Everyone chew on this one
Mount Rushmore of 1-(or 2 for Brand)-and-done's vs the good-ole days 3-4-and-done's. Splitting the short timers will help with the recency bias.
For the Coach K era. And you only get two teams
One-and-dones
First
Kyrie (what could have been . . . I was lucky to see his first open practice at Duke and I thought he was NBA ready, he was clearly the team leader - Kyle and Nolan etc looked to him, the ball seemed to be on a string, and great 3-level shooter, and #1 NBA pick coming off injury)
Zion
Bagley
Jahlil
Brand
Second
Luol
Wendell
Jayson
Tyus
Brandon
Real students
First
Christian L
Johnny D
Shane B
Grant H
JJ R
Second
Jayson W
Tommy A
Danny F
Bobby H
Nolan S
Discuss . . .
If I were to list most accomplished in terms of individual and team career success, I would say:
Laettner, G Hill, Hurley, Battier, J Will
If I were to compile a dream team of peak year performances, I would say:
Zion, Laettner, Redick, J Will, G Hill
Heyman before my time, but maybe should move into the latter group.
FWIW
My guys (offense): Hurley, Redick, G Hill, Ferry, Laettner
But for defense: Woj, King, G Hill, Battier, Landlord
Be safe
Not to be "that guy," but aren't there only four heads on Rushmore?
This comes as a surprise, but nobody has included Jay Bilas in their summaries.
I take all these points, and it killed me to leave out Carrawell, who was always a favorite. Maybe I overestimated Snyder because he was the PG when I got to Duke in 1988, but he was like a freakin' Valkyrie on the court in 1988-89. (But, man, have we ever been blessed in the PG department?! Considering that many of our 2-guards (and some of our 3's) could also play the point well, and we could fill up many all-star teams with our former floor-leaders.
I differ about Zion vs. Battier; I love Zion, but Battier could do it all -- 3-time National Defensive POY, arguably one of the best 3-point shooters in the country his junior and senior year, plus he essentially played the 4 (power forward) most of the time; at his best, he player all five positions (see those Maryland games, esp. the 2001 final four game). I *love* Zion and think he's awesome, but he never came close to that kind of versatility.
Armstrong was a little before my time, but I'd probably have to rate him below these other point- and shooting guards. But I will always like him a lot. When I was an 11-year-old kid with a broken leg, he signed my cast (along with Mike Gminski and Bob Bender.) Great guy!
Good points. I already mentioned Carrawell, and it pains me to leave him off the lists. I loved Vince Taylor as a kid, and he carried us through that awful year in 1982 (10-17 record) -- I was so thrilled when we beat Clemson in the 2nd-to-last regular season game (we weren't going to be future National Champ UNC a few days later) to get that 10th win! -- but I didn't see him as being ahead of these other PGs. Cherokee also deserves more, and I actually wrote this homage to the 1995 team, highlighting Parks's great season, last fall:
https://medium.com/@roberttally/coac...m-85bc2cad6ab6
Thanks everybody! I enjoyed this "just-for-fun" thought experiment and conversation immensely!
Do we have an all-Olympic gold medal team?
1964-Mullins
1976-Armstrong
1992-Christian
1996-Grant
2008-Boozer (plus bronze in 2004)
2016-Kyrie
Silver
2000-Crawford Palmer (France)
How about an all-FIBA gold medal team? (It'll have to be 3-on-three.)
1986-Tommy Amaker
2014-Kyrie
2014-Mason Plumlee
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
Great thread!
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