<a href='http://www.nba.com/news/survey_college_2004.html' target='_blank'>http://www.nba.com/news/survey_college_2004.html</a>

Interesting survey, just thought people would like to see where their college ranked. Duke has made quite a comeback, not only in quantity, but quality.

cbfranchise3 Wrote:<a href='http://www.nba.com/news/survey_college_2004.html' target='_blank'>http://www.nba.com/news/survey_college_2004.html</a>

Interesting survey, just thought people would like to see where their college ranked. Duke has made quite a comeback, not only in quantity, but quality.

you bring up a very good point about duke. it really took off, when maggette and boozer became stars.

i just want to take this time to say that coach K is the 2nd best college coach ever.

5 for Georgia, not bad for a football school.

Of those Duke players... I think it's fair to lump them into three categories.

High Quality players
Grant Hill
Carlos Boozer
Corey Maggette
Elton Brand
Luol Deng

Contributors
Shane Battier
Mike Dunleavy
Chris Duhon

Non-factors
Christian Laettner
Dahntay Jones

It is definitely too early to tell for Duhon, Deng, Jones and maybe even Dunleavy, but that is where each of them seem to be at this point. Duhon is starting for the Bulls over Ben Gordon, which shows that he is a good contributor at this point. Battier continues to get minutes, even though his stats are not up to par, but obviously something is appealing about him to the coach. Dunleavy could break out into a high quality player, but he has only shown small signs of being worth a #3 draft pick. Laettner is past his day, and can give spot minutes and an occasional 20 point game, but really is only good for 8-10 minutes a game, IMO. Dahntay Jones will probably drift out of the league and get a good job playing in Europe or Israel. Luol Deng is showing signs of promise for being a very good wing player for the Bulls, but I have a feeling he will be traded within the next two seasons. And, I think it is clear for various reasons why Maggette, Boozer, Brand and Hill are all high quality players.

All that said, the "Dukies can never make it in the pros" spiel is getting less credible by the day.

Open Secrets Wrote:Of those Duke players... I think it's fair to lump them into three categories.

High Quality players
Grant Hill
Carlos Boozer
Corey Maggette
Elton Brand
Luol Deng

Contributors
Shane Battier
Mike Dunleavy
Chris Duhon

Non-factors
Christian Laettner
Dahntay Jones

It is definitely too early to tell for Duhon, Deng, Jones and maybe even Dunleavy, but that is where each of them seem to be at this point. Duhon is starting for the Bulls over Ben Gordon, which shows that he is a good contributor at this point. Battier continues to get minutes, even though his stats are not up to par, but obviously something is appealing about him to the coach. Dunleavy could break out into a high quality player, but he has only shown small signs of being worth a #3 draft pick. Laettner is past his day, and can give spot minutes and an occasional 20 point game, but really is only good for 8-10 minutes a game, IMO. Dahntay Jones will probably drift out of the league and get a good job playing in Europe or Israel. Luol Deng is showing signs of promise for being a very good wing player for the Bulls, but I have a feeling he will be traded within the next two seasons. And, I think it is clear for various reasons why Maggette, Boozer, Brand and Hill are all high quality players.

All that said, the "Dukies can never make it in the pros" spiel is getting less credible by the day.

i completely agree. except, i think if you add up his whole career, laettner is more than a non factor.

Isn't interesting that the earlier the player left Duke, the better he is/was?

flyingswoosh Wrote:i completely agree. except, i think if you add up his whole career, laettner is more than a non factor.

Yeah, he's more of a plague on NBA teams.

DrTorch Wrote:

flyingswoosh Wrote:i completely agree.&nbsp; except, i think if you add up his whole career, laettner is more than a non factor.

Yeah, he's more of a plague on NBA teams.

well now he is, but he used to be a very good player.

Laettner had always been a contributor on his teams until about 2 or 3 years ago. For a while, he was putting up 16-18 PPG (about a 7 year period)... So over the course of his career (including an olympic team and all-star season), he has definitely been at least a contributor, but now all he is good for is setting screens and hitting open shots.

rickheel Wrote:Isn't interesting that the earlier the player left Duke, the better he is/was?

First of all, that isn't true in the cases of Boozer and Hill. Also, J-Will and Dunleavy left after 3 years, and they aren't exactly tearing it up.

But, it does make sense with Battier, Laettner, Ferry and Trajan Langdon. Those guys were all very skillful, but unathletic. The NBA game plays far more to athleticism than the college game does. Those guys just couldn't keep up with the stronger, faster and higher-jumping guys in the NBA. And, your question relates to UNC just as much as it does Duke.

I think Jeff McInnis and Brendan Haywood are the only guys from UNC in the league who stayed 4 years and now actually impact the game significantly.