Tag Archives: Elton Brand

Battier lone Blue Devil in NBA Finals

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Of the 16 Blue Devils in the NBA, eight made the playoffs. Of the eight in the playoffs, just Shane Battier remains.

Battier and the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals last night, advancing to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the finals.

In the seventh game, Battier went 4-of-9 from three point range for 12 points. In the series, he averaged more than 38 minutes per game, tallying 7.1 points per contest 36-percent shooting from the field.

Battier was one of four members of the 2001 national championship winning squad to make the playoffs with Carlos Boozer of the Bulls, Chris Duhon of the Magic and Dahntay Jones of the Pacers all in the field. J.J. Redick, Elton Brand, Luol Deng and Josh McRoberts all also made the playoffs with the Magic, 76ers, Bulls and Lakers, respectively.

The NBA Finals begin Tuesday at 9 p.m. in Oklahoma City.

Duke-North Carolina “Kings of Tobacco Road” exhibition confirmed

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Correction: According to his personal Twitter account, Jay Williams will not coach the Duke team at the Kings of Tobacco Road game, as an earlier version of this article stated. The Chronicle regrets the error.

 

The Chronicle confirmed Monday that the rumored Kings of Tobacco Road game between basketball alumni of Duke and North Carolina will take place Nov. 17 at 8:30 p.m. Rob Blair, founder and CEO of Bleid Sports, one of the event’s presenting sponsors, told The Chronicle that an agreement is in place to host the game at McDougald Gym at N.C. Central, but no official contract has been signed by the two parties.

Blair also confirmed that the Duke roster will feature a who’s who of former Blue Devils, including Kyrie Irving, Nolan Smith, Corey Maggette, Chris Duhon, Elton Brand, Gerald Henderson and J.J. Redick. The North Carolina team includes Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Brendan Haywood, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Raymond Felton and Donald and Shammond Williams, Blair confirmed.

Blair also said that he is in talks with other former players with both schools to participate.

The event will be co-hosted by Bleid Sports, a tournament organizer founded in 2010, and S.J.G. Greater N.C. Sports, Inc., an organization co-founded by North Carolina great Jerry Stackhouse to organize summer pro-am leagues in which members of both the Blue Devil men’s and women’s basketball teams have participated. The two sponsors will also host Clash in Cameron, a Dec. 17 showcase of high-school teams in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Part IV: All-NBA Team

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This is the fourth in a series of Duke’s All-Decade teams, as named by various Chronicle writers, past and present. At the end of the series, you will be able to vote for your own All-Decade team, and your votes will determine The Sports Blog’s final choice. Stay tuned over the next two weeks for more All-Decade choices.

The apparent struggles of some of the most successful and highly drafted Blue Devils at the NBA level (see: Redick, J.J. and Williams, Shelden) have provided consistent fodder for Duke haters over the past decade, but the stats don’t always support these naysayers. In fact, at the start of the 2009 season, Duke had 14 players on NBA rosters, the most of any ACC team. With that in mind, The Chronicle presents Duke’s All-NBA team:

G: Luol Deng (2003-2004)

Many have speculated (and continue to do so) that Deng’s decision to leave Duke after one year led to Coach K’s apparent aversion to recruiting possible “one-and-done” players. Still, no one can argue that Deng hasn’t been as dazzling an offensive player at the NBA level as he was in his one season in Durham. Deng has averaged double-digit scoring outputs every year of his NBA career, including a career high 18.8 in the 2006-2007 campaign. Most tellingly, though, it was apparently Deng’s consistent production and potential (the guard is still only 24 years old) that allowed the Bulls to let another talented guard, Ben Gordon, leave during free agency this past offseason.

G: Shane Battier (1997-2001)

Battier doesn’t make this team for his statistics, but rather for his intangibles. Despite averaging more than 13 points per game during his Duke career, Battier has averaged just under 10 points per game during his NBA career and has averaged double-digit scoring totals only thrice. However, Battier was dubbed the “No-Stats All-Star” by the New York Times because his defensive prowess has just as much game-changing ability as a 40-point scoring performance. Battier’s defensive assignment is almost invariably his opponent’s best perimeter scorer, and in turn he has made a living shutting those players down. Just ask Kobe Bryant what its like to be guarded by this former Blue Devil and it will be clear why he deserves a spot on this team.

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