Copy that. My favorite line in the whole book may have been, “If only the floor could slap back…”
Wonderful to see the old, whining Carolina faces again. I picked my avatar just for you!
@Stephen - in answer to your question, UNC fans hate Coach K because he is an American hero… and they have Roy now. Coach K came from a poor, working class family, graduated from West Point (where he played for Bobby Knight), then went back and coached at West Point before moving to Duke. The hit list: 4 NCAA titles. Most Division 1 Wins in the history of men’s hoops. Coach of the USA National team with a FIBA Championship and an Olympic gold medal after the program went off a cliff. Oh, don’t forget they’ve won the ACC Tournament 10 of the last 13 years. It drives guys like Howard and Mike crazy, because they remember the legacy of Dean Smith, but now have to tune into ESPN and watch Roy Williams crying (literally), wondering why he let his team down (again) or why left his third string on the court at FSU while he took his starters and ran for the locker room. And this year? Having Duke come back from 18 points down and beating you on your own floor? Against Barnes, Zeller, Marshall and Co.? Bwahahaha!
In answer to the real question, Coach K talked about his love for Napa cabs at the grad school campout one year and that he hosted a charity wine auctions a couple of times to raise money for the Emily K Foundation. Aside from that, I know for a fact that he likes Hourglass.
Man, has this thread drifted. As another ACC grad, here is my take on why people hate Duke.
- When they win (as in basketball), it’s a whole lot of “we’re Duke and we’re GREAT” stuff.
- When they lose (as in football) it’s a whole lot of “well, we’re just this tiny school and it is hard to believe that we even compete outside of I-AA” nonsense - serious double-standard issues at Duke.
Personally, I lost a lot of respect for the program when they petitioned the NCAA to have the losses removed from K’s record when they finished in last place in the ACC one season - K missed much of the season with, IIRC, back troubles. I’m quite confident that if they’d had a good season, they wouldn’t have been looking to take away the wins.
A Dookie wants to bring up crying and whinning? Seriously?!
And now someone who wasn’t crying…
It’s my understanding that the lack of “true” road games is nothing more than intelligent tournament prep. You don’t usually play on the opponent’s home floor in the tourney (unlike in the women’s game, where this happens quite often).
I would think the number of flops in the NBA actually speaks well for Coach K’s ability to coach players with slightly-less-than-top-tier natural talent. The NBA is a very head-to-head game, where the ability to break down an opponent one-on-one is arguably the most essential player skill. Most Duke players aren’t that kind of player, but they play fundamentally as a team. When given the opportunity to work with top-level talent, though, Coach K seems to do just fine, as can be seen on the U.S. Olympic teams he has coached.
And yes, he can use salty language. But just as importantly, he knows when NOT to use it, too.
I’d happily raise a glass with Coach K any time.
Full disclosure: I have season tickets to Duke basketball games…the women’s team, that is. The men are like top-tier Bordeaux: Great, but out of my price range.
Hard to say, but to me, it certainly doesn’t help to have avoided truly hostile environments. Yes, Duke has won 4 National Championships (UNC has won 6), and been to 15 Final Fours (UNC - 18). Again, this is something the book does a much better job of discussing in detail, but Dook tends to have some remarkably early tourney exits, possibly due to their lack of being truly road-tested other than in ACC competition.
Some stats (from the Duke Sucks book): From 2001 to 2011, Duke played a total of THREE true away games, out of a possible 250 - 300 (authors assumed that outside of ACC play, Duke plays 9 - 14 nonconference games per year). 12/6/08 - Loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor. 1/21/06 - Loss to G’town in DC. 12/8/01 - def. Michigan in Ann Arbor (Michigan’s RPI at the time: 151). Compare: During a 16 day span in December 2007, UNC played at Kentucky, at UPenn, and at Rutgers. Over the same 10 year span, UNC averaged 2 per year.
Now, does this affect Duke’s tourney success? Again, hard to say. The book does an excellent job discussing how Duke seems to always get a remarkably favorable road to the Final Four, every year, however (ultimately concluding that a conspiracy to actually make that happen is a bit circumstantial).
As far as the NBA, not a huge fan of the style of play, and I agree, K’s ability to make sub-par players play well as a unit deserves recognition. It’s still very strange, though, that a significant number of blue chip recruits go to Duke only to end up as NBA flops. Duke grads have earned a whopping 1 NBA title; and that was Danny Ferry while riding the bench for San Antonio. Not one NBA Hall of Famer. (15 UNC players/coaches have won a combined 30 titles, and none of them were bench riders; one of them was the greatest player of all-time).
Don’t forget: http://totallyfunfreestuff.com/Destination/Catalog/Play/Play.aspx?pid=1368303
or this one: On emotional fatigue: JJ Redick Senior Night Highlights - YouTube
I’m fascinated by the flops argument, and the lack of truly incredible Duke players in the NBA, although I think there are some really strong talents from Duke currently in the NBA. From my perspective, Duke seems like the preferred destination for the wealthy white kid that is the best prospect in his area. Duke always seems like the white flight target for guys like Kyle Singler, Laettner, and countless others. While those guys seem to really excell in a structured team oriented game, they don’t seem to transition particularly well to the NBA because many of them lack explosive athletecism. Some can still make it as an excellent shooter, though, like Laettner, Dunleavy JR, and JJ Redick. I think it is interesting, though, that Duke has almost 50% more active NBA guys (pre-lockout) than UNC, and active means currently salaried. Guys like Stackhouse don’t really count, but are listed in my figures. Duke has 17 active players (pre lockout) in the NBA compared to 12 from UNC.
I also think that the current talent in the NBA weighs in favor of Duke, although 5 or 8 years ago it would be clearly in favor of UNC. At this point, I think even you die-hard UNC fans have to admit that you’d rather have a starting lineup of
Elton Brand, Luol Deng, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Kyrie Irving
over
Brenden Haywood, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ty Lawson, and Ray Felton
As an aside to the UNC fans, do you consider Christian Laettner to be a flop in the NBA?
(for total disclosure, my Wife’s little sister currently goes to UNC, and I have absolutely no ties to Duke and generally pick them to get hosed in my March Madness brackets)
this is for the UNC guys:
Not surprise Coach K likes Napa cabs. They appear ripe when young, but can’t age worth a shit and seem to fall apart after about 4 years. That’s his players’ MO right?
It’s my understanding that the lack of “true” road games is nothing more than intelligent tournament prep. You don’t usually play on the opponent’s home floor in the tourney.
Exactly, which is why Duke plays a ton of games every year against Top 20 teams in pre-conference tournaments and at MSG. This year, they played 5 games in 8 days, beating Davidson, Michigan State, Tenn, Michigan and Kansas on neutral courts. Also, a lot of the venues are chosen for capacity - take Duke vs. Oregon in Portland last year. Didn’t make the “TRUE away game” list, but they packed the Rose Garden for the Tale of Two Singlers. As far as the NBA players go - Grant Hill, Boozer, Battier, Deng, Maggette, Irving… all flops. Yeahhhhh.
At the end of the day, Coach K likes Napa cabs (in answer to the origial question), I’ll still toast Howard if Duke loses to UNC (and then complain about the officiating) and the ACC is the greatest conference in the history of college basketball. End of story.
You mean like about this non-call. Duke vs. North Carolina: Travel - YouTube
Frankly, most of the non-UNC and non-dook people don’t understand the rivalry or its history. It did not start with K or Dean Smith. It goes back at least as far as Larry Brown fighting with Art Heyman. If you can, watch the HBO special on it. http://www.hbo.com/sports/battle-for-tobacco-road-duke-vs-carolina/index.html
And, this year I am going to the ACC tournament!!!
Like I said…I’m sure you’ll learn a lot of damning “truths” from an openly biased book written to demean and belittle.
Not sure I’d stake any argument on Maggette, who is one of the worst defensive players in the NBA, a poor teammate, a ball hog, and about as far from an NBA “winner” as you can get. The rest of those names are fantastic, and a huge asset to any team.
Isn’t this what matters most in Duke vs. UNC???
According to PayScale.com Duke is #8 while UNC is a bit down the list and behind NC State for even more 
- Duke University
Mid-career median salary: $111,000
Starting median salary: $59,600
Location: Durham, N.C.
2010-2011 tuition: $40,472
College rank: 9 (National)
Acceptance rate: 18.9 percent
Total undergrad enrollment: 6,578
![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
Okeydokey! Just let me know when a Dookie actually contributes to an NBA title!
Don’t believe the flops are part of the Dookie way?
There are plenty more like this on YT.
And make all the excuses you want about the schedule, but it is what it is. Hell, Duke plays in Cameron Indoor and counts on the psychos there to be a homefield advantage (as well as the absurd air conditioning). Are they really that scared of another school’s home court?
Of course, they probably should be! Duke’s true away games this year -
11/29/11 - Ohio State. Result? L! 85-63. That’s an ass-whuppin.
1/4/12 - Temple. Result? Another L! 78-73. Temple!
I’m at least amazed they played 2! But I doubt they will next year.
And I’d like Hansbrough in my all-UNC-NBA starting line up. This squad could be a contendah! Tar Heels in the NBA - Tar Heel Times
No go slap a floor and get mad!
Maybe in the WNBA.
Creative! Did you think of that all by yourself? I was being facetious. Clearly, without Jeremy Lin, they have no chance of winning a title. But, by excluding Dook players, they substantially increase their chances of winning a title, so maybe that cancels out.
I am neither a UNC or Duke fan, I’m actually a big Buckeye fan (so I loved seeing the Michigan grad lament about Tressel [notice spelling]) but I played basketball at a small DIII school in Maine, so I really have no horse in the race at all. After undergrad, I coached HS basketball for ten years and went to countless coaching clinics. Bobby Knight was very entertaining but a complete jerk. Coach K was also very entertaining, but one of the nicest, most helpful guys you will ever meet. He always had time to answer questions and help me out as a young coach. I will always respect and appreciate him for that.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1125361/2/index.htm
This is why I am proud that Dean Smith coached at UNC.
Now I will freely admit to not coming to this issue from the most unbiased place. I am a 2002 Duke grad and I was a basketball writer for the student newspaper. Mostly, I think the rivalry is a lot of fun, though the occassional “our side is the height of all that is good and pure while they are pure evil” is a little ridiculous. Now to briefly address a couple of points. The NBA player thing was a much better argument for Carolina 15 years ago (not that I really think it matters in regards to the college teams, otherwise we’d be talking about what a great college program Memphis is). As much as I have enjoyed the brilliant careers of Joe Forte, Shaun May and Jeff Caple, I’m not sure Carolina should be hanging its claimed superiority on NBA brilliance (Ray Felton isn’t exactly Steve Nash) at the moment. On the road game front, at least when I was there, the goal was to play in as many of the potential regional final/final four sites as possible. Also, they tried to play once in MSG (for recruiting) and then tried to get the senior/clearly leaving starters games near their home towns if they could. I notice little mention is made of aggregate strength of schedule, as I am guessing Duke would rank pretty high over the last decade.
Just from the 2001-2002 season: Playing Davidson in Charlotte was not an away game? Playing Boston College in Chestnut Hill was not an away game? Now I will grant you, Davidson was not exactly a powerhouse team in 2001, but they played them on their turf, nevertheless. 2002 Duke played St. John’s in New York. 2003 Duke played Michigan State in East Lansing. I’m not buying the 250-300 opportunities, either. If you throw out the pre-conference tournaments (which are all nationally televised), Duke gets maybe 6-7 non-conference games per year. You have to have at least half those on the home floor, or your fans won’t get to see the team. So that’s maybe 3 or 4 legit opportunities per season. Oh, and why are we arbitrarily throwing out in-conference road games, again? The Dean Dome isn’t a difficult place to play, maybe?
I won’t bother to run through all the seasons, but just based on that alone, it’s clear this is a ridiculous book. Any author that plays it that fast and loose with the facts doesn’t have a legitimate basis for reaching anything but predetermined conclusions.