Originally Posted by
FerryFor50
It's not a crazy theory, but a few things:
- Bagley is essentially able to play 3-5 on the court, which makes him invaluable
- Carter can step out and hit threes if necessary, as well as the mid range
- Duke's offensive rating is 127.2, good for #2 in KenPom. So they're already as good as they're going to get.
- Defense is this team's biggest issue, and Carter/Bagley are better defensive options than most, if not all of the guards
Agreed on your points except the last one. 4 guards + 1 big isn't the answer (because AOC and Duval aren't good defensively). 3 guards + 2 bigs is clearly better. But Carter/Bagley isn't a great defensive tandem. I really like the Carter/Bolden tandem. Bolden moves his feet better, is significantly longer, reads the O better, and an all-round smarter defender. Bagley is a significantly better D rebounder, but that's about all he does well on the defensive end.
The issue is on O, where Bolden can only play down low. That means Carter needs to hit more of those 3s that we're accustomed to him taking.
I would love to see Bolden play ~15-20 a game. I'm not saying his D will cure our D, but at least it's moving in the right direction.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club