Tate Armstrong and David Henderson won more than a few games at the buzzer.
Papa John,
I believe the OP asked for clutch players in addition to Christian Laettner. I believe Armstrong and Henderson qualify.
As a former Cameron Crazy who has had the pleasure (and angst) of watching Duke dramatics since the early 1960's, I have seen tons of clutch plays.
Without doubt, Laettner had the greatest NCAA Tourney game of all time, even better than UCLA's Bill Walton because of his perfect shooting and grace under pressure.
Other great plays come to mind, like Gene Banks blocking James Worthy's last-second shot at the top of the key and Jeff Capel thundering in the shot near half-court.
Other great clutch players include Bob Verga, Jeff Mullins, Jack Marin and, of course, JJ.
But the only Duke player EVER who could be told to go out and get 40 and still play the best defense on his team was Tate Armstrong.
Tate was the closest we have ever had, or will have, to Pistol Pete Maravich.
Sure, the Crazies go wild now while we have great teams but in the days when we were still looking for respect, those of us on the floor in Cameron stood in stunned silence as Tate went 25 to 30 to 35 to 40 points with the game in the balance, while the opponents did everything they could to hurt him just to get him to stop scoring. We just couldn't believe the string of 30+ games he put up. It seemed like it would never end.
And then came the greatest clutch performance in Duke basketball history.
You can ask Mike Gminski and Jim Spanarkel about that, who had 20 and 19, respectively.
Against a tough Virginia team, Tate broke his wrist just minutes into the game. He kept playing. Then, without the 3-point shot, he went 13 of 23 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line with 3 assists, 1 steal and just 1 turnover. It was his last game, Tate scored 33 points (31 AFTER breaking his wrist) and Duke won 82-74 in OT.
That is what I call clutch.
And that is why Tate Armstrong is the Man!
I suppose I'll get criticized for posting just one, but I've only been following seriously since about 1980.
1. Laettner
2.
3.
4.
5. Whoever's next
I mean, c'mon. Laettner, Laettner, Laettner, Laettner, Laettner, Laettner.
Laettner!
down 5 to UNLV (to that moment, the greatest NCAA bball team ever) National semis, with a couple of minutes left, miss we probably lose, and he drilled it. That CLUTCH shot allowed us to win our first NC, and that shot alone gets Bobby H. on the list!
As much as I loved Tate (and the heart failure he induced with the last second shots that inevitably spun on the rim), I have to give it to Christian. He hit the shots in the NCAAs where the pressure was way higher. Tate never had that kind of pressure.
-jk
What about Redick, he is not clutch because he didn't produce in the tournament? I thought he was pretty clutch...
Ozzie: Thanks for injecting a note of sanity here. How could anyone think that ANY Duke basketball player was more clutch than Laettner? His Connecticut and Kentucky shots are always remember... as are the winning free throws against UNLV and on and on... he was and is and always will be THE MAN!
DukeDevilDeb
I hesitate to leave Art Heyman and Jeff Mullins off a list like this.
But for discussion's sake, naming the top 5 in the K era:
Laettner
Hurley
Dawkins
Jason Williams
Battier
Entering the discussion---Gerald Henderson
The "clutchiest" games are in the tournament. Time after time, JJ went bust. Never was so much expected from a Duke player who, in key situations, didn't do it!
I remember a Dean at the school saying to me, I wonder why JJ never hit a shot to win the game.
Perhaps because he was not a clutch player?
DukeDevilDeb
Earlier that season ('91-92) I was at the PMAC in Baton Rouge to watch Duke play LSU and Shaquille O'Neal. If my memory serves me, Bobby Hurley was recently injured and Grant Hill played point guard. Duke trailed late in the game and appeared to be on the verge of a loss when Laettner hit two three-point daggers. Man, he was cold-blooded and seemingly without emotion, like an assasin. Duke won the game in large part because of Laettner, although Shaq's horrendous free throw shooting down the stretch did not help the LSU cause. (can you say hack-a-Shaq).
Tate Armstrong was a very good player and a prolific scorer at Duke. However, to compare his game to that of Pete Maravich is a bit of a stretch. Maravich put up gaudy scoring numbers (averaging almost three times as many ppg as Tate). However, it was his style of play and his unique dribbling, ball-handling, and passing skills that separate him and may never be seen again.
I remember that like it was yesterday. I was so upset at the missed FT and the no-call. I had to leave the house and slammed the back door hard enough to break stuff. My wife got mad at me and my sister in law and brother in law who were in the room were just speechless. Of course there was a few choice words yelled before I left! Not my finest moment, but even now when I think about that no-call it pisses me off!
Bobby Hurley had this knack for hitting a shot when we needed it. It wasn't always obvious like at the end of a game. If a team was making a run and it looked like the momentum was about to change, Bobby always seemed to be the guy to hit a big shot or make a play to turn the tide. If we were on the verge of putting a team down for good, Bobby always seemed to take the shot that was the dagger! He was clutch because of the timing of his shots.
I take Christian Laettner. We need a couple buckets, some attitude, some verve, a will to win and the know how to do it, needing one win, he is the player.
Dukestheheat
My head says Laettner, but my heart says Battier.