Favorite Player Poll - Wojo vs. Nate

[JasonEvans]

Like yesterday, we will do 3 polls today because 2 of them appear to be blowouts and we all love the tight races. This one shuld be super-tight.

On one side, the #15 seeded Nate James and we all know Nate is a bad #%@^. On the other side, the former defensive playter of the year and current assistant coach known simply by 4 letters, the #18 seeded Wojo.

--Jason "I am eager to see the arguments for each of these guys!" Evans

[dukeENG2003]

this is the favorite PLAYER poll, so I'm gonna have to vote for Nate. Overall, I like Wo better, but a lot of that has to do with his huge contributions as a coach. He has an amazing basketball mind and the biggest heart of any Blue Devil ever except possibly Battier, unfortunately, he's "Rudy" when it comes to his physical stature. The fact that he overcame this is certainly impressive, but I've gotta go with Nate on this one. Can't go wrong with either one though.

[riverside6]

I'm a bit surprised Wojo isn't a runaway thus far, although Nate is a bad-###.

[johnb]

I never thought I'd vote against either of these guys...

[MulletMan]

I voted for the Dawg, simply because without him we don't win the title in 2001. Period.

[blazindw]

This was a tough call...in the end, I went with Nate Dogg. Without Nate James in '01, we don't win ACCs, and we certainly, IMO, don't win the National Championship. The ultimate glue guy, he did anything and everything we needed to get over the top...including being a bad-@**

[EarlJam]

This was a tough call...in the end, I went with Nate Dogg. Without Nate James in '01, we don't win ACCs, and we certainly, IMO, don't win the National Championship. The ultimate glue guy, he did anything and everything we needed to get over the top...including being a bad-@**

Agreed. To me he was always a bigger, stronger Brian Davis. Without Davis, I'm not sure we win the '91 championship. He was a workhorse who did a lot of dirty work as well.

-EarlJam

[killerleft]

This one's a toss-up. Voted for Wojo. Both were incredibly hard workers, both sacrificed whatever it took to make their team better. But Wojo's feet were so fast he could step on someone's toes anytime he felt like it.

[Jaymf7]

I think Wojo benefited from the genetic lottery in terms of how I called this one. While both Wojo and Nate were tremendous workers and team players, I have always been amazed that Wojo competed so well at the elite Duke level. As a fan, when I watched Nate do his thing on the court he was inspiring but I could not see myself in his shoes due to his physical gifts.

I know Wojo had athletic gifts as well, but they were less immediately apparent to me as a fan. Somehow that made him more fun to watch (if he can, anyone with the will and heart can). I think it was also a reason why opposing teams hated him -- how does THIS guy beat us? [As an aside, I felt the same way about Khalid El-Donut in '99]

Finally, although this is about the player, I simply cannot ignore the fact that Wojo has been a great coach for us. At a minimum, this evidences his high level basketball IQ (even as a player) and his commitment to the game and Duke.

[SilkyJ]

Wojo is my favorite Duke player of all time. I am 5'11", skinny, blonde haired, and always underestimated in athletics, so I kinda relate to him. I grew up in middle school and high school watching him play and was able to relate not only to those aspects, but also to the hustle. I was primarily a soccer player, but my parents called me "one-ten Ben" meaning I have 110% at all times, and thats the kind of player Wojo was. I'll never forget the floor slapping, the big 3s, and especially the backcourt violation he saved. I forget which game it was, but I remember him scrambling after the ball and laying out over the half-court line to save the ball.

W-O-J-C-I-E-C-H-O-W-S-K-I

c'mon jason! thats off the top of my head! (I hope its right...)

[JasonEvans]

this is the favorite PLAYER poll, so I'm gonna have to vote for Nate. Overall, I like Wo better, but a lot of that has to do with his huge contributions as a coach. He has an amazing basketball mind and the biggest heart of any Blue Devil ever except possibly Battier, unfortunately, he's "Rudy" when it comes to his physical stature. The fact that he overcame this is certainly impressive, but I've gotta go with Nate on this one. Can't go wrong with either one though.

"Favorite" is a 100% subjective criteria. If you wish to weigh Wojo's coaching career or Boozer's pro career or you love Hurley because he loves horses that is fine. Everyone comes by their own personal "favorites" on their own.

--Jason "as I expected, this is the close race of the day- Nate currently leads by 8 votes out of 70 cast" Evans

[TillyGalore]

I'm having a hard time with this one. I'm leaning towards Nate, but also like Wojo.

How long do I have before the poll closes?

[JasonEvans]

I'm having a hard time with this one. I'm leaning towards Nate, but also like Wojo.

How long do I have before the poll closes?

I'll likely leave it open until sometime in the AM tomorrow... around 9 or 10am, I think. I try to keep them all going for 24 hours.

--Jason "this is a tough one to decide-- I have not voted yet either" Evans

[The Gordog]

Like yesterday, we will do 3 polls today because 2 of them appear to be blowouts and we all love the tight races. This one shuld be super-tight.

On one side, the #15 seeded Nate James and we all know Nate is a bad #%@^. On the other side, the former defensive playter of the year and current assistant coach known simply by 4 letters, the #18 seeded Wojo.

--Jason "I am eager to see the arguments for each of these guys!" Evans

I went with Wojo. Reason being thas I d not think any player in any era has won a national award when he started out with so little to work with. Yeah, Wojo was, I think, a McD selection, but he played his high school ball in the Catholic leagues and did not face quite the same level of competition. For him to become the National Defensive Player of the Year was a reflection of incredible desire, guile, guts, commitment and heart. He may not have scored much, but man he got in the face, and head(!), of opposing point guards.

[monkey]

Vote for Nate. Bit surprised (but happy) Wojo isn't blowing this out - upset city baby?

[VaDukie]

I'm shocked Nate is winning, and by this much.

[lmb]

This was another very tough call, but I had to go with Nate. I just love how he was a top recruit and then when he got injured in high school all of the other schools backed off of their commitment. Coach K stuck with him and he returned the favor by giving 100% of himself during his college career.

When they won the title in 2001, I was happy for Battier. I was happy for Dunleavy, JWill, Duhon and Boozer. But my heart overflowed with joy for Nate, especially when I saw the picture of him all alone in the locker room with his head bowed and the net still around his neck. I get a tear in my eye just thinking about it now.

I tried to attach the picture, but it's too large and when I shrink it, it seems to lose it's oomph. I'm sure many of you remember that photo. I'll never forget it.

[Olympic Fan]

Real tough call and I certainly won't disagree with anybody who picked Wojo.

Still, I voted for Nate because of the sacrifice he made to win the 2001 national title. If you remember, Nate was a fifth-year senior tri-captain who started 33 of 34 games in 2000 and the first 29 games of 2001.

Then, the day after Boozer was hurt on Nate's Senior Night, K came up with a shocking plan to make up for replacing the team's star center -- the shocking part was that he wanted to bench Nate and give his starting job to Chris Duhon to get quicker and go into an attacking mode.

In hindsight, it seems logical, but it never would have worked if this fifth year senior doesn't swallow the pain of giving up the starting job he had earned with four years of hard work and production. If Nate had griped or whined or sulked even the slightest bit, the 2001 team goes down in flames.

It's easy to say no big deal about starting, but it does matter to a lot of kids (anybody remember Chris Burgess??)

Nate didn't sulk and he didn't complain. He embraced the change and remained the inspiration leader of the team as it won its final 10 games. He turned himself into a great sixth man for those 10 games. He had that amazing tap-in to beat Maryland in the ACC Tournament, then when Juan Dixon was killing us in the first half of the Final Four, he volunteered to guard Dixon ... a he did shut him down.

I love Wojo, but I'll never forget Nate's sacrifice.

[DevilCastDownfromDurham]

Very well said, Olympic (as usual). I've been on the fence all day and reminding me of that put me over the edge. Put me in the Dogg Pound.

[SilkyJ]

I can't believe you guys aren't voting for WOJO.

The kid was undersized, underrated, underappreciated, and was 150% heart and effort all the time. The first Duke jersey I ever bought was wojo's. He is the epitome of class, hustle, hardwork, and the Krzyzewski philosophy. The man is practically my hero...I guess its just sentimental for me...