[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
Here's a look at Cam Reddish over the last 5 games:
18.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocks, 1.2 turnovers, shooting 42.6% (FG%) / 39.2% (3P%) / 93.3% (FT%)
That seems pretty good to me.
...and in the flow, playing with confidence. What does Coach K call it? Looking strong, and playing strong.
Great to see it for Cam and the team. Though their games are different, Cam's journey reminds me somewhat of Justise Winslow in 2015; a highly regarded freshman, he struggled in January in the early stages of the conference season, but came on in February, and kept improving. Became a champion, and Cam can, too.
It’s so great that Cam is now starting to play to his potential. Growing up right before our eyes.
One thing that people fail to mention is his defence. That’s one facet of his game that has never been “off”. He is just so long and gets so many deflections / shot alterations. It’s why K gives him so many minutes no matter how he is shooting the ball.
I have to say, he has done a great job of having his best shooting nights in games where we really needed them, and letting his off nights be in games where it doesn’t matter. If that were a skill, he would excel at it. Shot great @FSU, @UVA, second half @UL. Then uses up a dud on a game like yesterday.
If my theory holds true, then UNC “wasted” a great shooting night yesterday against Wake. 16-25 from three. Let’s hope they used them all up and have a cold night on Wednesday.
We all know Reddish is capable of brilliance but he has not figured out how to bring consistency to his offensive game. He is usually pretty good on D most every night. It is not easy to predict - but he has been good when he does not think and simply reacts. Cam's play on O is really the difference between a good Duke team and a great Duke team. We have seen improvement- just have to wait and see what happens on Wed.
Here's a post-Wednesday update on Cam: He's finding consistency in his game at both ends of the court.
In the last 7 games, Cam has scored in double figures 6 times, including 3 times with more than 20 points. Averages:
18.3 points, 2.4 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocks, 3.3 rebounds
Shooting: 39.0% FG% / 35.7% 3P% / 84.0% FT%
By comparison, here are his season averages:
14.3 points, 2.1 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.4 blocks, 3.4 rebounds
Shooting: 36.2%/34.0%/77.5%
To be fair, aside from scoring volume those recent numbers don't look much different from the season averages. He's just shooting the ball a lot more now. He's averaged 15.1 FGA per game in those seven games vs 12.6 FGA per game for the season and 3.6 FTA per game to 3.2 per game for the season. Also, a minor quibble, but it's 1.4 steals per game during this 7-game stretch (10 in 7 games).
Now, the one place where things do seem to be going a bit better is turnovers. He's slightly improved his assist rate while substantially reducing his turnover rate. So that's good. But in general, he's only been incrementally better on a higher shot volume during this 7-game stretch than he has been on the season.
Admittedly, this is very much weighted down by his abysmal shooting performance against NC State. If you take that game out, his numbers support your statement pretty well with regards to scoring: 19.8 ppg, 2.2 apg, 1.7 spg, 0.7 bpg, 2.7 rpg, 42.9 fg%, 38.1 3pt%, 85 ft%. But that one NC State game sort of encompasses his inconsistencies, as it was a real clunker.
If he can play more like those other 6 of the past 7 games the rest of the way, we've really got something from our third option.
Cam had a great game, his performance as well as Barrett's were completely overshadowed by the injury. Assuming Zion comes back, if Cam can keep up this level of play consistently then we're going to be tough to beat.
Yup. Cam was great and is really continuing to improve. And Barrett is Barrett.
If our 4 frosh are healthy and Zion, Cam, and Barrett are hitting some shots, good luck, 'Merica.
I hate to say it, but I'm not sure our non-frosh are ever going to be impact offensive players this year. The shear lack of consistency and lack of offensive plays is really going to make Bolden/bench production very challenging.
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
I'm the biggest Jack White fan, but he should never dribble unless it's absolutely necessary . . . I'm going to pull my hair out if he passes up another wide open corner 3 only to drive the wrong way right into a charge. Other than getting Zion back, Jack White getting his shot back is probably the #1 thing that would help this team right now. We desperately need that 1 extra floor spacer. Right now, everyone in the universe knows Cam is the only real threat from deep, and that makes it even harder for him to get his shot off.
Alex just doesn't look ready to to consistently contribute yet. He's a good shooter, and you can tell the effort is absolutely there, but our defense suffers heavily with him on the court, and he doesn't make great decisions with the ball in his hands.
But we can't complain too much about Javin's offense, he knows he's strictly a dump off/put back guy, and basically never takes a dribble in the halfcourt. When it gets to this point in the season, I'd prefer everyone understands their own limitations, and Javin gets that.
Last edited by kAzE; 02-22-2019 at 12:17 PM.
i read thru the front page linked article, and it was nice enough i suppose. didn't really highlight anything new.
I remember reading about him during his recruitment and the common thread was his "motor" or drifting or however people put it. I haven't really noticed that while he's been at Duke, his defense seems to be consistently quite engaged and stifling at times. However, his offense has been wildly inconsistent lately. I don't have a diagnosis for why but in 3 of the last 6 games he's been...not good, shooting a combined 6-35 FGs. In the other 3 games he has played at an RJ Barrett level, shooting a combined 23-50 FGs.
These guys aren't automatons, and each opponent has different approaches to defending Cam, but consistency seems to be his biggest challenge at the moment. I really hope he's "on" vs uNC tomorrow!!!
Cam has long had a reputation as someone who doesn't consistently play hard enough/coasts, and based on what we've seen from him this season, that reputation appears unfair/unfounded. Cam has (to my eye) been consistently engaged and played hard. He's just got a smooth manner that (erroneously) reads as not aggressive.
Oddly, it may be that his being too eager to overcome the reputation of not being "aggressive" enough has lead to his problem with the charges/player control fouls.
I think that's a very fair take...I did chuckle, though, at the article's claim that Cam's efforts to get into the lane at times appear effortless...I guess that's true on occasion, but by and large Cam's handle needs work.
Still love his potential and his smothering defense. The mention that K wants him to drive more might well explain Tuesday's charging calls...