Carolina players I have liked

[Lord Ash]

I miss big Brad doing the games; "That is just out-standing!" Never heard someone say a phrase more often in my life.

For the terps, there is only one I have ever liked: Juan Dixon. Someplace there is a picture of him in a Duke uniform from when he played in a Duke charity game. Does anyone have that picture?

[mgtr]

Latta6970-
Hope you enjoyed your rant. I gather that, in addition to hating anything in pale blue, you don't think any player is the best ever, certainly not MJ. I think that Russell, Byrd, and Robertson could be considered. I think that Rick Barry, in his second season in the league, was the best there was that year (everybody else apparently agreed, since he won every honor that year). How about Pete Maravich? I am old enough to have seen all these players in their prime, and I can't rule out MJ as the overall best. He was simply amazing. Did he have good support? Of course. Did he deserve his salary -- certainly, it is a free market. The team owners and the fans who bought tickets must have agreed.
I would not, by the way, put Chamberlain in the same category as the above players -- except, perhaps, according to his own words, his prowess with women. On the basketball court Bill Russell and Nate Thurmond generally had their own way with him.

[merry]

"Like" might be too strong of a word but my answer would be Worthy, Felton and Jamison.

[Uncle Drew]

I would not, by the way, put Chamberlain in the same category as the above players -- except, perhaps, according to his own words, his prowess with women.
Dude, if for no other reason you have to put Wilt in consideration. If half, no if a quarter of what he said was true is is definately one of the best "players" to ever live. LOL!

The thing that irks me about MJ now, is how every great player is compared to him and isn't allowed to be who they are and just the best player they can become. Sure some compared Jordan to Dr. J at first, but thatnks to NBA brainwashing he became his own franchise. For the record Maravich SHOULD be considered among the greats, perhaps even the greatest. It's all how you look at stats and want to skew them one way or another.

Oh and if I was ranting, I appologize.

[burnspbesq]

Bobby Jones was a neighbor when I lived in suburban Denver in the mid-1970s. Genuinely nice guy, and I loved his game. Watching him defend Dr. J in Nuggets-Nets ABA games was like watching old films of Miles and Trane playing together in the late 1950s. No one ever did it better.

I also liked O'Koren.

No one since then.

[dukemsu]

I agree with Latta to a point. Jordan has been called Greatest Player Ever by ESPN (including the shameful #1 ranking of all athletes of the 20th Century, which should have been Ali, with Gretzky #2) so much that people actually attach it to him as a virtual extension of his name. I think you have to look at Jordan in 3 incarnations.

Jordan Mach 1, the guy who left in 93, was perhaps the perfect basketball player. Guarded, drove the lane, rebounded, even passed on occasion, and never, ever, ever, ever, got tired. What must his workouts have been like? Jordan Mach 2 was essentially a ball-hogging fadeaway jump shooter (albeit a very good one) who was handed 15 points before the start of every game by officials. Jordan Mach 2 guarded Jeff Hornacek while Pippen and Rodman guarded everyone else. Jordan Mach 2 was the second best all-around basketball player on his own team. Jordan Mach 3 was an embarassment, not far from Willie Mays stumbling in the outfield for the Mets.

Jordan Mach 1 is in the team picture for best ever, but it's impossible to say who that person is. From his era, he's joined in my opinion by Bird and Magic, and Olajuwon wasn't far behind. Kareem, Maravich, and Oscar from the 70s. Russell, Wilt, West, and probably someone else I'm forgetting from the 60s.

Jordan has become so overhyped it's almost sacrelige to criticize the guy, and I'm just talking about the player, not the guy. That's a whole different conversation.

dukemsu

[gw67]

I would add Jordan, Mach 0, to your list. Jordan, Mach 0, was the outstanding college player at UNC who averaged 17.7ppg for his career. He was ACC POY one time (8 players were multiple winners, including Thompson and Sampson who won it three times) and he was a two-time 1st team All ACC (25 players were 1st team ACC three times). Yet the ACC sportswriters voted him the top player in the first 50 years of the league. Jordan was hyped so much because of his pro career that the sportswriters and many of the younger basketball fans automatically think that his college career eclipsed that of ACC stars such as Thompson, Sampson, Laettner, Ferry, Bias, Duncan, Price, Heyman, Cunningham and Roche. Jordan was outstanding but not that outstanding.

gw67

[captmojo]

John Roche, now there's a favorite Carolina player,Just the more southern variety. Also a good player whose name I haven't heard in a long time. I always like the way he handled the ball. Just try to take it away and it would go behind the back, between the legs. Great assist man and shooter too.

[Indoor66]

John Roche, now there's a favorite Carolina player,Just the more southern variety. Also a good player whose name I haven't heard in a long time. I always like the way he handled the ball. Just try to take it away and it would go behind the back, between the legs. Great assist man and shooter too.

Great "strong arm" as well - stomping Dick DiVenzio...IIRC

[mapei]

I have to give MJ respect as a player but I've never found him particularly likeable. The stories of his rudeness around DC when he was associated with the Wizards are legion.

I thought this thread was about whom we liked, not who was a great player.

[dukemomLA]

Julius Pepper made me smile (...or as a Blue Devil).. cringe. He was wonderful and made our life much harder. I also liked Antwan J. and MJ.

[RelativeWays]

There's almost a brotherly hatred when it comes Duke and Carolina fans and the players for the opposing teams. Think about it, the players most Duke fans are familiar with (other than Duke of course) are UNC players, and its usually the same for Tarheel fans.

That being said, there weren't many UNC players a I had a strong genuine dislike for, there have been a few:

1. Mahktar Ndyaie: An insult to the UNC team and the ACC in general. Trash.

2. Brendon Haywood: Would not stop running his mouth

3. Joe Forte: Very selfish and arrogant at times, I think even his own team hated him.

4. Rasheed Wallace: Yells after the most basic of dunks.

5. King Rice: Griefed poor Bobby Hurley early in his career, that he really irked me. I started to feel bad for him when UNC fans booed him.

[acciconoclast]

Tough not to like a kid sporting a 1995 pea-green-and-black Caprice Classic


North Carolina's basketball season ended more than a month ago. But three nights a week on this town's crowded streets, sophomore Marcus Ginyard is still doing what he does best: working.
"Gotta go, gotta get there fast," Ginyard said Thursday evening, grabbing two tortilla wrap orders, racing to his 1995 pea-green-and-black Caprice Classic, and navigating toward South Campus. "People want their food fresh."

These days, it isn't the game that's on the line, but the tips. Ginyard, a player known for his defense and hustle, averaged 4.1 points per game last season. He's currently averaging about $2 a delivery.


http://www.newsobserver.com/100/story/571099.html