Duke Basketball's Sacrificial Lambs

[10B13]

In case you all missed this one, the Tarheel website is filling up with glee over this column from Tuesday.
http://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3685&Itemid=115.

It's rather lame and the best riposte may be this one.

"30. UNC's McDonald's All Americans
Joker, Unregistered
UNCRules, quick, tell me what this list has in common:

Jason Capel, Ed Cota, Ronald Curry, Vassil Evtimov, Joe Forte, Kris Lang, Derrick Phelps, Brian Reese, Donald Williams, Jawad Williams, Serge Zwikker

If you guessed highly regarded McDonald's All Americans at UNC that didn't amount to squat at the NBA level...you would be correct."

Zafort

[Indoor66]

In case you all missed this one, the Tarheel website is filling up with glee over this column from Tuesday.
http://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3685&Itemid=115.

It's rather lame and the best riposte may be this one.

"30. UNC's McDonald's All Americans
Joker, Unregistered
UNCRules, quick, tell me what this list has in common:

Jason Capel, Ed Cota, Ronald Curry, Vassil Evtimov, Joe Forte, Kris Lang, Derrick Phelps, Brian Reese, Donald Williams, Jawad Williams, Serge Zwikker

If you guessed highly regarded McDonald's All Americans at UNC that didn't amount to squat at the NBA level...you would be correct."

Zafort

Who cares about Carolina players?

[heath_harshman4]

rediculous. I know everyone has a right to their opinion, but what bugs me is when someone has a strong opinion, like the authors, and knows absolutely nothing about it. rediculous.

[bjornolf]

He holds up Duhon and Laettner as failures in the NBA? Can we really call Duhon a failure, and didn't Laettner average double figures for over a decade and go to a couple all-star games? Is that really failure? How many guys have done that?

And not develop their games? He said start as a jumpshooter, leave as a jumpshooter? Then he monetioned JJ. Didn't he start off a jump shooter and become a complete scorer, as well as a much better defender? What about Greg Paulus? His jump shot seems to have come a LONG way in the last couple years. If nothing else, I would think pretty much every player to come through Duke becomes a much better defender. Look at Shane Battier. Who can say his game didn't evolve in his time under K? Those statements are just plain silly. If anything Coach K utilizes kids SO well and motivates them SO well that they play over their heads, causing pro scouts to over-evaluate them. Or maybe the pro coaches don't know how to use them as well or motivate them as well.

[RelativeWays]

the "Duke players suck in the NBA" is such a tired old hat and hasn't been applicable for years, I don't know why people still resort to it. Laettner and Ferry may not have been stars (Laettner could have been, he seemed to lose the drive during his second season with Atlanta) they still played in the NBA for over 10 years. I would hardly call them failures. I also thought the knock against K and the pros was that he DIDN'T exploit his players athletic abilities and made them play a more team based game. Does this guy even know what he's talking about?

[Indoor66]

the "Duke players suck in the NBA" is such a tired old hat and hasn't been applicable for years, I don't know why people still resort to it. Laettner and Ferry may not have been stars (Laettner could have been, he seemed to lose the drive during his second season with Atlanta) they still played in the NBA for over 10 years. I would hardly call them failures. I also thought the knock against K and the pros was that he DIDN'T exploit his players athletic abilities and made them play a more team based game. Does this guy even know what he's talking about?

Laetner had an achilles problem in Minnesota that slowed him down.

[devildeac]

Laetner had an achilles problem in Minnesota that slowed him down.

Yea, just a 'minor' problem-a ruptured achilles, IIRC, a very tough injury to fully recover from.

[loran16]

the "Duke players suck in the NBA" is such a tired old hat and hasn't been applicable for years, I don't know why people still resort to it. Laettner and Ferry may not have been stars (Laettner could have been, he seemed to lose the drive during his second season with Atlanta) they still played in the NBA for over 10 years. I would hardly call them failures. I also thought the knock against K and the pros was that he DIDN'T exploit his players athletic abilities and made them play a more team based game. Does this guy even know what he's talking about?

Except now Mr. Ferry is in his 3rd year as GM of the Cleveland Cavs. I think he's done alright.

[FireOgilvie]

I want to see a list of Roy Williams' best players in the NBA (KU and UNC). Off the top of my head, I'm thinking it's not that impressive.

[Surfsideron]

rediculous. I know everyone has a right to their opinion, but what bugs me is when someone has a strong opinion, like the authors, and knows absolutely nothing about it. rediculous.

I love Duke and I love all the Duke players but what they do in the NBA interests me in the least. Sure I hope they succeed but if they don't it doesn't make Duke a bad college program or K a bad coach.

Using that premise, I know a lot of schools and teachers who aren't worth a damn because the kids they taught didn't all turn out to be doctors, lawyers, great musicians, actors, presidents.....you get the idea.

Duke is there for college players. The school prepares these kids for life in case they don't make it in the pros. (How many players do make it in the pros each year? Out of what, 500-1000 basketball graduates each year only about 60 get drafted and normally only about 20 make it more than 2-3 years. The NBA is littered with players I never heard of in college!!)

That was one stupid column by one stupid wannabe journalist.

I love college ball.....the NBA is of no interest.

[dukeENG2003]

I want to see a list of Roy Williams' best players in the NBA (KU and UNC). Off the top of my head, I'm thinking it's not that impressive.

Paul Pierce is pretty good, lets be realistic.

[FireOgilvie]

Paul Pierce is pretty good, lets be realistic.

I am being realistic. You gave me one name... there must be more I am missing.

Paul Pierce, Kirk Heinrich... who else? Anyone from UNC? I don't know.

I think that Brand, Hill, Boozer, Dunleavy, Battier, etc. is a little bit more impressive.

[Cameron]

Paul Pierce is pretty good, lets be realistic.


Paul Pierce, Scott Pollard, Drew Gooden, and Kirk Hinrich have all made pretty good names for themselves in the NBA. Maybe not so much Pollard, but he did have a pretty nice stint in Sacramento earlier this decade. Williams definitely has been able to produce some pretty good NBA talent over the years, so it would be wrong to suggest he has not.

However, that small list doesn't compare to, say, the NBA careers of Grant Hill, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy, etc. These guys are all still playing and put up big numbers on a pretty consistent basis, especially Boozer and Brand, who have both been considered NBA MVP caliber players in recent seasons.

Pierce was obviously Williams' best of the bunch as was Hill for Coach K. And in this battle of who produced the top star, I would have to give the edge to K. Grant was an amazing talent in the mid to late '90s for the Detroit Pistons, at one point in time being referred to as the Next Jordan. Pierce, even in his prime, was never considered that good. Had Hill stayed injury free, he might have went down as a 50 greatest player of all-time. That is how much talent he had.