Top 5 Dukies

[lotusland]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketb...ug=ycn-7201892

Hard to argue with anyone on this list but for me Battier might edge Redick. I don't know their stats by heart but hang another banner and Singler supplants them both on my list.

[dukeballboy88]

Nah I have to move JJ and Johnny D down even though I love them both there is no way Jay Williams is left off the list. And for me, I got to put WhoseyourDaddyBattier on there. If Kyle can pull of the double, I might have to put him on the list and knock Battier off!

1 Laettne
2 Hurley
3 Hill
4 J williams
5 Battier

[Bob Green]

I find the list to be too modern as none of my favorite childhood Blue Devils are listed. O course all four NCAA Championships have been during the Coach K era so I'm sure that fact has a significant impact. Moreover, today's players have four years of eligibility compared to three years. Still, Bob Verga and Mike Lewis are names that stir vivid memories from my youth in the 60s.

[davekay1971]

Always hard to limit this kind of thing to 5.

Given that he limited himself to 5, the author certainly hit a good 5, but Shane Battier, Art Heyman, Jason Williams, Danny Ferry, Dick Groat just called and challenged Christian, Bobby, Grant, JJ, and JD to a game of 5 on 5. Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Shelden Williams, and Elton Brand got winner. Gene Banks and Jim Spanarkel, and Mike Gminski say hello.

[The Gordog]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketb...ug=ycn-7201892

Hard to argue with anyone on this list but for me Battier might edge Redick. I don't know their stats by heart but hang another banner and Singler supplants them both on my list.

Laettner - no explanation needed.
Ferry - led under-manned team to FF in 1988.
G. Hill - led under-manned team to FF in 1994.
JJ - greatest scorer in the modern era.
Hurley - NCAA all time assists leader. Faster than you think. Way faster.

I wonder what K would say, but I have a feeling Shane would be on his list for the Defence.

[slower]

JJ - greatest scorer in the modern era.

Do you mean the greatest DUKE scorer in the modern era?

[hq2]

Laettner, G Hill, Jason Williams, Battier, Redick

Second team

Johnny D, Ferry, Hurley, Heyman, Gminski

[Lord Ash]

If there is no Shane Battier on the list, then the list is broken. Here on DBR Shane actually WON the Favorite Dukie Ever poll, and while favorite isn't always the same thing as BEST, it is hard for me to accept that Favorite doesn't even make the Top 5 cut.

[lotusland]

I find the list to be too modern as none of my favorite childhood Blue Devils are listed. O course all four NCAA Championships have been during the Coach K era so I'm sure that fact has a significant impact. Moreover, today's players have four years of eligibility compared to three years. Still, Bob Verga and Mike Lewis are names that stir vivid memories from my youth in the 60s.

I remember Gminski, Spanarkel and Banks from my youth but anything prior was before my time. Also Robert Brickey was a pre-K favorite although not top 5. I definitely would not remove Dawkins from my top 5 list.

[ajgoodfella7]

A may get flack from some for Battier's rank, but so be it. He was one of the truly great "team" players, and one of the smartest players in history.

1. Laettner
2. Battier
3. Hurley
4. Hill
5. Redick

[phaedrus]

This has been tried before and it is nearly impossible for any two Duke fans to agree on a Top 5. There are simply too many players who have been comparably great.

However, I wonder if we can find some number of players that most will agree should be grouped together, in effect making a tier of "the very greatest players of all time" and a next tier of "the very close to greatest players of all time".

For example, most commentators agree that the greatest NBA player of all time is either MJ or Bill Russell. And most agree that very close to them is a group that includes Wilt, Magic, Larry, Kareem, and the Big O. To be sure, great players are left off both lists - Shaq, Hakeem, Jerry West. But this is a starting place of consensus.
Similarly, in hockey, almost everyone agrees on the Top 4 - Gretz, Lemieux, Orr, Howe. The order is debatable.

For Duke players, on the basis of most distinguished careers, I propose a list that most might agree with:

The Very Greatest: Laettner, Hill, Williams, Battier.

The Very Close-to Greatest: Hurley, Heyman, Gminski, Redick, Dawkins, Ferry.

Apologies if I left out your favorite. But I suppose the main proposition of this post is that most people would probably agree that the Top 4 I suggest are among our Top 5.

[Bluedog]

Hey, I took that photo! haha. I can't believe Yahoo! Sports is actually using it...I mean, I did release it to the public domain through the Creative Commons Attribution so I don't care, but it wasn't the greatest shot in the world and is a bit blurry. (Hey, I'm not a professional photographer and I wasn't that close to him.) I guess they couldn't get anything better that was completely free to use. Funny stuff.

In any event, back to the topic, I think I'd have the following:

1.) Laettner
2.) G Hill
3.) Dawkins
4.) JWill
5.) Redick

Edit: Just realized it was an article submitted by a Yahoo! Sports user a la bleacher report. I didn't think a more legit Yahoo journalist would use that photo when they probably have AP, Reuters, etc. at their disposal.

[Bob Green]

Also Robert Brickey was a pre-K favorite although not top 5.

Robert Brickey was not pre-K.

[Olympic Fan]

Going into this season, Goduke the Magazine ran a poll of sports writers/historians (Bill Brill, Al Featherston, Jim Sumner, Barry Jacobs, John Roth were all on the panel) to pick Duke's 50 greatest players. Based on their performance at Duke (and not NBA career):

I don't know if it' on-line,n but the top 10 from my copy were:

1. Christian Laettner
2. Art Heyman
3. Johnny Dawkins
4. Shane Battier
5. Grant Hill
6. Jason Williams
7. Danny Ferry
8. J.J. Redick
9. Dick Groat
10.(tie) Bobby Hurley
and Mike Gminski

[Reddevil]

If I had to put together a conventional team that would most likely beat all others it would be:

Hurley
Hill
Laettner
Brand
Dawkins

No matter how you cut it, the bench would be a dream too:

Battier
Williams
Ferry
Heyman
Gminski
Redick

[lotusland]

This has been tried before and it is nearly impossible for any two Duke fans to agree on a Top 5. There are simply too many players who have been comparably great.

However, I wonder if we can find some number of players that most will agree should be grouped together, in effect making a tier of "the very greatest players of all time" and a next tier of "the very close to greatest players of all time".

For example, most commentators agree that the greatest NBA player of all time is either MJ or Bill Russell. And most agree that very close to them is a group that includes Wilt, Magic, Larry, Kareem, and the Big O. To be sure, great players are left off both lists - Shaq, Hakeem, Jerry West. But this is a starting place of consensus.
Similarly, in hockey, almost everyone agrees on the Top 4 - Gretz, Lemieux, Orr, Howe. The order is debatable.

For Duke players, on the basis of most distinguished careers, I propose a list that most might agree with:

The Very Greatest: Laettner, Hill, Williams, Battier.

The Very Close-to Greatest: Hurley, Heyman, Gminski, Redick, Dawkins, Ferry.

Apologies if I left out your favorite. But I suppose the main proposition of this post is that most people would probably agree that the Top 4 I suggest are among our Top 5.

Laettner Hill and Hurley should be automatic in my book. Hurley is the NCAA all-time leading assist leader. Below are a few all-time lists I found online. Laettner is always in the top 25 and Hurley is always in the top 50. It is subjective obviously but I feel comfortable saying that Hurley surpasses Williams on most lists. Oddly Michael Jordan gets listed occasionally and I have seen a couple with Bill Russell at the top. I can't imagine anyone other than Lew Alcinder at the top.

http://www.americasbestonline.net/in...llplayers.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4...all-tim#page/1

http://www.rateitall.com/t-746-mens-...-all-time.aspx

[lotusland]

Robert Brickey was not pre-K.

Thanks for the correction - I could not tell you what year he played but he was a favorite of mine at the time whenever that was!

[flyingdutchdevil]

Laettner Hill and Hurley should be automatic in my book. Hurley is the NCAA all-time leading assist leader. Below are a few all-time lists I found online. Laettner is always in the top 25 and Hurley is always in the top 50. It is subjective obviously but I feel comfortable saying that Hurley surpasses Williams on most lists. Oddly Michael Jordan gets listed occasionally and I have seen a couple with Bill Russell at the top. I can't imagine anyone other than Lew Alcinder at the top.

http://www.americasbestonline.net/in...llplayers.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4...all-tim#page/1

http://www.rateitall.com/t-746-mens-...-all-time.aspx

Absolutely agree with Laettner and Hurley - they would be in the top 5 NCAA players in the last 20 years (Hurley b/c of assists, the most beautiful part of basketball and Laettner is, well, Laettner). To round out my top 5, it'd be Redick (broke the ACC scoring record), Battier (epitome of D and leadership) and Dawkins (the first Coach K superstar).

[superdave]

Redick never carried a team in the NCAAs. That is a gaping hole in his resume compared to a lot of Duke guards.

1. Laettner
2. Dawkins
3. Hill
4. Williams
5. Battier

Hurley is breathing down Jason Williams' neck though, in my estimation.

[superdave]

2. Art Heyman

Wish I knew more about Heyman. He's the one guy that the old guard consistantly puts up at the top from pre-Superdave days.