Dukies no longer in the NBA

[JasonEvans]

Corey Maggette appears ready to retire after being cut by the Spurs this week.

For a while, in the mid-2000s, Corey was about as good as they come at taking the ball HARD to the hole and either converting or getting fouled. From 2003 - 2009, he managed to reach the FT line at least 8 times a game every season, which is quite impressive -- especially for a wing player (big men get fouled more often). He was never an all-star or All-NBA, but probably came close a few times -- especially in 2004-05 when he averaged 22.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 3.4 apg.



No one will be retiring Corey's number or holding tearful goodbye ceremonies for him, but he had a fine NBA career (and made over $89 mill in career salary). I know his time at Duke was short (and mostly memorable for backboard slaps as well as crazy potential that he never got a chance to unlock here), but he always played hard and was (once he got to college) an upstanding citizen of the basketball world. I wish him well as he moves on to the next chapter of his life.

-Jason "reflecting on Corey makes me think of some of the great moments for the 1999 team... wow, were they ever fun to watch play!" Evans

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

Corey was one of my favorites over the years. Wish I could have seen more of him at Duke.

Btw, 80pts at the 12 min mark in the 2nd half? Yikes.

[vick]

Corey Maggette appears ready to retire after being cut by the Spurs this week.

For a while, in the mid-2000s, Corey was about as good as they come at taking the ball HARD to the hole and either converting or getting fouled. From 2003 - 2009, he managed to reach the FT line at least 8 times a game every season, which is quite impressive -- especially for a wing player (big men get fouled more often).

Yep. From basketball-reference, since he joined the league, he had 3 of the top 4 and 4 of the top 7 seasons for a wing in FTA/minute, and he was pretty good at shooting those free throws too.

[jay]

Corey was one of my favorites over the years. Wish I could have seen more of him at Duke.

Btw, 80pts at the 12 min mark in the 2nd half? Yikes.

"Now THAT should have been a technical." - Len Elmore, criticizing a Duke player

"Karl Hess just called it." - Karl Hess, assessing a Duke technical.

Some things never change, do they?

[Dukehky]

That video is good, but not even close to this one.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ZF_oaO1lA

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

That video is good, but not even close to this one.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ZF_oaO1lA

And here's his highlight reel. Lot of video for one year.

[g-money]

It was always fun to watch Corey play in the NBA. With the physical gifts he had though, I'll always wonder if he truly reached his potential as an NBA player. The only guy I've seen with a better basketball body than Corey is Lebron.

I tend to think Coach K had it right - if Corey had stayed another year at Duke, he would probably have been the #1 pick in the draft (barring injury) and would have had a stronger "brand" as a pro. $90M is nothing to sneeze at of course, but it would have been nice to see him make it to the all-star game and play for better teams in general.

Of course, the mental aspects of the game - both on the court and off - have a tremendous impact as well, which might explain why a certain #31 is still going strong in Miami while Corey is calling it a day.

Anyway, Corey will always be a member of the Duke family and I wish him well in the next phase of life!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Corey was certainly fun to watch in the 1998-99 season. And while I don't condone his slapping the backboard, it certainly did bring the house down! Given the score and circumstances, I forgave him his enthusiastic "learning moment"

Oh Oh! Maggette-O's!

[UrinalCake]

Loved the fake confused looks on Maggette and Domzalski's faces. A technical? Really? For what?!?

Story has it that prior to the game he and Elton had made a friendly wager as to whether or not Maggette could do that (slap the backboard) in a game.

[Tom B.]

And here's his highlight reel. Lot of video for one year.

It's missing my favorite Maggette highlight, though -- the play from the Carolina game in the Dean Dome where he got the ball on the wing, put a wicked move on Jason Capel that made him fall down, and slashed to the hoop for a dunk. (I think he slapped the backboard and got T'ed up on that one, too.)

I looked on YouTube and the ACC Vault, but I couldn't find that highlight anywhere. Anyone have a video of it?

[nmduke2001]

This is an old article, but it seems like Corey was getting ready for the next phase. Good to see Grant Hill was encouraging him.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...-hoops-options

[Cameron]

The rebound dunk against Temple in the NCAAs, as called by the great Al McGuire. That was a loaded Temple team, by the way -- Lynn Greer, Quincy Wadley and Kevin Lyde -- and we destroyed it.



Still waiting for Corey to come back down.

[Researchc]

Loved the fake confused looks on Maggette and Domzalski's faces. A technical? Really? For what?!?

Story has it that prior to the game he and Elton had made a friendly wager as to whether or not Maggette could do that (slap the backboard) in a game.

Here is the story of what Elton had told Corey before the game, according to Slam Magazine, with an awesome photo of him wiping off the backboard. Even though I hate receiving techs for showboating and foolishness, this is easily one of my all time favorite Duke stories. I remember reading this as a teenager and falling a little bit more in love with Duke. I would have loved for him to have stayed one more year. Awesome talent!

http://www.slamonline.com/online/the...orey-maggette/

[cato]

Here is the story of what Elton had told Corey before the game, according to Slam Magazine, with an awesome photo of him wiping off the backboard. Even though I hate receiving techs for showboating and foolishness, this is easily one of my all time favorite Duke stories. I remember reading this as a teenager and falling a little bit more in love with Duke. I would have loved for him to have stayed one more year. Awesome talent!

http://www.slamonline.com/online/the...orey-maggette/

I don't know if that is true, but I sure hope it is. Ah, Elton. Perhaps my favorite Duke player even.

[Henderson]

Corey Maggette and Luol Deng. They broke my heart by going earlier than I thought. It may be that both would have benefited financially from staying another year, but that's easy to speculate on. They were faced with birds in the hand and potentially more birds in the bush. Plus the family issues. And it seems to have worked out fine for them. Maybe suboptimal in hindsight (maybe not), but good nonetheless. I wish them both well as their NBA careers wind down, Corey's first, then Luol's later.

Figuring out whether coming out early makes sense shouldn't be judged by the rookie salary amount, but by the amount they make in their last year in the NBA. That's because coming out early gives the NBA career another year. So eschewing the opportunity to come out early presents this question for the player: "If I stay another year in college, will my increased career value by doing so be worth more than my anticipated last-year NBA salary?" For first round draft picks, that's likely always to be "no."

So Corey and Luol: No hard feelings; wish we'd known you better; thanks for the memories.

[throatybeard]

Using Jason Capel like a Kleenex is the signature moment for me, not the backboard slap.

[JBDuke]

Corey Maggette and Luol Deng. They broke my heart by going earlier than I thought. It may be that both would have benefited financially from staying another year, but that's easy to speculate on. They were faced with birds in the hand and potentially more birds in the bush. Plus the family issues. And it seems to have worked out fine for them. Maybe suboptimal in hindsight (maybe not), but good nonetheless. I wish them both well as their NBA careers wind down, Corey's first, then Luol's later.

Figuring out whether coming out early makes sense shouldn't be judged by the rookie salary amount, but by the amount they make in their last year in the NBA. That's because coming out early gives the NBA career another year. So eschewing the opportunity to come out early presents this question for the player: "If I stay another year in college, will my increased career value by doing so be worth more than my anticipated last-year NBA salary?" For first round draft picks, that's likely always to be "no."

So Corey and Luol: No hard feelings; wish we'd known you better; thanks for the memories.

Not sure Luol would have done much better if he had stayed another year. Luol went 7th in the 2004 NBA draft. He would have had to move up to the top 3 or 4 to make up for the year of lost earnings. That's not an impossible jump, but perhaps a bit of a stretch. The top of the 2005 draft went Andrew Bogut, Marvin Williams, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and Raymond Felton. Certainly Marvin was too high, but we only get that in hindsight. Maybe you call Deng a wash with Felton for #5, but I doubt he jumps over either Deron Williams or Paul.

From the fan's perspective, though, Luol's departure was a killer for Duke. The 2005 team was pretty shallow. Ewing was the captain, and he, Redick, and Shelden Williams were the main cogs on offense. Shelden got little help from Shavlik Randolph at times, so Coach ended up relying on Lee Melchionni and Dave McClure to help with post defense and rebounding. Imagine the difference of adding Luol Deng to that lineup. Now, you have a defensive stalwart in the middle with a growing offensive game, the best long-range shooter in Duke history, a talented, versatile combo guard in Ewing, and role players in Dockery, Randolph, Melchionni, and McClure to go along with perhaps the best inside-out forward in the conference. Luol averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds for the 2004 team. He blocked more than a shot a game and sank more than one 3FG a game (shooting at a 36% clip). He could score inside and out, and was an excellent defender. I think he takes Duke from a 27-6 team losing to Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen to a 30+ win team that is playing in the Final Four and probably the favorite for the national championship.

I don't fault Luol for leaving, but I sure wish he'd stayed.

[1999ballboy]

Not sure Luol would have done much better if he had stayed another year. Luol went 7th in the 2004 NBA draft. He would have had to move up to the top 3 or 4 to make up for the year of lost earnings. That's not an impossible jump, but perhaps a bit of a stretch. The top of the 2005 draft went Andrew Bogut, Marvin Williams, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and Raymond Felton. Certainly Marvin was too high, but we only get that in hindsight. Maybe you call Deng a wash with Felton for #5, but I doubt he jumps over either Deron Williams or Paul.

From the fan's perspective, though, Luol's departure was a killer for Duke. The 2005 team was pretty shallow. Ewing was the captain, and he, Redick, and Shelden Williams were the main cogs on offense. Shelden got little help from Shavlik Randolph at times, so Coach ended up relying on Lee Melchionni and Dave McClure to help with post defense and rebounding. Imagine the difference of adding Luol Deng to that lineup. Now, you have a defensive stalwart in the middle with a growing offensive game, the best long-range shooter in Duke history, a talented, versatile combo guard in Ewing, and role players in Dockery, Randolph, Melchionni, and McClure to go along with perhaps the best inside-out forward in the conference. Luol averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds for the 2004 team. He blocked more than a shot a game and sank more than one 3FG a game (shooting at a 36% clip). He could score inside and out, and was an excellent defender. I think he takes Duke from a 27-6 team losing to Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen to a 30+ win team that is playing in the Final Four and probably the favorite for the national championship.

I don't fault Luol for leaving, but I sure wish he'd stayed.

I wish Luol would have stayed too, but man I loved that '05 team. They had more injuries than any team since '96, and even before the injuries they were predicted to finish 5th place in one of the strongest overall ACC seasons in recent memory. I remember a game at Wake, which I believe we lost, but we were in such dire injury and foul trouble that we had to play walk-ons at the end. They ended up regular season and ACC tournament champs, and got a #1 seed. That team really maximized its potential.

[Edouble]

Not sure Luol would have done much better if he had stayed another year. Luol went 7th in the 2004 NBA draft. He would have had to move up to the top 3 or 4 to make up for the year of lost earnings. That's not an impossible jump, but perhaps a bit of a stretch. The top of the 2005 draft went Andrew Bogut, Marvin Williams, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and Raymond Felton. Certainly Marvin was too high, but we only get that in hindsight.

No, it was obvious at the time, as the Hawks drafted Marvin William and we always mess up on draft day.

[NovaScotian]

I wish Luol would have stayed too, but man I loved that '05 team. They had more injuries than any team since '96, and even before the injuries they were predicted to finish 5th place in one of the strongest overall ACC seasons in recent memory. I remember a game at Wake, which I believe we lost, but we were in such dire injury and foul trouble that we had to play walk-ons at the end. They ended up regular season and ACC tournament champs, and got a #1 seed. That team really maximized its potential.

not that i didn't also love that team, but duke did not finish 1st in the regular season that year - they were the third seed in the tournament, which they ended up winning.
also, that season's highlights included a huge beat down of cp3 and wake forest (the patrick davidson game), and a thrilling one point win over carolina, both at cameron.