DukieInBrasil
12-13-2019, 06:10 PM
Since nobody else did, i figured i might as well use the most of my feeble skills (which are no match for the dark side, i must admit) to make a Phase 2 thread, since it is the shortest, and we're already 1/3 of the way thru it. So mostly it'll be a copy of the last one, with some updates.
Health: We suffered a minor injury to Cassius Stanley, although there was much sturm und drang that he might be out for the entirety of Phase 2. He missed essentially 2 games, the remainder of the game he got injured, the following game vs MSU and played only 7 minutes in the VT game. It may take him a while to recover fully, so this longish break may be just what the doctor ordered. So here’s to good health! (I plagiarized that last sentence...)
Rotation: Ten games in, and we have seen 10 guys average double-digit minutes so far. It's been a beautiful thing to behold for those who have always championed an expanded rotation. There's been a fair amount of discussion about the way the rotation is being used so far, which has been pretty interesting. Mostly that on any given night there's really 7 or 8 guys that are getting "rotation" minutes, but that due to matchups, those 7 or 8 guys might be slightly different in each game. It's still early, so this might not be a feature that remains consistently deployed for this team. One factor that has altered this script since the beginning of Phase 1 is the emergence of Joey Baker, who was red-hot on fire for a a few games, and who also showed enough hustle and grit and, dare i say it?, verve, to probably have earned himself an extended stay in the rotation. Also proving he's got staying power, at least so far, J-Gold. He's put in several unexpectedly high-output offensive performances lately, and his defense remains his calling card.
Turnovers/pressure/defensive identity: Phase 1 saw the team start with an insanely strong penchant for forcing turnovers, which faded somewhat over Phase 1. However, defense as the identity of this team has stayed strong. I for one love it, and really hope that the trend continues. One thing that the 1st game in Phase 2 showed us is that this team is pretty versatile both offensively and defensively. Duke was effective defending a team with multiple, good bigs, and a great PG, as well as defending a small spread and kick outside shooting oriented team. K made the adjustment and we played small really well. That sort of defensive versatility will hopefully pay big dividends down the road.
Wing contributions: We have seen all of our wing players have at least a couple of good games. Almost all of them have also had poor games too, so it's been quite variable, which is why depth is good, because i'm not sure we've had a game yet where every wing played poorly. I'm not sure exactly where to delimit the "wings" but Moore, Stanley, AOC, Baker, certainly fit there. Hurt sometimes plays as a wing, sometimes as a PF, Jack White too. I guess Jack is the only one of the group who hasn't had an eye-opener of a game so far, but he has been great as the glue guy so far, and has improved over the last few games. Duke is stocked with wing player options, and can even borrow from the "bigs" to cover wing minutes when needed. We learned how valuable that can be vs VaTech in game 1 of this Phase, and maybe Wofford will be an opportunity for the wing contingent to take a walk down Faramir Lane, and show their quality.
Shooting: So far... so good here! After a tough start, Duke has really improved withe 3ball, and outside-the-paint shooting in general. Of the top 10, only 7 can shoot (/s/ zing!!!), or better put, 7 guys are shooting over 30% from 3 so far, and as a team the boys are shooting 35% from 3. The emergence of Joey Baker has been a beautiful thing, and though in game 1 of this Phase he threw out a real stinker from the field (0-4) he did a little bit of everything else to show value. However, his insanely good shooting has not only lifted the overall team 3FG% it seems to have inspired others to shoot better too! I don't have mid-range jumper % handy, but J-Bake has proven very adept at that, Tre has shown improvement in that regard, and Hurt has shown some nice jumpers too. Even J-Gold has improved his 3FG% to not-quite-good-but-very-nearly-not-retched (23%). AOC was anointed as Duke's long range bomber coming into the season, and has the lowest 3FG% of regular 3ball shooters. If/when he returns to form, this team looks to be formidable, or at least competent enough from 3 to keep the offense balanced.
Bigs: WOW!!!! Carey has proven himself a revelation so far, absolutely carving up opposing defenses so far, and also racking up the double-doubles! His defense has been adequate, at least. He's proven himself a decent shot-blocker and absolutely bested the MSU bigs. His utility was reduced vs VaTech, but he stilled played a poised game and was valuable when on the court. Javin continues to have no touch away from the rim, but after a dismal start from the field, he has now made 9 strait FGs. With his improved scoring, his value has really picked up since, as Kedsy points out, his other measurable stats are as good or better than last year. White is a stretch 4 who started hitting his shot again, after a far too long absence. He continues to do everything else quite well, and is really valuable as a leader as well. Hurt continues to be really slight and not super athletic, but has played pretty well. I'm hoping he uses the remaining 2 games in this Phase to work on his rebounding. As stated in Phase 1, "It will be fun to watch Coach K mix and match all season." and i think he has shown that he already has a pretty good grasp of how to use these 4 effectively. If he can push the right buttons and extract the most out of the potential of these 4 dudes this year, they could be a truly special group.
Jones & J-Gold: Through ten games, Tre has made it clear he is running the show. He is a defensive hound as usual, but has shown much more offensively. He is getting to the rim, and has hit the midrange at a high rate. Unfortunately, the assist rate and assist/turnover ratio has gotten a lot less attractive lately, but teams have been really focused on getting the ball out of his hands. Enter J-Gold. After watching his on-court presence diminish for a while during Phase 1, his value has grown a lot as a reliever of sorts for Tre. The two have played alongside each other rather extensively lately and it has had a positive impact on the team. Tre is shooting nearly 33$ on 3s, so teams are gonna have to honor his shot. J-Gold continues to be a hound on defense, and continues to get steals and is now actually converting them into made layups. He has also started hitting 3s, and though his 3FG% so far is still mired below the Mendoza-line (pardon the mixed-sports metaphor), it's a heartening trend that portends only good things if he continues to provide the offense he's shown lately to go along with his defense.
(thanks CDu for the template for this Phase post, i plagiarized it liberally and provided almost 0 original thoughts :rolleyes: :cool: :eek: )
Health: We suffered a minor injury to Cassius Stanley, although there was much sturm und drang that he might be out for the entirety of Phase 2. He missed essentially 2 games, the remainder of the game he got injured, the following game vs MSU and played only 7 minutes in the VT game. It may take him a while to recover fully, so this longish break may be just what the doctor ordered. So here’s to good health! (I plagiarized that last sentence...)
Rotation: Ten games in, and we have seen 10 guys average double-digit minutes so far. It's been a beautiful thing to behold for those who have always championed an expanded rotation. There's been a fair amount of discussion about the way the rotation is being used so far, which has been pretty interesting. Mostly that on any given night there's really 7 or 8 guys that are getting "rotation" minutes, but that due to matchups, those 7 or 8 guys might be slightly different in each game. It's still early, so this might not be a feature that remains consistently deployed for this team. One factor that has altered this script since the beginning of Phase 1 is the emergence of Joey Baker, who was red-hot on fire for a a few games, and who also showed enough hustle and grit and, dare i say it?, verve, to probably have earned himself an extended stay in the rotation. Also proving he's got staying power, at least so far, J-Gold. He's put in several unexpectedly high-output offensive performances lately, and his defense remains his calling card.
Turnovers/pressure/defensive identity: Phase 1 saw the team start with an insanely strong penchant for forcing turnovers, which faded somewhat over Phase 1. However, defense as the identity of this team has stayed strong. I for one love it, and really hope that the trend continues. One thing that the 1st game in Phase 2 showed us is that this team is pretty versatile both offensively and defensively. Duke was effective defending a team with multiple, good bigs, and a great PG, as well as defending a small spread and kick outside shooting oriented team. K made the adjustment and we played small really well. That sort of defensive versatility will hopefully pay big dividends down the road.
Wing contributions: We have seen all of our wing players have at least a couple of good games. Almost all of them have also had poor games too, so it's been quite variable, which is why depth is good, because i'm not sure we've had a game yet where every wing played poorly. I'm not sure exactly where to delimit the "wings" but Moore, Stanley, AOC, Baker, certainly fit there. Hurt sometimes plays as a wing, sometimes as a PF, Jack White too. I guess Jack is the only one of the group who hasn't had an eye-opener of a game so far, but he has been great as the glue guy so far, and has improved over the last few games. Duke is stocked with wing player options, and can even borrow from the "bigs" to cover wing minutes when needed. We learned how valuable that can be vs VaTech in game 1 of this Phase, and maybe Wofford will be an opportunity for the wing contingent to take a walk down Faramir Lane, and show their quality.
Shooting: So far... so good here! After a tough start, Duke has really improved withe 3ball, and outside-the-paint shooting in general. Of the top 10, only 7 can shoot (/s/ zing!!!), or better put, 7 guys are shooting over 30% from 3 so far, and as a team the boys are shooting 35% from 3. The emergence of Joey Baker has been a beautiful thing, and though in game 1 of this Phase he threw out a real stinker from the field (0-4) he did a little bit of everything else to show value. However, his insanely good shooting has not only lifted the overall team 3FG% it seems to have inspired others to shoot better too! I don't have mid-range jumper % handy, but J-Bake has proven very adept at that, Tre has shown improvement in that regard, and Hurt has shown some nice jumpers too. Even J-Gold has improved his 3FG% to not-quite-good-but-very-nearly-not-retched (23%). AOC was anointed as Duke's long range bomber coming into the season, and has the lowest 3FG% of regular 3ball shooters. If/when he returns to form, this team looks to be formidable, or at least competent enough from 3 to keep the offense balanced.
Bigs: WOW!!!! Carey has proven himself a revelation so far, absolutely carving up opposing defenses so far, and also racking up the double-doubles! His defense has been adequate, at least. He's proven himself a decent shot-blocker and absolutely bested the MSU bigs. His utility was reduced vs VaTech, but he stilled played a poised game and was valuable when on the court. Javin continues to have no touch away from the rim, but after a dismal start from the field, he has now made 9 strait FGs. With his improved scoring, his value has really picked up since, as Kedsy points out, his other measurable stats are as good or better than last year. White is a stretch 4 who started hitting his shot again, after a far too long absence. He continues to do everything else quite well, and is really valuable as a leader as well. Hurt continues to be really slight and not super athletic, but has played pretty well. I'm hoping he uses the remaining 2 games in this Phase to work on his rebounding. As stated in Phase 1, "It will be fun to watch Coach K mix and match all season." and i think he has shown that he already has a pretty good grasp of how to use these 4 effectively. If he can push the right buttons and extract the most out of the potential of these 4 dudes this year, they could be a truly special group.
Jones & J-Gold: Through ten games, Tre has made it clear he is running the show. He is a defensive hound as usual, but has shown much more offensively. He is getting to the rim, and has hit the midrange at a high rate. Unfortunately, the assist rate and assist/turnover ratio has gotten a lot less attractive lately, but teams have been really focused on getting the ball out of his hands. Enter J-Gold. After watching his on-court presence diminish for a while during Phase 1, his value has grown a lot as a reliever of sorts for Tre. The two have played alongside each other rather extensively lately and it has had a positive impact on the team. Tre is shooting nearly 33$ on 3s, so teams are gonna have to honor his shot. J-Gold continues to be a hound on defense, and continues to get steals and is now actually converting them into made layups. He has also started hitting 3s, and though his 3FG% so far is still mired below the Mendoza-line (pardon the mixed-sports metaphor), it's a heartening trend that portends only good things if he continues to provide the offense he's shown lately to go along with his defense.
(thanks CDu for the template for this Phase post, i plagiarized it liberally and provided almost 0 original thoughts :rolleyes: :cool: :eek: )