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Thanksgiving and so much for "the brotherhood" Jay Williams....

hart2chesson said:
Jay Williams: ‘Kyrie Irving is the best player to ever come out of Duke’

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article185866293.html

I dont have a problem with the Kyrie ball player props comment, as much as I do an indirect slap at Christian. With all we here about "the brotherhood," we should close ranks a little more and show some respect.

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I’m not seeing the issue here, to be honest. An argument can easily be made for Kyrie as the best player to hail from Duke. Did he say more than the article suggested that would be a slight against Christian? And believe me, i have my problems with J-will over the last two or three years, he has quickly dropped from my favorites list, which is a real shame. He was up there in the discussion of Top players to ever come from duke. Easily. He’s completely rubbed me the wrong way since he has been at espn. In so many ways. But for this particular instance, i don’t see it as a character shot at Christian, and i think i do agree that Kyrie is probably the best player ever from duke. Player wise.
 
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I’d put Hill above Kyrie, but it’s clear Kyrie is on another level and truly elite. Laettner was great at Duke and a good pro, but there are quite a few better Duke players (professionally speaking).
 
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topps coach said:
Kyrie is one of the two most talented NBA players from Duke but in no universe can you consider Kyrie better than Christan at Duke
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Yes it’s a completely different story if we are talking Duke careers. No question- Christian was a Top 10 and arguably Top 5 all time college player.
 
timo0402 said:
I’m not seeing the issue here, to be honest. An argument can easily be made for Kyrie as the best player to hail from Duke. Did he say more than the article suggested that would be a slight against Christian? And believe me, i have my problems with J-will over the last two or three years, he has quickly dropped from my favorites list, which is a real shame. He was up there in the discussion of Top players to ever come from duke. Easily. He’s completely rubbed me the wrong way since he has been at espn. In so many ways. But for this particular instance, i don’t see it as a character shot at Christian, and i think i do agree that Kyrie is probably the best player ever from duke. Player wise.
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I wouldnt expect you to "see the issue here" quite frankly. We seldom see eye to eye....Cmon man, its a shot: he names the three guys and then lists Grant and Kyrie only as "incredible people."

Now mind you, Grant is "incredible people," but Kyrie???? Nah not ready to go there....He should have stuck to basketball ability alone here. JayWill talks too much. OFC
 
hart2chesson said:
I wouldnt expect you to "see the issue here" quite frankly. We seldom see eye to eye....Cmon man, its a shot: he names the three guys and then lists Grant and Kyrie only as "incredible people."

Now mind you, Grant is "incredible people," but Kyrie???? Nah not ready to go there....He should have stuck to basketball ability alone here. JayWill talks too much. OFC
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Like i said, i read the article you provided, was there something i missed in there?
 
hart, sometimes you look for things that aren't there buddy. I don't see where he trashed Laet at all. Kyrie IS a better pro than Christian. Now college players vs college player, Christian smokes Kyrie like a pack of Kools. and yea, JWill can be a real peckerhead at times, agreed.
 
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To me a better way of putting it is Kyrie, for all the Duke players, is doing the best in the NBA. If they do good at the next level, I'm sure that helps with recruiting, but I'm more concerned with what they do while at Duke. Hurley, Okafor, Tyus, Battier, and Laettner were all better college players than pro, and they brought home titles. I pull for Duke.
 
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Mac9192 said:
To me a better way of putting it is Kyrie, for all the Duke players, is doing the best in the NBA. If they do good at the next level, I'm sure that helps with recruiting, but I'm more concerned with what they do while at Duke. Hurley, Okafor, Tyus, Battier, and Laettner were all better college players than pro, and they brought home titles. I pull for Duke.
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And you can keep adding to that list! Kyrie unfortunately only played 11 games. Even as far as OADs he isn’t Top 5 for us, for that reason.
 
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timo0402 said:
Like i said, i read the article you provided, was there something i missed in there?
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Ah, yeah...But thats my IMO. When he said "Kyrie and Grant were Incredible people on top of ball" he deliberately left Laettner out. Now Timo, i know Christian is no saint, but it was still IMO pal a slap in the face to Laettner after including him in the first place of his discussion.

I wouldnt be so adamant in my opinion, but we constantly see #TheBrotherhood amongst ex Duke players. I felt he broke that code. Again my opinion - as we say this is a message board.
 
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I see a little bit of both sides here. As far as Kyrie being the best to ever come out of Duke, I think he is talking about his pro career, and I whole heartedly agree that Kyrie is the best NBA player to come out of Duke. That one comment though is strange. He said Leattner was a beast "BUT" Kyrie and Grant are incredible people "on top of ball".....Why add that? Laettner was a beast, but....It does seem like a small jab at Laettner, but I'm not sure if he really meant it that way. He may have just been paying a compliment to them and phrased it poorly with the Laettner part.

I have always said JWill was my all time favorite Dukie, but like Timo said, he has really rubbed me the wrong way several times the last couple of years.
 
hart2chesson said:
Hey has Nolan told you how the recruiting is going for Zion lately????? You da man Show, you da man!

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I take it this is some kind of a jab insinuating that i didn't speak with Nolan about Zion? Whatever floats your boat cuz.
 
I see a little bit of both sides here. As far as Kyrie being the best to ever come out of Duke, I think he is talking about his pro career, and I whole heartedly agree that Kyrie is the best NBA player to come out of duke. That one comment though is strange. He said Leattner was a beast "BUT" Kyrie and Grant are incredible people "on top of ball".....Why add that? Laettner was a beast, but....It does seem like a small jab at Laettner, but I'm not sure if he really meant it that way. He may have just been paying a compliment to them and phrased it poorly with the Laettner part.

I have always said JWill was my all time favorite Dukie, but like Timo said, he has really rubbed me the wrong way several times the last couple of years.
 
Showenuff said:
He didn't mention Elton Brand either.
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Showenuff said:
I take it this is some kind of a jab insinuating that i didn't speak with Nolan about Zion? Whatever floats your boat cuz.
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No way, bossman- I just honestly havent heard you update that situation lately, and was curious. You are much more connected than I am or anyone here Show- props to ya and Happy thanksgiving!!! Peace, bro...
 
DukefanKY said:
I see a little bit of both sides here. As far as Kyrie being the best to ever come out of Duke, I think he is talking about his pro career, and I whole heartedly agree that Kyrie is the best NBA player to come out of duke. That one comment though is strange. He said Leattner was a beast "BUT" Kyrie and Grant are incredible people "on top of ball".....Why add that? Laettner was a beast, but....It does seem like a small jab at Laettner, but I'm not sure if he really meant it that way. He may have just been paying a compliment to them and phrased it poorly with the Laettner part.
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DukeKy thanks for validating my argument friend. You said EXACTLY what I was trying to say....Enjoy your holiday, and pop a tall one dude! OFC
 
Lol this is ridiculous. J-Will works for ESPN, ESPN has a MASSIVE contract with the NBA, much bigger than any contract with Duke. He has an agenda to push and Kyrie is one of the NBA's biggest stars.

He worded it poorly, but I understand what he meant. He should have used the term NBA a bit more, and he would probably be correct.
 
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Showenuff said:
Just so ya'll know. Christian was amazing at Duke. He was also an amazing prick at times.Probably what JWill was referring to. It's not a secret.
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No secret at all. But IMO he's THE BEST TO EVER PLAY at Duke. No one EVER did more for a program than Laettner, since the 60s/70s and the Alcindor/Walton years. OFC
 
Sorry but this is apple and oranges, CL played four years on very good teams and was given more opportunities to show his talent than more good college players will ever get. To his credit, he made the most almost every time. KI played half a season. How can you compare the two?
 
It was probably worded wrong. When you look at college verses the pros. Kyrie has the better pro career. In college, Laettner.
 
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dopeshop23 said:
Sorry but this is apple and oranges, CL played four years on very good teams and was given more opportunities to show his talent than more good college players will ever get. To his credit, he made the most almost every time. KI played half a season. How can you compare the two?
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This is the ticket. You have to be specific when arguing “best of all time.” There are different parameters and different categories here. Talent vs. Contribution. Duke vs. NBA. Player vs. person. Specificity is key in these types of arguments.

In terms of that article, I don’t see disrespect. I see a call out in a way, but how many people in past interviews have called Christian an @—hole? I can link a video right now where Grant calls him that, I’m sure everyone has seen the interview about “the Shot.” When is it funny and when is it mean?
 
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Kyrie may be the best NBA player but I doubt if Jeff Mullins, Grant Hill, or quite a few more Duke players would agree. NINE games in a Duke uniform should not qualify him for anything concerning DUKE players. Just my opinion.

OFC
 
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Showenuff said:
Just so ya'll know. Christian was amazing at Duke. He was also an amazing prick at times.Probably what JWill was referring to. It's not a secret.
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This. He was a winner and the epitome of college basketball but even his teammates didn't like him, but they respected his work ethic.
 
Sgt Duke said:
Kyrie may be the best NBA player but I doubt if Jeff Mullins, Grant Hill, or quite a few more Duke players would agree. NINE games in a Duke uniform should not qualify him for anything concerning DUKE players. Just my opinion.

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Ask Coach K if Kyrie is disqualified for anything concerning DUKE players.

He's our best player currently representing DUKE in the NBA, which doesn't hurt Duke on the recruiting trail.
 
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Sgt Duke said:
Kyrie may be the best NBA player but I doubt if Jeff Mullins, Grant Hill, or quite a few more Duke players would agree. NINE games in a Duke uniform should not qualify him for anything concerning DUKE players. Just my opinion.

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It wasn’t like Kyrie chose to get hurt. I know we’re in a different era of one and done ball, but Kyrie has come back to a lot of Duke camps (aka giving back to kids) and fantasy camps, represented his country under K very well and has shown to be a great citizen. All of this on top of being one of the top 5-7 NBA players currently. Even though he didn’t play for Duke long, he represents Duke because he was here.

If he was robbing liquor stores, you’d best believe the rest of the country would make sure it was known that he went to Duke. Why not claim him when he does positive things too?
 
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dukehokie said:
It wasn’t like Kyrie chose to get hurt. I know we’re in a different era of one and done ball, but Kyrie has come back to a lot of Duke camps (aka giving back to kids) and fantasy camps, represented his country under K very well and has shown to be a great citizen. All of this on top of being one of the top 5-7 NBA players currently. Even though he didn’t play for Duke long, he represents Duke because he was here.

If he was robbing liquor stores, you’d best believe the rest of the country would make sure it was known that he went to Duke. Why not claim him when he does positive things too?
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Outstanding post.
 
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I have made it known, I am a Kyrie supporter and fan, and he IS a Dukie. Like Hokie said, he didn't choose to get hurt. and if he hadn't gotten hurt, I seriously believe he may have led us to a title. What is the over / under on games played to be considered a former Duke player?
 
Going around in circles here:

-everyone agrees that Kyrie is or is one of the top ever duke players of all time career wise (not duke career wise)

-everyone agrees that Christian is arguably one of the top 5-10 college players in the history of the game, but in terms of player after duke he’s not as good...which was jay wills point.

Do we think jay was taking a shot at CLs character- me, no, others maybe.
 
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timo0402 said:
Going around in circles here:

-everyone agrees that Kyrie is or is one of the top ever duke players of all time career wise (not duke career wise)

-everyone agrees that Christian is arguably one of the top 5-10 college players in the history of the game, but in terms of player after duke he’s not as good...which was jay wills point.

Do we think jay was taking a shot at CLs character- me, no, others maybe.
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Solid post! OFC
 
I don't see how saying one player is the best to come out of Duke is taking a shot at other players - even more ridiculous is the idea it's taking a shot at one specific player. Even more ridiculous than that is when the player he's saying is the best to come from Duke is arguably the best guard in the NBA right now, probably the best below-the-rim finisher and certainly the best ball handler.
 
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Sgt Duke said:
Kyrie may be the best NBA player but I doubt if Jeff Mullins, Grant Hill, or quite a few more Duke players would agree. NINE games in a Duke uniform should not qualify him for anything concerning DUKE players. Just my opinion.

OFC
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I've never understood this line of thought. Who did he play for in college then? Which team did he represent? How many games does a kid have to play before they qualify as playing for Duke?

Nick Pagliuca played a total of 41 minutes in his career at Duke. I bet if he made the news for something positive and meaningful, a lot of these Kyrie detractors would talk about how they're so happy someone like him represents Duke.
 
Mpm277 said:
I don't see how saying one player is the best to come out of Duke is taking a shot at other players - even more ridiculous is the idea it's taking a shot at one specific player. Even more ridiculous than that is when the player he's saying is the best to come from Duke is arguably the best guard in the NBA right now, probably the best below-the-rim finisher and certainly the best ball handler.
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I was not saying Jay Will was taking a shot at Grant and Christian's contributions by saying Kyrie was the best to come out of Duke. That notion is "ridiculous."

My problem (as supported by several others here) was the wording by Williams: He said Christian and Grant were outstanding players along with Kyrie, and ADDED "on top of that Grant and Kyrie are incredible people." Thus he removed Christian from the equation of character at that point, and I think went too far, and/or should have stuck to hoops. Could be perceived IMO as a swipe at Christian, the person. Hey I dont hold up Christian to sainthood(who does), but was merely standing up for one of my all time favorite players. Sorry if you have a problem with my thoughts, but hey thats why we have such crisp and lively debate!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my DI posters, mods, etc....May you and your families be blessed!
#GoDuke

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