I promise you this team can STILL be dangerous. They are both capable. It’s in them to get back to THEIR potential. White does most everything else well, rebounds, blocks shots. They both just need to get in the gym and shoot shoot and shoot some more. Tre, Cam and RJ are going to be fine, but it’s on AOC and Jack to get those 20 points combined. PROVE me right vs the Cuse.
If AOC and Jack White can find their 3 point stroke
- Thread starter Duke Blu
- Start date
I am genuinely concerned about Jack White. 25 straight missed threes. That's got to be weighing on his mind.
Lol.
I've had a bad feeling about this game for over two weeks. I said multiple times I was more concerned about the Carolina games than the Virginia games.
We weren't winning it with Zion healthy.
And we aren't winning the national championship. We have the same weaknesses we've had all year.
I've had a bad feeling about this game for over two weeks. I said multiple times I was more concerned about the Carolina games than the Virginia games.
We weren't winning it with Zion healthy.
And we aren't winning the national championship. We have the same weaknesses we've had all year.
Amazed at how some of our bench has regressed. What was a strength is now a weakness. We seem to have this happen a lot... that we appear to be our best earlier in the season.
Jack is gonna get it back. K is going to sit them both down and put his belief in them. I’m not giving up on them. It’s adjustment time.
That's BS. You have no idea of knowing for sure if we lose with a healthy Zion. I think we would have won tonight with Zion playing the whole game. I can't know that for sure either, but bottom line is that him leaving the game after 30 seconds completely changed everything.
Oh, it's all mental. You can tell he doesn't even want to shoot the ball. I'm sure he's shooting a lot of 3's in practice (and maybe hitting some), but until a few start dropping in a game, it doesn't make any difference. We need for Jack to be a legit threat with the 3 ball...especially without Zion.
OFC
I said this in the game thread, but I’ve never seen such a drastic regression in such a short amount of time as I’ve seen with Jack. He was by far our most important ‘non-freshmen’ the first two months. As of now, he really gives us nothing. The most frustrating part is he’s no longer hunting opportunities. His mental game is a complete mess right now.
I wouldn’t say he gives nothing. He definitely had some big blocks, hustle plays and rebounds. We NEED those things
You’re right, in spurts tonight he was valuable in other ways. I still think he’s become a virtual non-factor.
(I readily admit there’s some negativity within me tonight.)
He did a lot of good things in the NCSU game, exclusive of perimeter shooting. But we needed the perimeter shooting tonight, and we'll need it going forward, regardless of Zion.
Realistically, does anyone think that AOC and Jack will get their stroke back this year?
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WRT Jack, he may just be this guy as a shooter. He's better than the 18% he's at now, but he might be a sub 30 shooter that just had a good 1-2 months shooting. His hot shooting came at a time when he was enticed to shoot by our opponents. They are closing out on him better now, so his looks aren't as good. They are getting better now that opponents want him to shoot. I agree that his current struggles are in his head, but that is unlikely to improve this year.
WRT AOC, did we expect him to be something he wasn't? He was a good shooter in HS, but lots of guys are good shooters vs HS defenses. What evidence have we really seen, while he's been in a Duke uniform, that AOC is a good shooter. We wanted him to be a good shooter. Heck, this year, we needed him to be a great shooter. But there is no proof that this is or was, the case. Jack was hitting earlier. AOC wasn't. AOC has never hit consistently at Duke.
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So this might not happen this year.
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WRT Jack, he may just be this guy as a shooter. He's better than the 18% he's at now, but he might be a sub 30 shooter that just had a good 1-2 months shooting. His hot shooting came at a time when he was enticed to shoot by our opponents. They are closing out on him better now, so his looks aren't as good. They are getting better now that opponents want him to shoot. I agree that his current struggles are in his head, but that is unlikely to improve this year.
WRT AOC, did we expect him to be something he wasn't? He was a good shooter in HS, but lots of guys are good shooters vs HS defenses. What evidence have we really seen, while he's been in a Duke uniform, that AOC is a good shooter. We wanted him to be a good shooter. Heck, this year, we needed him to be a great shooter. But there is no proof that this is or was, the case. Jack was hitting earlier. AOC wasn't. AOC has never hit consistently at Duke.
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So this might not happen this year.
Alex had high Hopes coming into the season. But he has been a really not so much "disappointment" but hasn't had the major opportunity to play major minutes, but when given the minutes, has not produced much. I know shots are limited but he has been off even when he shoots... White too. White was on such a high at the beginning of the season, but has really cooled off... hopefully these two will get a jump start the next 4 games, without possibly Zion.
There’s negativity in all of us right now. Even as fans we can’t mentally prepare for something like this. And this is the second time we’ve been sick to our stomach waiting on the medical examination process to play out. I am sure these kids will fight their hearts out, they have shown us all year. But unless a collection of Jack, Jav, Ques, AOC and Jordan start producing, I think it’s fair to say that our championship expectations will be over without Zion.
In my gut I do believe Zion will be healthy before the end of the year and I just can’t see a healthy Zion choosing to sit out. So I do believe he will be back. But again we as fans are in a very fragile state of mind right now. And seeing the gap between a Zion and his replacement only amplifies those uneasy, angry, frustrated feelings. Tough being a fan because in the long run, these occurrences mean far more to the athlete than the fan. But there’s always a selfish aspect in all of us that wants Zion to be healthy, Zion to come back and Zion to give us more enjoyment before he is gone.
The lack of scoring outside of Zion, RJ and Cam is alarming. When Tre goes 1-11 it can make for a long night. I agree that Jack has lost his "hungah" and confidence when shooting. He's still rebounding and making hustle plays, but he has the deer in the headlights look when he gets the ball in the corner now. I hope the coaching staff can help him get his confidence back.
Alex to me just doesn't seem game ready, and Goldwire's offense could use some development for sure. I do think both will contribute to the program in time.
To me the supplemental scoring has to come from Tre and Jack with a couple buckets from Bolden. Last night they combined for 5 points on 1-17 shooting. That's not gonna get it done.
Last I checked we were 23-3 and 11-2 in the best conference in CBB. Yep, the Zion injury is a wildcard right now, but I am confident he will be back on the floor soon. Winning is in our future.
Alex to me just doesn't seem game ready, and Goldwire's offense could use some development for sure. I do think both will contribute to the program in time.
To me the supplemental scoring has to come from Tre and Jack with a couple buckets from Bolden. Last night they combined for 5 points on 1-17 shooting. That's not gonna get it done.
Last I checked we were 23-3 and 11-2 in the best conference in CBB. Yep, the Zion injury is a wildcard right now, but I am confident he will be back on the floor soon. Winning is in our future.
Jack is def in the "sunken place"....gotta believe next game, next shot!
Zion can get the ball inside and score against anyone. With him out, it is easier to defend the inside and then let White or AOC be open and miss the 3's. With White's 3 pt % , who wouldn't let him take all the 3's he wants ?
And you kind of saw that last night. There were times UNC wouldn't even run guys at him. Sometimes that's more of a mental thing than missing....when they're essentially just daring you to keep chucking. Jack was flinching almost every time he got the ball. I just feel so bad for him right now.
I mean Zion only scores about 30 pts and has about 15 rebounds and usually around 3 blocks, and unc would not have had 62 paint points and let’s be honest Luke Maye would not have looked like an NBA lottery pick with Zion in there. I give unc credit for taking advantage of our weakness. Another thing is that the unc shot worse from the arc than we did last night. Nobody seems to be talking about that, so yes, I think we definitely win that game, but we will never know. Just need to move on and get ready to seek revenge on a Syracuse team that beat us earlier and let’s hope we get Zion back soon. I’m hoping we have him back for the nose dome rematch.
The game drastically changes with Zion in there. Doesn't mean we win, doesn't mean we lose. UNC wouldn't have gotten all the play inside, but maybe they make more jump shots? I know I would like to find out how we play with a healthy Zion. In fact, I look forward to it.
Like everyone else, I want Zion back. But I'd like to see us have to play a game or so without him. Maybe, just maybe, it will help the team. We are getting nothing offensively from anyone not named RJ or Cam. Bolden had no points on 1 shot attempt. Let that sink in. Zion goes down, he should have been chomping at the opportunity to pick up a little slack.
Just hoping and thinking out loud that others may up their game a little, in hopes of impressing the old man.
What's the worst thing that could happen to O'Connell, White, Delaurier, and Bolden, they don't produce and go back to the bench?
Just hoping and thinking out loud that others may up their game a little, in hopes of impressing the old man.
What's the worst thing that could happen to O'Connell, White, Delaurier, and Bolden, they don't produce and go back to the bench?
The only enjoyable thing about last night has to be how disgusted Heels fans have been with all the attention being given to Zion.