Eric Boateng

[Kewlswim]

Hi,

I don't think we saw much of what Eric could do. Did he transfer because he thought that there would be more inside strength from other players who never materialized at Duke?

GO DUKE!

[lavell12]

well he didn't play much because he had Shelden and Josh infront of him and even Boykins got more minutes then him. I miss him to b/c he is better then Zoubek.

[Jumbo]

Hi,

I don't think we saw much of what Eric could do. Did he transfer because he thought that there would be more inside strength from other players who never materialized at Duke?

GO DUKE!

He transferred for a variety of reasons. Why are we dwelling on this now?

[Jumbo]

I miss him to b/c he is better then Zoubek.

Based on what?

[speedevil]

i dont miss him at all, almost forgot about him until this tread popped up

[prefan21]

I know! And what about Michael Thompson, can we get that guy back? :rolleyes:

[Cameron]

Eric who?

Transfer out, we don't care anymore.

[hurleyfor3]

i still miss crawford palmer.

[DukeCO2009]

i still miss crawford palmer.

I feel the same way about Mike Chappelle ;)

[rthomas]

Just think of how good we woulda been if Kobe had gone to Duke.

[Carlos]

Playing against Grand Canyon University this weekend Boateng put up 7 points, 4 rebounds, 4 fouls, and 3 turnovers in 16 minutes of play. He would be nice to have because he's a big athletic body, but it remains to be seen if he would be any more productive than what Duke's getting out of Zoubek.

[lavell12]

I know! And what about Michael Thompson, can we get that guy back? :rolleyes:

actually do miss him b/c he was a lot better then Shavlik and if we had him with Shelden inside we might have won a national title.

[Patrick Yates]

Boateng is a classic example of a kid who passes (or even excells at) the looks test.

He looks like a basketball player. Heck, he looks like a heck of a basketball player. But he only looks like this when you see him on the street, or maybe when running drills.

He is very tall, with a solid frame, and reasonable cooridination/athleticism. Intellectually, you tell yourself that such a speciman should be a hoops player. That with a little more conditioning and practice he can be a great player.

But, that is not the case. Sometimes, players are "forced" into a sport. This happens most frequently in Hoops, when young men who are almost 7 feet tall as sophs in HS are seen as prototype hoopsters. They play ball, because society tells them they should. Not because they truly love the game, but because their bodies dictate that they should play.

I recall Brendan Haywood as a prime example of this. He was a 7 foot tall, 260 lb kid who was a pretty good athlete. He should be a truly dominant player. Instead, he had a mediocre career at UNC, and is having a mediocre NBA career, mostly because there aren't enough 7 ft tall players to go arround.

I see Boateng in this mold. He never seemed to "get it" as a ball player. Being tall and atheltic is enough in HS (especially when that HS is a small Prep School in NE, and not one of those powerhouse programs either). In college, having the right body is never enough. This is no slam on Eric, but I never thought he really clicked as a hoops player. Sanders is another example of this. Casey had the body and the athleticism (if not the bulk), but he never really grasped the fundamentals of the game. Both players always seemed to have to think about what to do, or where to be. It never came naturally, to the point where they knew instinctively where to be. Most times, this instinctiveness comes after a couple of years of practice and game situation experience. But for some, it never comes, no matter how much PT and practice they get.

Not every tall young man is a natural hoops player.

While Zoubek hasn't wowed anyone yet, I have seen from him the desire to improve, as well as a solid grasp of the game, that I never saw from Boateng.

Patrick Yates

[devildeac]

actually do miss him b/c he was a lot better then Shavlik and if we had him with Shelden inside we might have won a national title.

"A lot better than Shavlik"-I don't think so. Shav had a somewhat disappointing career at Duke with multiple injuries slowing his progress. However, following along the lines of irrational thinking that K does not develop the 'bigs', Shav did manage to find a spot on the Sixers roster and pick up a nice NBA contract. Then he got hurt again. Where is Thompson playing BB now?

We had Shav, Shel and Nick inside vs u-cons. I guess maybe a 4th big(with not much experience) to pick up 5 more fouls could have made a difference. They picked up 15 fouls and left Luol to defend the post. As has been referenced many times on this board, if we had 3 competent, experienced refs in that game we would have played GT for the NC and, in all likelihood, won.

[cspan37421]

Shav did manage to find a spot on the Sixers roster and pick up a nice NBA contract.

I can't help but wonder if the main reason he landed there is the Duke connection with the GM. Did Shav have other offers? Billy had to deal with Iverson and that's a hornet's nest, but he needs to put together winning teams and forget about the Duke connection unless it is the last tiebreaker.

[johnb]

I can't help but wonder if the main reason he [shav] landed there is the Duke connection with the GM.

I'd think that if King were going to donate money to a former Duke player, it wouldn't have been to Shav; I think his making the 76er roster had to do with Shav being very talented, having lots of injuries in college, and becoming much more focused on hoops after he left school



I miss boateng b/c he is better then Zoubek.

I don't think we have enough data to be sure, but Zoubek looked better than Boateng from my observation. More importantly, zoubs sweats every day for our team. boateng appeared relatively unenthused and left. zoubs is our guy. I'm sure he would be the person most interested in having henderson hops or shelden dominance--but, failing a miracle, my hunch is that if he avoids injuries, he'll be a solid, starting ACC-level center within a year or two, be a vital part of a final four run, and cut nba checks for the better part of a decade. He may not win dunking contests against guys like DeMarcus, but he has an NBA body and a drive, and perhaps we could cut him some slack while he gets used to being 7 feet tall.

[mepanchin]

Mike Thompson had an abysmal few years at Northwestern. Didn't he have some kind of terrible heart condition or something that was diagnosed after he first came to college?

[DukeDude]

I'd think that if King were going to donate money to a former Duke player, it wouldn't have been to Shav; I think his making the 76er roster had to do with Shav being very talented, having lots of injuries in college, and becoming much more focused on hoops after he left school


Shav earned his spot with the Sixers by being more energetic than talented. He was a nice contrast to their other lethargic big men, Samuel Dalembert and Stephen Hunter. Shav would rebound, play help defense, run the floor and score on putbacks. I am glad to see him succeed and hope he is fully recovered from his horrible injury.

[OldPhiKap]

I'm not sure why folks are spewing hate for former players who transferred. They contributed to our program while they were here, and showed up every day for practice. If they decided to move on, more power to them.

I hope Boateng has a great career.

[3rd Dukie]

He transferred for a variety of reasons. Why are we dwelling on this now?

Is there some reason not to ask if he is interested in what happened to Boateng? I thought it was an interesting question. I like to know what happens to kids who transfer from Duke. I live in the Bay Area and am curious to see how Boykin plays this season. Is there a something wrong with that?

[DevilAlumna]

Where's the love for Joey Beard, our mono-catching Boston U transfer?

[MChambers]

Is there some reason not to ask if he is interested in what happened to Boateng? I thought it was an interesting question. I like to know what happens to kids who transfer from Duke. I live in the Bay Area and am curious to see how Boykin plays this season. Is there a something wrong with that?

If you want to know how they're doing, that's great. I think Jumbo was just suggesting avoiding another rehashing of why players transfer.

[MChambers]

Boateng is a classic example of a kid who passes (or even excells at) the looks test.

He looks like a basketball player. Heck, he looks like a heck of a basketball player. But he only looks like this when you see him on the street, or maybe when running drills.

He is very tall, with a solid frame, and reasonable cooridination/athleticism. Intellectually, you tell yourself that such a speciman should be a hoops player. That with a little more conditioning and practice he can be a great player.

But, that is not the case. Sometimes, players are "forced" into a sport. This happens most frequently in Hoops, when young men who are almost 7 feet tall as sophs in HS are seen as prototype hoopsters. They play ball, because society tells them they should. Not because they truly love the game, but because their bodies dictate that they should play.

I recall Brendan Haywood as a prime example of this. He was a 7 foot tall, 260 lb kid who was a pretty good athlete. He should be a truly dominant player. Instead, he had a mediocre career at UNC, and is having a mediocre NBA career, mostly because there aren't enough 7 ft tall players to go arround.

I see Boateng in this mold. He never seemed to "get it" as a ball player. Being tall and atheltic is enough in HS (especially when that HS is a small Prep School in NE, and not one of those powerhouse programs either). In college, having the right body is never enough. This is no slam on Eric, but I never thought he really clicked as a hoops player. Sanders is another example of this. Casey had the body and the athleticism (if not the bulk), but he never really grasped the fundamentals of the game. Both players always seemed to have to think about what to do, or where to be. It never came naturally, to the point where they knew instinctively where to be. Most times, this instinctiveness comes after a couple of years of practice and game situation experience. But for some, it never comes, no matter how much PT and practice they get.

Not every tall young man is a natural hoops player.

While Zoubek hasn't wowed anyone yet, I have seen from him the desire to improve, as well as a solid grasp of the game, that I never saw from Boateng.

Patrick Yates

You may be right that Haywood doesn't love the game, but from what I've seen (and I live in DC, so I've seen way too much), it's more a matter of poor reactions. He's always a step slow in reacting to the ball.

[3rd Dukie]

If you want to know how they're doing, that's great. I think Jumbo was just suggesting avoiding another rehashing of why players transfer.

I guess I just got lost between the fellow asking what seemed to me to be a perfectly reasonable question, and "dwelling."

[JBDuke]

Is there some reason not to ask if he is interested in what happened to Boateng? I thought it was an interesting question. I like to know what happens to kids who transfer from Duke. I live in the Bay Area and am curious to see how Boykin plays this season. Is there a something wrong with that?


If you want to know how they're doing, that's great. I think Jumbo was just suggesting avoiding another rehashing of why players transfer.


I guess I just got lost between the fellow asking what seemed to me to be a perfectly reasonable question, and "dwelling."

Ah, but Kewlswim's question wasn't "How is Eric doing at Arizona State?" it was:


I don't think we saw much of what Eric could do. Did he transfer because he thought that there would be more inside strength from other players who never materialized at Duke?

So, I think MChambers hit the nail on the head with this one. It's fine to follow along with guys that left Duke for whatever reason, (FWIW, I'm curious to follow Jamal as well - I always liked him.) but rehashing why Duke lost a transfer is just reopening old wounds.

[3rd Dukie]

Consider it dropped.

BTW, JBDuke: Thanks a ton again for your great work during the exhibition games. That was fantastic! I'm glad I saw your name on here. It amost slipped my mind.