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NYBri
03-22-2011, 10:35 PM
Good news: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/41876502/ns/sports-college_basketball/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1

This won't be a popular pick in Utah or Columbus, but for my money Nolan Smith has been the country's best basketball player. His numbers alone are impressive, as he leads the ACC with 21.3 ppg and 5.4 apg while also grabbing 4.9 rpg. He seamlessly changed roles to point guard when Kyrie Irving got hurt. Most importantly, with Kyle Singler struggling and Duke's big men a question mark, Smith is the sole reason Duke is still in the national title discussion.

Gewebe14
03-22-2011, 10:54 PM
There is probably another thread for this, but whatever.

Nolan deserves this. Think about what has happened this season: Singler is having a worse-than-expected season as an individual (at least offensively), Kyrie has been out for essentially the whole year, and no one else has TRULY stepped up to the plate to be the consistent 3rd wheel for this team. YET because Nolan has continued his undeniable ascension, we are still a 1 seed, ACC Champions, in the sweet 16, better than kerlina, and just having an awesome season.

Singler is still the man and other guys have definitely had good years (kelly, curry, plums, dawk) but let's face it - Nolan is making up for the loss of Scheyer and to a certain extent Thomas himself.

wgl1228
03-22-2011, 11:04 PM
As far as I have seen Nolan has won all of the online awards (Fox Sports, CBS, and now NBC). Do you guys think he will win a major award or has the media fallen in love with Jimmer?

wilson
03-22-2011, 11:05 PM
As far as I have seen Nolan has won all of the online awards (Fox Sports, CBS, and now NBC). Do you guys think he will win a major award or has the media fallen in love with Jimmer.The real question (half serious and half just with a nod to all the navel-gazing that goes on in here) is, does this count toward jersey retirement?

msdukie
03-22-2011, 11:06 PM
He actually won this award several weeks ago, but it looks like NBCSports.com put a new article up.

MarkD83
03-23-2011, 01:23 AM
The real question (half serious and half just with a nod to all the navel-gazing that goes on in here) is, does this count toward jersey retirement?

There already is a banner in the ceiling that will make us all remember Nolan and Kyle and Jon and Zoubs and Lance and Andre and the Plumlees and Ryan and ........

I think Nolan would like another one just like it and whether his jersey is in the rafters of Cameron won't really matter.

SmartDevil
03-23-2011, 02:37 AM
Congrats to Nolan for those NPOY recognitions.

I see Jimmer won a NPOY award today.

Anyone care to speculate on what Nolan's stats might have been if Duke had played BYU's schedule?

SupaDave
03-23-2011, 07:54 AM
I think Nolan would like another one just like it and whether his jersey is in the rafters of Cameron won't really matter.

Right, you can't WEAR a retired jersey but a new ring couldn't hurt.

ClosetHurleyFan
03-23-2011, 08:03 AM
Good news: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/41876502/ns/sports-college_basketball/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1

This won't be a popular pick in Utah or Columbus, but for my money Nolan Smith has been the country's best basketball player. His numbers alone are impressive, as he leads the ACC with 21.3 ppg and 5.4 apg while also grabbing 4.9 rpg. He seamlessly changed roles to point guard when Kyrie Irving got hurt. Most importantly, with Kyle Singler struggling and Duke's big men a question mark, Smith is the sole reason Duke is still in the national title discussion..b

Arguments can certainly be made against his selection, but he has certainly been a top five player and the kid is a total class act. This tar heel fan has nothing but respect for how he carries himself on and off the court.

Congratulations Nolan, you represent the ACC well.

gw67
03-23-2011, 08:07 AM
As far as I have seen Nolan has won all of the online awards (Fox Sports, CBS, and now NBC). Do you guys think he will win a major award or has the media fallen in love with Jimmer?

I'm happy for Smith that he has won this and other POY awards but why Devils fans and posters on this site continue to put down Fredette is beyond me. IMO, Sullinger, Fredette and Smith are equally deserving of NPOY awards and none of the three are in this position because of the media. They are all very good players. Without Smith, Duke would still be in the NCAAT and may have made the Sweet Sixteen. Without Fredette, BYU would not have sniffed an NCAA bid.

I'm sure that any of the three would be happy to trade all the POY awards for the National Championship.

gw67

Lord Ash
03-23-2011, 08:29 AM
I'm happy for Smith that he has won this and other POY awards but why Devils fans and posters on this site continue to put down Fredette is beyond me.

gw67

Really? Duke fans saying Nolan Smith should win POY and giving reasons Fredette shouldn't is beyond you? That seems strange... to me, it is pretty expected.

OldPhiKap
03-23-2011, 09:07 AM
I'm happy for Smith that he has won this and other POY awards but why Devils fans and posters on this site continue to put down Fredette is beyond me. IMO, Sullinger, Fredette and Smith are equally deserving of NPOY awards and none of the three are in this position because of the media. They are all very good players. Without Smith, Duke would still be in the NCAAT and may have made the Sweet Sixteen. Without Fredette, BYU would not have sniffed an NCAA bid.

I'm sure that any of the three would be happy to trade all the POY awards for the National Championship.

gw67

I agree that there are a number of viable candidates for the various POY awards. I would add Derrick Williams and Kemba Walker as well. But I disagree that we would still be in the NCAAT without Nolan. We would not have beaten Michigan, I do not think, without Nolan's ball pressure and the run he put on in the second half.

Putting aside all of the players' offensive skills, are any of them nearly as good as Nolan on defense? (Serious question -- not sure of the answer).

CDu
03-23-2011, 09:16 AM
I agree that there are a number of viable candidates for the various POY awards. I would add Derrick Williams and Kemba Walker as well. But I disagree that we would still be in the NCAAT without Nolan. We would not have beaten Michigan, I do not think, without Nolan's ball pressure and the run he put on in the second half.

Putting aside all of the players' offensive skills, are any of them nearly as good as Nolan on defense? (Serious question -- not sure of the answer).

Pretty sure gw's comment was that Duke still would have made the tourney (and MAY have made the Sweet-16). Whereas without Fredette, BYU probably doesn't even make the tournament.

I'm not saying I necessarily agree or disagree with gw's point, but I thought I'd clarify.

OldPhiKap
03-23-2011, 09:23 AM
Pretty sure gw's comment was that Duke still would have made the tourney (and MAY have made the Sweet-16). Whereas without Fredette, BYU probably doesn't even make the tournament.

I'm not saying I necessarily agree or disagree with gw's point, but I thought I'd clarify.

Thanks. I would agree with your read if that was the OP's point (I could have misread it, coffee hasn't taken yet).

gw67
03-23-2011, 09:56 AM
Really? Duke fans saying Nolan Smith should win POY and giving reasons Fredette shouldn't is beyond you? That seems strange... to me, it is pretty expected.

I am obviously the odd man out on this issue. I like 11 of the remaining 16 teams and I like several of their players and hope that they do well. However, there is only one team that I am emotionally behind and that is Duke. Having said that, I find it unbecoming that we need to continually put down some of the youngsters on other teams with little or no acknowledgment that most are fine players. As one who has been on this board from the beginning, I've always admired posters who have strong opinions but have a sense of fairness. In recent years, it seems to me that we have "piled on" some players without always being fair to them.

gw67

OldPhiKap
03-23-2011, 10:11 AM
I am obviously the odd man out on this issue. I like 11 of the remaining 16 teams and I like several of their players and hope that they do well. However, there is only one team that I am emotionally behind and that is Duke. Having said that, I find it unbecoming that we need to continually put down some of the youngsters on other teams with little or no acknowledgment that most are fine players. As one who has been on this board from the beginning, I've always admired posters who have strong opinions but have a sense of fairness. In recent years, it seems to me that we have "piled on" some players without always being fair to them.

gw67

Personally, I think your view is the majority of this board. A few Tar Heels aside, I think there is a general respect for most players out there. I don't think it was a slam on the Jimmer for someone to note that there is sort of a media love-fest with him. And why not? He is a great story with an interesting background and some wicked good talent.

Having said that, most fans have seen Nolan pull our bacon out of the fire again and again and again this year -- but have only seen Jimmer a handful of times at best. So I am not surprised if the conclusion is reached by many before the question is even asked. Kind of like folks jumping on Jay Bilas for saying that Phog Fieldhouse is a better atmosphere than Cameron -- I have been going to games in Cameron for decades now, but never seen one in Kansas. So I certainly have my mind made up about which is better, but that opinion is based on my experience and not a full or impartial knowledge of the facts.

Anywho, congrats to Nolan on this award and to the others who will also win NPOY awards. They are all very good players who have worked hard to get what they have earned, and by all accounts all appear to be good teammates.

Lord Ash
03-23-2011, 10:33 AM
Kind of like folks jumping on Jay Bilas for saying that Phog Fieldhouse is a better atmosphere than Cameron -- I have been going to games in Cameron for decades now, but never seen one in Kansas. So I certainly have my mind made up about which is better, but that opinion is based on my experience and not a full or impartial knowledge of the facts.


This one example I have to say I disagree with. For years and years a wide variety of informed, experienced sources have cited Cameron as the best place to watch college basketball, and indeed one of the best places to watch sports, period. The number of people who say that Phog is a better venue than Cameron consists approximately of all Kansas fans and Jay Bilas. Not quite the same as the Nolan/Jimmer thing, where some sources clearly favor one while others clearly favor the other.

Sorry, that one really chapped my rear when Jay said it.

-jk
03-23-2011, 11:36 AM
This one example I have to say I disagree with. For years and years a wide variety of informed, experienced sources have cited Cameron as the best place to watch college basketball, and indeed one of the best places to watch sports, period. The number of people who say that Phog is a better venue than Cameron consists approximately of all Kansas fans and Jay Bilas. Not quite the same as the Nolan/Jimmer thing, where some sources clearly favor one while others clearly favor the other.

Sorry, that one really chapped my rear when Jay said it.

Have you ever been to a game at Phog Allen? It's a worthy competitor to Cameron. (Though I'll still take Cameron, but I'm slightly biased.)

-jk

ncexnyc
03-23-2011, 11:51 AM
This one example I have to say I disagree with. For years and years a wide variety of informed, experienced sources have cited Cameron as the best place to watch college basketball, and indeed one of the best places to watch sports, period. The number of people who say that Phog is a better venue than Cameron consists approximately of all Kansas fans and Jay Bilas. Not quite the same as the Nolan/Jimmer thing, where some sources clearly favor one while others clearly favor the other.

Sorry, that one really chapped my rear when Jay said it.

This isn't true. A week after Bilas made his comment and this board went ballistic, Dicky V. and Dan Shulman did a Duke game and they made a similar comment, however they hedged by naming both.

jv001
03-23-2011, 01:33 PM
I am obviously the odd man out on this issue. I like 11 of the remaining 16 teams and I like several of their players and hope that they do well. However, there is only one team that I am emotionally behind and that is Duke. Having said that, I find it unbecoming that we need to continually put down some of the youngsters on other teams with little or no acknowledgment that most are fine players. As one who has been on this board from the beginning, I've always admired posters who have strong opinions but have a sense of fairness. In recent years, it seems to me that we have "piled on" some players without always being fair to them.

gw67

But Nolan is by far the better defensive player when comparing him with Jimmer. I like Jimmer and I admit he can score the ball. However I wonder how many points he gives up by playing no defense. Nolan on the other hand has guarded the opponents best guard in almost every game. I had rather have Nolan on my team any day. Go Duke!

uh_no
03-23-2011, 01:46 PM
I am obviously the odd man out on this issue. I like 11 of the remaining 16 teams and I like several of their players and hope that they do well. However, there is only one team that I am emotionally behind and that is Duke. Having said that, I find it unbecoming that we need to continually put down some of the youngsters on other teams with little or no acknowledgment that most are fine players. As one who has been on this board from the beginning, I've always admired posters who have strong opinions but have a sense of fairness. In recent years, it seems to me that we have "piled on" some players without always being fair to them.

gw67

especially when we had our own jimmer freddette just 5 years ago....

dukeblue4ever
03-23-2011, 05:40 PM
especially when we had our own jimmer freddette just 5 years ago....Except our Jimmer was a pretty good defender, especially on help defense. Redick was a bit slow on-ball, but he still could handle almost all players well; additionally, he is doing quite well in the NBA on defense.

I've watched Jimmer extensively this year; there are times at which he turns his head to talk to someone, and, by the time his head is turned back around, his man just blows by him. This is ok in most instance, but when this happens he
A. Does not help and just stands there.
B. Runs down the court for a potential fast break.

This problem has been exacerbated since the Davies injury, and it has continually gotten worse.

With regard to help defense, he almost always never helps; he sometimes feigns a little reach in and proceeds to run down the court.

Edit: With that said, I think it should be a toss-up. Jimmer averages 1.41 pps, and Nolan average 1.36: pretty comparable, eh? Nolan has a little bit higher FG percentage. He has a much higher A/T ratio, 1 more rebound and assist per game. Technically, they have the same number of steals per game, but that isn't truly indicative of their defense. BYU's zone allows number 4 on BYU (a fantastic defender IMHO) to deflect a lot of passes and Jimmer tends to come up with those balls. Obviously, Jimmer has 7 more ppg, but that is mostly from his 33% more shots that he takes per game.

uh_no
03-23-2011, 06:37 PM
Except our Jimmer was a pretty good defender, especially on help defense. Redick was a bit slow on-ball, but he still could handle almost all players well; additionally, he is doing quite well in the NBA on defense.


While his defense certainly improved while he was at duke and continues to in the NBA, but I think saying JJ was a 'pretty good defender' is a bit of an overstatement.

cato
03-23-2011, 07:05 PM
since the Davies injury

Huh. I didn't realize Davies injured himself while engaging in the activity that got him booted off the team.

dukeblue4ever
03-23-2011, 07:06 PM
While his defense certainly improved while he was at duke and continues to in the NBA, but I think saying JJ was a 'pretty good defender' is a bit of an overstatement.Watching him during the conference finals two (??) years ago was a thing of beauty. He was the only player on the Magic able to effectively contain Ray Allen.

Edit: ^ Whoops, my bad. Davies' dismissal from the team. I just automatically assume not playing= injury; high moral standards, you know.

uh_no
03-23-2011, 07:40 PM
Watching him during the conference finals two (??) years ago was a thing of beauty. He was the only player on the Magic able to effectively contain Ray Allen.

Edit: ^ Whoops, my bad. Davies' dismissal from the team. I just automatically assume not playing= injury; high moral standards, you know.

I wholly admitted jj has gotten much better at defense....

heres a nice little tidbit

Pre-draft scouting reports praised Redick's perimeter shooting and basketball intelligence, but questioned his defensive ability and speculated that he may not be tall or athletic enough to create his own shots in the NBA.

pretty sure that sounds identical to what jimmer fredette's scouting report might say....

Lord Ash
03-23-2011, 09:00 PM
K called JJ our best off the ball defender. That's pretty darn good. Never seen The Jimmer play... is he considered the best off the ball defender on the team?

Regardless, not sure comparing JJ to Jimmer is really relevant to the Nolan vs Jimmer conversation, so I'm sorry if I am dragging the thread off topic. Interesting that so many places have picked Nolan as the NPOY. Has Jimmer won any yet?

Verga3
03-23-2011, 09:49 PM
No player would deserve it more than Nolan. Great numbers....really great defense/leadership. Jimmer is fun to root for and watch, and is certainly a very strong second place. My prediction is that our great kid (first), terrific player (second) and leader will propel Duke to a second consecutive NCAA Championship (third), and will land him the National POY honor.

Thank you, Nolan, for a great four years. And, thank you for always exhibiting the character of a champion....make mama (and dad) proud.

uh_no
03-23-2011, 11:03 PM
Regardless, not sure comparing JJ to Jimmer is really relevant to the Nolan vs Jimmer conversation, so I'm sorry if I am dragging the thread off topic.

The only reason I brought it up is because so many people here rip on jimmer like he's the antichrist, and it angers me since all the kid does is go out an play his butt off, just like nolan, just like kyle, just like everyone else on the duke team. He's not as good as nolan on defense, for sure, not even close, but he is better at shooting the ball, and thus scoring. The kids are two different types of players, and just because nolan is on our team and is one type of player doesn't mean we need to rip the kid to shreds for being a different kind of player. I think my point with JJ is we've had similarly minded offensive players who we praised for their offense. We need to appreciate jimmer for what he is, the best scorer by far in the NCAA this season. The kid was 4 points a game better than anyone else in the country, and 3 points better in the postseason. If that's not an incredible accomplishment, then i'm not sure what is. I want Nolan to win the NPOY awards. I'll say it. But, if Jimmer wins any or all of the most highly regarded rewards, I will be more than happy for a kid who had a phenomenal season. I won't be on here saying anything nasty about the kid, or that he only won because of ESPN or whatever. If he wins, it will have been because he's had a great year, and there's no way around that.

ArkieDukie
03-23-2011, 11:37 PM
I watched an interview last week with the top 3 NPOY candidates: Nolan, Kemba, and Jimmer. Based upon the interview, I would be happy with either Nolan or Jimmer winning the award. Kemba, not so much. Both Nolan and Jimmer took great pains to talk about their teammates and were also very complimentary regarding the skills of "the competition"; Kemba was all "me" and "I." So, from this interview, Nolan and Jimmer are very team-oriented and Kemba is very Kemba-oriented.

The comments regarding Jimmer's importance to his team are very well taken. It's true that BYU likely wouldn't be where they are without Jimmer's offensive skills. If that's what the award is about, then he should win. The same is likely true about Kemba's importance to the UConnvicts. If the award is about all-around skill, I can say in all honesty that I haven't watched Jimmer and Kemba play enough to be able to compare them to Nolan.

uh_no
03-24-2011, 04:00 AM
I watched an interview last week with the top 3 NPOY candidates: Nolan, Kemba, and Jimmer. Based upon the interview, I would be happy with either Nolan or Jimmer winning the award. Kemba, not so much. Both Nolan and Jimmer took great pains to talk about their teammates and were also very complimentary regarding the skills of "the competition"; Kemba was all "me" and "I." So, from this interview, Nolan and Jimmer are very team-oriented and Kemba is very Kemba-oriented.


As a uconn fan (cough cough) i've watched and listened to an awful lot of kemba. He's extremely supportive of his teammates. If he wasn't, they wouldn't have won a darn thing this year. Calhoun talks all the time about how incredible a leader he has been in this team, and not just in terms of being all american and such, but how he leads practices and is the emotional leader. If you want to rip the kid based on his language during an interview, go ahead, he's not as well spoken as nolan or jimmer ('um' and 'you know' being about 75% of the vocab). He is, however, on pace to finish his degree in three years while being one of the best players in the country and beaing a leader to a very young team. That, if anything, should be applauded, especially when you see the opposite in UK type situations so often where graduating is the exception.

I get it: people here don't like uconn. They'll knock uconn players, any success they have, any success their league has, and pretty much anything about them. Kemba's a good kid, moreso than 90% of the other cooks who come through D1 powerhouse programs. He hasn't shown an ounce of being selfish all year, knowing when to carry the team and when to get the other guys more involved.

But if you want to judge him based on word selection in an interview....

Jderf
03-24-2011, 09:10 AM
I watched an interview last week with the top 3 NPOY candidates: Nolan, Kemba, and Jimmer. Based upon the interview, I would be happy with either Nolan or Jimmer winning the award. Kemba, not so much. Both Nolan and Jimmer took great pains to talk about their teammates and were also very complimentary regarding the skills of "the competition"; Kemba was all "me" and "I." So, from this interview, Nolan and Jimmer are very team-oriented and Kemba is very Kemba-oriented.


As a uconn fan (cough cough) i've watched and listened to an awful lot of kemba. He's extremely supportive of his teammates. If he wasn't, they wouldn't have won a darn thing this year. Calhoun talks all the time about how incredible a leader he has been in this team, and not just in terms of being all american and such, but how he leads practices and is the emotional leader. If you want to rip the kid based on his language during an interview, go ahead, he's not as well spoken as nolan or jimmer ('um' and 'you know' being about 75% of the vocab). He is, however, on pace to finish his degree in three years while being one of the best players in the country and beaing a leader to a very young team. That, if anything, should be applauded, especially when you see the opposite in UK type situations so often where graduating is the exception.

But if you want to judge him based on word selection in an interview....

Personally, I always caution people against passing judgment on others based on interviews. One, or multiple. Anybody who has ever been in a televised interview knows exactly how stressful it can be under the lights with a camera in your face, making it absurdly difficult to think on the fly. Sometimes, people end up saying things that are not at all indicative of how they feel.

I haven't seen the interview in question so I can't present a specific opinion on it, but it doesn't surprise me that Nolan interviews well, generally speaking. Such a laid back (yet confident) guy, he might just not be worried about the camera. Besides, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Duke Basketball actually provides their athletes with media training programs. Is that true? Does Uconn do the same?

Basically, a lot more goes into these interview responses than just what a player thinks, so you have to allow for a little leeway.

davekay1971
03-24-2011, 09:39 AM
First, congratulations to Nolan on another honor well earned!

With regards to the Nolan-Jimmer debate, there was an interesting question posed on Charlotte's AM 910 sports radio this morning (no, not by Colin the IC-worthy Carolina homer)...if Nolan and Jimmer switched teams, how would they fare?

I think this question benefits Nolan. If he was asked to carry the scoring load at BYU the way The Jimmer is, I think he'd probably be able to replicate Fredette's scoring. In addition, he'd probably be BYU's defensive stopper.

If you put Fredette on Duke's squad this year, he'd be an amazing offensive weapon (like he'd be anywhere), but we wouldn't be as good of a team. There's the obvious problem that our only point guard option would be Seth (not a bad problem to have, but I don't think Seth was nearly ready to be a full time point guard at the beginning of this season). The bigger problem is how badly we need Nolan's defensive pressure, particularly when Kyrie was out.

Now, it's not a fair question in one way: if Fredette was in his fourth year at Duke, I guarantee you he'd be a better defender than he is now (the same way Redick improved his defense while at Duke). If Nolan was in his fourth year at BYU, would he have been forced to become the defender he is now?

But it was an interesting hypothetical question to occupy the brain until tipoff tonight.

uh_no
03-24-2011, 01:31 PM
First, congratulations to Nolan on another honor well earned!

With regards to the Nolan-Jimmer debate, there was an interesting question posed on Charlotte's AM 910 sports radio this morning (no, not by Colin the IC-worthy Carolina homer)...if Nolan and Jimmer switched teams, how would they fare?

I think this question benefits Nolan. If he was asked to carry the scoring load at BYU the way The Jimmer is, I think he'd probably be able to replicate Fredette's scoring. In addition, he'd probably be BYU's defensive stopper.

If you put Fredette on Duke's squad this year, he'd be an amazing offensive weapon (like he'd be anywhere), but we wouldn't be as good of a team. There's the obvious problem that our only point guard option would be Seth (not a bad problem to have, but I don't think Seth was nearly ready to be a full time point guard at the beginning of this season). The bigger problem is how badly we need Nolan's defensive pressure, particularly when Kyrie was out.

Now, it's not a fair question in one way: if Fredette was in his fourth year at Duke, I guarantee you he'd be a better defender than he is now (the same way Redick improved his defense while at Duke). If Nolan was in his fourth year at BYU, would he have been forced to become the defender he is now?

But it was an interesting hypothetical question to occupy the brain until tipoff tonight.

Great post. Very objective and truthful. Thanks

ArkieDukie
03-24-2011, 07:16 PM
As a uconn fan (cough cough) i've watched and listened to an awful lot of kemba. He's extremely supportive of his teammates. If he wasn't, they wouldn't have won a darn thing this year. Calhoun talks all the time about how incredible a leader he has been in this team, and not just in terms of being all american and such, but how he leads practices and is the emotional leader. If you want to rip the kid based on his language during an interview, go ahead, he's not as well spoken as nolan or jimmer ('um' and 'you know' being about 75% of the vocab). He is, however, on pace to finish his degree in three years while being one of the best players in the country and beaing a leader to a very young team. That, if anything, should be applauded, especially when you see the opposite in UK type situations so often where graduating is the exception.

I get it: people here don't like uconn. They'll knock uconn players, any success they have, any success their league has, and pretty much anything about them. Kemba's a good kid, moreso than 90% of the other cooks who come through D1 powerhouse programs. He hasn't shown an ounce of being selfish all year, knowing when to carry the team and when to get the other guys more involved.

But if you want to judge him based on word selection in an interview....
Fair enough. I'm glad to hear that I misjudged him. Since this is the case, it sounds like a win-win on all of the top POY candidates.

uh_no
03-24-2011, 11:16 PM
I'm just trying to do the best I can do: whether it's scoring, talking, getting their confidence up or giving an assist, I'm just trying to do whatever is possible to enhance this team.

Kemba postgame, just to provide an example of being a team player.

Starter
03-25-2011, 09:49 AM
I love Nolan. But if we had this team and swapped him for Jimmer, I think I'd still feel pretty good about that team.

I hope people realize, Jimmer's main assignment on defense was to not get in foul trouble. I think it'd probably be much the same for Nolan if he were in the Jimmer role for BYU. And though Redick definitely improved defensively over the course of his time at Duke -- and has improved a GREAT deal since coming to the NBA -- he was a sieve his first two years at Duke and wasn't exactly Gary Payton the last two. Regardless of what Coach K said about his off-ball defense or whatever, I think Redick and Jimmer remain a very good comparison based on role, skills and performance.