durley is a beast!

[MikeShox]

Re: Durley

RipEmUp

What are you smoking? Your comment about JT playing 50x harder on Defense than Phil is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. How many charges has JT taken this year? How many times has JT's man beat him inside? How many rebounds have teamates pulled down because Phil boxes out better than anyone on the team? I really like JT's ability, but it is on Offensive end. Yes he blocked some shots and that is great, but "50x harder"? Come on! Phil has been one of the most consistent players this year.

without ramon setting insane screens for phil, hed have some major major downside.

So lets say Ramonil Clemmason has been consistant.

I love what Ramon is doing as much as anyone, but cannot comprehend your apparent disrespect for the way Phillip is playing. He is playing great defense against much bigger players, he is constantly outrunning and out hustling his man on both offense and defense. Throw in Ramon who is doing the same thing and the Shox are simply playing outstanding ball inside. Matt is playing the best point of his career and best point consistently since Tony Martin. Gal has really stepped up his overall game recently and of course PJ is PJ. Nuff said.

[ISASO]

The disconnect between the trainers saying Butler is ready to go and Butler saying he is not kind of concerns me for some reason. I wonder how much we'll see of Butler on the court this year.

In every knee injury I have ever heard of, there is always a time gap between when a guy is medically ready to go and when he really trusts the knee. This isn't unusual. How long it will take him to be ready is hard to know, but I don't think that the fact that Arbry is responding to a knee injury the way most athletes do is anything to be worried about.

Many times the mental aspect of rehab is more of a handicap than the injury itself. It is fairly common for the injured to blow out the other knee due to over-compensation. Give Arbry all the time he needs.

[tgcshock]

Re: Durley

RipEmUp

What are you smoking? Your comment about JT playing 50x harder on Defense than Phil is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. How many charges has JT taken this year? How many times has JT's man beat him inside? How many rebounds have teamates pulled down because Phil boxes out better than anyone on the team? I really like JT's ability, but it is on Offensive end. Yes he blocked some shots and that is great, but "50x harder"? Come on! Phil has been one of the most consistent players this year.

without ramon setting insane screens for phil, hed have some major major downside.

So lets say Ramonil Clemmason has been consistant.

Well yes, when every player on the team does their job then they make the players around them better. Basketball 101. Why you would single Phil out for comment on this is odd. You might want to add that when Matt distributes the ball well PJ gets open looks. PJ driving to the basket and dishing out to Matt for an open look has made him a better three point shooter. So the amazing discovery that people playing unselfish fundamentally sound basketball makes teams and players better is true but unremarkable. Phil has covered for some leaky defense at times this season by taking the charge in the lane. That makes others look like better defenders than they are. So what? Phil and Matt have been our most consistent players this season if you take both offense and defense into consideration. (Thank God, PJ is now back on track and will have to be included in this conversation as well). The bottom line is that the seniors are doing what we need the seniors to do. They show up night in and night out and get the job done. There is no cause whatsoever to single out PT for criticism to this point in the season.

[newshock1234]

I was one of Phil's biggest critic last year. The way phil is playing this year is quite all right with me. He by far is exceeding my expectation of him this year. Keep it up Phil!

[newshock1234]

JT has got all the talent in the world as he showed last night with his 17 points performance, how good is this guy gonna be by the time he is a senior

[BostonWu]

Scoring this many points early in his career he might have a chance to finish top 20 in career scoring.

[RoyalShock]

I've been highly impressed by JT thus far. Having a freshman with his confidence and scoring ability is so refreshing.

Besides his defense, which is shaky at times. there is one thing that potentially concerns me.

He looks like a guy that is straddling the line between a great, ice-in-the-veins offensive player and a player who wil frustrate fans and occassionally be the main reason we lose a game. Let me explain.

It's clear he has a lot of confidence in his offensive skills. And as long as the shots are falling he looks like a hero. I just wonder what will happen when he hits an inevitable cold-streak. Will he recognize this and get more selective on the shots he takes until he breaks out of the slump or will he continue to take on double-teams and contested shots?

OTOH, there is something to be said for a player having such confidence that he goes out there and plays his game, feast or famine. That could develop into an attitude of "I'm going to go out there and impose my will on the other team!"

[Maggie]

I have said before that Durley has exceeded my expectations. However, I have a couple of concerns:

(1) How is Durley going to react to the increased attention he will get from teams if he continues to be this effective offensively? Opponents, especially in conference play, are going to start to game plan for him; and

(2) I still question Durley's mental side. By his own admission, he is "lazy" – I hope this early success does not prompt him to "rest on his laurels" so to speak. I am sure that CGM and his staff will do their best to keep Durley motivated but it is still a concern of mine.

That being said, I could not be more pleased with his play to date. The scoring that he is providing off the bench, in limited minutes, has been impressive and critical to the team's success.

[Cdizzle]

(2) I still question Durley's mental side. By his own admission, he is "lazy" – I hope this early success does not prompt him to "rest on his laurels" so to speak. I am sure that CGM and his staff will do their best to keep Durley motivated but it is still a concern of mine.

Durley made the comment in his post-game interview last night that although he felt like he was in good enough shape to get up and down the floor and help the team, he still wanted to "trim down, and get cut up". It struck me, because he didn't say Coach Marshall wanted this, he wanted this. Maybe he is realizing (a.) just what it takes to compete at this level, and (b.) just how good he could be if he got himself more physically and mentally prepared.

I certainly hope he continues to develop and work on improving his defincies, as I think most would agree he has all-conference offensive potential.

[newshock1234]

His success so far this season will only make him want it more and he will work harder to improve his all around game. I honestly think if he works hard enough, he can become all valley performer

[RoyalShock]

For JT's size, I'm seeing a similarity to Paul Miller (nice jump shot, post moves), but with perhaps more upside. I'm not talking about what his presence means to the team (it's hard to say anyone could be more important than Miller was his senior year), but that JT could become a better power forward than Miller was a center.

If JT does indeed get "cut" (helping his quickness a little) and improve on defense (he already seems to posess some shot-blocking ability), he could develop into an MVC POY candidate.

Of course, this all assumes that he really is the player we've seen so far and hasn't just been on a lucky streak to start his career.

[shockerfan]

I think he's a guy that just didn't have to work hard in high school. Sometimes super talented athletes are like that out of high school. Marshall is the guy to get him working and from what I heard from JT on the post game show he knows he still has a long way to go and really wants to get there. If he can consistently give minutes like he has been, his goal of being on the all-newcomer team is realistic, but he needs to continue to get better.

The sky is the limit with JT. He's obviously got alot of confidence in his shot. Marshall also has tons of confidence in his offensive abilities as he admits he calls JT's number alot when he's in. JT is going to be a tremendous matchup problem for some of the Valley's bigs that don't like to get on the perimeter and guard.

[goshocks]

If JT can some how mysteriously play a game of 35+ minutes, he will be the next paul miller or greater. When I mean play, I mean effectively and efficiently.
________
Wave Blaster

[shockerfan]

If JT can some how mysteriously play a game of 35+ minutes, he will be the next paul miller or greater. When I mean play, I mean effectively and efficiently.

I think he will. I know it's hard for me to remember sometimes that he is only a freshman (granted redshirt but a freshman all the same). How many freshmen in the country immediately come in to play 30mins per game and play consistently the whole time? Not many, at least not many on good teams. And those that do, will not be at that school long...

[Ricky Del Rio]

If JT can some how mysteriously play a game of 35+ minutes, he will be the next paul miller or greater. When I mean play, I mean effectively and efficiently.

Better move that 35 down a notch or two. No, better make it 10 notches down to 25 max.