“What Duke was, UConn is”

[Waquoit]

TBF we haven't had a ton of players doing well in the NBA, I don't think that is a point for us in that debate

So Duke gets credit for Kyrie and Zion? They barely played while they were there. The only thing either got from Duke was a bad knee.

 

[61cygni]

So Duke gets credit for Kyrie and Zion? They barely played while they were there. The only thing either got from Duke was a bad knee.

Would we not take credit for our one and dones? I don't want to speak well of Duke, so I'm gonna refrain from listing their players.

 

[tzznandrew]

They had to win two games to make the final four and Sam Gilbert bought UCLA an all-star team every year. It certainly won't be repeated but it was also an entirely different era of college basketball.

And the two games they had to win were actually against teams from the Western part of the US, and that region did not have the depth of teams that the East, Southeast, and Midwest did.

They were regularly beating teams like a Russell-less San Francisco and a Baylor-less Seattle for Final Four trips. Wyoming, Pacific, New Mexico State, Santa Clara, Long Beach State, Utah State, BYU, Weber State: these were the types of teams they were abusing to get to the Final Four.

Not like these UCLA teams weren't fantastic, but they basically got a pass into the Final Four up until early expansion in the mid-1970s. You look at Final AP rankings and what teams in other regions had to go through—just to get into the damn tournament because their conferences were so good relative to UCLA's Pac 8—and you get a sense of just how much easier they had it.

 

[HooperScooper]

C'mon. You can debate how many "developed" at Duke or were just babysat for a year but this is a pretty bad take. There were something like 25 Duke guys on Rosters on opening night this year. Brandon Ingram, Tatum, Kyrie, RJ Barrett, Reddish, Bagley, Jalen Johnson, Tyus Jones etc.

And the guy I watched put up 36 points on the Celtics today.

 

[aceboon]

Grant Hill....and Zion???

I'd say they had more draft picks crash and burn. I'll take Ray, Rip, Rudy, Cliff and Kemba over Duke all day long.

It's 2023, you haven't paid attention to the NBA in over 25 years if you're still doing the "Duke guys don't do well in the NBA" take.

 

[jibsey]

Duke. Many 5 stars ultimately succeed and play in the NBA. This is not news.

 

[PAHusky]

The general insecurity and touchiness is hilarious on this board. The Duke comparison is a compliment, relax. And yes, Duke has had much more success placing guys in the NBA than the good guys.

I hate Duke as much as anyone but you can hate someone and respect what they’ve done (unlike Boeheim/Cuse, for instance). The whole “rah rah we do it our way” schtick is cringeworthy

 

[navery12]

The general insecurity and touchiness is hilarious on this board. The Duke comparison is a compliment, relax. And yes, Duke has had much more success placing guys in the NBA than the good guys.

I hate Duke as much as anyone but you can hate someone and respect what they’ve done (unlike Boeheim/Cuse, for instance). The whole “rah rah we do it our way” schtick is cringeworthy

Overall I agree, the comparison doesn't bother me at all. But the source of the quote himself said it was not a compliment and he said it to get both fan bases mad

 

[auror]

So Duke gets credit for Kyrie and Zion? They barely played while they were there. The only thing either got from Duke was a bad knee.

Neither player was #1 from HS coming into college (in RSCI or 247 composite) and then went #1 in the draft.

So yes, Duke gets credit for them.

 

[Cheddie]

They had to win two games to make the final four and Sam Gilbert bought UCLA an all-star team every year. It certainly won't be repeated but it was also an entirely different era of college basketball.

 

[Cheddie]

They had to win two games to make the final four and Sam Gilbert bought UCLA an all-star team every year. It certainly won't be repeated but it was also an entirely different era of college basketball.

Kareem was 88-2 in college. Walton was 73-0. Even if the tournament had more teams, they wouldn't have been beaten.

 

[EBonz30]

Neither player was #1 from HS coming into college (in RSCI or 247 composite) and then went #1 in the draft.

So yes, Duke gets credit for them.

I agree with the sentiment but don’t like that example you gave considering Kyrie & Zion were rated by ESPN number 3 & number 2 respectively coming out of HS lol- with that said as I stated first they should still get credit for one & dones.

 

[Waquoit]

I agree with the sentiment but don’t like that example you gave considering Kyrie & Zion were rated by ESPN number 3 & number 2 respectively coming out of HS lol- with that said as I stated first they should still get credit for one & dones.

When I was on the newspaper they called that burying the lede.

 

[61cygni]

I agree with the sentiment but don’t like that example you gave considering Kyrie & Zion were rated by ESPN number 3 & number 2 respectively coming out of HS lol- with that said as I stated first they should still get credit for one & dones.

Drummond was also a #2 yeah?