82 posts for a kid who sat the bench for most of the year? Why are we still talking about a player who obviously was not a key player for this years team?
First of all that "kid" is a talented young man who has the potential to be a really good player and contributor for Duke's basketball team. Seeing as this is a Duke Basketball board, Gbinije is a Duke Basketball player, and most of here are Duke Basketball fans, it kind of makes sense to have a discussion on the kid. You are more than welcome though, to avoid clicking on this thread and just focus on the star players.
Back to the rational discussion, learning that Gbinije was sick part of the year explains at least part of the reasoning for lack of PT. That's why it is always dangerous to speculate why a player may not be getting PT, as K rarely discloses that type of info unless it is a known injury. There have been many times in the past where K revealed at the end of a season that a player was dealing with an unpublicized injury or illness.
Good to hear Mike is healthy again, and has added the 9 lbs of bulk. He has the physical attributes and athletic ability to blossom into a good player. I have to agree with Dcar, in that "raw" is not how I would describe Mike. He has basketball skills, is coordinated, a good shooter, etc. To me, he is one of those players that just did not pick up the offense or defensive scheme's that Duke runs quickly enough, and he just needs the game to slow down for him. He was never comfortable enough with what he was doing to unleash and use those athletic gifts.
One play from all the way back in the first exhibition game comes to mind as an example. I posted on that play in the post game thread that night. Mike was chasing down a break away layup attempt, and I actually stood up from my seat as it was evident he would get there in time. I was expecting a spectacular block attempt with Mike using those great hops. Instead, once he got there he went up kind of hesitantly, as though he was not sure if it was ok to risk the foul with a block attempt. End result was the more experienced offensive player took it right to Mike's chest and drew the foul. Were he comfortable with the game there, it was a play where he could have easily blocked the shot. It looked exactly like a freshman trying hard to "not make a mistake", which of course often leads to a "freshman mistake". The day is coming where Mike will send that shot attempt into the 5th row of the crowd.
Not all kids are ready in year one. There isn't anything wrong with that. Give "the kid" a little time to develop.
Whoa. I missed this when it was posted, but I had no idea. Thanks. That sounds pretty serious and explains a lot, actually.
I don't want to pry into his personal issues, but is it something he has a handle on now? Sure hope it doesn't continue to hamper him throughout his career, or life, for that matter. Hope he's alright.
Last edited by Greg_Newton; 04-02-2012 at 10:33 PM.
Sounds like he's good according to the poster up above who just talked to him. He was just sick.
Remember when he stayed home from the Maryland trip? After playing 6 minutes against Wake Forest on January 19th, he didn't play in six straight games until logging 1 minute against Maryland at home on February 11th and 1 minute against NC State on the 16th. He logged more than a minute only once in a game for the rest of the year after that. That illness clearly affected his ability to get up to speed in practice enough to make the coaches feel confident enough about him to put him in the game.
That "One Game" was in the NCAA tournament. I just don't understand how many people act like the NCAA tournament is just another game. Its not. The NCAA tournament IS the college basketball season whether people like it or not. Its what determines the legacy of your team.
I haven't heard a single person claim it is "just another game." That would be absurd. Almost as absurd as claiming it obliterates everything else that happened during the year. And I don't think you believe that either. Games against Carolina don't matter? ACC tournaments don't matter? Contests against major programs out of conference don't matter? The development of individual members of the team throughout the season doesn't matter? Epic performances and epic comebacks don't matter? Like I said, I think you care about those things, too. You just decided to spout off without thinking and said the first piece of hyperbole that popped into your skull. Don't do that. It's bad for the board, yourself, America, language...
Underperformed??? I contend this team OVERPERFORMED. Twenty seven wins on what seemed to be at times a group of individuals vs. a team is quite remarkable IMO. Hats off to Coach K for this unbelievable achievement.
And for some reason they don't reward GETTING to the tourney. If only they had some things like...
Regular season championships
Conference tourney championships
Invitational championships
Games on battleships
Prime time TV
Conference challenges
Trips overseas to places like London and China
Rivalry games
Rivalry week
Midnight Maddness
or Being ranked for the first time in a season.
Yeah, I'm just gonna stop watching til March. Will make my life a whole lot easier. Thanks for your help with this.
Come on, you have evaluated a freshmen's potential or ability to contribute based upon "one play," before the season even started? In the words of Mike Tyson, that's ludicruos. Personally, i don't buy the "mike was injured at times" argument. I don't doubt that injuries could have plagued him at times this season; but to spend all of my money on that prescription,... come on.
So if {g} had not have gotten sick and fallen off his schedule, we'd have gone further. Funny, I thought Ryan's injury was perhaps a tad more of a direct factor.
Unless {g} can rain threes, which is the other problem we had.
But anyway . . . let's keep rehashing a disappointing finish on every thread imaginable.