Favorite Player Poll Final 8- Dawkins vs. Hurley

[JasonEvans]

DON'T VOTE YET!!!

I urge everyone to take a few moments to think about it before voting. Read some of the notes in this thread (and post your own thoughts!!) to see if they jog a memory or help you crystalize your feelings. Then, once you are sure, then vote for your favorite among these two:

#4 seed- Johnny Dawkins-
How he got here:

• Defeated Robert Brickey with 92.76% of the vote
• Defeated Shelden Williams with 83.54% of the vote

Notable memories/achievements

• Was THE PLAYER who started it all for Coach K.
• When everyone else on the 1986 team inexplicably went into the tank offensively in the NCAAs, he carried us to (almost) the promissed land with 24points.
• Great post-season player averaging almost 24 ppg in his NCAA tourney career
• Pwning David Rivers on the final play of the nationally televised game in 1986.
• Career high 34 points (and had 8 borads and 4 assists too) as #2 Duke crushed #6 UNC in Chapel Hill in a huge nationally televised game in 1985 (shortly after I chose Duke as my school... what a way to join the fanaticism!!)
• Coach K's closest confidant for the past decade
• Nolan Smith's "uncle"
• #24 retired by Duke

#5 seed Bobby Hurley-
How he got here:

• Defeated Jay Bilas with 90.91% of the vote
• Defeated Chris Carrawell with 77.64% of the vote

Notable memories/achievements

• NCAAs all-time career leader in assists
• 2-time national champion and MVP of of the Final Four in 1992
• Puking his guts out while getting pummeled by UNLV in 1990
• With 2:00 left and the announcers screaming "they don't need a 3" pulling up and hitting the HUGE clutch 3 against UNLV in 1991 to bring Duke within 2 and sending the message that UNLV would not win!!
• Saved the best for last-- career high in his final game, 32 points and 9 assists versus Cal and Jason Kidd in 1993
• K's videotape of Bobby whining to the refs after his freshman season, which turned Bobby into the stud he was as a soph and beyond
• #11 retired by Duke

--Jason "this one will be a war!! I cannot decide who I will vote for" Evans

[Shammrog]

For me, the first tough one.

I can't *not* vote for Bobby. He was my class. And, a special part was how vividly (partly because I was there) we got to see him grow into a warrior and a legend in his time at Duke. How we got our *** kicked by UNLV in 1990, and came back under Bobby's leadership to redeem ourselves the next year. Johnny too was and is a legend, but Bobby for me was the player who personally most defined what has become my lifelong love affair with Duke basketball.

[MulletMan]

I voted for JD. While Hurley was amazing and was the catalyst for our first 2 titles, I still feel like JD was the catalyst for our program. Silk shmoove jumper, quick as all get out, and a winner. Stats be damned, this is a favorite player poll, and I just feel like JD's the man over Bobby.

[blazindw]

A true test...both were amazing players, and both took our program to new heights. My vote goes to the man that helped bring Duke to where it is today, both as a player and now as a coach. In a squeaker...my vote's for JD.

[Highlander]

Johnny Dawkins was the favorite player of a little 10 year old boy who cried himself to sleep when Duke lost to Louisville in the NCAA championship game. Had he had the benefit of a three point shot, he would have likely also been a National Champion, and almost certainly would still hold the Duke scoring record over JJ. He started it all for Duke, and for me. "24" to me will never mean Jack Bauer, but JD.

Hurley is one of, if not the best, point guards to ever play the game in College. But Johnny Dawkins is my all time favorite player.

[Jfrosh]

Oh the pain, the pain of it all. I cannot. I refuse. I can't vote against either of these guys. JD was a god, so silky smooth. Hurley, although he drove me crazy his freshman year, did things I have never seen again with his passes. My head is going to explode.

[mph]

I expect to struggle with all of the match-ups from here on out. It was hard for me to make this decision based on statistics or on-the-court accomplishments. My reason for choosing Dawkins was more personal. I was 14 when the 86 team made their run to the finals and had their been no Johnny Dawkins I would probably have never been a Duke fan. I loved Bobby Hurley, but for me Dawkins was the first Dukie.

[Udaman]

Dawkins was great, no doubt, and if there had been a 3 point shot when he was here, not only would he hold the Duke record for points, he would likely be the NCAA leader as well.

That being said, Hurley is still the NCAA assists leader, and he graduated 14 years ago. He also led our team to two championships, and hit the greatest shot in Duke history (his 3 pointer to cut the lead to 2 against UNLV was one of the biggest clutch shots in the history of basketball, let alone Duke).

Also, his run of games right before he set the NCAA assists record was amazing. If I recall he needed something like 9 a game to get there for 6 games, and there was talk about him not doing it, and then he ran off 13,15,16,18 or something like that to simply crush it.

I enjoyed both players, but Hurley gets my vote.

Incidentally, it's not going to matter because Battier, Laettner or JJ is going to win.

[shadowfax336]

That being said, Hurley is still the NCAA assists leader, and he graduated 14 years ago. He also led our team to two championships, and hit the greatest shot in Duke history (his 3 pointer to cut the lead to 2 against UNLV was one of the biggest clutch shots in the history of basketball, let alone Duke).

Greatest shot in Duke History?
I mean...
really??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY-iq58_oz4

[mr. synellinden]

Greatest shot in Duke History?
I mean...
really??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY-iq58_oz4

I have been careful in my posts to refer to that shot against UNLV as the most IMPORTANT shot in Duke history.

Certainly, some people might argue it's a matter of semantics. I agree Laettner's was the greatest. But keep in mind that Hurley's came one round later in the tourney, against one of the most supposedly unbeatable teams ever, we had never won a title before and his shot was almost as much the difference between winning and losing as Laettner's.

[Jfrosh]

I expect to struggle with all of the match-ups from here on out. It was hard for me to make this decision based on statistics or on-the-court accomplishments. My reason for choosing Dawkins was more personal. I was 14 when the 86 team made their run to the finals and had their been no Johnny Dawkins I would probably have never been a Duke fan. I loved Bobby Hurley, but for me Dawkins was the first Dukie.

This helped sway me. I never really followed college basketball until getting to Duke. My love for Duke basketball started with that 86 team and most specifically Johnny Dawkins.

[elvis14]

VOTE FOR BOBBY HURLEY!!!

This one's easy, vote for Bobby! Championships, assists records, heart. Plus its seemed like when you were watching back then Hurley had that knack for hitting the 3 or making a big play just at the right time. Just when a team thought they were going to get back in a game, Bobby would hit a 3 and kill their spirit! This is an easy vote, Bobby Hurley. Plus as a little dude I always described Bobby's game as "His game is what my game would be if I was any good" :-)

[JasonEvans]

Mid-day returns: I checked a little while ago and JD had a brief 2 vote lead. It has evaporated though. Currently, Bobby leads by 6 votes, 36-30.

--Jason "the Hurley posters have been loud lately-- where are JD's army?!?!" Evans

[hurleyfor3]

I thought the purple was a nice touch. Hope it's not too annoying, I was laughing the whole time.

Oh, by all means leave it up.

Mid-day returns: I checked a little while ago and JD had a brief 2 vote lead. It has evaporated though. Currently, Bobby leads by 6 votes, 36-30.

He started to pull away once I started posting to this thread

Something else about Hurley: He was the first (modern) Duke player other fans went out of their way to jeer. That has to count for something.

[johnb]

Who's the better player? If former Duke players were picking sides, I think Dawkins would go first more often.

Who's given more to Duke? Hurley was a big winner, but JD has been instrumental in shifting us from episodic championship-level hoops to a 20 year binge of greatness.

I loved watching Hurley develop, both as a person and player. I really admire his gutsiness. I felt like a relative had been nearly killed when he had his car wreck. I liked the fact that he tended to wear his emotions more on his sleeve, and JD generally appears less emotional/enthusiastic.

The proof is, however, in the pudding. JD came back to Duke after an NBA career. He has refused head coaching offers. He is probably K's closest confidante. He is vital, vital to the program. Bobby left over 15 years ago.

Go Johnny!

[phaedrus]

Too close for me. I'm waiting for more people to post arguments one way or the other.

[JasonEvans]

Early returns - it is 15-13 Bobby. I told ya'll this one would be a war!!

[EarlJam]

That song Who's Johnny by El DeBarge was popular when JD played at Duke. I remember, after a Duke loss, my friend Steve (an avid Carolina fan) started taunting me by singing that song, as if to say, "Johnny D didn't show up tonight!"

I really didn't need to respond. I mean, afterall, here's a UNC fan singing El DeBarge. That says it all doesn't it?


UNC = Attachment 142


-EarlJam

[Bluedawg]

DON'T VOTE YET!!!

I urge everyone to take a few moments to think about it before voting. Read some of the notes in this thread (and post your own thoughts!!) to see if they jog a memory or help you crystalize your feelings. Then, once you are sure, then vote for your favorite among these two:

#4 seed- Johnny Dawkins-
How he got here:

• Defeated Robert Brickey with 92.76% of the vote
• Defeated Shelden Williams with 83.54% of the vote

Notable memories/achievements

• Was THE PLAYER who started it all for Coach K.
• When everyone else on the 1986 team inexplicably went into the tank offensively in the NCAAs, he carried us to (almost) the promissed land with 24points.
• Great post-season player averaging almost 24 ppg in his NCAA tourney career
• Pwning David Rivers on the final play of the nationally televised game in 1986.
• Career high 34 points (and had 8 borads and 4 assists too) as #2 Duke crushed #6 UNC in Chapel Hill in a huge nationally televised game in 1985 (shortly after I chose Duke as my school... what a way to join the fanaticism!!)
• Coach K's closest confidant for the past decade
  
• Nolan Smith's "uncle"
• #24 retired by Duke

--Jason "this one will be a war!! I cannot decide who I will vote for" Evans

Nolan Smith's "uncle"...really?

[johnb]

Nolan Smith's "uncle"...really?

Nolan's father was Derek Smith, a former NBA teammate of Dawkins. Derek Smith died in 1996, and JD stepped up to the plate and acted as de facto 'uncle' to 7 year old Nolan. Little Nolan happened to grow up to be a great player on a great team, and his recruitment--from what I understand--was a slam dunk.