Nolan Smith: Impending Breakout

[Aditya]

Well Lance played out of position for three years. That probably doesn't help his average

[jipops]

Nolan will easily be more prepared this year. I think you can almost pinpoint where he lost some of his confidence and I think it has a lot to do with that crushing defeat we took down south last year. ACC play is no joke and it is somewhat parallel to Nolan's fade.

And while he only mentions the concussion and the knee, he was also having back issues after a hard fall from a lay-up. I think those spasms affected him more than anyone let on.

He mentions being vocal like Kobe which could be huge b/c it will mean that he not only knows what's going on but what's supposed to happen.

I predict Nolan will make quite a splash this year.

The back thing got little to no pub last season (if he wore light blue it would have been repeated front page news) but the difficulties definitely coincided with his declining numbers throughout the season. Otherwise we most likely would not be talking about a breakout for Nolan b/c it already would have happened from a scoring standpoint. Though Nolan isn't a natural floor leader he does have great speed with the ball and he can score and defend. I would like to see Nolan's assist numbers go up a decent bit. He may be the only drive and dish / break down the defense type guy we have this season.

[BD80]

Let's say I start a new thread entitled "I have an Airedale named Archer."

How many responses will there be before it devolves into yet another thread about Lance and Zoub? This is about the fifth or sixth thread where this has happened. I haven't checked, but I think posters are copying and pasting from those other threads. This isn't a contest to be won by repeating one's opinions the greatest number of times. Is it?

Nolan deserves his own thread. He is definitely one of those guys that could "break out". He has gone through an adjustment period, but has shown he has the skill set and athleticism to be a top level player, and had injury setbacks that tempered an otherwise promising season. I wouldn't put too much stock in early season results, remember the level of competition rises dramatically after about ten games. Nolan is one of several reasons this will be an exciting season. With Nolan and Kyle attacking from the wing, I think we will see Jon and Andre getting a lot of open looks from the perimeter, and our post guys getting some easy baskets.

The answer to the hypothetical question is about 14. The first four posts would compliment Archer and Airedales. The next five or six posters would claim their pet's breed or species is the best. After a couple of posts about Archer's show championship, someone would note that he never really matured into a Best of Show, or qualified for Westminster. Just like Lance and Zoubs were Big Macs but haven't made All-ACC ...

There are a lot of teams that would trade their post players for Lance and Zoubs. There aren't many I would trade for.

[ACCBBallFan]

Delaney has Jeff Allen, who is a pretty solid post player.

Silky,

I agree with you that VA Tech has the second best duo in ACC, pending what some frosh do.

However in context I was speaking of guard tandem Smith and Scheyer, not best two players Singler and Scheyer.

Particularly with the exodus of so many good guards from last year's ACC, I do expect Nolan to have a break out season without having Lawson-Ellington, Rice, Teague, Douglas, McClinton, and Clinch, plus ripple effect of Vassallo, Rivers, and Fells.

The Scheyer-Smith tandem and Vasquez-Hayes duo will be best in ACC with Ish-LD Williams and Landesberg-Baker(Zeglinski) not far behind. Still a couple of good guards who need a partner like Delaney, Shumpert and Ginyard, but Nolan has excellent chance of shining, with Jon and Kyle drawing most of the enemy fire.

[trinity79]

I could see Archer getting serious minutes this year, but only if he plays "point" guard. Sorry but just couldn't resist.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Everyone knows what we're going to get out of Scheyer and Singler - consistency, hard work, and a combined average of over 30 points (possibly over 35 and, if we're really lucky, 40 points). Lance, Zoubs and MP1 are going to contribute and hopefully give a combined 50 min and 15 points a game. The freshman are freshman - can't expect too much, but hopefully they provide some solid minutes, rebounds, defense and a few points here and there.

Smith is the wildcard. I can't think of a player in recent times who is as much of a wildcard as Smith. He is like Ed Davis, Deon Thompson and Danny Green all put into one (in terms of wildcard-ness, not skill set. And yes, I just made up a word ). IMO, Smith is the difference between a 24-8 season and a 30-5 season - he's that important. I really think that Smith will do it this year. If he can avoid injury to his knees (last two years have been bad...), he will explode. With that athleticism and, through what I've read, a much improved mid-ranged jump shot, Smith will get it done.

[dukestheheat]

It's that time again: As the (totally) Unofficial and (probably totally) Unrecognized President of the DBR Nolan Smith Fan Club, it's time to get behind Nolan! and propel him to victory! this year!

Yes, he's by far my fav playa on Duke again this year, and he's the man! Much rests on his shoulders this year, in terms of defense, staying OUT OF FOUL TROUBLE (I know you're reading this buddy!), staying ON THE FLOOR, and scoring.

All that said, we also need Dawkins to score about 15 points per game.

GO NOLAN! GO NOLAN!

dukestheheat.

[Rudy]

I'm a big fan of Nolan's and have high hopes for his personal success as well as for the team's. What I liked about the interview is that he showed aspirations for himself but wasn't saying he was going to be the main man of this team. He quickly referenced Jon and Kyle as filling leadership roles too. Both he and Jon know the system and the players well enough to be interchangeable at point even when they're on the court at the same time. Whoever happens to bring it up can start the offense without having to realign at half court.

[Kedsy]

All that said, we also need Dawkins to score about 15 points per game.

Can I have a cup of whatever it is you're drinking?

[airowe]

Can I have a cup of whatever it is you're drinking?

I'll take one too.

[BD80]

...
All that said, we also need Dawkins to score about 15 points per game.
...

Can I have a cup of whatever it is you're drinking?

I think that stuff has to be inhaled or taken intravenously.

It made Amy Winehouse say "No, no, no"


Will 'Dre score 15 in any game? I'll say yes.

[sniff]

[SupaDave]

Nolan Smith, suspended for the first two contests for playing in unsanctioned summer league games, is averaging a team-leading 18.5 points. He scored 16 on Friday despite shooting 5 for 22.

[CDu]

Nolan Smith, suspended for the first two contests for playing in unsanctioned summer league games, is averaging a team-leading 18.5 points. He scored 16 on Friday despite shooting 5 for 22.

He's had two really good games (the first two), one solid game (the third), and one not-so-good game (UConn). The 1.17 pps needs work (same can be said for Singler).

His numbers away from home (and against arguably better competition) are: 15ppg, 2 apg, 3.5 rpg, 30.6% fg%, 10% 3pt%, 7/8 ft (87.5%), 0.67:1 a:to, 0.83 pps. The shooting and turnover numbers were pretty bad, though it's only a very small sample size. Hopefully, his struggles in the last two games were due to playing at MSG rather than due to the level of competition. In any case, hopefully he bounces back to being more like the impact player he was against Radford and Charlotte.

If he can do so, it could be a really special year for him and for Duke.

[BlueintheFace]

I wish I had taken that signature bet that Nolan would average 14.5ppg or more on the season... I think he's going to do it

[CDu]

I wish I had taken that signature bet that Nolan would average 14.5ppg or more on the season... I think he's going to do it

Yeah, it's going to be hard for him not to do so. He's going to be getting 15+ shots per game.

[SilkyJ]

I wish I had taken that signature bet that Nolan would average 14.5ppg or more on the season... I think he's going to do it

Its too early to tell at this point, but it looks like I would have been in bad shape on that bet. Here's to hoping I continue to look foolish!

[NYDukie]

With all due respect to Kyle and Jon but I cansee Nolan becoming our best player by year's end! Can you guys, too? I can see it and it's not the worse thing either considering what considerable game Nolan brings along with that of what both Kyle and Jon bring each night. You could possibly argue that if Nolan keeps this up that we have two players in him and Kyle that could make an All-American team...just saying!

[superdave]

With all due respect to Kyle and Jon but I cansee Nolan becoming our best player by year's end! Can you guys, too? I can see it and it's not the worse thing either considering what considerable game Nolan brings along with that of what both Kyle and Jon bring each night. You could possibly argue that if Nolan keeps this up that we have two players in him and Kyle that could make an All-American team...just saying!

I brought this up the other day - I think Duke is a better team with Nolan as our #1 offensive weapon.

Look at the comparison to UNC last year - they reached a new level when Lawson and Ellington became bigger offensive factors than Hansborough.

[NSDukeFan]

With all due respect to Kyle and Jon but I cansee Nolan becoming our best player by year's end! Can you guys, too? I can see it and it's not the worse thing either considering what considerable game Nolan brings along with that of what both Kyle and Jon bring each night. You could possibly argue that if Nolan keeps this up that we have two players in him and Kyle that could make an All-American team...just saying!

If Nolan keeps playing as well as he has, I could easily see him being the third best player on our team by year's end. I think he is going to have a great year, but I just don't expect him to have a better year than Jon and Kyle.

[CDu]

If Nolan keeps playing as well as he has, I could easily see him being the third best player on our team by year's end. I think he is going to have a great year, but I just don't expect him to have a better year than Jon and Kyle.

So you don't think he's already the third best player on the team?

It'll take a lot to end up better than Singler or Scheyer. But I could see Smith winding up as good and as productive (in different ways, obviously) as the other two.