Welcome to Duke Michael Gbinije

[Bluedog]

I had heard a bunch of reports that Coach K had gone to see Tony Parker in Georgia on Tuesday night and that he would then go to one of Michael Gbinije's games on Wednesday night, did he end up watching Michael's game? And does anyone know how Michael did in that game?

I live in Richmond, so I checked this morning's paper to see what I could find for you. They only have a very limited boxscore - Gbinijae for 26 with one three pointer.
An undeafeated Benedictine beat a 5-2 Christ Church team. I was unaware that it was in K's plans to visit - I might have tried to get there.

26 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks

K and Nate James were both there

[roywhite]

26 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks

K and Nate James were both there

I love the idea that even while the master is hard at work with his current creation, he's preparing and thinking about the form of future projects.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I love the idea that even while the master is hard at work with his current creation, he's preparing and thinking about the form of future projects.

That's the way the good ones work. Coach Cutcliffe has been very busy in the off season, too.

Duke is so fortunate to have more than one coach who fits that description.

[Leck]

Mike G continues to impress: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recru...ory?id=5960403

he is going to be very, very good.

[OldPhiKap]

Mike G continues to impress: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recru...ory?id=5960403

he is going to be very, very good.

Look forward to getting to know your game, Mike!!

[OnToTheNextOne]

Here is a new video of some highlights of 2011 commit Michael Gbinije. The first game of the video, as I'm sure you will notice, is at Cameron Indoor. The last game shows him putting in work against future tarheel James Macadoo. He looked really good against Macadoo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfrj-skCMGk

[tylervinyard]

Here is a new video of some highlights of 2011 commit Michael Gbinije. The first game of the video, as I'm sure you will notice, is at Cameron Indoor. The last game shows him putting in work against future tarheel James Macadoo. He looked really good against Macadoo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfrj-skCMGk

Man, so excited. He's so silky smooth, fundamentally sound and has sneaky athleticism. And he uses that athleticism for smart plays, not flashiness. Notice how many times he jumps off of two feet and dunks the ball with two hands? That's something I remember Jason Williams saying was a huge change for him when he went to the NBA. He had to learn to go up strong, jump off of two feet powerfully, use both hands to protect the ball, and this kid is already doing that. Obviously this is a highlight video, and I'm sure his high school team is not as good as his AAU team, but I remember over the summer, he never seemed to force things and his team always, always won. Can't wait for this kid to suit up. We definitely need to shine more of the spotlight on him. I feel he definitely is the forgotten recruit, but he's going to be very good.

[loldevilz]

Here is a new video of some highlights of 2011 commit Michael Gbinije. The first game of the video, as I'm sure you will notice, is at Cameron Indoor. The last game shows him putting in work against future tarheel James Macadoo. He looked really good against Macadoo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfrj-skCMGk

I am more excited about Mike Gbinije than any other recruit we are bringing in next year other than Austin Rivers. I think that he may be the guy to take Singler's spot. He has an outstanding midrange game and can really defend.

[gam7]

I am more excited about Mike Gbinije than any other recruit we are bringing in next year other than Austin Rivers. I think that he may be the guy to take Singler's spot. He has an outstanding midrange game and can really defend.

I think it may take Silent G some time to learn to communicate in the way that Coach K wants his guys to communicate on the court. This may limit his time next year, but in the long-run, I think he'll be a very solid, steady contributor.

[Class of '94]

I think it may take Silent G some time to learn to communicate in the way that Coach K wants his guys to communicate on the court. This may limit his time next year, but in the long-run, I think he'll be a very solid, steady contributor.

I could be wrong but all the kid lacks is being more vocal on the court, I don't think that will hold him back in terms of playing time, especially if he is really good. I don't think Kyle was a big on court communicator initially and that didn't hold him back from starting. Saying that, I'm not saying that MG will necessarily start next season but like Kyle, he will grow into being more vocal on the court if that indeed is something MG needs to work on.

[gumbomoop]

He's definitely a winner. I watched him last summer play on Team Takeover who had no stars other than him and go undefeated against teams with big time stars like Rivers and Beal. He never stood out yet led the team in scoring. They were well balanced offensively and defensively. Their coach needs some credit, but Gbinije was great at being the perfect teammate while also being their "star". I can't wait for this kid, especially if he's grown as they say he has.

I've imported this tag quote from the DeAndre Daniels thread, as tylervinyard and several others in the Daniels thread have called attention to Gbinije. On some thread, I, too, spoke highly of Gbinije, most recently just after the All-American Championship in Houston [Final 4 weekend, I think].

I am skeptical that Gbinije is 6'8". More like 6'6", at least relative to the stated heights of the other players in that game. [Which makes it all guesswork, I, uh, guess.] But I am very enthusiastic about his talent, smarts, court sense, demeanor, glue, D. Seems the classic "let's the game come to him" player.

With or without the addition of Daniels, I'll guess K plays Gbinije at least as spot D-guy, against fine players such as Barnes, McAdoo, C.J. Leslie, Deandre Liggins, Jordan Hamilton, tall and/or strong wing "SFs" who might give Andre [6'4"?] or Austin [6'3"?] some trouble.

To be clear, I do not overworry about what I assume will be our frequent 3-guard, smallish perimeter team in 2011-12. Most teams do not have tall, strong, super-talented wing SFs. Most opponents will have their own very real trouble matching up with Andre and Austin.

[darjum]

To be clear, I do not overworry about what I assume will be our frequent 3-guard, smallish perimeter team in 2011-12. Most teams do not have tall, strong, super-talented wing SFs. Most opponents will have their own very real trouble matching up with Andre and Austin.

Agreed. The reason I don't worry about that little factoid either is that one Mason Plumlee has not yet entered his name into the 2011 NBA Draft and lets hope he does not. With him lurking back there it allows the perimeter players greater latitude and willingness to play passing lanes.

This could be such a dangerous Duke team in terms of running other teams out of the gym and having a player such as Gbinije as a defensive stopper and match up problem for smaller teams.

[AlaskanAssassin]

Don't know if this has been posted, but here is a great article on MG by Jason Jordan of ESPN Rise:

http://rise.espn.go.com/boys-basketb...BoysBasketball

[moonpie23]

my voice will be just as loud when Silent G sets foot on the court !!!

welcome to Duke man, bring the heat!!!

[gumbomoop]

Don't know if this has been posted, but here is a great article on MG by Jason Jordan of ESPN Rise:

http://rise.espn.go.com/boys-basketb...BoysBasketball

Yet another reason not to overlook Michael Gbinije: If the author of this interesting piece has correctly quoted Michael, then Michael said, among other things, "... even had I been eligible..." This suggests that Michael is a real smart guy, grammar-syntax-wise, and quite possibly otherwise.

Perhaps Michael will strike fear into the hearts of opponents for some of the same reasons that Doug Piranha was so feared, back in the day. [Doug Piranha? Remember the Monty Python sketch about the Piranha Brothers? Here's the relevant line: "Everyone was terrified of Doug. I've seen grown men pull their own heads off rather than see Doug. Even Dinsdale was frightened of Doug. He used... sarcasm. He knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and... satire. He was vicious."]

Don't sleep on Gbinije; he knows all the tricks.

[NSDukeFan]

Don't know if this has been posted, but here is a great article on MG by Jason Jordan of ESPN Rise:

http://rise.espn.go.com/boys-basketb...BoysBasketball

Thanks for posting this. I liked a couple of quotes from it.

Gbinije, now 6-foot-8 according to Benedictine coach Sean McAloon, can effectively guard any position on the court,

This could come in handy, if he could learn to do this at Duke as the coach tends to value this kind of ability.

"But I think Mike will be the most important guy in that class. When it’s all said and done, Mike will be a special player for Duke.”

If he is able to quickly learn his team defensive responsibilities and contribute this year, stays four years and keeps improving every year, this is certainly a possibility. Duke has had some great success with 6'6-6'8 wing forwards. Hopefully Michael will continue this tradition (as well as Murphy and hopefully Daniels.) I expect he will be great to cheer for the next four years.

[SupaDave]

The more I hear about MG the more he sounds like HB 2.0. Perhaps the coaches saw this coming LONG before we ever did...

[COYS]

The more I hear about MG the more he sounds like HB 2.0. Perhaps the coaches saw this coming LONG before we ever did...

I really think the only reasons the board hasn't been as high on MG as perhaps we should be are because he committed so early and because we haven't yet had the chance to get any extra analysis of him from one of the all star games. I'm certainly not ready to pencil him into the starting lineup or anything, nor am I certain what he'll be able to bring next year. However, I think he is clearly a talented and versatile player who will make huge contributions in his Duke career.

[gumbomoop]

Michael: I really watched for him on the court, but never knew his number and never saw the back of his jersey. There were so many that fit his description, that I didn't really see him play specifically. Wish the announcers had been better about indicating who was substituted in. He scored 10 and people say he played well, but I never heard one word about him come out of an announcers mouth during game time.

As I noted in my, um, spirited post over on the Jordan Brand thread, there's a good reason why Saratoga2 couldn't get a clear read on Michael Gbinije last eve. I won't [dare] repeat that here, but will say he had a good, not great, game. He was #5 [I think], had a dark colored arm-elbow sleeve on one arm. He had a really nice stop-jumper from baseline, hit at least one 3-pointer, played good D, made great no-look pass to teammate for lay-up. My previous view of him - stated more than once in this thread - was solidly reinforced by what I saw last eve: he has advanced court sense, fine all-around game, decent [not excellent] handle, strong D, glue. Good mid-range game, and willing to shoot the 3 [one of which, last eve, was ill-advised]. He's calm, steady, confident without being overconfident. We're going to like him. A lot.

As an example of one of the interesting things Jay Bilas and Jimmy Dykes [see my diatribe on the Jordan Brand thread] missed last eve, at one point Gbinije faked his defender into the air out by the 3-pt-line, hoping to get 3 FTs. A common enough play. Didn't work, as Gbinije seemed to get fouled, but it wasn't called. Even a comment by J&J - to the effect that "See what Gbinije did there? Didn't work this time" - would have been useful.

I really think the only reasons the board hasn't been as high on MG as perhaps we should be are because he committed so early and because we haven't yet had the chance to get any extra analysis of him from one of the all star games. I'm certainly not ready to pencil him into the starting lineup or anything, nor am I certain what he'll be able to bring next year. However, I think he is clearly a talented and versatile player who will make huge contributions in his Duke career.

For all my substantial enthusiasm for Gbinije, I wouldn't mark him as a starter, either. As I noted above, however, I do think one can identify his likely, and very useful, strengths. As COYS says, he is versatile, not wow-outstanding at all, but sneaky-real-good. He brings, I'm pretty sure, just a little bit of chip-on-shoulder, precisely because he's not seen as a top-talent. We can all hope for just such a chip. He will be a valuable defender against tall/strong wing SFs, of which Duke will face a few [but not lots] next season.

[dyedwab]

...this is a favorite sport regarding our new recruits, so I'm gonna play :-)

The description of Gbinije, particularly the idea that he can be a versatile defender reminds me a lot of Chris Carrawell. Remember that C-Well essentially cemented himself as a starter in his freshman year by taking on Tim Duncan as a defensive assignment, despite both obvious height and experience disadvantages.

And, as others have said, if Gbinije likes to play defense and adapts to Duke's defensive system, we will see more of him on the court as next year progress.

Looking forward to see him suiting up for the Devils.