Scouting report on Czyz

[dkbaseball]

First full disclosure: I'm definitely a glass-half-full sort when it comes to evaluating players. I tend to focus on the upside potential, and ignore the weaknesses. A friend from Duke never tires of reminding me that I filed glowing reports on Mike Tissaw, Crawford Palmer and Joey Beard. I liked Kenny Blakeney, Christian Ast and Tony Moore, though there was nothing particularly spectacular about them in high school. I got the contribution of Grant and Wojo about right.

That said, Grant is the only Duke signee I've seen play in high school who got me as excited as Olek. (I've seen him play six times now, against half decent competition, but nobody who had a chance to beat his team.) This guy just oozes potential and explosiveness. I think he's on another order of magnitude of potential from the aforementioned Duke players, except for Grant. The guy is 100 percent athlete. And I don't just mean running and jumping. He's an athlete in the football sense of strength, explosiveness, aggressiveness and physical confidence. And in the baseball sense of terrific hand-eye coordination and body control. There's no stiff in him, nothing mechanical. When you hear him called raw, it just means that he could use more work on his shot, his moves down low, and generally just getting a feel for positioning himself. But there are no limitations on his tools, that I can see.

To start with his main strength: the guy runs the floor like Johnny Dawkins, tirelessly and effortlessly. He's always the first one down the floor, just loping along easily. A pretty stark contrast with, say, Lance, whose high-knee gait makes it look like he's running in place. And when Olek gets an open lane to the bucket, oh Mama. There's at least one or two highlight-reel, rim-abusing dunks every game. But he can finish in other ways as well. In one very impressive sequence, he caught a long down-court pass over the shoulder and laid it up on the glass in the same motion, for two. Tremendous agility in the open floor. As a finisher on the break, Grant and Gerald are the only Duke players I can thin of who have been comparable to Olek right now.

But also -- and this may come as a surprise -- he's great going down the floor with the ball. Like Josh and Kyle he'll sometimes grab a rebound and take off dribbling. On one occasion, he brought it up dribbling behind his back in traffic, just like Josh, only a lot faster getting down the floor. He's a very good passer leading the break, putting just the right amount of lead on the ball. He's also a good passer in half court offense -- for example, a one-handed bounce pass to a back-door cutter thrown from the three point line. So, excellent handle and passing -- something I haven't noticed in reports from any recruiting guru types, but I've seen enough now to credit him with these abilities. In the open floor, he's a phenom, right now.

His shooting stroke is fine, and his outside shot is coming along, though it still needs more work. He's textbook on the free throw line, and it goes in about 80 percent of the time. And he can definitely shoot further out. In warmups before one game he went around the three-point line -- seven for seven, nothing but net. During the game, in the half court offense, he needs to be in rhythm for the shot to go in. But he plays at such a fast tempo, it's hard to say what's in rhythm for him. On one play he was isolated on a guard around the three point line. He puts some juke-step moves on the guard, including dribbling between his legs, elevates high behind the line -- nothing but net. But when he has time to think about it, the shot doesn't go in so much.

He really elevates on a short fadeaway jumper down low, and in the one game I saw that he was using this it went in every time. Could become a real weapon. But mostly he wants to attack the rim -- more on that in a minute. He elevates also on the mid-range jumper, and his stroke is fine, so this shot put me in mind of Len Bias. But it doesn't go in much now, and needs plenty of work to become a weapon for Duke.

As for the main things everybody wants to know about -- rebounding, shot blocking and moves in the low post: well, it's a work in progress. Obviously he has the tools -- strength, hops, explosiveness, agility -- to be a real force for Duke in each of these areas. As one kid who played against him put it: he's an "absolute beast." But I think he can get significantly better in each of these areas with good coaching. In particular, he can probably develop a better feel for positioning himself to do these things. He gets plenty of rebounds, but not as many as Luke Babbitt, another top Div. One recruit out here, who has been a gym rat all his life. Olek is much stronger and more athletic than Babbitt, but has been playing organized basketball only for the four years he has been in the U.S.

He blocks plenty of shots, but more often it's in the mid-court area when he comes flying out of nowhere to block a guard's shot. Down low, he's coached to hold his ground and raise his arms, rather than trying to block shots -- like Duke's bigs are doing now. As a defensive player generally, I think he has phenomenal potential, particularly in Duke's system. He's got great lateral quickness for his size, and should be superb at going outside to contest a passing lane, then getting back inside quickly to defend the hoop -- an area in which Duke seems to ask more of its bigs than any other program. Of all the post rotation players I can think of who have played for K, only Grant and maybe Shane have been as good as I think Czyz will be at this kind of movement.

As for low post moves, he loves to attack the rim aggressively, with mixed results right now. Often he gets into no-man's-land -- like a guard who goes into the air before he knows what he's going to do with the ball -- and puts up a shot that doesn't have a chance to go in. Other times he looks absolutely unstoppable down low. He's certainly not reluctant to go up strong. Several times I've seen him go straight up and jam it from a standstill. I think coaching can make a tremdous amount of difference here, as far as what sort of scorer he can be in the blocks. And I do like that short fadeaway jumper.

Of course, his best attribute is supposed to be his attitude. An "unmatched passion" for the game, according to his coach. Oozes enthusiasm, never misses an opportunity to dive for the ball. I'm sure K fell in love with the body language immediately. Apparently he has worked on and improved his game exponentially in the past year or two. Very much a team player, but more on that in a moment, as I'm concerned he may be too deferential.

Obviously, I'm smitten. Just to make sure I'm not, in my dotage, falling in love with every decent player who comes along, I went to see Babbitt play. Babbitt is a top Div. One recruit, on Duke's radar at one time, according to watzone, probably will be a McD's A.A. Doug Gottleib calls him the second best player in this high school senior class, for what that's worth, and compares him to Larry Bird. Babbitt is a very nice player -- much like Taylor King, a long range lefty, who also has a great mid-range fadeaway, and at 6'8" gets a lot done underneath. On the night I saw him he was dominant -- 42 points, 16 boards, seven blocked shots against a decent team. He's a gym rat who has spent many thousands of hours working his game for years.

But seeing Babbitt at his best, I still much prefer Czyz as a prospect, particularly in Duke's system, and given the shooting talent Duke already has in the program. There's no comparison athletically -- Babbitt lumbers up and down the floor. And no comparison, undoubtedly from K's perspective, in body language. Babbitt walks around most of the time, shoulders slumped, like the big star who knows he's going to shoulder the burden and has to rest up before exerting himself. Olek bounds up and down the floor like a big puppy dog who just wants to slam the ball down on your head, again and again.

My concern about Olek has nothing to do with his abilities. I'm afraid, rather, that he might not assert those abilities as much as he should. As an immigrant to the U.S., and as someone whose game has been really coming on just lately, he's used to deferring -- to Babbitt around here and during the summer on the Las Vegas AAU team, and on his own high school team to a little gunner point guard who has the ball much of the time. I'm surprised at how little respect he seems to get around here. And I'm afraid he might go to Duke assuming that he's supposed to be the 12th man on the team, when ability-wise he might have the best package in the program.

But, as one recruting guru type said, people seem to either love him or hate him. After talking to a few locals who weren't giving him the respect I think he deserves, I found a coach who shares my view. He rates Olek as a "ten times better" prospect than David Padgett, the last top recruit to come out of Reno High. Padgett is currently the starting center for Louisville, and was called by Tom Crean the best "offensive facilitator" in the country.

Apparently a few other pretty sharp observers fell in love with Olek also. He just came on this past summer, the first time he had started for the Las Vegas Prospects. In short order he had corralled scholarship offers from K, Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan, Bill Self, Billy Gillispie, Herb Sendek, Tony Bennett, and several others.

Well, to wrap it up, what do we have here? I think at a bare minimum, Tony Moore with a huge desire to improve and willingness to work at it. On the topside, gosh I don't know. I see elements of Grant, Len Bias, Psycho T. But as Jim Sumner said, let's just give him an opportunity to be the best Olek Czyz he can be. I'll be fascinated to see just what that is.

[Jim3k]

Great post!

Was wondering when you would decide you'd seen him enough so you could describe it.

Makes me excited.

[SeattleIrish]

dk:

That was a GREAT eval of Olek - made me much more excited about his potential. How in the world did you get to see him play 6 times...are you from Reno?

To provide a "half-empty" perspective, here's a link from this year's game that matched Olek against Luke Babbitt:

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/PREPSPORTS/712050455/1018/SPORTS

"I can understand it (the hype) but it's really Galena versus Reno," said Babbitt, who had a game-high 34 points while Czyz finished with just four for the second straight year against Galena"

Luke clearly got the best of Olek in this matchup :-(

s.i.

[Ignatius07]

You throw out a lot of big names in this write-up - I hate to see what your evaluation of Elliot would be. :D

Seriously, though, it's evident that you spent a lot of time on this and I certainly appreciate it. It seems like it will be important for Duke fans to realize Czyz is very much a project. We all said the same thing about Zoubek, but here we are waiting for him to anchor our defense only 1.5 years in. Hopefully we can exercise better patience with Olek, whose future could potentially be very bright.

[dkbaseball]

I do live in Reno. I will be very surprised if Olek gets filed in the project drawer. He is an athlete -- as good as Duke has had -- and athletes always play at Duke. He does seem to defer to the established pecking order -- which could cost him in Duke's Darwinian practice culture -- and he does get down on himself when he has a bad run. I can see where his head would start working against him in the match-up against Babbitt, but I'd still rather have him than Babbitt.

[Bob Green]

dkbaseball,

Thanks for a great post! I'm very excited that Olek Czyz is coming to Duke. He seems to be exactly the type of recruit so many people have been longing for - an athletic forward with the strength to bang down low. Your post makes it clear that he will also be able to fit into the Duke system by getting out in transition and running the court.

[kramerbr]

Sounds like he would fit perfectly into Duke's current system. Should be alot of fun to watch him get up and down next year.

[captmojo]

Thanks for your insight DK.

[gw67]

dkbaseball - Why don't you tell us what you really think about Czyz? Just joking! That was a terrific post. From previous reports on this board, I envisioned a Dan Meagher-type player (strong, aggressive, with good leaping ability). From your description, it sounds like he may have the potential to be better but that remains to be seen.

From your list of players and previous posts, I presume that you used to live in the DC area. I too saw Tissaw play as either a soph or junior at Robinson and thought that he would be a good college player. I saw Beard get badly outplayed by a 6-4 center for TC Williams and figured that he would need of lot of work to play college ball.

gw67

[revmel53]

Thanks dk for a great report! With only dmark leaving and Elliot coming already - we don't need Olek to be all world. I pray that he doesn't lose confidence - from having to go up with other outstanding athletes every single day... If we can follow up in '09 with an outstanding class, next year's two guys will be able to keep things going when it's their turn. Thanks for not holding back...

[Devilsfan]

Sounds like Tony Moore to me. Now where's that banger we need TODAY!!
Even Pheonix who we are supposed to be patterned after, went out and singed a big man.

[365Duke]

Sounds like Tony Moore to me. Now where's that banger we need TODAY!!
Even Pheonix who we are supposed to be patterned after, went out and singed a big man.

You do know that it would be against NCAA regulations to go out and sign a free agent don't you:rolleyes:

And we can't make a trade, cause we ain't giving up nobody!:D

[Jarhead]

dk:

That was a GREAT eval of Olek - made me much more excited about his potential. How in the world did you get to see him play 6 times...are you from Reno?

To provide a "half-empty" perspective, here's a link from this year's game that matched Olek against Luke Babbitt:

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/PREPSPORTS/712050455/1018/SPORTS

"I can understand it (the hype) but it's really Galena versus Reno," said Babbitt, who had a game-high 34 points while Czyz finished with just four for the second straight year against Galena"

Luke clearly got the best of Olek in this matchup :-(

s.i.

Looks like all he lacks is the coaching. K will take care of that.

[ACCBBallFan]

Sounds like Olek can challenge Lance and Brian for defensive post player slot, leaving Singler/King to share the SF slot with McClure sometimes a SF and sometimes a wing defender in Nelson role.

With Elliot and Marty, Duke should be every bit as good at the 1-3 as this year with all having another year of whiskers.

Just depends on how well Olek, Elliott and Marty learn to defend to make up for the loss of Demarcus next year. I would think Greg and Dave can assume his leadership captain role.

[AtlBluRew]

Nice post, dkbaseball.


I found this fun video of Olek in action on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2TXxeVy9h4

[dkbaseball]

dkbaseball - Why don't you tell us what you really think about Czyz? Just joking! That was a terrific post. From previous reports on this board, I envisioned a Dan Meagher-type player (strong, aggressive, with good leaping ability). From your description, it sounds like he may have the potential to be better but that remains to be seen.

From your list of players and previous posts, I presume that you used to live in the DC area. I too saw Tissaw play as either a soph or junior at Robinson and thought that he would be a good college player. I saw Beard get badly outplayed by a 6-4 center for TC Williams and figured that he would need of lot of work to play college ball.

gw67

What year did you see Joey play? I watched him as a 6'6" freshman starting alongside Grant, and he was very mechanical, not an obvious Div. One prospect. Then I caught him as a senior, and he had turned into a multi-skilled big, though still a bit soft because he just didn't have the body to bang. But then, I had seen Danny Ferry play for DeMatha (forgot to mention him) in a similar role -- a 6'5" player named Carlton Valentine did most of the work on the boards, and Danny did his multi-skilled thing all over the floor.

One little anecdote: In the summer of '92 I went over to UMd to watch some AAU games. K and two of his assistants were parked at one of the courts, intently watching Beard. I was sitting between that court and another, watching both games, and I wanted to holler at K: "Check out this little sandblower point guard getting stuff done on the next court, K. Looks like he might be your kind of player." But it wasn't until the following summer that Wojo came onto K's radar.

[dkbaseball]

Sounds like Tony Moore to me. Now where's that banger we need TODAY!!
Even Pheonix who we are supposed to be patterned after, went out and singed a big man.

Anybody who watches Czyz play and envisions Tony Moore at Duke is a glass-99%-empty sort of guy. Tony was similar in size, strength and leaping ability, but didn't have anything like this guy's motor.

[dkbaseball]

He seems to be exactly the type of recruit so many people have been longing for - an athletic forward with the strength to bang down low. Your post makes it clear that he will also be able to fit into the Duke system by getting out in transition and running the court.

Sums him up perfectly. And oh man, can he get out in transition. I mean, in high school he's beating the defense down the floor every time, usually starting out from a defensive position near the basket. Take somebody like Monty Towe who could chuck downcourt baseball passes at him, and amazing things might happen. And it's truly exciting when he gets a chance to attack the rim on the break.

[Madrasdukie]

.... let's just give him an opportunity to be the best Olek Czyz he can be. I'll be fascinated to see just what that is.
dkbaseball: that post was so much fun to read - thank you.

A few questions:

How does Olek's passing skills, and low post defense compare with that of Josh ?

What is the Psycho T element you see in Olek ?

How does Olek's jump shot compare with that of Gerald's, esp. the way Gerald creates and elevates over his defender in that Kobesque fashion ?

[Dukebacker]

Thanks for the report! I'm excited to see this guy. Hopefully with all that athleticism he can become a Tyrus Thomas sort of player and altering shots and coming up big in march. The potential of him coming in and providing a spark as Elliot Wiliams will probably do as well, will make us one heck of a team if we only lose DeMarcus. Probably one of the best starting fives and more then likely the best bench in the nation.


Just curious though..how are the hands? Can he catch it well in the low post and stuff? It would be very cool if we could add a Hansborough type player to our arsenal, yet more athletic.

Wow just thinking about all the talent we have this year and getting so much more next year :eek:. The development of Brian and Lance this year. Well hopefully Brian. But the team next year will be nastier then this year. But i'm going to enjoy this season as much as i can after the last year's disaster.

[dkbaseball]

How does Olek's passing skills, and low post defense compare with that of Josh ?

What is the Psycho T element you see in Olek ?

How does Olek's jump shot compare with that of Gerald's, esp. the way Gerald creates and elevates over his defender in that Kobesque fashion ?

Olek is similar to Josh in having a great handle and passing abilities, loves to dunk, scores mostly opportunity baskets without having any obvious go-to moves or shots in a half court offense. Where he's different is in the body and the head. Josh had kind of a lazy basketball player's body, never terribly interested in getting into great shape. Olek has a football player's body, and a motor that is constantly running. On defense, I don't think Olek is terribly well coached right now on that end of the floor (though his team is generally well-coached and quite deep for a public high school team). I think that, with coaching, he will be an excellent low post defender for Duke. Compared to Josh, he gives up three or four inches, but, as I said, should be superb in going out to the perimeter to contest passing lanes, and then getting back to defend the hoop.

He is similar to Psycho T in his motor, both on and off the court. On court, he is constantly attacking and aggressive, with great physical confidence (though as I said, his mental confidence can take a hit when he has a bad stretch). Off court, he apparently is willing to do whatever it takes -- conditioning and otherwise -- to succeed.

His mid-range jumper isn't really comparable to Gerald's right now, but it has potential. He elevates high and the stroke looks fine to me. I don't really see him creating his own perimeter shots at Duke, with all the shooting talent that's going to be around him, especially if Boynton signs. But I do think he potentially has the face-up skills to be an NBA three.

[dkbaseball]

Just curious though..how are the hands? Can he catch it well in the low post and stuff? It would be very cool if we could add a Hansborough type player to our arsenal, yet more athletic.

He has good hands, though I don't know how big they are. I've read that his feet aren't very big, and that may be why he is able to move so well. Oddly, his parents are both short and stocky. You could see them producing a football player, but not a Div. One bball big man.

[Madrasdukie]

Olek is similar to Josh in having a great handle and passing abilities, loves to dunk, scores mostly opportunity baskets without having any obvious go-to moves or shots in a half court offense. Where he's different is in the body and the head. Josh had kind of a lazy basketball player's body, never terribly interested in getting into great shape. Olek has a football player's body, and a motor that is constantly running. On defense, I don't think Olek is terribly well coached right now on that end of the floor (though his team is generally well-coached and quite deep for a public high school team). I think that, with coaching, he will be an excellent low post defender for Duke. Compared to Josh, he gives up three or four inches, but, as I said, should be superb in going out to the perimeter to contest passing lanes, and then getting back to defend the hoop.

He is similar to Psycho T in his motor, both on and off the court. On court, he is constantly attacking and aggressive, with great physical confidence (though as I said, his mental confidence can take a hit when he has a bad stretch). Off court, he apparently is willing to do whatever it takes -- conditioning and otherwise -- to succeed.

His mid-range jumper isn't really comparable to Gerald's right now, but it has potential. He elevates high and the stroke looks fine to me. I don't really see him creating his own perimeter shots at Duke, with all the shooting talent that's going to be around him, especially if Boynton signs. But I do think he potentially has the face-up skills to be an NBA three.

Thanks again, dk. It almost feels like I've seen him play, now.

[Taco]

Olek ... loves to dunk...



i love it when big guys aren't shy about just throwing it down. I think a big watermark in the improvement of Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will be when they start
attacking the rim with authority and glee instead of trying to lay it up so much.

[MChambers]

If Czyz is really this good, do you think the other teams will even show up next year?:)
Seriously, I appreciate your review, and I'm encouraged, especially as to his athleticism, because I think that really helps on defense, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

[gotham devil]

First full disclosure: I'm definitely a glass-half-full sort when it comes to evaluating players. I tend to focus on the upside potential, and ignore the weaknesses. A friend from Duke never tires of reminding me that I filed glowing reports on Mike Tissaw, Crawford Palmer and Joey Beard. I liked Kenny Blakeney, Christian Ast and Tony Moore, though there was nothing particularly spectacular about them in high school. I got the contribution of Grant and Wojo about right.

Obviously, I'm smitten. Just to make sure I'm not, in my dotage, falling in love with every decent player who comes along, I went to see Babbitt play. Babbitt is a top Div. One recruit, on Duke's radar at one time, according to watzone, probably will be a McD's A.A. Doug Gottleib calls him the second best player in this high school senior class, for what that's worth, and compares him to Larry Bird. Babbitt is a very nice player -- much like Taylor King, a long range lefty, who also has a great mid-range fadeaway, and at 6'8" gets a lot done underneath. On the night I saw him he was dominant -- 42 points, 16 boards, seven blocked shots against a decent team. He's a gym rat who has spent many thousands of hours working his game for years.

Well, to wrap it up, what do we have here? I think at a bare minimum, Tony Moore with a huge desire to improve and willingness to work at it. On the topside, gosh I don't know. I see elements of Grant, Len Bias, Psycho T. But as Jim Sumner said, let's just give him an opportunity to be the best Olek Czyz he can be. I'll be fascinated to see just what that is.

Where and/or when did Doug Gottlieb actually write/say that Babbitt was the second best player in this high school class?

[grossbus]

"I think a big watermark in the improvement of Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will be when they start
attacking the rim with authority and glee instead of trying to lay it up so much."

if Z ever does that i might faint. :)

[dkbaseball]

Where and/or when did Doug Gottlieb actually write/say that Babbitt was the second best player in this high school class?

Yesterday on ESPN radio. He said that Babbitt was the 2nd best player he had seen in the class, and gave the impression that he had seen a lot of the top prospects. Called him a mix of Larry Bird and some far more mortal player, whose name I'm not recalling right now. Babbitt probably can score with anybody in this class. He really is similar to King, but a little taller, and with a mid-range game.

[dkbaseball]

If Czyz is really this good, do you think the other teams will even show up next year?:)
Seriously, I appreciate your review, and I'm encouraged, especially as to his athleticism, because I think that really helps on defense, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

By all means temper your enthusiasm, if that's your thing.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Great report, DK. The coaches continue to be very high on Czyz. They expect Williams to step into DeMarcus's roll next year (no small task by any means, but the talent is there) and for Oleg to develop at the pace he needs.

[DukeBlood]

Great report, DK. The coaches continue to be very high on Czyz. They expect Williams to step into DeMarcus's roll next year (no small task by any means, but the talent is there) and for Oleg to develop at the pace he needs.

Really? He must really be better then alot of scouts thought. Those are some big shoes to fill.

Im kinda hoping that Smith will be one of the people who take some of those minutes.

JMO

[dukestheheat]

dang,

thanks for that post! i watched the youtube video on him and the guy can get UP. OLEK! i can tell he's going to be a crazie favorite.

dth.

[dkbaseball]

Olek's high school team won the Navada state championship for the second time in three years (and probably will again next year) against a very athletic team from Las Vegas. Tight, tense game -- a really classic matchup between upscale, suburban, not-so-soft palefaces and tough, quick inner city athletes. (Sorry to be so blunt, but I want to paint the picture. The virtues of both types of teams were really on display, and it was a great game.) Olek fouled out with 1:50 left, but his team hung on. Early on, he and his teammates were tight and trailed by 14. The game was taken over by the little gunner guard he plays with, but Olek was big in coming back from the early deficit. His physicality and conditioning gradually assert themselves, if his head doesn't get in the way.

Unfortunately, there was no rematch with Luke Babbitt, as Babbitt's team lost in the regional semis to a bunch of football player types who didn't give him one single good look at the basket. (I saw a kid like that hold Duhon to 9 points in a triple overtime high school game. Six-three Irish kid for Jesuit HS who didn't have the offense to play in college, but got in Chris's grill and played absolutely demonic defense. I mean, just a shaking frenzy the whole game.)

After seeing Olek play several more games, I wouldn't change my overall estimate of his tools. It's not clear what he would give Duke next year in the half court offense besides opportunity baskets and good passing. And there will probably be some ugly moments as he attacks the basket cluelessly. In half court defense, he needs to be more active -- like probably everybody who's ever come to play for K -- but he has the ability to be a great defender, I think, in Duke's system. If he picks up the coaching quickly, it will be hard to keep him off the floor. In the transition game, offensively and defensively (he frequently comes out of nowhere to make steals), I still think he's an absolute phenom. Running the floor is a labor of love for him, as I can't imagine any beclothed activities he prefers to attacking the rim on the gallop.

Again on the negative side for the last few games -- his shot, on the line and in the half court offense, seemed to go south a bit. I think he started putting a little too much arc into it. Hoisted two hideous free throws at the beginning of the state semis, and I thought he'd lost his stroke hopelessly, but then he nails about 9 of 10 from the line, in a really key contribution. But the shot can go on the backburner for a while. He's definitely a big for Duke right now, not a wing. On the positive side, I'm more impressed with him as a passer each time I see him. It'd be great to see him play with another good passing big man like Singler. But if he has to play his whole career with shoot-first point guards -- Smith and Boynton -- he's certainly used to that.

But the more I watch these athletes, I'm impressed with the fact that tools are just a small part of the story. Motivation and confidence are the big keys. If Olek keeps the attitude and drive he's had, responds to Duke's coaching, and maintains his confidence, I think he has a chance to be a very good, maybe even great, player for Duke. If he gets into the partying routine, loses his confidence, accepts a seat at the end of the bench, I could see him disappearing in the Duke program.

He's got some really intriguing tools, but at the end of the day I'm with Jim Sumner: Let's not burden him with expectations and comparisons, and just sit back to see what kind of Olek Czyz he can become.

[dkbaseball]

A couple of vignettes to add to the update (and a contention that I do, in fact, know how to spell the name of the state I live in).

At Olek's last home game, his coach introduced each senior and said something about what he was going to be doing next year. When it came Olek's turn, the coach waxed droll: "And what is it you're going to do next year? I forget. What's that you say? Oh that's right, he's going to play for Duke." I wonder if any other basketball program in the country has quite the same stature as to have inspired this little joke.

When he got his individual medal for winning the state title he was introduced as "Duke Blue Devil Olek Czyz." I can't remember ever seeing a bigger smile. That's got to be one of the world's great feelings -- winning a state championship, and then getting to think about going off to play for Duke. Hope Mason Plumlee enjoys the experience soon.

So Olek should be coming to Durham on an absolute tsunami of motivation. I hand him off to someone who can pick him up on the floor of CIS this summer,

[JasonEvans]

DK...

you rock!!

-Jason "Nuf said" Evans

[weezie]

Olek has a football player's body, and a motor that is constantly running.


Great mental picture, someone who can dish it out AND take it! Shades of "The Landlord," we might have our next great banger!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Great mental picture, someone who can dish it out AND take it! Shades of "The Landlord," we might have our next great banger!

I don't think he's going to be a "banger" down low. He's a great leaper and runner.

[kramerbr]

From what I've heard about Olek, I expect him to give Duke that same spark off the bench downlow, that King gives us off the bench on the outside.

[Madrasdukie]

I can't imagine any beclothed activities he prefers to attacking the rim on the gallop.


Encore merci.

I noticed you mentioned that Olek tends to get down on himself when things aren't going well, thereby adversely affecting his game. But I also got the impression from your reports that he's very coachable, and has very good work ethics, so, whatever the shortcomings in mental toughness should be taken care off admirably at Duke, right ?

[dkbaseball]

I noticed you mentioned that Olek tends to get down on himself when things aren't going well, thereby adversely affecting his game. But I also got the impression from your reports that he's very coachable, and has very good work ethics, so, whatever the shortcomings in mental toughness should be taken care off admirably at Duke, right ?

Yes. You never can tell, but I expect there to be a very happy marriage between what Olek needs to learn, on the mental side and the physical, and what the Duke staff teaches especially well. This is a big after Wojo's fully motorized heart. I would expect him to be so tight you couldn't drive a pin up his arse with a sledgehammer the first time he plays at Cameron, but, like in last night's game, to settle down eventually and let his physicality and tools take over.

As to whether he's a banger -- yes, he's willing and strong, but don't expect a Shelden or Patrick Patterson right away. He needs a little more weight in his upper body. Though it's hard to tell with the baggy shorts these kids wear, I think he has much bigger legs than most great leapers, a' la Chuck Barkley, but he can still bulk up some up top. His father looks a little like Zach Thomas. But it's a fine line. You don't want to bulk him up so much he loses his phenomenal ability to run the floor. It wouldn't be fair to the kid's potential to try to turn him into strictly a low post banger. But I don't think there's any danger of that at Duke. They want highly mobile bigs.

[jzp5079]

"I think a big watermark in the improvement of Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will be when they start
attacking the rim with authority and glee instead of trying to lay it up so much."

if Z ever does that i might faint. :)

I don't know if Z has a strong enough grip to throw it down. It seems it takes a tap and smaller players just strip him of the ball. ie he needs to a lot of wide grip pullups

[Classof06]

You throw out a lot of big names in this write-up - I hate to see what your evaluation of Elliot would be. :D

Seriously, though, it's evident that you spent a lot of time on this and I certainly appreciate it. It seems like it will be important for Duke fans to realize Czyz is very much a project. We all said the same thing about Zoubek, but here we are waiting for him to anchor our defense only 1.5 years in. Hopefully we can exercise better patience with Olek, whose future could potentially be very bright.

I agree, I think patience is the key. Olek won't have to come in and be "the guy" whatsoever, so I'm very eager to see how he progresses over his time at Duke. It sounds like the ingredients are there, it's just a question of baking the cake, haha.

Very nice evaluation on Olek, dkbaseball. I've been looking for something like that on him for a while now.

[Blueequalslife23]

Olek Czyz did win his Nevada State title and all of the crtitics to this kid must be mistaken i see no reason why this kid can't come in next year and make a impact for us!

[pless55]

I will not compare Czyk to anybody but I have great things about him. He can jump out of the gym and rebound. If he could put up solid numbers in a David Lee role off the bench like 7 points and 8 rebounds a game kind of what Damion James did for Texas last year. Either way, If he could give us that many rebounds a game it would be very helpful.:D

[Duvall]

Czyk

It begins.

[mddukefan]

dkbaseball,

I'm not sure if i missed this in one of your previous postings, but what would you say is Czyz's actual size? One of the main scouting services I see him listed as 6'7" 235lbs. Would you say that info is legit on him?? I know a lot of times there sizes are beefed up a little bit. Thanks for the info.

[greybeard]

I don't know if Z has a strong enough grip to throw it down. It seems it takes a tap and smaller players just strip him of the ball. ie he needs to a lot of wide grip pullups

Z does not need to be throwing nothing down. He needs to get comfortable with his new foot and be able to use it in ways that he currently cannot to allow him to move his body in the way of swipes at the ball. That, and better balance, will improve his ability to diversify the way he brings the ball from his waist to shooting to avoid swipes.

As of now, he is predictable and needs to be to maintain some semblence of balance. Once he gets used to his new foot, and his new foot begins helping him more and more, the blocks will become a non issue.

Lance needs to explore ways to diversify bringing the ball up to shooting also. An overlooked part of the game. Old-school inside players, aka Hansbrough, do not get it striped. They manipulate ball movement from the waist to the shot in ways that get defenders off balance trying in vain to find the pea.

It is the ole shell game, in which the guy with the ball should always win, just like the guy with the shells.

[Capn Poptart]

Don't be so hard on yourself: I watched Mike Tissaw absolutely dominate Ralph Sampson in a Virginia All-Star game.

[Lavabe]

Don't be so hard on yourself: I watched Mike Tissaw absolutely dominate Ralph Sampson in a Virginia All-Star game.

Oh boy ..finally, a Mike Tissaw thread.

Before there was Patrick Davidson, there was Mike Tissaw.:cool:

Do you remember when he got a player of the game for one of our TV games?

Cheers,
Lavabe

[jimsumner]

Tissaw actually had a decent sophomore season, including a double-double in a win at Vandy. But his career peaked that year and by his senior year K had brought in Alarie, Bilas, and Jackman, and Tissaw hardly got off the bench.

Still, he had his moments.

[dkbaseball]

dkbaseball,

I'm not sure if i missed this in one of your previous postings, but what would you say is Czyz's actual size? One of the main scouting services I see him listed as 6'7" 235lbs. Would you say that info is legit on him?? I know a lot of times there sizes are beefed up a little bit. Thanks for the info.

They announce him at games as 6-8. My guess would be around 6-7, 225 right now. But the numbers are kind of meaningless, IMO. He has a very strong, live body that can be pushed very hard in practice. No question the 40 inch vertical is legit. He's plenty big enough to help out a lot with rebounding and interior defense, while running the floor like a guard. Maybe Duke will let him try to block shots coming from the weak side to help out, which his high school coach didn't let him do. But he's not a widebody that will become a classic low post center. Hopefully. Mssrs. Zoubek and Echenique will fill that role.

[Shammrog]

Anybody who watches Czyz play and envisions Tony Moore at Duke is a glass-99%-empty sort of guy. Tony was similar in size, strength and leaping ability, but didn't have anything like this guy's motor.

Agreed. I would argue the only similarity is in leaping ability. Even watching the video above from when Olek was 15-16, Olek is a. much bigger/more physical, and b. much more skilled. Tony was beyond raw; a good natural athlete but not a very good basketball player. Olek is much better developed basketball-wise, and much more formidable physically. Which is what we need.

(A good friend of mine at Duke was Tony's high school classmate (though 3 yrs. older) and basketball teammate. He could never believe Tony got a scholly to play b-ball at Duke.)

[Shammrog]

Z does not need to be throwing nothing down. He needs to get comfortable with his new foot and be able to use it in ways that he currently cannot to allow him to move his body in the way of swipes at the ball. That, and better balance, will improve his ability to diversify the way he brings the ball from his waist to shooting to avoid swipes.

As of now, he is predictable and needs to be to maintain some semblence of balance. Once he gets used to his new foot, and his new foot begins helping him more and more, the blocks will become a non issue.

Lance needs to explore ways to diversify bringing the ball up to shooting also. An overlooked part of the game. Old-school inside players, aka Hansbrough, do not get it striped. They manipulate ball movement from the waist to the shot in ways that get defenders off balance trying in vain to find the pea.

It is the ole shell game, in which the guy with the ball should always win, just like the guy with the shells.

Hey Beardman!

My biggest issue with Zoubs is that (and, I am accounting for his hurt foot) he needs to STOP DINKING WITH THE BALL AND JUST DUNK IT! Too many times he gets stripped or travels while trying to lay it on the glass like a classic big man. He is 7'1" - he barely needs to jump, so even though he is not a very good athlete and is coming off injury, he needs to be aggressive and just try to ram it home every time he gets the ball at point-blank range.

K should tell him that if he is within 2 feet of the basket and takes a shot without his hand touching the rim, he sits!

[Capn Poptart]

Tissaw actually had a decent sophomore season, including a double-double in a win at Vandy. But his career peaked that year and by his senior year K had brought in Alarie, Bilas, and Jackman, and Tissaw hardly got off the bench.

Still, he had his moments.

I still remember the lede for the article in the Richmond News-Leader, the day after Tiss took player-of-the game in that all-star contest:

"People arrived last night [at the blahblah All-Star game] talking about Ralph Sampson. They left talking about Mike Tissaw."

He was a tough kid.

[Huh?]

Good stuff, I'm so glad we have someone who will dunk on anyone's face.
That said, I still have one more year of eligibility.

[OZ]

Hey Beardman!

My biggest issue with Zoubs is that (and, I am accounting for his hurt foot) he needs to STOP DINKING WITH THE BALL AND JUST DUNK IT! Too many times he gets stripped or travels while trying to lay it on the glass like a classic big man. He is 7'1" - he barely needs to jump, so even though he is not a very good athlete and is coming off injury, he needs to be aggressive and just try to ram it home every time he gets the ball at point-blank range.

K should tell him that if he is within 2 feet of the basket and takes a shot without his hand touching the rim, he sits!



Somehow, I just can not picture Zoubs "DINKING."

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Don't be so hard on yourself: I watched Mike Tissaw absolutely dominate Ralph Sampson in a Virginia All-Star game.

Let's not forget his running mate in the front court, Alan Williams.