Player Marvin Bagley III

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Interesting to imagine if Thornton stayed. Wouldn't have done much damage even if he still sucked last season, since Duke managed to get destroyed by a 7 seed without him. Might have helped by simply knowing how to dribble a ball against pressure.

Hard to tell when we haven't seen Thornton play in 2 years and we have never seen Duval or Trent play in college. I would go with the junior Thornton/sophomore Jackson package over freshman Duval/freshman Trent, though, based on BallIsLife mix tapes.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

I think there will always be this disconnect between his evaluation as an NBA player 5-10 years from now versus as a player against top college competition right now.

Getting all these raw players to not only improve their weaknesses dramatically over a few months but also do it in a way that fits together - this will be K's best coaching job since title #1 if he can pull it off.

Optimistically, we saw the kind of dramatic one-year development necessary out of Winslow and Tatum. Pessimistically, we had Derryck Thornton, the constant failures of everyone involved with Duke 2014, and, yes, all that is wrong with human life, Marques Bolden.

 

[DurhamSon]

If Knox goes #1 overall i'm going to stop watching the NBA

 

[CMon85]

Interesting to imagine if Thornton stayed. Wouldn't have done much damage even if he still sucked last season, since Duke managed to get destroyed by a 7 seed without him. Might have helped by simply knowing how to dribble a ball against pressure.

Hard to tell when we haven't seen Thornton play in 2 years and we have never seen Duval or Trent play in college. I would go with the junior Thornton/sophomore Jackson package over freshman Duval/freshman Trent, though, based on BallIsLife mix tapes.

You don't think Trent signs? I could see that. I was leaning more towards Gold and Alex not signing but who knows.

 

[CMon85]

If Knox goes #1 overall i'm going to stop watching the NBA

Holy shit. My reaction when I saw his name was the same as yours. I think it's Bagley, Doncic, Porter or Bamba.

 

[torontoduke]

If Knox goes #1 overall i'm going to stop watching the NBA

Knox does not belong on that list. Bridges from MSU is better than him.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Interesting to imagine if Thornton stayed. Wouldn't have done much damage even if he still sucked last season, since Duke managed to get destroyed by a 7 seed without him. Might have helped by simply knowing how to dribble a ball against pressure.

Hard to tell when we haven't seen Thornton play in 2 years and we have never seen Duval or Trent play in college. I would go with the junior Thornton/sophomore Jackson package over freshman Duval/freshman Trent, though, based on BallIsLife mix tapes.

You don't think Trent signs? I could see that. I was leaning more towards Gold and Alex not signing but who knows.

Trent wouldn't play nearly as much, given he is about to get 30+ a game by necessity.

 

[rome8180]

I'll bet you $100 of fake money he's not our second best player. Obviously, this bet is only valid if we land him. And we've have to define how we judge best.

I would make that bet but there is one argument. I think Bagley will be our second best player behind Allen. However, our most important player is Duval by a mile.

I think Carter will be better than Bagley. After watching more game footage of Bagley, I've changed my stance somewhat and can see Bagley scoring more. Bagley is a worse defender though, no matter what the conventional wisdom says. I also suspect Carter will have greater efficiency due to being able to make his FTs.

However, defense would be very hard to define for the purposes of a bet.

 

[rome8180]

He gets off the floor quick. Very agile but I still don't think he should play the 3

I saw nothing in an entire game's worth of footage to make me think he's a perimeter player. He hit one three-pointer, but it honestly didn't look like a very pure shot. And he barely dribbled the entire game.

 

[Slap the Floor]

I think Carter will be slightly better than Bagley offensively. Facing up around the paint Bagley is impossible to stop, he'll also get a good amount in transition with Duval setting him up, and he'll get a few per game on the offensive glass. Overall I think Carter is more polished offensively but Bagley is such a freak and he's skilled enough (he isn't totally raw) to make up for it in other areas.

I do think Carter will definitely be a better defender, but I expect Bagley to be an elite rebounder. Carter will be a good to very good rebounder. I don't think Bagley will be a great defender, but I expect him to definitely be better than both Jabari Parker and Okafor. I understand that isn't saying much, but if he is just average defensively, I think we'll all take that considering how good of a rebounder he'll be.

The two of them, IMO, compliment each other well because they're both very versatile and can score away from the basket. I don't mean I want either one launching 3's, but both can score by attacking from the FT line, for example, as opposed to just being chained in the post. I think they both will be very good rebounders and they have a versatility which is very intriguing.

 

[CK86]

Since he chose Duke, I now project that Bagley will be the GOAT.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

I don't know what the competition or rosters around them were like, or the pace of their games, but Carter averaged 15.5 rebounds and 5.8 blocks in high school last season and Bagley averaged 10.1 and 2.0.

What is anyone basing their projections on between these two players?

Not really related but found it interesting when comparing the two: Bagley is a month older than Carter.

 

[CMon85]

Does anyone think K may use Bagley as a point forward and our backup PG? Obviously Duval will play as many minutes as he can handle and we know Allen will back him up. He's fully capable, averaging 3+ assists the last two years. Bagley was described as a point forward last night and we all have heard the scouting reports regarding his passing ability.

What are the chances he plays a few minutes a game as a point forward to let the guards rest? Bagley, Trent, Tucker, DeL, Carter/Bolden could probably be doable for a few minutes.

 

[torontoduke]

I think that happens only in an emergency situation, CMon. I am reading mixed reviews on Bagley's ballhandling.

 

[rome8180]

Bagley's ball handling looks closer to Amile Jefferson's than Jabari's or Tatum's to me.

 

[LastHearth]

What ball handling? He had 81 TO and 46 assists against HS competition last year. That's a worse ratio than Vrank's last year.

 

[2001Dukechamps]

We're seriously having a discussion about Bagley at PG?
LOL I'd like to think there's a degree of facetiousness attached to that suggestion that I'm unable to detect.

 

[bdotling]

It appears like the answer to your question, Cmon, is no.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

Does anyone think K may use Bagley as a point forward and our backup PG? Obviously Duval will play as many minutes as he can handle and we know Allen will back him up. He's fully capable, averaging 3+ assists the last two years. Bagley was described as a point forward last night and we all have heard the scouting reports regarding his passing ability.

What are the chances he plays a few minutes a game as a point forward to let the guards rest? Bagley, Trent, Tucker, DeL, Carter/Bolden could probably be doable for a few minutes.

The only person who could reasonably answer "yes" to this question would have been just waking up from a coma following an injury sustained in 1994.

 

[CMon85]

What ball handling? He had 81 TO and 46 assists against HS competition last year. That's a worse ratio than Vrank's last year.

I'm not talking running the offense like a Chris Paul. I'm talking about grabbing a rebound and bringing the ball down the court like McBob did. The player, not the crazy guy.