCake View Post
    Once in the half-court, there's really no need for a "pure" PG operating in our motion offense.
    I think Duke's offense works best with a traditinal PG, one that sets up other players, putting them in a position to score. Not only does Duke not have that kind of PG for next year, they also don't have a replacement for the one player who could seemingly penetrate/create his own shot at will. Maybe Ewill develops into that role but Ewill (like the younger Henderson) doesn't have the consistent handles and outside shot yet. So what you are left with is a bunch of talented players with only decent athletiscm trying to create shots. In other words, one of the better teams in the country but not athletic enough to be a national title contender. Also Duke isn't a great shooting team for a team that is going to rely on alot of challenged shots.

  6. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by whereinthehellami View Post
    I think Duke's offense works best with a traditinal PG, one that sets up other players, putting them in a position to score. Not only does Duke not have that kind of PG for next year, they also don't have a replacement for the one player who could seemingly penetrate/create his own shot at will. Maybe Ewill develops into that role but Ewill (like the younger Henderson) doesn't have the consistent handles and outside shot yet. So what you are left with is a bunch of talented players with only decent athletiscm trying to create shots. In other words, one of the better teams in the country but not athletic enough to be a national title contender. Also Duke isn't a great shooting team for a team that is going to rely on alot of challenged shots.
    Duke's offense worked very well with a point forward, also. See "Ferry, Danny" and "Hill, Grant".

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by gvtucker View Post
    I see no reason why Nolan Smith cannot make a similar leap between his soph and jr years that Will Avery made between his frosh and soph years.

    Similar skill sets, similar size, similar flashes of brilliance surrounded by flashes of youth.
    If Nolan makes that leap and is anything like Avery then I agree with you this Duke team could be a FF sleeper. But I'm not sure I see all the similarities that you do. I think Nolan will be a very, very solid PG for us but not quite in the same class as Avery, who I always felt was a little underrated for us (probably because of the way he left and his questionable academic situation).

  8. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Gary View Post
    If Nolan makes that leap and is anything like Avery then I agree with you this Duke team could be a FF sleeper. But I'm not sure I see all the similarities that you do. I think Nolan will be a very, very solid PG for us but not quite in the same class as Avery, who I always felt was a little underrated for us (probably because of the way he left and his questionable academic situation).
    Will Avery, 6'2", 180 lbs.
    stats from his freshman year: 8.5 ppg, 2.5 apg, A/TO 1.45, FG% 43%, 3 pt FG% 30%., 34 steals, 2.0 rpg

    Nolan Smith, 6'2" 185 lbs.
    stats from his sophomore year: 8.4 ppg, 1.7 apg, A/TO 1.05, FG% 43%, 3 pt FG% 34%, 32 steals, 2.2 rpg

    A few less assists, and a better 3 pt shot and a few more rebounds. They had very similar years, and I think it is completely reasonable to think that Nolan can improve to the degree I envision.

  9. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by RockyMtDevil View Post
    I am not sure how anyone in their right mind believes this years team will be a final four contender sans Henderson. We struggled mightily last year against athletic teams, we still do not have a true center or a point, and we lost our most talented player. Yep, that is a great equation for being better by leaps and bounds...C'mon, let's be realistic.
    I disagree with some of this as well. You say Duke does not have a "true" center. It remains to be seen how well the Plumlee brothers and Kelly can play with their back to the basket, but lamenting Duke's lack of a true center sounds like a talking point that is a year outdated. Duke has 4 guys who are 6'10" or taller on next year's team (Zoubs, Plumlee x2, Kelly), and two more who are 6'8" (Thomas, Singler). That's a TON of size, and every one of those guys is tall enough to play center at the college level. If Kelly can play on the perimeter as well, we now have two guys that can create a significant mismatch by playing outside.

    I expect us to play very differently next year than we did this past year because we will be much bigger at the 3-5 positions, and should have more of an inside game than we have in quite a while. So comparing us to last year's team is like comparing Villanova to FSU. Both had good teams, but their style of play and their personnel was very different. It will be interesting to see how K chooses to play perimeter defense. If we have a decent shot blocker underneath, he can help compensate for our guard's lack of quickness and we can overplay the pass.
    "There can BE only one."

  10. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by RockyMtDevil View Post
    I am not sure how anyone in their right mind believes this years team will be a final four contender sans Henderson. We struggled mightily last year against athletic teams, we still do not have a true center or a point, and we lost our most talented player. Yep, that is a great equation for being better by leaps and bounds...C'mon, let's be realistic.
    Duke has an odd mixture of talent next year. As stated, not a whole lot of proven players other than Scheyer and Singler, no true PG, and no proven big man. So while it would be extremely difficult for Duke to get to a FF next year I wouldn't say it's totally unrealistic to see them as a FF team.

    For a recent example, Florida won a national championship on the backs of players who were very unproven one year earlier. They had lost their top 3 players and nobody, not even Florida fans, thought guys like Green, Noah, and Horford would make such improvements in one year.

    So you never know, maybe Nolan shocks everyone and becomes a good PG and Elliot improves dramatically to give us 12ppg/4rpg and maybe Miles or Mason become good defensive players with some offensive production (7ppg, 8rpg, 2bpg for one of them). I know it's difficult for some people to view things that way, to think about the potential improvements and alot easier to view things based on what they've seen in the previous season. But if there's one things I've learned in all sports it's that some of the most unrealistic things can actually become realistic in a very short period of time (e.g. the Arizona Cardinals going to the Super Bowl, George Mason in 06, etc).

  11. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    North Florida & Bozeman, Montana

    Thumbs up Avery's second year was outstanding

    Quote Originally Posted by gvtucker View Post
    Will Avery, 6'2", 180 lbs.
    stats from his freshman year: 8.5 ppg, 2.5 apg, A/TO 1.45, FG% 43%, 3 pt FG% 30%., 34 steals, 2.0 rpg

    Nolan Smith, 6'2" 185 lbs.
    stats from his sophomore year: 8.4 ppg, 1.7 apg, A/TO 1.05, FG% 43%, 3 pt FG% 34%, 32 steals, 2.2 rpg

    A few less assists, and a better 3 pt shot and a few more rebounds. They had very similar years, and I think it is completely reasonable to think that Nolan can improve to the degree I envision.
    Avery's talent and stats as a sophomore were rewarded with 2nd team all-ACC and the 14th overall draft position/pick.
    He had a great year:Besides hitting team season-high 8 3-pointers vs. Florida and having season--high 11 assists vs. Michigan, he started all 39 games (37-2;16--0) ,shot 48.1% from the floor (201/416), 41.1% from 3 (76/185) ,81% from the charity stripe (102/126),averaged 14.9 ppg( 3rd to Brand's 17.7 and Langdon's 17.3), averaged 3.5 rpg, averaged 5 assists per game, and had 1.46 steals per game. In addition, Avery (called Jet) was the fastest player on the floor.
    On a team with 6 excellent to great players,Avery was a better % shooter than Langdon and Carrawell, 2nd in steals to Battier, 3rd in 3-point % ( 41.1% to Langdon's 44.1% and Battier's 41.5% who took half of Avery's shot total), 2nd in foul shooting % , 3rd in scoring,and 1st in assists.
    Avery was a tremendous all-around player.
    What levels,in comparison to any one of Avery's sophomore totals, do you project for the junior Smith?

    Best--Blueprofessor

  12. #32
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by blueprofessor View Post
    Avery's talent and stats as a sophomore were rewarded with 2nd team all-ACC and the 14th overall draft position/pick.
    He had a great year:Besides hitting team season-high 8 3-pointers vs. Florida and having season--high 11 assists vs. Michigan, he started all 39 games (37-2;16--0) ,shot 48.1% from the floor (201/416), 41.1% from 3 (76/185) ,81% from the charity stripe (102/126),averaged 14.9 ppg( 3rd to Brand's 17.7 and Langdon's 17.3), averaged 3.5 rpg, averaged 5 assists per game, and had 1.46 steals per game. In addition, Avery (called Jet) was the fastest player on the floor.
    On a team with 6 excellent to great players,Avery was a better % shooter than Langdon and Carrawell, 2nd in steals to Battier, 3rd in 3-point % ( 41.1% to Langdon's 44.1% and Battier's 41.5% who took half of Avery's shot total), 2nd in foul shooting % , 3rd in scoring,and 1st in assists.
    Avery was a tremendous all-around player.
    What levels,in comparison to any one of Avery's sophomore totals, do you project for the junior Smith?

    Best--Blueprofessor
    Thanks. I wasn't going to go to all the trouble of looking upon Avery's sophomore stats, but I figured they were a good bit better than his freshman year. This is a perfect example of how stats can be made to say what you want them to say.

    Look, I love Nolan and think he'll be a fine point for us. I'm rooting like heck for him to continue to improve, and I thought he had a wonderful season for us last year. Having said all that, I don't see him having exactly the same skill set as Avery. But I hope I'm wrong and Nolan has the kind of year next season that Will had in '99. It would be fantastic!

    GO DUKE! GO NOLAN!

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