Originally Posted by
tommy
More Tape? Really? I think last night was sort of a "OK we're gonna give you some minutes. Let's see what you've got" kind of opportunity for Patrick, and the results were not good. He's trying out there, but I think it's pretty obvious that he is not an ACC-caliber player. He just doesn't have the athleticism, he has no springs, he can't finish inside, and I don't see him really doing much positive out there at all. He's got a big body -- maybe too big below the waist -- but what skills has he exhibited? I'm sure he's a great kid but I'm not sure what the staff saw in him to think he can contribute at this level. So I won't be surprised if his minutes are limited going forward.
Problem is Williams clearly isn't ready. His body and his game aren't developed at all. He may be a contributor in the future, but not this year. If one of them needs to be in the game to provide size -- which I think will be rare -- I'd prefer it to be Williams to give him the opportunity to develop now, as we'll need him next year.
Brakefield got everyone excited with his three point shooting earlier in the year for a few games, but that has fallen off drastically. He's a good athlete and seems comfortable out there, but as others have noted too, his defense is poor. He got beat baseline last night and tried to sort of follow his man or maybe try to recover with his back to the driving Pitt player. Huh? It was almost comically bad. He was pulled very soon thereafter, never to return. We may need him to play some minutes as a bigger guy (although I don't see him at all as a power player as some do) but if he can't play D and his shot isn't falling, then . . .
I could easily be wrong here, but I think last night could be a sign of decreasing playing time to come for Goldwire. It's possible that K is realizing that when Jordan is out there, we are essentially playing 4 on 5 on offense, and with this team we just can't do that. Yes he is really good as an on-ball defender (usually) but his skill set as a distributor and shooter really are problematic. And also maybe K wants to just have Roach and Steward play through all their issues, make their mistakes, learn, and improve, and give them the minutes to do so as a duo, rather than as a trio with JG. Or not. Just a thought.
On the positive side, obviously Jalen Johnson showed why he was so highly touted coming out of high school and why he will be coveted by the NBA. That was a lottery pick performance last night, no question about it. If we can have him playing at a high level, plus last night's Wendell Moore, and a more normal Matt Hurt performance, that is something to build on. Then it really becomes a question of the freshman guards. Can they "get it" in time, learn to make better decisions, set up teammates, and of course hit some jumpshots? Both have had some nice moments and both have frequently struggled. We have to have them playing smarter, and we have to have them making open jumpshots. DJ Steward is the starting shooting guard on a high major team, coming out of HS with a reputation as a knock down shooter. So far, he has simply not been anywhere close to that, and we need him to be. Our guards repeatedly missing wide open jumpers not only hurts us badly on the scoreboard, but it's demoralizing.
I'm hopeful that under K's tutelage, the guys are gonna "get it" and learn to play better both individually and as a team. I'm realistic though as to the overall talent level of this team, which per Duke's standards, is pretty low. Thankfully the ACC is pretty mediocre this year, so there will be lots of opportunities for an improving team to win games. We can be that improving team, but we have to start making those improvements now. Right now.