Originally Posted by
davekay1971
Honestly, I haven't seen anything from Austin that makes me think he's running out of gas. In addition to the full court sprint in the VT game, there was the stellar drive and score today with about 45 seconds left in the game. That was a stunning play from a freshman.
Think about it for a second. The kid, still a freshman, got the ball and had the presence of mind to wait for the opening, and score in PERFECT timing to execute a 2 possessions for one trade with FSU. He came down, looked for a 3, didn't see it, did that hand wave like he did before shooting over Zeller to tell his teammates, "I know, I got this", and then he drove, in control, for 2 points to cut FSU's lead to 1, leaving enough time in the game where Duke was guaranteed to get the last shot.
In the end, we lost, because FSU made a great shot, and Austin followed that stellar play with a pretty poorly executed one. That happens. Even Jordan missed some game-on-the-line shots in his career.
But Austin looked to me, at the end of the game, like the guy on our team who probably had the most gas in his tank.
Now we've got probably 6 days before our next game, and then (hopefully) just 2 games per week for 3 weeks. I don't think physical exhaustion is going to be a factor for Austin from here on out, despite the pounding he takes on some of those drives.
Addendum: I don't have a problem with Austin trying to take that last shot on his own, even though he didn't pull it off. Right now, I can't think of anyone else on this team I want with the ball in his hands and the game on the line. The kid is amazingly cool under pressure, and he wants to be the guy taking the shot.