Favorite Player Poll Sweet 16 - Hurley vs. Carrawell

[JasonEvans]

Murder.

This poll is gonna be murder. Despite a fairly large disparity in achievements on the court, I think the CWell lovers are passionate about their man and they will give Hurley all he can handle here. Carrawell took out the much higher seeded Elton Brand with ease to show the strength of his following...

...but Bobby Hurley is a real legend and beloved by all Duke fans.

Whew, this is not gonna be an easy one.

Our 3rd Sweet 16 matchup is the #5 seeded Bobby Hurley against the #21 seed Chris Carrawell.

--Jason "vote now or forever hold your peace" Evans

[Jumbo]

I love C-Well. He's in my top five and maybe even my top four. But he's up against the one guy against whom I cannot vote. Hurley was and is my favorite player ever, by a wide margin.

[Travis]

Now I love C-Well, but Hurley was the best point guard to ever play at Duke and one of the best ever. And while C-Well's toughness is lauded, I would match Bobby's toughness with anyone B-ball players pound for pound.

I knew Bobby when he was a freshman and my favorite thing about him was that when he walked in the gym he looked like just another student looking for a game. And as a freshman (before he worked on his shot) he wouldn't necessarily win every game by himself. But if he had a post and a shooter, I never saw him lose. For me he epitomizes the concept of making your teamates better. Receiving passes from him is still one of my most treasured basketball memories (better than nearly getting my two front teeth knocked out by Christian or getting tomahawked on by Brickey when trying to stop a two-on-one with Danny running the wing anyway). I try to explain the genius of Bobby's passes to kids I coach today; the best that I have come up with is that Bobby would often give you a pass at the exactly right spot so that it initiated the correct move almost before you realized you had the ball.

My second favorite memory of Bobby was the bouncer at Player's letting him in as my guest. They wouldn't let him join because everyone knew he was a freshman, but apparently he could come in as long as his name was not written down anywhere.

Jason, thanks for the chance to relive old memories. I loved C-Well, but it has to be HURLEY!

Travis

[JasonEvans]

Noon early returns--

Hurley in a walk so far. I may have greatly underestimated his strength. He leads 76% - 23% (42-13).

-JE

[Bostondevil]

For me again it's that word favorite. When it's really close I ask myself, who's autograph would I rather stand in line to get and this time I'm not with the crowd. It's CWell for me today.

[mr. synellinden]

This one is tougher than I thought because C-Well was such a warrior. He was one of those guys that made you feel calm that everything was going to be alright, a true leader. But it has to be Hurley. Above everything else, the three pointer with a little over two minutes left against UNLV in '91 to cut the lead from 5 to 2. I'll debate with anyone that that was the most important shot in Duke basketball history.

[blueprofessor]

Both were warriors with no quit in them. Pat Kennedy, then coaching FSU, said the players most able to control football and basketball games,respectively, in his memory were Charlie Ward and Bobby Hurley. He cited Hurley's remarkable dribbling ability, unsurpassed passing, and greatly underestimated shooting .A factor that made Hurley unique was how fast afoot he was while dribbling. When pressure came, he made brilliant passes----while facing the basket.Certainly, he is one of a handful of college point guards who may be the best ever.

[EarlJam]

Both were warriors with no quit in them.

Agreed - and Hurley may even get the nod in the "Greatest Warrior" vote. He was toughness personified. I can't remember who it was, but he went toe-to-toe with one of the UNLV guys who seemed a foot taller and wider than he was. I have no doubt that had the UNLV player thrown a punch, Hurley would have thrown three back.

Hurley, despite his relatively small frame, backed down to NO ONE.

Bad A**.

-EarlJam

[Karl Beem]

Agreed - and Hurley may even get the nod in the "Greatest Warrior" vote. He was toughness personified.
-EarlJam

The 1993 game at Wake (Rodney Rogers & Childress) was 33 all at the half. Hurley led a devastating assault that brought Duke to 56-39 with 12 minutes to go. During Wake's TO, players and Coach K had to restrain Hurley as he screamed at the Wake bench (someone talking trash?). I thought of it as "Watch Hurley rip out WF's heart and eat it in front of their fans". It was astonishing.

[killerleft]

Sorry, Chris, but Bobby Hurley's #11 will be worn no more for many very good reasons.

[JasonEvans]

This poll is now closed.

Damn, Bobby is STRONG. I figured he would win, but not by a margin like this.

-Jason

[EarlJam]

The 1993 game at Wake (Rodney Rogers & Childress) was 33 all at the half. Hurley led a devastating assault that brought Duke to 56-39 with 12 minutes to go. During Wake's TO, players and Coach K had to restrain Hurley as he screamed at the Wake bench (someone talking trash?). I thought of it as "Watch Hurley rip out WF's heart and eat it in front of their fans". It was astonishing.

That's a good one. Thanks. Anyone else have Hurley stories?

I don't know the details, but I remember Coach K talking about how Hurley was by FAR the most vocal in the locker room at halftime of either the Indiana or the Michigan game in 1992. He was kicking things over and just screaming at the team to play with more heart.

They responded.

-EarlJam, a huge fan of the one, the only, Bobby Hurley

[Tom B.]

That's a good one. Thanks. Anyone else have Hurley stories?

I don't know the details, but I remember Coach K talking about how Hurley was by FAR the most vocal in the locker room at halftime of either the Indiana or the Michigan game in 1992. He was kicking things over and just screaming at the team to play with more heart.

They responded.

I think it was the Michigan game.

A few years ago, ESPN did a special on the 1992 East Region Final between Kentucky and Duke. It was noted in the program that, for all of Laettner's heroics, Coach K realized after the game that after a full season of being the center of attention and doing everything and more that was asked of him, Christian was finally reaching the end of his rope. (The Timberlake incident was noted specifically -- under normal circumstances, no way does someone as mentally tough as Laettner let a skinny, insignificant freshman get under his skin like that.) After the team got back to Durham, K called Hurley into his office and told him that he would have to step up and lead the team in the Final Four, and he did. He scored 26 points in the semifinal against Indiana and was instrumental in Duke's comeback from a 12-point deficit. In the final against Michigan, after the team (Laettner in particular) struggled in the first half, Hurley was very vocal and animated in the locker room at halftime. Duke started the second half trailing by one, but blitzed Michigan 41-20 the rest of the way (including a devastating 23-5 run over the last seven or eight minutes). Hurley only scored nine points in the title game, but he set the tone for the second-half run that put Duke over the top.

[ArkieDukie]

At least, I think I did. I have to echo everything said about both players. Both would go on my All-Warrior team, but Hurley would get my vote.