Questions about Duke’s bench/role players development..

[Buzzooka Joe]

Let me start by saying this is in no way bashing or even criticizing any of our players/coaches.. I am genuinely curious to understand.. Also, the UNC game is not the reason for this post.. I completely understand how losing Zion in the first minute of that game could demoralize the whole team and cause them to not play as good as they should..
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So many times we hear how our bench players are better than a lot of D1 starters.. we hear how J-Rob could be starting for a lot of mid-major programs.. I feel like AOC would be averaging 15ppg for a team like Pittsburgh.. Jack White would be getting double/doubles regularly if he played for a lower tier ACC team.. etc.

But almost always, these guys come in the game for Duke and have no impact, and even look lost.. but they practice against the best of the best, are coached by the greatest of all time, and were superstars at the high school level.. they have all the tools..

I feel like a player like Justin Robinson should be able to come in almost any game we have, for 4 minutes, and at least be able to hold his own for that 4 minutes.. and a player like AOC should be able to come in for 8-12 minutes and do the same.. but that is almost never the case.. *Note: I’m not saying these players SHOULD GET this many minutes per game, I’m just saying they should be able to provide this amount of productive minutes in any game, if needed*

I don’t expect AOC to come in and be a lock-down defender, just like I don’t expect Goldwire to come in and knock down 3’s.. but they should at least be able to come in for a couple minutes and do what they are good at.. I know there is no way, in practice, AOC is being held scoreless, even if Cam or Tre is guarding him.. there’s no way J-Rob is just getting completely dominated 100% of the time he matches up against RJ in practice..

Is their lack of real-game playing time the only reason for their delayed development? Or is there more to it?

 

[christophero]

I'm not sure. I still maintain something is up with Jack. Minor injury, illness. Because he should be able to rebound like he was regardless of his shooting. AOC seems to lack strength and confidence. I think both those guys plus Javin make big leaps next year. But we need it this year.​

 

[Mac9192]

We can sugarcoat it all we want to, but our lack of production out of anyone not of elite status is a problem. I'm not so sure that some kids that are decent don't want to come to Duke for fear of playing time due to the elite kids that are committed. I also wonder how true some of the rankings are. Does a kids ranking, and I'm talking about a 3 or 4 star, all of the sudden jump when Duke becomes interested? How good is our scouting of the multi year kid, and how affected is their growth when the elites get almost all the minutes?

We all know that practice is important, but there is NO substitute for game experience. It's also hard to play if you're looking over your shoulder every time the buzzer sounds, wondering who's coming in for you.

We give K some credit when players get better over their career, then he should get questioned if some don't. GOAT or not.

 

[TheDude1]

Good post, often wonder the same thing.

 

[Liftee]

I really like AOC and Jack White a lot. However, I think Coach K has actually been patient with them and they haven't produced. Hopefully they will eventually.

I haven't seen the "Coach K quick hook" that he had with Grayson freshman year, Quinn Cook, Nolan and others.

 

[christophero]

I guess personally I can't complain because I used to complain about guys not staying. And these guys did. So we have depth; maybe they just need to play more, and not just with 2 minutes left in a game or halftime. I do wonder sometimes when we are up 20 with 5 minutes left and Zion and RJ are still out there. Perhaps it builds chemistry with the starting 5 but hinders when we have to rely on others. It hurts to say but Tucker could have played a big role on this team.