AOC needs to be on the floor more. We need his offense (basically his shooting). Now that we are a primary zone defensive team, I don’t see him being a liability on defense.
More minutes for O’Connell
- Thread starter GillJET
- Start date
On nights when Duval and Trent are struggling to find space, AOC is a fine option. He’s a better passer than both guys. He’s not a great rebounder.
I agree with all that Denver.
Now that we have a respectable defense, I’m now most concerned about these offensive funks we get in. I love that Jack has been playing better than I think anybody would have expected, but it’s hard to justify him seeing the floor before O’Connell.
A big problem I see is Trent. He played 37 minutes, and had 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 foul committed to go along with his one field goal. Too many minutes for the overall production. Alex played 7 minutes and had 1 rebound to go with one made 3.
I'm not saying bench Trent, but seems a little less of him and little more of someone else might get better team results.
That’s a good point about Trent. I would like to see Coach have enough confidence in AOC to have him take minutes from any of our perimeter players. We need his shooting. We need him back in the rotation.
He’s definitely not a better passer than Tre. That’s just asinine. He’s definitely a better shooter though.
Fire K and let’s get uniforms that look more like Vt’s.
Per 40
Alex OC:
14 pts, 5.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1.5 turnovers. Shooting 50 percent from two and 53 percent from three.
Tre:
14 pts, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 3.5 turnovers. Shooting 49 percent from two and 27 percent from three.
I would like to see more Alex.
Alex OC:
14 pts, 5.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1.5 turnovers. Shooting 50 percent from two and 53 percent from three.
Tre:
14 pts, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 3.5 turnovers. Shooting 49 percent from two and 27 percent from three.
I would like to see more Alex.
I think Alex needed to stay in the game last night when he was pulled for Tre late. Thought at that point where points were at a premium he could have helped us space the floor better. Going forward, if we get in a situation where that happens, since we had multiple stretches of about 7min without a made FG, he’s the only guy we have that can come in with scoring punch. It’ll continue to be a bench by Game situation, but his niche is there.
Does anyone else see Alex’s posture after running the court for a couple minutes?
I noticed it s couple games back when he was breathing heavy unable to catch his breath. I think and it’s just my observation but Alex looks like he becomes short winded at times don’t know if it’s a freshman hurtle or he had asthma. I believe K wants to play him but the kid just goes full bore he doesn’t know how to pace himself at this level. But man when he came through the air and attempted that put back shades of a good player down the road.
I noticed it s couple games back when he was breathing heavy unable to catch his breath. I think and it’s just my observation but Alex looks like he becomes short winded at times don’t know if it’s a freshman hurtle or he had asthma. I believe K wants to play him but the kid just goes full bore he doesn’t know how to pace himself at this level. But man when he came through the air and attempted that put back shades of a good player down the road.
Yeah his niche is there and I hope Coach K is seeing how important it is. Hard to justify White seeing the floor before AOC. Like you said, Alex is the only one that can come in and give us scoring.
Well i won’t discredit Jack just to prop up Alex because both have roles on this team and do different things well. It just comes down to what does that particular game call for? Yesterday i thought both could have helped. And to be fair, K is playing 9 guys, not everyone is going to get the same amount of time each game, i did think for yesterday when we go into droughts, that at worst Alex helps spread the floor for us though. I wouldn’t have taken him out at the end, but if he was winded than i guess i get it, i didn’t see that personally but i wasn’t looking for it either.
I’m not discrediting Jack. Overall I’ve spoken well of Jack in this thread. I’m just speaking to our need for a scoring punch. I assume nobody thinks Jack is the answer for that. Neither is Ques or Javin, but those guys still need to see the floor as our backup bigs. Alex should be our primary back up on the perimeter.
Until he doesn't. Tre is up and down. Nothing surprising there. He sometimes kills us, other times he carries us.
Here we go again. Gary has a great game against unc, Alex comes in and has a couple of quick turn overs and we go back to Gary needs to be shooting more and on the floor the whole game. Come on guys lighten up a little. OFC
We look so tightly wound on the message board, because this is where we dump our emotions. Pretty funny isn't it? I envision all of us standing on a high ledge wearing Duke pajamas and screaming about how K doesn't play Jordan Goldwire enough, when in reality we are just bored at work.
Here you go again. Duval doesn't kill us on offense. It's no secret he isn't a good shooter, but to me the biggest problem with Duval is the 2 big set. He is like a car trying to drive with the park brake on. None of our guys are killing us. The other issue with this team is we only have 1 veteran.
Duval plays with a lot of energy. Lighten up man.
Do you remember the numbers he put up earlier on in the season when he was allowed to attack more? I think when he started turning the ball over a little it shook him and he hasn’t been as aggressive. All I know is Javin should never play the 3 ever again though. That was awful
AOC is a legit threat on the perimeter....him being out there opens up the court and doesnt allow guys to sag like they do Tre.....with Tre to attack the rim he has to navigate the two bigs and their men as well as his sagging defender
Teams don't respect Trevon at all on the perimeter....that's hurt his confidence even more, unfortunately. You almost feel bad for the kid when you see his defender not even leave the lane.
I do think there's situations that call for more Alex. Long term, though, I think we're best with Tre, Grayson and Gary.
We can pick apart pretty much anything we'd like from last night. Our offense was bad. The guards were atrocious. Marvin is trying to find his groove and I think lacking aggressiveness, which in turn is clogging things up. Wendell looked lost.
Even with all of that....we still just needed one of our guards to make one play the last two minutes and we probably win. One play.
I do think there's situations that call for more Alex. Long term, though, I think we're best with Tre, Grayson and Gary.
We can pick apart pretty much anything we'd like from last night. Our offense was bad. The guards were atrocious. Marvin is trying to find his groove and I think lacking aggressiveness, which in turn is clogging things up. Wendell looked lost.
Even with all of that....we still just needed one of our guards to make one play the last two minutes and we probably win. One play.
High low should’ve been our go-to play last night. It worked every time we ran it. They played a 6’5 guy on Bagley. Trevon needs to go back to point guard with Bagley being back. We averaged 89 points a game and over 50% shooting before Bagley got hurt. We’re down to 85 and 49%. Not a small drop but a drop. This means our offense was better before Grayson went to point guard. The defense is better. That’s what hurt us in our previous losses. Against Clemson when we needed a basket, we went inside. Last night we let Grayson dribble the clock out and ended up forcing bad shots. He’s not that type of player. We have to play inside out. That has worked for us all year
Completely disagree here. We wanted to get the ball inside but couldn't. Grayson made some mistakes, but he didn't have much option. When Trent is struggling, and you have Duval or Delaurier in the game, the lane gets packed more. There's no where to move inside.
If Duval is in the game, for him to be the most effective, we have to have a few shooters and only one big.
Duval has to be the point guard. Numbers don’t back up your claim though. Duval has been his best while playing majority of minutes with Bagley and Carter on the floor. Earlier in the season the starters played majority of the minutes together. Remember everyone was complaining?
The major concerns, or complaints, have been defense, Duval's inconsistency, and Grayson's scoring. Two of the three have gotten better. We have a ton of talent, just keep waiting for it to all come together at the same time. If not, the offseason will be more miserable than today has been.
Gary is 5-23 from 3 pt land the last 4 games (2-13 the last two). It appears the freshman wall has finally caught up to him and I would be in favor of resting him a little more in the upcoming games to try and get him fresher for the big dance. Whether that is AOC (for offense) or Jack (for defense and hustle plays), I guess that would depend on how the game is going.
go back to the offense that scored all the points and keep the defense that has been keeping others down......mesh that together along with the bench the bench guys and VOILA!!!!!!!!!...#DUKEALLDAY
Grayson scoring was efficient for a few games. He wasn’t efficient at all last night. He took too many shots actually. We need to go back to playing inside out. Bagley and Carter should take the most shots. That’s when our offense was at its best. Grayson and Gary can play off them. We need more pick and rolls with Duval attacking. Grayson and Gary need to just come off picks ready to shoot and spot up on the drive and dish. That’s how we got to be a top offense.
This is fun. Bolden sucks......Er Bolden is the man now! Gary sucks, they need to bench him, Errr, wow! Gary is lighting it up!!!! Gary has hit the wall sit him. Bench Grayson.... This is GRAYSONS TEAM BABY WOOO HOOOOO! Grayson cost us the game play AOC! Watching grown men trying to figure out teenagers is so hilarious. I hope we beat UNC so you guys can get back to spanking your monkeys again. 
Noticeably missing there is Duval. Unfortunately we are all down on Duval right now.This is fun. Bolden sucks......Er Bolden is the man now! Gary sucks, they need to bench him, Errr, wow! Gary is lighting it up!!!! Gary has hit the wall sit him. Bench Grayson.... This is GRAYSONS TEAM BABY WOOO HOOOOO! Grayson cost us the game play AOC! Watching grown men trying to figure out teenagers is so hilarious. I hope we beat UNC so you guys can get back to spanking your monkeys again.
This is fun. Bolden sucks......Er Bolden is the man now! Gary sucks, they need to bench him, Errr, wow! Gary is lighting it up!!!! Gary has hit the wall sit him. Bench Grayson.... This is GRAYSONS TEAM BABY WOOO HOOOOO! Grayson cost us the game play AOC! Watching grown men trying to figure out teenagers is so hilarious. I hope we beat UNC so you guys can get back to spanking your monkeys again.
Fire Coach K. The team managers suck. The countenance of this board has changed so much. OFC
This board is as predictable as any I've seen. One person complains or maybe over reacts a hair in one direction - then the ad hominem's fly from the opposite end with fallacious appeals to extremes. Has anyone taken a logic class? Ever?
The fact is, Alex's play time has been randomly up and down. He probably should get more than the few minutes over the last several games (esp. after he got 18 against UNC and was the only really reliable 3 point shooter that game).
There were similar laments over the play time of Grayson Allen his freshman year when the team was playing poorly at times, even in wins. And, I think those were legitimate. Fortunately, K let Grayson play near the end of the tournament (3 minutes against Gonzaga to 17 and 21 in the Final Four) and he was a critical factor in Duke winning the title in 2015. Hopefully Alex will be given some more minutes come the tourney and will rise to the occasion.
The reality is, Duke's outside shooting is killing the team in losses and creating tense games where there shouldn't be one; and that is where Alex could help. It doesn't take much, just leave him in a bit longer (take 2 minutes from Allen, Duval, and Trent and that's 6 more for O'Connell). Btw, Allen, Duval, and Trent are 8 for 41 from 3 the last two games (19%).
The starting guard trio from 3 in losses (other than St. John's - they shot well, just couldn't stop anyone):
4-16 in the UNC loss.
1-8 in UVA loss.
3-13 in NCSU loss.
Allen and Duval were 1-12 in the BC loss. Trent shot great that game.
Then, 6-24 against VT.
Those games were close enough, other than BC, that just half-way decent shooting from 3 by the guards - or even a couple of front end makes in 1 and 1 vs UNC - and it would have given victories against UNC, UVA, and VT.
One way or another - either the starters start shooting better or K gives O'Connell more opportunities and he steps up - if Duke does not shoot significantly better from 3 they are not going to raise a banner. And could easily be out in round 2, depending on the match up.
The fact is, Alex's play time has been randomly up and down. He probably should get more than the few minutes over the last several games (esp. after he got 18 against UNC and was the only really reliable 3 point shooter that game).
There were similar laments over the play time of Grayson Allen his freshman year when the team was playing poorly at times, even in wins. And, I think those were legitimate. Fortunately, K let Grayson play near the end of the tournament (3 minutes against Gonzaga to 17 and 21 in the Final Four) and he was a critical factor in Duke winning the title in 2015. Hopefully Alex will be given some more minutes come the tourney and will rise to the occasion.
The reality is, Duke's outside shooting is killing the team in losses and creating tense games where there shouldn't be one; and that is where Alex could help. It doesn't take much, just leave him in a bit longer (take 2 minutes from Allen, Duval, and Trent and that's 6 more for O'Connell). Btw, Allen, Duval, and Trent are 8 for 41 from 3 the last two games (19%).
The starting guard trio from 3 in losses (other than St. John's - they shot well, just couldn't stop anyone):
4-16 in the UNC loss.
1-8 in UVA loss.
3-13 in NCSU loss.
Allen and Duval were 1-12 in the BC loss. Trent shot great that game.
Then, 6-24 against VT.
Those games were close enough, other than BC, that just half-way decent shooting from 3 by the guards - or even a couple of front end makes in 1 and 1 vs UNC - and it would have given victories against UNC, UVA, and VT.
One way or another - either the starters start shooting better or K gives O'Connell more opportunities and he steps up - if Duke does not shoot significantly better from 3 they are not going to raise a banner. And could easily be out in round 2, depending on the match up.
I hear ya Show, and I can imagine some people rolled their eyes when they saw this thread started last night. But man I think it’s pretty obvious our offense has been very sluggish, and we have AOC getting little to no minutes lately. I believe in his shot, and now that we have gone with the zone defense, I really really really feel he needs to be locked in to the rotation. I don’t want to see Jack getting in there before Alex.This is fun. Bolden sucks......Er Bolden is the man now! Gary sucks, they need to bench him, Errr, wow! Gary is lighting it up!!!! Gary has hit the wall sit him. Bench Grayson.... This is GRAYSONS TEAM BABY WOOO HOOOOO! Grayson cost us the game play AOC! Watching grown men trying to figure out teenagers is so hilarious. I hope we beat UNC so you guys can get back to spanking your monkeys again.
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