'Ques doesn't have great touch

[TheDude1]

Have really noticed, that Marques does not have great touch, on offense, around the basket. When he goes up with a post move I tend to cringe just a little. He is doing well as our sub big and I have high hopes for him... hey, if the Plumlees can make their hands a positive, so can he!

 

[Mpm277]

I mean, did you never watch him last year?

I actually think he's improved and have liked seeing more energy and enthusiasm from him so far.

 

[CRAZIE4LIFE]

Great another bash Bolden thread

 

[Liftee]

The more Bolden plays, the more relaxed he will be and those short shots will start falling. I too like his energy.

 

[dachampishere2]

why man? bolden is just one of those guys that's going to take time. by his senior year he will be just fine. smh. Leave the kid alone

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Bolden has already helped us out more than he did all of last year. I think it's going to be more situational with him than anybody on the team...but he's going to help this Duke team this season.

OFC

 

[dukiejay]

You can’t teach the kind of size Marques possesses. He’s one of those guys who was over-projected by scouts, but just because he might not have been the 15th best player in his class doesn’t mean he’s not a guy capable of helping. We’ve already seen him influence more games this young season than all of last season. Every kid runs their own race....enjoy his.

 

[christophero]

First thing I thought when I saw this thread was "well that won't help his confidence." Q has improved and if he continues working hard he'll get there.

 

[Tross282003]

The problem with Bolden is plays behind two elite big men in Carter Jr and Bagley III. Both Carter Jr and Bagely III are better players on offense and defense. Bagely is a generational talent and Carter Jr would be the top power forward in most recruiting classes. Both are walking double doubles. Bolden may give you 10 points and 8 boards and 3 blocks if he played 30 plus minutes a game.

 

[TheDude1]

Great another bash Bolden thread

why man? bolden is just one of those guys that's going to take time. by his senior year he will be just fine. smh. Leave the kid alone

Uh... no, not bashing anyone, but we can certainly discuss the shortcomings of our players. It is silly and frankly disingenuous to only post about strengths and not about anything else.

I get that Ques is a valuable player, and will likely be more so in the future. I love his length as well. Just saying that he doesn't have great touch... and touch is a key thing for bigs (think Elton and Jah... they are both bigs with fantastic touch.). He has improved in some areas (blocks per minute, rebounds per minute) but has also gone down in a few areas (free throw shooting percentage, shooting percentage) although obviously with a limited sample set. Doesn't mean he cannot develop it... all three Plumlees came in with questionable hands, and at least Mason and Marshall really improved in that department, so it CAN me done.

 

[Duke_Fan_1338]

Ques reminds me a bit of Mason Plumlee. His greatest strength is not only his size, but his mobility for his size. Ques probably has a slightly more developed interior game at this stage vs. sophomore Mason, and more length.

This isn't Marques fault, but the rumblings of his camp looking for him to be a OAD have distorted some's expectations of him. He's a developing big, and if he was looked at as a 4 year player, I don't think people would be quite this critical of him. Like Mason, I think he'd develop into a high level & consistent ACC center as an upperclassman. He's definitely not there right now, and a huge reason is that he doesn't have the elite touch & finishing ability that top 10 forwards MBIII & WC Jr. have. JMO

 

[BOOGIEMAN1914]

i agree with the touch part...just needs time reps and confidence.....meantime big fella just try to rip the rim off

 

[CRAZIE4LIFE]

Uh... no, not bashing anyone, but we can certainly discuss the shortcomings of our players. It is silly and frankly disingenuous to only post about strengths and not about anything else.

I get that Ques is a valuable player, and will likely be more so in the future. I love his length as well. Just saying that he doesn't have great touch... and touch is a key thing for bigs (think Elton and Jah... they are both bigs with fantastic touch.). He has improved in some areas (blocks per minute, rebounds per minute) but has also gone down in a few areas (free throw shooting percentage, shooting percentage) although obviously with a limited sample set. Doesn't mean he cannot develop it... all three Plumlees came in with questionable hands, and at least Mason and Marshall really improved in that department, so it CAN me done.

It is certainly fine to post about strengths and weaknesses but Bolden has been over discussed.

 

[Duke_Fan_1338]

Meh, it's a message board. I think it's a valid thing to discuss

It can't be overstated how good our two interior freshman are. Bigs notoriously have the longest development time in college, but MBIII & WC Jr. are extremely polished big men. A few qualities that they excel at

1) Hands
2) Touch around the basket
3) Quickness - MBIII / Strength - WC jr.
4) Motor / Rebounding
5) Size / length for the position

Most bigs follow the developmental path that Ques is on; at least many Duke bigs of years past. It's easier to be critical of Ques because he's subbing for two guys that have so much polish are likely future pros, let alone freshman. It's easy to look at Ques as a sophomore and question why he doesn't have the same strength, court awareness, or finishing ability that players younger than him have.

We're a better team with Ques' contributions, but he's not ready to be a starting ACC center IMO, and I'm glad we have immense interior talent, so we don't need to rely on him that heavily when his development isn't there. We need better energy from him off the bench, and I've been encouraged in spurts. He was really solid in the first half against PSU.

 

[GeneBanksManCrush]

It's unfair to think that every five star high school prospect is going to be a one and done kid. I think Bolden is better this year, and will be better still next year, when he'll be getting a lot more playing time. There's no shame in not going to the NBA until after you graduate.

 

[Mac9192]

I think he will be fine. His footwork and strength needed to improve. Not sure how his injury from last season affected his growth. Give him time, he's making good contributions so far, and if he's here next year, which I think he should, we will be praising him.

 

[politicsasusual21]

Every kid runs their own race....enjoy his.

great advice

 

[crazyduke3]

I'm growing very sick of anti-bolden post already this season, faster than I have for any other player since I've been on this board. Maybe I'm seeing something different, but I see a kid who is altering shots, fighting for rebounds, trying his best and giving some offense here and there. He's contributing. Just my opinion.

 

[DukefanKY]

I think it's all due to expectations. He came in touted as an elite talent and one of the top big men in the class. I think there were a lot of expectations that he was going to be another Brand, Shelden, Jah, ETC. that's just not who he is.

 

[dukehokie]

I don’t see anything anti-Bolden. @TheDude1 pointed out one of his areas of improvement. It’s an area I agree with. Imagine how awesome our second unit would be if Ques improved his touch; which was pointed out, could very well happen with time and reps.

Maybe the phrasing of cringing every time he touches it rubbed some people the wrong way, but if we’re all honest, we’re not looking for Bolden to take the last shot. However as it was also pointed out, he has provided this team a good service with his defense and rebounding at times. And I think we can all agree that he is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was last season.

 

[gottagonow]

Bolden was overhyped just like many players are and thats all we had to go on and we were expecting much more from him. We need what he is giving us except for maybe a little better offense out of him, Will he ever improve by a large margin? Stay tuned until he just gets IT a little better.

 

[DukeNation12]

Really hope he’s around next year!

Sr year would be icing