2009 Recruiting

[chrisheery]

I feel ya Jim. Brand and Boozer are franchise cornerstones.

Agreed about Brand and Boozer, I actually almost included something about them not being given enough credit in my original post, but then I thought it was getting too long winded.

These people are not my "friends." I usually don't spend too much time with people who make sweeping generalizations about things they know nothing/very little about. They are fans of other schools who like to say things to start arguments. To that end, maybe it is best to just ignore this line of thought.

Also, I agree about Grant, but his legacy has been severely diminished by injuries. I think this perspective mainly comes from the fact that UNC has MJ and we don't. I guess by that standard, though, Indiana State is one of the greatest programs ever.

[jimsumner]

To be fair, Carolina has a lot more than MJ. I suspect only UCLA could challenge for all-time NBA honors.

The question is what, if any, impact do Billy Cunningham, Robert McAdoo, Bobby Jones, Phil Ford, Walter Davis, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, et. al. have on today's recruits. If Grant is ancient history, then what does that say about Charlie Scott, other than the fact that I'm getting old?

Right now, I think Duke has surpassed the Heels, at least on those rare nights when a good percentage of the guys are healthy enough to suit up. That may have more relevance to Duke.

But I would argue that anyone who says Duke can't produce quality NBA players either is too lazy to update an old and discredited world view or has an agenda. Or both.

[chrisheery]

yeah, i agree. Perhaps my statement that he could help reverse the misconception is flawed for many reasons, not the least of which being that those who make that comment are not looking at the real facts in the first place.

[SupaDave]

To be fair, Carolina has a lot more than MJ. I suspect only UCLA could challenge for all-time NBA honors.

Let's not forget the UMass!!!

[GarrickB28]

The other night John Walls WOG team took care of business against American Heritage (featuring Kenny Boynton). From the recap of the game it appeared Wall was in control on the game, despite 8 TOs, while Boynton was relatively quiet. I was wondering if anyone caught the game in person to see if Wall was the one guarding Boynton.

[The Gordog]

too white to be called not white i suppose. Pretending you don't know what it means or that you have never heard it doesn't make it any less real. Like I said, it is not my opinion, just a perception at large against anyone who is anti-Duke (most other college basketball fans).

Slow down, Hoss. I am not pretending anything. 'too white' could mean a heck of a lot of things so I am asking what it means - - to you.

[dwater]

Slow down, Hoss. I am not pretending anything. 'too white' could mean a heck of a lot of things so I am asking what it means - - to you.

I mean really, who gives a crap what other hating fan bases think of Duke. It's called envy. Besides, anyone who states that a team is too white is obviously racist and I could care less about an ignorant person's opinion of anything.

[DevilCastDownfromDurham]

I mean really, who gives a crap what other hating fan bases think of Duke. It's called envy. Besides, anyone who states that a team is too white is obviously racist and I could care less about an ignorant person's opinion of anything.

Unless you're trying to recruit in places where that (inaccurate) idea has great currency.

[Billy Dat]

The "too white" thing is funny. What a complex issue. I find that the people who tend to dislike teams because they are too white are, themselves, white people.

I wonder if these same folks think the Spanish National Team that nearly knocked off Team USA this summer was too white...or the Argentinians...or the Greeks (even though "Baby Shaq" was on that squad)?

A different relevant race question tied back to recruiting might be the impact that Nate and C-Well will have on the whole process. SupaDave made some really good comments about the culture of a program and how recruits react to those cultures. Part of the theme of this string has been that Duke needs more black players. Aside from sharing the same race, black recruits can't be easily categorized - some are from wealthy backgrounds (e.g. Grant Hill, G Hendo), some wealthy to upper middle class (Nolan), some middle class (Shane, J Will) some lower income/smaller town (Elton), some lower income/inner city (C-Well, Dockery) and on. As a result, all are going to react to Duke's "gothic wonderland" a little differently. Some will see little difference from the prep schools they attended in high school (e.g. Nolan). Some will see an opportunity to step outside of their comfort zone and milk the font of resources at their disposal (C-Well, Dockery). Others will say - this aint me (P. Patterson for example, based on his comments about not fitting in with the team from a personality perspective). I wonder if having Nate and C-Well out on the recruiting trail will give us a better chance with the Patterson's of the world, to help them see themselves at Duke.

Of course, maybe race has little to do with it and it's all about whether or not they perceive we'll give them the best chance to become pros (pt, touches, history of developing that position, etc.)

[chrisheery]

Slow down, Hoss. I am not pretending anything. 'too white' could mean a heck of a lot of things so I am asking what it means - - to you.

Not sure who you are, nor am I sure why you think calling me Hoss is appropriate. Either way, it doesn't matter what I think it means. You decide what it means to you and everyone else can decide what it means to them. Tell me what Blue means.

[SupaDave]

The other night John Walls WOG team took care of business against American Heritage (featuring Kenny Boynton). From the recap of the game it appeared Wall was in control on the game, despite 8 TOs, while Boynton was relatively quiet. I was wondering if anyone caught the game in person to see if Wall was the one guarding Boynton.

ESPNU's top-ranked point guard John Wall scored a team-high 15 points in Word of God's 63-61 win over American Heritage and fellow ESPNU 100 guard Kenny Boynton, Jr., Thursday at the City of Palms Classic. Wall blocked Boynton's game-winning 3-point attempt in the final seconds.

[Kedsy]

Tell me what Blue means.

Depends on what shade of blue you're talking about.

[Bob Green]

John Wall had nine assists, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots to go along with his 15 points and eight turnovers:

http://www.cityofpalmsclassic.com/stats/game2.html

[quickgtp]

I really hope Duke lands this kid. It appears that it would be very beneficial for everyone in that Duke gets a top notch player, and probably more importantly, John gets great coaching and good influence!

[Hancock 4 Duke]

Here are the links for the people that might possibly play for duke in a year or 2 and tell me what you think about them. Hopefully we will get most of them since we have good recruiters.
http://duke.scout.com/a.z?s=167&p=9&c=4&cfg=bb&yr=2009

[RainingThrees]

Nothing new has happened for awhile since the season started for both high schoolers and college players. Jamil is out of the picture and we have been talking about Wall for about a month.

[JBDuke]

I've merged the various Ryan Kelly threads into one "collector" thread, for those that want to follow most of the info about him on these boards. Here it is: http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/...ad.php?t=10468

[JBDuke]

I've also merged the various Mason Plumlee threads into one "collector" thread, here:

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/...ead.php?t=6766

so folks can read most of what these boards have to say about Miles's younger brother in one thread.