Andre?

[jv001]

Good news for Mr. Dawkins and Duke...everytime someone gets criticized...they step up...see Zoubs, Lance, the Plums, Kelly, etc., etc., etc.

The criticism of Dre is way out of line IMO. He has had a very, very good sophomore season and has been an important part of the team this season (including the second half against UVA and first half against State during his "slump"). I will acknoweldge that Andre has had a couple rough games defensively but he seemed to make great effort on defense last night (he had 6 points scored against him by my count -- on a 3 and an and one -- and saved a sure bucket with a great block). Also, credit to him for playing within the offense rather than forcing bad shots the last few games. Many players of his offensive ability would be unwilling to be a good teammate and play within the team structure when they aren't scoring to the extent they are used to. He is also actively cheering on his teammates when they make good plays...if you don't see that, you aren't watching.
The last few games, Dre has not had as many offensive opportunities as earlier in the season for a variety of reasons (1. Not being the top option, 2. A lot more defensive focus on him at the 3 point line, 3. Less minutes, etc.). Also, as much as Dre spoiled us with great shooting early in the season, even great shooters like him miss sometimes. Let's cut the guy some slack -- besides most of his shots are right on line and just missing by a bit.

Glad to see Curry step up, and he certainly earned the time he got last night. I expect that both Curry and Dawkins will step up for us down the stretch, and we will need them both to do so with or without Kyrie. Thank goodness we have so many great options...Kyle, Nolan, and Kyrie can't do it all, and they are not going to be "on" every game. I imagine Dre, Seth, the Plums, and Kelly would be primary scoring options on many ACC teams. They are sacrificing their own stat lines for the good of the team. Let's not lose sight of this and the larger picture in our haste to jump on what we perceive as a disappointing performance or two.

I don't see this as criticism of Andre no more than people saying Mason should make more free throws. The truth is Andre has had some bad games lately. From what I see it's lack of confidence and bad defense. Yes and I have been watching him not cheering his teammates on at times(see oldnavy's post). If Andre had been playing better defense and wasn't hitting his shots, Coach K probably wouldn't have cut his minutes. But he wasn't playing good defense and that will not get him minutes under Coach K. But as you say, I expect Andre and Seth will become consistent and play very well down the stretch. Go Duke!

[Orange&BlackSheep]

I find this amusing. You've been silent over the past several weeks on this matter, given that Curry had indeed not been the key factor. In fact, until last night, it was looking like Curry might have been overtaken by both Dawkins AND Thornton.

You had even started taking credit for Dawkins as part of your "small lineup" argument when it looked like Dawkins was emerging and Curry was not going to be the key guy.

He's also substantially shorter, slighter, and has less of a vertical. And he's not that much better a ballhandler.

In short, both players are streaky, and both rely heavily on their 3pt shot. A few weeks ago, it looked like Dawkins was an emerging star and everyone was questioning Curry. Prior to last night, people were questioning both players. Today, Curry is back in favor. I'd wait a few more weeks before patting yourself on the back on this one.

I agree substantially with your post other than your comment on their respective ball handling. Curry really is light years ahead from what I have seen.

[BD80]

... Thus, IMO, if Duke wants to be as close to being a threat to win it all, without Kyrie, Seth has to run the point. ...

No, no, a thousand times no.

Seth will NOT be a primary ballhandler very much this year, if at all. Tyler will come in to handle if Nolan is on the bench, or Singler will be the primary handler. As long as Nolan is in, he will be the primary handler.

Maybe Seth's point guard skills will improve during his Duke career, but his ability to run the point will have NO impact on our success this year.

Bringing in Tyler and Quinn is a good clue that Seth is not projected as a lead guard for Duke. I think he will be a very important player at Duke, he can thrive in our system.

FWIW I think this issue will be moot in 3-4 weeks

[weezie]

FWIW I think this issue will be moot in 3-4 weeks

My Detroit pal, you're making me laugh and you are right.

De-fense clap clap, de-fense clap clap.

The one and only trend at Duke, yo' these 30 years...

[DukeDevilDeb]

I believe Curry was able to practice with the team last year.

You are absolutely correct. Players who transfer and sit out may practice and travel with the team. If you look at the Duke players run onto the floor after the Butler game last year, Seth was leading them!

[SMO]

Lets not forget a few facts here. Dre came to Duke early, he sped up the education process, it's a stretch to just assume he did the same for both his physical growth and mental growth. Had Elliot Williams not left he would probably have just joined the squad as a freshman. Add that to the fact that I'm sure on some level he is still dealing with the tragic loss of his sister. He is still a very young player, but we forget that sometimes as he received considerable PT on a national championship team.

Curry, on the other hand, has had a "similarly opposite" experience. Curry experienced a year of college level competition, and while he sat out for a year and couldn't even practice, again it would be a stretch to assume that he did not grow physically and mentally. Had he stayed at Liberty he would now be a junior.

While they are both sophomores as far as their eligibility is concerned, in any other circumstance one would be a freshman and the other a junior and there is obviously a big difference between them, both mentally and physically.

Why let facts get in the way of overanalyzing and criticizing Andre?

[Newton_14]

No, no, a thousand times no.

Seth will NOT be a primary ballhandler very much this year, if at all. Tyler will come in to handle if Nolan is on the bench, or Singler will be the primary handler. As long as Nolan is in, he will be the primary handler.

Maybe Seth's point guard skills will improve during his Duke career, but his ability to run the point will have NO impact on our success this year.

Bringing in Tyler and Quinn is a good clue that Seth is not projected as a lead guard for Duke. I think he will be a very important player at Duke, he can thrive in our system.

FWIW I think this issue will be moot in 3-4 weeks

Agree. Seth in no way "ran the point" last night. He brought the ball up the court a few times to allow Nolan to start the offensive set off the ball, but that is not running the point. That is giving Nolan a little help with ball handling responsibilities. Nolan is our PG and has been since Kyrie went down. He will continue to run the point until we get Kyrie back.

Nolan has performed well in the role. He is leading the conference in assists and scoring afterall. His one key weakness at the point is creating easy shots for the bigs, mainly because he drives to finish vs driving to dish. Yet he is still getting enough assists to lead the league. Outside of that weakness he is doing a great job as the point guard and primary ball handler.

[77devil]

Agree. Seth in no way "ran the point" last night. He brought the ball up the court a few times to allow Nolan to start the offensive set off the ball, but that is not running the point. That is giving Nolan a little help with ball handling responsibilities. Nolan is our PG and has been since Kyrie went down. He will continue to run the point until we get Kyrie back.

Nolan has performed well in the role. He is leading the conference in assists and scoring afterall. His one key weakness at the point is creating easy shots for the bigs, mainly because he drives to finish vs driving to dish. Yet he is still getting enough assists to lead the league. Outside of that weakness he is doing a great job as the point guard and primary ball handler.

The issue of Seth at the point appears to have been pretty thoroughly dissected. I simply would add that if Seth was the best option, I'm confident that the coaching staff would have come to that conclusion already.

[CDu]

The issue of Seth at the point appears to have been pretty thoroughly dissected. I simply would add that if Seth was the best option, I'm confident that the coaching staff would have come to that conclusion already.

I agree with the premise that Curry is not our best option at PG. But I don't know that I agree with this logic. Remember - it took until very late in the 2008-2009 season for the staff to move Scheyer to PG. Sometimes it takes time to identify the best move for the team.

In this case though, I agree that Curry isn't the answer. He's already been given some chances to run with the responsibilities as the backup PG, and didn't run with it. He's clearly more comfortable off the ball in a catch-and-shoot role. Smith is clearly more comfortable running the offense than Curry.

[Troublemaker]

Seth was NOT the point guard at Liberty. Jesse Sanders was the point and has been for the past 3 years (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player...playerId=41549 )

And I agree with others that, when Seth or Tyler has been in the backcourt with Nolan, it has still been Nolan running the team about 90% of the time. As it should be since Nolan is by far the best creator on the team as it currently stands.

Seth and Tyler's true value, and where they may have an advantage over Andre for playing time, is that they can guard the ball on offense. It's tough to ask Nolan to lead the team for 40 minutes, run the offense for 40 minutes, AND guard the ball for 40 minutes. He needs some occasional breaks from guarding the ball and that's where Seth and Tyler come in. (As a co-captain, Nolan can't take a break from leading. And as the only creator on the team, he can't take a break from running the offense. His only chance to relax a bit is on defense occasionally).

[Troublemaker]

Andre's minutes are suffering a bit recently due to three reasons:
(1) He hasn't been shooting well
(2) He can't give Nolan a rest on defense by guarding the ball like Curry and Thornton can, so when he's not hitting his shots, Andre ranks third behind the other two as options to pair with Nolan in the backcourt
(3) Finally, Kelly's recent emergence means Singler spends more time at the 3 so the opportunities that Andre usually receives at THAT spot have also dwindled.

Nevertheless, Andre can still get plenty of minutes in any one game if
(1) He's hitting his shots. If a player is hot, he'll be kept on the court.
(2) The matchup with the opponent dictates that Singler spends more time at the 4. Then, all of a sudden minutes at the 3 open up and Andre steps in.

So, he might play 10 minutes one game, then all of a sudden play 30 minutes the next game if he's hot or the matchups make sense. Such is the life of a bench player.

And it's no cause for concern.

[Cameron]

You are absolutely correct. Players who transfer and sit out may practice and travel with the team.

This is half correct. NCAA transfers who are required to sit out a year are not permitted to travel with their team. But they are allowed to practice, and, like Dahntay Jones in 2000-01, there is no doubt that Seth's presence as a competitive and skillful player in practice everyday helped prepare Jon, Nolan, Andre and the rest of our guards last season.

[77devil]

I agree with the premise that Curry is not our best option at PG. But I don't know that I agree with this logic. Remember - it took until very late in the 2008-2009 season for the staff to move Scheyer to PG. Sometimes it takes time to identify the best move for the team.

In this case though, I agree that Curry isn't the answer. He's already been given some chances to run with the responsibilities as the backup PG, and didn't run with it. He's clearly more comfortable off the ball in a catch-and-shoot role. Smith is clearly more comfortable running the offense than Curry.

Fair point, but I don't think the situations are comparable. When it became clear that Paulus could not run the point effectively with the 08-09 team, and subsequently a young Nolan struggled too, the staff was forced to experiment. With a senior Nolan leading the ACC in scoring and assists and protecting the ball, there's no need for a retrofit or a reason to experiment, and it's hard to imagine that the coaches do not see clearly that Seth is not a viable option.

[CDu]

Fair point, but I don't think the situations are comparable. When it became clear that Paulus could not run the point effectively with the 08-09 team, and subsequently a young Nolan struggled too, the staff was forced to experiment. With a senior Nolan leading the ACC in scoring and assists and protecting the ball, there's no need for a retrofit or a reason to experiment, and I'm sure the coaches see that clearly.

I agree that the situations are not similar. That wasn't the intention of my post. My point was that sometimes it takes the staff a while to figure out the best lineup, so saying that because the staff hasn't gone with it doesn't necessitate that it's not a good idea.

Of course, I agree that it's not a good idea. But that's a separate issue.

[dukelilsis]

Honestly, I kind of expected Andre to be a bit down during the week or so headed into tomorrow's game. I know the date is different, but his sister died on the day of the St. John's game last season. For most people, myself included, it is not unusual for dates, occurances, songs, etc... to trigger emotional memories. I'm sure there is much more to the story but I am just as sure that this is probably weighing on his mind as well.
With that said, Andre seems like a great kid and is obviously a very good athlete and I can't wait to see him drain his next three!

[Chris Randolph]

Andre continues to disappoint. At times he looks as if he is uninterested and pouting. I was hoping he would really blossom this season and be a force in March. Coach K ripped him during the final timeout with one minute to go. Seth's success and a lack of playing time I am sure are contributing to his, in my opinion, sometimes poor attitude. Hey, if you want to play more and feel better about yourself, get it done when you have the chance... Thornton sure does

[Bob Green]

Andre continues to disappoint.

I'm not sure what you expect to accomplish by ripping on Dawkins. He knows he is struggling and I'm sure no one wants him to snap out of the funk more than himself. I look at the situation and remember the struggles Nolan Smith experienced down the stretch his sophomore year. Nolan turned out fine and Andre will too.

[mapei]

Andre is definitely in a funk and it appears that, for whatever reason, K has lost confidence in him. So it could be a mutually reinforcing thing, he isn't earning K's trust, which affects his confidence and his game, which affects K's confidence in him . . .

I just hope he remains committed to Duke, because I think he has tremendous potential. But sometimes Duke isn't the place where someone can blossom. I hope it is, in this case.

[cptnflash]

I'm not sure what you expect to accomplish by ripping on Dawkins. He knows he is struggling and I'm sure no one wants him to snap out of the funk more than himself. I look at the situation and remember the struggles Nolan Smith experienced down the stretch his sophomore year. Nolan turned out fine and Andre will too.

I'm not sure what you expect to accomplish by challenging someone's honest opinion in this way. Nolan's struggles during his sophomore year were never about effort. Andre has looked increasingly discouraged and disinterested as this year has progressed. If he wants to snap out of his funk as you say, he needs to work harder to get open on offense and stop hanging his head every time something doesn't go his way. Coach K runs a meritocracy. If Andre's minutes are diminished and he's getting chewed out with one minute to go in a 20+ point win, something is wrong with the way he's playing. On a board like this, it should be ok for people to say that.

I've said all this before, but I'll say it again. I love that kid. I firmly believe we don't win the Baylor game last year without his 3 near the end of the first half. If we're going to get back to the final four this year, we need him to be as good as he can be. During the last month, he has not played anywhere close to his potential. I'm fairly confident he's getting the right instruction. It's up to him to determine whether he wants to do what it will take to get there.

[OldPhiKap]

Andre is an important contributor and will be fine.