DukeBrasil
11-23-2007, 07:00 PM
5 games into the season and we've seen a good sampling of teams and how Duke has won games in a variety of ways, all the way from high-scoring blow-outs against low-powered teams (NCCU) to nail-biters against top-flight teams (Marq). Duke has been able to post double digit wins in all but the last game, and has maintained those dd leads for long periods of time. It has shown a go-to-scorer-by-committee with Scheyer, Henderson, Singler all having 20+ pt games. It has also shown that it has grown up from last year and can resist folding in crunch time like they did last year. It has won games against teams with superior frontcourts (UI) and teams with (arguably) better backcourts (Marq), and has therefore shown the versatility that they need to have to be successful in the ACC. The confidence built from defeating Marq. will go a long way to powering this team throughout the year.
I'm not sure if addition by subtraction works since last year's team was not as deep nor as healthy as we were, at times not so convincingly, told that they were (ie., Paulus, Pocius, McClure etc). All I'm gonna say is that JM played hard and was in a tough situation not of his making, he didn't do the best job handling it but he played hard.
Duke has shown depth at each position almost at 1:1 ie; 1) Paulus/Smith 2)Nelson/Pocius 3)Henderson/Scheyer 4) Singler/King 5) Thomas/Zoubek (w/McClure not really playing yet). Duke has shown that it doesn’t always have a "5" out there as well as other wrinkles that don't jive with traditional 1-5 pstns.
1 - Paulus has played a good PG distributing +asts as well as a ++ a/to. His shooting has not been as sharp (nor from the charity strip) as last year, but the team hasn't really needed him to shoot, and a good PG will realize that. - Smith has shown that he's got some skill (ie 1st 2 games) as well as that he is still very much a FR. But durn if ain't nice to have a quality #2 PG.
2- Nelson has really shown the grit and leadership that he didn't show nearly as much last year. STRONG rpg for a guard and his shooting has been a nice surprise lately except that his FT% is starting to decline again. - Pocius had back-to-back 10 pt games (last year's loss to VCU and NCCU) but has not played much against better teams so far.
3- Henderson has rebounded much better than I thought he would and has shown some brilliance and some mediocrity, but has definitely been a ++ for this team and a big reason for its success so far. - Scheyer, it's hard to put these guys in the same position b/c they are such different players, but….Jon's play has been un-even in the pts column, with some excellent performances and 2 sub-par ones, but his all-around game has been sweet and steady. ++ a/to and + rpg for a "shooting guard".
4- Singler has arguably been the best player (it's hard to quantify DNs leadership) and the recent emergence of his 3pt game will only make him more difficult to guard. His clutchness has been observed, his FT% is a +++ and his grittiness on the boards is a ++. - King is more of a 3 but…he's shown that he's got range and can hit tons of 3s and that he is a FR still. I think his PT will be limited to teams w/o lots of depth at guard.
5- Thomas, LT is more of a 4 than a real 5 but he'll be Duke's designated big-man and he's been a + so far, playing within himself and scrapping, although the fouls have limited his time on the court a bit. After logging an undefineable a/to for most of last year (0/40) he started this year with an infinite a/to after NCCU (1/0). FTs have been a + so far but mysteriously his rpg has been a :( so far. - Zoubek - has shown development and has produced + contributions in every game so far. His rpg and his ability to go for O boards has been a ++ as well as his offensive efficiency is a +.
Good start to the season, with lots of the q´s from pre-season having been answered in a + way so far.
I'm not sure if addition by subtraction works since last year's team was not as deep nor as healthy as we were, at times not so convincingly, told that they were (ie., Paulus, Pocius, McClure etc). All I'm gonna say is that JM played hard and was in a tough situation not of his making, he didn't do the best job handling it but he played hard.
Duke has shown depth at each position almost at 1:1 ie; 1) Paulus/Smith 2)Nelson/Pocius 3)Henderson/Scheyer 4) Singler/King 5) Thomas/Zoubek (w/McClure not really playing yet). Duke has shown that it doesn’t always have a "5" out there as well as other wrinkles that don't jive with traditional 1-5 pstns.
1 - Paulus has played a good PG distributing +asts as well as a ++ a/to. His shooting has not been as sharp (nor from the charity strip) as last year, but the team hasn't really needed him to shoot, and a good PG will realize that. - Smith has shown that he's got some skill (ie 1st 2 games) as well as that he is still very much a FR. But durn if ain't nice to have a quality #2 PG.
2- Nelson has really shown the grit and leadership that he didn't show nearly as much last year. STRONG rpg for a guard and his shooting has been a nice surprise lately except that his FT% is starting to decline again. - Pocius had back-to-back 10 pt games (last year's loss to VCU and NCCU) but has not played much against better teams so far.
3- Henderson has rebounded much better than I thought he would and has shown some brilliance and some mediocrity, but has definitely been a ++ for this team and a big reason for its success so far. - Scheyer, it's hard to put these guys in the same position b/c they are such different players, but….Jon's play has been un-even in the pts column, with some excellent performances and 2 sub-par ones, but his all-around game has been sweet and steady. ++ a/to and + rpg for a "shooting guard".
4- Singler has arguably been the best player (it's hard to quantify DNs leadership) and the recent emergence of his 3pt game will only make him more difficult to guard. His clutchness has been observed, his FT% is a +++ and his grittiness on the boards is a ++. - King is more of a 3 but…he's shown that he's got range and can hit tons of 3s and that he is a FR still. I think his PT will be limited to teams w/o lots of depth at guard.
5- Thomas, LT is more of a 4 than a real 5 but he'll be Duke's designated big-man and he's been a + so far, playing within himself and scrapping, although the fouls have limited his time on the court a bit. After logging an undefineable a/to for most of last year (0/40) he started this year with an infinite a/to after NCCU (1/0). FTs have been a + so far but mysteriously his rpg has been a :( so far. - Zoubek - has shown development and has produced + contributions in every game so far. His rpg and his ability to go for O boards has been a ++ as well as his offensive efficiency is a +.
Good start to the season, with lots of the q´s from pre-season having been answered in a + way so far.