Originally Posted by
Jumbo
I don't think that's exactly what K said. Are you sure you're quoting him correctly and in proper context? FWIW, I thought Scheyer would average ~18 ppg this year. I haven't seen anything in the first four games to indicate that he can't do that. On the one hand, he was playing against better teams and it was easier to score. On the other hand, he was playing fewer minutes in a couple of the blowouts, and had to play without Nolan twice, forcing him to concentrate much more on distributing, rather than scoring. Plus, don't forget that in reasonably close games that we're winning, we get him the ball, and he gets fouled. So he's often able to tack on an extra 4 points at the end of a bunch of games.
In short, I don't see any reason why he can't average at least 18 for a full season -- he's a terrific player, either 1 or 1A for Duke and extremely valuable as a scorer. And given that I think he can score at that rate AND that Duke is poised to make a deep run, he has a strong chance to reach that 2,000-point mark.
Can't find the video, but Jay Will interviewed K and Singler and K admitted that Nolan and Singler were the scorers who could take opponents off the dribble. He continued to talk about this for a while. While this doesn't mean that they would be the two highest scorers, I may have indeed read it like that. However, IMO, with 10 secs left on the clock and down by one point, I would rather have Smith or Singler take that last shot. Scheyer is much better in a team setting rather than one-on-one.
The last Duke player to average 18 points or more was JJ. I just don't see Scheyer averaging that many points - our offense is much more diverse now than it has been in a long time - that leads to lower point averages for everyone. That is better than a few scorers dominating the scoring (which was the trend since '04). Let's just say that given Scheyer's position, his physical limitations, and the balanced offense, I feel that him achieving 18ppg would be a pleasant surprise.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club