I usually go through box scores and statistics but this post is coming from nothing but my heart. I am not in the business of criticizing college kids who try their hardest and uphold an excellent reputation off the court but Greg Paulus is absolutely pitiful. He's too slow and dribbles the ball too high. This causes him to compensate by bringing the ball up with his back to the basket making it nearly impossible for him to make an accurate pass, see cutters to the basket, etc...Last year, he did the exact same thing but it was camouflaged by JJ running off of screens and hitting tough jumpers. This also led Paulus to lead the ACC in assists last year but I think my grandma would've led the league in assists playing with such a potent scoring option as Redick. He's being exposed defensively with dribble penetration this year. Last year, he also got beat off of dribble penetration but he had the Landlord back their to clean up his mess. So, basically in essence, all of his shortcomings were disguised last year by two of the most under appreciated All-Americans the school has ever had.
Let's take it back to last night. Duke goes up 10-2 on a circus-rim 3-pointer by Sheyer out of the corner. Coach K then decides this is the optical time to bring Paulus in. Within 3 possessions, Paulus had 2 turnovers, which is completely unacceptable. As mentioned in an earlier post, Paul Hewitt is an excellent coach and he always has an axe to grind against Duke after that controversial ending to the 2005 ACC Tournament Final when Redick got away with a blatant foul, which prompted Karl Ravech to declare the ACC owed everyone but the Avon Lady an apology for the way the game ended. Everytime Paulus touched the ball, Hewitt had a defender pressuring him at all times knowing that he is extremely prone to turnovers.
What is wrong with Greg Paulus? Maybe, it's the injuries, maybe it's the illnesses, or maybe it's that he's just not that good. If I had to choose one of those, I would choose the latter. Coach K loves the Bobby Hurley type point guard but in this age, that type of point guard doesn't cut it at all. The opposing guards are much too quick and athletic and Paulus' shortcomings could translate into a very rough season for Duke. He has the rest of this year to correct his problems because with Nolan Smith arriving in Durham next year, he'll be all over that bench like a tired homeless person.
What has happened to Duke over the past few games? Well, let's take a look at the VA Tech game, when your captains combine for 16 turnovers, how do you expect to overcome that against a quality opponent? Also, Duke needs McRoberts to be a post player and the problem is that he isn't a post player. If the guards don't get him the ball within a second or two of posting up the ball, he gets shoved off the block because he is surprisingly weak for a guy his size. In addition, if Paulus is ineffective at the point then Sheyer will take over the PG duties, which takes away your best shooter on the perimeter. The only other guy who can really hit a 3 on the team is Nelson but only when he is stationary.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't expect this season to be a cake walk this year and I expected lots of peaks and valleys but I expected the peaks and valleys to come from the freshmen, not the captains of the team. I expected McRoberts to shine without Shelden, I expected Paulus to have a solid year and if DeMarcus was healthy, I expected him to be their most consistent perimeter threat. If I were to take a snapshot of the season so far, I would have to say Sheyer has been their most consistent perimeter player all year.
This team is in a little bit of trouble. These are the games they need to win considering they play a murderous February schedule, which includes Maryland, BC, and UNC all twice not to mention undefeated Clemson and a Georgia Tech team they just lost to last night. I do however expect Duke to bounce back against Miami to earn their first road win of the year but who knows considering Miami just went on the road and beat Maryland.
Prediction: Duke 67 Miami 60
Let's take it back to last night. Duke goes up 10-2 on a circus-rim 3-pointer by Sheyer out of the corner. Coach K then decides this is the optical time to bring Paulus in. Within 3 possessions, Paulus had 2 turnovers, which is completely unacceptable. As mentioned in an earlier post, Paul Hewitt is an excellent coach and he always has an axe to grind against Duke after that controversial ending to the 2005 ACC Tournament Final when Redick got away with a blatant foul, which prompted Karl Ravech to declare the ACC owed everyone but the Avon Lady an apology for the way the game ended. Everytime Paulus touched the ball, Hewitt had a defender pressuring him at all times knowing that he is extremely prone to turnovers.
What is wrong with Greg Paulus? Maybe, it's the injuries, maybe it's the illnesses, or maybe it's that he's just not that good. If I had to choose one of those, I would choose the latter. Coach K loves the Bobby Hurley type point guard but in this age, that type of point guard doesn't cut it at all. The opposing guards are much too quick and athletic and Paulus' shortcomings could translate into a very rough season for Duke. He has the rest of this year to correct his problems because with Nolan Smith arriving in Durham next year, he'll be all over that bench like a tired homeless person.
What has happened to Duke over the past few games? Well, let's take a look at the VA Tech game, when your captains combine for 16 turnovers, how do you expect to overcome that against a quality opponent? Also, Duke needs McRoberts to be a post player and the problem is that he isn't a post player. If the guards don't get him the ball within a second or two of posting up the ball, he gets shoved off the block because he is surprisingly weak for a guy his size. In addition, if Paulus is ineffective at the point then Sheyer will take over the PG duties, which takes away your best shooter on the perimeter. The only other guy who can really hit a 3 on the team is Nelson but only when he is stationary.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't expect this season to be a cake walk this year and I expected lots of peaks and valleys but I expected the peaks and valleys to come from the freshmen, not the captains of the team. I expected McRoberts to shine without Shelden, I expected Paulus to have a solid year and if DeMarcus was healthy, I expected him to be their most consistent perimeter threat. If I were to take a snapshot of the season so far, I would have to say Sheyer has been their most consistent perimeter player all year.
This team is in a little bit of trouble. These are the games they need to win considering they play a murderous February schedule, which includes Maryland, BC, and UNC all twice not to mention undefeated Clemson and a Georgia Tech team they just lost to last night. I do however expect Duke to bounce back against Miami to earn their first road win of the year but who knows considering Miami just went on the road and beat Maryland.
Prediction: Duke 67 Miami 60
1 comment:
I wrote much of the same stuff last night during the game as well - http://www.hagrin.com/node/242
You're 100% right on two points - 1) Redick bailed out Paulus a lot last year by hitting tough perimeter jumpers and 2) this team is in a load of trouble.
It's very possible that this team will not finish .500 in the ACC this year. They already have 2 losses (1 at home) and still have to play Carolina twice, Maryland, Clemson, Virginia and Boston College. This is going to be a tough year for the Dukies.
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