It was hard not to notice Andre Dawkins Thursday night who, as the Blue Devils cruised to a 86-67 victory over Georgia Tech, sat on the bench waiting to come into the game. He never got the chance.
Admittedly, I’m no expert in deciphering the facial expressions of athletes. But as I looked across the court at Dawkins, he certainly didn’t look “happy”. As Kyle Singler nailed shots from deep and Duke completely overwhelmed a team that had beaten it earlier this season, Dawkins’ teammates sprung off the bench in celebration. Perhaps it’s simply his personality, the freshman’s quiet demeanor, that kept him sitting quietly clapping on the bench. That didn’t stop the Cameron Crazies sitting in the student section behind me from wondering why every scholarship player and a handful of walk-ons got into the game before the Blue Devils’ young 3-point threat.
Following the game, in the postgame press conference, head coach Mike Krzyzewski dismissed the idea that Dawkins’ lack of playing time had any significance behind it such as the freshman falling out of the rotation.
“No, no, he’s just not…this wasn’t the type of thing to play tonight,” Krzyzewski said.
But Dawkins’ time on the floor has certainly dropped off in recent games. After playing 20 or more minutes in seven of the Blue Devils’ first 12 games, Dawkins hasn’t played 20 minutes in 10 straight contests and has since averaged just over eight points. And after hitting 26 shots from deep in those first 12 games—which all took place in 2009—Dawkins has just two 3-pointers in the new year.
Midway through the first half of last night’s contest, when many onlookers may have expected to see Dawkins come into the game to give Jon Scheyer or Nolan Smith a break (both played 39 minutes in the contest), walk-on Jordan Davidson entered the game. Even if Dawkins simply didn’t play because the situation didn’t quite fit him, it was sure something that didn’t go unnoticed.
As I’ve said in the actual article for this game, Andre deserves to play more simply because he sacrificed his senior year of high school by doing a favor of “helping out” Duke. It’s unjust that Coach K hasn’t done his part of the deal and played him more. And the fact that Andre has seen his playing time cut right after his sister passed away is borderline cruel of Coach K.
I wonder if the whole thing has just become too much, emotionally and psychologically, for a young kid who just lost his sister in a car crash, and is having to deal with university campus life,a higher level of academics,and big time basketball all at once. It may be a litle too much for the kid to adjust to right now. Just give him time and perhaps he will be OK.
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With over 15 minutes left in the BC game, we already look tired and can’t shoot free throws. Maybe Dawkins could have at least come in when we got up by 20 Thursday night….
Dre himself admitted recently that he hasnt been putting forth the necessary effort in practice (understandable given what he’s gone through), so lets not start calling for K’s head quite yet.
aight listen, dawkins, coach k, and if you heard the espn guys during the GT game you would have heard them say that dawkins has not been practicing well at all. hence not PT. if you’ve played any sort of sport you know if you don’t practice well, you are not gonna see any court, field, or ice time PERIOD. I just hope that the coaching staff is being critical but also positively reinforcing with encouragement to help this guy blossom into a player that was ranked top 25 in the nation for 2010-2011 draft year. And let’s hope that the upperclassmen are doing their part as well.
Note: he played last night in crunch time spots near the end of the game with BC, it was nice to see him and Smith embrace smile and walk off the court together after that win. keep that head up dawkins, duke fans, love the passion, let’s just not get over critical.
devilfan – I hope and trust that you’re correct since that would be more “fair” and definitely understandable. And I may have been wrong as it looks like Andre first contacted Duke about forgoing his senior year (not the other way around) . Let’s just hope the best for Andre. Seems like a great kid and great basketball player – that’s had more than enough heartbreak to deal with this year. I would just hate to see him go through any more.
here is the link remmik – http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/5694187/article-Dawkins–touch-may-be-on-the-way-back?instance=main_article