Christian Laettner’s Latest Last-Second Heroics
We’re all familiar with “The Shot” from Christian Laettner to give Duke Basketball the win over Kentucky in the 1992 Regional Finals against Kentucky. Now in the second (third?) stage of his basketball playing career with the ABA’s Jacksonville Giants. Laettner is part-owner of the team but also plays. Yes, that’s right. He’s playing professional basketball.
Watch as Laettner takes on the role of Grant Hill from his famous shot and delivers a half-court pass to his teammate, who then gets the assist on a buzzer-beating three pointer to give Jacksonville the win 116-115 over the Gulf Coast Flash. Read more
Duke vs. UNC Alumni Game November 17th
According to this post from Mark Watson over at BlueDevilNation.net, alumni from Duke Basketball and UNC Basketball will be playing an alumni game on November 17th in the North Carolina Central gym immediately following their women’s game at 6 PM. I’ll do my best to keep you updated when tickets become available.
By the way, Duke alumni >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> UNC alumni.
Just to run down a quick list of possibles:
DUKE UNC
Nolan Smith Raymond Felton
Kyrie Irving Sean May
Lance Thomas Tyler Hansbrough
Brian Zoubek Sheed Wallace
Gerald Henderson Bobby Frasor
Mike Dunleavy Marvin Williams
Elton Brand Brandan Wright
Jason Williams Will Graves
Shane Battier Marcus Ginyard
Carlos Boozer Ty Lawson
Chris Duhon Wayne Ellington
Grant Hill Neal Fingleton
Corey Maggette
Josh McRoberts
JJ Redick
Shelden Williams
Kyle Singler
Jon Scheyer
Sean Dockery
Sydney and Nolan Foundation: Helping Kids Be Kids
As a huge basketball fan growing up, I would shoot shots on my driveway basketball goal many nights in a row until the floodlight that my dad had installed on the awning of our roof didn’t provide enough light for me to see where I was throwing the ball anymore. Sometimes, I didn’t even stop then. Sometimes my dad would have to come out and convince me to pack it in for the night.
For 8 years of his life, Nolan Smith would likely go through the same routine but that’s where the similarities stopped. I can’t even begin to list off all the ways in which my life and Nolan’s are different, but on August 9th, 1996 a major split occurred. The Smith family was on a cruise in the Atlantic Ocean, relaxing and taking in the sport that had taken Derek Smith so many places in his life. On this cruise Derek was asked by the Washington Bullets, the team he was coaching for at the time, to conduct youth clinics for the many children who were passengers aboard the ship. He helped and coached the kids like he had for many of the NBA’s players always accompanied by his son Nolan. The trip would be cut short as Derek passed away at the young age of 34.
I can’t begin to imagine how hard it must have been for Nolan to deal with the loss of his dad, basketball coach, and best friend at such a young age. But what he and his family did after is to me even more unbelievable.
“They have been in philanthropy since the time they were born.”
Monica Smith turned into a single mother overnight, but she would not go forward in that role without the help of the NBA family that her husband Derek had built during his 9 year playing and 2 year coaching career. As she recalls, “Charles Barkley would talk to Nolan and tell him, “Keep doing what you’re doing, you’re making so many people proud. You’re just like your dad.” Chris Webber, John Starks, Allan Houston among others were so good to us. In Louisville, Allan Houston attended our church and babysat Nolan. The Houstons brought an entire church full of people to Sydney’s baptism to make sure we felt like our family was there. They’ll always be there for us.” Read more
Christian Laettner To Coach Kentucky Villains Team
Christian Laettner, Kentucky fans’ most hated basketball persona, has reportedly agreed to coach the villains team in Rupp Coliseum in a game celebrating some of the Wildcats’ legends playing against their most hated rivals. When the story first came out, there were reports that the villains team could involve Nolan Smith, whose dad played at Kentucky’s rival Louisville Cardinals. Read more
Watch Nolan Smith Live Tonight!
Do you remember how much of a badass Nolan Smith was? It’s been a while since we’ve seen that crossover and flashy smile dominate on the court, but lucky you. He’s playing in a charity evident (Jimmer’s All-Stars) tonight in Utah with a number of other NBA ballers and it will be broadcast live on BYU TV. The game starts at 7 PM Mountain Time (9 PM EST).
Here’s an interview with Nolan about the event:
Here’s the link to watch the game: http://byutv.org/watch/livetv. FYI: You need to register for an account to watch, do so early so you don’t miss a beat.
ETA: You can also watch on channel 9403 on DISH, 374 on DirecTV.
2ETA: You can watch on Time Warner Cable in the Raleigh-Durham area on Channel 287!
image courtesy of TobaccoRoadBlues.com
What He Meant To Me
I grew up in a modest house in what, at the time, was the outskirts of Raleigh. My dad owned a small deli in Cameron Village and made a comfortable living. Enough for my sister and I to have our own bedrooms, my parents to have their own cars, for us to have a personal computer (no small expense in the mid-80s), and for our family to have an 18′ Wellcraft boat that we took out to Kerr Lake every weekend the weather allowed. Those summer days on the lake’s waters were formative in my early years and were some of my fondest memories growing up. Riding shotgun with my dad seated in the captain’s chair with the wind blowing away all the cares in the world lead me to realize that life could be relaxing and carefree. When I wasn’t riding in the boat, I was being towed behind it on a Hydro-Slide, performing 360s on my knees and jumping over wakes which felt like skyscrapers to my young body when I landed. I admired my dad for the long hours he worked as a small business owner and knew that he sacrificed sleep and freedom to make sure that my sister and I had all the luxuries that life could provide at such a young age. He was, and still is, extremely diligent and never lets up.
Not unlike many kids growing up on Tobacco Road, I bonded with my dad over sports, but especially college basketball. The tradition of excellence that embodies Duke, North Carolina, and NC State now was even more prevalent during the 80s. When I was 3 years old, Michael Jordan hit a 17-foot jumpshot to
give UNC a 63-62 lead over Georgetown for the university’s second national title, and first in 25 years. While I was too young to know at the time, Jordan was just beginning his quest to become the sport’s most recognizable face. The following year, a fiery coach named Jim Valvano led NC State to an improbable victory of Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma to tie UNC in titles at two. By the time I was five, schools within 30 miles of my house had won 40% of the possible national titles.
Duke Trio Realizes NBA Dream
Duke’s Kyrie Irving, Nolan Smith, and Kyle Singler realized their NBA dreams as all three were selected in last night’s NBA Draft. Irving was selected No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers joining Art Heyman and Elton Brand as the only Blue Devils selected with the No. 1 overall pick. Duke seniors Smith and Singler were selected at No. 21 and No. 33, respectively, by the Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons. Read more
Jon Scheyer Signs With Maccabi Electra Tel-Aviv B.C.
One of the all-time great players in Duke Basketball history who helped lead Duke to the 2010 National Championship, Jon Scheyer, has finally agreed to a contract, signing with the most successful basketball team in Israel, Maccabi Electra Tel-Aviv. Read more
NBA Draft Outlook: Nolan Smith
We’ll continue chronicling Duke’s three NBA draftees with one of my favorite players ever to put on a Duke jersey, Nolan Smith, today. Here’s a short Q&A with Ed Isaacson of NBADraftBlog.com. Check out his site and hit him up on Twitter here. As always, leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
DukeHoopBlog: I’ve seen projections of where Nolan will drafted anywhere from low in the 1st round to high in the 2nd round. What do you see as a realistic place for Nolan to get picked?
NBADraftBlog: I think it is safe to say he will most likely go in the Top 10 picks of the 2nd round. The problem for Nolan is that there is a huge jam of similar guards in the same 25-40 range, so its tough to really pinpoint a spot for him.
DHB: Can you tell us anything about teams that have stated they like Nolan’s performance at workouts? Read more
NBA Draft Outlook: Kyrie Irving
We’ll begin chronicling Duke’s three NBA draftees with the likely #1 selection, Kyrie Irving today. Here’s a short Q&A with Ed Isaacson of NBADraftBlog.com. Check out his site and hit him up on Twitter here. As always, leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
DukeHoopBlog: Nearly everyone has crowned Kyrie Irving as the surest thing in the draft. Do you agree with this contention? Who else do you feel could make an impact?
NBADraftBlog: I don’t know if it’s right to label Kyrie a “sure thing”, especially when compared to others in the Top 10 or so. What Kyrie is going to get is a chance to step in and make the biggest impact immediately. Cleveland will make him the new face of the franchise, so he will get more of an opportunity right of the bat, say compared to Derrick Williams, who is just as talented, but may be in Minnesota where there are other factors working against him making a big, immediate impact. I think in the right situations, both Kemba Walker and Brandon Knight could make a major impact, and Enes Kanter also has to be considered with them.
DHB: Do you feel like Kyrie’s return in the NCAA tournament helped or hurt his stock in the draft?
