Behind the paywall:
https://theathletic.com/1293453/2019...-title-threat/
A quote from the piece:
Yes, I'm that guy again with a (vain) hope for a larger rotation.Krzyzewski is not making noise about inserting his freshmen en masse into the lineup. He’s talking about playing 10 players. He’s suggesting the upperclassmen are needed, that the freshmen are not ready to take it on themselves.
Grandma and mother of one particular player will be pushing for an 11 man rotation. 😄
K has that covered already:
"Krzyzewski explained the coaches receive analytical reports on the players after each practice and game, detailing such things as workloads and sprinting speeds and time on the court. Apparently he showed it to Mickie, pointing out how Tre Jones and Wendell Moore Jr. were “off the charts” with some of their report data only to have Mickie become Minnie.
“She’s looking and she has all the guys and she says ‘Where’s Michael?’ and Michael didn’t play, he’s a walk-on,” Krzyzewski said. “It was the first time a grandmother has given me a hard time about playing time.
“I said, ‘You got to stop. Don’t be asking about Michael.’ She has never looked at those things.”
She has now. And Michael laughed when told about Mickie’s analytical interest, saying, “I love my Minnie. She’s got my back no matter what.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nca...oes/ar-AAHRl42
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
Michael Savarino is a great kid who played point guard on a medium sized college prep private school team, averaging about 8 points and 3 assists a game. Obviously, he is on the Duke team due to his family connections, and I'm fine with that. As far as I'm concerned Mike K has earned the right to put his entire family on the team if he wants to.
My question is this. Would you accept that position if you were the grandson and it was offered to you? On the one hand it's an opportunity to have a totally unique experience, one that few people will ever get within a million miles of, but on the other hand you're going to be completely embarrassed every time you step on the court in practice or whatever, and it's going to be painfully obvious that you are only there due to nepotism.
So what would you do?
Is he considerably less accomplished than our typical walkon, many of whom have not been particularly adept players? They tend to be hard workers who are good enough to practice and scrimmage with the scholarship kids.
I suspect, based upon his credentials, that he's good enough to hold his own on the court and in the locker room.
As someone who grew up a "coach's son..." that's tough. I admire players and coaches who can walk that path.
Having said that, I can't imagine anything that would keep me from taking advantage of a chance to play ball at Duke under K.
Hence my still festering frustration with Rasheed Sulaimon.
Hard at work making beautiful things.