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CoSprings
03-12-2015, 09:21 PM
Anyone else notice that Jahlil doesn't seem to have either the explosiveness or energy since his ankle injury vs UNC? K never discusses injuries, but the eye test tells me he is not nearly 100%. I think he's really nursing his ankle a lot more than we want to believe.

mr. synellinden
03-12-2015, 09:26 PM
Anyone else notice that Jahlil doesn't seem to have either the explosiveness or energy since his ankle injury vs UNC? K never discusses injuries, but the eye test tells me he is not nearly 100%. I think he's really nursing his ankle a lot more than we want to believe.

Not sure if I agree that he's not right - I think he's been fine generally since the injury. However, he did appear to reinjure the ankle tonight and he/the coaches may have been protecting it given the blowout and the potential for two more games in 2 days.

Tappan Zee Devil
03-12-2015, 09:27 PM
Anyone else notice that Jahlil doesn't seem to have either the explosiveness or energy since his ankle injury vs UNC? K never discusses injuries, but the eye test tells me he is not nearly 100%. I think he's really nursing his ankle a lot more than we want to believe.

I would put a question mark after your thread title.
Fair question, I guess - but really? - or was this a chance to rest him and Marshall was playing well.
He seemed to be moving well to me. But again - maybe a fair question.

dukelifer
03-12-2015, 09:34 PM
Anyone else notice that Jahlil doesn't seem to have either the explosiveness or energy since his ankle injury vs UNC? K never discusses injuries, but the eye test tells me he is not nearly 100%. I think he's really nursing his ankle a lot more than we want to believe.

Maybe. But there have been many games where he was not needed. I suppose we shall see. Most players are a bit banged up at this point in the season.

Ima Facultiwyfe
03-12-2015, 09:38 PM
He didn't look any different than usual to me. Never has had a vertical leap to speak of or played defense or sped down the floor with the rest of the guys. On the other hand, K certainly did unleash the hounds when he gave lots of minutes to Plumlee. I'm truly happy we have him one more year. I expect him to shine. (No matter how much he grimaces, though, he'll never be as ornery as Laettner!;)
Love,Ima

gofurman
03-12-2015, 09:41 PM
Anyone else notice that Jahlil doesn't seem to have either the explosiveness or energy since his ankle injury vs UNC? K never discusses injuries, but the eye test tells me he is not nearly 100%. I think he's really nursing his ankle a lot more than we want to believe.


I fear that I agree. Just not the same guy. I know, I know. Everyone doubles him so he selflessly passes out but it sure is a loooot of passing out these days. I just haven't seen the same aggressive guy since UNC injury. Ok, the 30 point at vt. Otherwise it's been odd. Few minutes at wake. Few minutes tonight. I realize the second UNC game he fought v many big bodies but other than the 30 at VTech he hasn't looked great to me since the injury. And he has to be great for NCAA success


Thoughts? Concerns? I mean so if they double him every time we should WANT Okafor to go for a 5 pt 12 assist performance?

Just not many 20 p 10 r performances since UNC ankle. He was averaging a 20 10. I know, minutes in a blowout tonight but it's the eye test

stillcrazie
03-12-2015, 09:54 PM
I've had two. Sprains often take longer than breaks to heal, because the soft tissue is damaged. When it happened to Okafor, I knew it would take a few weeks for him to be 100%. There was probably some tearing and bruising. He's doing quite well, considering.

jv001
03-12-2015, 09:54 PM
Not sure if I agree that he's not right - I think he's been fine generally since the injury. However, he did appear to reinjure the ankle tonight and he/the coaches may have been protecting it given the blowout and the potential for two more games in 2 days.

I saw that as well. It looked like he came down and tweaked the ankle. After that, he wasn't the same. I hope he's ok for tomorrow night and beyond. GoDuke!

Dukeford
03-12-2015, 09:59 PM
Anyone else notice that Jahlil doesn't seem to have either the explosiveness or energy since his ankle injury vs UNC? K never discusses injuries, but the eye test tells me he is not nearly 100%. I think he's really nursing his ankle a lot more than we want to believe.

I thought he had a couple of nice moves tonight in the early part of game, so it's still there.
As others have said, he's not explosive anyway.
He's probably just a little bit tentative, but I think he'll be there when needed.

roywhite
03-12-2015, 09:59 PM
I've had two. Sprains often take longer than breaks to heal, because the soft tissue is damaged. When it happened to Okafor, I knew it would take a few weeks for him to be 100%. There was probably some tearing and bruising. He's doing quite well, considering.

Yeah, came right out and won the tap. Could have been the turning point of the game. :D

Looks like he tweaked it some tonight; Marshall, keep that Superman cape handy.

NYBri
03-12-2015, 10:16 PM
Definitely, something is wrong with his game. Needs another year in Durham to hone what's missing.

flyingdutchdevil
03-12-2015, 10:40 PM
Okafor shot 5-8 today. He scored 10 points. Below his season average? Absolutely. But he played well in the 19 minutes he played. 1 turnover. 4 rebounds. No dumb mistakes.

Here is the difference between "Okafor the Duke Star" and "Jabari the Duke Star" or "JJ the Duke Star": his teammates help him out and do something really unique: they score! Okafor's scoring isn't as important as it once was; he has teammates that can absolutely take over. Whether it's Quinn, Tyus, or Winslow, there are other candidates who can take over a game.

There is nothing wrong with Okafor; his presence just allows other players to star.

Loved the game tonight. Best I've seen us play.

Clay Feet POF
03-12-2015, 11:02 PM
Anyone else notice that Jahlil doesn't seem to have either the explosiveness or energy since his ankle injury vs UNC? K never discusses injuries, but the eye test tells me he is not nearly 100%. I think he's really nursing his ankle a lot more than we want to believe.


I notice a slight hitch in one of his steps as he walked to the bench very late in the game. Hardly noticeable.

DevilSpawn
03-12-2015, 11:11 PM
I thought I saw him get a charley horse in the first half - he was in traffic in the lane with three defenders surrounding him and seemed to catch a knee to the side of his thigh. He appeared to limp back down court and gradually smoothed out his gate during the game.

I suppose it could have been an ankle turn - I couldn't see his ankle during the play.

gcashwell
03-12-2015, 11:11 PM
I thought he looked as good today as he has played all season. I really liked his movement on defense.

subzero02
03-12-2015, 11:13 PM
I've had two. Sprains often take longer than breaks to heal, because the soft tissue is damaged. When it happened to Okafor, I knew it would take a few weeks for him to be 100%. There was probably some tearing and bruising. He's doing quite well, considering.

I agree with you. He's a rather large man so it will take that much longer. He won't be 100 percent again this year but he can get close.

gam7
03-13-2015, 12:20 AM
I agree with you. He's a rather large man so it will take that much longer. He won't be 100 percent again this year but he can get close.

I'd be much more concerned if his efficiency were waning.

Tomorrow should be telling as to how his ankle may be impacting his frame of mind. He was extremely aggressive and physical in the first half against Notre Dame at Cameron. The single most memorable play from that game to me was early in the first half when Okafor absolutely buried Colson under the basket after brutally backing him down. Okafor drew an offensive foul but his strength, physicality and aggressiveness was shocking. That's what I'm hoping to see tomorrow.

Leelee902
03-13-2015, 01:27 AM
The ACC tourney I believe is harder to keep guys fresh than the NCAA because it's five to three days of games in a row. In NCAA there's a day in between games, then about a week off between the next two potential games. So rest is even more crucial! I'm totally fine with the superb bench minutes and production despite Jah's #'s being dampened. Throw in all the starter's #s being down in this one probably way more than a regular season game, but that's ok as long as we keep winning! I think Jah looked okay and some have suggested that the past few weeks we've been using him as a decoy at times to get guys open on the wing since he is such a good passer out of the post. Another reason his #s may be down, but also another reason he is such a valuable player!

David Bunkley
03-13-2015, 06:58 AM
Definitely, something is wrong with his game. Needs another year in Durham to hone what's missing.

I agree. Maybe even two.

kAzE
03-13-2015, 09:25 AM
Okafor shot 5-8 today. He scored 10 points. Below his season average? Absolutely. But he played well in the 19 minutes he played. 1 turnover. 4 rebounds. No dumb mistakes.

Here is the difference between "Okafor the Duke Star" and "Jabari the Duke Star" or "JJ the Duke Star": his teammates help him out and do something really unique: they score! Okafor's scoring isn't as important as it once was; he has teammates that can absolutely take over. Whether it's Quinn, Tyus, or Winslow, there are other candidates who can take over a game.

There is nothing wrong with Okafor; his presence just allows other players to star.

Loved the game tonight. Best I've seen us play.

I agree with this . . . he's not being asked to do as much as our star players in the past, because we have, like, 4 legitimate stars on this team, and even Grayson Allen can get buckets as the 8th man in the rotation. The fact that he doesn't need to have a huge game and we can still completely stomp a good team is pretty encouraging.

jv001
03-13-2015, 09:29 AM
I agree with this . . . he's not being asked to do as much as our star players in the past, because we have, like, 4 legitimate stars on this team, and even Grayson Allen can get buckets as the 8th man in the rotation. The fact that he doesn't need to have a huge game and we can still completely stomp a good team is pretty encouraging.

I agree with both of you. Jahlil doesn't have to do as much with the guys he has around him. But he's doing a great job of getting the ball into the right guys hands when he's doubled or tripled teamed. Plus, he's playing better defense and we really need that from the big guy. I like how the team's coming along. GoDuke!

Dukehky
03-13-2015, 09:58 AM
I saw that rotten Rumplestiltskin reach out and trip him!!

_Gary
03-13-2015, 10:00 AM
I tend to think he hasn't been the same since the initial ankle injury against UNC. Don't get me wrong. Having Jahlil at 90%, or even just 75%, is better than having most everyone else at 100%. But I do believe he's still feeling the effects of the original injury and it has slowed him a bit. That's what my eyes are telling me as I was him.

Yesterday, I thought he was closer to being himself than he's been since the injury until he tweaked it again.

DukeDevil
03-13-2015, 10:01 AM
Anyone else notice that Jahlil doesn't seem to have either the explosiveness or energy since his ankle injury vs UNC? K never discusses injuries, but the eye test tells me he is not nearly 100%. I think he's really nursing his ankle a lot more than we want to believe.

you know, I was leaning towards thinking this as well, and maybe he isn't 100%, but his efficiency is still good and I agree with others, I think it's more that he's got so many people playing well around him that he doesn't have to be a beast day in and day out. When he does decide to take it himself he still stuns me with how impressive he's playing.

I also have to think that when he's more aggressive he's taking a lot more damage from getting hammered inside without calls, and I'm A-OK with him laying off in games where he doesn't need to take that punishment in favor of saving him for games when he needs to dominate. If he decided to be more selfish he'd easily get his 20-30, but I love that he has bought in and trusts his teammates and passes out. The offense is so efficient and clicking. I also suspect he's trading some offensive effort for increased defensive effort, as I think the coaches are more OK with him picking up a few fouls given that the bench is now playing at a level where bringing them in doesn't hurt the team's performance.

Also...did anyone notice his no jump block against state???? holy cow!

NYBri
03-13-2015, 10:20 AM
I agree. Maybe even two.

His game has actually gotten really bad. I think only three more years in Durham can fix his screwed up footwork.

johnb
03-13-2015, 11:38 AM
Jah continues to resemble Elton Brand as being fairly unstoppable when he's within 10 feet of the basket. And in doing so, he makes it look so easy that I wonder why everyone doesn't just do what he does. Having said that, the number of times per game that he whips by a beleaguered defender has dropped since the sprained ankle. This has probably cost him national POY, which is a bit of a drag for him and for our sideline scoreboard of Duke Success.

Otoh, taking away his singular talent forces him to beef up his other talents, such as passing out of a double team, and forces our other players to step up and become stars in their own right (despite most of the team apparently having a sprained ankle recently). As J's ankle improves and we get (we hope) deeper into the NCAA tournament, this could work in our favor. Similarly, having an 8 man team has its downsides, but an upside is that everyone is important and knows it and better practice and play that way.

Orange&BlackSheep
03-13-2015, 11:55 AM
Doesn't it seem like he is taking way more jump shots since the UNC game than before? The only reason it is so noticeable is that there is never anyone withing 10 ft of the basket when he takes that shot so it is invariably a one shot possession. The fact that he is being double-teamed contributes to the jump shots as well. (And he is making a high percentage of the shots of course.)

I know he won't be here for an extra year, but it really seems to me that emotionally he could use one more year of college before heading out into the cold, cruel world. There is no way that the people around him will advise him to do that (nor that he himself feels what I am saying), but he seems like a sweet kid that could use another year in the protected bubble that is a college campus. Staying more years in college absolutely killed Tim Duncan's career, I know, but I still think it is worth the risk!

O&BSheep

BD80
03-13-2015, 12:11 PM
Thirty plus games into the season, very few players are completely "right." Particularly freshmen, who have never had to deal with this length of season, such extensive traveling, the speed and physicality of major college basketball, and - oh yeah - living away from home and dealing with college academics.

One of the comments about Justise's recent improved play wasn't so much that he's recovered from his nagging injuries, it's that he has learned to play through them.

Another comment from a recent game related that multiple Blue Devil players are dealing with various ankle injuries. Jah is obviously one of them. I hope to see him playing at his best 24 days from now.

rthomas
03-13-2015, 12:17 PM
Whether he is right or not right, we don't have long to wait to find out. We have a game tonight. If Plumlee starts and Okafor sits, we will know. Otherwise, we should just be patient.

killerleft
03-13-2015, 12:26 PM
Definitely, something is wrong with his game. Needs another year in Durham to hone what's missing.

Good one! Unfortunately, the only thing missing besides a good free throw percentage is a big ego. The pros are salivating to get a guy that talented who is willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win. The 'less-is-more' Jah is still the centerpiece of our offense.

ricks68
03-13-2015, 12:48 PM
He definitely rolled his ankle again about five minutes into the game and was limping for a while afterwards. I ran my recording back numerous times in stop action slo-mo within that time frame purposely looking for it. It happened.:(

ricks

BrazyATX
03-13-2015, 01:13 PM
The thought crossed my mind as well, but you have to keep in mind that Quinn is putting up more points now, Justice is way more aggressive than he was a month and half ago, and we've had several blow out wins (Clemson, Syracuse, Wake, NC State) that just simply haven't required him to be the only focal point of the offense. His efficiency is still high and he's doing well rebounding when he's in. I just think his dip in points is nothing more than the team growing around him.

DukieTiger
03-13-2015, 01:22 PM
The only thing I think about Jah is that maybe he's a little slower on his feet right now because of the ankle. He seems a little slower to balls in the past couple of games, and his rebounding numbers are down (4 rpg over the last 3 games). Granted, he hasn't had to play as much, but some of that is just the eye test for me.

But I think tonight will be a good gauge for Jah. He should be needed to play 30ish minutes, and he has dominated ND so far this year- averaging 21 and 13.5. Let's see how he looks tonight- Duke will need him much more than last time we played the Irish, when he went for 20 and 10 in only 23 minutes.

COYS
03-13-2015, 01:34 PM
I agree with both of you. Jahlil doesn't have to do as much with the guys he has around him. But he's doing a great job of getting the ball into the right guys hands when he's doubled or tripled teamed. Plus, he's playing better defense and we really need that from the big guy. I like how the team's coming along. GoDuke!

I don't think this point can be stated enough. Despite Jahlil's raw numbers being down a bit over the past few games, the team is playing more efficiently on offense as a whole. I don't think this happens if Jahlil is not on the court. The way he sucks the defense in has made it ridiculously easy for our guards + Justise to get open three point shots. The fact that he doesn't force the issue very often against double teams means that our turnover percentage remains low (which is CRUCIAL to us maintaining our efficiency). And, as you mention, his knack for getting the ball out of double teams with a crisp pass that can open up the defense has allowed the rest of our guys to basically play 4 on 3 after Jahlil touches the ball.

I'd also like to mention that if the refs called even half of the holds, shoves, and arm-bars that Jahlil receives every single possession, we'd be in the bonus by the 12 minute mark of every half. Luckly, Jahlil doesn't seem to let the physical play get to him.

bluedevilsince72
03-13-2015, 01:44 PM
I say play Plumlee a lot more. This not a knee jerk thing because of his play vs NC State. Our defense is better, our energy is better, he sets better screens, and our offensive rebounding is a lot better with Plumlee in the game. I'm sick of watching Okafor jog around setting weak screens and his lack of energy on defense. If Okafor is hurt, then rest him for the tournament. If he is healthy, then why is K letting him play so lackadaisical? There is a lot more to the game than Jah's low post scoring.

I see a Zoubek type impact from Plumlee if he gets minutes.

Duke4life92
03-13-2015, 02:00 PM
I tend to think he hasn't been the same since the initial ankle injury against UNC. Don't get me wrong. Having Jahlil at 90%, or even just 75%, is better than having most everyone else at 100%. But I do believe he's still feeling the effects of the original injury and it has slowed him a bit. That's what my eyes are telling me as I was him.

Yesterday, I thought he was closer to being himself than he's been since the injury until he tweaked it again.

In what i'm seeing is a kid whose favoring the ankle he hurt and is playing cautiously when in traffic and takes away from being aggressive.You can tell by how easily he hits the floor around crowds,he just does'nt want to step another foot so goes to floor instead.He is still very good but not being that 100% aggressive hurts his numbers in my opinon.

Bob Green
03-13-2015, 02:05 PM
...and our offensive rebounding is a lot better with Plumlee in the game.

What leads you to this conclusion? Plumlee is not a great rebounder. He played a fantastic game last night but only recorded two rebounds (1 offensive/1 defensive) in 21 minutes. Over our current 12 game winning streak, Plumlee has grabbed 27 rebounds (9 offensive/18 defensive) in 132 minutes.

gcashwell
03-13-2015, 02:47 PM
What leads you to this conclusion? Plumlee is not a great rebounder. He played a fantastic game last night but only recorded two rebounds (1 offensive/1 defensive) in 21 minutes. Over our current 12 game winning streak, Plumlee has grabbed 27 rebounds (9 offensive/18 defensive) in 132 minutes.

Let me preface this by saying I don't think Plumlee should play much more than he is now.

It seems like Plumlee gets a lot of tapouts which allow his teammates to get rebounds. I would guess he gets two of those a game that don't get counted towards his stats. I could very well be mistaken.

I liked that Okafor picked up two fouls last night. He looked to be playing well on defense to me. I thought it was the best he has looked all year.

Kedsy
03-13-2015, 02:55 PM
...and our offensive rebounding is a lot better with Plumlee in the game.

I'm going to pile on here. Jahlil is 8th in the country (1st in the ACC) in offensive rebounds per game. He's 9th in the country (2nd in the ACC) in offensive rebound % (a stat which takes number of minutes out of the equation when comparing players). In contrast, Marshall is 3rd on the Duke team in offensive rebound % (4th on the team in offensive rebounds per game).

You picked the wrong stat to argue for Marshall over Jahlil.

gcashwell
03-13-2015, 03:04 PM
I'm going to pile on here. Jahlil is 8th in the country (1st in the ACC) in offensive rebounds per game. He's 9th in the country (2nd in the ACC) in offensive rebound % (a stat which takes number of minutes out of the equation when comparing players). In contrast, Marshall is 3rd on the Duke team in offensive rebound % (4th on the team in offensive rebounds per game).

You picked the wrong stat to argue for Marshall over Jahlil.

I wonder what team or% is when Marshall is in vs Jahlil. Jahlil definitely seems to be a better rebounder. He has terrific hands.

TruBlu
03-13-2015, 04:37 PM
If Okafor is wrong, I don't want to be right.

uh_no
03-13-2015, 04:52 PM
If Okafor is wrong, I don't want to be right.

he may be right
I may be crazie
It just may be fanatic he's looking for
shoot out the lights
don't try to faze me
he may be wrong for all i know
but he may be right.

bluedevilsince72
03-13-2015, 11:31 PM
The last 3-4 games he has been playing super lackadaisical. When this team has energy they win. When Jah leads them sluggishly by setting slow motion ball screens, holds the ball for 4 seconds in the post too much, selectively crashes the offensive boards, and never gets in a stance on defense then we lose again in 1st round of NCAAs. See Jabari last year.

MarkD83
03-13-2015, 11:59 PM
The last 3-4 games he has been playing super lackadaisical. When this team has energy they win. When Jah leads them sluggishly by setting slow motion ball screens, holds the ball for 4 seconds in the post too much, selectively crashes the offensive boards, and never gets in a stance on defense then we lose again in 1st round of NCAAs. See Jabari last year.

I concur. I am afraid all of the freshman are getting the "look what we have accomplished" mentality which means they won't make it out of the first week of the NCAAs.

jv001
03-14-2015, 12:18 AM
The last 3-4 games he has been playing super lackadaisical. When this team has energy they win. When Jah leads them sluggishly by setting slow motion ball screens, holds the ball for 4 seconds in the post too much, selectively crashes the offensive boards, and never gets in a stance on defense then we lose again in 1st round of NCAAs. See Jabari last year.

Is that you old roy? GoDuke!

bluedevilsince72
03-14-2015, 12:52 AM
I concur. I am afraid all of the freshman are getting the "look what we have accomplished" mentality which means they won't make it out of the first week of the NCAAs.

I dont agree with your statement. I sincerely believe they want to win, but they have to be challenged to play defense 100% of the time. If Plumlee played as lackadaisical on defense as Jah, he wouldn't get 1 sec on the floor. We will only be as go as far as our best player's work ethic. Laettner/Hurley/Hill, Jay Will, Scheyer/Nolan/Singler. Or Austin Rivers, Jabari, Okafor……?

mo.st.dukie
03-14-2015, 01:10 AM
I concur. I am afraid all of the freshman are getting the "look what we have accomplished" mentality which means they won't make it out of the first week of the NCAAs.

Maybe this loss tonight gave them one last lesson, one more thing to kind of keep them on edge. Perhaps a 14 game winning streak going into the tournament would have given them too many reasons to feel comfortable.

gumbomoop
03-14-2015, 06:17 AM
I will be interested to see whether Jahlil is given a little more rest in the NCAAT. His defense is abysmal, Jabari-abysmal. Why?

1. His defense is abysmal.
2. He's a big guy who expends so much energy on O, fighting for position (often too far out), getting double-teamed, etc., that he simply has to rest some on D.
3. He's been reminded repeatedly by the coaches that he must stay out of foul trouble, and so at times just waves at drivers.
4. Then, occasionally, out of frustration and inexperience -- particularly the inexperience of having to work at becoming a good defensive player -- he commits a silly, useless foul, followed by a self-administered, well-deserved, dope-slap.
5. Rather than protecting the rim -- which he does intermittently but overall not very effectively -- and thus protecting his teammates and allowing them to play aggressive m2m D, his teammates are in the very odd, nearly untenable position of having to protect him.

Perhaps Jabari -- er, Jahlil -- will one day become a decent defender, in the NBA. No good for me, as I don't watch that stuff. No good, either, for Duke's progress through 2015 NCAAT.

It seems crystal clear to me that Krzyzewski must use multiple defenses in our remaining games. Even if by chance our first game -- against a 15/16 seed -- is a laugher, K must vary the D-schemes, to practice stuff intended both to throw curves at near-future opponents and to hide, if only some of the time, Jahlil's abysmalism. Further, Marshall has to play a little more. D and O strategies must change a bit when Marshall is giving Jahlil a rest, but that can't be rocket science. We saw real evidence against Pack of a couple of sets in which a real option was drive and alley-oop to Marshall. K must depend a little more on Marshall to be, actually, a better "fit" than Jahlil for one or two of the multiple D-strategies.

I don't have much faith in the close-guarding-up-top m2m. Has that traditional K preference worked well consistently this season? Has it failed, abysmally, a few times this season?

As young as the 3 immensely talented freshmen are, there seems to be some evidence that they're better at confusing opponents with shifting D-schemes than at hard m2m. They're flexible, aren't they? And recall our collective delight in seeing K be D-flexible? "He used a lot of zone. Good heavens, he used different zones." "He outcoached Roy with that press." "Our guys like to press. Quinn never gets tired, Tyus pretends never to tire, Matt loves to play D, Marshall and Grayson are thrilled to be in there, and Amile is really effective in that press." [As I posted in the ND-post game thread, I'm hoping against hope that K will occasionally use Amile at the top of a 3-2 zone.]

Remember the effective D-stuff? It wasn't that long ago. I hope K isn't suffering from short-term memory loss.

Bob Green
03-14-2015, 06:43 AM
The last 3-4 games he has been playing super lackadaisical.

28 points, 8 rebounds (3 O/5 D), 1 steal and 2 blocks does not sound lackadaisical to me. I do believe his ankle is less than 100% as he has not fully recovered from turning it and it appeared he tweaked it again against State. Notre Dame exposed our defensive weakness by driving the ball straight into the middle repeatedly. The whole team failed to respond not just Okafor. Ripping Okafor is disingenuous.

dukelifer
03-14-2015, 11:23 AM
I say play Plumlee a lot more. This not a knee jerk thing because of his play vs NC State. Our defense is better, our energy is better, he sets better screens, and our offensive rebounding is a lot better with Plumlee in the game. I'm sick of watching Okafor jog around setting weak screens and his lack of energy on defense. If Okafor is hurt, then rest him for the tournament. If he is healthy, then why is K letting him play so lackadaisical? There is a lot more to the game than Jah's low post scoring.

I see a Zoubek type impact from Plumlee if he gets minutes.

Somehow I do not think that Plumlee would have made the difference yesterday. Jah has not been a defensive force all year but his O was the only thing that gave Duke a chance. Duke lost yesterday because the guards struggled. If they cannot be disruptive the D suffers. If they cannot shoot - Duke is in trouble. This happens. Last year Hood and Parker struggled against Mercer. All year long- one guy was on if the other was off. At this time of year you need to have multiple guys step up when folks are not playing well. Justice did what he could in the second half but the hole was too deep. Jah was not the main issue yesterday- this was a team loss. Note to Duke- don't get down by 17 or 20.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
03-14-2015, 01:35 PM
I will be interested to see whether Jahlil is given a little more rest in the NCAAT. His defense is abysmal, Jabari-abysmal. Why?

1. His defense is abysmal.
2. He's a big guy who expends so much energy on O, fighting for position (often too far out), getting double-teamed, etc., that he simply has to rest some on D.
3. He's been reminded repeatedly by the coaches that he must stay out of foul trouble, and so at times just waves at drivers.
4. Then, occasionally, out of frustration and inexperience -- particularly the inexperience of having to work at becoming a good defensive player -- he commits a silly, useless foul, followed by a self-administered, well-deserved, dope-slap.
5. Rather than protecting the rim -- which he does intermittently but overall not very effectively -- and thus protecting his teammates and allowing them to play aggressive m2m D, his teammates are in the very odd, nearly untenable position of having to protect him.

Perhaps Jabari -- er, Jahlil -- will one day become a decent defender, in the NBA. No good for me, as I don't watch that stuff. No good, either, for Duke's progress through 2015 NCAAT.

It seems crystal clear to me that Krzyzewski must use multiple defenses in our remaining games. Even if by chance our first game -- against a 15/16 seed -- is a laugher, K must vary the D-schemes, to practice stuff intended both to throw curves at near-future opponents and to hide, if only some of the time, Jahlil's abysmalism. Further, Marshall has to play a little more. D and O strategies must change a bit when Marshall is giving Jahlil a rest, but that can't be rocket science. We saw real evidence against Pack of a couple of sets in which a real option was drive and alley-oop to Marshall. K must depend a little more on Marshall to be, actually, a better "fit" than Jahlil for one or two of the multiple D-strategies.

I don't have much faith in the close-guarding-up-top m2m. Has that traditional K preference worked well consistently this season? Has it failed, abysmally, a few times this season?

As young as the 3 immensely talented freshmen are, there seems to be some evidence that they're better at confusing opponents with shifting D-schemes than at hard m2m. They're flexible, aren't they? And recall our collective delight in seeing K be D-flexible? "He used a lot of zone. Good heavens, he used different zones." "He outcoached Roy with that press." "Our guys like to press. Quinn never gets tired, Tyus pretends never to tire, Matt loves to play D, Marshall and Grayson are thrilled to be in there, and Amile is really effective in that press." [As I posted in the ND-post game thread, I'm hoping against hope that K will occasionally use Amile at the top of a 3-2 zone.]

Remember the effective D-stuff? It wasn't that long ago. I hope K isn't suffering from short-term memory loss.

I have a lot of faith in K's ability to gameplan to reduce Jah's exposure on defense, but I wish we weren't still seeing it this late in the season. Yesterday was tough - as also noted above, without Okafor's offense, we would have been so deep in the hole we couldn't scratch our way back to make it close.

I think ND's discipline to keep defense on the shooters rather than collapsing on Jahlil wildly disrupted our offense. Kept us out of our game.

jv001
03-14-2015, 03:26 PM
I have a lot of faith in K's ability to gameplan to reduce Jah's exposure on defense, but I wish we weren't still seeing it this late in the season. Yesterday was tough - as also noted above, without Okafor's offense, we would have been so deep in the hole we couldn't scratch our way back to make it close.

I think ND's discipline to keep defense on the shooters rather than collapsing on Jahlil wildly disrupted our offense. Kept us out of our game.

I believe we will see teams with good guards that can dribble drive and this could mean trouble for Duke in the NCAAT. Our guards just aren't quick enough to stay in front of quick guards. The zone defense can be effective but it's prone to leave the foul line jumper open for shots and drives. The defense I liked best was the 1-3-1 zone which we trapped out of. No one defense is the answer, but multiple defenses could be. We need 6 wins and in order to get those 6 wins, Jahlil is going to have to play much better defense and that means without fouling. I wish we would do a better of blocking shots off the ball. Sort of like Battier and Grant would do. Most of the time the refs don't call a foul on this type block. GoDuke!

gumbomoop
03-14-2015, 04:15 PM
No one defense is the answer, but multiple defenses could be.

As I've posted above in this thread, this is a key to our winning from here on out. I hope K sees it as a key, and plans and practices accordingly.

Your sentence here should absolutely be the focused topic of a thread, beginning no later than Monday, after we learn our seed, region, possible trail to Indy. Our trail will be derailed if our D is stagnant rather than vibrant.

WillJ
03-14-2015, 05:23 PM
Okafor has still been very effective recently, IMO, but his free throws have become more problematic. He's 9 for 34 since the first UNC game. He wasn't good earlier in the season, but he was well over 50%, including one 14-17 game. He seems to have lost his confidence, and when you fall much below 50%, which he has recently, it can really affect the rest of your game and the team. Not much to be done, I suppose, except hope he snaps out of it.

DevilFalcon
03-14-2015, 05:32 PM
Last night against ND was the first time since the ankle roll it looked like he was playing healthy. He been timid and less explosive since getting hurt and we've been more perimeter oriented. I'm hoping last night was just the team being tired from the huge win and adjusting for a healthier Okafor.

Kedsy
03-14-2015, 05:45 PM
The following was the end of a discussion during the Elon post-game thread:


I'd love to be wrong, but I'll bet you right now that Jahlil will shoot worse than 70% from the line between now and season-end. I'll double the bet that the three of them [Jahlil, Justise, Amile] collectively shoot worse than 70% from the line between now and season-end. And if you won't take the bets, you've got to ask yourself why?


Done. How about $20 on each?

We ended up agreeing to bet beer at the Final Four instead of money, but I thought this was as good a time as any to review how it went:

Jahlil (23 games, starting with UConn): 71-138 (51.4%)
Justise (24 games, starting with UConn): 53-83 (63.9%)
Amile (24 games, starting with UConn): 34-62 (54.8%)

TOTAL: 158-283 (55.8%)


luvdahops, wherever you are, do you concede?




.

jv001
03-14-2015, 08:53 PM
As I've posted above in this thread, this is a key to our winning from here on out. I hope K sees it as a key, and plans and practices accordingly.

Your sentence here should absolutely be the focused topic of a thread, beginning no later than Monday, after we learn our seed, region, possible trail to Indy. Our trail will be derailed if our D is stagnant rather than vibrant.

When our young team has success on a defensive stand it's as invigorating as seeing a shot go down on offense. Our young guys get charge up and then they try to make another defensive stand. It seems especially true this season with Coach K giving them different defenses. When they work, they really buy into the scheme. Last night I didn't see that excitement. Well, I saw it the last 16 minutes but not in the first 24 minutes. We cannot come out flat in any of the next 6 games and expect to have an easy game. It's not going to happen. I'm sure Coach K is going to get through to our guys and have them all on the same page. GoDuke!