Originally Posted by
duke09hms
This is clearly an oversimplification and as others have pointed out, Andre getting a lot of shots is not an independent factor but also strongly correlated to how well he is playing and making his shots. You're saying Andre can be a big part of the offense if he plays consistently well. Well I agree. But there's very little evidence from his first 3 years that he plays consistently well game in and game out.
Can't believe you're excusing Andre's lack of a handle. Maybe if he could dribble, he would have more room to get his shots off, allowing him to get more shots a game. It's the biggest factor keeping him from breaking out. He could have been a less explosive Gerald with a much better shot. I mean, how many of us expected from his early entrance in 2009 to the present that his ball-handling would only marginally improve, especially when it was known by everyone to be his biggest weakness. Sure if Andre gets 10-12 shots a game, I'd also expect around 15 ppg, but that's a meaningless thing to say. You think K is going to let him take that many shots without producing?
I think we're arguing over semantics here but bottom line is that the kid needs to get better on defense, whether it be learning/focusing whatever. As a senior, he should be at least solid on defense.
Exactly, 42% FG is about average for a guard that shoots almost half his shots from 3-pt range. I don't think a Duke starting SG should only be average or normal. As I said before, Seth is not a versatile guard because he is a: great shooter, okay passer, okay dribbler/driver, okay defender. Versatile by Duke standards means very good at multiple things. Think Kyle and Nolan, or Austin (penetration, shooting, defense) and Ryan (diverse offense, mismatch advantage, defense) on last year's team.
You lauded Seth leading the team in assists as evidence of great passing ability. I observed that he only had 2.4 asts/game in 30 minutes/game on the worst-passing team in K's tenure since 1984. I forget the exact year but it's in the Chronicle article.
You said he was a great player because he made 3rd-team All-ACC. I said, maybe so, but remember Greg Paulus made 3rd-team All-ACC.
You pointed to Seth leading the team in steals as evidence of great defense. I reminded you of the general consensus on this board that steals are an overrated defensive stat. I would also remind you that Seth was hardly a defensive stalwart on this year's team, lacking lateral quickness to guard athletic guards along with the rest of our backcourt except for Austin.
In addition, when guarded closely by athletic players, he becomes limited to spot-up shooting. At a small 6-2 and slight stature (not physically strong) and being a 5th year senior, I don't think Seth is up to the standard of starting Duke shooting guard and does not seem to have huge potential for improvement.
Like I also said before, I think Seth is a very good player and extremely important to the team. Will most likely and deserve to start in the beginning, but it would be best for our team's ceiling if a better player emerges to start by mid-season whether it be Rasheed/Dre/some transfer.
I would be fine if EITHER Seth or Andre start at SG, but I strongly believe that having both of them on the floor together for significant periods of time would make our team very vulnerable. You would have two guys who can only shoot, can't really dribble/handle ball pressure, and are defensive liabilities in the backcourt.