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View Full Version : McBob, Staying or Going?



DankeShane
03-15-2007, 11:27 PM
Predict the future:

ajtrublu
03-16-2007, 12:17 AM
Sorry, but I have to laugh. That certainly didn't take long!

VaDukie
03-16-2007, 02:11 AM
I certainly want him back, but I worry he's gone.

Kewlswim
03-16-2007, 02:16 AM
Hi,

What a player does in the NCAA tourney can raise, or lower, one's stock in the draft. Would it be fair to say that at this point Josh is a Second Round pick or is he still considered a lottery pick with all the other talent that is coming out for sure? Where is the best place to see his projected draft slot?

As an aside, I kind of thought he looked like he was having fun (even though the team lost) tonight. Often, it seemed to me, that Josh looked unhappy out there--even when we were winning earlier in the season.

GO DUKE!

dukemsu
03-16-2007, 02:19 AM
We probably won't see too many predictions until after the tourney, but I would guess Josh is still a 1st round projection. 14-21, probably. The last mock I saw on ESPN had him 12th or 13th, I believe.

Frustrating as his play can be, he was pretty strong tonight.

Jumbo
03-16-2007, 02:29 AM
Guys, he is gone. I don't know how to put it any stronger. Hoping otherwise is futile.

SeattleIrish
03-16-2007, 02:35 AM
At least give us some good news, Jumbo. Tell us Patterson is coming to take his place!

Please?

s.i.:(

VaDukie
03-16-2007, 02:44 AM
I take Jumbo as enough of an authority that I'm letting go.

Such a shame. I'd love to see what he'd do with another year.

Lulu
03-16-2007, 04:41 AM
Jumbo, can you please please please elaborate on what and how you know what you know? Anything at all would be mucho appreciated.

throatybeard
03-16-2007, 07:39 AM
If he stays it will be double.

Bob Green
03-16-2007, 07:48 AM
Lulu,

Josh is gone! I view Jumbo's comments as independent verification of my North Carolina connection. Sorry, I cannot elaborate!

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

dukeisawesome
03-16-2007, 08:26 AM
NBAdraft.net projects him 18th.

BluBones
03-16-2007, 08:34 AM
He's gone; he's gone; he's gone. The 31% who voted otherwise need to start thinking, "Next play."

drksuh
03-16-2007, 08:36 AM
Josh has unique skills- athleticism, uncanny passing, dribbling- which make him a potential lottery pick. But he needs to come back to develop offensive repertoire and aggressiveness. But more importantly, he needs to come back to work on his attitude. He scowls and complains after every foul, every score an opponent makes on him, every mistake by a teammate. RC/LF TV showed all of these expressions of immaturity. Coach K can help him immensely to overcome this and be a better person because Coach K is not about winning as we saw last night; he's all about relationships. NBA people will be down on Josh because of these "attitudinal" quirks which will not play well in the League. If he treats his teammates in the League like he demeans our guys, then he could face a smackdown of enormous proportions from guys like Shaq or Rasheed.

_Gary
03-16-2007, 09:05 AM
And while I wish Josh all the best (I really, really do) this is the better thing in the long run for the team. All I can say with my very limited resources is that there hasn't been the team unity across the board that one would expect from a standard Duke team. I feel this will improve greatly next year.

Gary

ItalianDevil
03-16-2007, 09:14 AM
Well, in Italy's Legadue (kinda like minors in US baseball) he could put up big numbers like, say 10 ppg and 5 rpg....
he's going nowhere, but if he should go you won't see my crying in despair...

killerleft
03-16-2007, 09:28 AM
Too bad for both Josh and us. I don't know about the team's chemistry and what Josh may have added/taken away. He really seemed to work very hard during a game.

I've wondered if he isn't a little hard-headed at times. I can't believe his shooting form hasn't gotten better, or that our coaches haven't tried to help him.

Oh, well. Josh improved a lot this year. Would have been very nice to see what he could accomplish at Duke.

Dukefan4Life
03-16-2007, 11:30 AM
I hope josh will come back, but i really dont know if he will or not. I see some of you guys saying he is going for sure but how can you really know? I think if he does go it leaves a huge hole in our midde next year!

alteran
03-16-2007, 12:11 PM
I hope josh will come back, but i really dont know if he will or not. I see some of you guys saying he is going for sure but how can you really know? I think if he does go it leaves a huge hole in our midde next year!
Here's the thing-- you never do really know. But like Bob and Jumbo, I really do get the feeling from talking to people who tend to know things that Josh is in all ways gone.

jawk24
03-16-2007, 12:16 PM
If you were him, wouldn’t you go! Look at next years team deficiencies: no quality point guard to get you the ball or stop penetration and no true post player coming in to help on the boards and post scoring.

ajtrublu
03-16-2007, 01:31 PM
He scowls and complains after every foul, every score an opponent makes on him, every mistake by a teammate.

Sounds like he's perfect for the NBA then!

RepoMan
03-16-2007, 03:22 PM
Here's the thing. I distinctly recall mowing my grass and being called in by my wife who had her brother in law UNC fan on the phone, reporting that Shavlick Randolph was going pro!

So, if Shav can go pro, well . . .

phaedrus
03-16-2007, 03:40 PM
no quality point guard to get you the ball ...

amazing that people are still saying this. have you watched a game since the first duke-vtech game?

fogey
03-16-2007, 04:39 PM
no point guard to get him the ball? are you kidding? while GP is not quick enough to penetrate and dish, how many time did you see JM get an entry pass this year, and then demonstrate to the world his lack of quickness as he deliberated over his next move. for a good athlete, his inability to react quickly, upon touching the ball, to beat his defender was shocking. let's not blame it on the point guard.
beyond that, his lack of soft touch just killed us from time to time, as missed chippie lsy-ins became fast breaks for the other team.

Duke15304
03-16-2007, 05:51 PM
I would really like to have josh back, he will have an offseason where he will be heathly so he will be able to work on his game, but at the same time, if he leaves, do are our chances of getting PP improve

Chitowndevil
03-16-2007, 06:01 PM
Not calling anybody out, I just want to know why some people are so convinced McRoberts will go. This is a very, very good draft. He's already fallen to 18th on NBAdraft.net and could fall even farther; several of the guys they have in the 20s and 30s could really help themselves in the tourney and pre-draft workouts. More importantly, how exactly is Josh ready to play in the NBA? He has no reliable post move and no consistent midrange game, and while physically gifted, in my opinion he lacks the kind of raw athleticism he'd need to get minutes on an NBA squad without them. So is it that he's unhappy at Duke?

johnnydakota
03-16-2007, 07:01 PM
amazing that people are still saying this. have you watched a game since the first duke-vtech game?

Have you? I love Paulus. But if you think he has done anything close to running the offense effectively, or getting Josh or anyone else the ball in scoring position in the halfcourt offense, you either haven't seen many Duke games or don't know basketball. Maybe you haven't watched much, seeing as Duke only played vtech once.

Kewlswim
03-16-2007, 07:12 PM
Hi,

Last year I read many a post from people who were "certain" Josh was gone. They told me to stop thinking about whether or not he was staying because the decision was made. Maybe it was and he changed his mind.

I think people in Josh's situation tend to go through lots of gyrations. One day they are sure they are gone, the next staying, and around and around one goes. I think that one can't be sure until he really does or does not go to the NBA. I don't know how much his Mom might influence the decision too. She might be saying, "Finish school." Coach K, from what I have read, has yet to talk to him about it. The season just ended yesterday. Perhaps Coach K will say something that either pushes him out or convinces him to stay. Lastly, Josh could be setting a smoke screen. He could be telling everyone he is going (just as easily as he could have told everyone he was staying) just so that people leave him alone while he makes up his "real" decision. Kids make decisions, as do adults, and then change their minds.

I, as I think I posted elsewhere, am not sure how loved Laettner was in the locker room either. Yet, I sure wouldn't have wanted him to leave early. Josh strikes me as a perfectionist. Perhaps he is pushing those kids to play better. Hard to believe, but maybe without Josh the team would have played worse during the season. Unless one is really involved on a day-to-day basis one can't really know what is going on with the team. Lastly, perhaps the one or two days Feinstein was with the team Josh acted like a jerk, but %90 of the time he is just fine. John just caught Josh on an off week.

GO DUKE!

Virginian
03-16-2007, 07:44 PM
For all their certainty, those saying Josh is "already gone," could easily be wrong. His NBA stock will be falling throughout the NCAA tourney as the reputations of other players rise. He can have a tremendous year at Duke next year and really raise his value to the NBA. Unless, like Shav, he's just plain unhappy and wants out.

In short, you can't really know. Remember when Deng left? His family kept saying he was committeed to a Duke education and "becoming a man" under Coach K. Turned out to be baloney.

My point? He may or may not leave. I hope he does NOT. I like watching him play and think he can use the maturity and experience of another year. And we WILL miss him if he goes.

BELMONTDFAN
03-16-2007, 09:00 PM
I would really like to have josh back, he will have an offseason where he will be heathly so he will be able to work on his game, but at the same time, if he leaves, do are our chances of getting PP improve

Josh is slow and methodical. He needs to quit whining and play better.He makes stupid mistakes at crucial times. ie (end of Clemson game,threw the ball right to the 3 pt shooter).He has not improved one bit all yr.

Demosthenes
03-16-2007, 09:06 PM
Josh is slow and methodical. He needs to quit whining and play better.He makes stupid mistakes at crucial times. ie (end of Clemson game,threw the ball right to the 3 pt shooter).He has not improved one bit all yr.

This poster's comments are slow and not well thought out. BELMONTDFAN needs to stop his/her whining and post better. They make stupid comments at most times. ie (now). The posts have, if anything, gotten worse all yr. :D

Karl Beem
03-16-2007, 09:06 PM
I beg to differ!

Fish80
03-16-2007, 09:16 PM
Josh is slow and methodical. He needs to quit whining and play better.He makes stupid mistakes at crucial times. ie (end of Clemson game,threw the ball right to the 3 pt shooter).He has not improved one bit all yr.

Go back under the bridge and troll somewhere else. Second stupidest poster of the year, too stupid to get first in anything.

dukeblue33
03-16-2007, 09:41 PM
so is there anyone here who is going to divulge any "insider" information?? any students who have heard anything about him being unhappy and ready to bolt?? and im not just saying deductions from his pouting and antics on the court.
we are much better next year if he stays and id much rather have josh than pp... but in all honesty if he doesnt want to be at duke he should go. however its almost like how can he leave this team the way it is right now? i mean, he's the one who can jump ship on the sinking duke dynasty or whatever crap the media is putting out there, while the other guys have to stick it in there and bring duke back... seriously i hate the nba... this is only my second year following duke bball closely so this may seem like a very naive point of view but i just think it says something about his character (unless his family is really struggling financially...). but hey im still one of the believers who thinks he might come back. from the way he carries himself in the post-game interviews it doesnt seem like he'd be happy with how he left his mark on duke

killerleft
03-16-2007, 09:51 PM
Granted, he's not a complete ballplayer yet, but Josh has improved in every way I can think of this year, excepting his shooting touch. That's why I wish he was coming back next year.

evrdukie
03-16-2007, 10:00 PM
I don't understand the Josh claque. For much of the time this season he was essentially mssing in action. Second team all ACC, not really much of a factor. How many times did he get the ball inside and not even try to manufacture a shot that other big men would have converted. Would this year have been an even bigger shipwreck without him? Yes. Is he going to be a bigger factor next year than this one.? No evidence that he will be. In fact, his shooting this year actually seems worse than last.

layziebdub
03-16-2007, 11:17 PM
so is there anyone here who is going to divulge any "insider" information?? any students who have heard anything about him being unhappy and ready to bolt?? and im not just saying deductions from his pouting and antics on the court.
we are much better next year if he stays and id much rather have josh than pp... but in all honesty if he doesnt want to be at duke he should go. however its almost like how can he leave this team the way it is right now? i mean, he's the one who can jump ship on the sinking duke dynasty or whatever crap the media is putting out there, while the other guys have to stick it in there and bring duke back... seriously i hate the nba... this is only my second year following duke bball closely so this may seem like a very naive point of view but i just think it says something about his character (unless his family is really struggling financially...). but hey im still one of the believers who thinks he might come back. from the way he carries himself in the post-game interviews it doesnt seem like he'd be happy with how he left his mark on duke


I shall never understand why people have a problem with someone leaving Duke early for the NBA. I graduated from Duke University in '04 and when Deng left people gave him a hard time. I thought their reactions were ridiculous because they called him a traitor. I don't know about the rest of you but I attended Duke University to not only receive a wonderful education but to also prepare me for whatever profession I chose to enter. If someone told me that I could bypass 4 years of college and enter the profession of my dream at a younger age then I would have done so. I feel that many people would have done so. Just because someone chooses to take advantage of an opportunity to enter the working world earlier than the average college student whether it is as a professional athlete or the owner of a company does not make them a traitor to the school that they left. Especially considering the amount of money that a professional athlete can make and the risk of being injured or having your stock drop the next year. If someone told me that if I stayed at Duke for another year then there was a danger of me not being able to attend the grad school of my dreams or I could leave Duke right then and be guaranteed admission then I most certainly would have left. I feel that we should look at a player's actions on the Duke campus when it comes to evaluating whether or not they have shown disrespect to Duke rather than pointing to them taking advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime.

Edit: One additional point. I know that many will call the decision to leave Duke early for the NBA a selfish one, but in reality, Duke fans that are angry at a player leaving can be just as selfish. Many times a fan is angry because the player was a good player that could truly have helped Duke's team the following year and so they are asking a young adult to bypass the opportunity to make millions of dollars and put his family in an unbelievable financial situation just so that they can enjoy another season of top notch Duke basketball.

BatteringRam
03-17-2007, 04:21 AM
I mean this in the best possible way, and I will say this as if the VCU-Duke game never happened:

Can Josh, as of right now in his career, really go to the NBA and be dominant? (Not being sarcastic I really want your opinions). I think in the NBA he is built for the 3 spot, and I just don't see him, as of right now, being able to hang with the T-Mac's, Lebron, D-Wade. He is good, and will be much better, but is he really ready right now?

Bob Green
03-17-2007, 05:25 AM
Being ready to dominate in the NBA is irrelevant. Josh has developed as much as he can at the collegiate level. Another year at Duke will not prepare him for the NBA more than going now. I wish he was coming back but I just don't see it happenning. He will declare for the draft. It is time for Duke fans to move on. Personally, I wish Josh McRoberts all the luck in the World for his NBA career. I'm hoping he develops into a solid player and has a long career.

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

jimbonelson
03-17-2007, 06:07 AM
maybe he came to duke for a education as well. his mother and grandmother are both teachers on the high school level i beleive. maybe they insist he gets a education.if he wanted nba money he could already have had it. but if he does go thanks for the two years

johnnydakota
03-17-2007, 07:13 AM
There can be so much misinformation on message boards, it's unbelievable. Some of it damaging, some not. For the record: Josh is from a wealthy Indy suburb, but isn't overly wealthy. His mom is a kindergarten teacher. He will make up his own mind and rarely shares his decision making with anyone, including family and friends. He loves Duke and college basketball, is well aware of Duke's tradition and wants to leave a positive legacy. He is very unselfish and is uncomfortable with the attention on him. He hates losing and always takes it personally. He never said he is a lottery pick, or ready to be a great NBA player. Most of this could be found by reading and not making assumptions or believing message boards. Finally, for the buffoon saying he disappears during games because he doesn't score consistently: I don't think anyone on the roster gave more on a consistent basis. He always dove for balls, had deflections, helped handle the ball, played solid D (often covering for poor perimeter D), rebounded, passed better than any big in the country, and tried to score even when no one could get him the ball when open. To say he didn't contribute when not scoring is laughable. Duke is sub .500 w/o him.
Edited: I don't know another big in the country (college or pro) who is expected to play nearly the entire game, help handle the ball, run the offense, and be the only post defender/rebounder. Not to mention be ripped apart for only averaging 13 points per game.

MChambers
03-17-2007, 07:53 AM
I agree with all you say. I think a lot of Duke fans are too worried about Josh's limited scoring.
Look, he played great defense. On offense, he did everything well except for shooting.
I never saw him disappear in games.
Could he be better? If he could develop a better shot (from everywhere -- he struggles both inside and outside), the sky is the limit.
I really hope he comes back, but if he decides to go, I'll wish him well.

Buckeye Devil
03-17-2007, 08:18 AM
The consensus from those "in the know" is that Josh is going this year. He will
not risk slipping in the draft further by staying another year IMHO. In retro, he
would have been better off to leave after last year as staying did not help his
draft status. Plus he is coming out in a very strong draft. I can't think of any other program harder hit by early departures and players backing out of their
commitments than Duke since Exodus 1999.

Not that legacy matters much to some players, but I don't think staying next year would much improve his chances to leave an enduring, positive legacy at Duke-i.e making a memorable championship run, another ACC title, etc. I can't blame a 20 year old who wants to go while he can and secure some degree of financial security for his future. Goodbye and Good Luck McRoberts.

johnnydakota
03-17-2007, 10:13 AM
The consensus from those "in the know" is that Josh is going this year. He will
not risk slipping in the draft further by staying another year IMHO. In retro, he
would have been better off to leave after last year as staying did not help his
draft status. Plus he is coming out in a very strong draft. I can't think of any other program harder hit by early departures and players backing out of their
commitments than Duke since Exodus 1999.

Not that legacy matters much to some players, but I don't think staying next year would much improve his chances to leave an enduring, positive legacy at Duke-i.e making a memorable championship run, another ACC title, etc. I can't blame a 20 year old who wants to go while he can and secure some degree of financial security for his future. Goodbye and Good Luck McRoberts.

So you don't think that if McRoberts(and everyone else) were to return, then add Singler's versatile scoring and Smith's quickness on the perimeter that Duke could make a serious run? I think with everyone a year older and stronger, plus the incoming talent, Duke would be top 10 all year and play deep into the tournament. I'm sure Josh would feel a heckuva lot better about how he'd be leaving if that came true.