14 Devils Open Season in the League
For the second straight year and the third time in five years, Duke begins the NBA season with the most former players in the NBA. The Blue Devils and UCLA lead the way in 2009-10 with 14 alums each in the league.
Most Alumni in the NBA — 2009-10 Opening Day
1. Duke: 14, 1. UCLA: 14, 3. UConn: 13, 3. UNC: 13, 5. Arizona: 10, 5. Kansas: 10
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Blue Devils Carrying Heavy Wallets
For the fifth time in six years, Duke alums open the season with the highest combined salary among all college alumni groups. The 2009-10 Blue Devils will earn a combined $82.0 million this season, the highest amount in history by a school’s alumni in the league. Seven Duke alumni will earn over $6 million this season: Shane Battier ($6,939,200), Carlos Boozer ($12,323,900), Elton Brand ($14,858,472), Luol Deng ($10,365,000). Chris Duhon ($6,031,800), Mike Dunleavy ($9,780,992), and Corey Maggette ($8,937,931).
This Week’s Top Performer
Last season marked the first time in Grant Hill’s NBA career that he played all 82 games for his team. For someone whose career has been so affected by injuries, that is a major accomplishment. However, Grant’s statistical production during that season, while impressive, was not quite at the level of his All-NBA days in Detroit. Prevailing wisdom was that those days of averaging close to a double-double were well behind the veteran forward. Well, we’re only four games into the season, but so far Grant is putting up numbers like it’s 1999. He has three double-doubles and is averaging 17.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, four-game averages that he hasn’t matched since the 1999-2000 season in Detroit. With his injury problems behind him and the lane wide-open after the departure of Shaq to Cleveland, Grant is definitely enjoying and appreciating every game in Phoenix.
Line of the Week
J.J. Redick has steadily improved every aspect of his game since his lottery selection by the Orlando Magic in 2006. Sunday afternoon, we saw glimpses of what J.J. can do when given starter’s minutes. A pep talk from his college coach may also have helped Redick put on a show reminiscent of his record-setting days at Duke. After J.J. started the season with two straight double-digit scoring outings off the bench, Coach K told his former NCAA Player of the Year that he was due for a breakout performance. On Sunday, Redick was inserted into the Magic starting lineup and responded with the game of his young NBA career, keeping the Magic undefeated by pouring in 27 points on 8-of-14 (.571) shooting and 5-of-8 (.625) from three-point range, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal in 45 minutes of action. On Tuesday night, again in a starting role, J.J. scored 14 points in 40 minutes of action.
Dahntay Once Again Earns Key Role
Last season, Dahntay Jones came out of nowhere to start most of the season for the playoff-bound Denver Nuggets. After making a name for himself in the league as a fierce defensive specialist, Jones parlayed that performance into a 3-year, $11 million deal with the Indiana Pacers. Indiana knew they were getting a defensive stopper in the deal, but they’ve been very pleasantly surprised by Dahntay’s offensive production thus far. In his first game as a Pacer, the powerful wing dropped in 17 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, as he powered through defenders into the lane and displayed a nice touch from mid-range. In response to Dahntay’s all-around solid play so far, Pacers’ coach Jim O’Brien had big plans for the former Blue Devil Tuesday night against his former Nuggets team. Dahntay didn’t disappoint his coach, scoring a team-high 20 points in 29 minutes of action in a loss to Denver.
Devils on the NBA Sidelines
A pair of Coach K’s former players are working as NBA assistant coaches with Chip Engellend (class of 1983) working for the San Antonio Spurs and Gene Banks (class of 1981) serving as an assistant for the Washington Wizards. 1989 graduate and jersey retiree Danny Ferry is the GM for the Cleveland Cavaliers and 1990 graduate Alaa Abdelnaby is a commentator for NBA TV.
Duke Blue Planet NBA Fantasy League Update
With the latest NBA season now well underway, that means the 2009-10 Duke Blue Planet NBA Fantasy League is up and running as well. The past two seasons have been unkind to the Blue Devils from an injury standpoint, but if the early results from this season are any indication, a healthy Blue Devil squad is a powerful Blue Devil Squad (although point-producer Mike Dunleavy remains sidelined indefinitely). To make the league even more competitive, we’ve added three more powerhouse collegiate squads to the league, as the Texas Longhorns, Memphis Tigers, and UCLA Bruins make their Fantasy League debuts. The top spot in the league, however, belongs to Duke so far.
1. Duke Blue Devils: 890.2
2. Florida Gators: 885.9
3. UCONN Huskies: 816.3
4. UCLA Bruins: 745.9
5. Arizona Wildcats: 699.4
6. UNC Tar Heels: 541.2
7. Texas Longhorns: 449.9
8. Kansas Jayhawks: 447.3
9. Kentucky Wildcats: 431.4
10. Memphis Tigers: 273.4
Scoring summary: one point for each point scored, 1.5 point for each rebound, two points for each assist, steal or block, 0.5 points for each 3-pointer made, and -1.2 points for each turnover. Field-goal percentage is included by subtracting 0.2 points for each field goal attempt and adding 0.5 points for each field goal made, which would mean you break even by shooting 40% from the field.Quote of the Week
“Coach K called me after the New Jersey game and said, ‘You’re real close. It’s right there. You’re going to have one of your good games.’ I didn’t know it would be this soon.” J.J. Redick, after scoring 27 points against the Raptors on November 1st.
