During our time as Duke and ACC fans, we have been witness to some amazing
basketball. Just off the top, here are a few of the most memorable things
we have seen. We won't get into the obvious stuff, like Christian
Laettner's step into basketball immortality.
- Phil Henderson's dunk on Alonzo Mourning. That dunk cost us a couch
- sent us sky high, and when we came down, so did the couch. - Dudley Bradley's steal against Clyde Austin. We don't remember the
year, but State had a win all but locked up against UNC. Clyde Austin
had the ball in the frontcourt with only a few seconds left. Then
Dudley Bradley stripped him, ran down court, and dunked as time ran
out. Ballgame, UNC. An amazing clutch play. - Time can distort things, but we remember watching David Thompson come to
Cameron one year and doing something which boggled our mind (and still
does). Pete Kramer had a corner shot lined up, but Thompson came
flying out of the lane, took a couple of steps, went up - and just caught
the damn ball. Talk about demoralizing your opponent! - Gene Banks windmill dunk over/through/around Ralph Sampson. It takes
some nerve to try to dunk on a guy who is 7-4 and athletic! - Len Bias's back-to-back scores against UNC, the second coming on a steal
under the basket. It just kind of killed UNC's hopes. Sweet. - Jim Valvano's final appearance at Reynolds. As ugly as his departure
was, and with the problems that were there, they've never gotten over their
love affair with Jimmy V. - Listening on the car radio as Clemson's Greg Buckner dunked to send UNC
home from the ACC Tournament. - Watching in the Hoosier Dome as Bobby Hurley launched that gutty three in
the waning minutes of Duke's monumental upset over Vegas. Then
watching Christian Laettner step up for the free throws and knowing -
knowing! - he had them. And finally, watching Larry Johnson turn down
the clutch shot as mighty Vegas fell. - From the Hoosier Dome as well: the enmity the (non-Vegas) crowd had
when the Rebels came in. It wasn't just booing. They were really and
truly despised. The game took on almost a moral cause. - And also from the Hoosier Dome: outside-the-dome mass, organized taunting
between Duke and UNC fans which was incredibly, incredibly intense.
And a bit frightening. - And finally from the Hoosier Dome: watching Dean Smith get kicked out by
Pete Pavia. - In the 1975 tournament, Wake Forest was in position to beat UNC, but when
Smith said the ball hit the scoreboard on the inbounds, and the officials
belatedly agreed, their victory was lost. Our seats allowed us to see
the ball as it passed under the scoreboard. There was no contact, and
no one else in our area even suggested it. Our angle was much better than
Dean's, by the way. - Was it 1975? The year Duke shocked Maryland, with Terry Chili hitting the
clinching free throws? One of the great Cameron scenes of all time, as
people were desperately hungry for a big win. We have rarely seen the
place that excited. You have to remember, Maryland was huge then, and
Duke was an afterthought. - Watching Corey Maggette soar over the entire UNC frontline to pull in a
rebound. Duke's ascent was neatly symbolized. - Watching David Thompson run up behind 6-7 Phil Spence and attempt to jump
over him and block a shot by Pitt's Billy Knight. He ended up catching
his feet in Spence's armpits and hitting the floor in the most terrifying
fall you can imagine, if you didn't see it. But think for a
minute. Can you imagine trying to jump over someone who is 6-7?
And then almost doing it? - Chris Paul's shocking sucker punch to Julius Hodge's bits and pieces, as
the Brits say. We can't recall someone's reputation take such a, uh,
hit so fast. - Jeff Capel's long runner against UNC. Wow. Not much else to say
about that. - Watching Grant Hill break up a 4-on-1 break. Double wow.
- In a Duke-Wake ACC Tournament game, watching Johnny Dawkins pull up,
thinking Muggsy Bogues was about to swipe the ball, and realizing he was
nowhere in the vicinity. The look on his face was amazing. - Johnny's great, great defensive play against David Rivers, when he blocked
the game-winning shot - on the perimeter. You won't see that often
without a foul.