• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

A kid named Duncan bursts upon the basketball scene

I'll never forget sitting up in the middle of the night watching Duncan's first game against Alaska Anchorage in the Great Alaska Challenge. I am pretty sure we lost the game against a Div. II school! - I think a key player was out or sick or something?) and I know Duncan didn't score a point. But even I, a casual basketball fan, came away super excited about his potential. Going into the game we had no reason to expect anything out of him. But it was immediately apparent that he had great hands and a unique feel for rebounding and blocking/affecting shots.
 
scooter84 said:
I'll never forget sitting up in the middle of the night watching Duncan's first game against Alaska Anchorage in the Great Alaska Challenge. I am pretty sure we lost the game against a Div. II school! - I think a key player was out or sick or something?) and I know Duncan didn't score a point. But even I, a casual basketball fan, came away super excited about his potential. Going into the game we had no reason to expect anything out of him. But it was immediately apparent that he had great hands and a unique feel for rebounding and blocking/affecting shots.
Click to expand...

I remember that night pretty much the same way.
 
..."and great footwork" right from the mouth of Dinger who was calling that first game of Duncan's Wake career with Skip McDonald. Good times!
 
scooter84 said:
I'll never forget sitting up in the middle of the night watching Duncan's first game against Alaska Anchorage in the Great Alaska Challenge. I am pretty sure we lost the game against a Div. II school! - I think a key player was out or sick or something?) and I know Duncan didn't score a point. But even I, a casual basketball fan, came away super excited about his potential. Going into the game we had no reason to expect anything out of him. But it was immediately apparent that he had great hands and a unique feel for rebounding and blocking/affecting shots.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. His talent was undeniable.


A couple of those Childress quotes are priceless.
 
Wow, awesome read and what a blessing it was to have him at Wake for four years. Legend.
 
Fun read and a nice stroll down memory lane. I'll never forget that first "game" Timmy ever played at Wake. Midnight madness (actual MM) IIRC or was it 9pm, who knows? We knew about the Mahktar controversy, even Mark Schoone, but Timmy was pretty much a complete unknown to all of us. Then during the game, this skinny, lanky, light-skinned kid starting swatting shots in the lane left and right. It was if his teammates didn't even know what to expect of him yet and they kept making the mistake of going too deep into the lane. Little did we know that he would eventually evolve into perhaps the best power forward to have every played.

Still mind-boggling no matter how many times I think about it.
 
scooter84 said:
I'll never forget sitting up in the middle of the night watching Duncan's first game against Alaska Anchorage in the Great Alaska Challenge. I am pretty sure we lost the game against a Div. II school! - I think a key player was out or sick or something?) and I know Duncan didn't score a point. But even I, a casual basketball fan, came away super excited about his potential. Going into the game we had no reason to expect anything out of him. But it was immediately apparent that he had great hands and a unique feel for rebounding and blocking/affecting shots.
Click to expand...

We did lose. Maktar Ndiaye and Ricardo Peral were ineligible to play due to questions surrounding their recruitment (Ndiaye) and amateur status (Peral). Trelanie Owens was the starting center in the game. Duncan off the bench for ten minutes. 7 boards and a block IIRC. The qualities you mention seemed to jump off the TV screen. What most impressed me was his complete focus and concentration during timeouts. He will learn to play this game and with those obvious gifts... When asked by my family (it was Thanksgiving break) how Wake did I replied " lousy, but I think we may have a real center for a change" their response was laughter. I've been smiling ever since then. My favorite player.
 
Four years of Tim Duncan -- no college team has had such a luxury since and perhaps never will.
 
I had an 8am class with Duncan his first semester and I remember the buzz he caused over the summer. He came into the classroom at about 7:55 am which I imagine was a time he didn't even know existed before college. He almost bumped his head on the door frame and tripped on his own feet. I remember thinking, "this is the guy they're talking about?? Ugh, at least we'll have Stan King for one last year." My mind was changed drastically and shortly thereafter.
 
I remember seeing a Freshman Duncan walking across the Quad the first week of class - his head was down, no eye contact with anybody, looked like he was just concentrating on walking without tripping. I thought to myself- whoa, this guy has got a LONG way to go. Never been more happy to be wrong!
 
faxmachineanthem said:
Four years of Tim Duncan -- no college team has had such a luxury since and perhaps never will.
Click to expand...

Tyler Hansbrough, J J Reddick just to name a couple just from the Atlantic Coast Conference since our man Timmy D. They both had pretty fair college careers themselves. Nowhere near as great in the pros of course.
 
Bones McKinney said:
Tyler Hansbrough, J J Reddick just to name a couple just from the Atlantic Coast Conference since our man Timmy D. They both had pretty fair college careers themselves. Nowhere near as great in the pros of course.
Click to expand...


I think the point is that Tim would've gone #1 in the draft from the end of his sophomore year on. It would be like Okafor staying for four years for Duke or Giles for four years when he gets to Wake :)
 
The most unique thing about the whole situation, though, was how he was unknown and unexpected. I truly don't think that will ever happen again. No one will go from essentially unknown/unranked and lightly recruited to the best player in college basketball in 2 years - and the best player at his position in the pros in 5 years - and eventually the best player EVER at his position. Amazing to think about in this age of information overload.
 
scooter84 said:
The most unique thing about the whole situation, though, was how he was unknown and unexpected. I truly don't think that will ever happen again. No one will go from essentially unknown/unranked and lightly recruited to the best player in college basketball in 2 years - and the best player at his position in the pros in 5 years - and eventually the best player EVER at his position. Amazing to think about in this age of information overload.
Click to expand...

So much this!

Never again will this happen in college basketball. This would be like Rondale turning into the next Kobe!
 
BlackjackMc said:
We did lose. Maktar Ndiaye and Ricardo Peral were ineligible to play due to questions surrounding their recruitment (Ndiaye) and amateur status (Peral). Trelanie Owens was the starting center in the game. Duncan off the bench for ten minutes. 7 boards and a block IIRC. The qualities you mention seemed to jump off the TV screen. What most impressed me was his complete focus and concentration during timeouts. He will learn to play this game and with those obvious gifts... When asked by my family (it was Thanksgiving break) how Wake did I replied " lousy, but I think we may have a real center for a change" their response was laughter. I've been smiling ever since then. My favorite player.
Click to expand...

We were coming off our best season in almost a decade but we lost RR. Then with all the off season drama surrounding Makhtar and Peral, no one was really sure what to expect from that team. Losing to Alaska-Anchorage did not bode well for the rest of the season. But it turned out to be one of my favorite Wake teams. Swept Duke, beat UNC, destroyed GT in the ACC Tourney.
 
Childress was out sick against Alaska Anchorage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top