Freshman Wall

[HeLooks2MuchLikeDave]

Still waiting for these kids to hit the so-called Freshman Wall. Tre, Zion and RJ have not had any bad or ineffective games, much less a string of such games. Cam struggled with his shot early, but I didn't view that as him hitting a wall, just trying to adjust to his role. I can't recall a freshman in the past who hasn't had some bad games. Even Bagley had a rough stretch last year. Maybe Tyus? Jah, Winslow, Ingram, Jabari, Tatum, Trent, Duval all struggled for periods.

If anyone has hit a wall, it would be our captains, Jack and Javin. They both went from big-time contributors to struggling finding minutes in a blowout win. I wonder if that has to do with this being their first season playing an important and consistent role? Doesn't help that they don't factor into the offense so its hard for them to get rolling. Cam can at least shoot his way back into it. To hit our ceiling, we need early-season Jack. But, we can afford Javin not being at his best as long as Bolden keeps playing lights out.

This seems to be playing out very similarly to 2015 where Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson had their share of troubles. They had almost identical roles to Jack and Javin. Jack and Matt were both 3 and D guys and Amile and Javin were in for low-post defense and rebounding. I had always hoped Amile would develop a reliable elbow jumper to create space for Jah, just like I had hoped Javin would have any sort of jumper to allow him to pair with Bolden.

2015 worked out well primarily because our freshman studs lived up to their billing. So, at the end of the day, if Tre, Zion and RJ are good enough to avoid the freshman wall, they should be good enough to carry us to #6.

 

[Willcampbell]

At least we don't have to worry about the "sophomore slump."
OFC

 

[dukiejay]

Tyus was unspectacular for a stretch in 2015. It didn't last very long, but it was noticeable. For some reason, as you alluded to in your post above, the freshmen this season are the least of my concerns.

Jack, though, he's a major concern. He went from being our most essential reserve to our eighth man, in some respects. And the drop-off has been significant....at least, as significant as I've seen as a Duke fan in quite some time. This is a guy who played 42 minutes against Syracuse and then the whole game five days later vs. UVA. If you're scared of really bad stats, then stop reading now....as this is your warning.

Over the last eight games, Jack has scored 11 points. He was averaging between seven and eight per game prior to this string. He's shooting a blistering 15% (4-for-26) from the field, and less than five percent (1-for-21) from deep. It's beyond startling.

Javin has played somewhat better the last few outings, but he's still nowhere near where he was earlier in the season. The thing with Javin is, he's not asked to do much more than defend, score the occasional bucket and give us, at most, 15 to 20 minutes per night. Heck, most night's it will be 10 to 15. Even when he was playing well, we didn't expect much offensive output....anything he provided there was a bonus. For Jack, being a part of the game plan on offense is key to his role. There are games where he might have to play 25+ minutes like he was earlier.

As Jack would say....time to find that HUNGAH!

 

[jwill133]

I don't think RJ, Zion, or Tre can be classified as a typical freshman so not sure they will ever hit a "freshman wall." I think Cam still has his best basketball ahead of him, he has the toughest adjustment: having to figure out how to play off the ball and how to "blend" with our 2 superstars.

Javin and Jack I am worried about. We need them both come March.
We need Javin because some teams are gonna try to put 5 shooters on the floor (see: Gonzaga) and this can basically take Marques out of the game. Javin can guard someone out to 30 feet. There will be a game we need 20+ minutes from Javin in March.
Javin averages 7.6 FOULS per 40 minutes, that's an absurd number, he needs to stop fouling so much.

We need Jack to get back to being money from the corner. The Devil's Den Podcast brought up that: ever since the Syracuse game where Jack was 0-10, he now has a "hitch" in his shot. I went back and watched the GT game, and Jack did shoot with a hitch. This needs to be fixed.
Jack's poor shooting has also effected his defense, he isn't always in great position like he used to be, and this has taken away from a lot of his minutes.

 

[HonkeyT]

If there is a Freshman Wall, Zion would dunk on it and that would be the end of it.

 

[dukiejay]

If there is a Freshman Wall, Zion would dunk on it and that would be the end of it.

Or just run through it.

 

[Showenuff]

I think RJ is in a bit of a slump actually. I believe we have not seen his best yet and it's coming. For some crazy reason, I think he goes off vs UNCheat.

 

[Showenuff]

This is clearly just an opinion of mine. I think RJ is having to adjust to the spotlight shift. ANY other college and RJ would have been the bulldog extreme there. Unfortunately for him , he wound up competing for the spotlight against the next Big Hoop cyborg since Lebron.

 

[dbav]

I feel like Cam has come through his wall. At least that's my thought after a number on here wanted him benched for a while.

RJ is working through his right now. He's deferring a lot which helps.
Tre has been a bit turnover prone lately (at least in my opinion, I'm not looking at any stats) so let's hope he has a very thin wall.

I don't think Zion will hit one, and if he does, it will likely be with his jumper which he hasn't been trying much lately.

I think that the walls are lessened by the fact that they have each other to work off of. The freshmen seem to share the psychological burden, particularly RJ and Zion. They seem to make each other better. Hopefully the walls have been hit and we're seeing a lot of teamwork to get through them rather than one player bringing down the team.

 

[Willcampbell]

No funding for THE WALL!
OFC

 

[Hurley22]

I think the "freshman wall" has made a business decision on whether or not to get in front of Zion.

 

[spike05rk]

Reddish definitely hit something for several games. Zion has been the most consistent of them all and really don’t see him having that many bad games unless he gets in foul trouble.

 

[2 skerz 3]

At least we don't have to worry about the "sophomore slump."
OFC

Lol

 

[PatrickYates]

Javin was always going to be more effective vs early season teams. Most of those squads don't have traditional bigs, and run out Cs that look and play more like face up 4s than true low post bigs. Jav is much more suited to chasing around perimeter oriented players than is Bolden. Now that we are in the meat of the ACC, facing more traditional bigs every game out, Bolden is more effective. Going in to this season, there were legit concerns about how effective Jav would in the low post. He's always looked a bit wobbly in traditional low post defensive situations. He's great on the perimeter for a big, but subpar in the low post vs other bigs.
.
As for White, what we are seeing is adjustments. No one expected anything from White heading into the season. I mean, not NOTHING, but we had modest expectations for White. And he wildly surpassed those expectations early. But, over the Christmas break, the ACC teams did a deep dive on Duke (and UNC and UVA) to try to formulate strategies to beat those top teams. Jack White was an obvious focal point, and, frankly, the "easiest" fix on the board. Early this year, Jack was basically abandoned. Now he is being marked more closely on the perimeter. He started missing some shots, which snowballed.
.
Any other struggles is probably the result of the working strategy vs Duke. Clog the paint to cut down on driving lanes for RJ and Zion, and encourage Duke to take perimeter shooters, with a concentration on closing out on Cam and Jack. Clogging the paint has the added benefit on making it harder to get Zion the ball in optimal position. This strategy isn't easy to implement, and it won't necessarily work, but it is the only strategy vs Duke that COULD result in a win. RJ and Zion are amazing. Trying to shut down other players is the sound strategy, and White and Jav are the two most obvious victims of that strategy.

 

[Droptops]

I’m still waiting on Cam. Jack also needs to come back to the stage

 

[tw3301]

RJ likes to fall in love with the 3 and take some ill advised shots when driving, this was prevalent in the first half against St. John's. He settled down and played much better (as did the whole team) in the 2nd half. If Cam can shoot 40% from 3 every night and eliminate his turnovers I'll be thrilled... he and Alex should be taking 90% of our threes, the rest of the team only if they are WIDE open.

 

[dukedevilz]

Zion hasn't hit the freshmen wall yet, true. But he's also never faced Luke Maye. So...

 

[skysdad]

I thought Zion was the wall.
OFC

 

[crazyduke3]

I think cam is still inconsistent. Whatever has happened to Jack is not good.

 

[dachampishere2]

Still waiting for these kids to hit the so-called Freshman Wall. Tre, Zion and RJ have not had any bad or ineffective games, much less a string of such games. Cam struggled with his shot early, but I didn't view that as him hitting a wall, just trying to adjust to his role. I can't recall a freshman in the past who hasn't had some bad games. Even Bagley had a rough stretch last year. Maybe Tyus? Jah, Winslow, Ingram, Jabari, Tatum, Trent, Duval all struggled for periods.

If anyone has hit a wall, it would be our captains, Jack and Javin. They both went from big-time contributors to struggling finding minutes in a blowout win. I wonder if that has to do with this being their first season playing an important and consistent role? Doesn't help that they don't factor into the offense so its hard for them to get rolling. Cam can at least shoot his way back into it. To hit our ceiling, we need early-season Jack. But, we can afford Javin not being at his best as long as Bolden keeps playing lights out.

This seems to be playing out very similarly to 2015 where Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson had their share of troubles. They had almost identical roles to Jack and Javin. Jack and Matt were both 3 and D guys and Amile and Javin were in for low-post defense and rebounding. I had always hoped Amile would develop a reliable elbow jumper to create space for Jah, just like I had hoped Javin would have any sort of jumper to allow him to pair with Bolden.

2015 worked out well primarily because our freshman studs lived up to their billing. So, at the end of the day, if Tre, Zion and RJ are good enough to avoid the freshman wall, they should be good enough to carry us to #6.

Bagley didn't have a rough stretch last year. Some games he just didn't get enough touches and attempts. He put up a double double almost every night though

 

[dachampishere2]

I haven't seen any of them hit a freshman wall. Earlier in the season Cam and Zion would pick up 2 early fouls but they seem to have fixed that problem. This is why Jack's minutes have dropped considerably. Zion and Cam are able to stay on the floor more at this point. So the freshmen are getting 30+ minutes per night.

Cam is the only one that you can have a case that he hit the wall BUT as his shots have stopped falling his defense has picked up. Cam has to make the biggest adjustment so he did a lot of overthinking instead of just using his instincts. Plus Koach is showing a lot of confidence in him.

RJ hasn't hit a wall. He has always been a streaky shooter, but he's still getting buckets and doing everything else at a high level.

Tre and Zion don't count. They are beyond their years. They bring it every night and are as composed as I've seen any freshmen. They always play their game and don't let anything deter that.

 

[HeLooks2MuchLikeDave]

Tre and Zion don't count. They are beyond their years. They bring it every night and are as composed as I've seen any freshmen. They always play their game and don't let anything deter that.

I would put RJ in this category. He has been good every night and great most nights. If his shot isn’t falling, he gets to the rim. He always stuffs the stat sheet. And he plays excellent defense.

 

[DeepColor]

If there is a Freshman Wall, Zion would dunk on it and that would be the end of it.

I heard the state of North Carolina was going to tear Zion down and build a four lane highway there.

 

[DukeDenver]

Jack’s shot got flat, literally lost some arc. It must be mental. He needs to destress. Maybe he should sign up for some UNC dual credits.

 

[dachampishere2]

I would put RJ in this category. He has been good every night and great most nights. If his shot isn’t falling, he gets to the rim. He always stuffs the stat sheet. And he plays excellent defense.

Ok you’re right. RJ too. But it’s just something about Tre and Zion. They are the most impactful. One thing I applaud RJ for is his ability to stay on the floor and out of foul trouble.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Jack has lost all confidence in his shot, and is hesitant. And he can't afford to be hesitant on his shot 'cause he takes just a little bit to get his shot off. Seems like when he gets the ball he wants to pass it as quickly as possible. He needs a few wide open looks and makes to get him going. We need him playing like he was earlier in the year.

OFC

 

[dachampishere2]

Jack has lost all confidence in his shot, and is hesitant. And he can't afford to be hesitant on his shot 'cause he takes just a little bit to get his shot off. Seems like when he gets the ball he wants to pass it as quickly as possible. He needs a few wide open looks and makes to get him going. We need him playing like he was earlier in the year.

OFC

I hate when he pump fake and does nothing with it. Pump fake and drive and kick. Not pump fake just to throw the ball to someone that’s guarded. Half the time he has enough time to shoot but he’s really scared

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

I hate when he pump fake and does nothing with it. Pump fake and drive and kick. Not pump fake just to throw the ball to someone that’s guarded. Half the time he has enough time to shoot but he’s really scared

Confidence can be a fragile thing, and he's lost it completely at this time. He's got to find it again somehow for himself, and the team. I'm sure the staff and his teammates are doing everything they can to assist him.

OFC

 

[HeLooks2MuchLikeDave]

I hate when he pump fake and does nothing with it. Pump fake and drive and kick. Not pump fake just to throw the ball to someone that’s guarded. Half the time he has enough time to shoot but he’s really scared

Agree. Most of the time its a better result to just throw up the shot. If it doesn't go in, there is a good chance of a long rebound against a defense that is not set versus passing the ball to someone who needs to make a hero play late in the shot clock.