playing for duke + Mike Krzyzewski= bad??

[air gordon]

i just read the Amico report... it mentioned about USA Today said that:

Danny Ferry could become the first former Duke player to have played for Mike Krzyzewski and win an NBA title. Krzyzewski became the coach at Duke in the 1980-81 season, and 16 of his players have been drafted in the first round -- including 11 in the lottery. Not one has won an NBA championship.

also not that many star players who played at duke become stars in the nba. off the top of my head, i can only think of grant hill

considering that duke is a college basketball powerhouse, i'm surprised. look at their ACC rival, univ. of north carolina. they are (were if counting the last the few years) a college powerhouse also. but they've produced stars like jordan, worthy, stack, wallace, etc

[GloveGuy]

They have had many good college basketball players, and some average such as, Correy Maggette, Christian Laettner, Danny Ferry, Shane Battier, Jay Williams, and Carlos Boozer(four who could get even better) and some all-stars like Grant Hill and Elton Brand. They've also had their busts such as Bobby Hurley(though he's not really to blame), Trajan Langdon, and William Avery, who left way too early. And there are still more players who could come into the NBA from Duke such as, Dahntau Jones(thought he might not get far), Chris Duhon, Daniel Ewing, their sophomores-to-be and their number two ranked high schooler, Luol Deng.

[air gordon]

i'm talking about great duke players not translating into great nba players. only brand and hill so far. rather disappointing considering how duke is one of the top college programs. and even more disappointing considering their rival neighbor, north carolina, has produced a whole lot more nba all stars then they have

[Andrew]

Perhaps it's just coincidence - a matter of all Duke players happening to go to teams where they don't fit, or can't play their style of game. We all know Grant Hill's troubles - a broken ankle back in 2000 that has proven to be more serious than originally thought. Jay Williams and the Triangle did not mix.

Shane Battier played around 9 minutes fewer per game than he did in his rookie season. He was also in and out of the starting lineup. He's behind Gasol, Jason Williams (and now Mike Miller) though. Christian Laettner could never live up to the "next Larry Bird" hype.

I guess the most simple explanation would be the differences in the pro game and the college game. Perhaps Duke players aren't versatile enough to adapt to a different coach's system? Maybe they leave Duke to enter the draft at the wrong time?

Perhaps it's just bad luck.

[Eugene]

Well, it certainly seems like going to Duke is a bad career choice, as far as basketball is concerned. But here's the thing...

Duke has a winning program--not so much a winning talent level. The system and the regime that Coach Krezyweski runs harbors and encourages a tightly knit team community. And Duke's game plan is decidedly team-oriented.

So, is that bad? Well, according to one of my friends, "Duke ruins basketball players."

I don't see it that way. I don't think that the Duke program takes superior players and turns them into inferior players. I think that the Blue Devils, and Coach K, especially, overachieves with the cast on hand; that is, Duke drives otherwise mediocre or average players to turn in a superior performance. And that may give the scouts the misconception that the Duke players are really better than they are.

Here's what I mean: Dahntay Jones was one of their top players. He turned in 17.7 ppg and 5.4 rpg. In fact, he did improve in nearly every aspect of his game from a year ago. And he was the undisputed leader of this young Duke team that challenged Kansas in the Elite Eight. However, as good as he was for Duke and as successful as he and his team were, the fact remains that Jones' outside touch still remains suspect, his ball-handling skill is nowhere near it should be, and he still relies heavily on his athleticism--an advantage soon to be negated in the league. So, as it stands, he is borderline first round.

J.J. Redick, a spectacular freshman with the sweetest shooting touch this side of Larry Bird, is merely a long-range bomber (editor's note: long-range as in AT&T unlimited), who is dangerous when his feet are set, but isn't so dangerous otherwise. He relatively slow on his feet. He is an average defender at best, and unless he goes to a team like the Lakers, will have little or no impact.

Going back a little bit further. As good as Mike Dunleavy Jr. was, he was fairly slow defensively, he needed to be much stronger, and really couldn't create for himself off the dribble. He was the prototypical team player with great basketball IQ. I still believe he'll be a fine player one day, but he won't be leading any team to anything anytime soon.

Shane Battier, who put up excellent numbers during his senior year at Duke, came into the league ready to play. He'll no doubt improve and become an important player to a successful team (and the Grizz are pretty close), but again, his success is related to his hard work (he improved his game every season) and the system.

But, great players will be great players regardless of what program they're from. Elton Brand is putting up monster numbers in a tough conferene. Grant Hill could have been a Hall-of-Famer, if not for his unfortunate injury. Jay Williams still looks like he could have a bright future (just wait until he gets it. The toughest thing for him was the transition from NCAA to NBA, from Top Dog to the Bulls. He can play with these guys).

So, my ultimate answer is no, going to Duke is not a bad thing for a player. Winning is never a bad thing.

All the best,

Eugene

[Steve04]

I agree, Duke takes Talent that is not SUPERSTAR great and it still equates into wins for them. I think Maryland is the same.

Gary Williams is an excellent coach, but he likes to recruit projects and work on them rather than the superstar who will be there no longer than 2 years.

[air gordon]

i agree that coach k harbors and encourages a tightly knit team community

sorry but duke is not a basketball program that recruits average talent. maybe you have mistaken them for a program like Indiana (when knight was there).

year after year, sports publications rave about Duke, Arizona, Kansas, Michigan State, and Florida bringing in the top prospects. or if you watch the mcdonald's all american game, those are the schools where most of the top high schoolers have made committments to.

[Steve04]

Top prospects do not always equate into great players or NBA star talent. They are just that, prospects.

[air gordon]

I agree, Duke takes Talent that is not SUPERSTAR great and it still equates into wins for them.

Top prospects do not always equate into great players or NBA star talent. They are just that, prospects.

so which one is it, gamewiz? you think duke recruits top prospects or non superstar great prospects??

and i think its commonly known that top prospects do not always turn into nba star talent/great players. thanks for the reminder anyway

[Steve04]

Both quotes merely confirmed what I said.

Duke's Draftee's have shown that while they may be top prospects in highschool in reality they were not Superstar level talent with a few notable exceptions.

[paul_pierce_the_truth]

Someone mentioned Indiana, and I agree they recruited "college basketball" players and not pro prospects.

Indiana is another school, under Bobby Knight that won many games, was a top flight team for 25 years or something under Knight, yet Isiah Thomas is the only player during that time to become a great player in the NBA. I do not think it's so much Coach K or Bob Knight, as it is the type of kid they recruit.

Coach K learned under Bobby Knight at Army.