Olympics, Nelson and New York…oh my!
Posted July 10, 2008 byCategories: Olympics, Players, Recruiting
Tags: Andre Dawkins, Coack K, DeMarcus Nelson, Duke Recruiting, Olympics
I tend to enjoy a little break over the summer time, completely ignoring Big Duke Balls. Instead I focus on family, vacations, my last place fantasy baseball team and I begin to prepar for my upcoming football draft. This is my life and yes, it’s a good one. However, this doesn’t mean we don’t pay attention. Let’s take a quick look at what we’ve missed since we’ve last posted.
- Obviously the big news is Coach K leading the men’s basketball squad in China. For the first time in a long while, I will be excited to watch Olympic basketball. Anything less than a gold will be a disappointment. I tend to agree with the experts who say that the team lacks another big man. I see no reason for Jason Kidd to be on the team (too many point guards) and no, I’m not just saying that because Kidd single handily knocked out Duke from the 1993 NCAA tournament. I did read somewhere that Coach K wasn’t a good fit (sorry I can’t find the link). Why would pro athletics listen to a college coach was the basic argument? I disagree with this logic. The player’s have responded well to Coach K so far, seeing him more as a teacher than a boss. To me, there are only a handful of coaches who could have pulled this off.
Interesting fact about the Olympic team I didn’t know #1: Dean Smith (yep, Carolina’s Dean Smith) recommended Coach K for the head coaching job to Jerry Colangelo.
Interesting fact about the Olympic team I didn’t know #2: If the United States wins the Gold Medal, Coach K (and his staff) don’t get a medal. I never knew.
Interesting fact about the Olympic team I didn’t know #3: During the first day of practice, Coach K played Marvin Gay singing the National anthem and there were actually a handful of players who were hearing it for the first time.
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I’m going to go a little off script here and forget about the Duke Blue Devils for a moment (Forgive me). I just got done watching the Costa Now special about the media & sports. If you
First, let’s state right off the bat, this kid is not the savior. He’s good, don’t get us wrong, but he’s not a Patrick Patterson-type. He has a lot to learn about being a post-player in the paint. At best, he appears to be a stronger (leaner), more athletic Josh McRoberts. The big difference is, he doesn’t need to be the savior, he doesn’t need to be the #1 option. Miles will have three jobs; rebounds, defend (cough, cough, block shots) and when shots aren’t falling outside, score in the paint.
Folks, the season is finally over and Big Duke Balls will be taking a little break to drink, sleep and watch old Blue Devil games on DVD. I will occasionally be posting as things happen throughout the off-season. I will also do recruiting updates from time to time. If I get in the mood, I might even write a solid post here and there.
North Carolina - I typically take pride in the ACC, so I tend to cheer for any ACC team against any other conference. But this is Carolina, in the final four, I can’t, can I? If the Tar Heels win a second title under Roy Williams, it would mean the torch has officially been passed back to UNC (if it hasn’t already). If I saw the Tar Heels celebrating after winning the title, my heart would sink. I just can’t, sorry.
UCLA - Thanks to three awful no-calls, there is no team more fortunate to be here than the Bruins. Overall though, there is not much to dislike about this team. I even feel sorry for the fans, who have to be second class to USC fans in football. Plus, the Bruins have this guy (right). How can you not cheer for that guy! Seriously.
For me though, while 1999 was significant, it was actually 1996 when Duke first lost a player early to the NBA…a smart, athletic 17-year-old from Lower Merion High School, that reminded many of a young Jordan, passed on Duke. You might have heard of him, Kobe Bryant?
The Big Lead doesn’t want to
Someday, someway, someone will have to explain to me how Duke missed 17 -straight three point shots. Tired legs? No reason for them to be tired. Great West Virginia defense? Nope. Almost all those missed 3s were wide open looks.