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Like I’ve said from day 1

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Devils Illustrated Hall of Famer
Mar 7, 2011
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Our point guard will keep up us from winning a title. Beating a mid major fraud doesn’t dispute that. Roach, simply isn’t a Duke point guard. Sucks, but at least K can go out out with a sweet 16 appearance. Championship pg’s win true road games vs sub par opponents. Roach ain’t it, but unfortunately he’s the best we got.
 
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I’ve said the same thing with PG play. Not like he is playing pg. Play AJ at the 3. Shoots better and I’m guessing would be stronger in the lane. Do it now instead of later. Find out if it works.
 
Roach isn't why Duke lost tonight. Foul trouble and tentative decision making on both ends of the floor because of it led to the loss. Poor shot selection too.
 
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The 2010 championship point guard lost on the road to a subpar NCState team (they were an NIT team). Our last championship point guard got beat badly at home to a subpar Miami team (also an NIT team) in which the Miami guards ran circles around ours. That game caused many fans to say that team was as bad defensively as all the recent teams (2014). Things looked much different a few months later in both of those seasons.

Roach did some good things tonight and made some great finishes around the rim. We also have one of the best all-around guards in the country in Moore who dishes out a lot of assists. We'll see how things go the rest of the year. I think things will look different in March.
 
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I’ve said the same thing with PG play. Not like he is playing pg. Play AJ at the 3. Shoots better and I’m guessing would be stronger in the lane. Do it now instead of later. Find out if it works.
Griffin would have to get off the bench and show he can play at full strength at this level . Roach was good but him and Keels to have played in high school together don’t never seem to be on the same page. My main concern going forward is , Will Keels put it all together or continue to force tough shots and be a true frosh and is the seven man rotation all K is going to use because there was Griffin and Jones with ten fouls that could have gave a bigs breathers. Duke was up by 13 .
 
Oh wow! Roach gets the blame for this? Interesting. The kid literally had no turnovers and shot better percentages than Keels and Paolo. We don’t really have a point guard anyway. Even when we “did” he was stuck in the corner his entire freshman season. We don’t run real plays
 
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We seemed to struggle for where to go when we suddenly lost the momentum. That's where an organized set of plays ( like Ioliva points out in the game thread) and a seasoned defined PG would help. Roach isn't getting the blame but he also isn't our defined PG to run the team. Running a PG by committee leads to uncertainty in my view especially when we need to steady the ship. We lost the momentum last night and then didn't have any true strategy to get it back....which has been the MO in recent years with inexperienced but talented young teams. We have gone away from offensive sets and its hurts us more than helped in tight games. This is what our teams have been the last few seasons or more..live with and die by it I'm afraid.
 
Our point guard will keep up us from winning a title. Beating a mid major fraud doesn’t dispute that. Roach, simply isn’t a Duke point guard. Sucks, but at least K can go out out with a sweet 16 appearance. Championship pg’s win true road games vs sub par opponents. Roach ain’t it, but unfortunately he’s the best we got.
Do you understand the game of basketball? Seriously? You do realize not every team has a true natural PG? Yikes.
 
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Griffin would have to get off the bench and show he can play at full strength at this level . Roach was good but him and Keels to have played in high school together don’t never seem to be on the same page. My main concern going forward is , Will Keels put it all together or continue to force tough shots and be a true frosh and is the seven man rotation all K is going to use because there was Griffin and Jones with ten fouls that could have gave a bigs breathers. Duke was up by 13 .
I’m good with him starting over Keels. I do think AJ having to play the 3 or the 4 is much more difficult than most assume. Two completely different positions. Plus, he missed a lot of time due to injury. I just want to see what he can do.
 
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We lost a November game in a hostile arena. Wendell was solid, 17, 8, and 5. Roach and Keels were a combined 7-22, with a total of 18 points. For Duke to contend, with the minutes these 2 play, their numbers have to be better. The other issue is Banchero. I know he cramped in the Kentucky and Gonzaga game, and had little production in the 2nd halves, but he was as bad last night in the 2nd half. That's a little concerning. Three big games, and all 3 of them he did little after halftime.
 
Imagine putting the loss squarely on Roach lol.
 
Other than his high school ranking, and one hot shooting game (that has not been duplicated) I don't know what we have seen of Griffin that makes us think he is the answer. Coach K is slow to warm to some people. I'm sure he would like more than anything for Griffin to show enough in practice and games to deserve more PT.

In his 42nd and last season at Duke Coach K is not suddenly going to throw someone out on the court to see what he can do.
 
Other than his high school ranking, and one hot shooting game (that has not been duplicated) I don't know what we have seen of Griffin that makes us think he is the answer. Coach K is slow to warm to some people. I'm sure he would like more than anything for Griffin to show enough in practice and games to deserve more PT.

In his 42nd and last season at Duke Coach K is not suddenly going to throw someone out on the court to see what he can do.
But isn’t that what happened last night? He got in for two minutes and never saw the court again, that’s like saying,” I’m putting you in , show me what you can do and evidently it wasn’t enough to warrant any more time.
so we’re saying he has done enough in practice to play against mid majors but not bigger opponents?
 
I dont get it, are we talking about our PG or are we talking about Roach? Those are 2 different players.

Wendell Moore is the PG of the team, I thought that was pretty obvious. He is the primary ball handler, he runs the offense the most by far out of anyone else on the team. He is the PG.

I think the better question would be, how valuable is a 6'1 SG that doesnt know how to shoot?

With that said, hard to put the blame on Roach last night. He doesnt over dribble and take horrible pull up shots like Keels. For how big and strong we always hear Paolo is, he sure played a very finesse game last night. Attacking the basket more often or getting the ball lower on the block could've been really helpful. But he settled for horrible mid range shot after horrible mid range shot.

Also who are we going to replace Roach with? Baker who has a very limited game outside of catch and shoot, plus can be very hesitant to shoot the ball. Or AJ who is already outside of K's rotation? You know youre out of K's rotation when the entire team is allowed to chuck up bad mid range shot after bad mid range shot. But the second AJ took a bad mid range shot, he was instantly pulled and never seen again.
 
But isn’t that what happened last night? He got in for two minutes and never saw the court again, that’s like saying,” I’m putting you in , show me what you can do and evidently it wasn’t enough to warrant any more time.
so we’re saying he has done enough in practice to play against mid majors but not bigger opponents?
Haha yup. 1 minute into his playing time he put up a bad shot and the second that shot missed, there was a guy running over waiting to get subbed in for him.

If the hope was to help build his confidence and build some momentum, that definitely isn't the way to do it. Dont put a guy in for 1 minute and pull him the second he makes 1 mistake. All that is going to do is make him gun shy and over think the next time he goes in.

Also doesnt help that Keels post UK game has 31/30/66 shooting splits (21/21/43 shooting splits the last two games combined), but gets an unlimited leash on horrible pull up jumpers. But the second AJ takes 1 bad shot, he is sent to the bench for the rest of the game.
 
Haha yup. 1 minute into his playing time he put up a bad shot and the second that shot missed, there was a guy running over waiting to get subbed in for him.

If the hope was to help build his confidence and build some momentum, that definitely isn't the way to do it. Dont put a guy in for 1 minute and pull him the second he makes 1 mistake. All that is going to do is make him gun shy and over think the next time he goes in.

Also doesnt help that Keels post UK game has 31/30/66 shooting splits (21/21/43 shooting splits the last two games combined), but gets an unlimited leash on horrible pull up jumpers. But the second AJ takes 1 bad shot, he is sent to the bench for the rest of the game.
Like I said above, K hasn't done much to give these guys confidence. He's treating Griffin like he did the last couple years with Baker.... Come in, take a bad shot or miss a shot then he gets pulled.
 
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Like I said above, K hasn't done much to give these guys confidence. He's treating Griffin like he did the last couple years with Baker.... Come in, take a bad shot or miss a shot then he gets pulled.
Yup. I believe it was Goldwire that said his first couple years he couldn't feel comfortable out on the court because he was constantly looking over at the bench after any mistake and was overthinking.

You cant expect AJ to get comfortable and play his way into the rotation when he only gets on the court in these short bursts and any mistake sends him back to the bench.

Also just hard to comprehend what Keels has done to buy an infinite leash where AJ has no leash at all. Post UK game has 31/30/66 shooting splits. Just dont get why he is a lock it in 35+ minutes a game guy in real games, where AJ cant get on the floor.
 
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It's like you guys just started watching a Coach K coached team. He's always had a quick hook with some guys.

Nolan

Quinn Cook (almost quit but Nolan talked him out of it)

Grayson early in his freshman season

AOC

Just to name some from recent years.

Others have no hook at all (Paulus)
 
You all are acting like AJ deserves minutes and I don’t get it. That doesn’t mean Keels should get all the minutes and it doesn’t even mean that we shouldn’t be giving AJ more minutes. But you all are acting like it’s a mistake that he isn’t playing and we simply don’t know that’s the case.
 
I really hope AJ can be developed into a weapon off the bench this year. Also, I really hope Bates Jones can be used to at least steal some minutes, especially during foul trouble situations like last night.
 
You all are acting like AJ deserves minutes and I don’t get it. That doesn’t mean Keels should get all the minutes and it doesn’t even mean that we shouldn’t be giving AJ more minutes. But you all are acting like it’s a mistake that he isn’t playing and we simply don’t know that’s the case.
Yeah I’ve matured on this …On the outside it just screams “why isn’t AJ playing” but I know there’s more to it that we don’t know.
 
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AJ Is going to get drafted next year and likely 1st round. He needs minutes to get acclimated to this level and this speed. Game speed and practice speed are a little different. He hasn’t looked out of place when he is out there. Not saying he is a savior but 2 mins is crazy with his skill level.
 
We lost a November game in a hostile arena. Wendell was solid, 17, 8, and 5. Roach and Keels were a combined 7-22, with a total of 18 points. For Duke to contend, with the minutes these 2 play, their numbers have to be better. The other issue is Banchero. I know he cramped in the Kentucky and Gonzaga game, and had little production in the 2nd halves, but he was as bad last night in the 2nd half. That's a little concerning. Three big games, and all 3 of them he did little after halftime.
Banchero forgets that he’s 6’10 and close to 240 lbs. I’ve got no problem with him using his perimeter skills, but he needs to be pushed to start posting up the other teams PF and putting together some good post moves. In games like OSU when his shot isn’t falling, it’s much easier to hit a 3-5 foot shot than a pull up from 20 feet.

In fairness to both Banchero and Williams, as long as our outside shooting is abysmal then an opposing guard is going to likely cheat down to help because there is no concern that they will kick the ball out for an open 3 pointer. The one guy who doesn’t have to worry about having a double team helping out is Theo and he was nailing those shots out of the post.

If we don’t do anything else in recruiting next year outside of our incoming Freshman, we need to bring in a freaking sniper from outside. Don’t count on Schutt or another Freshman.
 
I agree. A lot of us were saying we needed another transfer shooter and some argued that everyone could improve their shooting and we would be fine. We are a very good team, but if teams pack it in on us, which they will, we can be beat. We are still good enough to make the final four, but we also can be picked off early. Which is true for a lot of teams.
 
I agree. A lot of us were saying we needed another transfer shooter and some argued that everyone could improve their shooting and we would be fine. We are a very good team, but if teams pack it in on us, which they will, we can be beat. We are still good enough to make the final four, but we also can be picked off early. Which is true for a lot of teams.
The only issue is the staff looked at four shooters and none were interested in coming of the bench. Most people who transferred wanted more playing time.
 
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Roach is not Jason Williams. Not sure why he was guaranteed a starting spot. Keels I could see as he probably doesn't come here.
 
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Banchero forgets that he’s 6’10 and close to 240 lbs. I’ve got no problem with him using his perimeter skills, but he needs to be pushed to start posting up the other teams PF and putting together some good post moves. In games like OSU when his shot isn’t falling, it’s much easier to hit a 3-5 foot shot than a pull up from 20 feet.

In fairness to both Banchero and Williams, as long as our outside shooting is abysmal then an opposing guard is going to likely cheat down to help because there is no concern that they will kick the ball out for an open 3 pointer. The one guy who doesn’t have to worry about having a double team helping out is Theo and he was nailing those shots out of the post.

If we don’t do anything else in recruiting next year outside of our incoming Freshman, we need to bring in a freaking sniper from outside. Don’t count on Schutt or another Freshman.
I have a small push back on your second paragraph. I went back and watch Duke-Virginia in 2018. Bagley and Carter dominated the post that game. We all know Virginia's style. They want to pack it in and make you shoot the 3. In that game we made 4 3s and Bagley hit 2 of them. We shot 26.7% from 3 in that game. I bring this up to say regardless if a team packs it in we can still dominate down low. Just go back and watch how we used to play Bagley and Carter together in that game. The thing about that team is we couldn't really play defense. But because we were so dominant with two big men, we were in EVERY game. Plus Paolo is a really good free throw shooter. If he post up more, he will get to the line more
 
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I do think Banchero needs to be reminded to go inside. I remember one scrimmage where he missed a lot of jump shots, and the next scrimmage he went inside and played great. He will learn from this. Ohio State did seem more athletic than Gonzaga. Not saying better, but more athletic and maybe a bad match up. We seemed tired at the end, but when you play 7 guys...
 
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Roach is not Jason Williams. Not sure why he was guaranteed a starting spot. Keels I could see as he probably doesn't come here.
I don’t think K promises playing time to any recruit.
 
K does promise playing time to certain recruits. He did it in 1989 with Hurley. Nothing has changed.

Let’s not kid ourselves on this matter though. K is using his gauge of a kid, and depending on how talented he believes them to be, determines how much leash they are given. He’s doing it his way, and he believes he knows best.
 
Yeah I'm not sure he told Barrett and Reddish and Tatum and Parker and Tyus and Okafor that they weren't starting. Of course they have to earn it, but there is an understanding there.
 
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Yeah I'm not sure he told Barrett and Reddish and Tatum and Parker and Tyus and Okafor that they weren't starting. Of course they have to earn it, but there is an understanding there.
IIRC, Kris Humphries wanted some guarantees. Did not work out well for him.
 
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I do think Banchero needs to be reminded to go inside. I remember one scrimmage where he missed a lot of jump shots, and the next scrimmage he went inside and played great. He will learn from this. Ohio State did seem more athletic than Gonzaga. Not saying better, but more athletic and maybe a bad match up. We seemed tired at the end, but when you play 7 guys...
And that makes it more puzzling that we didn’t play zone at the end when we were tired and in foul trouble
 
Paolo should watch some film of Timme. Paolo is so much more athletic than Timme. But, he could really benefit from some old school moves and cuts.

It seems our guys always have to work harder on O than the other teams.
 
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