All time Duke team under K- article

[balkan boy]

For me, the frontcourt is easy:

Battier
Hill
Laettner

No one comes close to those three for me.

The backcourt is tricky:

I can't leave Hurley off the squad and could you imagine how many additional assists he would have had if he could dish out to JJ from 25 ft?

Or how about JWill and JD as an explosive backcourt?

Tough, but I'll go with Hurley and JD.

Balkan Boy

[Olympic Fan]

The problem with lists like these is that we can never quite decide what we're measuring. Do we want the most honored players in modern Duke history? The most statistically significant? The greatest contributors to the Duke program?

Or are we looking for some hypothetical "most talented"?

You can get into debates about guys like Elton Brand -- undoubtedly a great player for a season and a half at Duke. Does he deserve to rank ahead of a four-year contributor like Danny Ferry? How about Grant Hill -- a great player who had a great pro career, but only a one-time consensus first-team A-A (and never a NPOY)?

If we go with the most honored, we have to pick the consensus NPOYs:

Laettner
Brand
Battier
JWilliams
Redick
6th man Ferry (he split the consensus NPOY with Sean Elliott)

If we go with the most significant statistically, we get:
Redick (the No. 1 scorer in Duke history)
Dawkins (the No. 2 scorer in Duke history)
Hurley (the No. 1 assist guy in NCAA history)
Laettner (the No. 1 scorer/rebounder in NCAA Tournament history)
Ferry (the most amazing collection of statistical accomplishments in Duke history).

If we go with championship contributors:
Laettner (without doubt)
Hurley
GHill
SBattier
JWilliams

An All-defensive team:
Shelden Williams
Shane Battier
Billy King
Grant Hill
Tommy Amaker

Hmm, I didn't pick by position, but you could play a game with any of the above-mentioned teams. But let's say I could choose any Coach K players at his peak to play in one game I had to win. I'd go with:

A double post of Laettner (from 1992) and Brand (from 1999) -- neither is a true center, but both played center at Duke. They wouldn't have any trouble playing together -- Laettner at the high post and Brand at the low.

Grant Hill (1994) and Shane Battier (2001) on the wings. Wow -- two GREAT defenders, two great inside-outside players -- one a great slasher, the other a great spot-up 3-point shooter. Both superior passers from the wing.

At the point, it would be tough:

I guess Jason Williams (2001 -- he actually played point most of the 2001 season) for his offensive versatility -- he was a great playmaker and a great scorer ... but I wouldn't argue with Bobby Hurley (92 or 93), who was the best playmaker ever and a great on-the-ball defender (better IMHO than Wojo ... not quite as good as Amaker) or Johnny Dawkins (1986), who only played the point as a freshman, but was -- like JWill -- a scorer/playmaker ... plus he was a superior defender.

I tell you what ... give me those seven (from those years), plus JJ Redick (in 2006) as a shooter off the bench, Billy King (in 1988) as a shutdown wing defender and Shelden Williams (in 2006) as a defender/rebounder off the bench and I'll take on th world in the next Olympics.

[jv001]

Co-signed. IMO, any all-time Duke team has to include JWill. I still think he's probably the best CBB player I've ever seen.

You must not have seen David Thompson or Christian Laettner play CCB. J-Will was great but not the best.

[mapei]

Hurley
JJ
Hill
Shane
Laettner

Bench: Dawkins, JWill, Brand

[Edouble]

Jdub
JJ
Hill
Battier
Laettner

Bench: Avery, Ferry, Dunleavy

[Huh?]

I would start with the consensus National Players of the Year, of which, awaiting correction from Jim Sumner, there are five under coach K:

C - Laettner
PF - Brand
SF - Battier
SG - JJ
PG - JWill

Hmmm. I'll go with this team.

The other NPOY players were JD and Ferry, although not consensus. And, of course, the fact that Grant wasn't on this list reflects on the voters (Big Dog got the awards) not Grant's play in 1994.

sagegrouse

Boy oh boy I'm all over this team.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Jdub
JJ
Hill
Battier
Laettner

Bench: Avery, Ferry, Dunleavy

Avery over Hurley?

Dunleavy over Brand and Shelden?

[Edouble]

Avery over Hurley?

Dunleavy over Brand and Shelden?

Yeah, I'd say that Avery would waste Hurley if they were matched up against each other. Hurley's court vision was definitely better, but I remember Kenny Anderson abusing him with some one on one moves a couple of times. I personally think Avery is one of the most underrated players in Duke history. He was a complete stud on the '99 squad. I think that when Avery was playing at his highest level, there's none finer: great shooter, great penetrator, great passer, great scorer. He can also play multiple positions, as can Dunleavy and Ferry, which is why they were included on the bench.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Yeah, I'd say that Avery would waste Hurley if they were matched up against each other. Hurley's court vision was definitely better, but I remember Kenny Anderson abusing him with some one on one moves a couple of times. I personally think Avery is one of the most underrated players in Duke history. He was a complete stud on the '99 squad. I think that when Avery was playing at his highest level, there's none finer: great shooter, great penetrator, great passer, great scorer. He can also play multiple positions, as can Dunleavy and Ferry, which is why they were included on the bench.

He was always fun to watch, and definately a good one to have on our side. I've never understood his decision to leave early. His career could have really benefited for staying longer. I remember when he announced, my first thought was "huh?"

[mapei]

He was always fun to watch, and definately a good one to have on our side. I've never understood his decision to leave early. His career could have really benefited for staying longer. I remember when he announced, my first thought was "huh?"

It definitely didn't make basketball sense, but I always got the impression he wasn't too fond of the academic side. That could have been a factor.