Obi News?

[ncexnyc]

I know that in the past we received bits and pieces of info on transfers while they were sitting out their required year.

We did get updates on how Seth Curry and Rodney Hood were performing during practices, so I was wondering if anyone could provide us with some insight into how Mr. Obi is doing as a member of our team.

Basically, is he operating as a center or a power forward?

How does he look physically? Does he looked ripped or chubby or somewhere in between?

How is his game developing? Is he strictly a back to the basket guy or has he shown a mid-range shot yet?

[subzero02]

He's the best player in practice...

[ncexnyc]

He's the best player in practice...
Well played. I remember we heard that quite a bit about Seth.

[DukeDevilDeb]

He's the best player in practice...

I'm sure I've heard that before about... another transfer?!!? ;)

Sean is a remarkable young man... I look forward to our opportunities to see him play next year.

[duketaylor]

He's the best player in practice...

I find that quite tongue-in-cheek.

Can anyone verify any of this?

[DukeDevilDeb]

I find that quite tongue-in-cheek.

Can anyone verify any of this?

I can verify what I said about his being a remarkable young man. He has an excellent attitude and work ethic for academics which, I hope, carries over to practice. But I don't know anything about his playing and I would frankly be shocked if the team or coaches address this in any way.

[FerryFor50]

I know that in the past we received bits and pieces of info on transfers while they were sitting out their required year.

We did get updates on how Seth Curry and Rodney Hood were performing during practices, so I was wondering if anyone could provide us with some insight into how Mr. Obi is doing as a member of our team.

Basically, is he operating as a center or a power forward?

How does he look physically? Does he looked ripped or chubby or somewhere in between?

How is his game developing? Is he strictly a back to the basket guy or has he shown a mid-range shot yet?

I've seen him in person at games. He's massive. Like Semi massive, but taller.

Have not heard how he does in practice.

I just know that he produced at Rice his freshman year.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/66760/sean-obi

11ppg and 9.3 rpg as a freshman? Yes, please.

Rice isn't a powerhouse, but they do play in a mid-major conference that's decent (Conference USA).

If Duke took him on as a freshman, he likely has talent.

[duketaylor]

Sounds like some of the Nick Horvath info we had one summer about pick-up games-and a few other comments about other players. Hence, my questioning. That's all. I've seen him on the bench during the timeouts (when standing), and yes, he's large. As in 6'8", thick arms and Jah' wide. No question he has size.

[FerryFor50]

Sounds like some of the Nick Horvath info we had one summer about pick-up games-and a few other comments about other players. Hence, my questioning. That's all. I've seen him on the bench during the timeouts (when standing), and yes, he's large. As in 6'8", thick arms and Jah' wide. No question he has size.

Difference between Horvath and Obi is that Obi actually played D1 ball and not just summer pick up games. So we at least have that to go on. :)

[lotusland]

It does seem like it has been unusually quiet in regard to Obi. I didn't watch Countdown to Craziness this year but seems like I remember that Obi didn't play or dress which seemed unusual.

[MCFinARL]

Well played. I remember we heard that quite a bit about Seth.

Yes, and Rodney Hood.

Maybe Sean Obi will have a chance to exceed our expectations. ;)

[Newton_14]

I know that in the past we received bits and pieces of info on transfers while they were sitting out their required year.

We did get updates on how Seth Curry and Rodney Hood were performing during practices, so I was wondering if anyone could provide us with some insight into how Mr. Obi is doing as a member of our team.

Basically, is he operating as a center or a power forward?

How does he look physically? Does he looked ripped or chubby or somewhere in between?

How is his game developing? Is he strictly a back to the basket guy or has he shown a mid-range shot yet?

I got to see him in the open practice, though K for some reason, held him out of the team scrimmages. Not sure why as he looked healthy and participated in all the team drills that day. It was hard to get much of a read to be honest. A couple of observations based on drills with the bigs, and then full court drills... a definite big, wide body and space eater. He won't get pushed around very much in the paint, and he seemed to have good hands. He is not a leaper though by any means so not an above the rim player. Also not a quick guy by any stretch either. I think he can be a good rebounder, and garbage basket guy cleaning up misses around the rim. No clue how good of a shooter he is either.

But again, it was kind of hard to tell given K did not use him in the scrimmages. Based only on the limited visibility, I would assume he would not be a starter, but would probably be used as a sub to spell MP3 and Amile and maybe give 15 mpg or so in his first year as a Devil.

I think we should expect rebounding to be his main strength to be honest. Hopefully he can develop into a solid defender as well.

[superdave]

I got to see him in the open practice, though K for some reason, held him out of the team scrimmages. Not sure why as he looked healthy and participated in all the team drills that day. It was hard to get much of a read to be honest. A couple of observations based on drills with the bigs, and then full court drills... a definite big, wide body and space eater. He won't get pushed around very much in the paint, and he seemed to have good hands. He is not a leaper though by any means so not an above the rim player. Also not a quick guy by any stretch either. I think he can be a good rebounder, and garbage basket guy cleaning up misses around the rim. No clue how good of a shooter he is either.

But again, it was kind of hard to tell given K did not use him in the scrimmages. Based only on the limited visibility, I would assume he would not be a starter, but would probably be used as a sub to spell MP3 and Amile and maybe give 15 mpg or so in his first year as a Devil.

I think we should expect rebounding to be his main strength to be honest. Hopefully he can develop into a solid defender as well.


Does anyone know if he has been held out of more scrimmages this season? I assume not and that was a one-time/seldom thing. Given the loss off two scholarship players, I assume he's used fully in practice.

[UrinalCake]

I have pretty low expectations for him. Coming into this season K made a point of saying how great it was that we had ten guys in practice, which seemed odd to me when Obi would have been #11. He dressed for C2C but didn't play a single minute. I assume he practices against Amile, while Marshall and Oak match up, but we've heard zero about how he looks in practice.

Great kid and I'm glad we have him. When he does play he'll give us a bruiser, which will be a nice change of pace from the other three long, lean big guys (Marshall, Jeter, Amile). But honestly I'm not expecting more than a couple minutes per game from him next year.

[duke blue brewcrew]

I have pretty low expectations for him. Coming into this season K made a point of saying how great it was that we had ten guys in practice, which seemed odd to me when Obi would have been #11. He dressed for C2C but didn't play a single minute. I assume he practices against Amile, while Marshall and Oak match up, but we've heard zero about how he looks in practice.

Great kid and I'm glad we have him. When he does play he'll give us a bruiser, which will be a nice change of pace from the other three long, lean big guys (Marshall, Jeter, Amile). But honestly I'm not expecting more than a couple minutes per game from him next year.

Sean Obi was basically a double-double guy as a freshman at Rice. Not quite ACC level competition, I get it. But still, that requires a certain level of skill that can translate well to his role with his new team. While I subscribe to the prepare for the worst and hope for the best mentality, I believe Duke can expect more than a nominal return on the Obi investment in year one. We don't know who will be returning from this year's team to next. A lot can happen between now and then. I am confused as to why we haven't seen him scrimmage or heard more (any) practice reports - with only 8 scholarship players, you can assume he would be heavily involved at practice. Head scratchers aside, I think Obi will contribute solidly next year.

[Edouble]

I have pretty low expectations for him. Coming into this season K made a point of saying how great it was that we had ten guys in practice, which seemed odd to me when Obi would have been #11. He dressed for C2C but didn't play a single minute. I assume he practices against Amile, while Marshall and Oak match up, but we've heard zero about how he looks in practice.

Great kid and I'm glad we have him. When he does play he'll give us a bruiser, which will be a nice change of pace from the other three long, lean big guys (Marshall, Jeter, Amile). But honestly I'm not expecting more than a couple minutes per game from him next year.

I'm not sure that my expectations are that low, but I'm thinking a rebounding bruiser too. Like if Josh Hairston had been a little bigger.

[CDu]

I got to see him in the open practice, though K for some reason, held him out of the team scrimmages. Not sure why as he looked healthy and participated in all the team drills that day. It was hard to get much of a read to be honest. A couple of observations based on drills with the bigs, and then full court drills... a definite big, wide body and space eater. He won't get pushed around very much in the paint, and he seemed to have good hands. He is not a leaper though by any means so not an above the rim player. Also not a quick guy by any stretch either. I think he can be a good rebounder, and garbage basket guy cleaning up misses around the rim. No clue how good of a shooter he is either.

But again, it was kind of hard to tell given K did not use him in the scrimmages. Based only on the limited visibility, I would assume he would not be a starter, but would probably be used as a sub to spell MP3 and Amile and maybe give 15 mpg or so in his first year as a Devil.

I think we should expect rebounding to be his main strength to be honest. Hopefully he can develop into a solid defender as well.

I don't disagree with your overall analysis of his game (that sounds consistent with his performance at Rice), but I'd be pretty disappointed if a guy who nearly averaged a double-double as a freshman against a decent-but-not-great conference would only be a backup getting 15 mpg in what would basically be his junior year in terms of physical maturity and practice time. Especially when that assumption includes with a guy (Plumlee) who has played less than 500 career minutes over 4 years at Duke. No disrespect intended to Plumlee, who seems like a great team guy, but I would hope Obi is doing more than just giving Plumlee a rest next year.

[Jeffrey]

Hi,

How many times has Coach taken a transfer who was not ultimately a key contributor at Duke?

[mattman91]

Hi,

How many times has Coach taken a transfer who was not ultimately a key contributor at Duke?

Never.

Good point.

[OldPhiKap]

But the burning question is -- how does he get to all the home games?

[DukieInKansas]

But the burning question is -- how does he get to all the home games?

I think he walks but never gets called for the travel.

[luvdahops]

Hi,

How many times has Coach taken a transfer who was not ultimately a key contributor at Duke?

Or a key contributor right away?

[CDu]

Hi,

How many times has Coach taken a transfer who was not ultimately a key contributor at Duke?

With an N of 4 so far (prior to Obi), all 4 were All-ACC and 2 received some All-American consideration. Not that this guarantees that Obi will be a big-time player at Duke, but it would be quite surprising if he is not at least a starting-caliber player for the team at some point.

[Troublemaker]

I have pretty low expectations for him. Coming into this season K made a point of saying how great it was that we had ten guys in practice, which seemed odd to me when Obi would have been #11.

I have a theory about this. Obi's only been in the USA for 4.5 years, has only been playing basketball for 5 years, and reportedly takes academics very seriously. Maybe fall semester for him was really more about settling into Durham / Duke, getting academics completely squared away, and getting used to the routines of an elite basketball program, such that he wasn't yet prepared to regularly practice with the team in October. But has gradually become more ready. At least I would hope he's been practicing with the team ever since Ojeleye transferred.

[English]

I have a theory about this. Obi's only been in the USA for 4.5 years, has only been playing basketball for 5 years, and reportedly takes academics very seriously. Maybe fall semester for him was really more about settling into Durham / Duke, getting academics completely squared away, and getting used to the routines of an elite basketball program, such that he wasn't yet prepared to regularly practice with the team in October. But has gradually become more ready. At least I would hope he's been practicing with the team ever since Ojeleye transferred.

I like the thought, and don't have any insider information on this, but Rice is a very good academic school and the hoops program is D-1 (yeah, CUSA is pretty bad and Rice is in the bottom half, but their schedule still requires games played, practices, and travel, etc.). I would be shocked if the jump to Duke academics and hoops was otherworldly to the point that the guy would have to shut down his basketball activities for a semester to get his school obligations in order. Nor do I think the coaching staff would have brought him on board if that was remotely a possibility.

[mr. synellinden]

I like the thought, and don't have any insider information on this, but Rice is a very good academic school and the hoops program is D-1 (yeah, CUSA is pretty bad and Rice is in the bottom half, but their schedule still requires games played, practices, and travel, etc.). I would be shocked if the jump to Duke academics and hoops was otherworldly to the point that the guy would have to shut down his basketball activities for a semester to get his school obligations in order. Nor do I think the coaching staff would have brought him on board if that was remotely a possibility.

A few worthwhile reads on Obi:

http://www.greenwichmag.com/g/December-2011/A-New-Kind-of-Dream-Team/

http://www.ctpost.com/sports/article/Kevin-Duffy-Obi-s-intriguing-story-makes-its-5486301.php#page-1

http://westport.dailyvoice.com/sports/nigerian-student-scores-and-court

[ACCBBallFan]

My guess is Sean Obi is not needed much in practice, until Semi transferred and Sheed was dismissed.

I doubt if any of Obi, MP3 or Jah are much of a PF. So only time he is needed is when Jah or MP3 need a breather.

Even with 8 players plus Sean, has to be a player who can help Amile be a better PF, and can help Duke prep for next opponent, and that appears to be only in the post.

[Troublemaker]

I like the thought, and don't have any insider information on this, but Rice is a very good academic school and the hoops program is D-1 (yeah, CUSA is pretty bad and Rice is in the bottom half, but their schedule still requires games played, practices, and travel, etc.). I would be shocked if the jump to Duke academics and hoops was otherworldly to the point that the guy would have to shut down his basketball activities for a semester to get his school obligations in order. Nor do I think the coaching staff would have brought him on board if that was remotely a possibility.

Good points. When I wrote "getting academics totally squared away," I didn't mean that I thought it was a struggle for Obi at Duke. (I do think the basketball at this level is a difficult adjustment, however.) I was thinking more along the lines of he's taking an overload fall schedule in order to meet the prerequisites of his intended major because the transfer credits didn't exactly match up or something along those lines. I know that he's reportedly a great student who cares deeply about academics.

[SupaDave]

From my sources, we can expect Obi to be a bit like Kenneth Farid. These are the comparisons I'm hearing - and quite frankly - I'm excited about that.

[dukelifer]

From my sources, we can expect Obi to be a bit like Kenneth Farid. These are the comparisons I'm hearing - and quite frankly - I'm excited about that.

Are you sure he is not more like Nick Horvath in practice- the man could not be stopped :)

[JasonEvans]

Are you sure he is not more like Nick Horvath in practice- the man could not be stopped :)

Not practice, pick-up games. It was the pre-season pick-up reports on Horvath that were otherworldly.

-Jason "just making sure all legends are recounted correctly ;) " Evans

[Kedsy]

From my sources, we can expect Obi to be a bit like Kenneth Farid. These are the comparisons I'm hearing - and quite frankly - I'm excited about that.

If he's anything like Kenneth Faried, I think any Duke fan would be excited.

[CDu]

From my sources, we can expect Obi to be a bit like Kenneth Farid. These are the comparisons I'm hearing - and quite frankly - I'm excited about that.

From what we saw at Rice, I am not sure Obi comes close to Faried's athleticism. But if he can approach a double-double I will take his below-the-rim game.

[dukelifer]

Not practice, pick-up games. It was the pre-season pick-up reports on Horvath that were otherworldly.

-Jason "just making sure all legends are recounted correctly ;) " Evans

Thanks. A preseason legend like no other.

[MChambers]

Not practice, pick-up games. It was the pre-season pick-up reports on Horvath that were otherworldly.

-Jason "just making sure all legends are recounted correctly ;) " Evans
Yes, subs (e.g., Horvath, Sanders) always tear it up in summer pickup games, while transfers (Jones, Mcleod, Curry, Hood) are always the best players in practice. Very important not to get this confused!