Page 6 of 6 FirstFirst ... 456
Results 101 to 117 of 117
  1. #101
    Any Top 50 list that leaves off BOTH starring members of Phi Slamma Jamma is inherently noncredible.

  2. #102
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Quote Originally Posted by hurleyfor3 View Post
    Any Top 50 list that leaves off BOTH starring members of Phi Slamma Jamma is inherently noncredible.
    But Drexler and Hakeem were good as pros, thereby negating their eligibility for the list.

    -Jason "reconcile that with Jabbar being on the list... impossible" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  3. #103

    You're Just Not Getting It

    Klosterman's list is for literary hipsters, not hoops junkies. He's NOT primarily a sports writer. Don't get all bothered by it - it's just a literary lark for him.

  4. #104
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina

    Pinata Time! I'm nominating this as possibly the worst "All Time" ever...

    http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...ayers-all-time

    Even after reading Klosterman's criteria, aside from his admission that this is a subjective list (duh, what ranking list of this kind isn't subjective?), I can't figure out any rational reason for some of his omissions.

    At first I thought, well, maybe he's looking for college guys who didn't do much as much in the pros and are, therefore, remembered purely as college guys. But the number one guy on the list is Lew Alcindor, arguably one of the greatest NBA centers ever. So that goes out the window.

    Which begs the question...how is Grant Hill not on this list? All he did in college was play a crucial role in winning 2 national championships as an underclassman, and, then, his senior year, put a deeply flawed team on his back and absolutely CARRY them to within a bucket of another national championship. He was Majic Johnson for that 1994 team, except much better on defense. Yes, Grant went on to great success in the pros, but his college career is among the best four year careers of all time. And, if you want college hoops defining moments...Grant was the passer on Laettner's "The Shot" and the recipient on "The Alley Oop", two annual One Shining Moment...er...moments.

    Second question...where is Bobby Hurley? The NCAA career assists leader, a two time national champion, and the only possible reason not to consider him the best point guard in ACC history is that a guy named Phil Ford played the same position in the same conference. (Granted, Ford came in number 38 on this same list. That's not helping the list's cause any...)

    There are arguments for Jay Williams, Shane Battier, Johnny Dawkins, as well. Down the road they probably have a name or two that doesn't bear repeating around here. But I kept reading down the list, waiting for the obvious names of Hurley and Hill to come up. I got past Dereck Whittenburg (love the guy, fine player, State never wins the 1993 title without him, but, uh, top 50 of all time?), Khalid El-Amin (seething), Jimmer Fredette (give me one reason Fredette is on this list and Steph Curry isn't), and Mookie Blaylock, without seeing Hill or Hurley mentioned. Never did see 'em.

    Thoughts, please. Worst list ever? Am I being too harsh? Any non-Dukies that are as egregious leave-offs as the guys I mentioned above? (Patrick Ewing? Larry Bird? The Big O? Jerry Lucas?). FWIW, his top 10 aren't terrible. I'd have my top 10, in no particular order, as Phil Ford, Pete Maravich, Christian Laettner, Alcindor, Walton, David Thompson, Grant Hill, Patrick Ewing (yes...dominant center, controlled the lane on defense with intimadation, won the 1984 title, and came within a Freddie Brown and a wtf performance from Villanova from winning 3), Len Bias, and Oscar Robertson. Forget the no particular order thing. David Thompson is number 1.

    OK: didn't even think to look in the Grantland.com College Hoops preview thread before posting this. Several people beat me to dissecting this. Apologies for redundancy!
    Last edited by davekay1971; 11-04-2011 at 08:52 PM.

  5. #105
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Cary, NC

    Question

    I think he was trying to include a lot of obscure, lesser-known players, perhaps to show off his breadth of knowledge. He includes el-Amin because he was short, fat, and slow, which I guess qualifies as a "unique skill". The omission of Steph Curry is laughable. I would have also included Wally Sczerbiak (sp?), I think there was a tourney game where he scored like 55 of his team's 60 points.

  6. #106
    I think you guys kind of aren't getting it. Calling the list a joke is accurate in that it doesn't appear to be meant to be taken seriously. College basketball fans should appreciate it as a celebration of "college" type players - Klosterman makes it fairly clear that he's not really trying to make any kind of definitive ranking here. There are many players who Klosterman admits were not even among the best on their own teams. Klosterman's championing of college athletics both in his past comments and here is a quality any Duke fan can get behind, and I'm sure if anyone wanted to talk players like Hurley, Hill, Battier, or Williams then he'd praise these "college" type players. Silly to get bent out of shape about it.

  7. #107
    Looking at the top 10 it seems this guy is serious. He should never be allowed to write about basketball again.

  8. #108

    Once Again, You Guys Aren't Really Getting It

    Quote Originally Posted by dukeballboy88 View Post
    Looking at the top 10 it seems this guy is serious. He should never be allowed to write about basketball again.
    Look, once you see David Rivers at #49 and DEFINITELY once you see Michael Graham at #42, you know that Klosterman isn't going for a statistically/historically accurate list. But the list makes perfect sense within the Simmons/Grantland context, which is to get people to take notice and create a buzz (and to entertain, even if they aim primarily to entertain themselves). In that context, it's a successful list.

    But to say that "He should never be allowed to write about basketball again." is kind of silly. Klosterman is a FAR better writer than most sportswriters can even approach. Just because YOU don't get it, doesn't mean nobody else does.

  9. #109
    Quote Originally Posted by slower View Post
    Look, once you see David Rivers at #49 and DEFINITELY once you see Michael Graham at #42, you know that Klosterman isn't going for a statistically/historically accurate list. But the list makes perfect sense within the Simmons/Grantland context, which is to get people to take notice and create a buzz (and to entertain, even if they aim primarily to entertain themselves). In that context, it's a successful list.

    But to say that "He should never be allowed to write about basketball again." is kind of silly. Klosterman is a FAR better writer than most sportswriters can even approach. Just because YOU don't get it, doesn't mean nobody else does.
    Also, those of you slamming Klosterman ought to go back and listen to some of the podcasts he and Simmons have done over the last several years -- Klosterman regularly defends college hoops and it is clear from listening to him that he's plenty knowledgeable about basketball.

    And, regardless of it's "accuracy," some of that material was just too good not to use (in particular, the fantastic quotes from David Rivers).

  10. #110
    When you put great/best in the same sentence as basketball and list and MJ, Bird or Magic aint on it, whoever you write for should fire you immediately.

  11. #111
    Quote Originally Posted by dukeballboy88 View Post
    When you put great/best in the same sentence as basketball and list and MJ, Bird or Magic aint on it, whoever you write for should fire you immediately.
    To quote the great Walter Sobchak, you are out of your element.

  12. #112
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina
    Quote Originally Posted by slower View Post
    Look, once you see David Rivers at #49 and DEFINITELY once you see Michael Graham at #42, you know that Klosterman isn't going for a statistically/historically accurate list. But the list makes perfect sense within the Simmons/Grantland context, which is to get people to take notice and create a buzz (and to entertain, even if they aim primarily to entertain themselves). In that context, it's a successful list.

    But to say that "He should never be allowed to write about basketball again." is kind of silly. Klosterman is a FAR better writer than most sportswriters can even approach. Just because YOU don't get it, doesn't mean nobody else does.
    Nope, I'm not buying it. Klosterman is a good writer, and his writing talents are evident in the piece. However, he seems to be attempting to make some sort of ranking of top 50 (maybe most memorable 50 or most impactful 50) players in the history of college hoops. But he fails (something even really good writers can do).

    Why do I say he fails? My evidence:
    1) The title implies something that isn't even remotely delivered.
    2) He either doesn't adhere to his own rules in the list or he makes selections based on those rules that are baffling.

    I expect he either intentionally made baffling selections to stir up people and thus increase hits on the article (success on that, anyway); or he simply made errors writing the piece and had omissions. Either way, to judge this list based on what it is advertised to be within the context of the author's own rules, his selections are poor, at best. Fail.

  13. #113
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Northeast
    Long time lurker, first time poster. I just read Mark Titus' (Club Trillion) ACC preview for Grantland - the Duke criticism is a little harsh, but still an interesting read.

    http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...ll-spectacular

  14. #114
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Cary, NC
    A few valid points of criticism in there, but mostly an extremely biased opinion piece. He thinks our starting lineup has Kelly and both Plumlees, which is just wrong. Then he essentially paints a "worst case scenario" of Duke and a "best case scenario" for UNC. You could very well go the other way if you wanted.

  15. #115
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by williamsdevil View Post
    Long time lurker, first time poster. I just read Mark Titus' (Club Trillion) ACC preview for Grantland - the Duke criticism is a little harsh, but still an interesting read.

    http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...ll-spectacular
    It's good to see that Grantland is committed to maintaining the level of keen insight and sophisticated analysis in its college basketball coverage to which we have quickly become accustomed.

  16. #116
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh
    Quote Originally Posted by Duvall View Post
    It's good to see that Grantland is committed to maintaining the level of keen insight and sophisticated analysis in its college basketball coverage to which we have quickly become accustomed.
    And the Three Stooges were all Oscar award winning actors. Another 2 minutes of my life that I shall never get back. What smartassery drivel. Sigh.

  17. #117
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by devildeac View Post
    And the Three Stooges were all Oscar award winning actors. Another 2 minutes of my life that I shall never get back. What smartassery drivel. Sigh.
    I don't understand all the hatred for the Grantland college basketball stuff. It's not meant to be a traditional sports analysis website, so getting angry when the guy that made this doesn't give you an unbiased and in depth ACC preview is unfair.

Similar Threads

  1. Another Melchionni in college hoops
    By roywhite in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 11-11-2010, 01:39 AM
  2. College hoops players opinion
    By G man in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 11-20-2009, 02:22 PM
  3. College hoops version of Dimaggio is over
    By JasonEvans in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 02-03-2009, 11:17 PM
  4. Best state for college hoops
    By Dr. Rosenrosen in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 11-21-2008, 05:49 PM
  5. SI College Basketball Preview Covers
    By BCGroup in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 11-14-2008, 03:18 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •