Tag: Christian Laettner

ESPN analyst ranks the Christian Laettner buzzer-beater as the third-best shot ever

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg ranked his five best basketball shots ever on Monday and included Christian Laettner’s shot over Kentucky.

ESPN analyst Mike Greenberg laid out his five best shots in basketball history on Monday, and he put Christian Laettner’s iconic buzzer-beater against Kentucky in the 1992 Elite Eight at No. 3.

No Duke basketball fan needs more context about the biggest shot in school history, but who doesn’t love a trip down memory lane? The Blue Devils, defending national champions, trailed the Wildcats by a point in the closing seconds. Grant Hill inbounded way down the court to Laettner, who somehow found the time for a dribble and a shimmy with one second on the clock. He got his jumper off just in time, finding nylon and keeping Duke’s hopes for a repeat alive.

Hill actually just recorded a video looking back on the moment, crediting legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski for keeping the team engaged despite the massive odds.

Considering that Steph Curry’s dagger in this year’s Olympic gold medal game and Michael Jordan’s famous buzzer-beater against the Cavaliers took the top two spots, Laettner’s winner is Greenberg’s best shot in college basketball history.

If Duke fans want an extra reason to smile, Kris Jenkins’ 2016 national championship winner for Villanova took the fifth spot on the list. He, of course, beat North Carolina with the iconic 3-pointer.

Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg puts together his all-time Blue Devils starting five

During a Tuesday episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, Cooper Flagg put together his all-time starting five for the Duke basketball program.

During a Tuesday episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, incoming freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] got asked the hardest question a Duke basketball fan can face.

Who’s your all-time Blue Devils starting five?

Despite the litany of options on the table, Flagg actually put his lineup together pretty quickly. He settled on [autotag]Kyrie Irving[/autotag] at point guard, [autotag]JJ Redick[/autotag] at shooting guard, [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] and [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag] as his forwards, and [autotag]Christian Laettner[/autotag] at center.

It’s hard to imagine an all-time Duke starting lineup without two-time national champions Grant Hill or Bobby Hurley, but Flagg’s selections all have strong arguments. Irving and Williamson both went No. 1 overall in their respective NBA drafts, two of five Duke basketball players taken with the first pick.

Tatum might already be the best Blue Devil of all time at the professional level with three All-NBA First Team selections, an NBA title, and a potential second Olympic gold medal on the way at just 26 years old.

Redick remains Duke’s all-time leading scorer, and his 26.8 points per game as a senior in 2005-06 still sits untouched as the single-season school record.

Laettner, of course, needs the least explanation of anyone on the list with his back-to-back championships and the buzzer-beater against Kentucky in the 1992 Elite Eight. He’s scored more points in NCAA Tournament action than any other Blue Devil.

Grant Hill reflects on Christian Laettner’s iconic 1992 buzzer-beater against Kentucky

The NCAA released a video on Saturday of Grant Hill reflecting on Christian Laettner’s iconic Elite Eight buzzer-beater against Kentucky.

The NCAA said they posted the video to commemorate Grant Hill’s journey to Team USA Basketball, but Duke basketball fans know there’s never a bad time to relive Christian Laettner’s 1992 buzzer-beater against Kentucky.

The NCAA shared a minute-long video of Hill reminiscing on the all-time moment, the shot that sent the Blue Devils to the Final Four. Laettner may have hit the shot, but Hill credited legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski for keeping the team in the moment.

“The feeling of ‘We’ve lost’ with 2.1 seconds left,” Hill said. “And having a huddle with Coach K and how he took command of that huddle and had us believe that we had a chance.”

Hill heaved the inbound to Laettner all the way at the free throw line, and the Duke big man unthinkably took the time for a single dribble before lofting up a shot. It found the net, giving Duke a one-point victory and continuing the march to a second consecutive national title.

“We were kids,” Hill said. “And we didn’t understand the magnitude of the moment. We didn’t understand that that would be an iconic moment that people would relive.”

Hill and Laettner both won a gold medal at the Olympic Games with the United States, Laettner first in 1992 before Hill won his in 1996. Hill now oversees Team USA Basketball as the managing director, and he and Jayson Tatum both seek another gold medal in Paris.

Flashback to LaPhonso Ellis being drafted by Denver Nuggets in 1992

Who remembers this?

Later this week, a select group of young basketball players will have their dreams realized when they are selected in the NBA draft. That won’t include any Notre Dame players this time around, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look back on those who have been picked. Among those is [autotag]LaPhonso Ellis[/autotag], who was picked fifth overall by the Denver Nuggets in 1992:

You’ll notice a clip a lot of credit for Ellis’ growth in his final season for the Irish is given to [autotag]John MacLeod[/autotag], who had just taken over for [autotag]Digger Phelps[/autotag]. You’ll also notice the graphic indicated that Ellis joined [autotag]Tom Hawkins[/autotag], [autotag]Walter Sahn[/autotag] and [autotag]Robert Whitmore[/autotag] in the program’s 1,000-point/1,000 rebound club. Only [autotag]Luke Harangody[/autotag] has joined in the years since.

Ellis flourished in his first of 11 NBA seasons, making the All-Rookie First Team alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner and Tom Gugliotta. He started every game for the Nuggets, averaging 14.7 points a game and career highs of 9.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game.

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How did Duke finish the regular season during their five championship runs?

The Duke men’s basketball team has won five national championships. Here’s how those five regular seasons went.

Duke men’s basketball is one of the esteemed college programs only measured by its trophy case.

After all, regular-season wins and conference tournament titles are nice, but once you’ve won five national championships, it’s hard for much else to feel like a successful season.

Those expectations can be crushing, especially if you apply them to each game of a regular season. However, even the five eternal teams in Blue Devils program lore weren’t perfect from start to finish over their regular seasons, even if most of them were pretty great.

Here’s a look back at how Duke finished each of the five regular seasons before it cut down the nets.

College Basketball: The 10 all-time most annoying Dukies

Who belongs at the top of this list and why?

College basketball officially starts nationwide tonight which means it’s a chance for all of us in this divided nation and world come together in one cause:

Hating Duke basketball.

As a kid I ate it all up.  Mike Krzyzewski was a hero in my 15-year old eyes when Duke won it all in the spring of 2001, but 20 years later I’m grateful to have seen the light since and realized just how insufferable that entire program is.  How Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey developed into such a likable figure after spending eight years on Krzyzewski’s bench is beyond me, but I digress.

With Krzyzewski starting his final season as Duke’s head coach this year let’s honor him by naming the 10 Most Annoying Dukies of All-Time:

9 of the best NCAA Tournament performances ever

March Madness makes memories. Shining team moments, sure, but also incredible individual performances. Here are nine of the finest.

March Madness makes memories. Shining team moments, sure, but also incredible individual performances. Here are nine of the finest.

9. Bo Kimble, Loyola Marymount, 1990

Hank Gathers. Bo Kimble. Who can forget that Lions team that overcame Gathers’s shocking, tragic death on the court in a WCC tournament game?
Kimble led No. 11 seeded LMU to the Elite Eight after beating New Mexico State, Michigan and Alabama, before being bounced by UNLV.
Kimble’s first left-handed free throw to honor Gathers remains an iconic moment in NCAA basketball history.

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