Player Antonio Vrankovic

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

Vrank is just 100% competent all the time. He never does any SMH shit and always plays within himself and within the team framework. On a team that has a ton of guys that need the ball, Vrank is an ideal low usage big.

Yep. Kennard and Allen may both be gone at this point, but my ideal starting 5 for next year assuming a return would be:

Jackson
Allen
Kennard
Carter
Vrank

I actually think that team is top 3 good with Trent first off the bench.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

That lineup is just replacing Tatum with someone we assume will be a good overall player.

Of course it would be great.

Coaches won't go for it this season, though. They asses.

 

[rhfarmer]

The other benefit to playing Vrank over, say, Jeter is that if you play off of Vrank, he will find his way to the basket and make a play. And if you foul him, he'll make the FT's. He's an ideal college big.

 

[rome8180]

It does seem like our "project" players might actually pan out. I think White has real potential too. I believe he's like 5-6 on three point attempts dating back to the exhibition games. He could easily become a three-and-D guy. DeLaurier is too highly ranked to really be considered a project, but I think he'll come around eventually too, if he sticks it out.

 

[rome8180]

I hope Carter can hit some threes if we're going to play the two-big lineup though. I do think he has the mobility to defend fours.

 

[deepdarkblue]

It does seem like our "project" players might actually pan out. I think White has real potential too. I believe he's like 5-6 on three point attempts dating back to the exhibition games. He could easily become a three-and-D guy. DeLaurier is too highly ranked to really be considered a project, but I think he'll come around eventually too, if he sticks it out.

I'm concerned that the reason DeLaurier is our final option off the bench is because he's transferring. That would make me very sad.

 

[aiw]

Um, 10-0 in games this guy's played in.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Secret weapon, the Vranken.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

I understand that we cannot infer too much from Vrankovic's numbers this season, for several clear reasons.

However, Zoubek as a junior played a lot of minutes in garbage time and against backups as well, so comparing Zoubek's junior numbers to Vrank's numbers this season wouldn't be too dumb an idea, in terms of comparing apples to apples. As we all remember, Zoubek as a junior was only one season away from becoming one of the most valuable players in Duke history.

Zoubek as a junior did play much more than Vrankovic this season - 29% minutes vs. 10% minutes - so Zoubek probably played significantly more against legitimate Division I players than Vrankovic has. Let's proceed with caution in comparing the two, but let's also give Vrankovic the benefit of the doubt and assume he is going to become the greatest center in college basketball history.

Zoubek junior (2009) vs. Vrankovic sophomore (2017)

119 vs. 120 offensive rating
18% vs. 18% usage
16% vs. 19% offensive rebounding rate
18% vs. 18% defensive rebounding rate
6.9% vs. 9.0% assist rate
19% vs. 23% turnover rate
6.5% vs. 4.1% block rate
6.7 vs. 6.3 fouls committed per 40 minutes
27% vs. 61% FT attempt rate
83% vs. 64% FT
58% vs. 67% FG
61% vs. 67% TS

The numbers are there. Is Vrankovic one season away from dominating as the ideal modern big man? In all seriousness, probably not, but it's not totally unrealistic that these numbers will translate to legitimate playing time against strong competition if he continues to improve his skills.

This feels like a UNC big man career trajectory to me, which is a great thing as long as Vrankovic does not care at all about making money playing basketball.

 

[rome8180]

Zoubek shot 83% from the line as a junior?

Vrank's fouls per 40 were not helped by the last few games. Last time I looked they were way lower than that. Less than 4, I believe.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

His junk:

 

[deepdarkblue]

Wears Duke gear, travels with the team, has a courtside seat. Some believe he may be on the Duke basketball team.

 

[rome8180]

New favorite player in the post Jefferson era. I love him until he turns out to be as bad at basketball as you would expect a 2-star recruit to be.

 

[physicsfactor]

In very limited minutes that make these stats meaningless, Vrankovic finishes the season with an ORtg of 124 on 18% usage. OReb% and DReb% were 19%. Block rate was 3.7%, FT rate 58, but FC/40 6.3.

Find a way to get this guy some PT.

 

[best4heisman]

He is just so damn slow. I think that will bar him from significant minutes at least next season. That and the fact that it's unlikely that any tall person not named Wendell will play big minutes for us.

 

[rome8180]

It's either DeLaurier/Wendell or Wendell/Vrank. I don't see any other scenarios that leave us remotely competitive. We can't run four guards. We won't have four guards.

 

[DurhamSon]

Just roll with Jeter and hope his rebounding problem isn't genetic.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

I'm firmly in the Vrank over Jeter camp. And the (albeit limited in Vranks case) stats bear that out. Why do you like Jeter?

 

[DrKlahn]

Our best player this year?

 

[aiw]

He doesn't lose when he plays. He didn't play. We lost.