Shane Battier and four clones.
Picking any five players in Duke history, what is the best defensive team you can come up with? Give me your all-time Duke defensive lineup!
Shane Battier and four clones.
“Coach said no 3s.” - Zion on The Block
Shelden, Shane, Tommy, Elton, Steve.
Tommy Amaker
Billy King
Shane Battier
Shelden Williams
Chris Duhon
Amaker
Grant
Battier
Zion
Shelden
This ended up being more boring than I expected, in the sense that 4 out of the 5 picks were basically locks for me (Zion being the debatable one).
Shane Battier
Grant Hill
Shelden Williams
Billy King
Tommy Amaker
These are all NDPoY. Could have added Wojo, but only had room for five.
Looked at career per game stats only. Shane is 6th and 5th in blocks per game and steals per game; Hill is 10th and 6th; Laettner is 7th and 11th (est.)
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
1) Billy King
2) Shane Battier
3) Grant Hill
4) Tommy Amaker
5) Zion Williamson
#1-4 guard anyone man2man with #5(Zion) as the all-time free safety.
Man I hate to leave off the "Landlord" but I have to put Zion on the team.
GoDuke!
It would be so much fun seeing this lineup play defense. It would also be an offensive juggernaut due to fast break points off of turnovers. Shane would be like a Fleet Admiral deploying his forces and anticipating the opponent's reactions. It really wouldn't even be fair. Can any other school boast such a list of NDPoY?
For an internet opinion question, there is surprisingly little room for argument. Kind of like asking who is the best college basketball coach in North Carolina
I would, however, like to give Chris Carrawell an honorable mention. Probably the most tenacious defender we have had.
Shane
G-Man
King
Hurley
Tre
Who is (IIRC) the all-time leader in steals at Duke, and also second in assists?
Spoiler!
(hint: he's on my team but no one else seems to be joining me)
Billy King
Shane Battier
Grant Hill
Tommy Amaker
Sheldon Williams, actually that was pretty easy!
I'd prefer to stay positive, but since you asked... the best Duke team made up of players with the highest offense/defense ratios. If
Jahlil Okafor
Jabari Parker
JJ Redick
Austin Rivers
Kyrie Irving
But I was in a hurry--did I misread the directions?
I generally like to stay positive about Duke players, but I think that Wojo's DPOY award was not merited. As someone who overlapped with most of his time at Duke, I clearly remember that he always looked like he tried very hard, he had good steal numbers, and he was a pretty good defender who improved over his four years, but he was not great. He did not have quick feet. And of course, my final memory of him was him getting totally abused by Wayne Turner. I remember yelling at the screen, begging K to put Avery on Turner to see if he could better keep up.
I would agree with the team of Shane, Grant, Shelden, Billy King and Amaker. Duhon, Justise and Tre off the bench. And maybe honorable mentions to Carrawell and Thomas Hill, though I could stand to be corrected on Hill.
Amaker. King. T. Jones. Tyus Jones. S Williams...