CBS Eye on College Basketball - "Scouting Title Contenders: Duke Blue Devils"

[Billy Dat]

Here's the Duke chapter of Jeff Borzello's ongoing "Scounting Title Contenders" series:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24457476/scouting-title-contenders-duke-blue-devils

It's interesting because it's 100% quotes by anonymous coaches (or assistants) who we have played against this year. The quotes are organized into the following categories:

-Style of Play
-Offensive Strength
-Key Player
-Primary Weakness
-How to stop them
-Best ways to score on them
-Ultimate concern
-Inside play good enough?
-Jabari Parker
-Leftovers

I found it accurate and insightful. It's interesting to hear opposing coaches break us down.

[jv001]

Thanks Billy for the link. The one sentence that jumped off the page to me, was Parker isn't interested in playing defense as the other guys. That certainly has been the case in some games. Part of it, I believe, is he just doesn't seem to be in great shape. He's in decent shape but not great shape. Good write up. GoDuke!

[MChambers]

Thanks Billy for the link. The one sentence that jumped off the page to me, was Parker isn't interested in playing defense as the other guys. That certainly has been the case in some games. Part of it, I believe, is he just doesn't seem to be in great shape. He's in decent shape but not great shape. Good write up. GoDuke!
I was struck by this, too. Hope someone points this out to Jabari!

[lumberbaron]

If anyone noticed Parker scoop up the loose ball last night and go in for a dunk, he is very very fast for a guy his size, faster than a lot of guards. I don't think he's out of shape, he plays a lot of minutes.

Defense is a "want to" thing, it's effort. His effort isn't always great on defense. Sometimes he's caught napping on a switch and other times he doesn't challenge his man hard enough and lets them shoot over him or get into his body. I think the big article about Coach K needing to coach him hard--this is where that needs to happen. Push him, motivate him, get after him on defense.

[Billy Dat]

If anyone noticed Parker scoop up the loose ball last night and go in for a dunk, he is very very fast for a guy his size, faster than a lot of guards. I don't think he's out of shape, he plays a lot of minutes.

Defense is a "want to" thing, it's effort. His effort isn't always great on defense. Sometimes he's caught napping on a switch and other times he doesn't challenge his man hard enough and lets them shoot over him or get into his body. I think the big article about Coach K needing to coach him hard--this is where that needs to happen. Push him, motivate him, get after him on defense.

It's funny, my perception is that he wants to, he just doesn't fully get what it takes to be an excellent defender. I am hoping that the light bulb continues to illuminate because he's gotten better, but what I see is he is frequently out of position on rotations. I feel like if he didn't care, he wouldn't be trying to block as many shots as he does.

[jv001]

It's funny, my perception is that he wants to, he just doesn't fully get what it takes to be an excellent defender. I am hoping that the light bulb continues to illuminate because he's gotten better, but what I see is he is frequently out of position on rotations. I feel like if he didn't care, he wouldn't be trying to block as many shots as he does.

Absolutely this. Jabari has excellent basketball IQ when it comes to offense, but not when it comes to defense. Like you say, it's mainly being out of position on defense not lack of effort. All though there have been times when he's not gotten back on defense and that's lack of effort. But I still think he get's tired, but who wouldn't with all the moving and running he does on offense. He has gotten better on defense and is showing the effort to get even better. GoDuke!

[jacone21]

Jabari needs a summer like Redick had, where commits to getting in the best shape of his life and comes back at the highest level possible. Man, that would be great to witness next year. Unfortunately, he's probably going to be doing it in Philly or Milwaukee or Orlando.

[CBecker]

If anyone noticed Parker scoop up the loose ball last night and go in for a dunk, he is very very fast for a guy his size, faster than a lot of guards. I don't think he's out of shape, he plays a lot of minutes.

.

Sure, he's fast in situations like that, but lateral quickness is completely different to that. He's always been described as a guy with average lateral movement on the defensive end and it hurts him. I don't think his problem is effort. He wants to be a great duke player, and he doesn't strike me as someone who would not give it all he has got. I think his basketball IQ could improve on that side of the ball though, he often loses focus of where his man is and they cut and get a bucket, slow rotations etc.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Jabari needs a summer like Redick had, where commits to getting in the best shape of his life and comes back at the highest level possible. Man, that would be great to witness next year. Unfortunately, he's probably going to be doing it in Philly or Milwaukee or Orlando.

Or Boston! I'd be buying season tickets if that were the case.

[Kedsy]

I feel like if he didn't care, he wouldn't be trying to block as many shots as he does.

I don't think this is necessarily true. A lot of guys don't feel like playing defense so they make up for it by trying for a steal or block on every play so they don't actually have to guard anyone.

I'm not saying that applies to Jabari, though. Earlier in the year it looked to me like he didn't know what to do or how much effort he needed to apply to be successful. Now, to me it looks like more of a consistency of concentration issue. He knows what he needs to do and how hard he has to work at it, but he's not yet able to do it consistently for 40 minutes. He seems to go into periodic lapses in which he plays the old, ineffective way. It might be physical tiredness or it might be it's really hard mentally to keep super-focused every second and he's not yet able to do it. My guess is it's more of the latter than the former.

[COYS]

Absolutely this. Jabari has excellent basketball IQ when it comes to offense, but not when it comes to defense. Like you say, it's mainly being out of position on defense not lack of effort. All though there have been times when he's not gotten back on defense and that's lack of effort. But I still think he get's tired, but who wouldn't with all the moving and running he does on offense. He has gotten better on defense and is showing the effort to get even better. GoDuke!

Jabari plays a lot of center-field style defense where he's looking to come in at the last second and get the block or slap the ball away for a steal. What he hasn't learned is what Battier was so good at. You often get the steal, the block, or the charge by being in the right position in the first place. Going for a blocked shot from the weak side is often a zero sum play. You either block the shot (which often goes out of bounds and remains with the other team) or they get a pretty easy shot. On the other hand, if you rotate quickly and are in great position, the offensive player is either forced into a difficult shot, forced to pass, or forces up a shot directly into the help defenders hands which is an easier blocked shot for the defense to recover.

Jabari is also late to hedge, which is also problematic as it forces unnecessary switching on the perimeter. His lateral quickness might not be the stuff of legend, but he ain't slow, either. He's certainly quicker laterally than Brian Zoubek, who was a superb hedger during his senior year. The issue for Jabari right now is a lack of timing. Experience will cure a lot of this. A marginal improvement from Jabari in his hedging and help defense will have a pretty big cumulative effect on our team defense. Simply preventing 2-3 more easy scoring opportunities can have a big effect on the outcome of games. I think Jabari is up to the challenge.

[NYBri]

Absolutely this. Jabari has excellent basketball IQ when it comes to offense, but not when it comes to defense. Like you say, it's mainly being out of position on defense not lack of effort. All though there have been times when he's not gotten back on defense and that's lack of effort. But I still think he get's tired, but who wouldn't with all the moving and running he does on offense. He has gotten better on defense and is showing the effort to get even better. GoDuke!

But the dude sure can rebound.

[niveklaen]

I think some of Jabari's defensive issues stem from a fear of foul trouble, seems like a couple of times a game since the quick foul out against Syracuse he pulls back from contesting plays on the interior. Where a player like Battier could be rewarded for early rotation with a drawn charge call, those have mostly dissappeared this year. He feels he has to stay in the game and overcompensates to avoid fouls. I think Mason's defense suffered last year when Ryan went down for the same reason.

(earlier in the year I think it was inexperience with how/when to rotate, but my completely subjective belief is that he has mostly figured it out now and that his current shortfalls are a misguided quest for self preservation rather than a lack of effort or skill)

[Billy Dat]

I think some of Jabari's defensive issues stem from a fear of foul trouble, seems like a couple of times a game since the quick foul out against Syracuse he pulls back from contesting plays on the interior. Where a player like Battier could be rewarded for early rotation with a drawn charge call, those have mostly dissappeared this year. He feels he has to stay in the game and overcompensates to avoid fouls. I think Mason's defense suffered last year when Ryan went down for the same reason.

(earlier in the year I think it was inexperience with how/when to rotate, but my completely subjective belief is that he has mostly figured it out now and that his current shortfalls are a misguided quest for self preservation rather than a lack of effort or skill)

Good point, I have felt this way at times, too, especially recently. In those situations, he needs to get better about how to contest without fouling or appearing to foul.

[ice-9]

What he hasn't learned is what Battier was so good at. You often get the steal, the block, or the charge by being in the right position in the first place.

Small nitpick: while Battier did get quite a few blocks he prefers putting a hand on the ball while it's being brought up but before release which doesn't actually count as a block. It doesn't look as flashy, but it's a heckuva lot better because it doesn't require the defender to leave his feet.

[ElSid]

The Jabari comments are all interesting. He could definitely do a lot to improve and there were a couple games this season where he was a turnstile, letting his guy get by him right into the middle of the lane and turning and actually pointing at him! Like, help! Get my guy for me while I stand here! He's also looked completely lost on rotations at times. He's capable. But all that is expected and pretty well known.

More surprising to me were the comments by these coaches that Sulaimon isn't a good defender. That he's susceptible. Lumping him into the same category as Dawkins, and lauding Cook. Really? Cook has had some great games defensively, but has also gotten blown by fairly frequently. Sulaimon had an overall slump but has been pretty darn good defensively in ACC play. I see Sulaimon as maybe our 2nd or 3rd best defender. Thornton's up there. Hood when he wants to. But please, Sulaimon is no Dawkins, and Dawkins is really improved this year.

[miramar]

Small nitpick: while Battier did get quite a few blocks he prefers putting a hand on the ball while it's being brought up but before release which doesn't actually count as a block. It doesn't look as flashy, but it's a heckuva lot better because it doesn't require the defender to leave his feet.

Shane always does things his own way, whether or not it shows up in the stats. According to a Miami Herald blog,

Said Battier: “I don’t expect the average fan to understand what I do. Teammates can’t explain what the hell I do, either. But when I’m on the court, good things happen.”

I think that is Shane in a nutshell. The blog also said that Shane has dropped his longtime agent and has hired a broadcasting representative, so as always he is thinking ahead.

Here's the link (scroll down):

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/2014/03/criticism-from-standouts-follows-donofrio-dolphins-heat-marlins-chatter.html

[COYS]

Small nitpick: while Battier did get quite a few blocks he prefers putting a hand on the ball while it's being brought up but before release which doesn't actually count as a block. It doesn't look as flashy, but it's a heckuva lot better because it doesn't require the defender to leave his feet.

This was the gist of my argument. Battier never sees blocking a shot as an essential part of a good defensive play. The good defensive play is forcing the opponent into a position where they are least likely to score. If that means blocking a shot, great. If that means forcing a guy who prefers to drive left to drive right and then pull up off balance for a fadeaway jumper with a hand in his face, great. In fact, the latter is better in the majority of situations.

To my eyes, Jabari looks to block shots and get steals to the point that he fails to pay attention to positional defense. If he were to improve his positional defense, he would force opponents into bad situations more frequently, and, as a result of that, he would also probably end up with more blocked shots and steals.