Well, in your own words, Coach K will start his best 5. So if Hurt and Williams both stay, starting your best 5 forces Griffin to the 2 by necessity.
Hence the debate that fit might be problematic. Obviously, it would be great to have a first-team All-ACC guy return, but him doing so would cause some tricky lineup decisions because he and Banchero are both 4/5s.
My guess is this is moot though and that only one of Williams and Hurt is at Duke next year.
K wants a primary ball handler, and he can work with anyone from a Kyrie Irving to a Jon Scheyer in that role.
After that, he designs schemes around the best players he has regardless of traditional position, but considering the competition. Small ball? Sure. Twin bigs? Sure. When it makes sense with the players he has. That's the essence of his positionless basketball.
Will we see some zone defense if we aren't speedy enough? Could be. I guess that has "positions," anyway.
-jk
I know it goes against the grain of what almost everyone is doing these days, but, in my mind, Matthew Hurt should strongly consider one more year at Duke to develop in a comfortable environment where he is highly likely to be successful and have his confidence and game continue to grow. I do not subscribe to the narrative that he would not be a good fit on next year's Duke team. There is always a place for shooters, especially ones as efficient as Matthew. I believe an extra year at Duke would help him continue develop his body and athleticism and ultimately lead him to be selected higher in the NBA Draft. This would lead to more investment in him from the team who chooses him and a better chance to stick in the NBA. I saw a lot of growth from Matthew on the defensive end the toward the end of the season, and I would love to see that growth continue. Of course, I do not know how much he likes school and about his relationships at Duke on and off the court. Those things can be major factors. I hope he makes the most of whatever he decides.
He could certainly get physically stronger, but the kind of athleticism that Matthew lacks can't really be developed. And he can develop his physical strength and/or anything else just as well (or probably better) in the NBA or the G-League than at Duke.
If he loves being at Duke and wants to live the "true" college experience then that's one thing. But if we're talking about getting selected higher or sticking longer in the NBA, the questions are only: (a) can he expand his strengths significantly and/or develop new strengths; and (b) can he ameliorate/improve on his weaknesses.
Regarding the first question, it's hard to imagine him shooting much if any better than he shot this past season. And I doubt he'll ever be a bruiser in the post or a top-shelf ballhandler or passer. So I'd guess he can't really expand his strengths significantly or develop new strengths. Regarding the second question, he just doesn't have the quickness or footspeed to be a strong defender against mobile NBA-level players. Plus, NBA GMs seem to have a prejudice against older players. So I don't see any way playing at Duke another season would give Matthew Hurt a professional advantage. He may want to return, and if so that's great, but it's hard to credibly argue that it will help his basketball career.
While I'd like Matt back for selfish reasons, you hit the nail on the head. I am not sure he can improve his footspeed and quickness enough to move the needle. I also have a tough time seeing him shoot any better than he did this year, so he runs the risk of looking like he's regressing.
I strongly doubt he’s coming back but I can see two arguments for him staying at Duke:
- He may never be more than a marginal NBA prospect so a Duke degree would be a good thing to have.
- By this Fall he should be able to get NIL money as a Duke player. We don’t know but a prominent Duke player may make hundreds of thousands in NIL money, which would be a lot more than one can earn in the G league. NIL may start changing the equation, at least for players at schools with large social media followings, like Duke.
This post reminds me of Luka Doncic's draft weaknesses which made me giggle just a little...
"Weaknesses: He can be considered magrinally average athlete by NBA standards … Not overly long, more of an average actually… His first step is slow even for European standrards … Not a very good leaper of one foot, his good jumps come of two feet … Must continue working on his body … He lost some flexibility while he was bulking up … Can be really emotional at times and lose concentration for a few plays… He can depend too much to his instict at times … If he doesn’t have momentum it’s difficult for him to finish plays at the rim… He must improve in changing speeds and pace … His ball handling still needs some polishing, especially with his left hand … Has problems against aggressive ball pressure from smaller, faster opponents … The lack of explosiveness makes it really difficult for him to create his own shoot against great athletes with good wignspan … Isn’t always able to punish switches when he has a versatile Big against him, especially if there are no shooters around him … He has the tendency to over-dribble, trying to find his way around his defender, icing-out teammates momentarily … It’s a questionmark whether he will be able to create consistently at the next level on ISO situations … Finds it difficult to finish in traffic and against elite length … Finishing against contact might be an issue at the next level … Shooting selecion can become a little iffy occasionally with some off balance shoots and long floaters … Can fall in love with his pull-up game and settle too much against switches … Kind of streaky shooter for now … Incosistent 3-point shooter … Must have feet set to shoot well in Catch and Shoot situations … His off the ball game should still improve a little bit more … The fact that he can see angles that no one else can see leads to some extreme passes and, as a consequence, some turnovers… His assist/turnover ratio could be better … He could be more involved on the offensive boards … Doesn’t always box out and depends on instict and position to grab defensive rebounds … He is not always engaged on defense … He should raise his intensity on the defensive end … Doesn’t keep a low stance all the time when he is guarding a ball handler , which makes it easier for his opponent to blow by him … It’s a questionmark who he could guard at the next level, since he has problems against smaller, quicker opponents, but also against athletic wings … Not always physical enough when he is defending in the post … Has problems reading screens on the defensive end … Has been targetted on defense on Pick and Roll situations that force switches to exploit his defensive limitations … Must be more aggressive on defensive close outs …"
https://www.nbadraft.net/players/luka-doncic/
Not necessarily, if the smaller, weaker offensive player has a decided advantage in speed and quickness.
A number of guys that defended Allen Iverson were bigger and stronger. Gilbert Arenas was. And he found Iverson so tough to guard that he's on record as saying he would've rather guarded Kobe than Iverson.
Last edited by bullettoothtony; 04-04-2021 at 08:28 PM.
I get what you're saying here but you're talking about the most elusive NBA player in the history of the game - who also played with an unparalleled reckless abandon. There are whole reels of AI just getting up off the court. The only way he could compete against the bigger and stronger players was to go all out and play with a little (a lot) of crazy. He sacrificed his body EVERY play.
It's best to think in terms of Steph Curry. He's a whole man now compared to what he looked like coming into the league. He had to get stronger to compete consistently.