Ok,i’m gonna open myself up to all the “don’t put the coach down” people here.I think that when you look at us vs. them,on paper,we are very similar,the difference is how they prepare(in-season and out) and how they execute.They have Shelden Williams,we have Curtis…I think you can make a case that they’re pretty close…i’ll skip Reddick for a second,there’s not 1 of their other guys who strike fear in any opposing coaches heart,Melchionni,Randolph,Ewing,Love,Nelsen…all basically role players and not really a true ballhandler amongst them…we have Eddie,Mitchell,E.J.,Lee,Nance…Even Martin…I look at those guys,on paper and say we have the edge…maybe by a lot. OK,you’ve got Redick vs. Plavich.Last year I would say not that far apart,both very good 3 point shooters.This year,to me,no comparison…Reddick gets his body in shape,improves his all-round game(plays almost 40 mins. every game) learns how to beat screens…Plav Big defensive liability,still good shooter,but really hasn’t upped his game(my opinion).Here’s the point i’m trying to make,which I started thinking about after hearing the first 20 minutes or so of Lutz live the other day,where Bobby flat out said “we’re not a very good defensive team”.I’ve always heard from the top coaches,that the 2 aspects of the game that are least decided by innate talent,but most by hustle and desire are REBOUNDING and DEFENSE.That’s where a coach can have the most impact.Coach K(love him or hate him) has taken a team with 2 very good players,at least 1 of whom who’s improved dramatically,and they’re 1 of the top 5 teams in the country…We have a team with 2 very good players,and a pretty good supporting cast…and we’re about the 30th-40th best team. Now,FIRE AWAY!
spacing, for the love of God, use spacing :wacko:
too cluttered for me to try and read
Whew I am tired just from reading that lol. I see where you’re coming from. I don’t believe that we have the talent of a Duke team though and I think that every coach has strength and weaknesses. I am not sure if Lutz can’t coach defense or can’t recruit GOOD defensive AND offensive players. By the way I would love to feel sorry for Coach K, but with the number of Mc D’s AA he has I will never feel sorry for that guy. Reminds me of a quote by Pete Gillen once at UVA.
“Duke has 5 guys that are Mc Donald’s All Americans, I have 5 guys that eat at Mc Donald’s.”
Lucky, our frontcourt can play with theirs any night.
Now to the backcourt. Reddick and Ewing (a senior, no less) vrs Plav and Baldwin? The only way one of them could start for Duke is if you gave Baldwin Plav’s J. They are 25 pts better than us right there. That means our frontcourt and bench better beat theirs by 26. Might not happen that often.
Bringing up, well, Plav can go off and get 30 is a good point. Problem is, so can Reddick. Furthermore, when Plav gets 30, our frontcourt usually get the touches they need.
I’d love to play them (that’s the Final Four!), but we’d have to play awfully well to win.
Fran McCaffrey at UNCG has been on the Ball here in the triad today. He said “When you play the big boys, they’re going to get the calls. For example, you thin UCF’s going to get calls against Jim Calhoun. It’s just something the little guy has to deal with. You’re not going to get a TKO against Kansas, Bucknell’s going to have to knock them out.”
Getting calls is where I think the “good” coaches are good, especially at home or neutral game sites.
Tintin
i hate dook more than anyone on this board…trust me. but daniel ewing is not a role player. look at the nba draft boards…he’s consistently top 15 or 20.
I agree most games come down to team defense, rebounding, and desire.
Living on the West Coast, I can’t say I’ve seen alot of games. But the ones I have seen Charlotte doesn’t play good defense and is only average on the glass.
To do well Charlotte is going to need to play harder, play smarter denfense, and play better together.
I’ll be pround to see them win though.
Love him or hate him, the thing Coach K does better than anyone else in the country is get ALL of his players (from the McD’s All Americans to the 12th man on the bench) to do is play hard on BOTH ends of the court for 40 minutes. I can’t stand Duke, but as a true basketball fan I have to respect their program because with as hard as they play on offense and defense, they have a shot at the national championship each year. Of course, you also have to take in account the talent level of the players they have, but a great deal of their success comes from determination and hard work. Just watch how they move their feet, fight over/through screens, and actually find someone to box out during rebounding. It is attention to details, and execution (along with a little luck) that is needed to advance in the tournament. When we start doing these things (and this can be done with Lutz as our coach), we will begin to go further in the tournament. It’s getting old hearing each year how poor we are defensively, and how our style of play is without discipline.
I think Bobby has done a great job for the most part this year. We have some great players and they have played as a team. I do think that year in and year out we live and die by the three. If it aint falling, forget it. Eddie and Curtis have given some great defensive efforts this year. We still need a real bigman. I think Coach and all of us were conned by Iti’s press. He may be a great guy, but he was not the #1 center that year.
Agree with icecold49er totally. That is what I was saying…a great coach gets the MOST out of his players,doesn’t just accept"we’re not that good".I’m not saying at all that I think Bobby’s a bad coach…I think he’s a good coach.But a great coach he’s not.And while I love the 9ers,I don’t think its heretical to say that he could have gotten much more from this group.
I think Bobby is the type of guy who can rebuild any program with his enthusiasm, hard work, likeability and recruiting. However it’s attention to detail which I think is the biggest problem. You can tell these guys the same thing over and over when they make a mistake, but you need to practice these minor things like finding a box out, rotations, etc.
I watched the Devils get stomped and quit vs. Maryland at home.
It happens to everyone.
This is like saying the Yankees win evert year with team work, not because they have a 200 million dollar payroll.
You can do a lot more with AA’s than walk ons despite desire and inspiration.
Tintin
Right now Duke is doing it with 1 more walk-on getting significant minutes than we are.