I hate that 99% of the time, it's all about getting paid as much as possible nowadays. Nevermind playing the biggest role you can on a team vying for a championship. As long as you get an NBA contract, even if you end up sitting on the bench for 1-2 years, it's worth it. That appears to be the prevailing mind set.
Imagine Trevor Keels on this Duke team. It would be SUCH a different (and likely better) team. Granted, we probably don't get Proctor until next season if that happened, but even then, Proctor would probably be a better player next season being a year older.
Even guys who truly want to come back and play a 30+ minute role (as I believe Keels did) are strongly advised to go pro. I hate it.
And now I'm becoming the "back in my day" old guy that I used to ridicule on this message board.
Last edited by kAzE; 02-07-2023 at 06:46 PM.
Yep. Keels on this year’s team, or Hurt on last year’s team (obviously the presence of Banchero and Williams made that unrealistic, but imagine having Hurt as the floor spacer for either of those guys, playing 20-25 mpg), or Trent on the 2019 team would have been huge. Alas…
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
No, Griffin was not nearly as good as Hurt. They are not the same thing. Not even close. Similar style, but Hurt was WAY better.
Also, having two elite shooting options would be a plus. When Griffin had a clunker it wouldn’t sabotage our offense, because we could rely more on Hurt.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Last edited by CDu; 02-07-2023 at 07:35 PM.
Anybody feel that posts denigrating the ability of our current players is a bit unseemly?
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Even aside from his shooting, Keels had a level of physicality and ability to finish inside that our guards haven't been able to replicate this season consistently. He shot 52.2% on his 2 point field goals last season. Guys like that make the defense play us differently, and opens opportunities for teammates.
He also had over a 2:1 A:TO ratio as a freshman. And although he is more of a scorer than playmaker, and doesn't have the same vision and creativity that Proctor has with his passing, I have no doubt he would have been a pretty good ball handler for us. I imagine he would be something like a better shooting, upgraded version of what Roach is doing offensively, and an absolute bulldog who can switch 1-4 on defense.
Last edited by kAzE; 02-07-2023 at 08:40 PM.
Oh I absolutely do wish we had Keels. As you said, his physicality and ability to protect the ball (clearly a bugaboo for both current guards at times) and his ability to drive to the basket would be a huge plus.
And on the off-chance we got both him and Proctor, it would give us the ballhandling and lineup versatility that we had hoped Whitehead would provide.
I think Proctor could have a monster sophomore year. He’s talented but so young. I think a lot of those shots around the rim start falling as well as from distance. He’s played minor league pro ball with grown men and he’ll have a had year Duke. I know that I would prefer to come back and lead Duke vs grinding out a year in the G league but who knows what he’s thinking. Sure he can get better there as well as at a Duke but Duke has to be way more fun. I could say the same about Flip having a monster sophomore year and getting way better. Especially sinking of those chippies at the rim. But Flip will be a first rounder and he’s tough as nails. I think he’ll get “knocked back” but figure it out. I think Proctor needs to take another minute before he makes the jump. He’ll make the Tre and Hurt sophomore leap and be much more ready to prove his worth in the league.
As much anyone would like Proctor back at Duke for a Soph year he is 19 years old. I do not think it was his intention to enroll early and to return, but to enroll early and be eligible for the draft. Just my opinion.
Keels is hitting 38% of his 3s this year in the G-League where the 3-point line is about a foot and a half further back and where the defenders are considerably better than what you see in college. I think he would have been pretty effective had he stuck around for another year. Would have expected him to average 16+ ppg.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Did the Knicks work with him in the off-season? Did he change his shooting mechanics? Keels had a very flat shot at Duke. This doesn't seem like a Luke Kennard situation in which his mechanics were sound and he just needed to adjust to the speed of the game. It's almost impossible to say what would have happened if Keels had stuck around Duke.
But beyond that, his effectiveness in a hypothetical second season at Duke would only matter if that effectiveness would have propelled him into the first round. His measurables were average-to-below-average and his agility drill numbers were below-average-to-poor. That stuff wasn't going to change. So it's very possible that nothing short of shooting 44% on threes (like Kennard did his sophomore season) could have gotten him into the first round. We can argue that until the proverbial cows come home, but there's just no way to know for sure.
No one is posting possible line ups.
No crystal ball
Just to steer posts on speculation.
Reeves Center
Filipowski Power Forward
Mgbako Small forward
McCain Shooting Guard
Proctor Point Guard
Bench
Stewart Power Forward -Center
Power P-S Forward
Mitchell P-S Forward
Foster Point Guard
Schutt Shooting Guard
Blakes Defensive specialist
just speculation.
Roach moves on
Lively and Whitehead try the draft or G League.
Flip is almost certainly gone. Late lottery pick.
Mitchell and Proctor are likely gone. Don’t count on them staying.
Really hoping Ryan Young is back for another year. And could a great NIL package keep senior captain Roach around for one more year?