Austin Rivers - where there is smoke, there is fire

[dukeballboy88]

well part of what i said earlier is a joke, no i dont think barnes will be at unc more than 1 year but the part where i think his unc team will struggle is not a joke. last year i won a bet and predicted unc would go 17-13 because now roy had to coach and we all see how that worked out and this year i see them being a lil better but not that much better. they wont losE to COC and teams like that but they still loose double digit games and dont call me joe lunardi but i see them being one of the last 4 in.


all this talk of system really baffles me. like roys system is better suited for a player like AR is just plain out stupid in my opinion. if i was a lights out shooter who could handle the ball, there is no better system to play in than K's. all the big men do is set screens and rebound and kick it out for me to shoot more. i dont get it! whoever this dude is for they fayobserver.com needs to be fired cause he actually said this!

While Rivers would no doubt be a highlight reel star within UNC's offensive system, another school of thought says it would be best for his long term development to spend his one year in college playing in a more defensive-minded program to aid his transition to the NBA.

[NSDukeFan]

well part of what i said earlier is a joke, no i dont think barnes will be at unc more than 1 year but the part where i think his unc team will struggle is not a joke. last year i won a bet and predicted unc would go 17-13 because now roy had to coach and we all see how that worked out and this year i see them being a lil better but not that much better. they wont losE to COC and teams like that but they still loose double digit games and dont call me joe lunardi but i see them being one of the last 4 in.


all this talk of system really baffles me. like roys system is better suited for a player like AR is just plain out stupid in my opinion. if i was a lights out shooter who could handle the ball, there is no better system to play in than K's. all the big men do is set screens and rebound and kick it out for me to shoot more. i dont get it! whoever this dude is for they fayobserver.com needs to be fired cause he actually said this!

I agree that Duke would be a great place for Austin to play, but not for the reasons you have suggested. I would argue that the reason last year was so successful was because coach K changed the way the team played to match his personnel and not because a particular system was effective. I think and hope you will see our big men doing a lot more than set screens and rebound to kick out for shooters this year. I still expect Duke to shoot a lot of three pointers as the team has many great shooters from that range, but I expect that will be off more penetration and fast breaks than kick outs from rebounders.
I am also not sure that writers necessarily need to be fired for saying something you disagree with.

[oldnavy]

Hansbrough averaged 19 a game as a freshman and Barnes has an opportunity to make as large an impact as Hansbrough did, except Barnes is much better than Hansbrough. I will go out on a limb and say, barring injury, Barnes will be top 5 in scoring in ACC as a Freshman.

I doubt that HB will be the impact player that TH was for one simple reason - heart. TH was one of, if not the most driven kids to play in the ACC that I can remember. HB will be more athletic than TH, but I doubt he will have the heart or the drive... at least I hope he won't!

[JohnGalt]

I can think of two off the top of my head in Durant and Beasley. Also, Curry if you consider that major college basketball.

I suppose that is a little vague. I meant maybe 2 handfuls...not two total.

[nmduke2001]

I suppose that is a little vague. I meant maybe 2 handfuls...not two total.

No prob. You were actually really close. I did a bit of research and in addition to Durant and Beasley, I could only find 4 others from "major basketball" conferences.
Eric Gordon did it for Indiana
Wagner did it for Memphis
Carmello Anthony did it for the 'Cuse
and almost Blue Devil Kris Humphries did it for Minnesota

About 10 others did it for smaller schools including our own Seth Curry for Liberty.

[jimsumner]

FWIW, the only freshmen I could find who averaged at least 20 ppg for ACC teams were Mark Price in 1983 and Kenny Anderson in 1990.

So, it can be done. But it's pretty rare.

[JohnGalt]

No prob. You were actually really close. I did a bit of research and in addition to Durant and Beasley, I could only find 4 others from "major basketball" conferences.
Eric Gordon did it for Indiana
Wagner did it for Memphis
Carmello Anthony did it for the 'Cuse
and almost Blue Devil Kris Humphries did it for Minnesota

About 10 others did it for smaller schools including our own Seth Curry for Liberty.

I thought OJ Mayo did too...

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/players...622546/oj-mayo

Although I'm not sure if that one really counts since...well...nervermind.

[SilkyJ]

from JayJayESPNDime, via airowe's twitter:

I asked M. Kabongo where he thought A. Rivers would end up, here's what he said: "Duke! I would love to play with him!" ... (Me: "You would, would you...") MK: "That's a great program w great tradition and Coach K is great. Austin will do great there and polish his game. I would love to play w him just like he'd love to play w me!" ... OK have at it.

Link

[DukeBlueNV]

from JayJayESPNDime, via airowe's twitter:



Link

beat me to it... very intresting

[nmduke2001]

I thought OJ Mayo did too...

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/players...622546/oj-mayo

Although I'm not sure if that one really counts since...well...nervermind.

You are correct. I must have missed it. I was using this site to find the information.
http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/sta...2007-2008&min=

[Class of '94]

beat me to it... very intresting

Which part?? The fact that Kabongo thinks Austin is going to Duke or the fact that he said they'd love to play together and that Coach K is great.....
I know there were rumors of Kabongo decommitting from Texas; and IMO this might feed into that speculation.

[DukeBlueNV]

Which part?? The fact that Kabongo thinks Austin is going to Duke or the fact that he said they'd love to play together and that Coach K is great.....
I know there were rumors of Kabongo decommitting from Texas; and IMO this might feed into that speculation.

Ummm... all of it! But I doubt Kabongo decomits at this point, if he wanted a chance to be recruited by us what has he been waiting for?

Jordan just tweeted this follow-up

JayJayESPNDime Still 150% to Tex is what he tells me. RT @dukeskins @JayJayESPNDime Is M.Kabongo open to Duke or still a a Texas verbal...

[Duke: A Dynasty]

http://www.slamonline.com/online/col...-kyrie-irving/

Sorry if this link has been posted previously but i dont recall seing it anywhere.
Irving said if Duke gets AR then he may reconsider being one and done. A reach i know but it still makes me almost drool at the thought of KI, AR, Gbinije, MP1, MP2 starting or a 3 guard line up with Curry starting instead of Gbinije

[Starter]

I realize things change, but when I went to St. Pat's games, everyone involved with the school said Krzyzewski presented it as two years for Kyrie in Durham. And honestly, from talking to him, he just didn't seem like a one-and-done kid to me. He's real close to his father and sister, a fun-loving guy -- very reminiscent of J-Will in so many ways. I wouldn't be stunned to see him stick around for a second year to soak up the atmosphere, hopefully play with a good friend in Rivers in an absolutely loaded backcourt, and take aim at a national title.

[Kedsy]

A reach i know but it still makes me almost drool at the thought of KI, AR, Gbinije, MP1, MP2 starting or a 3 guard line up with Curry starting instead of Gbinije

While I agree that lineup would be a really good one, it probably isn't as good as the lineup we have this season. Do you drool often?

[ChicagoCrazy84]

While I agree that lineup would be a really good one, it probably isn't as good as the lineup we have this season. Do you drool often?

Agreed. Im sure AR will be incredible in both college and the NBA, but come on, who wouldnt take Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler over AR and Gbinije? Id take them over AR and Gilchrist!

[airowe]

Yep, sorry about that. You were certainly not the intended target.

I wouldn't worry too much about where we stand with Austin. Watzone said it best recently on this board. Check BlueDevilsReign's Twitter, listen to everyone you trust. I'm sure you'll hear some garbage from IC after next weekend's official to unc as well. Just be patient...

[ACCBBallFan]

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/se...will-visit-ku/

Rivers latest is that he wants to wait to see if Barnes and Irving are one and done. So he will not (this week) be deciding in the Fall.

That helps UNC and KU who are playing catch up.

Of course Austin seeing Duke actually playing up tempo again helps Duke too.

[Kedsy]

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/se...will-visit-ku/

Rivers latest is that he wants to wait to see if Barnes and Irving are one and done. So he will not (this week) be deciding in the Fall.

That helps UNC and KU who are playing catch up.

If he sticks with that timeframe, this thread could top the 10,000 post mark. The Board may explode.

[airowe]

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/se...will-visit-ku/

Rivers latest is that he wants to wait to see if Barnes and Irving are one and done. So he will not (this week) be deciding in the Fall.

That helps UNC and KU who are playing catch up.

That's old news. They recycled those quotes from the DimeMag article. I expect a decision before his HS team starts practicing November 1st.