View Poll Results: Best Duke Player?

Voters
58. You may not vote on this poll
  • JJ Redick

    3 5.17%
  • Grant Hill

    10 17.24%
  • Bobby Hurley

    2 3.45%
  • Christian Laettner

    25 43.10%
  • Shelden Williams

    0 0%
  • Jason Williams

    7 12.07%
  • Bobby Hurley

    0 0%
  • Johnny Dawkins

    7 12.07%
  • Mike Giminski

    0 0%
  • Shane Battier

    4 6.90%
Results 1 to 17 of 17
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2007

    Best Duke Player Ever (not the favorite the best)

    1. Christian Laettner
    2. Johnny Dawkins
    3. JJ Redick
    4. Shane Battier
    5. Grant Hill
    6. Bobby Hurley
    7. Jason Williams
    8. Danny Ferry
    9. Shelden Williams
    10. Mike Giminski


    That is my top 10 players in Duke history.

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by lavell12 View Post
    1. Christian Laettner
    2. Johnny Dawkins
    3. JJ Redick
    4. Shane Battier
    5. Grant Hill
    6. Bobby Hurley
    7. Jason Williams
    8. Danny Ferry
    9. Shelden Williams
    10. Mike Giminski


    That is my top 10 players in Duke history.
    4 straight FFs. 2 NCs. Greatest shot in the history of college bball, in a game in which he was PERFECT.

    silky "jason might have preferred if you waited til his poll was done, this could have been a nice dessert" j

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Laettner was the most clutch. J-Will was the best (and I still loved Laettner more).

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC
    The best player in Duke History? I think you can make a strong case for none of the above.

    It depends on how you define 'best'. Dawkins is the most important, Laettner is the most clutch, Hill is the most talented, and you can make strong cases for guys like Battier, Redick, or J-Will.

    But if the definition of best is measured in terms of dominant, game changing ability, that player is Elton Brand.

    He was the best player on the 1999 team. He was the consensus national player of the year as a SOPHMORE. If he's not hurt in 1998, well, a lot of things may have turned out differently if we had him all year at 100%.

    He left early so his career lacks the accomplishments that four year guys can boast. But we forget how great Brand was at our own peril.

    Can he be added to the poll or is it locked?

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by VaDukie View Post
    The best player in Duke History? I think you can make a strong case for none of the above.

    It depends on how you define 'best'. Dawkins is the most important, Laettner is the most clutch, Hill is the most talented, and you can make strong cases for guys like Battier, Redick, or J-Will.

    But if the definition of best is measured in terms of dominant, game changing ability, that player is Elton Brand.

    He was the best player on the 1999 team. He was the consensus national player of the year as a SOPHMORE. If he's not hurt in 1998, well, a lot of things may have turned out differently if we had him all year at 100%.

    He left early so his career lacks the accomplishments that four year guys can boast. But we forget how great Brand was at our own peril.

    Can he be added to the poll or is it locked?
    wow. greeaaaaaaaaat point. I'd still vote for Laettner b/c of all the achievements...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Rougemont Nebulae

    That's what's so tickle me Elmo fun

    Quote Originally Posted by wilson View Post
    Laettner was the most clutch. J-Will was the best (and I still loved Laettner more).
    about these polls. Laettner most clutch? Agreed. J-Will the best? I'm not so sure. At the last alumni game (maybe 2003?) I attended, I just remember how incredibly graceful and athletic Johnny Dawkins was in comparison to the Duke stars around him, even at the age then of 39-40? I can not distinguish between JD and J-Will in terms of who's better and who's the best. There's no metric by which to sparse superlatives, no real standard of comparison for the two. I'll offer this: JD was the most athletic and J-Will the most dominant at crucial moments, like no other Dukies I can recall.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Quote Originally Posted by SilkyJ View Post
    wow. greeaaaaaaaaat point. I'd still vote for Laettner b/c of all the achievements...
    I think I would lean towards Laettner too, but Brand has practically become an afterthought among Duke fans, and I think that's a shame.

    *Other key Elton tidbits:
    2005-2006 NBA Sportsmanship award winner
    Producer of Rescue Dawn, highly rated war movie starring Christian Bale
    Is it ok for a man to say that another man has a great smile? Because Elton does.

    All in all, Elton was great at Duke, he's been great in the NBA, and I think he'll do great things after he's done with that. He's really a model ambassador for the school.

  8. #8
    I see the best player as the player who could singlehandedly take over a game, putting the whole team on his back. J-Wil could do this better than anyone I've ever seen. The DePaul Game his freshman year comes to mind. Every play from about 10:00 in the second half through overtime was created by him. He would NOT let us lose. Gone in 54 seconds was all him. The list goes on.

    I'm admittedly partial b/c I'm the same class as him (I even graduated early like him), but he was incredible.

    Imagine his mystique if he simply hit that free throw against Indiana, a 4 point play when his team needed it? Absolutely inhuman.

  9. #9
    I'd have to bump Shelden for Heyman.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC
    From the words of Coach K:
    "Grant Hill is the best player I've ever coached, period."

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...cals/hill1.htm

    Now this was before Redick, Williamsx2, and Battier, but that's his statement for what its worth.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Toledo
    Yeah, Heyman and Groat should be on the list as well. At least up for consideration.

    Off the list that is presented, however, I'd go with Shane. He was the most complete player Coach K has ever coached. A three-time National Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time All-American, a National Player of the Year, most victories in ACC history, NCAA Tournament's Most Oustanding Player, and on and on and on. He was excellent at every aspect of the game. He had no weaknesses. He could defend better than arguably anyone who has ever graced the hardwood of the Atlantic Coast Conference, could shoot from 25 feet like he was taking a drink of water, play the middle like a true center, drive into the lane and finish with a hammering dunk, shoot the 17 foot jumper, etc. He was simply AMAZING.

    He could do it ALL. That's why, IMO, he's the best to ever play for K. I won't say he's the best to ever play at Duke because I never saw Dick Groat or Art Heyman play. From the stories I have heard and the articles I have read, however, those two must have been very, very special. But, as far as K's tenure in Durham, there was NOBODY better than Shane. Nobody. I certainly wouldn't argue against a case for Dawkins, Laettner, Hill, or Williams being just AS good, but there was nobody a level higher.

    Shane was THE man.
    Last edited by Cameron; 10-30-2007 at 09:14 PM. Reason: As far as complete player talk, can't leave off Grant

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    West of The Mississippi
    Hurley or Laettner, no hands down.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Asheville

    Change title of thread, please.

    To leave off Art Heyman just displays either the ignorance of the original poster, or a mistake. Since I think it may be a violation of the DBR code of conduct for posting for calling someone ignorant, the solution would be for the title of the thread to be changed maybe to just players of the Krzyzewski era. In that way, not only would Art Heyman be O.K. to be left off, but Jeff Mullins, etc., as well.

    ricks

    For my 2 cents, however, it would boil down to Laettner and Heyman, with Heyman laying Laettner out after he gets up after being "symbolically" stomped on by Laettner. Then he'd take his 40 odd points and 20+ rebounds and walk off the court.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Cameron View Post
    Yeah, Heyman and Groat should be on the list as well. At least up for consideration.

    Off the list that is presented, however, I'd go with Shane. He was the most complete player Coach K has ever coached. A three-time National Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time All-American, a National Player of the Year, most victories in ACC history, NCAA Tournament's Most Oustanding Player, and on and on and on. He was excellent at every aspect of the game. He had no weaknesses. He could defend better than arguably anyone who has ever graced the hardwood of the Atlantic Coast Conference, could shoot from 25 feet like he was taking a drink of water, play the middle like a true center, drive into the lane and finish with a hammering dunk, shoot the 17 foot jumper, etc. He was simply AMAZING.

    He could do it ALL. That's why, IMO, he's the best to ever play for K. I won't say he's the best to ever play at Duke because I never saw Dick Groat or Art Heyman play. From the stories I have heard and the articles I have read, however, those two must have been very, very special. But, as far as K's tenure in Durham, there was NOBODY better than Shane. Nobody. I certainly wouldn't argue against a case for Dawkins, Laettner, Hill, or Williams being just AS good, but there was nobody a level higher.

    Shane was THE man.
    Hate to break it ya, but Hill was, and you know what, it ain't that close. Grant hill started on the all-star team as a ROOKIE in the nba as the TOP VOTE GETTER which was a FIRST for ALL MAJOR SPORTS. He was 2nd team all-nba (7th in voting) and went to 7 all-star games (he was 1st team all-nba his 2nd season). 5 or 6 all-star games in a row starting with his rookie year, iirc. He could play 4 positions, guard 4 positions, shoot, drive, and JUMP. The guy was every bit as good of a defender as Shane (he was also a nat'l defensive POY) and was superior athletically. Anybody got a video of the half-court alley-oop from Hurley against Kansas in '91? SICK.

    The man carried an entire team to the championship game and lost by 3.

    Coach K likes to tell the story of when Hurley and Laetter (mind you Laettner was the cockiest s.o.b. on the planet) came to K in 1991 and told him that Hill was the best player on the team and that he needed to be more involved to win.

    (I have to admit that I voted for laettner, but thats based on principle of Laettner being the leader of the team that won all those games, went to all those final fours, and won those titles. I can't vote for Hill since it was Laettner's team. If Laettner had just been "another" upperclassmen who was the leader vocally and in hustle (like a wojo) then it would be different. But Laettner was a spectacular player in his own right who put up big numbers and always took and made the big shots, and that's just a personal call. But since Shane and Hill played on separate teams we can compare them irrespective of that. Afterall, Hill displayed his ability to lead a team in '94, and he had no Jwill, dunleavy, or boozer.)

  15. #15
    This question is too hard. Best at what? JWill was amazing... but he was a point guard. Elton Brand was amazing, as a post player. How can we really compare them? I think Brand's best team was better than JWill's best team for whatever that's worth - just that JWill's best team won a title and Brand's didn't. I think the 99 Duke team is the best Duke team ever and one of the 5 best teams to ever play college basketball (ever), but what is that worth?

    How about best individual season by a Duke player ever? I propose 5 recent finalists.

    - Danny Ferry, 1988-89. Shot 56% eFG from the field (42.4% from behind the arc), only turned it over 17% of his possessions while assisting 26% of the team's buckets while he was playing. 115 efficiency while using an astounding 29.4% of the team's possessions and taking nearly 33% of the team's shots. For perspective here, Durant last year had an incredible season (best freshman season ever) with a 117 efficiency at 32% usage. NPOY.

    - Christian Laettner, 1991-92. Shot an astounding 63.6% eFG from the field including 55.6% from behind the arc. Did everything a big man needs to do well. Finished with 121.5 offensive efficiency at 27% usage. NPOY.

    - Elton Brand, 1998-99. My favorite for best season ever. Shot 62% eFG from the field without attempting a single 3 (255 for 411 from the field). Rarely turned it over: only 67 turnovers for the year (a tiny TO rate of 13.5%). Astounding rebounder, grabbing over 13% of available offensive boards and almost 19% of available defensive boards. Big reason why this 99 team was Duke's best offensive rebounding team ever. Had tremendous defensive season, stealing the ball 2.3% of opposing possessions and blocking north of 6% of their shots. 129.4 efficiency with 23.6% usage. That team was so loaded that they didn't need to depend on Brand as much as, say, the 89 Duke team did on Ferry - but I imagine if they did, Brand's efficiency would not have dipped too far down. He was just so good... and all this as a sophomore - NPOY.

    - Jason Williams, 2000-01. I actually think JWill had a better season the year Battier was a senior - as a testament to the kind of incredible teammate Battier was to have. As an aside, Battier had 4 incredible years at Duke, but in spite of how fondly we remember him and in spite of his accolades, he never once used a large portion of the team's possessions. His usage his 4 years was 14%, 15.3%, 18.4%, and 21% - and yet his efficiency only dipped under 130 for his senior year (to 129.3). A great player who knew how to play within the system and do what was necessary. JWill, however, took over games. In 2001 he used 31% of the team's possessions while shooting 58.2% eFG from the field (helped by his 42.7% 3-point percentage) and assisting on almost 35% of the team's baskets. He did all this while maintaining an efficiency of over 114 (for using 31% of possessions, that's incredible). I believe he won at least one NPOY award that year with Battier winning the other(s).

    - JJ Redick, 2005-06. In spite of the disappointing end to this season, Redick really had a fantastic season. He had his best shooting year in 4, achieving an eFG% of almost 58 and only turning it over on less than 13% of his possession. He more than doubled his assist rate from his freshman season, assisting on almost 16% of the team's baskets. While never a superb defender, JJ had his best defensive year in 06, stealing the ball 2.2% of the opposing team's possessions. His usage was, expectedly, huge, at over 29% but he maintained a 120 efficiency because of his low turnover rate, high FG% and his high free throw%. It's just too bad that he was prone to erratic performances and that team didn't have other offensive options (outside of Shelden and JJ, only ERIC BOATENG used over 20% of the team's possessions and that was only for the 50 minutes he played). NPOY.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Cameron View Post
    Yeah, Heyman and Groat should be on the list as well. At least up for consideration.

    Off the list that is presented, however, I'd go with Shane. He was the most complete player Coach K has ever coached. A three-time National Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time All-American, a National Player of the Year, most victories in ACC history, NCAA Tournament's Most Oustanding Player, and on and on and on. He was excellent at every aspect of the game. He had no weaknesses. He could defend better than arguably anyone who has ever graced the hardwood of the Atlantic Coast Conference, could shoot from 25 feet like he was taking a drink of water, play the middle like a true center, drive into the lane and finish with a hammering dunk, shoot the 17 foot jumper, etc. He was simply AMAZING.

    He could do it ALL. That's why, IMO, he's the best to ever play for K. I won't say he's the best to ever play at Duke because I never saw Dick Groat or Art Heyman play. From the stories I have heard and the articles I have read, however, those two must have been very, very special. But, as far as K's tenure in Durham, there was NOBODY better than Shane. Nobody. I certainly wouldn't argue against a case for Dawkins, Laettner, Hill, or Williams being just AS good, but there was nobody a level higher.

    Shane was THE man.
    Hate to break it ya, but Hill was, and you know what, it ain't that close. Grant hill started on the all-star team as a ROOKIE in the nba, was 2nd team all-nba (7th in voting) and went to 7 all-star games (he was 1st team all-nba his 2nd season). 5 or 6 all-tar games in a row starting with his rookie year, iirc. He could play 4 positions, guard 4 positions, shoot, drive, and JUMP. The guy was every bit as good of a defender as Shane and was superior athletically. Anybody got a video of the half-court alley-oop from Hurley against Kansas in '91? SICK.

    The man carried an entire team to the championship game and lost by 3.

    Coach K likes to tell the story of when Hurley and Laetter (mind you Laettner was the cockiest s.o.b. on the planet) came to K in 1991 and told him that Hill was the best player on the team and that he needed to be more involved to win.

    (I have to admit that I voted for laettner, but thats based on principle of Laettner being the leader of the team that won all those games, went to all those final fours, and won those titles. I can't vote for Hill since it was Laettner's team. If Laettner had just been "another" upperclassmen who was the leader vocally and in hustle (like a wojo) then it would be different. But Laettner was a spectacular player in his own right who put up big numbers and always took and made the big shots, and that's just a personal call. But since Shane and Hill played on separate teams we can compare them irrespective of that. Afterall, Hill displayed his ability to lead a team in '94, and he had no Jwill, dunleavy, or boozer.)

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    About 150 feet in front of the Duke Chapel doors.
    Frankly, this is the kind of pointless debate that is the bane of bulletin boards everywhere, and it ends up being little more than what we've already got going in the "favorites" polls.

    "Best" must be defined to make any poll or debate meaningful; otherwise, the topic is too wide open. Add to that the poll originator's omission of several exception Blue Devils shows a lack of historical perspective.

    So, in order to prevent mindless drivel and potential ugly arguments, I'm closing this thread.
    JBDuke

    Andre Dawkins: “People ask me if I can still shoot, and I ask them if they can still breathe. That’s kind of the same thing.”

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