walker60
Bench
Will do.
Ill use your words against you same way you did with me. You said they could of played him anything short of center. Well ok, Point guard he would get beaten off the dribble. Small forward he's too small and not strong enough. Power Forward he's way too small nor strong enough. That leaves us with 2-guard.
The guy has a Reggie Miller type of game. He isn't very good at creating his own shot(although he did improve). If Krzyzewski runs his offense through Deng, Duhon or Shelden Williams than JJ doesn't put up nearly as many points as he did. Thus becoming very less effective. He has trouble scoring on one-on-one situations, ESPECIALLY against anyone athletic. He's very good at coming off screens and utilizing his teammates to get his shot off and Coach K saw that very early and milked it for all it was worth. He emphasized his strengths and tried to hide his weaknesses as much as possible in the Duke system. Which is why you saw him completely murder some teams this season. If Coach K has a different mindset and decides to use JJ Redick as a role player, and letting him fight for his shots like every other role player does, than he doesn't put up those numbers. IF, for instance, he would of played for a Larry Brown type coach in college, do you really think he would of seen that much PT when the only thing he's truly great at is shooting and can't really play D or handle the ball? IMO, absolutely not.
JJ Redick needs his teammates to be dangerous. Just like Reggie Miller did. If his pro coach doesn't understand that, then he will bust. If Kzryzewski wouldn't of understood that, he MIGHT of been a bust in college too.
Hurray! Coach K is a genius for figuring out that JJ Redick is the best shooter in the nation! Man that guy is smart! Boy, if it weren't for Coach K, JJ might have been a bust!

Any coach with a pulse would have gotten JJ the ball. What was coach K gonna do? Let Melchionni shoot the rock 15 times a game, while telling JJ to become a role player? Haha I could see that:
Coach K: "JJ...i need you to quit shooting so much...i need to get Melchionni and Paulus more shots...I like what they bring to the table a little bit more..."
JJ: "But coach...umm...I might be the best player in the nation..."
Coach K: "Nah..I like you better as a role player JJ..."
Don't see Coach K doing that...

Oh and by the way...toward the end of the season Duke was running a three guard offense with Paulus (6-1), Dockery (6-2) or Nelson (6-2), and Redick (6-4). Melchionni wasn't playing a whole lot toward the end. So in essence, Redick was guarding the SF a lot of times. He played primarily the 2, but he also played the 1 and 3. I'm sure almost every college team would have taken JJ at the 1, 2 , or 3. Sorry for my sarcasm earlier when I said he would have been good anywhere but C, it can be hard to pick up in a forum post. PF isn't an option either, although you could have gone with a four guard offense like Villanova did and have Redick be your next biggest guy next to S. Williams, wouldn't recomend it but it would have won them some games.