feel free for everyone else who watched the game to share there thoughts on this but i thought i would share my evaluations of the freshman and then the team as a whole.
tyus jones- i understand now why he is starting over quinn cook. i was left more impressed after watching him play tonight than any other game i have seen him play. perfect QB for the offense and just an amazing distributer and has such a high basketball IQ and understanding of the game. so glad that He chose Duke
Grayson Allen- freak athlete as many of you already know but i think he can do a lot of other great things on the team but i do think he will be the odd man out this year especially sense matt jones is playing so well. good shooter and i was pleasantly surprised with his passing ability he had at least a couple of great passes to Okafor. next season i think he will do a great job backing up Tyus (hopefully) at the Pg position.
Justice Winslow- I think the defensive tools are there but i did not see him as an amazing defender like many made him up to be but with some coaching i believe he can get to that level. i think he just needs to get used to the new college rules of hand checking as i saw more than once where he would put his hands on the person he was defender and than quickly take them off allowing his man to get a step on him. it looks like his jumper is respectable but his straight line driving ability seems to be very good as he got to the rim and finished quite a few times.
Jahlil Okafor- just WOW. i remember a few people saying that he is even better than expected but i never imagined him being that good. he hit multiple 10-15ft jump shots, showed off the baby jump hook, used great footwork, and finished strong at the rim. i wish i could have seen him when he is on defense facing a better offensive player because to be honest MP3 is just bad at creating his own shot. Okafor also passed very well out of double teams but i wish the blue team would have double and maybe even tripled teamed him more because i assume most teams will do that cause he is just unstoppable. just like with Tyus Jones i came away more impressed watching him this game than any other game i have seen him play
Matt jones- i know he is not a freshman but besides Okafor i was the most impressed with him. This year i believe he will be the perfect glue guy at the 2/3 positions. he made at least 2 threes and i don't remember him missing either. he also showed a little dribble game coming off of screens and being able to use the floater over bigger players. i honestly did not notice much of his defense but if it as good as last years than I'm good. if his 3pt shot is a consistent threat through out the year than he is a carbon copy of Danny Green from the San antonio spurs. (great 3pt shooter, above average defense, not a good one on one dribble attacker but utilizes back cuts and screens to get to the rim. There's a few subtle differences but they aren't worth mentioning)
This team really has me excited for the coming season. I hope matt jones stays in the starting lineup and rasheed sulaimon stays on the bench as the 6th man. Duke NEEDS to get the ball to Okafor every play for this team to be successful in my opinion and i think the duke staff realizes that way better than i do. I see Rasheed having a big year coming off the bench. he is just the scoring/shooter that this team needs in the second unit. i Love the vibe he gives off on the court when he plays defense and attacks the basket. he just seems like he's pissed off at everyone about everything and he has to prove himself. i was disappointed that Amile jefferson never showed off a mid range jumper but he did go 2/3 from the free throw line and had a couple over good moves driving to and around the basket. I think Amile jefferson and quinn cook are going to be great leaders for this team.
I think minutes go something like this
Pg- tyus(27) Quinn(13)
Sg- Matt(12) Rasheed(18) Quinn(10)
Sf- Justice(20) Matt(11) Rasheed(9)
Pf- Amile(27) Semi(8) Justice(5)
C- Okafor(30) Marshall(10)
I think this will be the average in only the games that are close
Thoughts? Disagreements?
tyus jones- i understand now why he is starting over quinn cook. i was left more impressed after watching him play tonight than any other game i have seen him play. perfect QB for the offense and just an amazing distributer and has such a high basketball IQ and understanding of the game. so glad that He chose Duke
Grayson Allen- freak athlete as many of you already know but i think he can do a lot of other great things on the team but i do think he will be the odd man out this year especially sense matt jones is playing so well. good shooter and i was pleasantly surprised with his passing ability he had at least a couple of great passes to Okafor. next season i think he will do a great job backing up Tyus (hopefully) at the Pg position.
Justice Winslow- I think the defensive tools are there but i did not see him as an amazing defender like many made him up to be but with some coaching i believe he can get to that level. i think he just needs to get used to the new college rules of hand checking as i saw more than once where he would put his hands on the person he was defender and than quickly take them off allowing his man to get a step on him. it looks like his jumper is respectable but his straight line driving ability seems to be very good as he got to the rim and finished quite a few times.
Jahlil Okafor- just WOW. i remember a few people saying that he is even better than expected but i never imagined him being that good. he hit multiple 10-15ft jump shots, showed off the baby jump hook, used great footwork, and finished strong at the rim. i wish i could have seen him when he is on defense facing a better offensive player because to be honest MP3 is just bad at creating his own shot. Okafor also passed very well out of double teams but i wish the blue team would have double and maybe even tripled teamed him more because i assume most teams will do that cause he is just unstoppable. just like with Tyus Jones i came away more impressed watching him this game than any other game i have seen him play
Matt jones- i know he is not a freshman but besides Okafor i was the most impressed with him. This year i believe he will be the perfect glue guy at the 2/3 positions. he made at least 2 threes and i don't remember him missing either. he also showed a little dribble game coming off of screens and being able to use the floater over bigger players. i honestly did not notice much of his defense but if it as good as last years than I'm good. if his 3pt shot is a consistent threat through out the year than he is a carbon copy of Danny Green from the San antonio spurs. (great 3pt shooter, above average defense, not a good one on one dribble attacker but utilizes back cuts and screens to get to the rim. There's a few subtle differences but they aren't worth mentioning)
This team really has me excited for the coming season. I hope matt jones stays in the starting lineup and rasheed sulaimon stays on the bench as the 6th man. Duke NEEDS to get the ball to Okafor every play for this team to be successful in my opinion and i think the duke staff realizes that way better than i do. I see Rasheed having a big year coming off the bench. he is just the scoring/shooter that this team needs in the second unit. i Love the vibe he gives off on the court when he plays defense and attacks the basket. he just seems like he's pissed off at everyone about everything and he has to prove himself. i was disappointed that Amile jefferson never showed off a mid range jumper but he did go 2/3 from the free throw line and had a couple over good moves driving to and around the basket. I think Amile jefferson and quinn cook are going to be great leaders for this team.
I think minutes go something like this
Pg- tyus(27) Quinn(13)
Sg- Matt(12) Rasheed(18) Quinn(10)
Sf- Justice(20) Matt(11) Rasheed(9)
Pf- Amile(27) Semi(8) Justice(5)
C- Okafor(30) Marshall(10)
I think this will be the average in only the games that are close
Thoughts? Disagreements?
