Friday, October 08, 2004
Knowing Right from Wrong
Right.DeMarcus Nelson, Duke: Junior Sean Dockery gets first crack at replacing Chris Duhon, but Nelson is a 6-3 combo guard who's too good not to play. He'll give shooting guards J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing some rest before ultimately giving Dockery a spot on the bench.
DeMarcus is a stud. He'll relieve Dockery of significant amounts of playing time.
Wrong.
Calipari has an argument against the negative-recruiting theorem that suggests too many great players equals diminished minutes, which equals a diminished NBA Draft stock. Actually, he has two arguments.
"Luol Deng," he said. "Mike Miller."
As a Duke freshman last season, Deng was third on the team in minutes and second in scoring, yet went No. 7 overall in the 2004 NBA Draft. In two seasons at Florida, Miller averaged a modest 13.3 points in 26.7 minutes -- then went fourth in the 2000 draft.
Deng and Miller, both exceptional talents, were able to secure NBA millions despite diminished minutes, not because of them. Calipari is being creative with the truth. But doing so successfully.
