Anyone watching this game??? RJ, Cam, and Tre are playing.
Just started watching...trying to stay awake. I have two kids who have practice and games every night it seems so I’m beat. Weekends aren’t even a chance to rest but that’s the life of ballers.How they looking? Where's the report man??!!!
After this game, unlike the past 2 years my preseason expectations are going to be tempered. Lack of outside shooting is going to make it tough.
I'm really curious if Coach will consider making RJ a captain.
Tre is a legit old school floor general, who needs to tighten up his jumper. Reminds of Chris Paul, because he plays both ends of the floor. RJ is the alpha dog of this class. And it's not even close. He does everything so smooth and makes it look easy. From his drives, his passes, his decision making, he does everything with minimal effort. Cam needs to be more selfish, get the ball and score it. He just need to be more aggressive.
Well, in three all star games the most concerning player to me is Cam Reddish. I've seen glimpses, but far too much inconsistency. More on Monday.
Well, in three all star games the most concerning player to me is Cam Reddish. I've seen glimpses, but far too much inconsistency. More on Monday.
That is spot on. Just add a "w" ha. If Cam struggles with intensity/consistency the coaches can bring him off the bench for a game or two. I know people are going to say this will never happen, but it may. We can always plug in AOC or White/Javin. Cam may be one of those guys who takes some time to figure it out, but should be a stud by season's end.Certain kinds of player show better/ worse in all star games. Guys who dominate the ball tend to show better while guys who play more within a team/system approach often show sorse. Lets hope it is the latter for Cam.
Cam Reddish has also been playing hobbled, it's obvious he isn't 100%. He's a pure scorer, he will be fine.
It's a fact though that he will drive people on this board crazy, because he does look sometimes like he isn't even trying, but that's just how he moves. K will coach him up, I'm not worried at all, this guy is gonna have multiple 30 point games for us.
I wonder how long before the O’Connell for Cam talks will start
The shooting is worse than I thought it would be so far. RJ probably has Tatum level ability. Maybe a little more athletic, a little better ball handler, but not nearly the perimeter shooting ability.
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In Cam, so far, I've seen Battier level ability. And I mean frosh Battier, not soph or older Battier. Which is fine. But Frosh Battier was the 5th or 6th best player on that team (we were in the same class, so I remember him well). And, sure, teams today aren't as good as they were then. But we are asking a Battier level player to lead us to a national title. CR has more upside than Battier, but Battier's effort, hustle, and IQ, even as a frosh, were unparalleled. Further, the talent on Duke's team that year, and the next year, meant that Battier didn't have to lead as a scorer, but was able to do other things that contributed, greatly, to Duke winning. Battier didn't really become a statistical leader until his junior year.
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And I think Cam has a lot of that. There is great size, athleticism, skill, and IQ. But the shooting isn't there yet, and certainly not the hustle. The biggest problem is that we need CR to be a lead scoring option next year. Obviously, RJ will be number 1, but we legit need CR to be a very good scorer immediately.
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TJ looks great on D. But the shooting is problematic as well. Our frosh simply have to shoot north of 35% on a decent number of 3 point shots. If we can't get 5 out of 14 from them, as a group, we are in trouble. Real, serious, trouble. All 4 of our frosh are great at going down hill and attacking the basket. But if we can't make 3s, they'll pack the paint on us and dare us to shoot threes while restricting all driving possibilities.
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They are good, but not overwhelming. That said, I don't want to fall into the trap I'm always whining about, by only thinking about offense. We have the potential, to be elite on D, by March. All we need is a little rim protection.
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And, at the end of the day, we might have 3 guys that are all but unstoppable in hero ball. If we can make a bare minimum of threes, and protect the rim, that might be enough. The really good teams next year look like KU, UK, and Duke. I'm still not sure how UK's parts fit together, and KU might not be eligible for the tourney. Or at least, so tainted that the wheels fall off. Then, it is us.
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But the margin for error is far thinner than I previously thought.
I'm honestly glad we're having a bit of gloom and doom about next season, and some of it is probably justified and some probably not. I do think that shooting is incredibly important in the game today and we're swimming against that tide with this class (and last year's to a lesser extent).
I remain perplexed that top 10 players can't shoot the 3 by the time they get to college. Do they not practice it? Or is asking these guys to shoot like Kennard as unrealistic as asking him to be much more athletic?
I'd wager that for the first time in a long while, our Kenpom D is going to be better than our O. And amusingly, UK of all teams will probably be the opposite, with all the shooters they may have.
Remember how bad of a shooter Kennard was as a freshman though? You never know what will happen
Remember how bad of a shooter Kennard was as a freshman though? You never know what will happen
Remember how bad of a shooter Kennard was as a freshman though? You never know what will happen
er no I dont....he seemed to be pretty good as i recall.....
Led Duke with an .889 free throw percentage, tied for the third-best in program history by a freshman
• For the season, ranked seventh among ACC freshmen in scoring (11.8)
• Averaged 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals in Duke's three NCAA Tournament games
• Led Duke in scoring four times, assists four times and rebounds twice; had one double-double on the year
• Tallied double-figure points 21 times, including seven games with 20-plus points and one 30-point performance
• Had three 20-point games off the bench, the most ever by a Duke freshman
• Made 55 three-pointers to rank seventh on Duke's freshman chart and tied Duke's freshman record for threes in a game with six against NC State (2/6)
er no I dont....he seemed to be pretty good as i recall.....
Led Duke with an .889 free throw percentage, tied for the third-best in program history by a freshman
• For the season, ranked seventh among ACC freshmen in scoring (11.8)
• Averaged 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals in Duke's three NCAA Tournament games
• Led Duke in scoring four times, assists four times and rebounds twice; had one double-double on the year
• Tallied double-figure points 21 times, including seven games with 20-plus points and one 30-point performance
• Had three 20-point games off the bench, the most ever by a Duke freshman
• Made 55 three-pointers to rank seventh on Duke's freshman chart and tied Duke's freshman record for threes in a game with six against NC State (2/6)
88% free throw and 32% from 3?
Nope he wasn't 1 and done AWFUL
Kennard was still a really good shooter, he just slumped that season. His reputation all along was as a shooter.
Exactly my point. He’s known as a shooter but he underachieved as a shooter that year. Ball just didn’t fall through. These freshmen aren’t known as shooters but one or two of them can shock us and shoot 40+%. You never know.