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PG Duane Washington Jr. (3rd Team All-B1G, 1st Team All-B1G Tourney, Partizan)

Because even counting Washington, we're really thin, maybe? One injury, and you're done next year.

We've got CJ, but I agree no doubt that we need at least another PG for next year which is why the staff is still looking. I think Washington and Muhammed will be called into emergency PG duty if necessary, but it seems to me the staff is trying to prevent that from happening. I think maybe by his junior year Washington might be alright in a backup role at PG, but I still think Muhammed will be a more viable option and that Washington will be better utilized on the wing as a shooter.
 
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From the post above this one
But the transfer that’s made the largest impact on the Trailblazers is senior guard Duane Washington Jr., who joined the team from Grand Rapids, Michigan.


Washington’s contributions grow much deeper than his March Mardness-like plays. He’s made his mark as an instant leader.

“Being a leader always keeps me in check because you can’t give input and then not do it yourself,” Washington Jr. said. “I’ve grown so much more as a leader here, and it’s great to see some of the younger guys I’ve helped out this season come along.”
 
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“The first time he came to California, he walked into the gym and there were people in the gym who were irrelevant to our program,” Chevalier said. “I mean, little kids, their parents, and he went and introduced himself to every person in the gym — and I mean every person. When I saw that, I knew we had somebody special on our hands, not just as a basketball player but as a person for sure.

“He’s like a politician shaking hands and making people feel good about themselves and making people fall in love with him. Getting to know him was quite easy because he extends himself that way.”

Before long, Washington had a nickname. They called him “the mayor.”

“I’ve always been a leader, so as soon as I stepped onto campus my presence has been of that sort,” he said. “I stepped on and obviously had to prove myself to gain some respect from the guys because everyone out here is really good, highly recruited and has a lot of juice to the name. There wasn’t a, ‘He’s from over there, we don’t like outsiders’ deal. It was nothing like that sort. Everything was filled with love and caring and support, and that made an easy transition.”

“Over the course of the year he definitely evolved defensively with his ability to defend the basketball and understand help-side and be more of a contributing factor on the defensive end,” Chevalier said. “That definitely improved. Then his ability to attack the basket and get himself and other people shots also developed.”

When it was crunch time, though, Washington said he typically was making a play.

“I see myself as an all-around guy who can distribute the ball and make plays, but this year near the end of games I always had the ball in my hands,” he said. “If I was starting with it, if I was finishing the possession with it, it always ended up with me making a play in crunch time.

“I’ve talked about it with coach Holtmann and we’ve talked about position-less basketball, guys who make plays and guys who know how to play the game right. You can see that in the NBA. If you can play, you can play. I don’t really see a label or a reason to label somebody as only one thing. Just go out there and do what you can do. It’s really important to just play, and whatever coach Holtmann asks me to do, I’m going to do that and then some.”
more…
http://www.dispatch.com/sports/2018...ior-season-worked-out-for-duane-washington-jr

 
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