Ryan Kelly appreciation thread

[flyingdutchdevil]

3 years ago, when Duke had three offensive stars and five defensive juggernauts, we focused the majority of the love on Singler and Scheyer. This makes sense - both players had been impact players for all of their Duke careers. I'd had a massive man crush on Nolan Smith and always thought that he was under-appreciated amongst the Duke faithful during his junior year (senior year is a different story). With our team being ridiculous this year, we are seeing some interesting parallels. We have three upperclassmen who are absolutely tearing it up. And the "supporting cast" isn't far off - Cook and Sheed are crushing it in the backcourt. But amongst the three seniors, Mason is getting the most credit (deserved), Curry is getting a lot of credit because he's playing injured (champ) and has scored a lot of points, and Kelly - while still talked about - is seriously lagging in the conversation.

So here's my appreciation thread for Kelly. IMO, his impact cannot be measured on the court. He allows us to have a fourth guard on the floor (which your know Coach K loves) whilst being able to guard the mobile 4 / big man. Sheed may be our best on-ball defender, but Kelly isn't far behind. His job on Thomas was incredible. His nack for blocking shots is insane. His positioning is amongst the best in the game. His shot isn't falling, but his ability to a) spread the floor, b) take his man off the dribble, c) consistently hit foul shots, and d) pass to the open man are all hugely underrated and provide so much diversity to this team.

Someone on Grantland (and repeated on DBR) said that Kelly is the tallest shooting guard in college ball. I know many disagree with this, but I think it's both a huge complement as well as fairly accurate. Big men like Kelly rarely shoot like him and do not have the ball control on the dribble that Kelly has. Offensively, he is a shooting guard, and there isn't anything wrong with that. Defensively, Kelly is nothing like a shooting guard. He can effectively guard players 6'7" and taller and more often than not does a great job. He tends to foul a little more than we'd like, but is still averaging a ton of minutes.

Kelly has really grown on me. We've all seen his development and his impact and have come to appreciate the unique and amazing player that he is.

[AtlBluRew]

He's grown tremendously and is a very effective player. Leadership by example.

[The Gordog]

3 years ago, when Duke had three offensive stars and five defensive juggernauts, we focused the majority of the love on Singler and Scheyer. This makes sense - both players had been impact players for all of their Duke careers. I'd had a massive man crush on Nolan Smith and always thought that he was under-appreciated amongst the Duke faithful during his junior year (senior year is a different story). With our team being ridiculous this year, we are seeing some interesting parallels. We have three upperclassmen who are absolutely tearing it up. And the "supporting cast" isn't far off - Cook and Sheed are crushing it in the backcourt. But amongst the three seniors, Mason is getting the most credit (deserved), Curry is getting a lot of credit because he's playing injured (champ) and has scored a lot of points, and Kelly - while still talked about - is seriously lagging in the conversation.

So here's my appreciation thread for Kelly. IMO, his impact cannot be measured on the court. He allows us to have a fourth guard on the floor (which your know Coach K loves) whilst being able to guard the mobile 4 / big man. Sheed may be our best on-ball defender, but Kelly isn't far behind. His job on Thomas was incredible. His nack for blocking shots is insane. His positioning is amongst the best in the game. His shot isn't falling, but his ability to a) spread the floor, b) take his man off the dribble, c) consistently hit foul shots, and d) pass to the open man are all hugely underrated and provide so much diversity to this team.

Someone on Grantland (and repeated on DBR) said that Kelly is the tallest shooting guard in college ball. I know many disagree with this, but I think it's both a huge complement as well as fairly accurate. Big men like Kelly rarely shoot like him and do not have the ball control on the dribble that Kelly has. Offensively, he is a shooting guard, and there isn't anything wrong with that. Defensively, Kelly is nothing like a shooting guard. He can effectively guard players 6'7" and taller and more often than not does a great job. He tends to foul a little more than we'd like, but is still averaging a ton of minutes.

Kelly has really grown on me. We've all seen his development and his impact and have come to appreciate the unique and amazing player that he is.

Yup. When he went down last year the team fell apart. When he went out with 2 fouls vs. Ohio State, after scoring 7 of our first 14 points, the team struggled terribly. He is the straw that stirs the Duke Blue cocktail.

[Lar77]

I've enjoyed watching Ryan grow as a player. He is overshadowed, but he contributed strongly to our win against OSU, playing Thomas to a standstill offensively (and as K noted, Thomas needed 14 shpts to get 16 points), making a number of blocks, and of course, hitting the two big threes. But his leadership was also very evident during and between play.

I am shocked that his free throws are struggling this year. Last year, he and Seth were our automatics at the end of a game. And if he plays at the end of last year, we have much more success. That injury might still be affecting him.

He is critical to our going deep this year.

[phaedrus]

Little-known fact: Ryan is 12th all-time at Duke in blocks and, barring injury, will likely move into the top 5 this season (the list, of course, neglects some old-timers who predate keeping track of blocks).

http://www.scacchoops.com/ACCRecords.asp?sTeam=DU

[BD80]

This thread can not get long enough.

If you are drafting ACC players to start a team to compete this year, how many would you pick before Ryan?

He is playing better than all other PFs in the conference, even if you just consider the measurables. His immeasurables elevate him higher still.

[rsvman]

Glue guy but with great offensive skills, too. In all the right places at just the right time.


Very underestimated. Extremely important to the team. Great, selfless player.

[superdave]

I just checked Chad Ford's top 100. Ryan Kelly is nowhere to be found. I do think he can stick in the league though. He can shoot the NBA three and guard NBA bigs. I could see a Matt Bonner type career (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/matt_bonner/career_stats.html)for Ryan.

[OldPhiKap]

This thread can not get long enough.

If you are drafting ACC players to start a team to compete this year, how many would you pick before Ryan?

He is playing better than all other PFs in the conference, even if you just consider the measurables. His immeasurables elevate him higher still.

Ryan is playing very well, and we have not even seen his top game form yet. He is a huge match-up problem for whomever we face.

Each one of our top seven are key this year, and Ryan will be a big part of however far we go.

[Indoor66]

Ryan is playing very well, and we have not even seen his top game form yet. He is a huge match-up problem for whomever we face.

Each one of our top seven are key this year, and Ryan will be a big part of however far we go.

He sure was last year.

[Edouble]

Ryan was my favorite player on the team last year. He is probably my second favorite this year behind Quinn Cook.

I think Ryan is a very dangerous weapon that other teams have to be aware of at all times. He's an X-factor and a great player. I think he has 1st Team All-ACC talent and whether he brings it to that level or not, I will be rooting loudly for him. He is potentially our best 3 point shooter, and our best shot blocker. That is a rare and powerful player!

[mkline09]

You mess with the White Raven and you get the Tallons. Ryan is just such a multi-faceted player and has come so far since his freshman year and has truly become the player many hoped he would be. It has been a gradual progression and he has become one of my favorite players on the team.

[sporthenry]

He sure was last year.

Yep. Think that is all that needs to be said in this thread. We lost to Lehigh without him. Problem is, by the end of the year, we ran our offense through him at the high post so without him, we had very little. We still have him as an option to run the offense through but we aren't reliant on him anymore.

[hq2]

Ryan Kelly is nowhere to be found. I do think he can stick in the league though. He can shoot the NBA three and guard NBA bigs

Hard to say. He's not a great rebounder, and will have trouble guarding NBA 4s because he isn't
that strong (clearly too slow to play D at 3). I'm guessing he winds up in Europe (more his style
of play/player types), but he may get a shot somewhere if he can put on maybe another 10 pounds
of upper body strength to bang with the 4s. (Christian Laettner, who had a similar body build, managed
to get by on D in the NBA). Might be a late second rounder, end of bench player. We'll see.

[mike88]

Ryan has improved his mid-range game this year- his ability to get into the middle of the defense, receive a pass and hit the 12-15 ft shot is critical against the better defensive teams; the fact that he hits 80% from the line makes him even more effective. I think his offensive skills and height will be enough to get him a look in the NBA, and with the right situation (and some more work in the weight room), he could be a successful role player at the 4. It's clear so far this year that he is also playing an important role in getting the younger players acclimated and up to speed, one of the reasons the team seems to be coming together so well thus far.

[Dukeblue91]

Hard to say. He's not a great rebounder, and will have trouble guarding NBA 4s because he isn't
that strong (clearly too slow to play D at 3). I'm guessing he winds up in Europe (more his style
of play/player types), but he may get a shot somewhere if he can put on maybe another 10 pounds
of upper body strength to bang with the 4s. (Christian Laettner, who had a similar body build, managed
to get by on D in the NBA). Might be a late second rounder, end of bench player. We'll see.

He is one of those players that are hard to predict since he is not any type of mold fitting player and brings some interesting intangibles that don't show in the stats.
I would not be surprised if someone would give him a chance and him doing really well but also could see him ending somewhere in Europe.

[Furniture]

He's BLOODY BRILLIANT!

[J_C_Steel]

I believe the reason you don't hear a ton of praise for Ryan Kelly -- outside of Brent Musburger, who called him "one of the best players in the country" during the Duke-Ohio St. tilt -- is because he just looks so gangly and awkward. His shot is a bit herky-jerky, his handle looks bad (though it's actually quite effective), and nothing he does on a basketball court looks smooth.

But you watch him play, you're unimpressed visually, and then you look at the stats. He ends up with about 16 points, 5 or 6 rebounds, a couple of dimes, a couple of blocks, and the guy he's guarding ends up having a poor day at the office. How'd that happen?

He's just a BASKETBALL PLAYER. And he's 6'10". Pure and simple. Those two things, combined, make him crazy effective. Being smart, being in position, shooting the ball, staying in front of your man, helping from the weak side. Ryan Kelly does all of those things. Even though he looks like a guy who shouldn't be able to do all of those things. If he stays healthy, he should end up being First-Team All-ACC this season. But I'm not going to count on it just because of the visual aspect...

[Edouble]

He is one of those players that are hard to predict since he is not any type of mold fitting player and brings some interesting intangibles that don't show in the stats.
I would not be surprised if someone would give him a chance and him doing really well but also could see him ending somewhere in Europe.

I could see it going either way too.

Kelly's NBA potential makes me think of Adam Morrison, albeit Ryan is taller and less weird.

[papa whiskey]

Yup. When he went down last year the team fell apart. When he went out with 2 fouls vs. Ohio State, after scoring 7 of our first 14 points, the team struggled terribly. He is the straw that stirs the Duke Blue cocktail.

Couldn't agree more. When he is on the floor, opposing defenses have to play differently. His versatility and shooting ability from everywhere on the floor makes everyone around him more open, and thereby better. When he went down before the tournament last year I immediately knew we were in big trouble.

[Cameron]

He looked like Detlef Schrempf out there today. Smooth as Teddy Pendergrass. There are two things that there is nothing prettier than in basketball: A left-handed jumper and a big man who can stroke the three. At nearly seven feet, Ryan Kelly is as good at the latter as any player in recent college basketball memory.

[mattmcbreen]

I think Kelly is arguably the most valuable player on the team. He stretches the floor and prevents the opposing team from doubling down on Mason in the post. If they attempt to, more often than not Ryan can step out to the opposite corner and knock down an open three. If they respect Ryan's shooting ability, it leaves a one on one for Mason in the post, with plenty of room to work with. Without Ryan we're just a team with a very talented big man and an assortment of guards. Ryan makes everyone better, especially Mason.

[gep]

As Coach K said... everyone knows their role... even the starters, it appears.

GO DUKE!!!!

[toooskies]

I could see it going either way too.

Kelly's NBA potential makes me think of Adam Morrison, albeit Ryan is taller and less weird.

Best case: Dirk Nowitski
Actual best case: Ryan Anderson
Probable case: Matt Bonner
Actual probable case: Jon Leuer
Worst case: A great beard and a well-documented passport

[dukefan1980]

When we think of Ryan Kelly, we always focus on the offensive end: his ability to spread the floor, knock down threes, his great passing ability for a big man. However, I have been so impressed with his defensive game. In the Kentucky game, he shut down Wiltjer and then, in the short time that he guarded Poythress, did an effective job on a much more athletic player. Against OSU, he was stuck on an island guarding Craft at the top of the key. Craft thought that he had a mismatch but I just knew that Kelly would make the play and sure enough it ended with Craft being blocked.

In some ways Kelly reminds me of David McClure on the defensive end. You don't expect him to be able to guard certain players because of athletic deficiencies, but because of his intelligence and positioning, he gets the job done more often than not. He has become a very good defensive player and one of my favorite Dukies!

[delfrio]

Best case: Dirk Nowitski
Actual best case: Ryan Anderson
Probable case: Matt Bonner
Actual probable case: Jon Leuer
Worst case: A great beard and a well-documented passport

If Kelly could do anything close to what he what does at Duke while in the NBA, he'd be fantasy gold. Blocks, threes, steals, FTs. Perfect.

[roywhite]

Ryan has improved his mid-range game this year- his ability to get into the middle of the defense, receive a pass and hit the 12-15 ft shot is critical against the better defensive teams; the fact that he hits 80% from the line makes him even more effective. I think his offensive skills and height will be enough to get him a look in the NBA, and with the right situation (and some more work in the weight room), he could be a successful role player at the 4. It's clear so far this year that he is also playing an important role in getting the younger players acclimated and up to speed, one of the reasons the team seems to be coming together so well thus far.

Yes. Love the way Ryan recognizes when that shot is available and love the way others, esp. Quinn Cook, are getting him the ball promptly in those situations.

That 12 to 15 footer in the area of the foul line or to either side is a money shot; good percentage shot for Ryan, and verrrry hard for a defense to stop that when Mason is a threat near the basket and others are on the perimeter.

[COYS]

Yes. Love the way Ryan recognizes when that shot is available and love the way others, esp. Quinn Cook, are getting him the ball promptly in those situations.

That 12 to 15 footer in the area of the foul line or to either side is a money shot; good percentage shot for Ryan, and verrrry hard for a defense to stop that when Mason is a threat near the basket and others are on the perimeter.

Ryan made Delaware's zone D look silly hitting those midrange jumpers in the middle of their zone. When Seth is out and we have fewer proven shooters (although Quinn and Rasheed are both proving capable in this department), I actually think Duke could be vulnerable (though not necessarily) to a well played 2-3 zone if Ryan isn't around to hit those midrange shots. I could not agree more that Tyler, Quinn, and Rasheed deserve a LOT of credit for recognizing the zone immediately and getting the ball to Ryan right in the middle of the defense. Thanks to the threat Mason provides in the low post, the Delaware player in the middle of the zone was consistently caught dropping too far into the lane to recover in time to prevent Ryan from getting off that foul line jumper.

We used to run a few curl screens per game around the elbow for Kyle. In man-to-man situations, I think we may see a few more of these run for Ryan. He can come across the lane and curl up from the block towards the free throw line, allowing Mason to screen his man. One of three things will happen. Ryan will be open because his man is caught by Mason. Mason will be open because his man leaves to cover Ryan while Ryan's man that Mason screened also tries to cover Ryan. Finally, if the defenders communicate well and switch, Mason will be guarded by a presumably smaller or less bulky defender as opposing teams will probably have their small, more mobile players chasing Ryan around the perimeter. Worst case scenario is that Ryan's man fights through the screen and Ryan gets the ball in the high post where he can shot fake and drive, shot fake, and shoot, or pass to a cutter or an open shooter on the wings.

At any rate, I loved seeing us get Ryan and Mason the ball early and often. Our offense really has turned inside out compared to last year.

[JNort]

Well I have been thinking it for awhile but last nights game made it more obvious than usual but..... Kelly needs to get a lot stronger so he can finish plays. He can shoot which we and everybody else knows, he seems to have added an above average post shot for a college PF, and he can now drive to the rim very well for someone who is 6'11". The problem is he loses the ball a lot going to the rim on the drives where there is body contact and it doesn't matter whether its a lot or a little. I feel like if he got a bit stronger or learned more body control in the air he could be averaging 20pts a game (Not exaggerating).

*Also wanna note that Ryan is just another GREAT example of a four year guy in college hoops and for Duke. His scoring output a game has gone up every year 1/7/12/13 and it has gone up by at least 5ppg every year as well except this year. However he started the year out poorly from long range so look for those number to go up as well. Like I mentioned before he also added a nice little post game has a knack for blocking shots and gets in good defensive positition to take charges and alter shots. Looks like he may be a 1st round pick in the NBA draft at this rate.

[Kedsy]

Also wanna note that Ryan is just another GREAT example of a four year guy in college hoops and for Duke. His scoring output a game has gone up every year 1/7/12/13 and it has gone up by at least 5ppg every year as well except this year. However he started the year out poorly from long range so look for those number to go up as well. Like I mentioned before he also added a nice little post game has a knack for blocking shots and gets in good defensive positition to take charges and alter shots. Looks like he may be a 1st round pick in the NBA draft at this rate.

As I was leaving the arena last night I noted how amazing it is how much all three of our seniors have improved since last season. Everyone always says you know what you have with your upperclassmen who have little or no room for improvement, but Ryan, Seth, and Mason are showing us how truly silly that notion is. Unless we see major regression (and frankly, at least with Ryan I think we'll see more progression), I think all three will be drafted -- Mason mid-to-late lottery, Ryan early 2nd round (maybe sneaking into the first round) and Seth probably in the 2nd round (mainly due to his size and a potentially perceived injury risk or he, too, could sneak into the first round as well as he's playing).

[JNort]

Duke is 39-1 when Ryan Kelly scores at least 10 points in a game and Ryan is also in the top 3 ever at Duke for highest winning percentage! Please get healed up quick!

[Channing]

Ryan is exhibit 1 for freshmen who come in and spend their freshman year on the bench and in spot duty. Ryan obviously had a big time reputation coming out of high school, but IIRC, didn't get much burn as a freshman. Each year he has gotten significantly better, and we see the results now as a well rounded star capable of putting the team on his back offensively.

I hope other guys that may get discouraged from limited minutes early in their career look to Ryan as an example of what will likely happen if you work hard rather than going for the easy answer and transferring.

[cptnflash]

Funny that when this thread was first started, Ryan wasn't shooting all that well. He's been lights out ever since, to the tune of 52.1% from 3 for the season so far. Like so many other Duke players, Ryan makes me feel lucky to be a Duke fan and get to watch and cheer for him. If he can get healthy and play again this year at the same level, this team still has a chance to be special. If not... well, I don't want to think about it, so I'm just going to assume that he'll get healthy again. But in the meantime, thank you so much Ryan Kelly for being a Duke Blue Devil!

[uh_no]

Ryan is exhibit 1 for freshmen who come in and spend their freshman year on the bench and in spot duty. Ryan obviously had a big time reputation coming out of high school, but IIRC, didn't get much burn as a freshman. Each year he has gotten significantly better, and we see the results now as a well rounded star capable of putting the team on his back offensively.

I hope other guys that may get discouraged from limited minutes early in their career look to Ryan as an example of what will likely happen if you work hard rather than going for the easy answer and transferring.

ryan played 6.5 minute a game that year....which while low, isn't horrid....he saw a ton of minutes early on, saw 8 minutes against BC in a close game, 7 minutes in the georgetown loss...so he saw decent run in the regular season...come tourney time, he got nothing....but not bad for what amounted to the 5th big man on the depth chart

[Newton_14]

ryan played 6.5 minute a game that year....which while low, isn't horrid....he saw a ton of minutes early on, saw 8 minutes against BC in a close game, 7 minutes in the georgetown loss...so he saw decent run in the regular season...come tourney time, he got nothing....but not bad for what amounted to the 5th big man on the depth chart

I think Channing's point is very valid though. Without looking I would expect both Amile and Alex are tracking to very similar mpg as Ryan did as a Freshman. The patient guys with talent that needs developing always reap the rewards of the journey if they are willing to stick it out. Guys like a Ryan Kelly, a Tony Lang, a Marty Clark, etc. I am sure there were many more.

The problem is we are in a culture where every kid thinks he is going to be in the NBA in 1 or 2 years so they are not willing to take the journey.

The Ga Tech coach Brian? Gregory was on local radio this morning and had a great quote when they were talking about this very topic. When asked about Freshman who think they should be playing 30mpg and are not getting the burn he said the following: "I have had kids throughout my career who were not playing a lot as Freshman and they would tell me, Coach you are holding me back man, and I said, No son, I am not holding you back cause I don't have too, you are doing a great job of that yourself with your current play"

[Bluedog]

ryan played 6.5 minute a game that year....which while low, isn't horrid....he saw a ton of minutes early on, saw 8 minutes against BC in a close game, 7 minutes in the georgetown loss...so he saw decent run in the regular season...come tourney time, he got nothing....but not bad for what amounted to the 5th big man on the depth chart

You also have to count the DNP-CDs in figuring minutes. Kelly averaged 6.5 mpg in the games he played, but if you count the games he didn't get any action in as 0 minutes (five games), the season average drops to 5.7. Still not terrible though. Kelly has definitely shown a marked increase in production over four years of hard work.

[Kedsy]

You also have to count the DNP-CDs in figuring minutes. Kelly averaged 6.5 mpg in the games he played, but if you count the games he didn't get any action in as 0 minutes (five games), the season average drops to 5.7. Still not terrible though. Kelly has definitely shown a marked increase in production over four years of hard work.

And if you look at games after January 1 in the 2010 season, Ryan played 91 minutes in 28 games, an average of 3.25 mpg. So I think Channing's point is spot on -- Ryan hardly played his freshman year in games that counted.