Jeremy Roach poised for breakout season
Duke sophomore guard Jeremy Roach is poised for a big sophomore campaign.
It doesn’t behoove the modern day fan to be patient.
After all, instant gratification is paramount in today’s society. Patience is seemingly dwindling from our DNA.
It’s not really clear when exactly impatience became the overarching characteristic of the majority of fans or anyone else evaluating athletes. Perhaps — and probably likely — it correlates with technological advances, and frequently updated information regarding one’s favorite team, player, recruit or what have you.
It’s information overload in many ways and it plays a pervasive role in our expectations of athletes. In today’s world of basketball recruiting, we are privy to scouting reports, videos, rankings, feature stories — you name it. If you are a five-star athlete, based on the information at hand, some fans and pundits alike believe you should be an immediate star.
Is it fair? Not at all.
Duke sophomore Jeremy Roach is just another in a long line of highly rated players that have experienced that to some degree. He may not have been expected to be an instant star, but predictions were lofty when he arrived in Durham. By today’s standards, whether reasonable or not, some believe he didn’t live up to them. Even he looks back on the year with a degree of disappointment.
“For me personally, last year didn’t go as planned,” Roach said. “It wasn’t a typical Duke year.”
The fact is, though, Roach had a pretty strong freshman campaign. Like the majority of freshmen, he had his ups and downs. But the fact that cannot be lost is he started as an 18-year-old for one of college basketball’s bluebloods. And he did pretty well. In today’s one-and-done world where freshmen starting is more the norm and not the exception, that might not hold the same kind of weight.
But let’s take a minute and look at what Roach brought to the table in 2020-21. He averaged 8.7 points, 2.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 27.5 minutes of action per game. Roach had some pretty big performances mixed in along the way as well.
Once upon a time, those numbers would have been considered pretty impressive for a freshman.
“… it’s made him a lot better because once he demands greatness or perfection out of us, he has no choice but to do it himself.” - Wendell Moore, Jr. on Jeremy Roach
But, since Roach didn’t blow the doors off in year one, some saw it as a letdown year. Neither the Duke coaching staff nor his teammates would define it as that, however. In fact, Mike Krzyzewski and company would probably hold that “old school” mentality and believe his performance to be pretty good.
No matter how you describe what Roach did as a freshman, the good news is he has all the tools necessary to be better as a sophomore.
Roach’s teammates believe he is poised for a big year.
“He’s such a hard worker, he’s always in the gym, so his skills have gotten better,” Duke senior co-captain Joey Baker said. “But I think he’s learning the game, kind of learning what Coach wants and how to get that stuff done. He’s controlling the game. He’s a pest defender. Learning ways to impact the game he might not have known last year. So, [he is] just maturing a lot.”
That maturation process was on display in Duke’s exhibition against Winston-Salem State. In 21 minutes of action, Roach scored 10 points and handed out seven assists while turning the ball over just once.
Sure, it was a much lesser opponent than what the Blue Devils will face Tuesday night, but his poise and confidence were clearly different.
Kentucky will certainly put Roach to the test, but if he takes the same mentality he put on display in exhibition action to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, good things should happen.
“The biggest way I’ve seen [Roach] evolve is he’s even become more of a leader,” junior co-captain Wendell Moore, Jr. said. “He became more vocal on the court. He’s demanding more from all of us. At the end of the day that makes us all better.
“I think for him, it’s made him a lot better because once he demands greatness or perfection out of us, he has no choice but to do it himself.”
That level of accountability stands to help Roach leave a mark on this upcoming season. As fans and observers, some patience might afford us a chance to see the sophomore progress into the type of player most believe he can.
Great article my friend. Would be interested to see how Roach’s freshman numbers stack up against, say Bobby Hurley, Tommy Amaker, Tre Jones, Chris Duhon or Greg Paulus.