Oh, what might have been!

[tommy]

Watched Michigan play Pitt last night. Mitch McGary came off Michigan's bench for 13 minutes and got one shot. All he did was set screens for Michigan's perimeter guys. That's all. Nothing run for him, and they didn't even pass him the ball. Duke is recruited against on the ground that the big men just set screens, which of course isn't true in the first place, and then when they spurn Duke and go elsewhere, they find themselves . . . setting screens.

At least McGary is contributing more than Tony Parker at UCLA. In this week's games against quality opponents, he got 3 minutes against Georgetown and didn't see the floor at all against Georgia. He's behind the comically rotund and utterly ineffective Josh Smith, whose body really does look like Fat Albert of '70s fame. Parker can't beat him out.

Trey Zeigler only got 9 minutes off the bench for Pitt. They're a solid team, but nothing spectacular.

Maybe these guys will turn into fine players, but based on what we've seen so far, it sure doesn't look like they would've had much immediate impact had they chosen Duke.

[1 24 90]

The main thing I thought of while watching McGary was "bull in a china shop".

[JasonEvans]

It is entirely possible that if you total up all of Tony Parker's minutes this season, it will be less time than the length of his "decision" announcement.

-Jason "I'd feel sorry for the kid, but that fiasco of an announcement makes it impossible for me to pity him at all" Evans

[superdave]

Too much schaedenfrude on Thanksgiving! But I agree.

Someone should lecture these kids on how high school ball does not prepare you for college ball at the highest levels unless you're a top 4-5 recruit.

[sporthenry]

Watched Michigan play Pitt last night. Mitch McGary came off Michigan's bench for 13 minutes and got one shot. All he did was set screens for Michigan's perimeter guys. That's all. Nothing run for him, and they didn't even pass him the ball. Duke is recruited against on the ground that the big men just set screens, which of course isn't true in the first place, and then when they spurn Duke and go elsewhere, they find themselves . . . setting screens.

At least McGary is contributing more than Tony Parker at UCLA. In this week's games against quality opponents, he got 3 minutes against Georgetown and didn't see the floor at all against Georgia. He's behind the comically rotund and utterly ineffective Josh Smith, whose body really does look like Fat Albert of '70s fame. Parker can't beat him out.

Trey Zeigler only got 9 minutes off the bench for Pitt. They're a solid team, but nothing spectacular.

Maybe these guys will turn into fine players, but based on what we've seen so far, it sure doesn't look like they would've had much immediate impact had they chosen Duke.

Well I think it is a bit early to write off Parker and McGary. I know we are probably more enlightened then they are (and see with our blue glasses) but they are high school kids for a reason. With that being said, it isn't like McGary or TP would have been any better off coming to Duke at the moment either. Mason is a monster and I doubt K would trust either of them. But we'll see what they do next year b/c that is when Duke will really feel the crunch b/c even if TP or McGary weren't great, I'd feel a whole lot better going into next year with either of them at least as a backup to Marshall.

[BD80]

It is entirely possible that if you total up all of Tony Parker's minutes this season, it will be less time than the length of his "decision" announcement.

-Jason "I'd feel sorry for the kid, but that fiasco of an announcement makes it impossible for me to pity him at all" Evans

Ummm. If you totalled all of the minutes in all of ucla's GAMES this season - it will be less than the duration of the announcement.

The total number of minutes of daylight in this season will be less than the announcement ...

The period of time dinosaurs roamed the planet was shorter than the announcement ...

[UrinalCake]

I agree with SportHenry, I think once Mason announced he was coming back we all knew that Parker wouldn't have gotten much playing time this season, but next year is when we could have really used him. McGary was expected to be more of an immediate impact guy, at least until he faded over the summer. He was pretty vocal in his criticisms of Coach K's system, as was his father (or maybe it was his coach, I don't remember). So I'll be happy to watch him struggle and be stuck setting screens while Mason puts up monster numbers.

It also pleases me to see that in the final RSCI rankings, Amile Jefferson comes in at 21 while Parker is 24 and McGary is 26. It remains to be seen which of the three develops into the best player, but this is a good reminder not to panic when a recruit or two happens to choose another school.

[sagegrouse]

It remains to be seen which of the three develops into the best player, but this is a good reminder not to panic when a recruit or two happens to choose another school.

"Not to panic?" Then what good is the Internet? The Internet permits immediate relief in the case of a "panic attack." Very therapeutic.

sage

[Class of '94]

I agree with SportHenry, I think once Mason announced he was coming back we all knew that Parker wouldn't have gotten much playing time this season, but next year is when we could have really used him. McGary was expected to be more of an immediate impact guy, at least until he faded over the summer. He was pretty vocal in his criticisms of Coach K's system, as was his father (or maybe it was his coach, I don't remember). So I'll be happy to watch him struggle and be stuck setting screens while Mason puts up monster numbers.

It also pleases me to see that in the final RSCI rankings, Amile Jefferson comes in at 21 while Parker is 24 and McGary is 26. It remains to be seen which of the three develops into the best player, but this is a good reminder not to panic when a recruit or two happens to choose another school.

I believe it was his coach that was pushing McGary towards Michigan. His parents, from what I remembered, favored Duke but decided to go along with his coach. It had appeared that the Mich staff had a relationship with the coach that made it seem like the coach was not completely objective with his views on Mich, Duke and the other schools that McGary was looking at.

[alteran]

Too much schaedenfrude on Thanksgiving! But I agree.

You say "schadenfreude," I say "giving thanks." :D

[OldPhiKap]

You say "schadenfreude," I say "speak English, dammit"

The Germans may have bombed Pearl Harbor, but we won the war.




But as to these kids (and ours as well) -- you don't always step into a national program and start with 30 minutes a night. It is a process. Doesn't mean that you are not good, or that you might not become great. It means that you have a four-year chance to grow into your potential.

These kids will probably end up as pretty good players, as will our kids that are still starting along the path. Patience.

[MaxAMillion]

Watched Michigan play Pitt last night. Mitch McGary came off Michigan's bench for 13 minutes and got one shot. All he did was set screens for Michigan's perimeter guys. That's all. Nothing run for him, and they didn't even pass him the ball. Duke is recruited against on the ground that the big men just set screens, which of course isn't true in the first place, and then when they spurn Duke and go elsewhere, they find themselves . . . setting screens.

At least McGary is contributing more than Tony Parker at UCLA. In this week's games against quality opponents, he got 3 minutes against Georgetown and didn't see the floor at all against Georgia. He's behind the comically rotund and utterly ineffective Josh Smith, whose body really does look like Fat Albert of '70s fame. Parker can't beat him out.

Trey Zeigler only got 9 minutes off the bench for Pitt. They're a solid team, but nothing spectacular.

Maybe these guys will turn into fine players, but based on what we've seen so far, it sure doesn't look like they would've had much immediate impact had they chosen Duke.

Kind of like Murphy sitting on the bench now for Duke.

[Gthoma2a]

is more than a great player now, he is a great recruiting tool as well. It has been years since we had Shelden Williams, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand, and Josh McRoberts etc. A lot of kids took in the nonsense of screens being the only thing our guys do seriously, so I would hope that it goes to show that we have had good big men who do play very active roles when they are up to it. That, and all of these coaches who sell this being out-coached, should really swing the pendulum back in our favor. Hopefully this shows that the only limits for our players are from their own abilities.

[PackMan97]

...and here I thought this thread was going to be about Amile Jefferson and NC State :)

[tommy]

Julius Randle broke his foot last week and Tony Parker went out of UCLA's game after one minute last night and was seen in a walking boot after the game. See how well they both would've fit in at Duke!

[MarkD83]

Julius Randle broke his foot last week and Tony Parker went out of UCLA's game after one minute last night and was seen in a walking boot after the game. See how well they both would've fit in at Duke!

So who is left on the UCLA roster.....

[SoCalDukeFan]

Of course he was never in game shape anyway.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-josh-smith-ucla-20121128,0,5592510.story


SoCal

[Bob Green]

Freshman Kaleb Tarczewski (7'0" 255), who played alongside Alex Murphy in high school is averaging 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game for Arizona:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/61552/kaleb-tarczewski

I'm not sure how much mutual interest there was between Duke and Tarczewski but he was on the radar.

[bjornolf]

You say "schadenfreude", I say "speak English, dammit"
The Germans may have bombed Pearl Harbor, but we won the war.

YES! Best use of that quote ever!

[dukeofcalabash]

Watched Michigan play Pitt last night. Mitch McGary came off Michigan's bench for 13 minutes and got one shot. All he did was set screens for Michigan's perimeter guys. That's all. Nothing run for him, and they didn't even pass him the ball. Duke is recruited against on the ground that the big men just set screens, which of course isn't true in the first place, and then when they spurn Duke and go elsewhere, they find themselves . . . setting screens.

At least McGary is contributing more than Tony Parker at UCLA. In this week's games against quality opponents, he got 3 minutes against Georgetown and didn't see the floor at all against Georgia. He's behind the comically rotund and utterly ineffective Josh Smith, whose body really does look like Fat Albert of '70s fame. Parker can't beat him out.

Trey Zeigler only got 9 minutes off the bench for Pitt. They're a solid team, but nothing spectacular.

Maybe these guys will turn into fine players, but based on what we've seen so far, it sure doesn't look like they would've had much immediate impact had they chosen Duke.

I understand where you're going with these comments, but to be honest our bigs haven't done very much the last several years in their first early years either!

[BD80]

I understand where you're going with these comments, but to be honest our bigs haven't done very much the last several years in their first early years either!

That is because they hadn't yet spent time under the tutelage of the best big man coach in the game today! He turned Miles into a 1st round pick and has turned Mason into a serious POY candidate.

[dyedwab]

I understand where you're going with these comments, but to be honest our bigs haven't done very much the last several years in their first early years either!

In many ways, that's the point. As I was following the recruiting of these players, it struck me that they and their supporters viewed them as immediate impact players who would have a chance to be one-and-done. The fact that they aren't probably isn't a surprise to most of us, but it does allow for a bit of perspective as we recruit. Even Top 25 recruits who could be one-and-dones can struggle at first at the college game. Freshman year performance by the likes of Kyrie, Austin, and now Rasheed, shouldn't be taken for granted - they are well earned.

[COYS]

This thread really does hammer home the fact that in virtually all situations, players that NBA scouts are very high on in high school are usually good enough to be one and dones no matter where they go. However, the vast majority of high school recruits take time to develop. A guy like Tony Parker was actually rated lower on the RSCI than Mason and Ryan coming out of high school. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he'd be far more likely to play backup minutes to them for a year since they've also had four years of development. For every example of a top 25 freshman that comes in and stars right away, there are more examples of top 25 freshman who needed time to develop, even though the stars of the freshman class get all the hype. UCLA is no different. With Smith (at least early on) and the Wears on the roster, Howland (for all of his faults) hasn't seen anything from Parker that makes him stand out above the veterans.

Calipari is seen as the guy who will let his freshman star and then send them to the league. But that is easy to do if you are playing top 5 freshman every season, as has been the case with the vast majority of Cal's one and dones. However, that didn't stop guys like Wiltjer, Jones, and others from needing more time to develop. Top 25 status also didn't guarantee that guys like Daniel Orton would be featured.

For all the talk about K not playing a deep rotation, we are actually extremely fortunate as a fan base to have had so many freshman who are ready to come in and contribute right away. Rasheed, Austin, Kyrie, Kyle, Jon, etc. (obviously, I could go back farther, but this thread is focusing on recent trends). Meanwhile, we are also fortunate to have had guys like Mason, Ryan, Seth, Gerald, Nolan, Lance, Brian, etc. who were talented top 25 guys who took their lumps before they really had their chance to shine.

Although a lot of negative recruiting is used against Duke, the kids who are serious about making the best choice for themselves (even that choice isn't Duke) are able to cut through the crap and recognize that, unless they are arguably already ready to be drafted high by an NBA team, they are more likely to be a role player or a bit player their first season at virtually any major program they decide to attend. In reality, most programs operate similarly to Duke in that unless the recruit is a super-frosh, they are almost guaranteed to grow into their role rather than become an instant star.

[TexHawk]

Parker injured his hamstring and missed the preseason trip to China, which is awful for a first year player trying to learn the system and his teammates. When the real games started, he had back spasms, then he rolled his ankle. I would hold off on claiming he's a bust for at least a couple more months. (Though perhaps his health issues will always be a problem).

[COYS]

Parker injured his hamstring and missed the preseason trip to China, which is awful for a first year player trying to learn the system and his teammates. When the real games started, he had back spasms, then he rolled his ankle. I would hold off on claiming he's a bust for at least a couple more months. (Though perhaps his health issues will always be a problem).

Well, if Duke's coaching staff is held responsible by negative recruiters for failing to develop guys like Brian, Shav and others that suffered a number of significant injuries, can we at least blame Howland for failing to develop Parker and turn him into a star from the start of his freshman season?