Is Jack OK?

[CDu]

But Coach K is willing to let someone with a "C" on his jersey play if he commits 5 fouls in 4 minutes?

Poor play isn't the primary reason for Jack's absence.

Again, though, if he was in the doghouse, he probably wouldn't have even seen the court. White saw a minute in the first half, and has seen spot minutes throughout the last several games. If he was hurt or in the doghouse, presumably he wouldn't have seen the court at all.

My sense is that Coach K felt we needed more length in this game, and views White as a 3 or 4 only. So when Carey and DeLaurier got in foul trouble, he went to Hurt and Robinson as the bigs. Robinson really responded, so he kept getting minutes. And, up until the last 81 seconds, the plan was working. We went on a 58-37 run over a ~25 minute span with Carey, Robinson, DeLaurier, and then Hurt playing center. It wasn't until the very end that things fell apart.

Now, the question might be "why didn't we see White or Baker in overtime?" My guess is that Coach K wanted to go with the guys who had been in the flow of the game at that point, rather than bringing in someone cold into a tight game, he chose to ride the guys who had been in there.

On a more general level, I think the return of Moore and his shift to playing more at PF is the main culprit for White's reduced minutes.

[sagegrouse]

Help me out guys, in the one minute that Jack was in last night, didn't he turn the ball over? If I remember correctly (and I may not be) he caught a pass on the wing and then attempted a pass out to one of the guards and it was stolen. Do I have that right?

IF I do, then my guess is that K just isn't going to let someone with a "C" on his jersey play if he can't make a pass.

How about foul out in four minutes of playing time?

[CDu]

Yes, thank you. I did check the box score. The box score is probably correct, which is why I was asking if anyone saw the same thing as I did or if I was miss-remembering. I noticed when Jack came in and I thought that he had an errant pass and thought that that was the end of his night.

This is a touchy subject because we get emotionally attached to these kids and want them to succeed.

In this instance, I'll trust my own eyes over the box score. Jack did make a terrible pass that lead to a turnover in his one minute of action.

I think your eyes let you down. White touched the ball once in the game. He passed to Wendell Moore, who let the ball go right through his hands for an eventual backcourt violation. It wasn't a bad pass by White. Moore just didn't do a good job of securing it.

Having said that, White was wearing a black brace on his right thumb. I wonder if that is part of why his minutes have dropped recently, and part of why he played so little last night. Though, again, I think the bigger part of it was that - up until we fell apart at the end, the lineups were working. And by then, Coach K just didn't want to bring in a cold player into the game.

[SouthernDukie]

I think your eyes let you down. White touched the ball once in the game. He passed to Wendell Moore, who let the ball go right through his hands for an eventual backcourt violation. It wasn't a bad pass by White. Moore just didn't do a good job of securing it.

I erased the game immediately after, so I can't go back and verify. But my memory tells me that Jack threw the ball to Moore just as he was moving. I did note thinking at the time that Moore could have done a better job of securing it, but if you are putting it all on him perhaps your eyes failed you. Just sayin'.

[kAzE]

I think your eyes let you down. White touched the ball once in the game. He passed to Wendell Moore, who let the ball go right through his hands for an eventual backcourt violation. It wasn't a bad pass by White. Moore just didn't do a good job of securing it.

Having said that, White was wearing a black brace on his right thumb. I wonder if that is part of why his minutes have dropped recently, and part of why he played so little last night. Though, again, I think the bigger part of it was that - up until we fell apart at the end, the lineups were working. And by then, Coach K just didn't want to bring in a cold player into the game.

I could understand this if it's a shooter or some type of scorer, but we just needed a couple of stops. You don't need to warm up to play a few possessions of defense. And really, I think being completely fresh at that point would have been a huge plus for defense. He would have had the most energy of anyone on the team.

I know you're (CDu) just trying to make sense of this, but nothing about this makes sense. All our bigs fouled out, Matthew Hurt was tired and getting killed on D, and Coach wouldn't sub him out for one our best defensive forwards. I almost never question Coach K's decisions, but this is one that makes you scratch your head.

[DukeDTD]

I was going to make a similar thread (maybe with a more diplomatically worded title, haha), because it's a question that bears asking. If Jack was dealing with a nagging injury, or was super sick, he probably wouldn't be playing at all. Instead, he seems to be getting "token" minutes, only seeing the court for a spurt of a minute or two a game.

It's also worth mentioning that our recent subpar performances are highly correlated with Jack's absence. Jack has only exceeded 10 minutes per game once (the UNC game) in our past seven games. That includes playing just one minute last night, 4 in Raleigh, and 3 against Florida State. Even in blowouts against Va. Tech and Notre Dame he only saw 3 and 9 minutes, respectively.

To put that in perspective, prior to this seven game stretch, Jack only had TWO games in which he played less than twelve minutes. Even with the last seven games pulling down his average, his MPG is still 16.

There's an argument to be made that Jack has just fallen to the end of the bench given the athletic and interchangeable pieces we have this year. But if that were the case you'd still expect to see him in a game like last night's in which we were ravaged by foul trouble... as great as JRob was, I have to imagine that if something wasn't up with Jack he'd be getting those minutes.

Jack White was a crucial element of this team for the first three quarters of the season, and now has seemingly disappeared without any rhyme or reason. And playing one minute spurts makes it even harder to discern whats up (if he was truly injured he wouldn't be playing at all, and that probably would be the case if he was somehow in the "doghouse" as well). Throughout the early season I highlighted a ton of "winning plays" Jack made, be they especially tough rebounds, smart defense, etc., that might not show up on the box score but were a big part in our success. We could use some of that fire and toughness now.

Anyone who has access to Duke press conferences, ask this question, please! K won't answer (as I know from experience), but it's worth a shot

The decline in defensive efficiency for this team coincides fairly closely with White sitting at the end of the bench. This team played its best BB when White was playing 15-20 minutes a game and often in the lineup to close games. His help defense and shot contesting are noticeably absent and Hurt/Carey are matadors. Plus we need his toughness. I worry that K may have destroyed his confidence by not playing him recently.

[CDu]

I erased the game immediately after, so I can't go back and verify. But my memory tells me that Jack threw the ball to Moore just as he was moving. I did note thinking at the time that Moore could have done a better job of securing it, but if you are putting it all on him perhaps your eyes failed you. Just sayin'.

I rewatched this morning, and again when I saw this post. Yes, Moore was moving. But that's the weave system we run. Nothing about the pass was uncatchable. It most certainly wasn't a "terrible pass". It was a crisp pass that hit an open Moore squarely in the hands... and just squirted through Moore's hands.

Moore is a primary ballhandler on the team. He should be expecting to catch passes. It was a ball he should have caught. I most certainly don't put it on White.

[Devils Librarian]

I rewatched this morning, and again when I saw this post. Yes, Moore was moving. But that's the weave system we run. Nothing about the pass was uncatchable. It most certainly wasn't a "terrible pass". It was a crisp pass that hit an open Moore squarely in the hands... and just squirted through Moore's hands.

Moore is a primary ballhandler on the team. He should be expecting to catch passes. It was a ball he should have caught. I most certainly don't put it on White.

Did White get pulled immediately after this sequence?

[SouthernDukie]

I rewatched this morning, and again when I saw this post. Yes, Moore was moving. But that's the weave system we run. Nothing about the pass was uncatchable. It most certainly wasn't a "terrible pass". It was a crisp pass that hit an open Moore squarely in the hands... and just squirted through Moore's hands.

Moore is a primary ballhandler on the team. He should be expecting to catch passes. It was a ball he should have caught. I most certainly don't put it on White.

My hat’s off to you, if I was wearing one, on watching that game again. My memory tells me that the pass may not have been “terrible”, but it was far from perfect. And at the moment of the pass I remember thinking the turnover was more on Jack then it was on Moore. To each his own.

And the answer is yes, Jack was pulled after that sequence.

[CDu]

Did White get pulled immediately after this sequence?

He did, but I can't imagine it was for passing the ball poorly. The pass was fine. Maybe it was because he was unwilling to shoot the open shot before the pass (that is the gesture that Moore made afterwards), or some other missed assignment on the play, but having watched the pass a few more times now I really don't see the pass itself as in any way bad. It was right at the eyes of Moore, who was about 15 feet away. Moore absolutely should have caught it. So if that play is what got him pulled, it had to be for something other than the delivery of the pass itself. Because it was a very benign pass.

[Devils Librarian]

He did, but I can't imagine it was for passing the ball poorly. The pass was fine. Maybe it was because he was unwilling to shoot the open shot before the pass (that is the gesture that Moore made afterwards), or some other missed assignment on the play, but having watched the pass a few more times now I really don't see the pass itself as in any way bad. It was right at the eyes of Moore, who was about 15 feet away. Moore absolutely should have caught it. So if that play is what got him pulled, it had to be for something other than the delivery of the pass itself. Because it was a very benign pass.

Wow, that's really interesting. Thank you for going back and looking at the sequence and giving us your thoughts. I appreciate it.

[sagegrouse]

My hat’s off to you, if I was wearing one, on watching that game again. My memory tells me that the pass may not have been “terrible”, but it was far from perfect. And at the moment of the pass I remember thinking the turnover was more on Jack then it was on Moore. To each his own.

And the answer is yes, Jack was pulled after that sequence.

It took me about four seconds to delete that game from my DVR.

[kAzE]

My hat’s off to you, if I was wearing one, on watching that game again. My memory tells me that the pass may not have been “terrible”, but it was far from perfect. And at the moment of the pass I remember thinking the turnover was more on Jack then it was on Moore. To each his own.

And the answer is yes, Jack was pulled after that sequence.

Even if it was a terrible pass, what are we even debating here? That he should have been benched the rest of the game because of one mistake? As if nobody else out there was making mistakes?

[Jaks19]

To be honest, the team has played it's way from behind and came out on top but in the 2nd OT, this team was gassed and ran out of options to play as bigs.

[left_hook_lacey]

I've never seen Jaks19 and Jack White in the same place at the same time. 🤔

[SouthernDukie]

Even if it was a terrible pass, what are we even debating here? That he should have been benched the rest of the game because of one mistake? As if nobody else out there was making mistakes?

Absolutely not. I would like to see Jack get more minutes, not less.

[Devils Librarian]

Even if it was a terrible pass, what are we even debating here? That he should have been benched the rest of the game because of one mistake? As if nobody else out there was making mistakes?

That's not the point I was trying to make. My initial understanding was that Jack made a bone headed play almost as soon as he came into the game and K benched him because a senior captain has to perform better.

Now that I know that play didn't go the way that I remember it I'm also a little surprised as to why Jack never got back into the game.

[Spanarkel]

It took me about four seconds to delete that game from my DVR.

How long should it take an obsessive Duke fan like myself to delete that game from my memory?

[Devils Librarian]

While it's fun as fans to speculate and give our points of view, isn't a question like this the actual job of a Duke beat writer to answer? I'd love to hear from someone's whose actual job it is to cover this team why Jack White is buried on the bench.

[CDu]

While it's fun as fans to speculate and give our points of view, isn't a question like this the actual job of a Duke beat writer to answer? I'd love to hear from someone's whose actual job it is to cover this team why Jack White is buried on the bench.

The challenge for said beat writer (note: I am not one) is that the only way to find that out is to get that info from the team. And the “cone of silence” at Duke is a very real hurdle.