Earlington.........................let's discuss

I try not to come to any conclusions just four games into the season, but I think it's fair to discuss Earlington's limitations in relation to his shots. This is a hard-working kid trying to figure out what his role should be. The challenging variable is that his optimal role, this year, may be less pronounced than his role last year.

I agree with previous posters that he could contribute in the paint. He doesn't have great height, but he's strong and has a good touch around the basket. We all loved "The Duke" last year and I think some may have inflated expectations too high. Let's hope Marcellus settles in.
 
Last edited:
[quote="lawmanfan" post=405695]Marcellus is an effort guy who developed (somewhat surprisingly) a streaky 3-point shot last season. He is a tremendously likable player because he has worked hard, made the most of his skill set, adapted to the new coaching regime, and is just generally a likeable person.

However, none of that makes him an All American. It makes him a fan favorite who comes off the bench or gets a spot start and helps the team win. For a couple of games he might even get hot and be the star of the game.

The problem is that he (and some others) mixed up "super sub who shines once in a while" with "star all the time."

Once he gets back to playing his role and trusting that if he's hot he will get run, he'll be fine.

However the odds are that he is going to have a more limited role on the team this year than last year because there are many more shooting options on the floor now.

His struggle is not all that different from some others on the team. Cole and Moore both have to learn that they now have a role to play, and that they are not the whole show as they were in JUCO. Wusu has to learn to play without fouling. Posh (who did better at playing under control last night) has to adjust to the new level of competition.

This team is a work in progress. As I posted in the game thread I sometimes get stuck between whether the issue is not enough time together or that they are collectively a low-IQ basketball team or where the needle falls between those two things. I'm inclined to think that most of it is just not enough time together for everyone to figure out their role, whcih includes Marcellus. Though they do some really stupid things, too. I give Coach A a lot of credit for not yanking guys just to yell at them. The man has a better temperment than I do, I would lose my mind at some of the things they do.[/quote]
LMF I agree with your overall point but please don’t rewrite history on Moore as a JUCO. He was not even close to the whole show on his team. He didn’t start much of the year and the team was clearly led by an excellent guard and there was a 6-8 or so stockier forward who got many of the minutes and much of the action in the post. Moore was just one guy on a very good (31-0) JUCO team.
 
90% of basketball is mental. The other half is physical. Apologies to Yogi.

I was/am a big defender of Mullin but one of the things, if true, I took big exception to was the mandate that "if you are open, shoot. If you don't shoot when open I'll take you out".

A coaches job is to put guys in position on the floor where they can score. It isn't, or shouldn't be up to ME or any player to decide where he spots up or shoots from. If ME is shooting from 3 a lot, it's with the coach's blessing.

If CMA knows what he is doing,and I believe he does, he either is confident that ME will knock down those shots, or CMA will correct this quickly and get him shooting closer to the basket. Posh can really dish, and so far I've been impressed with some of our sets and ball movement leading to easy shots.

Relax
This team isn't a work of art, it's a work in progress. Like my grandmother's italian stuffed peppers they will be better on day 2 and 3 then day one. We don't expect this team to be 23-4, so I'm just trying to enjoy the high spots and tolerate the things we need to work on. Yea, losing stinks, but when we turn the corner this season we will all realize once again that we have a very good coach.

It will be deja vu all over again.
 
Last edited:
[quote="REB" post=405803]
LMF I agree with your overall point but please don’t rewrite history on Moore as a JUCO. He was not even close to the whole show on his team. He didn’t start much of the year and the team was clearly led by an excellent guard and there was a 6-8 or so stockier forward who got many of the minutes and much of the action in the post. Moore was just one guy on a very good (31-0) JUCO team.[/quote]

Fair point - I was just broad-brushing the point that historically JUCOs have a strong tendency to come in trying to do too much. It usually takes them a year to adjust. In most cases it's because they starred against lower-level talent and it takes them time to figure out that they can't get away with it against BE level players. In Moore's case I'm not sure how many decent 7 footers he faced, for instance. The other JUCO problem is that for the most part they seem to come from much less organized programs, so it takes them awhile to figure out how to be part of a team.

Cole and Moore are both struggling mightily with it. Cole can't understand why he isn't the focal point of the offense, and now he's taking some shots that he shouldn't. In the BYU game he had Williams open at the top of the key but instead he decided that a jab-step, spin, fallaway jumper for himself was the better option.

Moore is good on runouts and has collected his fair share of rebounds, but he also forces too many shots and has no idea how to play post defense. I believe that he does have a jump shot, and that when open he should take them. But he needs to understand that a contested jump shot for him is not a better option than passing the ball to someone else.

Posh has much the same sort of development needs.

For Earlington it's more of a different season different team issue, and that he isn't getting the promotion that he might have expected.

They'll come along, it just takes time.
 
[quote="lawmanfan" post=405695]Marcellus is an effort guy who developed (somewhat surprisingly) a streaky 3-point shot last season. He is a tremendously likable player because he has worked hard, made the most of his skill set, adapted to the new coaching regime, and is just generally a likeable person.

However, none of that makes him an All American. It makes him a fan favorite who comes off the bench or gets a spot start and helps the team win. For a couple of games he might even get hot and be the star of the game.

The problem is that he (and some others) mixed up "super sub who shines once in a while" with "star all the time."

Once he gets back to playing his role and trusting that if he's hot he will get run, he'll be fine.

However the odds are that he is going to have a more limited role on the team this year than last year because there are many more shooting options on the floor now.

His struggle is not all that different from some others on the team. Cole and Moore both have to learn that they now have a role to play, and that they are not the whole show as they were in JUCO. Wusu has to learn to play without fouling. Posh (who did better at playing under control last night) has to adjust to the new level of competition.

This team is a work in progress. As I posted in the game thread I sometimes get stuck between whether the issue is not enough time together or that they are collectively a low-IQ basketball team or where the needle falls between those two things. I'm inclined to think that most of it is just not enough time together for everyone to figure out their role, whcih includes Marcellus. Though they do some really stupid things, too. I give Coach A a lot of credit for not yanking guys just to yell at them. The man has a better temperment than I do, I would lose my mind at some of the things they do.[/quote]

And our 40 minutes of hell more easily allows for a helter skelter style, something he's not used to.
 
The Duke much more like himself today (or last year). Smart up-fakes, no “chucks” (not even the 3 off the side board as it was ugly but in the flow), and more in control. He played well, which in turn earned him minutes and he was on the floor at crunch time.
 
[quote="SJU85" post=406961]The Duke much more like himself today (or last year). Smart up-fakes, no “chucks” (not even the 3 off the side board as it was ugly but in the flow), and more in control. He played well, which in turn earned him minutes and he was on the floor at crunch time.[/quote]

Yup. He got a few garbage buckets and then the confidence was high. Duke needs to play inside out. He gets in trouble when he starts firing from the outside before he gets a few cheap ones down.
 
Through 6 games this season, Earl is averaging 8 points and a little under 4 boards per game. Slightly less then he averaged last season. Most of us felt that there might be a drop off in his stats because of the additional talent on this season's roster. So this comes as no big surprise. As a sub, I expect his numbers to fluctuate by the game depending on his minutes and on how the starters are performing, but end up at the end of the season right around where they are right now. 8+/-PPG and 4+/- RPG. Not sure why we need a specific thread to make proclamations about a sub after every game, but if that's what floats your boat go for it I guess.
 
[quote="Monte" post=406979]Through 6 games this season, Earl is averaging 8 points and a little under 4 boards per game. Slightly less then he averaged last season. Most of us felt that there might be a drop off in his stats because of the additional talent on this season's roster. So this comes as no big surprise. As a sub, I expect his numbers to fluctuate by the game depending on his minutes and on how the starters are performing, but end up at the end of the season right around where they are right now. 8+/-PPG and 4+/- RPG. Not sure why we need a specific thread to make proclamations about a sub after every game, but if that's what floats your boat go for it I guess.[/quote]

I suspect he's trolling as the alternative is a worse look.
 
Duke played well. He played within his range and capabilities. Inside shots and rebounds. Open shots only from outside. He needs to do this every game, not try to be a star. He’s a lunch pail player. Needs to be that.
 
I'm all for a weeklong ban for anyone who writes love sonnets to someone for a year, abandons ship after a few bad games, and then scurries back aboard so quickly after abandoning ship.
 
[quote="L J S A" post=407017]I'm all for a weeklong ban for anyone who writes love sonnets to someone for a year, abandons ship after a few bad games, and then scurries back aboard so quickly after abandoning ship.[/quote]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
[quote="Return of Earlington" post=406975][quote="SJU85" post=406961]The Duke much more like himself today (or last year). Smart up-fakes, no “chucks” (not even the 3 off the side board as it was ugly but in the flow), and more in control. He played well, which in turn earned him minutes and he was on the floor at crunch time.[/quote]

Yup. He got a few garbage buckets and then the confidence was high. Duke needs to play inside out. He gets in trouble when he starts firing from the outside before he gets a few cheap ones down.[/quote]

Exactly - the story of many players that need to see the ball go in with a short-range shot before the jumper starts to fall for them. When the team was dog crap in the first half I told my Dad they were going to need to play through Earlington in the second half. Cole gets all the press for his late game surge, but it was Earlington who put the team on his back for much of the second half and set the stage for Cole. Good game for the big guy.
 
[quote="lawmanfan" post=407040][quote="Return of Earlington" post=406975][quote="SJU85" post=406961]The Duke much more like himself today (or last year). Smart up-fakes, no “chucks” (not even the 3 off the side board as it was ugly but in the flow), and more in control. He played well, which in turn earned him minutes and he was on the floor at crunch time.[/quote]

Yup. He got a few garbage buckets and then the confidence was high. Duke needs to play inside out. He gets in trouble when he starts firing from the outside before he gets a few cheap ones down.[/quote]

Exactly - the story of many players that need to see the ball go in with a short-range shot before the jumper starts to fall for them. When the team was dog crap in the first half I told my Dad they were going to need to play through Earlington in the second half. Cole gets all the press for his late game surge, but it was Earlington who put the team on his back for much of the second half and set the stage for Cole. Good game for the big guy.[/quote]

Could not agree more. The Duke is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
If Duke could continue to play like he did 2nd half last night and at the end of the season last year, a line up w Duke at the 4 and Champ at the 5 could be productive.
 
[quote="L J S A" post=407017]I'm all for a weeklong ban for anyone who writes love sonnets to someone for a year, abandons ship after a few bad games, and then scurries back aboard so quickly after abandoning ship.[/quote]

Why so kind? Exile to a Uconn board would be more severe.
 
[quote="richard A Steinfeld" post=407072]If Duke could continue to play like he did 2nd half last night and at the end of the season last year, a line up w Duke at the 4 and Champ at the 5 could be productive.[/quote]

Champagnie at CENTER?
 
[quote="lawmanfan" post=407120][quote="richard A Steinfeld" post=407072]If Duke could continue to play like he did 2nd half last night and at the end of the season last year, a line up w Duke at the 4 and Champ at the 5 could be productive.[/quote]

Champagnie at CENTER?[/quote]

It’s semantics who is the center and who is the PF, but that was the 4/5 we had most success with last season.
 
Im wondering if the Duke will get a crack at guarding mamu. Remember last year they put the duke on Georgetown's monster center and he shut him down.

Im thinking if Moore and others cant guard mamu that Earlington will get a crack at him and be successful.
 
Back
Top