Favorite ND basketball player of all time

[DaLastFarleyite]

Stoney....you're absolutely right about opinions. Follow-up question on "standards". What are they? You've got Ainge and Laimbeer grouped with Bonds (steriods), TO (multitude of issues - me player, given to running off his mouth, etc.), and Iverson (consummate me player). As far as I know Ainge and Laimbeer didn't do any of those things. The only thing I know that Ainge and Laimbeer have in common are: fierce competitiveness, ability to hit the long shot and NBA championships.

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

Good question. The standard is "If I don't like you, I don't want you on my team". I don't like thugs, cheaters, or whiners. Nuff said.

 

[tgolden]

Bill Laimbeer doesn't deserve the trash heaped on him by some of you. My guess is you have never met him and rooted for an NBA team other than the Detroit Pistons. I have met him and he's an intelligent and nice person off the court. Also, like any great competitor, he'll give no quarter on the court. A question I ask is....if your team had an opportunity to obtain Laimbeer would you want him on your team? You say no and I say you're a loser, because Laimbeer was a winner.

I find Lambeer rather hilarious as long as he's on my team. although he can be a little bit annoying too. but i could definitely see how people wouldn't like him too much. and i think he loves that more than getting cheered.

 

[Irishtat]

Laphonso Ellis and David Rivers

Got Harangody?

 

[rontdtarchala]

Austin Carr-Adrian Dantley the two best players period!!!!

 

[Zorro50]

Kelly Tripucka

 

[rontdtarchala]

ok austin carr, adrian Dantley, and kelly Tripuka lol hang on I may add too my list later

 

[SouthernIrish]

Bill Laimbeer. hands down.

but then, I would want Bobby Knight as coach too

 

[KamaraPolice]

Those late 90s to early 2000s teams were unstoppable. With Troy Murphy, David Graves, Ryan Humphries (how can anyone forget about this beast???) and the list goes on. I'm still bitter about being cheated by Duke in the sweet 16 (I think it was 2002). The refs blew that one for us.

 

[ACamp1900]

2 players come to mind...

Pat Garrity

and I CAN'T BELIEVE there has been no love for the man who helped ND to their SECOND great upset of UCLA at South Bend....

Monty Williams

 

[irish67]

I liked watching Kelly Tripucka (82-91), and the fast and unpredictable David Rivers (89-92) when he would push the ball down the floor on a fast break. Man that guy was fast!!! GO IRISH

 

[JeremyND07]

Bill Laimbeer with no question....he is a winner period!!! I wore #40 in HS and played a lot like him only when I took a 3 I was sitting next to my coach!!! A lot of people confuse his passion to win with whinning....

 

[ab2cmiller]

Kelly Tripucka followed closely by Tracy Jackson

I can't tell you how many hours I spent shooting hoops and pretending I was one of those two guys hitting (or at least trying) the final basket to win the game.

 

[quiksilver253]

I liked watching Kelly Tripucka (82-91), and the fast and unpredictable David Rivers (89-92) when he would push the ball down the floor on a fast break. Man that guy was fast!!! GO IRISH

Kelly tripuka lives in my area and belongs to the same club i belong to. that man can hit a golf ball a mile.


I like Harangody

 

[NDGirlzRock]

LaPhonso Ellis!!! He was such a fantastic guy!!!

 

[mbooch]

Wow. I can't believe these nominations. Tells me we've forgotten how good this program once was. To show you, here's my "all time" starting five:

Center: John Schumate. He played center the day ND ended UCLA's streak, and went on to be the NBA rookie of the year. His career was shortened by a blood disease, I believe.

Forwards: Bill Lambeer and Adrian Dantley. Bill was a rare bird, and had a great outside shot. Dantley was the greatest 6'4" POWER forward ever, ANYWHERE.

Guards: Austin Carr. The best. Period.
Tory Jackson. He's the ONE player I see out there now who could hang with the four listed above.

Coming off the Bench: Orlando Woolridge (C/F), LaPhonso Ellis (F), and Gary Brokaw (G), another alum of the last #1 ND basketball team.

 

[Akron Irish]

Bill Laimbeer doesn't deserve the trash heaped on him by some of you. My guess is you have never met him and rooted for an NBA team other than the Detroit Pistons. I have met him and he's an intelligent and nice person off the court. Also, like any great competitor, he'll give no quarter on the court. A question I ask is....if your team had an opportunity to obtain Laimbeer would you want him on your team? You say no and I say you're a loser, because Laimbeer was a winner.

Someone told me Laimbeer was on this site. What up Bill

 

[gallup21]

havent seen many, but its gotta be between Matt Carroll and Chris Quinn

 

[gallup21]

and current Luke Harangody and Tory Jackson

 

[Win4Gipper]

I was not born blue and gold. I grew up in ND where the closest D-1 school was 7 hours away with Minnesota. I went to college an hour south of Chicago and my sophmore year my college roomate who was from Mishewaka(sp?) asked if I wanted to go to ND's Moonlight Madness. I went and walked ND's campus and fell in love. But the clincher of getting me to become a huge ND fan was Pat Garrity. Just watching him was impressive. I love the game of basketball and what blew my mind was he never ever stopped moving on the offensive side of the ball. That whole practice he just kept moving trying to get open...never-ever just standing waiting for things to happen. After it ended they gave out team photos and had an autograph session. My team signed photo is still my favorite piece of sports memorbilia. I have not been a lifer like a lot of you guys but thanks to that night I will now be a fan from here on out. The only rough thing is the Irish have not won one bowl game since I became a fan..... That first bowl win will be like the NC for me.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

David Rivers

 

[mbooch]

Time for a history quiz. Dwight Clay. An all-timer because .....?

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Austin Carr

 

[mbooch]

Austin Carr

No question. ND's best ever.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

No question. ND's best ever.

Amen brother...

All-time Domer...All-time Cavalier.

 

[mbooch]

Amen brother...

All-time Domer...All-time Cavalier.

Yup. So, answer my question... why is Dwight Clay an all-timer?

 

[IrishRamMan10]

I was a big Chris Thomas guy.. Especially sophmore year chris thomas haha... Matt Caroll as well.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Wow. I can't believe these nominations. Tells me we've forgotten how good this program once was. To show you, here's my "all time" starting five:

Center: John Schumate. He played center the day ND ended UCLA's streak, and went on to be the NBA rookie of the year. His career was shortened by a blood disease, I believe.

Forwards: Bill Lambeer and Adrian Dantley. Bill was a rare bird, and had a great outside shot. Dantley was the greatest 6'4" POWER forward ever, ANYWHERE.

Guards: Austin Carr. The best. Period.
Tory Jackson. He's the ONE player I see out there now who could hang with the four listed above.

Coming off the Bench: Orlando Woolridge (C/F), LaPhonso Ellis (F), and Gary Brokaw (G), another alum of the last #1 ND basketball team.

Hard to argue w/ that lineup. I'd have to throw in Kelly Tripuka, David Rivers & Pat Garrity.

 

[mbooch]

Tripucka? FAir enough. Rivers DEFINITELY. Not sure about Garrity, though.

Got another question: What's with the last few pre-conference schedules? They look pretty weak to me, as though ND is quietly down-grading the B-ball program, rather than gearing up to compete with the big boys.

 

[KAPLAN]

LaPhonso Ellis.

I am going to have to agree. He was the man. Made me a Nuggets fan for a few years.