Alex????

[hart2chesson]

Curious what the group thinks of AOC's play to this point this year. I remember last year he was getting some props for Dunleavyesque comparisons and scored double digits I think in a couple conference games.

Like Coach K says "every player runs his own race." Just wondered is Alex of the following:

A)about where you expected in progress
B)slightly above progress of last year
C) slightly below progress of last year
D)surpassed in rotation by Jack White and thus less of a factor

Thanks in advance,

OFC

 

[dukesince91]

I'll go "C". He just hasn't shot the ball as well as I had expected and he has a long way to go n defense. I thought if anyone needed to be redshirted it was him last year. I really think his strength level really needs to improve.

 

[bullcity gamer]

Agree with dukesense91. Seems like his offense has regressed while at the same time his defense has progressed.

 

[Jakarii]

I was wrong about him. Preseason I had him penciled in as a starter

 

[Mac9192]

C. He looks to have regressed. In the little that he’s played, I haven’t seen him shoot much, so I’m not sure if that area has improved or not.
I think he needs to do a little soul searching. Start with a good haircut, and when he gets time, make a mark. Be aggressive, the worst thing that can happen is he goes back to the bench. Not like he doesn’t know where that’s at either.

 

[Buzzooka Joe]

I think what we’ve seen from him so far is about as good as it’s going to get THIS year.. I’m sure he will be a bigger part of the team his Jr & Sr years.. There’s just too much talent and size this year for him to play any significant role.. and Jack White has improved so much that he needs as many minutes off the bench as possible.

 

[jnastasi]

I always kinda thought he’d have more of an impact his junior and senior years. For Duke standards, he wasn’t very highly ranked. He’ll be a great senior though.

 

[JohnstonCDevil]

I'm really surprised in Alex's play this year. I thought he would really be able to come off the bench and give us some scoring when our starters were out, but it seems like he is reluctant to shoot at all. Maybe it's a lack of confidence. One good game could help that out. He doesn't seem to have added any weight and strength this year, so defensive wise he is still way behind. Hoping he finds something soon, we could use scoring!!!
OFC

 

[pisgah101]

D

 

[jwill133]

He was better last year than anyone could have projected IMO. He hasn’t done much this year to show any improvement unfortunately.

His role on this team should be easily defined. Make 3’s.

 

[dukehokie]

A. He was a low 4 star who had some work to do in key areas and he has been working on those. I like how well his defense has progressed because he’s always going to be a good scorer. A lot of guys like him struggle sophomore year, a year where they first face expectations, only to blow up their junior season.

He’s making “scared” plays right now. Passing out of shots, hiding behind the defense on offensive possessions, etc. He’s clearly not comfortable and playing not to screw up. His confidence and verve has been down for a few games now. He might not need a game winner like Cam, but he certainly needs to see some shots go in.

 

[Showenuff]

Personally, it looks to me that K has very little patience with Alex. It’s like Alex pissed him off at some point and plays scared to make a mistake Because usually one sends him back to the pine.

 

[FearTheBeard]

C and D.

 

[BNM79]

He looks passive on offense. But he’s improved on the defensive end. I’m guessing the offense will come in time as he has probably been told to focus on defense. But don’t see him getting more than 10 minutes per game much this year. Unless it is a blowout

 

[hart2chesson]

Appreciate all the dialogue and observations. Personally I think C (slight regression) and D (Jack White has surpassed AOC to this point rather clearly), thus limiting his minutes. I hope Alex can trend in the other direction because coming into the year he was valued fairly highly as a 3 pt shooting threat. We can always use that-

OFC

 

[df64]

I'm in the his D is better and his O is worse boat. I do love how he consistently crashes the boards on D and throws himself in the mix. Thought he would contribute more, but still have faith in him. He is gonna win us a game or 2 this year, but wont contribute every game. He will be worth his weight in gold the next 2 years.

 

[spike05rk]

Hard to tell when he is getting so little playing time.

 

[dukiejay]

It’s been disappointing for me to watch. I had higher expectations for him this season. His defense still isn’t great, but that’s never been his calling card. I pictured him being a shot maker off the bench. I’ve even said I thought AOC would have to win us a game this season like we saw Matt Jones or Andre Dawkins do in years past. While I think it’s still possible, it’s looking more and more like wishful thinking on my part. He doesn’t even look to be a part of the offense when he enters a game.

 

[WI#1Dukie22]

He still has time- he’s getting his chances. Alex will do big things before he leaves- maybe not as soon as we thought is all

 

[skysdad]

It’s been disappointing for me to watch. I had higher expectations for him this season. His defense still isn’t great, but that’s never been his calling card. I pictured him being a shot maker off the bench. I’ve even said I thought AOC would have to win us a game this season like we saw Matt Jones or Andre Dawkins do in years past. While I think it’s still possible, it’s looking more and more like wishful thinking on my part. He doesn’t even look to be a part of the offense when he enters a game.

He's still just a soph. Hope he stays around. He's a legacy and has Duke blood in him. We've had several guys that experienced a second year slump. There's still a lot more of this season left. I'm not giving up on him. He doesn't play D very well although I think he tries but he's not there yet. He has some athletic skills though. Perhaps a new haircut or style may turn him around. Stranger things have happened. We were supportive of this kid last year. I ain't giving up on him. I hope you guys don't either. OFC

 

[PatrickYates]

I'm really surprised in Alex's play this year. I thought he would really be able to come off the bench and give us some scoring when our starters were out, but it seems like he is reluctant to shoot at all. Maybe it's a lack of confidence. One good game could help that out. He doesn't seem to have added any weight and strength this year, so defensive wise he is still way behind. Hoping he finds something soon, we could use scoring!!!
OFC

I think Alex is a guy that needs to get in the flow of the game offensively, and it takes him a few minutes to do that once he comes in.
.
Which we don't have time for this season. When Jack comes in, he's ready to let fly. He works hard to get open and if his teammates find him, he's willing to let fly. And if he misses a few shots, he still shoots when he's open. If he has a bad night shooting, he still works hard the next time out to get open, and shoot when he gets it.
.
AOC doesn't do that. He is not ready to let fly the instant he comes in. We don't need him to be a well rounded contributor on offense. We need him to be a sniper that works hard to get open, and then lets fly once he does so. He can't have a memory or a conscious. He seems to have both. I'm not saying he needs to jack up 10 shots a game, regardless. But he can't let past failures dissuade him when he gets a good look. He won't get many such great looks in a game, but he needs to shoot them when they come around.

 

[bullcity gamer]

Personally, it looks to me that K has very little patience with Alex. It’s like Alex pissed him off at some point and plays scared to make a mistake Because usually one sends him back to the pine.

I have had the same observations Show. I think it was either yesterday’s game or against Wake. Alex was driving the lane and decided to force a pass in tight space to Javin (which ended up being a steal for the opposition) when Alex should have shot a floater or gone straight to the hoop to get fouled. Next time out, I read Coach K’s lips telling Alex to “shoot the damn ball”. I am not giving up on O’Connell. Some of our former Blue Devils have hit walls during their careers Quinn’s Junior year, Suliamon’s Sophomore year before ACC play, Andre Dawkins Junior year, MP3 and Zoubek were not factors until they were upperclassmen just like Jack White. As Coach K has expressed, every player runs their own race. The guy knows what he is talking about and doing.

 

[dukiejay]

He's still just a soph. Hope he stays around. He's a legacy and has Duke blood in him. We've had several guys that experienced a second year slump. There's still a lot more of this season left. I'm not giving up on him. He doesn't play D very well although I think he tries but he's not there yet. He has some athletic skills though. Perhaps a new haircut or style may turn him around. Stranger things have happened. We were supportive of this kid last year. I ain't giving up on him. I hope you guys don't either. OFC

I didn’t mean for my post to come across negatively. My expectations for him this season just haven’t come to fruition. I think Patrick’s post above echoes how I feel about him. I still believe he has a chance to be a really good player at Duke.

 

[timo0402]

Alex has been pretty weak on the year. Really surprised by that and don’t think Jack has much to do about that, although Jack has seriously cut into anyone else on the team’s opportunity to get onto the floor.

 

[skysdad]

I didn’t mean for my post to come across negatively. My expectations for him this season just haven’t come to fruition. I think Patrick’s post above echoes how I feel about him. I still believe he has a chance to be a really good player at Duke.

I didn't take it in a negative way. I thought he be better this year too. Jack justo seized the moment and took advantage. He had to work hard during the off season. Maybe Alex will work hard on his game and seize the moment when it comes his way. OFC

 

[dachampishere2]

All I know is that dude is super athletic. I didn't know he could jump like that. But anyway the game hasn't slowed down for him yet. He looks nervous out there when he gets the ball. In one of these blowouts, Coach needs to let him play about 20 minutes to see if he can get something going.

 

[timo0402]

No question he has the ability. And he has shown flashes of it, but overall on the season it has been disappointing.










He will probably transfer.

 

[TheDude1]

I was wrong about him. Preseason I had him penciled in as a starter

Gotta admit, I thought this was a possibility, for the three point shooting, running Zion at the 5.

 

[BlueDaveil]

I don’t know if I would say Alex has regressed. He has certainly made strides on the defensive end which is what kept him out of games early. I don’t think anyone thinks he should be playing over Jack at this point.

Most of his key stats are actually up this year from last year except for 3 point percentage. I would attribute this both to him trying to do too much in his limited time on the floor and the fact that he’s almost never in the game with Cam or another prolific shooter. It’s pretty easy for defenses to clamp down on him on the perimeter when he’s in there.

Perhaps if Cam continues his recent level of play and Alex gets in the game with either Cam or Jack it would free him up to get more open looks.

 

[dachampishere2]

How do I post videos on here?

 

[BOOGIEMAN1914]

like others have said, he just needs to be ready to shoot and could def do more movement out on the perimeter or is his job to to find a spot stay there and wait for the drive and the possible help off of him that leaves him open?....he may very well be doing whats asked of him at the moment?

 

[AlanInNJ]

I think he needs a little more confidence. He seems to play not to make a mistake and not to miss a shot. What's that saying; you miss 100% of the shots you don't take? It's tough in close games to get him more minutes on the the current roster the way he has been playing. I am in the camp that he will get spot minutes this year, and I look for a strong Junior campaign from him. Bring it Alex!

 

[duhondukie]

There is still a lot of time for him to improve. If you look at his body it is evident to me he did not push himself in the weight room. Usually college kids make the biggest gains from their freshman to sophomore year in terms of strength. With added strength comes a sense of confidence and in my opinion Alex has neither of those.

 

[Canadian Dukie]

I dont think K trusts him,that's the bottom line

 

[hart2chesson]

I dont think K trusts him,that's the bottom line

Interesting CD. You may have something there...

OFC









TIMO:
He will probably transfer.[/QUOTE]
GETTING A BUZZCUT AND HEADING TO ARMY I HEAR..... OFC

 

[dukiejay]

I dont think K trusts him,that's the bottom line

I think K wants to trust him. Right now, AOC just hasn't earned it.

 

[jcdevilfan]

Personally, I think I would go with "A", about where I expected him to be. With the way Jack has come on and the talent displayed by the Freshmen, it doesn't leave much room for Alex.
I really like this young man and find myself rooting for him when he does get in the game. I really want him to do well and get more playing time, but it won't be this year. (He will make a big shot this year, somewhere)
He is passing up shots that we need him to take, and he does seem out of place at times, and with the limited playing time, he can't seem to engage. I really believe he will be fine, but like others have said, probably his Jr./Sr. years.
One thing for sure, he has a beautiful shot, he is fearless, and if you have noticed, when he does make a mistake, he usually comes right back with a steal or something positive.
We all need to stay behind and support him, he's a great kid and is Duke all over.
Now Alex, keep working, be aggressive when the opportunity presents itself, and go for it!
Oh yeah, and quit flopping your hair down over your face, get a "buzz"!
Go Duke!
OFC

 

[BNM79]

I think K wants to trust him. Right now, AOC just hasn't earned it.

The fact he isn’t getting DNPs for sure tells us k wants to trust him. And also knows getting him some game exposure will hopefully get him in the right groove because a shooter like him could win some games for us.

 

[dukehokie]

Should Cam be able to show some consistency now, K would be able to point his attention more towards Alex. Getting Cam good to go has been ultimately more important than Alex.

 

[hart2chesson]

Personally, I think I would go with "A", about where I expected him to be. With the way Jack has come on and the talent displayed by the Freshmen, it doesn't leave much room for Alex.
I really like this young man and find myself rooting for him when he does get in the game. I really want him to do well and get more playing time, but it won't be this year. (He will make a big shot this year, somewhere)
He is passing up shots that we need him to take, and he does seem out of place at times, and with the limited playing time, he can't seem to engage. I really believe he will be fine, but like others have said, probably his Jr./Sr. years.
One thing for sure, he has a beautiful shot, he is fearless, and if you have noticed, when he does make a mistake, he usually comes right back with a steal or something positive.
We all need to stay behind and support him, he's a great kid and is Duke all over.
Now Alex, keep working, be aggressive when the opportunity presents itself, and go for it!
Oh yeah, and quit flopping your hair down over your face, get a "buzz"!
Go Duke!
OFC

Excellent points throughout JC, and hey I agree on the "buzz" as well....OFC