The Duke Delight List

[VaDukie]

As a counter to the Duke Damage List - what are your happiest memories?

There are so many options for me, but I'll pick the 2001 ACC Tournament. The pure joy of beating Maryland on Nate's tip in, the absolute domination of UNC (we were chanting 'drive home safely' with 12 minutes to go), tying the ACC record of 3 Titles in a row (it wouldn't last long) and getting to watch it all in person beside my Dad.

Every Blue Devil should be so lucky.

So let's get nostalgic and positive. Extra bonus if you attended the games.

[phaedrus]

It was about as meaningless as it gets for an ACC game, but it was also the most impressive performance I can remember.

40 points on 11 shots, 2006.

[Uncle Drew]

My fondest two memories happened two days apart in 1991. March 30th 1991 UNC played a Roy Williams led Kansas team in the first game which was fairly close through out the contest. Near the end of the game Dean "God of Chapel Hill" Smith got called for his second technical and tossed from the game. Clearly used to ACC referees kissing his alcoholic a** he was shocked anyone would have the audacity to call him for one technical yet alone two. At that moment I felt some vindication for Mike Gminski being tossed out of a game against UNC many years before after Dean complained to the refs for fifteen minutes while his supposably injurred player lay in the floor. Kansas ended up beating UNC and I could take some satisfaction knowing no matter how badly the UNLV game might go for Duke at least UNC was done for the season. I and a lot of Duke fans still had bitter memories of the previous meeting between Duke and UNLV when Duke lost by 30 points in the previous national championship game. The game ended up being close through out, with neither team able to get a big lead. Hurley and Laettner both hit huge shots near the end and Duke had a lead with UNLV getting the ball for what we all thought would be the last shot. Duke played awesome defense the entire game, but when the ball got into Larry Johnsons hands my heart sunk knowing how good a player he had been all year. For whatever reason he passed the ball, UNLV took a less than ideal shot which clanged off the rim. Duke got the rebound and the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA tourney had occured. (Imagine that, Duke was an underdog and considered loveable loosers fans pulled for to finally get over the hump!)
Two nights later on April 1st 1991 every Duke fan spent the game praying some cruel April Fools joke wouldn't be played on us. Brian Davis had gotten injurred in the UNLV game and we hoped the team had enough left in the gas tank to take on Kansas after a hard fought game two nights before. The game was pretty tight with memorable plays from both teams, especially an alley-oop dunk to Grant Hill on a fast break no one thought he had a chance to catch, yet alone Dunk. As the game wore on the players and fans could taste victory, but we'd all seen bad luck cause the dream of a national championship come crashing down before so many times. When the final horn sounded and Duke had won a 72-65 victory cheers went up from every Duke fan around the world. My brother and I both raised to be life long Duke fans hugged and thought about our dad who had passed away a year earler. He'd attended the Rose Bowl game in Durham at the beginning of WWII and been a huge fan of the Blue Devils his entire life but never got to see them win the big one. We also thought about all the ragging we'd recieved from UNC and NCSU fans over the years and that now, finally no one could dispute at least for one year Duke was the National Champion and in the record books of history. We also thought about Johnny Dawkins, Mike Gminksi, Danny Ferry and others who were never able to attain the championship they deserved. Repeating as national champions next year was awesome, the OT thriller against Kentucky brings back fond memories along with many other games and plays. But they say you never forget your first time, and in my case no feeling will ever be quite that satisfying!!!

[ohioguy2]

I will have to second the 2001 ACC tourney. My buddy and I watched every game from one of the unused TV broadcast booths. We bluffed our way into some of the pre game radio stuff. We were at the correct end to see Nates's tip. Walking back to our hotel afterwords, it was very interesting to see and hear the "other guys" reactions. Met some great people from Duke. What a time.

[lazee]

It was about as meaningless as it gets for an ACC game, but it was also the most impressive performance I can remember.

40 points on 11 shots, 2006.

That was an awesome performance!

[EarlJam]

This shot got totally trumped by the Kentucky shot in '92, and became sort of forgotten. But I was sitting with two Duke friends in my living room when watching the regional final between UConn and Duke in 1990. It was the late afternoon, we were having drinks (party atmosphere) and were all going to go to a place called Blue Chips in Durham after the game.

Well, needless to say the mood became morbid and somber when UConn took the lead with just a couple of seconds to go. I can't remember how UConn scored to take the lead (anybody?).

Duke calls timeout. Laettner to inbound. The "special" play is called. Laettner inbounds the ball, the ball goes right back to Laetter who puts up a sort of awkward looking shot that swishes the net as time runs out. Duke wins, going to the Final Four, mass celebration both in Jersey and in my living room in Burlington. A wonderful night at Blue Chips was had (that place was really cheesy by the way).

I remember the headlines the next day reading, "Better Laettner than Never!" Little did we know what would happen two years later.

What a freakin' moment. Laettner. What a freakin' stud!

-EarlJam

[Cameron]

40 points on 11 shots, 2006.

"He's the best shooter I ever saw"

-Broadcast legend Mike Patrick, 2006 ACC Finals

[Olympic Fan]

Two nights later on April 1st 1991 every Duke fan spent the game praying some cruel April Fools joke wouldn't be played on us. Brian Davis had gotten injurred in the UNLV game and we hoped the team had enough left in the gas tank to take on Kansas after a hard fought game two nights before.

Great memories ... but in this one point, you are a little fuzzy. Brian Davis was fine for the Kansas game in 1991 (he played 20-plus minutes and scored eight points ... he also had a crucial 3-point play at the end of the UNLV game). You're confusing two Final Fours. Davis was hurt in the semifinal victory over Indiana in 1992. He tried to play in the finals against Michigan, but was so clearly hobbled that he left after a minute or two.

You are right that there was a fatigue factor Duke in that Kansas game, especially with Laettner, who had clearly expended everything he had in the UNLV win. I remember how skillfully Coach K used the TV timeouts, subbing for Laettner a minute or so before the coming TO to give him a 4-5 minute rest while missing just a minute or so of play (the one time in my life I was thankful that NCAA TOs last an eternity). I remember the lift that Billy McCaffery gave a clearly tired team in the second half. And I remember the team's lone senior, Greg Koubek, hitting a 3 on Duke's first possession. It was his only basket, but it gave the Devils a lead they would never relinquish the rest of the way.

As for my greatest memory, it had to be the Freddie Lind game in 1968. No. 2 North Carolina comes to Cameron for the season finale and Duke beats them 87-86, thanks to an All-America like performance from third-string center Freddie Lind (a little-used third-string center who scored more points against UNC that day than he had all season up to that point). At the end of the first overtime, when with Duke down two and seconds remaining, Lind pulled up on a fast break and launched a shot from the top of the key, it was the greatest of many "Oh no! Oh, yes!" moments I've ever seen. You could clearly hear eight thousand-plus people scream "No!" as the shot went up. When that shot went in, I've never heard Cameron louder -- and, yes, I was there for the Capel shot in 1995. I've never heard Cameron as loud as it was that day and I've never seen the Duke students assemble after the game outside the Duke locker room (in the area between Card and Cameron) and demand a curtain call from one of their heroes.

I'll always count myself lucky to be there. It makes the think about the exchange in Hoosiers where the teacher complains that people in Indiana treat basketball heroes as gods and Gene Hackman replies that most people would kill to be gods, if just for a little while.

On that Saturday afternoon, Fred Lind was a god.

[Dukerati]

I have two.

National championship game against Arizona. We were the top two teams all season long and I was incredibly nervous facing a team, for the first time all season, with talent akin to ours. Dunleavy's heroics aside, the play of the game was Shane Battier's incredible twisting, leaning tip. When that ball went in, I just knew we were going to win and I remember thinking that Battier could murder two people tomorrow and he would still be the best human being ever in my book. I carded into Wilson the next day and re-enacted that tip at least 100 times. My only regret is that we won the NC my freshman year and I was naive enough to believe I would get to taste more during my stay.

The second moment was also during my freshman year and was tragically followed by heartbreak. I camped out in the cold for three months for the UNC game that year and was feverishly sick, under-nourished, and staggering as I got into the stands. The rest of the crowd did not look much better but the anticipation was palpable. It was a back and forth game and then Dunleavy hit the clutchest of threes in the waning seconds. I have never jumped higher or screamed as loudly as I did when that three went in. My entire section of the stands literally fell down and I could see classmates everywhere crying their eyes out. Just the emotion of having camped out for so long in such terrible conditions and having a player make SUCH an incredible play was breath-taking to say the least. Of course, Battier went on to "foul" Haywood and needless to say, what transpired is easily one of the top five saddest moments in my life. Still, I do not regret or begrudge that game. The happiness I felt at that three still lingers with me today.

[Stray Gator]

I am truly fortunate. I was 7 rows off the floor in the Indoor Stadium as an undergrad (before it was "Cameron," and before there were "Crazies") at the triple-overtime "Freddy Lind" game (which I still say should fairly be called the "Freddy Lind and Joe Kennedy" game for the way Joe shut down Larry Miller, especially in the overtime periods). And yes, to this day, it was the loudest I've ever heard Cameron.

I was also in floor level seats (albeit corner of the end zone) with my son attending our first Final Four at the Hoosier Dome in Indy in '91. And yes, the conclusion of that semifinal win over UNLV was the most deliriously excited I've ever been at the end of a basketball game.

Although we missed the regional final against Kentucky, my son and I were able to return to the Final Four together in Minneapolis for the repeat in '92, where we sat a few rows behind the Duke Pep Band (which in those days was placed in the stands right behind the basket) and watched Duke hold off Indiana's last-minute comeback with Marty's calm free-throw shooting and then pull away from Michigan's Fab Five after a shaky first half by an exhausted Laettner.

I was back in Minneapolis for the Final Four in '01, though this time my son did not join me--he elected to stay on campus in Durham so that he could enjoy the celebration if everything went well. Of course, things didn't appear to be going so well during the first half of the semifinal against the Terps. But we all knew somehow that Duke would win, because it was preordained at a higher plane that Battier would walk off that court with the net and the trophy. That one was special because it was like being part of a storybook ending--and also gave K more rings than Dean.

Indeed, I've been blessed to see some memorable Duke games--in Cameron, at ACC and NCAA tournaments, and in MSG (JJ torches Texas) and the Meadowlands (J-Will torches Kentucky), among others. These are all "Duke delights" in my book. But I'm hopeful that there are many more, perhaps equally thrilling delights like those yet to come--and that each of you will also have the opportunity to experience more than your share.

[Indoor66]

Stray Gator wrote: "I am truly fortunate. I was 7 rows off the floor in the Indoor Stadium as an undergrad (before it was "Cameron," and before there were "Crazies") at the triple-overtime "Freddy Lind" game (which I still say should fairly be called the "Freddy Lind and Joe Kennedy" game for the way Joe shut down Larry Miller, especially in the overtime periods). And yes, to this day, it was the loudest I've ever heard Cameron."

I agree about the noise in the Indoor Stadium that day. I was a grad student usher sitting at the end of the UNC bench (manning the rope.) The noise at floor level was deafening. What a thrilling game Lind was unbelievable and the Kennedy clamp on Miller was a thing to behold.

[Classof06]

February 7, 2006 when JJ capped off a 35 point night in Chapel Hill with the most vicious step back I have ever seen before dropping points 33, 34 and 35 in David Noel's face.


Then watching him run down the sideline with that sh-t eating grin, no more than 3 feet from the first row in the Dean Dome. About when he got to the other free throw line down the court, he circles to head back to the Duke bench after UNC calls a timeout and gives McRoberts the in-the-air chest bump while the Dean Dome is silent. Priceless...

The picture is attached to this post for your enjoyment and God, I cannot wait to beat Carolina again...

[Uncle Drew]

Great memories ... but in this one point, you are a little fuzzy. Brian Davis was fine for the Kansas game in 1991 (he played 20-plus minutes and scored eight points ... he also had a crucial 3-point play at the end of the UNLV game). You're confusing two Final Fours. Davis was hurt in the semifinal victory over Indiana in 1992. He tried to play in the finals against Michigan, but was so clearly hobbled that he left after a minute or two.

Olympic, I stand corrected and thanks for pointing that out. But to quote a Pink Floyd song from Dark Side of the Moon, "I don't know, I was really drunk at the time." LOL! Now watch, someone is going to say that quote is from A Saucer Full Of Secrets, and I'll have to make another correction.

[cspan37421]

"So let's get nostalgic and positive." Sounds good!

but then: "Clearly used to ACC referees kissing his alcoholic a** "

I know UNC is our #1 rival but is there any basis for calling Dean Smith an alcoholic? I used to go to church with the guy and he made, IMO, many honorable yet unpopular stands through his career. If he is being fairly maligned, OK, but I know nothing of him ever having such a problem. Just b/c he has a WC Fields-sized schnozz...

"I remember thinking that Battier could murder two people tomorrow and he would still be the best human being ever in my book. "

That must be some book.

He might be my favorite Dukie ever, but still ... if he were a murderer, I think I might reconsider my ranking of him. That's just me, though, I'm weird.

[cspan37421]

vs. Oklahoma during the 85-86 season. National TV, quality opponent (they had Wayman Tisdale). Duke victory, my introduction to the Cameron Crazies and mob psychology.

Away games - being in a dorm commons room cheering with dozens of others as loud and creatively as if we were there, including waving our arms to distract the opposition's free throw shooter.

Having the school treat the '86 team as the champions they were when they returned. Great yearbook spread, with fold-out, signatures, and so forth. Continuing to be proud of what the players have gone on to do.

Another would have to be 1991 vs. UNLV. What sweet redemption! But Kansas - worried about a letdown. Could hardly believe we broke through and could say, for the first time, we reached the top of the mountain. It almost didn't seem like we could ever reach there, and we did.

Deep-shooting guards who could nail the 3 - from Avery, to JWill, to Redick, those guys could hit from anywhere past halfcourt. I always had envied how well Dennis Scott of Ga Tech could hit from so far out - then we got some of our own deep threats.

Seeing our guys succeed in the NBA, putting to bed another "Duke will never" characterization. Not only succeed, but become scoring/rebounding studs like Brand and Boozer.

Seeing Coach K continuing to take the high road. He seems to get fewer technical fouls as he gets older. He is so composed! I don't see how anyone claims he works the refs (more than other coaches). It seems like he hardly speaks during the game these days. (Long ago I sat behind the Duke bench for a game and saw him get so mad that he split his blazer right down the back when making a vigorous gesture with his arms!).

I hope deeply that K can bring USA back a gold medal, and that Shane is a big part of that. But I can hardly wait to see what Shane does post-NBA. Whatever it is, I bet I will delight in his success too. I'm not sure I'd like to see President Battier as much as Chief Justice Battier!

[Tom B.]

And I remember the team's lone senior, Greg Koubek, hitting a 3 on Duke's first possession. It was his only basket, but it gave the Devils a lead they would never relinquish the rest of the way.

Actually, Koubek scored two baskets in that game -- he hit the three-pointer that gave Duke a 3-0 lead, and then hit another basket on Duke's next possession for a 5-0 lead.

I'd have to go with the 1991 Final Four as my favorite in-person memory. Honorable mentions include:

The December 1992 game against Michigan in Cameron -- the Fab Five came in full of swagger and talking all kinds of trash, and were completely humbled by Hurley, G. Hill & Co.

The 1997 game against Carolina in Cameron -- Duke was down by five or six points late but rallied; with under two minutes left, Trajan Langdon hit a huge three from the deep right wing as the shot clock was ticking down to put Duke ahead for good; Roshown McLeod ended the game with an emphatic dunk on a breakaway at the buzzer; Carolina's seven-game win streak over Duke was broken, insuring that the Class of 1997 would get to experience a win over Carolina before graduating.

The 1997 game against Virginia in Charlottesville (a.k.a. The Rick Hartzell Game) -- Just because, from a Duke fan's perspective, it was freakin' hilarious. And Wojo was The Man.

[chrishoke]

I was 14, sitting in section 2 for the Fred Lind game - it was never louder in Cameron - except on Gene Banks Senior day when he made the best shot ever in Cameron - over Sam Perkins from the top of the key - probably the longest shot of Gene's carreer - the buzzer sounded and the ball dropped from the sky, guided by the hand of God through the net to improbably tie the game that Duke would win in OT on a Banks rebound basket. I was on my hands and knees of that dirty, grimy Cameron floor in Section 15, in tears, and never happier.

Fifty years of going to games in Cameron, lots of great memories.

[Uncle Drew]

I know UNC is our #1 rival but is there any basis for calling Dean Smith an alcoholic? I used to go to church with the guy and he made, IMO, many honorable yet unpopular stands through his career. If he is being fairly maligned, OK, but I know nothing of him ever having such a problem. Just b/c he has a WC Fields-sized schnozz...


In the 60's & early 70's it was rumoured Dean had taken timeout to get "dried out" as they used to call a stint in rehab for alcohol back in the day. I looked and couldn't find any referance to this rumour so if it isn't true I stand corrected. And he is noted for trying to get alcoholic beverage ads from playing durring college basketball games alond with former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne.
That being said, in the state of North Carolina (a journalism school no less) the media (especially in the 50's, 60's & 70's) would not have investigated such rumours and spilled the dirt the way they would today. We knew of JJ's DWI arrest within hours of it occurring. Yet the public was kept unaware of Roosevelt's polio, JFK's womanizing etc. until years after the fact. Granted the Dean rumour could have in fact been started by NCSU or Duke fans who hated his guts. Just like the Christian Laettner is gay rumour was started by UNC fans tired of seeing Duke walk all over their beloved tarheels.
So if I'm wrong so be it. I could insert 1000 other negative adjectives in place of alcoholic, and their truth would be up to the reader to decide based on their opinion and contact with the man himself.

[cspan37421]

I hadn't heard the Laettner gay rumor, but it probably is just a variant of the Ferry gay rumor. The Chomicle or whatever the DTH parody of the Chronicle was, ran a story about Danny Fairy and Queen Snyder sharing vaseline and kleenex. A few years earlier our parody, The Daily Tar Heel, had a story about UNC big guy Warren Martin (pictured with a dumb look on his face) who was doing so well in his counting class that he said he was ready to score in double digits.

Naturally I think the latter isn't as harsh as the former, but I'm biased. Either way I wonder if we'd see such parodies again in today's sensitive environment.

Having just rewatched the 1992 Kentucky game, and several others of the era, Laettner did have great hair. But he was not alone. A number of Kentucky players had a similarly styled coiffure, with nary a hair out of place even in the 2nd half!

I can sympathize with your dad missing the 1991 final. My grandpa, to whom I was very close, was a lifelong Red Sox fan. He died when they were down 0-3 to the Yankees, only to rally and win the AL pennant and then the World Series. But at least he had been alive the previous time, in 1918 (he was 7 then).

[Uncle Drew]

I hadn't heard the Laettner gay rumor, but it probably is just a variant of the Ferry gay rumor.

Laettner's senior year there was an article about him in Sports Illustrated where he said that he didn't care what people said about him. And it also said something to the effect he and room mate Brian Davis had either skipped across campus holding hands to stir up controversy, or had thought about doing to get a rise out of people. But the "Christian Laettner is gay" rumour had started WAY before that article ever came out, and C-Span may be correct in saying it was an extension of a similar rumour about Danny Ferry. There was a rumour a UNC player was having an affair with Phil Fords wife, then a year or two later the same rumour went around about Greg Newton of all people. I have no doubt in all these situations rival fans started these stupid rumours to disparage the reputation of their rivals. As childish as it is to do this type of thing (and hurtful to the feelings of the people mentioned) some people consider everything fair in love and war. However one school of thought says if something like that comes out there has to be something to it, even if it's not 100% true. We all heard rumblings Matt Dougherty's players were not happy with his coaching style and moves he made when he took over the UNC program. A lot of us blew those rumours off only to find out things were even worse than the rumours let on. So honestly who the hell knows?

Speaking of Laettner, we all know about his brilliant performance in the OT thriller against Kentucky in the 92 NCAA tournament. And we are reminded from time to time by the anti-Duke establishment about his tap (or stomp if you are a Duke hater) on the chest of the UK player laying in the floor after Christian scored and was fouled. Coach K has said in interviews that was a bone head play, and it let UK back into the game in many opinions. I watched the game on TV and I have seen replays probably 100 times. I couldn't tell you the name of the Kentucky player on the floor if my life depended on it, but I know for a fact as he was laying there he looked up at Christian and said one word, "fa&&ot"! Most likely even UK had heard the rumour and that player used it to his teams' advantage. Granted no one at the game or watching on TV could actually HEAR what he said, but even Ray Charles could read his lips to KNOW what he said.

Regardless of your opinion on gays, an actor on Grays Anatomy (which I don't watch) was recently punished and ultimately fired for using the very same term about one of his fellow actors. Right or wrong, in todays politically correct society using racial, sexist, anti-gay terms is deemed almost as bad as murder. (See Don Imus) God knows if the roles had been reversed and Laettner were laying on the ground and he'd looked up at the same UK player and dropped the N Bomb a freaking riot would have insued. But the anti-Duke camp chooses to remember the tap / stomp instead of what caused Laettner to get ticked off in the first place. To his credit I have never heard Christian to this day tell what the UK player called him fifteen years ago, an example of class in my opinion. And who can forget after a loss to Utah in the NCAA tournament UNC's Mahktar Ndyaie accusing an opposing player of calling him the N Bomb, only to admit he lied the very next day.