The Greg Paulus Experiment - Volunteers Needed

[Carlos]

Against FSU, Paulus struggled for 36 minutes before coming up with a big three, a couple of layups, and a key steal.

Against Clemson, Paulus struggled for 30 minutes before coming up with some big free throws and a couple of steals.

What we need is for 9 volunteers to play about 30 minutes of pickup ball with Greg before each game.

[Lord Ash]

Heh.

Even better, just have a volunteer go hit Greg over the head with a baseball bat pre-game. He ALWAYS always always plays better when he has gotten smashed around a little... typical football player! Think MSG and going headfirst into the scorers table, or heck even back to the McD all American game... anyone remember him taking out the cheerleader?

[Uncle Drew]

I'm confused, why do we need a bunch of Tennessee players to play with Greg before the game, why can't we use players from other schools?

[CatfiveCane]

or better yet, replace Paulus with Nolan Smith as our starting PG.

Sorry, Paulus is a gutsy player who works and plays hard. But he's just not that good. Terrible defensive player when guarding quick guards.

We can all see opponents weak links, yet we get cloudy when we evaluate our own team. Most people who I have talked to point to Paulus as our major weak link.

[Indoor66]

or better yet, replace Paulus with Nolan Smith as our starting PG.

Sorry, Paulus is a gutsy player who works and plays hard. But he's just not that good. Terrible defensive player when guarding quick guards.

We can all see opponents weak links, yet we get cloudy when we evaluate our own team. Most people who I have talked to point to Paulus as our major weak link.

Do you have any positive thoughts about Duke football or basketball?

[samizdat]

Sure he does. He thinks Nolan Smith is good and deserves to start over Paulus.

[Saratoga2]

or better yet, replace Paulus with Nolan Smith as our starting PG.

Sorry, Paulus is a gutsy player who works and plays hard. But he's just not that good. Terrible defensive player when guarding quick guards.

We can all see opponents weak links, yet we get cloudy when we evaluate our own team. Most people who I have talked to point to Paulus as our major weak link.

Yes Paulus left space on the baseline and got beat off the dribble. Yes he tried to throw a no look pass when he didn't need to. Yes Paulus lost the ball inexplicably and it went for over and back. Yes he took shots from outside and missed, which resulted in quick strikes by Clemson. Yes his defense had other lapses.

On the positive side, he did make a smart pass of the inbounds for a quick 2. He did hit key free throws going down the stretch and he hit for 9 points, all in the second half, I believe.

What Greg needs to do is to value the ball more and play with the experience he has. Eliminate the bonehead plays. He has a lot of value to the team. We have need for both Nolan and Greg to keep the them fresh and able to move the ball quickly up court. What a fortuitous situation to have two guys capable of playing point guard with Scheyer there in an emergency.

[Karl Beem]

...Most people who I have talked to point to Paulus as our major weak link.

I'll bet that's a hot topic at recess.

[Devilsfan]

But it baffles me how he can throw those "girly man" passes in the middle of the game. It seems like he has a tendancy to lose focus until it really matters.

[micah75]

I suspect I'm in the minority here, but personally, I think Greg is not getting a fair shake. IMO, whenever he does something "wrong", it's magnified 20-fold due to his performance from last season. He's not the weakest link, and in fact, I don't consider him a weak link at all. If this team has hopes for going deep into the NCAAs, Paulus will play a key role, one way or another, whether it's a clutch play at the end of a close game, (buzzer beater or whatever), or an overall clutch game-day performance in a crucial game.

Despite 2 "bad" games in a row, his season stats are at the very least solid:

1) 3.5 APG (leads the team) vs 1.75 TOs per game
2) 2:1 Assist/Turnover ratio
3) 9 PPG
4) 1.5 SPG (leads the team)
5) 40% from behind the arc (despite going 1-10 the past 2 games)
6) .867 FTP (26-30)

It seems like other players can have mediocre games and not be called out, due to mitigating factors, such as Markie's 9 rebounds vs Temple despite going 3-12 from the field, and Scheyer's 12 rebounds vs Pitt, despite going 1-10 from the field. We tend to look at their positives when the rest of their game is down, but when it comes to Paulus, his negatives are highlighted and his positives diminished.

I'm tellin ya, it's bad mojo to diss our man Greg in this way. And hey, I'm all for Nolan pushing Greg hard for the starting PG spot and may the better man win. But can we stop the bashing, please? The guy has improved remarkably, and is one of the team leaders. He will have some very strong games during the heart of the ACC schedule. Let's not go overboard on this gamer of a player based on 2 games; games in which he finished strong and helped close out the W's.

[Acymetric]

I'm confused, why do we need a bunch of Tennessee players to play with Greg before the game, why can't we use players from other schools?

Nobody else seemed to notice, but I actually laughed when I read that. Well done!

[devildeac]

Against FSU, Paulus struggled for 36 minutes before coming up with a big three, a couple of layups, and a key steal.

Against Clemson, Paulus struggled for 30 minutes before coming up with some big free throws and a couple of steals.

What we need is for 9 volunteers to play about 30 minutes of pickup ball with Greg before each game.

ROTFLMAO. I will volunteer but I think I would only be good for 2-3 minutes at my age and level of conditioning. You game, 'los? Think you could give it 2-3 minutes? At this rate, we'd need about 50 volunteers

[OZZIE4DUKE]

ROTFLMAO. I will volunteer but I think I would only be good for 2-3 minutes at my age and level of conditioning. You game, 'los? Think you could give it 2-3 minutes? At this rate, we'd need about 50 volunteers

I'll play my "low post" defensive style on him. If I hang my body weight on him for the 30 or 45 seconds I'd last, it will surely tire him out a bit.

[devildeac]

I'll play my "low post" defensive style on him. If I hang my body weight on him for the 30 or 45 seconds I'd last, it will surely tire him out a bit.

That's a great idea, OZ, but by doing that you'd accumulate fouls even faster than the Shav rate and we'd need more wide-bodies to man the post position.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

That's a great idea, OZ, but by doing that you'd accumulate fouls even faster than the Shav rate and we'd need more wide-bodies to man the post position.

There are going to be refs?

They can't call all the fouls, can they? They'll let a couple go, so I feel confident I'd play for at least 35 seconds of clock time before I fouled out.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Let me know when you guys have this scheduled and I'll help with the cheering...

[devildeac]

There are going to be refs?

They can't call all the fouls, can they? They'll let a couple go, so I feel confident I'd play for at least 35 seconds of clock time before I fouled out.

Of course there will be refs. We can't have GP kicking us in self-defense(after we pound him a few times) and expect him to get away with it. DitBD has graciously consented to provide us with some cheering, too. This is really looking promising.

[DukePA]

I'll be the band. I always thought it would be cool play "Devil in the Blue Dress" on the bassoon

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Of course there will be refs. We can't have GP kicking us in self-defense(after we pound him a few times) and expect him to get away with it. DitBD has graciously consented to provide us with some cheering, too. This is really looking promising.

How often will this take place? Will it be before every game?

Since there will be refs creating simulation of game atmosphere, I'll bring my boom box and play one of the Pep Band's CDs.

[weezie]

I'd volunteer to ride the surfboard but I think Greg is going to be just fine. He's still my guy. If there was ever a player who LOVES Duke, and I mean really loves the school, it's Greg. Plus he's got immense reserves of courage.