Dukies in the NBA 2010-2011

[SilkyJ]

With the start of training camp on Monday, now would seem like a good time to start this thread.

Today's DBR Frontpage has this article on McBob and his opportunity to grab a starting spot with the Pacers this year. According to the article he'll be competing with Tyler Hansbrough, Solomon Jones, Jeff Foster and rookie Magnum Rolle for that spot.

The most interesting quote, IMO, was what his coach expects from him:

"I said, you have to be able to run the court on a regular basis, you have to rebound every shot, and when the ball is in your hands as a playmaker, you have to take care of the basketball, do positive things."

O'Brien continued.

"I said, 'What is missing?' He said: 'Shooting.' I said 'That's exactly right. You are not being evaluated by me or my staff on anything other than those three things.'"

I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing for McBob and the Pacers. He may start launching 3s knowing that he's not going to get yanked if he misses.

Anyways, please post anything you find related to training camp news for our Dukies, especially the young ones like Jon & Zoubs!

[cbnaylor]

I wish nothing but success for all of the Duke players in the NBA but I have a hard time rooting for McRoberts to succeed. I guess I'm still bitter by his attitude while at Duke. Moving on though, I'm looking forward to see what Boozer has up his sleeve in Chicago. This should make this squad dangerous.

[Billy Dat]

My take on that O'Brien quote was that McRoberts should not be shooting, period, beyond the normal flow of the offense and any garbage points/putbacks he can manage.

[JasonEvans]

My take on that O'Brien quote was that McRoberts should not be shooting, period, beyond the normal flow of the offense and any garbage points/putbacks he can manage.

Exactly, 'we want you to be a rebounder, energy, passer on the team" does not mean you can also put up endless bad shots.

-Jason "Josh made $825k last year but should be up to about a million this year -- if he starts for the Pacers, he could parlay that into a 3 or 4 year deal at about 2 mill per season" Evans

[CameronBornAndBred]

Exactly, 'we want you to be a rebounder, energy, passer on the team" does not mean you can also put up endless bad shots.

I'll be amazed if he listens. McRoberts is convinced that he can and should shoot 3 pointers, he wants to live beyond the arc. He was that way at Duke and has continued to be that way in the pros.

[Newton_14]

My take on that O'Brien quote was that McRoberts should not be shooting, period, beyond the normal flow of the offense and any garbage points/putbacks he can manage.

The only problem with that, is O'Brien's comments during a summer league game. I was watching Zoub's and the Net's take on McBob and the Pacers on the NBA channel. McBob was playing the 4 but camped out beyond the arc. He did make several impressive plays but he was also launching 3 after 3. After he was like 1 for 10, O'Brien stopped by and chatted with the tv announcers.

O'Brien was asked about all the 3 launching and he responded that was by design. They wanted McBob taking that shot to "keep the defensive honest". Uh, ok?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I hope McBob does well but his shot will have to greatly improve to make that plan work out.

[phaedrus]

I'll be amazed if he listens. McRoberts is convinced that he can and should shoot 3 pointers, he wants to live beyond the arc. He was that way at Duke and has continued to be that way in the pros.

Not true. McRoberts took 36 three-point attempts in 2 seasons at Duke, averaging about one attempt every two games.

He spent some time out beyond the arc, yes, but he that's because he was one of our best playmakers and ballhandlers, not because he was launching triples.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Not true. McRoberts took 36 three-point attempts in 2 seasons at Duke, averaging about one attempt every two games.

He spent some time out beyond the arc, yes, but he that's because he was one of our best playmakers and ballhandlers, not because he was launching triples.

Check out his pro stats...he's convinced he can make them. I remember watching him outside so often at Duke, it drove me crazy. You are correct about his time at Duke, he didn't shoot that often, but his value was underneath (IMO) and he never saw it that way. From my point of view, he was at odds with the staff on that point of view. I think if he listened to K more, he would been drafted in the first round instead of the second and would have been a better NBA player much sooner.

[Richard Berg]

Josh's freshman year we had Shelden as our natural center. His sophomore year we had no choice but to slot him as the 5. And he did it. He was clearly uncomfortable, but he managed to put up decent stats nonetheless, and learned to play great defense against opposing bigs. (I'd say he was easily the #2 defender on that team, just behind Markie)

Compare with, say, Mason Plumlee. Loads of innate talent, set back by injury, preferred to create from the outside-in, looked a little lost when forced to bang, committed stupid reach-in fouls whenever he missed an offensive rebound. Does that combo make Mason uncoachable? No, it makes him an underclassman -- in particular, a 6'11" underclassman.

Or take Zoubek. Big physical advantages [of a different sort] over most opponents. Injuries. One of the smartest guys on the team (higher SATs than Paulus, as I recall). Couldn't learn how to keep the ball high to save his life. Was he just being stubborn?

Thankfully, no. I don't like the idea of giving up on a young kid for any reason. With a Coach K recruit, you better show me clear & convincing evidence why I should believe the pessimists' interpretation of the story.

[Class of '94]

I didn't see this posted anywhere. If it has...Sorry

Here are a couple of recent links about Grant...Man, at 37 (38 in October) Grant still looks great. One is interview from the Phoenix Suns Training camp and Scott Williams (UNC) is interviewing him. Decent interview but I like how Grant snuck in a final comment before the end of the interview.

The other link is an article from Crazie-talk about Grant being at Duke this past weekend for homecoming; and there is a link on the page to Blue Planet where there are pictures of Grant from the weekend hanging out with students as well as a couple of pictures of him with the current team (minus Singler) that were taken in Cameron.

http://www.nba.com/suns/video/2010/0...810/index.html

http://www.crazie-talk.com/2010/09/2...ber-27th-2010/

I missed SilkyJ's thread....Sorry SilkyJ....Mods please feel free to merge this with Silky's thread since it is related.

[pfrduke]

Check out his pro stats...he's convinced he can make them. I remember watching him outside so often at Duke, it drove me crazy. You are correct about his time at Duke, he didn't shoot that often, but his value was underneath (IMO) and he never saw it that way. From my point of view, he was at odds with the staff on that point of view. I think if he listened to K more, he would been drafted in the first round instead of the second and would have been a better NBA player much sooner.

Pro stats: 83 NBA games, 34 3pt attempts, only 1 of every 8 shots he takes is a 3. That still may be too much, but that doesn't strike me as someone who wants to live behind the arc.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Pro stats: 83 NBA games, 34 3pt attempts, only 1 of every 8 shots he takes is a 3. That still may be too much, but that doesn't strike me as someone who wants to live behind the arc.

I'll agree to disagree...but remember he only averaged 10 minutes a game, I would look at it differently if he were out there for longer than a quarter each game. 7% of his attempts were 3 pointers last season. That's not a lot, but out of those 34 attempts, he only hit 8 of them. 8-34 doesn't equal much reason for confidence, but he's convinced he can do it.

[BigZ]

I'll be amazed if he listens. McRoberts is convinced that he can and should shoot 3 pointers, he wants to live beyond the arc. He was that way at Duke and has continued to be that way in the pros.

just think about it this way the more PT he gets the less for Hanstravel.

[DukieInBrasil]

Check out his pro stats...he's convinced he can make them.

He made 3s at a 35% rate last year, that's actually pretty efficient. Granted he was terrible shooting 3s his first 2 years, he didn't shoot poorly from 3 last year.
Maybe he's convinced he can make them because he can? Just a thought.

[hq2]

What McBobs really needed then (and now) is a decent mid range game. Usually, most power forwards are going to get good open looks in the 10-15 foot range. Sticking that shot consistently can make a huge difference in how much a player contributes. That was one of Shelden's problems too; I saw him clank a lot of open 15 footers last year. That's what McBobs should be concentrating on, instead of standing out at the arc and pretending to be Rasheed Wallace. He'd be much more of a factor in all aspects of the game if he could do that.

[COYS]

That's what McBobs should be concentrating on, instead of standing out at the arc and pretending to be Rasheed Wallace. He'd be much more of a factor in all aspects of the game if he could do that.

Of course, Rasheed Wallace would've been even better if he hadn't been standing around the arc acting like Rasheed Wallace . Seriously, though, Rasheed would've been a far more efficient player if he limited his three point shots to spot up shots off of kickouts and ball movement. A 6'11 player who only shoots 33% from three shouldn't be taking 3+ 3's per game. He shot really well from midrange throughout his career, he just didn't use that shot as a weapon enough. Considering that McRoberts isn't even as good a shooter as 'Sheed, 'Sheed really is the LAST person McRoberts wants to be compared with right now.

[DevilHorns]

Nice read on the Dukeblueplanet blog regarding Carlos.



“I’m looking forward to having a true center,” Boozer said. “I haven’t had that in my career yet and that will help me a lot. A great point guard. [And] a star player in Luol Deng.”

With the core four players in Boozer, Rose, Noah and Deng, plus the additions of a lockdown athletic defender in Ronnie Brewer and sharpshooter Kyle Korver, Chicago’s versatile squad should be able to compete for Eastern Conference supremacy. Although Miami is pegged by many as the favorite in the conference, Boozer is making expectations clear to his teammates.
“You can’t be afraid to play somebody because they have three really good players,” Carlos said. “We’re going to fight, we’re going to attack, we’re going to throw it out there and let’s just see what happens. We’re not just here to win regular-season games and compete in the playoffs. We want to win championships. Look at those banners. That’s what we play for. If we reach our full potential, we’ll put another one up there at some point.”

[Dukeface88]

Nice read on the Dukeblueplanet blog regarding Carlos.



“I’m looking forward to having a true center,” Boozer said. “I haven’t had that in my career yet and that will help me a lot. A great point guard. [And] a star player in Luol Deng.”

With the core four players in Boozer, Rose, Noah and Deng, plus the additions of a lockdown athletic defender in Ronnie Brewer and sharpshooter Kyle Korver, Chicago’s versatile squad should be able to compete for Eastern Conference supremacy. Although Miami is pegged by many as the favorite in the conference, Boozer is making expectations clear to his teammates.
“You can’t be afraid to play somebody because they have three really good players,” Carlos said. “We’re going to fight, we’re going to attack, we’re going to throw it out there and let’s just see what happens. We’re not just here to win regular-season games and compete in the playoffs. We want to win championships. Look at those banners. That’s what we play for. If we reach our full potential, we’ll put another one up there at some point.”

Pity that the Magic retained JJ instead of letting hm go to Chicago. It would have been fun to see 3 Duke alums playing on a possible title contender (and should have killed the "K doesn't develop NBA players" nonsense).

[basket1544]

Pity that the Magic retained JJ instead of letting hm go to Chicago. It would have been fun to see 3 Duke alums playing on a possible title contender (and should have killed the "K doesn't develop NBA players" nonsense).

Yeah, and I wouldn't have the pain of rooting for both Chicago and Orlando. When they play each other this year, I think I'm rooting for a tie. Of course, Duhon had already made his way to Orlando so I probably still would have had a hard time with it.

[theAlaskanBear]

Pity that the Magic retained JJ instead of letting hm go to Chicago. It would have been fun to see 3 Duke alums playing on a possible title contender (and should have killed the "K doesn't develop NBA players" nonsense).

I actually think the Bulls had one of the smartest off-seasons in the NBA. Obviously Miami gets credit for pulling of The Scenario, but I really like where the Bulls are going. Brewer wasn't the first option, but he's a good defender. Redick would have given them more versatility, but Brewer is a stout plan-B.

Now they have Korver to stretch the floor for their slashers, he can play SG or SF depending on the matchups. Brewer is not a good shooter, so that is where Redick really hurt them...I think you will see a trade at some point in the season for SG type character...although don't sleep on CJ Watson -- he had a very intriguing year last season...showed some flashes of talent.

The real question about the Bulls center around the Coach...I hope he fares well, but rookie seasons have been known to be bumpy affairs.