Originally Posted by
Mudge
If you think that Gbinje showed anything like what Henderson did as a freshman or that he is likely to end up as capable as Henderson, then you have a much better crystal ball than I... likewise, if you think that Gbinje shows the potential that Smith or even Kelly or Mason did as frosh, then again, you are a better seer than I... also, I am not one that was impressed with the contributions of Zoubek or Thomas as seniors, so those are not comparisons that give me much comfort-- those players depended heavily on much more skilled players around them, to make up for their shortcomings-- and I don't know yet whether Gbinje or Murphy or Marshall or Thornton or Hairston will have similarly skilled peers to rely on.
As for not being awe-inspiring, I think we can put that one to rest, by virtue of the fact that all season Duke was being dismissed as the highly ranked (and likely high-seeded) team most likely to lose early, with the alarmingly unintelligent Doug Gottlieb, Digger Phelps, Dick Vitale, and Jimmy Dykes all voicing the sentiment during the season that Duke would be ripe for a first-round upset, depending on the matchup, and whether Duke was making three-pointers. Notice how quickly, after the loss in the ACC tournament, Duke went from being a potential #1 seed, to the lowest ranked of the #2 seeds (paired with top seed Kentucky) in the estimation of the NCAA tournament committee... I don't think this Duke team struck much fear into opponents this year-- shock and awe was in short supply, when compared with the great Duke teams of the Coach K era.