DMB Twitter posted this photo with the headline: Real Life or a Video Game?
-Jason "for the DMB Top 5 plays from the game they cheated... the #1 play is all 4 of Zion's ridiculous blocks" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
I didn't think I'd see a more electric season from a player in my lifetime after JJ's 2006. Zion's 2019 is better so far.
Fair or not, the way that we remember Zion is going to depend in large part on how well the team performs in the tournament. If we lose in the Elite 8 like last season, I don’t think anybody will be talking about Zion being among the all-time greats even if he finishes with a PER of 45. It’s just how we’re wired to rewrite history as fans.
I also think that NBA success plays a role in how we remember the OAD’s. Hence Parker and Okafor are easily overlooked, while Tatum is lauded as one of the greats. It’s hard to separate everything and just look at how good a player’s season was.
All told, I do think that five or ten years from now we’re going to look back and feel happy that we got to be a part of watching Zion dominate for this season. This is a really special and entertaining team and it’s hard to fully appreciate it in the moment. If we do go on to win the title, then Zion will achieve mythical status and will be held up there right along the Duke greats like Hurley and Laettner even though he only played one season.
I think we will remember Zion regardless. He is just so unusual. But I agree that it may be more for what he might do at the next level and recognizing that Duke was a part of that journey. That said, the next level is no gimme for Zion. Shooting is skill key in the NBA- even if you are a very big body.
I disagree. If Duke losses in the first weekend and Zion has a PER of 40-45, we'll remember him fondly. The dude is too unique and dominant for us not to. Now, will we remember the team in 5-10 years if they lose in the first round? That's where I agree with you that we likely won't.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
I don't think you can justify keeping Laettner off of a talent-based Mt. Rushmore. His performances against other elite centers just doesn't justify that. Probably not even JJ, maybe not even Hurley. But of course we can't have 8 people on there, there is only room for four. Remember that Laettner still had a pretty good NBA career, that could have been better if not for an achilles injury (If we aren't holding that against J-Will we shouldn't hold it against Laettner).
Mine:
Grant Hill, Jason Williams, Laettner, Zion (not necessarily in that order)
Dawkins, JJ and Battier miss the cut by about .000002 points, and Hurley by about .000003. Kyrie does not qualify (too few games played, although I still consider him a Duke guy, pull for him in the NBA, and enjoyed his presence even while he was sidelined). Brand and Boozer probably merit some consideration.
I think it's quite easy to justify Kyrie over Laettner in a purely talent based top 4. Number of games played at Duke is obviously irrelevant to my list. My list is (IMO) the most talented 4 basketball players to ever play at Duke.
Kyrie was the 2nd best player on a NBA championship team and has 6 all-star appearances thus far in his career (soon to be 7). Laettner was the best college player of all time, but Kyrie's much more talented. It's not really even close.
Tyler freakin Hansbrough is the all-time ACC scoring leader. He was a 3 time consensus first team all-american and NCAA champion. He was garbage in the NBA. College is obviously not the highest level of basketball. Laettner was a good borderline all-star level NBA player before his devastating leg injury, but his level of athleticism was not adequate to dominate the pro game the same way he did in college. I think Laettner actually would have thrived in today's NBA much more so than in his time, as a 3 point shooting big man, but he's still no Kyrie.
For me, the #5 guy who almost made the list but not quite is still not Laettner, Battier, or Redick. It's probably Tatum.
Last edited by kAzE; 01-29-2019 at 12:24 PM.
Yeah, and there's no need to restrict it to just freshmen. I doubt Duke has ever had a player - senior, junior, whatever -- with Zion's PER.
Yeah, I was only comparing how good Grant and Zion were/are, not their styles. Although, as you mentioned, Grant certainly was capable of making some wow plays himself.
I'm saying it disqualifies him from the Duke all-time leaderboards in the same way a guy who took 20 3 point shots in a season doesn't qualify for the 3PT% leaderboards. Not arguing that he isn't more talented, or that everyone has to follow that rule, just explaining that it is mine. No argument about him being more talented. Tatum is in the discussion but has more to prove before he gets there.