Et Tu Jeff Goodman?

[dukelion]

The back handed compliments come fast and furious in this article including yet another reference to Duke being "unathletic" and not passing the "eye test".

VCU was a quality opponent but they didn't necessarily strike me as the superior athletic team on the court last night.

Goodman also was pretty much was convinced in his article the night before that Quinn Cook would crumble under the vaunted VCU pressure.

Use to think he was one of the more decent writers out there but this was a bit too much.



http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21112086/goodman-duke-handles-vcus-pressure-with-ease

[DukieInKansas]

The back handed compliments come fast and furious in this article including yet another reference to Duke being "unathletic" and not passing the "eye test".

VCU was a quality opponent but they didn't necessarily strike me as the superior athletic team on the court last night.

Goodman also was pretty much was convinced in his article the night before that Quinn Cook would crumble under the vaunted VCU pressure.

Use to think he was one of the more decent writers out there but this was a bit too much.



http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21112086/goodman-duke-handles-vcus-pressure-with-ease

Here's hoping this team is as "unathletic" as the 2010 team. ;)

Am I getting my Doug Gottlieb year correct?

[uh_no]

Here's hoping this team is as "unathletic" as the 2010 team. ;)

Am I getting my Doug Gottlieb year correct?

well, the quote came in the fall of 2009 before the Uconn/Duke game in the garden, but yeah, it was that team.

[pfrduke]

well, the quote came in the fall of 2009 before the Uconn/Duke game in the garden, but yeah, it was that team.

Very specifically, at halftime of the Duke-ASU semi-final game of that tournament.

[sagegrouse]

Here's the offending passage in what I thought was a good, positive article:


However, it was more than just taking care of the basketball. It was also limiting a clearly superior team in terms of overall athleticism from getting into the paint and also uncontested perimeter shots.

There was the unathletic Kelly, all 6-foot-11 of him, chasing VCU's perimeter athletes all over the court. To begin one possession, his assignment was speedy 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard Rob Brandenberg. A Rams screen that forced him to switch onto 6-foot-4, 200-pound Troy Daniels and another switch put him on 6-foot-3, 195-pound Darius Theus as the shot clock expired.

I don't share his views on overall athleticism. Mason is far more athletic than any of the bigs from VCU. No one on the court can match Shabazz. I think Seth and Cook are very coordinated athletes but not in the Jason Williams mold.

Kelly is a gangly, somewhat goofy-looking guy with a beard and an overbite, but the passage gave him full credit for staying with smaller, quicker players.

sagegrouse

[uh_no]

Here's the offending passage in what I thought was a good, positive article:



I don't share his views on overall athleticism. Mason is far more athletic than any of the bigs from VCU. No one on the court can match Shabazz. I think Seth and Cook are very coordinated athletes but not in the Jason Williams mold.

Kelly is a gangly, somewhat goofy-looking guy with a beard and an overbite, but the passage gave him full credit for staying with smaller, quicker players.

sagegrouse

what i don't get is how does he call him unathletic before stating how he ably defended against guys much smaller than he?

what is his definition of athletic, then? flashy?

I'd like him to name any other 6'11 guy in the country who can do what kelly does...and since there aren't any, why can't they do it? are they not smart enough? It seems like they aren't athletic enough or skilled enough to be anything other than post players pick setters and bench warmers

[ricks68]

Kelly is a gangly, somewhat goofy-looking guy with a beard and an overbite....sagegrouse

The correct term is "excessive vertical overlap", not "overbite".:p And what has that got to do with his playing abilities? Kevin Durant has a much, much more pronounced excessive vertical ovelap of his anterior teeth. Hmmmmmmmm........I wonder if there is some sort of relationship, in this case, with Ryan's abilities. I think he is pretty darn good.:)

ricks

[OldPhiKap]

Kelly is a gangly, somewhat goofy-looking guy with a beard and an overbite, but the passage gave him full credit for staying with smaller, quicker players.



I always thought that Larry Bird was fairly unathletic. There is more to the game than freakish hops.

[FerryFor50]

Here's the offending passage in what I thought was a good, positive article:



I don't share his views on overall athleticism. Mason is far more athletic than any of the bigs from VCU. No one on the court can match Shabazz. I think Seth and Cook are very coordinated athletes but not in the Jason Williams mold.

Kelly is a gangly, somewhat goofy-looking guy with a beard and an overbite, but the passage gave him full credit for staying with smaller, quicker players.

sagegrouse

When did we get a Shabazz? :D

[sagegrouse]

When did we get a Shabazz? :D

Oops. Must be some hidden regret. I meant Rasheed. -- sage

[oldnavy]

What does unathletic even mean? All these kids are athletic, you simply cannot play at this level and be unathletic. I have seen kids that are unathletic, they typically stop playing organized sports in middle school or high school at the latest.

Maybe some of the players have more overall coordination or hand-eye coordination than others, some are obviously faster than others and can jump higher than others, but I would argue that Duke has not had an 'unathletic' basketball player in the last 75 years.

I wish one of these "reporters" would define what they mean by "unathletic".

[Deslok]

Not that any of them would ever say it in front of a microphone, but generally speaking... unathletic would be code word for... white.
The Plumlees can't be athletic because they are white, they can be smart, tenacious, etc. Cook can't be a heady basketball player because he's black, he can be quick, have a great first step, etc. These are words that have been used a million times in describing basketball players, and generally speaking fall on racial lines.

As far as we've come in some ways, in others there's still a long ways to go.

[wilson]

Jeff Goodman apparently doesn't think "athleticism" is needed for basketball success, because he has a new piece up today about how Duke should now be #1.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21125226/duke-worthy-of-top-spot-after-title-down-in-bahamas
So now we can cease with the hand-wringing.

[Kdogg]

Not that any of them would ever say it in front of a microphone, but generally speaking... unathletic would be code word for... white.
The Plumlees can't be athletic because they are white, they can be smart, tenacious, etc. Cook can't be a heady basketball player because he's black, he can be quick, have a great first step, etc. These are words that have been used a million times in describing basketball players, and generally speaking fall on racial lines.

As far as we've come in some ways, in others there's still a long ways to go.

Both Miles and Mason have almost always been called athletic since they arrived on campus. Back when we were recruiting Cook, I remember people talking about his high basketball IQ. Duke doesn't have a lot of the long, lean 6'7" - 6'9" players that have become more common in college basketball. That doesn't mean we don't have guys who can play ball. Looking back at Duke rosters - Chris Carrawell would probably be called unathletic while Nate James would be called athletic.

[NSDukeFan]

Both Miles and Mason have almost always been called athletic since they arrived on campus. Back when we were recruiting Cook, I remember people talking about his high basketball IQ. Duke doesn't have a lot of the long, lean 6'7" - 6'9" players that have become more common in college basketball. That doesn't mean we don't have guys who can play ball. Looking back at Duke rosters - Chris Carrawell would probably be called unathletic while Nate James would be called athletic.

I believe Nate James gets called whatever he wants to be called.

[OldPhiKap]

I believe Nate James gets called whatever he wants to be called.

The Most Intersting Man in the World has a Nate James poster in his room.

'nuf said.


(Truth be told, he is only The Most Intersting Man in the World because Nate is too humble to want the title himself).

[roywhite]

Both Miles and Mason have almost always been called athletic since they arrived on campus. Back when we were recruiting Cook, I remember people talking about his high basketball IQ. Duke doesn't have a lot of the long, lean 6'7" - 6'9" players that have become more common in college basketball. That doesn't mean we don't have guys who can play ball. Looking back at Duke rosters - Chris Carrawell would probably be called unathletic while Nate James would be called athletic.

To the topic of athletic ability on this year's team, seems to me that a key aspect to our good start has been the very good speed of 3 players in the lineup -- Mason Plumlee, Quin Cook, and Rasheed Sulaimon. All run very well for their position IMO.

We've seen a number of run-outs and easy baskets due to their speed and it's enabled us to change ends quickly against some very good opponents.

[COYS]

To the topic of athletic ability on this year's team, seems to me that a key aspect to our good start has been the very good speed of 3 players in the lineup -- Mason Plumlee, Quin Cook, and Rasheed Sulaimon. All run very well for their position IMO.

We've seen a number of run-outs and easy baskets due to their speed and it's enabled us to change ends quickly against some very good opponents.

This is an astute point. The speed of Quinn and Rasheed made up for some otherwise disjointed play on offense late in the first half against Kentucky. Quinn jumpstarted a few other fast break and semi-break possessions in the Battle for Atlantis.

I also think their speed has helped improve our defense. Rasheed's length and speed, especially, have led to a few extra live ball turnovers that resulted in easy points for our offense.

As others have noted, we're basically at the same place we were last season at this time in the Kenpom rankings. The big difference, however, is the direction we're moving. Last season, we managed to win in Maui, but even as we were racking up the W's, our defensive ranking slipped a little bit and began its free-fall after the debacle at Ohio State. This season, except for the final game against Louisville which saw our defensive ranking remain constant, we've improved our ranking every game. I suspect that as Kenpom's projections for this season begin to have less and less influence in the rankings, our defensive ranking will continue to inch upward. A LOT of this is due to the entirely different dynamic we have on the perimeter now with a fully healthy and speedy Quinn and the long, lean, and quick Rasheed doing a better job keeping up with quick guards on the opposing team.

[Wander]

What does unathletic even mean? All these kids are athletic, you simply cannot play at this level and be unathletic. I have seen kids that are unathletic, they typically stop playing organized sports in middle school or high school at the latest.


Would you call Mason Plumlee a good three point shooter because he can shoot a higher percentage from long range than 90%+ of the general population?

[flyingdutchdevil]

Why is everyone so upset by being branded "unathletic"? IMO, unathletic means that you cannot use your genetic ability to beat opponents on the floor. If you are unathletic, you need you use your skill, your intelligence, and your coachability to defeat opponents. And you know what? That is okay. I'd rather take senior Kelly and Curry, who I deem fairly unathletic in comparison to many of their counterparts, than these raw athletes. This isn't the NBA where you need both athleticism and skill to succeed - this is college ball. And in college ball, you can destroy competition with skilled, coachable players. Look at Duke this past week. Minny, VCU, and Louisville are all more "athletic" than we are (collectively, not individually. Mason and King Sulaimon are clearly up there with the most athletic). But who came out on top? We did, and our two "unathletic" stars played like champs.

The media can call us unathletic all they want. But you cannot disagree with the results our "unathletic" boys have put up.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Personally, the annoyance for me stems from teams being either "athletic" (black) or "cerebral" (white) and goes back at least 20 years or so. Outside of that context, it's humorous, because by all accounts our least "athletic" team won a national championship in 2010.

I don't give a rip what the media calls us when we are knocking off top 5 teams.

Go Duke!

[moonpie23]

unathletic is code for "white".......it's also code for, "can't jump out of the gym, can't break legs, doesn't slam, won't make the highlight reel" and a bunch of other things that folks want to describe their distain for basketball fundamentals.....

as i mentioned in my other post......uk got most of the highlights (huge dunks/blocks) and duke got the win...

[DukieInKansas]

I believe Nate James gets called whatever he wants to be called.

And Daniel Ewing always gets called for the technical.

[striker219]

The Most Intersting Man in the World has a Nate James poster in his room.

After I saw this my thought was, I have the same "poster" over the sink in my bathroom,


(Truth be told, he is only The Most Intersting Man in the World because Nate is too humble to want the title himself).

and then I saw this, so... yeah.