Expectations for Roach & Steward

[dm9e24]

Bart Simpson at the blackboard?

I before E except after C

[dm9e24]

From watching in AAU I think Roach will be every bit as good as Tre's freshman year offensively. He is a better penetrator in the lane than the freshman Tre. Steward every bit as good offensively as Cassius without the elite athleticism. Dunking is secondary. Both were good defenders, just not on Tre's level. But Roach is capable.

Neither statement is implying that Roach is better than today's Tre or Steward than Stanley 2 years from now. Freshman year to freshman year.

[proelitedota]

Roach worked on his jumpshot extensively during his recovery. I expect him to be better from range than Tre, who had statically one of the worst 3 pt shooting season for a freshman PG. He was worse than Trevon!

[Jaks19]

Need to wait for the stats during then after the FR year to compare Roach and Tre. Roach has a lot of Tre like qualities in his game but other former Duke names come up to such as Duhon and Avery.

After talking to a few AAU coaches out of VA, they all echo the same thing. Roach is a very calm and cerebral PG. He is a good passer and can penetrate off the dribble. And has all of the tools to be a stud defender. The things that they saw this year was he shot the ball better and played with a fire.

[bullettoothtony]

Roach seems to have that moxie you want in a player who will have his responsibilities. Looking forward to seeing him in action at this level.

[EJ.99]

After watching some of Roach’s games a couple things stand out. First his passing and overall basketball IQ is great. He’s really good at setting up his teammates and making flashy passes out to beyond the three point line when he drives. He also has a great layup package, along with quick feet on defense.

His biggest issue is his shooting. It was brought up earlier in the thread but he never shoots the ball... ever. I’ve watched highlight from multiple games in his senior season and he never ever takes a jump shot. That just may not be how he plays, or maybe he was just in some close games and would rather let Keels shoot. Either way I think he’ll be able to set some of our better shooters up for open shots pretty well. But I don’t think he’ll be as good as Tre in his freshman season.

[Jaks19]

Corey Evans from Rivals, had some very high praise things to say about both Roach and Steward. Its on the Rivals Ticker

[Troublemaker]

A more balanced presentation of Jeremy's game, i.e. points out his weaknesses as well :-)

I really think he's a multi-year college player.

[lotusland]

A more balanced presentation of Jeremy's game, i.e. points out his weaknesses as well :-)

I really think he's a multi-year college player.

We’ll really need Jeremy and JGold both to shoot 35% on wide open 3-pointers or defenses will just play off them.

[dukelion]

I think we should also consider Jalen Johnson getting serious minutes at PG.

If Cassius returns could easily see the following:

1 Johnson
2 Cassius
3 Moore
4 Hurt
5 Williams

That's big lineup that could switch almost anything....interesting offensive potential as well.

[UrinalCake]

A more balanced presentation of Jeremy's game, i.e. points out his weaknesses as well :-)

Thanks for the link, very informative. He reminds me of Trevon Duval as a high school prospect. Hopefully will be able to develop better in year one.

[jv001]

A more balanced presentation of Jeremy's game, i.e. points out his weaknesses as well :-)

I really think he's a multi-year college player.

Thanks for the video, TM. I guess this might be one of the best youtube clips I've seen as it gives the best and worst of a player's game. I'm with you in that Jeremy might be a multi-player. His weaknesses seem to be decision making as a point guard and his perimeter shot. I was reminded of Wendell Moore in the video and that got me to thinking if we have Wendell, Jeremy and Jalen in the lineup together the offense may not hit on all cylinders. Then we have Jordan that will see minutes because of his defense. We need for two of these players to improve their shot and Coach K will still need to match his lineup with the players that can shoot it from outside. If Matthew and Cassius return that gives us two shooters to go along with Joey. As for the other freshmen, I have no idea how good they shoot it from distance. The good thing I got from the video was Jeremy seems to be a willing defender and that should get him minutes. However, I hope we don't have one way players like this past season.

GoDuke!

[UrinalCake]

^ agree with jv’s assessment. It’s hard to predict how well a player’s decision making will translate to the college level, it’s an intangible quality that cannot be measured like a player’s vertical leap or three point shooting percentage. I mentioned Duval earlier as a guy who had immense physical tools, but his decision making was poor and he never really caught up to the speed of the college game. Conversely, Tyus and Tre did not stand out on paper but had that “it” factor.

Much of the season will be riding on Roach’s development. We’ll really be missing the leadership and poise that Tre brought. The fact that the team won’t have the full summer (or maybe any of the summer) to get on campus and bond is a real bummer for this young team.

[Troublemaker]

From watching in AAU I think Roach will be every bit as good as Tre's freshman year offensively. He is a better penetrator in the lane than the freshman Tre. Steward every bit as good offensively as Cassius without the elite athleticism. Dunking is secondary. Both were good defenders, just not on Tre's level. But Roach is capable.

Neither statement is implying that Roach is better than today's Tre or Steward than Stanley 2 years from now. Freshman year to freshman year.

His actual AAU stats are unimpressive, though. With the major caveat that we never got to see how Jeremy would've performed the summer after his junior year, due to his injury. But, the summer after his sophomore year, Jeremy put up Tyler Thornton type numbers (sans the high number of steals that Tyler would generate):

[Troublemaker]

Here are Jeremy's USA stats with the U16 and U17 teams, respectively.

Keeping in mind it's somewhat impressive to even make those teams considering there are older players than him on them (although he wasn't the only young guy to make the teams), the assists to turnovers ratios aren't that impressive.

On balance, I don't think Jeremy's going to be as good as or better than freshman Tre Jones.

[jv001]

Here are Jeremy's USA stats with the U16 and U17 teams, respectively.

Keeping in mind it's somewhat impressive to even make those teams considering there are older players than him on them (although he wasn't the only young guy to make the teams), the assists to turnovers ratios aren't that impressive.

On balance, I don't think Jeremy's going to be as good as or better than freshman Tre Jones.

Lot's of turnovers in both set of stats. I also saw Wendell's stats on both. In the 16 year old group. Wendell shot 34% on 2's, 11%(1-9) on his 3s, 75% of his FTs, 8 assists and 8 turnovers, 15 steals. in the 17 year old group: he shot 46% of his 2s, 20%(2-10) on his 3s, 78% FTs, 16 assists and 5 turnovers and 11 steals. So, we saw some of the same from Wendell in his freshmen year at Duke, not a very good shooter, especially on 3s, sloppy with the ball but good on defense. Looking for improvement in his sophomore year at Duke. Work on that outside shot young man and clean up that decision making.

GoDuke!

[Troublemaker]

^ agree with jv’s assessment. It’s hard to predict how well a player’s decision making will translate to the college level, it’s an intangible quality that cannot be measured like a player’s vertical leap or three point shooting percentage. I mentioned Duval earlier as a guy who had immense physical tools, but his decision making was poor and he never really caught up to the speed of the college game. Conversely, Tyus and Tre did not stand out on paper but had that “it” factor.

Much of the season will be riding on Roach’s development. We’ll really be missing the leadership and poise that Tre brought. The fact that the team won’t have the full summer (or maybe any of the summer) to get on campus and bond is a real bummer for this young team.

Not if Jeremy comes off the bench like he should (imo).

I would say since Jalen Johnson is the centerpiece of the class, the season will ride on whether we surround him with the proper complementary talent to maximize Jalen.

Also, obviously the frosh-to-soph jumps that Moore, Hurt, and maybe Stanley make will be key.

[dm9e24]

I pray that a majority of the freshmen class are multi year. Like everyone but Jalen. And then put this core group with Griffin, Baldwin and Christie. And maybe a few junior and senior holdovers. Old school would be fun.

[SilkyJ]

I think we should also consider Jalen Johnson getting serious minutes at PG.

If Cassius returns could easily see the following:

1 Johnson
2 Cassius
3 Moore
4 Hurt
5 Williams

That's big lineup that could switch almost anything...interesting offensive potential as well.

I'd bet everything Williams doesn't see much action. The list of freshman who have started or played a lot as a true center for Duke is pretty small.

Centers who start for Duke as a frosh over last ~20 years are almost always ranked very high in the RSCI:

- Brand (N/A)
- Sheld (8)
- Jah (1)
- Wendell (7)
- Vern (5)
- Jabari (not a center, but he played the 5 a lot -- ranked 3)

Mark williams is ranked 28 in the RSCI.

Your 'average' center comes in with fewer ball skills, they are slower, and are still growing into their bodies. It takes someone exceptional to be able to start for Duke at center. M. Williams seems to fit squarely in the category of lanky, unpolished projects: Eric Boateng, Casey Sanders, Javin, Miles Plumlee (frankly Miles would be an upside case).

He seems to have a lot more in common with them than Jah, Vern, Wendell, Shelden or Brand, don't you think?

[AZLA]

This may sound weird but Jeremy’s strengths remind me of Hurley, based on how well he pushes the ball in transition and passing on the break. Also he seems to have a tenacity for on the ball D. He has a quick outside shot with flatter arch like BH. Might be a stretch ... but BH came to mind especially running the break, which hands down, Bobby was the best ever at it at Duke.