Rasheed Sulaimon Appreciation Thread

[Billy Dat]

As the "Rasheed Dismissed from Team" thread indicates, this news has rocked many of us. While I am full of curiosity about what happened, I am kind of glad to not know because, by default, I am instead thinking about the good times.

As much as I care about this team and this program, I am no insider. I sit in my living room and watch games on TV. Once in a while, I get to see the games in person from a much less attractive vantage point. Yes, I was once a Crazie, but that was half a lifetime ago and it seems like a dream. Aside from fun Duke Blue Planet videos, I have only watched Rasheed play basketball, and it was a fun ride while it lasted.

You gave us all a lot of good memories, Rasheed.

Your non-smooth, herky jerky dribbling style always reminded me of my favorite Duke player, Chris Carrawell.

Your impulsive, often foolhardy attempts to make plays on offense could drive me crazy, but I never doubted your heart or desire to win.

You had fire. You never shrunk from the moment. You didn't always deliver, but in close games in the most heated battles, I always got the sense that you wanted in the fight. That always made a big impression on me.

If, in the end, we root for laundry, then I am glad you were wearing it.

I know many others feel this way, and I hope they will contribute their game memories to this thread.

Syracuse, 2/1/4, end of regulation, that's the first one that comes to my mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omAiOw58NpU

Virginia, in Cameron, 1/13/14, that improbable 3 that bounced straight up off the rim and fell in and kind of kept that team from falling apart at that moment in time, that's the second one that comes to mind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr17w-H7VSc

I know there are others, but those two are big enough in their own right.

I don't know what you did, I don't know how your departure will impact the team, or this season, or your life. I hope everyone walks away with as little damage as possible and it turns out to be for the best all the way around.

Thanks for giving it your all when you pulled the uniform on. To me, you always played hard, and watching you enter the game with that determined glare and lean-forward battle-ready pose, I always felt oddly optimistic that you were part of the solution.

[FerryFor50]

Great thread and the sentiment is seconded.

Will miss Sheed for sure.

[Troublemaker]

Tops Plays from 2/13/13 comeback win over UNC in Cameron:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdN42xivYEQ

Sheed featured very prominently in the Top Plays and in the interviews afterwards

[Dukehky]

No video, but when he went berserk from 3 in the first half of the Maryland game in 2013 in Cameron.

[Furniture]

Thank you very much for this...

We hear so much the Duke BB teams of old vs the one and done teams of the moment and Sheed was supposed to be the typical Duke player that everyone loves. The 4 year guy. He wasn't getting too many minutes this year but next year as a senior he would be a captain. The backbone of the team.
He will not have his senior night.
He will not have his moment of glory in a Duke shirt.
So sad....

[DukeTrinity11]

Thank you Sheed, you gave us so many great memories during your 3 years. You wore the Duke jersey with pride and always seemed to be the most emotionally involved player in the game. You were so clutch-I will never forget the 3 you hit against Syracuse to take the game to OT as well as the great game you had against Creighton in the Round of 32 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Here's hoping that time will heal all wounds, for yourself and this program.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

I appreciate all the good things that Rasheed did for Duke basketball the past three years.

But I certainly do not appreciate Rasheed's conduct, attitude and actions (whatever they may have been) that resulted in Coach K taking this drastic action.

There are no winners in this situation. This has been a very sad day for Duke basketball. Let's hope the team can recover and achieve greatness over the coming months.

[Kedsy]

Here's hoping that time will heal all wounds, for yourself and this program.

I thought around here we rooted for time to wound all Heels?

[hsheffield]

watching Rasheed play these last 2.5 years has been a gift for which I am thankful.

my heart hurts to see him go, whatever the reason.

I hope the appreciation thread ends up being as long as the dismissal one...

[jv001]

Best wishes Rasheed and may God bless you. GoDuke!

[throatybeard]

I can't explain why, but he was my favorite men's player here since I left Durham in 2004, really since the Battier era at least. From the git-go in 2012-13.

[chrishoke]

Sheed was my favorite as well. I am heart-broken.

[cruxer]

Great thread. I wish the young man well where ever his next stop is. Hopefully this will, in retrospect, be a learning experience that leads him to bigger and better things!

-c

[MCFinARL]

I will always remember Rasheed's enthusiasm and excitement in games and while cheering his teammates on from the bench. And I will remember the games (there were many, and they have all run together in my mind at this point) in which he seemed to find his 3-point shot and hit it in bunches when Duke needed it most. I will miss yelling "SHEED!" at those moments.

And I will miss his interviews and Duke Blue Planet clips, in which he always seemed like a real team player, gracious, humble and respectful of the team, the coaches, and the people to whom he was speaking. I am very sad that that Sulaimon was apparently not the whole picture, but I hope that Sulaimon--the gracious, humble, respectful one-- will take hold (with a pinch of the self-confidence that led him to attempt to drive on much bigger players) and see him through this very difficult moment in his life.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Just last Sunday, Sheed was the first to rush over and hug Coach K after the big win.

Good luck to you in your future endeavors, Sheed.

[summerwind03]

This makes me so sad, for me, for Duke, and most of all for Rasheed. I really enjoyed watching him play, and wish him the best.

[DevilWearsPrada]

Sheed was my favorite as well. I am heart-broken.

My sentiment also. I feel like someone has died. So shocked and stunned to hear this yesterday.

Sheed, thanks for 2.5 years to Duke Basketball. Get yourself together, and go play Basketball at another fine university. And get lots of playing minutes and be a leader on that team!!!! And conduct yourself as a true young man with intergrity, character, leadership and accountability for the embetterment of the entire team and staff and your coaches. And most of all, to yourself!

The best to you Rasheed Sulaimon "Sheed" ! We appreaciate you to the moon and back!

[flyingdutchdevil]

Sheed was my favorite as well. I am heart-broken.

Agreed. I always saw him as the next Nolan, a player who I believe epitomized the "student athlete".

Loved watching him play and loved his raw emotion.

Saturday's game will not be the same.

[toughbuff1]

I'm still trying to process what happened yesterday. From an outsider's perspective, it all happened so suddenly, but apparently this had been building for a while. I don't know whether to feel sorry for Rasheed or be angry with him, but I do know that he did provide a whole lot of positive memories for me, and for that I am grateful. I hope that whatever happened, Rasheed is able to find peace and happiness.

[Bluealum]

As the "Rasheed Dismissed from Team" thread indicates, this news has rocked many of us. While I am full of curiosity about what happened, I am kind of glad to not know because, by default, I am instead thinking about the good times.

As much as I care about this team and this program, I am no insider. I sit in my living room and watch games on TV. Once in a while, I get to see the games in person from a much less attractive vantage point. Yes, I was once a Crazie, but that was half a lifetime ago and it seems like a dream. Aside from fun Duke Blue Planet videos, I have only watched Rasheed play basketball, and it was a fun ride while it lasted.

You gave us all a lot of good memories, Rasheed.

Your non-smooth, herky jerky dribbling style always reminded me of my favorite Duke player, Chris Carrawell.

Your impulsive, often foolhardy attempts to make plays on offense could drive me crazy, but I never doubted your heart or desire to win.

You had fire. You never shrunk from the moment. You didn't always deliver, but in close games in the most heated battles, I always got the sense that you wanted in the fight. That always made a big impression on me.

If, in the end, we root for laundry, then I am glad you were wearing it.

I know many others feel this way, and I hope they will contribute their game memories to this thread.

Syracuse, 2/1/4, end of regulation, that's the first one that comes to my mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omAiOw58NpU

Virginia, in Cameron, 1/13/14, that improbable 3 that bounced straight up off the rim and fell in and kind of kept that team from falling apart at that moment in time, that's the second one that comes to mind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr17w-H7VSc

I know there are others, but those two are big enough in their own right.

I don't know what you did, I don't know how your departure will impact the team, or this season, or your life. I hope everyone walks away with as little damage as possible and it turns out to be for the best all the way around.

Thanks for giving it your all when you pulled the uniform on. To me, you always played hard, and watching you enter the game with that determined glare and lean-forward battle-ready pose, I always felt oddly optimistic that you were part of the solution.

Very well said ^^.

I truly enjoyed watching this young man play basketball for my University and wish him the best as he has to deal with the shock of a monumentally public dismissal in the national spotlight before our most publicized game of the year. I cannot imagine what he is going through and I both simultaneously hope it was not warranted (for his sake) and hope it was (for the sake of the trust we place in the coaches and the program).

Wish everyone involved the best, the player, the teammates who were shaken according to the DBR podcast, the staff, and the fans who are faced with the stark reality that they know less than they'd like to think and hence their passion (which is fueled by the feeling of knowing) is inevitably muted till we can regain the illusion of rooting for people we know instead of 'laundry' as you so eloquently put it Billy Dat.

Thank you for 2.5 great years Rasheed and best wishes on your journey forward!