Originally Posted by
oakvillebluedevil
Josh was never my favorite, but I'm a big Austin Rivers fan. I struggle to reconcile the difference sometimes. I think the difference is that on that '07 team, we really lacked a go-to scorer. Given where Josh was rated as a recruit, I feel like everyone expected him to pick up the offensive production that we lost from JJ and Shelden.
Josh is a really, really good player but scoring isn't his strong suit.
I feel like that misalignment of expectations led to a lot of frustration (perhaps unfairly) among the fanbase (myself definitely included). That was obviously exacerbated by the relatively tough season.
Austin, on the other hand, was exactly who I thought he would be offensively.
It didn't work out really well for either Josh or Duke. That's not to say it is anyone's fault. Because Josh would be far richer if he had left after his first year, his thoughts of Duke are not totally positive. I mean, basketball is a business.
I root for McBob in the NBA. -- Sage
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013