McRoberts vs. Filipowski

Billy Dat said:
I think what we learned about Flip's off-court relationship, and the fact that said relationship seemed to prevent him from spending time with the other guys on the team outside of official team practices and events, would have precluded him from being named a Captain. I thought it was very telling that he wasn't named a captain as a sophomore and it made a lot more sense when we found out about his girlfriend.

As for McRoberts, I couldn't find any of the sources I remember reading about the following, but it seems like there was regret he expressed later in his career for having come to Duke, that it was not the right fit for his personality. He was kind of in that last era where K was a traditional coaching tyrant, right before K seemed to (relatively) mellow a few years later. I'll always remember McRoberts crying on the bench during a home loss to Carolina, with the camera fairly close to his face, and Wojo coming over and aggressively grabbing the towel off his face and essentially saying, "No crying allowed!" I felt bad for him. Today's game suits him much better with a more prominent role for skilled big men. Too bad he had so many injuries...but he made over $30MM in his NBA career so he's got that going for him...which is nice.
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I second this. I also feel bad for McRoberts. By the metrics, the 2007 team wasn’t even particularly bad. It ranked 10th in KenPom with a top ten defense. The offense was one of K’s worst and the team lost a ton of close games, but I’d argue the team was better than its results. Injuries, untimely suspensions, a lack of experience, and the lack of a go-to scoring threat made the squad hard to watch, but I think McRoberts got more blame than he deserved for this.

Funny enough, i actually think he would have thrived on the 2008 team next to freshman Singler, sophomores Scheyer and Henderson, and veteran leader Nelson. He could’ve been the team’s Swiss Army knife without the burden of being the primary scoring threat. The 08 team played fast and uptempo, which suited McRoberts. And, most importantly, he would’ve given that team the size it needed to compete at the highest level. Things worked out fine for everyone in the end. The 06-07 frosh left Duke with a title and McRoberts made plenty of money in the NBA. But i would’ve loved to see McRoberts on the 08 team, as I feel a player of his skill set was exactly what that team was missing. Winning cures a lot of ills, and I think McRoberts would’ve won big with Duke in 08.
 
I just remember one game in Cameron, McRoberts committing a turnover, then running to the defensive end and committing a stupid foul. Then there was a timeout, but instead of running to the huddle like everyone else, he slowly sulked his way back. Then he shoved a team assistant out of the way so he could get into the huddle. I did not feel sorry for him.
 
bundabergdevil said:
This is a really random thread.
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I thought so at first. But I do see a lot of parallels between these two young men, their careers at Duke, their frustrations, and their potential moving forward.

Josh made over $34m in his career in the NBA. I suspect that Kyle will eclipse that, if for no other reason than the growth of NBA salaries.
 
aimo said:
I just remember one game in Cameron, McRoberts committing a turnover, then running to the defensive end and committing a stupid foul. Then there was a timeout, but instead of running to the huddle like everyone else, he slowly sulked his way back. Then he shoved a team assistant out of the way so he could get into the huddle. I did not feel sorry for him.
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My goodness, he must have been really frustrated to shove a student while on the court.

Did he hurt his knee and/or ankle and have to be carried off the floor by his teammates?
 
jimsumner said:
Did I read that correctly? You think Josh Mc Roberts "appeared to intentionally give away [the Clemson game] several times?" Was he shaving points? Just not like Coach K? I'm open to other suggestions for what seems to me to be a preposterous and borderline libelous take.

Or maybe just human error by a young man in a charged atmosphere.

By the way, Duke's winning basket in that game came when McRoberts inbounded to Jon Scheyer who hit David McClure for the layup. The kind of hockey assist for which McRoberts became well known in the NBA.

Not a giving away-the-game-kind-of-play.
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What? Next you'll be telling me that Tark threw the championship game in '91 . . .
 
I think Utah made a great draft selection. It’s probably also going to be a good lifestyle fit. I’ve done my research, I’d consider converting. 😁

I think Karl Malone had a much more concerning past (when drafted) and he had a HOF NBA career. I agree with the Duke coaching staff, this is strictly a personal matter.
 
We asked so much of Flip this past season to defend the 5 and be our #1 option on offense.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Flip turns into a 40% 3-point shooter and averages 16-18ppg on a good NBA team.
 
I grilled a duck once. Generally, my goose is cooked. Wait, who is the duck and who is the goose? I vote for flip, maybe recency bias.
 
SkyBrickey said:
I wouldn't be surprised at all if Flip turns into a 40% 3-point shooter and averages 16-18ppg on a good NBA team.
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I’ll put a pie bet this never happens given he shot a sad 67% from the ft line last season. To be fair he did shoot 76% from the charity stripe his freshman year.

Btw, that is a very unusual drop-off. FT% usually improves sophomre year. Makes me wonder if his personal issues were affecting his game.
 
Skydog said:
I’ll put a pie bet this never happens given he shot a sad 67% from the ft line last season. To be fair he did shoot 76% from the charity stripe his freshman year.

Btw, that is a very unusual drop-off. FT% usually improves sophomre year. Makes me wonder if his personal issues were affecting his game.
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Let’s not forget that he had offseason surgery. I would not be surprised if that impacted all sorts of things, potentially including FT%.
 
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