OLL!

Geez Dude... you seriously just lost points.

 

cant believe it took this long for an article like that to surface. anyone with half a brain can see he will be average at best. Picking him in the 1st round wont be near as dumb as picking sean may though.

 

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9278908

Heres another great one...


J.J. the best shooter ... ever? It just doesn't add up


Matt Rehm March 2, 2006
By Matt Rehm
CBS SportsLine.com Staff Writer
Tell Matt your opinion!



While watching college hoops Tuesday night, I thought Rick Majerus raving about the "soft, supple hands" of Boston College forward Craig Smith would be the most disturbing thing I'd see or hear for a long, long time.

And then I read Gregg Doyel's love letter to J.J. Redick.

J.J. Redick is ranked 68th in 3-point percentage. (Getty Images)
J.J. Redick is ranked 68th in 3-point percentage. (Getty Images)
Gregg warned us at the outset to prepare to be sick. He's a man of his word. I was scurrying for the Pepto after three paragraphs. Which, for the record, was two paragraphs before Gregg declared that Redick might be the best shooter in college basketball history.

Et tu, Gregg? Et tu?

Remember, we're talking about pure shooting here. Not Redick's overall scoring ability. Not his defense or ball-handling, both of which were sub-par early in his career but have certainly improved. Not his passing or his overall athleticism, which are run-of-the-mill. Just shooting. If he's such a deadly marksman, there should be a wealth of statistical data to back it up, right?

So let's somewhat-arbitrarily examine Redick's 3-point proficiency in what is universally regarded as a stellar senior season (at least thus far). Among Division I players with at least 100 3-point attempts this season, Redick's shooting percentage ranks (drum roll, please) ... No. 68. The stats on the NCAA's website are a couple of days old, but among players who have made at least 2.5 3-pointers per game, Redick ranks somewhere around No. 26.

Now, I'm no statistician, but I would think that the greatest shooter ever would be higher on those lists. Then again, I would have also thought that the greatest shooter ever would have hit better than 39.9 percent of his 3s as a freshman, 39.5 percent as a sophomore and 40.3 percent as a junior.

Well, maybe he saves his best for the postseason. Let's see how he has fared in the ACC Tournament. From 3-point range, he was 10-of-21 as a freshman, 3- of-17 as a sophomore and 12-of-29 as a junior, for a total of 25-of-67 (37.3 percent).

Hmmmm.

Maybe the conference tourney isn't a big deal to him, and he turns into a cold-blooded assassin for the NCAA Tournament.

Oops.

In three trips to the Big Dance, he hit 6 of 21 trifectas, then 15 of 42, then 6 of 24 for a total of 27 of 87. If my math is correct -- which is a big "if" -- that's 31 percent.

OK, well, the best shooter ever would probably get better the deeper Duke goes in the postseason.

Uh-oh.
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Here's how Redick's past three seasons have ended: 1-of-11 on 3s vs. Kansas, 3-for-9 vs. UConn and 3-for-9 vs. Michigan State, for a total of 7-of-29, or 24.1 percent. In three losses. Hence, no NCAA championship rings. For the greatest shooter ever.

Considering Redick's history of late-season struggles, can't we at least wait until his senior season is over before we say it's destined to go down in history alongside Walton in '74, Maravich in '70 and Alcindor in '69? In his past three games, Redick is 6-of-26 (1-of-6 at Georgia Tech, 1-of-6 at Temple and 4-of-14 at Florida State) from beyond the arc. Is this the start of yet another late season swoon? Would the greatest shooter ever go in the tank on an annual basis?

And isn't the greatest shooter ever required to ... you know ... make more than 40 percent of his 3s? OK, that was unfair. Redick has hit more than 40 percent over the course of his career. To be exact, he's a 40.6 percent 3-point shooter, which ranks him 18th on the ACC's career list. On the NCAA list ... well, don't even bother opening that record book, because nobody below 44 percent is on there. But if Redick's the best ever, what is Salim Stoudamire (45.8 percent) or Ray Allen (44.8 percent)?

I understand that shooting percentage isn't the sole determining factor when rating great shooters. Tony Bennett of Wisconsin-Green Bay is the NCAA's all-time leader in that category, but I'm not going to make the case that he's the greatest of all time. The offense you play in, the role you play within that offense, the level of competition you face, the number of shots you take -- all of these need to be taken into consideration. And as we are all constantly reminded, J.J. takes more abuse than any player who ever laced 'em up. No other player has ever been called dirty names. Every opposing team steps on the court with the sole intention of stopping J.J., and nobody else has ever seen a box-and-one. I know. I get it.

But when discussing great shooters, doesn't the rate at which they make shots factor into the equation?

Apparently not, if one of the players being discussed attended Duke. Would any broadcaster or columnist shove Redick's alleged all-time greatness down our throats, day after day after day, if he went to Tennessee or Marquette? I don't think so. You know who probably agrees with me? Tennessee's Chris Lofton (averaging 47.3 percent on 8.3 3-point attempts per game) and Marquette's Steve Novak (averaging 44.8 percent on 8.3 attempts/game). They play in major conferences and their numbers are comparable to Redick's (42.6 percent on 8.9 attempts/game). Funny that you never hear Dick Vitale babbling about Lofton or Novak.

Gregg is entirely correct when he says Redick is hated largely because of the name on the front of his jersey. More than a few college hoops fans would have at least something negative to say about Mother Teresa if she played for Duke.

Oh, sure, she cared for the lepers in Calcutta. That's probably why the refs give her all the calls!

But the media played a significant role in fostering that hatred. Duke is loathed largely because (1) it's enormously successful and (2) broadcasters and columnists never let us forget it. The backlash is inevitable. There's only so much fawning praise the media can dish out before fans decide enough is enough. We're like Tony Soprano choking Chris Moltisanti and screaming, "You pushed me to this! YOU PUSHED ME TO THIS!!!"

Redick believes he's the most hated player in America, and some fans truly do despise him. But I think more of us are just tired of hearing about his magnificence. I'm a UNC alumnus, and I certainly don't hate Redick -- not in the way that I hated Bobby Hurley, Steve Wojciechowski, Dahntay Jones or (God help me) Christian Laettner. For that matter, his sanctimoniousness and his penchant for flopping to draw charges earned Shane Battier more than a little of my disdain.

(By the way, can you believe Battier has been invited to try out for Team USA? Battier hasn't exactly been an Danny Ferry-esque bust, but his NBA career falls somewhere between "nondescript" and "mildly disappointing." Yet he's a stone-cold lock to make this team because Mike Krzyzewski is the coach. Sorry, he's the leader who happens to coach Team USA. But I digress.)

I'm also rational enough not to reflexively dislike every Duke player. I spoke with Elton Brand and Chris Carrawell a few times after games. They were always friendly and highly quotable, without Battier's air of smugness. I would have loved it if they wore a different shade of blue. For that matter, I'd love to have Redick as a Tar Heel (although, as you may recall, UNC did manage to win a national championship without him).

Redick is a tremendous offensive weapon. He doesn't talk smack or even sneer as much as he used to. The worst thing you can really say about the guy is he's a horrible poet, he probably whines a little too much about the abuse he takes, and he was (gasp!) once in a room where other people were smoking pot. (I'm not going to throw stones on that last one.)

But if we're going to start playing the "people only hate him because he plays for Duke" card, let's admit that many others heap an inordinate amount of praise upon him for the exact same reason, and maybe we should all start giving a little love to other deserving players. Like Craig Smith, with those soft, supple hands.

 

Mark Alarie is a good one. He had two buzzer beaters in the span of about 10 days for the Washington Bullets. Thanks, I'll add him to the list

 

well

well for the most part.. the players that leave early.. if they consult K's guidance they tend to be good.. now cory maggette is a exception cause K told brand he felt like he would be fine to leave because he had $ issues with his family... avery was gonna flunk is why he left.. maggette lied to get in duke in the first place and thats why he left before he got caught.. ewing is on the brand team with LAC and theyre doing good.. u also have duhon with gordon, heinrich, and deng at chicago.. bobby hurley had a pretty good career in nba for most part.. grant hill was good as long as he could keep from getting hurt but people everywhere have that problem.. like foster with the panthers.. jason williams woulda been aight except the motorcycle accident.. mike dunleavy is doing quite well also with the warriors.. he dont have much help there but theyve got a good core.. every school has good ones and every school has bad ones.. the most publicized wake forest graduate other than tim duncan, chris paul, and howard is prolly that ****** billy packer.. u hardly hear anymore about antawn jamison and nothing bout brandon haywood, ed cota... where is jawad williams and all these great tar heels that made the dean dome leap for joy.. except of course when duke came to town.. what happened to ur God of Chapel Hill that left after one year marvin williams... dont just blast us for having let downs in the nba when everyone of yall have them urselves.

 

Oh no.

 

I'll take a stab at responding to the 5th grader...

Right. So did Sam Bowie, by that standard.

Define "quite well." His 7 points per game is just tearing it up isn't it.

So, which one is it? A good core or no help?

Unless you watch all-star games or check to see who is scoring 20+ ppg in the NBA.

His career is already longer than your God Bobby Hurley's was.

 

Not to mention the fact he was invited to the Team USA basketball tryouts by K himself, but then again this one is a stupid dookie. At least sly has some sorta common sense. He's blinded by dook, but he'll at least bring a decent argument to the table.

 

So the fact that he laughed at you and deleted your email after reading about 3 lines in, made it worth a STUPID effort to send him an email because he hurt your feelings on dook? That's why you lost points... cause that was fucking weak.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you didn't attend Duke. While many parts of your post were laughable (thanks for starting my day out with some comedy) I'll just comment on a couple of items. First off, you brought up Wake graduates and one that you didn't even mention, Rodney Rogers, had a pretty fair NBA career that would compare favorably to just about any Dookie. Then there's the whole "God of Chapel Hill" thing (would God really be a 6th man?). I think Williams is doing about what you'd expect a teen aged NBA rookie to do. In fact, compare his stats to Dunleavy's rookie stats.

In my opinion, Elton Brand will go down as the best NBA player Duke has produced. Too bad Kobe went pro instead of to Duke or you might actually be able to talk about a player with NBA star power :imagestor