Featherston Front Page Article

[weezie]

AMEN! Al's front page article is simply fantastic.
The quotes from our Austin show an exceptional savvy from a relatively young man.
I am very proud of Austin. What a great Blue Devil!

[Jderf]

AMEN! Al's front page article is simply fantastic.
The quotes from our Austin show an exceptional savvy from a relatively young man.
I am very proud of Austin. What a great Blue Devil!

Agreed. It is a superb article and it really puts Austin's performance to-date into perspective. I, myself, didn't not realize at all how well Austin has been shooting the three. Yes, he has made some deep bombs, but on par with JJ? Both surprising and impressive.

One thing that Al brings up (but doesn't really delve into) is how much more skepticism Austin has faced from the media, despite outperforming most similarly-ranked recruits. It's really curious and I wonder where it comes from.

[slower]

Kid is killing it, especially considering the hype he's expected to live up to and the media that's waiting to pounce on his every misstep.

[COYS]

Agreed. It is a superb article and it really puts Austin's performance to-date into perspective. I, myself, didn't not realize at all how well Austin has been shooting the three. Yes, he has made some deep bombs, but on par with JJ? Both surprising and impressive.

One thing that Al brings up (but doesn't really delve into) is how much more skepticism Austin has faced from the media, despite outperforming most similarly-ranked recruits. It's really curious and I wonder where it comes from.

To be (grudgingly) fair to the media, I think it comes from Austin's own comments, specifically the "destroying Lebron" comment, combined with his father's high profile position and the extremely bright Duke spotlight. Personally, I think too much was made of Austin's comment, but I think it put an even brighter spotlight on him. The media and other fans have been anxious to compare him to guys like Wade and James right off the bat, meaning he should be the best player in high school right away rather than looking at him as a college freshman with NBA potential who needs to go through his paces. I completely agree with the Featherston article, though. Austin has been very impressive so far. He has adapted to college ball even faster than I thought he would, given how he looked in China and Dubai. Save for those two mental mistakes after the under 8 timeout against Washington that really jumpstarted the Huskies' rally, Austin's best game might have been his most recent game. He's learning how to set himself up to score without having the ball in his hands and made some nice catch-and-shoot threes (something he looked uncomfortable with, originally). He's really improved his finishing on his drives. Better free throw shooting alone would put him in the discussion for an All-ACC team. The only thing we haven't seen to much of from him thus far is his mid-range jumper. He creates so much space for himself with his quick moves with the ball that I think the occasional pull-up J from 8-15 feet would make him even more deadly and prevent his (now less frequent) dead-end drives to the hoop.

[hudlow]

No wonder the Carolina fans are so jealous. Rivers is everything The Black Falcon was supposed to be.

[mr. synellinden]

No wonder the Carolina fans are so jealous. Rivers is everything The Black Falcon was supposed to be.

Not sure if this has been linked elsewhere, but there are some interesting comments in this week's SI power rankings (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/luke_winn/12/15/Syracuse.OSU/index.html?sct=cb_t11_a1).

e.g.,:


Of the 16 teams that appear in this week's Power Rankings, Duke has faced the most difficult schedule according to kenpom.com's Pythagorean ratings, which have Blue Devils opponents Belmont, Michigan State, Michigan, Kansas, Ohio State and Washington all in its top 40. (That's something to remember when you're comparing Austin Rivers' acclimation to college hoops against, say, that of fellow super-frosh Quincy Miller, whose Baylor squad has played the worst schedule of any Power Ranked team to date


Sophomore small forward Harrison Barnes, who was a middle-of-the-pack defender last season, has regressed to the point that he has the worst stop percentage of any rotation player (50.6). He's allowing opponents to shoot 49.0 percent on three-point attempts, and his defensive rebounding percentage has dropped from 12.6 as a freshman to a non-factor-level 7.4. Barnes needs to be a more engaged defender if he plans on leading UNC to a national championship

[MCFinARL]

To be (grudgingly) fair to the media, I think it comes from Austin's own comments, specifically the "destroying Lebron" comment, combined with his father's high profile position and the extremely bright Duke spotlight.

I think you have correctly hit the three key factors here--but I think "his father's high profile position" is really significant. Lots of high school stars are pretty confident and make bold statements--but those statements don't get widely reported unless there is a hook. In this case, I think being Doc Rivers' kid was the hook.


Not sure if this has been linked elsewhere, but there are some interesting comments in this week's SI power rankings (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/luke_winn/12/15/Syracuse.OSU/index.html?sct=cb_t11_a1).

e.g.,:


Of the 16 teams that appear in this week's Power Rankings, Duke has faced the most difficult schedule according to kenpom.com's Pythagorean ratings, which have Blue Devils opponents Belmont, Michigan State, Michigan, Kansas, Ohio State and Washington all in its top 40. (That's something to remember when you're comparing Austin Rivers' acclimation to college hoops against, say, that of fellow super-frosh Quincy Miller, whose Baylor squad has played the worst schedule of any Power Ranked team to date


Sophomore small forward Harrison Barnes, who was a middle-of-the-pack defender last season, has regressed to the point that he has the worst stop percentage of any rotation player (50.6). He's allowing opponents to shoot 49.0 percent on three-point attempts, and his defensive rebounding percentage has dropped from 12.6 as a freshman to a non-factor-level 7.4. Barnes needs to be a more engaged defender if he plans on leading UNC to a national championship

Thanks for sharing this--all very interesting, especially the defensive report on Barnes--I knew a lot of questions had been raised about his willingness to drive on offense but hadn't realized that he had regressed on defense.

[Bob Green]

Sophomore small forward Harrison Barnes, who was a middle-of-the-pack defender last season, has regressed to the point that he has the worst stop percentage of any rotation player (50.6). He's allowing opponents to shoot 49.0 percent on three-point attempts, and his defensive rebounding percentage has dropped from 12.6 as a freshman to a non-factor-level 7.4. Barnes needs to be a more engaged defender if he plans on leading UNC to a national championship

Perhaps all us Duke fans should stop obsessing over how our wing players are going to defend Barnes and instead focus upon how our wing players are going to destroy Barnes on the offensive end of the court.

In regard to the Al Featherston article, one has to love the way Al brings the facts to the table to counter rumors and innuendoes. I always try to emulate Mr. Featherston in my postings at DBR - :p - I couldn't even type that with a straight face...

[ice-9]

If there was a way to "like" Featherston's articles, I would do so immediately. And then create a fake account and like it again, he's that good.

[BluDvlsN1]

Quote posted by Bob Green

"In regard to the Al Featherston article, one has to love the way Al brings the facts to the table to counter rumors and innuendoes. I always try to emulate Mr. Featherston in my postings at DBR - :p - I couldn't even type that with a straight face...[/QUOTE]"

My Reason for viewing the board is evidenced not only in this article but also the overall high quality knowledge of most posters!! Personally,I feel i know more than a little bit about the game and Duke basketball,(self indulgent), then I read things like this and wake up and say to myself, just,read, learn and keep quiet!!

Impressive by anyone's standards!!