Fwiw

[Phantom Warrior]

Not to beat a dead horse, but the more I watch Duane, the more he reminds me of Jerel a freshman. The last five-six minutes of yesterday's game was a perfect example.

Duane missed a wide open, uncontested lay up. (Jerel had a lot of trouble finishing his freshman year.)

Duane makes a nice drive to the hoop and finds Taylor open for a slam, but charges and the basket is waved off. (Vintage freshman Jerel.)

Duane grabs a crucial defensive rebound with superb hustle.

Duane nails two crucial free throws.

Jerel eventually became much better at finishing his drives, and I suspect Duane will, too. As a senior Jerel did a much better job of avoiding those charging fouls as he learned to pull up and take the 10-15 footer. I suspect Duane will, too.

Jerel had a knack of grabbing crucial rebounds. I suspect Duane will become a more effective rebounder the next few years.

Jerel had a knack for making clutch plays down the stretch (except for the Nova game when he let Redding cut back door for an easy, game-winning hoop), like his steal at USF. I suspect Duane will come up clutch for us numerous times before he ends his MU career.

Bottom line: I was extremely bullish on Jerel after seeing him in an Old Spice Chicago-New York all-star game the summer after his senior year in high school, and I have been extremely bullish on Duane after watching him on t.v. play at Dominican. The more I see of Duane, the more bullish I become. I don't know if he'll become quite the player Jerel was as a senior (second team A-A), but I think he will be damn close.