Duke is not good. Coach K ain’t coming back.
But……but……but…… he can’t shoot FT’s 
Duke was good enough to play on Sunday
If you call that “playing” !
FIFY
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Nice to read the comments.
No one disagreed with the obvious concerning Lath. He cannot play at all and is, in my opinion, a wasted scholarship.
Virtually everyone concedes that Francis cannot shoot, at all, and gets points off lobs for dunks and offensive putbacks. And perhaps observed the NC State Center, today, shooting over and around the Duke opposition. He is a Center who can shoot.
If Tugler becomes physically fit, and improves some more(he turns 19 in May), the issues with Francis won’t matter. Sampson simply substitutes Tugler for Francis and problem is solved.
The other Big Man position is a problem if Roberts does not return. McFarland is 19 next season and might still be missing some bulk. The Transfer Portal can be used. Might be a necessity.
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I think you’re undervaluing Francis a bit. He took a big step forward this year with his game. He had some moments where he did have his back to the basket and was able to hit some shots with nice touch. I think he can be a 10ppg guy next season if the trend continues.
I agree that Lath and Francis are projects and that is a risk when a guy like Tugler goes down. Ultimately, JoJo is going to be THE guy in the low post next season IF the perimeter is a small part of his game.
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Careful. Pollard will flag you for being honest.
You do know that offensive put backs are huge and they count.
You do know that Robert’s wasn’t the offensive player he is today 2 years ago.
You do know that players develop year over year.
Have you seen any player during the Sampson era regress from one year to the next?
This season, scoring wasn’t Francis’s role. Who knows what his role will be next year and how he will develop. The leap he made this year from last year was remarkable. I fully expect another leap next season. Fabian White is a great example. He added something every off season. When he was a freshman, I don’t think anybody expected him to be a 3 point threat as a senior.
Calling Lath a waste of a scholarship is absurd. You have no idea what type of player he will be next year or the next 3 years. See my question above.
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I’m surprised I haven’t been flagged yet the past few days
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It doesn’t matter who is running point. There will be a drop off. Shead is the best we’ve ever had. There is no perfect replacement.
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I just find this thread funny because i got flagged for mentioning a player as soft, a common thing to say about players, earlier in the season.
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Some keep talking about Lath as a project, CKS knew that before he brought him in, but CKS See’s something in this youngman that’s going to make him a very effective player by time he’s done here
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Nobody plays 13 guys. All great teams have a core 8 msybe 9 guys.
In ax lath Sampson sees a chiseled 265 pound center who is raw as he just started badketball a few years ago. He knowingly brought him here snd plsnned to develope him do that by his junior year we had that big physical center. Sampson said so himself s couple weeks ago. Injuries just forced Lath to play this year. If you have 24 players expecting to play significant minutes you f Ed bd ip with 4/5 disgruntled players looking to transfer.
What you’re saying is a gross oversimplification, that’s just absolute Skip Bayless hot taking.
Actually everyone is saying he was nowhere near ready to play at a high level, but he was pressed into service. And in my opinion did pretty good in not being a total screw up.
If you want to argue we have too many projects and under developed front court players. That’s fine, and is a valid point. But you have stop asking for our next “Hakeem” because while we all remember Hakeem in 83 and 84, and turning into Dream. When he got here he made Francis and Lath look like All-Americans.
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So Sampson wastes Scholarships. You’ll have to ask him why he does that. Maybe you can get him to change his ways.
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One of my favorite things about our program under CKS is getting to watch them develop players. I much prefer that over a parade of one-and-done transfers. Getting to see guys grow into big time D1 players is fun to watch. It’s one of the things that made the Astros run so fun, getting to see all the homegrown talent blossom.
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That is the longest run-on sentence I think I’ve ever read. I miss the good old days when punctuation marks were used to help the reader’s comprehension of the writer’s intent. (FYI, I was a finance major at U of H, not an English major).
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Francis led the team in FG% at 64.6%, Roberts had 59.6%, Tugler 55.1%. In the 11 games he played, Arceneaux had 38.6%. Arceneaux shot 28.6% from the 3 which brought his average down; without the 3 pt attempts he would have had 44.4%. Francis also led the team in fouls at 99.
Of the free throws by the bigs, Francis shot 52.9%, Arceneaux 52.6%, Roberts 51.1%, Tugler 46.3%., Lath 20%.
Obviously we need more from the bigs at the charity stripe.
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I appreciate our Mods changing my headline from “personal opinion” to “terrible opinion”.
How nice. Censorship when someone points out an area that might be critical of Sampson and/or players.
Congratulations.
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