I don't think all three of them can simultaneously average a double double for any reasonable amount of time. That just requires too much scoring and rebounding to go around. Any one of them might be able to average it, and in any particular game two would be able to do it. But all three averaging a double double is unrealistic - even against early season competition. I'd be a bit surprised if we even see any games in which all three get a double double.
Regarding Tony, is it correct to say that people still remain cautiously optimistic? Seemed like Watzone was, even after Daniels tweeted that Tony was pushing off his decision. The glass half full view I suppose is that although Tony hasn't committed to Duke, he also hasn't committed to OSU, Memphis, nor UCLA. The nay-sayers who said Tony was only visiting Duke to appease his parents appear to have been mistaken, otherwise one would think he would've committed to somewhere else by now.
I'm personally cautiously optimistic, but for no real reason other than he still has us in his final four. It seems like Tony has kept things really close to the vest and hasn't really expressed any "leaders" or anything like that that a lot of recruits reveal. He hasn't really even expressed what he's looking for in a program in detail or what he likes about each individual school unless I missed some interviews (which is possible). Most people seemed to think it was OSU/Duke in front with Memphis as a wildcard. Some may think that with the recent PF commit to Memphis that hurts their chances, so OSU/Duke back in front, but sounds like nobody really knows for sure, including Tony.
I guess I don't understand if Coach K has put so much time and effort into TP, why he hasn't commited. Rolled out the carpet, met him after the UCLA trip. I mean, its not like Sendek, or Lavin was calling on him. This is Coach K for cryin' out loud.
Not everyone loves Duke and Coach K. If it was just a function of Coach K putting in the legwork, we'd never miss on recruits. But it's a two-way street.
Note: this is not a statement about Parker's actual interest level in Duke. Just a general statement about why any recruit might not choose Duke even after receiving the full court press from Coach K.
ok fair enough. but you don't have to yell at me like that. lol
If people are convinced Ohio State is now the slight favorite in Tony Parker sweepstakes and if Ken Pomeroy has the head to head 74-68 in favor of Ohio State, why not just double down? The winner of November 29 game gets Parker as long as it is their bigs who outplay the other team's bigs.
I'm willing to take some early season losses in order to develop our bigs and have them ready for some late-season wins. But I guess there's two separate issues here: a.) how we develop our big men over the course of this season in order to best prepare for the tournament, and b.) how we showcase our big men to potential recruits. I totally agree that a. is much more important than b.), but I also feel that the two are not mutually exclusive.
I think Coach K has made a huge mistake by having Wojo as the big man coach. I just don't see why he doesn't get a big man coach who is a) actually big, and b) one who played the position at least on the college level. Why is a former Duke point guard the big man coach? How can that possibly be our best option? I think it is costing us both in our recruiting of quality big men as well as in the development of the bigs that we do get. I cannot remember a time in the last five or six seasons that a big man came to Duke and developed a consistently good inside game while at Duke. McRoberts? Randolph? Zoubek? Thomas? Miles Plumlee? Mason Plumlee? Ryan Kelly? No, no, no and no. Why is he so wedded to this Wojo as big man coach situation? I don't get it.
Well aren't there a bevy of 6'11" or 7'20" guys lining up to be big man coaches?
Size has nothing to do with knowledge of the game or position. It is like saying that a 175lbs man can't coach the offensive line because he doesn't weigh 285lbs. or more. An old argument to blame issues with big men on Wojo. Lets move on from that please.
1F and the correct answers are yes, no, hell yes, yes, yes, work in progress, but definitely not no, yes
I second this
Not only an old argument, but the horse was beaten to death, trampled upon, beaten some more, then stuck in a closet where he could be brought out and beaten again when needed
The best big man coach of all time was 6 feet 2 inches tall. I admit that he was taller than Wojo, but I doubt that those extra 2 inches made a huge difference.
If you don't see big men improving under Wojo, then that is a valid criticism, but the fact that he is too short is not. By the way Wojo did make frequent trips to Pete Newell's camps to learn some stuff.
More than anything, I think that we have not seen Wojo work too many times with beefy young men who look like they could use their butts as weapons in the paint. MP1 is a leaper rather than a butt-camper. MP2 is somewhere between a stretch 4 and a pure 4. Lance Thomas was wiry and liked to play outside in high school. McBob thought he was a point guard. Zoubek showed improvement, did he not? Boozer did pretty well, but he had the beefy body. I am not sure where Hairston falls. I worry that he's a poor man's Lance Thomas, but I am willing to give him the full four years to develop into a rotation player. Shelden did well, and he had a nice beefy body and always played inside. Perhaps Tony Parker could be the next beefy Duke big man... This makes the judgment difficult though. The successful Wojo big men have been beefy, highly rated in high school, and already traditional big men. None of the unsuccessful Wojo big men fit all three criteria.
I cannot say that Wojo is a good big man coach. I also cannot say that Wojo is a bad big man coach. He might be either. Unless you have some reasonable formal data analysis that attempts to measure big man development, it is hard to say for sure. Any verbal story is just anecdotal and unreliable. That's why I would leave the evaluation to Coach K.
If someone is willing to do a serious analysis of big man coaches across college basketball, justify the methodology, and show where Wojo ranks, I am sure that every college basketball fan would be interested. However, I doubt that such a thing would happen.
EDIT: I excluded Shav because he was destroyed by injuries. Horvath and Sanders also fail to meet the three criteria for successful Wojo big men. Nevertheless, they did enough to come up big in various spots. Ryan Kelly is a stretch 4, not an inside big man. Same goes for Shane. Tony Parker, by the way, fits the three criteria of successful Wojo big men.
Last edited by Poincaré; 11-09-2011 at 09:48 PM.