Scheyer / Spanarkel

[BD80]

I love the enthusiasm building about this year's team, and the talk of the athleticism. Many on the board are predicting reduced minutes and a reduced role for Jon Scheyer. While I am enthused to see Gerald Henderson blossom and hopefully emerge as a potential lottery pick - I think Jon will still be a huge part of the team. He may not be ultra-athletic, but I think his anticipation will make him one of the best players on the floor. If Nelson, Smith, and Paulus can pressure the ball, Jon will be able to anticipate where the release pass will go. His ability to rotate will allow the points to overplay the ball. On offense, he will be able to keep track of where the defense is and where the open spots/player will be. Remember, this kid outperformed Lance Armstrong in certain aerobic conditioning tests - he should be fine in an up-tempo game. Playing time be damned, I want Scheyer in the game at crunch time. It would not surprise me to see 4 "guards" in the game when we are up at the end or when it is close and can switch offense and defense each possession change.

Scheyer reminds me in ways of Jim Spanarkel, who rarely outran or outjumped anyone, but who had a nose for the ball and got where he needed to be before anyone else. Oh yeah, that gangly, slow, knock-kneed kid was an All-American in 1979.

[killerleft]

Scheyer has lots of work to do, then. But that WOULD be nice, and certainly not impossible.

[Cameron]

Scheyer has all the tools to be an All-American as a senior. He is a very good defender, great scorer when he needs to be, tremendous passer, great floor position at all times, makes very few mistakes, etc. His basketball IQ is surpassed by no one in the Atlantic Coast Conference. There may be a few players who have a hoops mind parallel to his, but none better. Jon is an incredibly smart basketball player, and that's the reason he'll be on the floor to end games this year.

My only concern is that Jon will be set back a little with all these great guards we have circulating (and with Williams signing on.) Now that's certainly not a problem, as I LOVE it. We may have the most loaded roster of guards in school history this year and next. But, with that, Jon probably won't have the career he could have had, had he been more of a main focus on a team without so many star players. That's certainly not a bad thing for Duke fans, though, or even for Jon, as he could care less about individual statistics as long as we are winning, I am sure.

At any rate, Jon is going to be a very, very important player for us the next three years. He's the one guard on our team that I would feel 100 percent comfortable with handling the ball with 10 seconds on the clock, Duke down two. That's the type of player he is.

[dukemomLA]

I agree with Cameron. I don't think we're giving enough credit to the BB smarts and potential of Scheyer. I hope he's put on some muscle and strength during the off-season. He's a diamond in the rough. And will add a great deal to this year's team. We have a team where the 'stats' will not always reflect one's asset to the overall game.

I predict many, many wins for this team. The chemistry seems to be very conhesive -- and I expect this is a team who will HATE to lose. Such a good trait. So....looking forward to this season. Gonna be fun.

[mgtr]

I don't understand why Jon Scheyer is getting such negative "press" on this forum. The kid is a winner, understands the game very well, can play several positions, and can make free throws. I think the Hendo fans want to put down Scheyer in order to make Hendo look good. That isn't necessary with this team. We have 11 quality players (when McClure returns), and they can all play. Henderson may become a great player (we haven't seen that yet), but Scheyer will at a minimum become a very good player -- maybe a great player. In the best of all possible worlds, we will have 11 great players this year.

I recall that in 1975, I think it was, the Golden State Warriors took out the (then) Washington Bullets in four straight games with 10 relatively un-star players (including, however, Phil Smith and Jamaal Wilkes) plus Rick Barry. This was thought to be such an unlikely occurrence that the Oakland Colisseum had already scheduled other events in the finals timeslot. The poiint is, that all 11 players for the Warriors contributed to this team effort.

[Bob Green]

I agree that the negativity is counterproductive. As I posted earlier, in a different thread, the Henderson/Scheyer debate is pointless as they will both play significant minutes and average double-digit points per game. Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson are both quality players who bring great skill sets onto the court. Who cares which one starts and which one subs? Coach K has publicly stated that the lineup will be deep this year in order to push the tempo.

[killerleft]

I love Scheyer as well, for the reasons mentioned above. Far from being negative about him, I see how much he means to the team. If he becomes a consistent scorer, he may be another Spanarkel. He's not there yet, however.