Wow, here's a gem I found on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gR9OfO5bzo
This is a grainy highlight tape of a LSU/Alabama game from 1992. The star players in the game: Latrell Sprewell (#42 in White), Robert Horry (#25 in White), and Shaquille O'Neal (#33 in yellow, as if you can't recognize him, even with terrible resolution, he sticks out easily)
But I'm thinking Sprewell is the best comp. He's a 6'4" guard with incredible hops, but is lean and lanky, like Cassius. He's got a little bit of an in between game, and gets to the rim with finesse. He's also a monster in transition, with a couple of steals and fast break flushes in this game.
Obviously, the main draw here is still Shaq, who is just unstoppable. Young Shaq is mesmerizing. This is before he put on all that weight he would eventually have, so he's still got unbelievable athleticism around the rim.
Tommy Amaker was named third-team All-America by NABC in 1987. He was an AP Honorable Mention that year, a second-team All-ACC player, and a third-round NBA draft pick, who never played a second in the NBA. He averaged 12.3 ppg and 3.7 apg that year.
Alaa Abdelnaby and Phil Henderson both made All-ACC in 1990. The duo combined for 164 points in 1987. Using your standards, it would be accurate to state that the 1987 team had four All-ACC players.
But fundamentally misleading.
I love the 1987 team and have written about it extensively. It might be my favorite Duke team ever in large part because it did not have any significant star power. John Smith, the starting center, averaged 3.3 rebounds per game. Starting small forward Billy King averaged 7.2 points per game. Danny Ferry was the leading scorer at 14.0 ppg, the lowest average to lead Duke since 1960. Shooting guard Kevin Strickland was the team's second-leading rebounder at 4.6 rpg. Sophomore Quin Snyder and freshman Robert Brickey were the key reserves. Ferry was the only one of the top seven to ever play in the NBA. How many future NBA players are in this year's top 7? More than one I suspect. The entire 1987 team had fewer blocked shots than Shelden Williams did in either his 2005 and 2006 seasons.
But this team defended like junk-yard dogs and was practically the definition of the exceeding the sum of its parts. But it was in no way, shape or form a star-driven team.
Last edited by jimsumner; 11-14-2019 at 04:13 PM.
Did Central Arkansas have a player on their team named Quaalude?
"I don't like them when they are eating my azaleas or rhododendrons or pansies." - Coach K