Duques102 wrote:

I am not trying to specifically criticize any players, just generating discussion on what we saw. I thought people wanted to talk about the team and wanted more discussion around the players? I didn’t hear any calls for “reserving judgement” if a post is 100% positive about players? Now that the season has started, everything is fair game to discuss.

I personally was super encouraged by what we saw Tuesday, I thought I made that pretty clear with a lot of the player breakdowns and overall assessment of the game/players and stick by what I said. If it wasn’t obvious enough Larson wasn’t a D1 player based on the fact that he wasn’t even on the roster until a full blown emergency happened, Tuesday night was proof positive that he is emergency cover. I don’t even understand why that is harsh or offensive.

That kid is probably pumped he is getting the opportunity to play at this level and I’m happy for him and his contribution, but that doesn’t mean I have to think he is going to go out there and start dropping 10 Pts a night with a couple of games under his belt. He is what he is.

CLK, 100% with you on Johnson. I would argue what limited amount we saw from him was more encouraging than not despite some freshman mistakes. I more so expected him and Primo to look more like that. Primo blew me away, and largely led this team to a victory in his first college game! That cannot be underestimated, best freshman debut game since….? Primo looked like an upperclassman out there. While Johnson didn’t, you could see the athleticism, talent, and explosiveness in flashes, just has to get adjusted to the speed.

Go Dukes!

I am just slapping a gag on myself as relates to Larson so as not to go negative about the coaching decision to play him or not until a larger sample size is available for analysis. Nobody here has given the players any undue criticism. 

I have a working theory that KD chooses guys he likes to play undeserving minutes & leaves them in the game results be damned. I don't want Larson to be another one of these guys.

I was shocked last week when KD went on record saying that Larson shouldn't be slept on because he is one of the best players on the team. I assumed that was BS to keep the competition guessing & the fans believing. We shall see. I am all for great players coming from unexpected quarters.

I think Dambrot wants, as much as any coach in the Country, TO WIN basketball games and get to the post- season.  The proposition that he is playing "guys he likes", that are not as productive as players sitting on the pine is not consistent with trying to win.

We didn't see much "likeability" with Baker last year, and KD kept him out there, kept trying to keep him focused and out of trouble. Before they left, Carry played almost every minute and Norman was given every opportunity.  The Coach is pretty good at assessing talent and what (broadly) players bring to the game. Most people posting here, I would guess agree with that.






 

I agree with the assessments made here by most everybody.  there is a lot to be excited about.  One thing that bothered me is that Easley looked really good early on - he brought energy and scoring.  KD said in his post game remarks that when Easley made a couple defensive mistakes he sat him and didn't put him back in.  Though KD remarked that Easley handled it well and didn't complain I hope this isn't the beginning of a rift between the coach and one of the best players on the team.  We've seen this before (EW.)  I would have liked to see KD go back to Easley and give him another chance.  I know KD has his way of teaching/coaching but it was the first game.  To bench the "best" player in favor of a marginal D1 player (Larson) after 2 defensive mistakes in the first game of the season?  I know it was likely a test by KD to see how he responded and hopefully his post game remarks were meant as a message to Easley that he passed the test -  I just hope this doesn't continue and we see another big talent eventually sour on the coach.  I will give it the benefit of the doubt today and chalk it up to good coaching but I will keep an eye on it just the same.  KD is hard on the very good players.  he makes no qualms about it.  Some like it and some don't.

I thought your description of Larson was hilarious, Duques102, and for the most part, accurate. He is a great story though and I think we're all rooting for the guy to make a positive impact whatever his role is. I'm pretty sure he's not one of the best players on the roster as Keith mentioned the other day. But I do think, for Keith, he's like having another coach on the floor. As far as the D2 pipeline goes, I'm much more excited about seeing what Gunn can do.