DUKE HATERS.....CLICK HERE..... - ScarletBuckeye

PHATBUCK13 · 06-11-2011, 10:29 AM

Austin Rivers dons new number, nickname...
By Eamonn Brennan, ESPN.com

If Duke is indeed a 2012 national title contender, freshman point guard Austin Rivers will be a major reason why.

The Blue Devils are young. They're without national champs Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith for the first time in four years. Kyrie Irving is likely to be the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NBA draft. In their place, Rivers -- the No. 1 player in the class of 2011 -- and a touted batch of incoming Blue Devils will try to come together in time to make a run at Duke's expected level of national success.

That will be a challenge, because this team is new. How new? Even coach Mike Krzyzewski isn't yet sure how his team will play.

In other words, Rivers is going to have to be good. He'll be a centerpiece of this team, arguably its best player, and like the rare breed of one-and-done player most believe him to be, he'll have to eschew immediate growing pains to do so.

So maybe it's a good thing the young fella doesn't seem shy. Or maybe not. Your mileage may vary. Either way, Rivers has already announced what number he'll wear at Duke and what corresponding nickname he'd like. Naturally, he chose Twitter as his preferred messaging method Monday night:
Wearing number 0 next year! My nick name is going to be subzero! Cause of number and because my moves freeze people, got ice in my veins!!

I have to say: I love the nickname. It references Mortal Kombat, which is something we apparently share in common. It works beautifully in tandem with Rivers' number choice, which is always a plus. It's catchy, it rolls off the tongue ... what's not to like?

Apparently, the notion that Rivers gave himself the nickname. In doing so, Ballin' Is A Habit's Troy Machir argues, Rivers has committed a fundamental hoops faux-pas:
You cannot give yourself a nickname. It's practically an unwritten rule of the schoolyard.

Dwayne Wade didn't tell people to call him "Flash". Earvin Johnson didn't legally change his name to "Magic". Harrison Barnes didn't ask people to refer to him as "The Black Falcon". And as much as we probably want to assume that LeBron James anointed himself "The King", some dorky high school kid probably did.

That is what makes nicknames so cool. A great one is never thought about, it just happens.

True story: I have a friend who, in high school, asked that we all start calling him "Shooter." According to him, the name came from his freshman football coach, but the sheer act of him asking to be called something -- even though the nickname sort of caught on -- was a constant point of lighthearted ridicule. It remains so to this day.

In other words, maybe Troy has a point. Apparently, Rivers heard the same thing from a multitude of Twitter followers. On Monday night, he issued his response:
My friend gave me the nick name and the reasons for it, I thought it was cool! Haters going to hate, I don't see yall

So maybe Rivers didn't give himself the nickname after all. I say we let it slide, guys. What's your verdict?

PHATBUCK13 · 06-11-2011, 10:37 AM

This is just another reason to hate Duke basketball in my opinion. Who gives themselves a nickname and goes public with it and asks people to call him that? And then say 'Got ice in my veins' before he even plays his first game. Just because daddy was an NBA player and coach, doesn't mean you are any better than any other freshman before they even step out onto the court. This kid belongs at Kentucky.

I'm so glad that we have Duke on the schedule this season in the B1G/ACC Challenge. Craft will shut this kid down. But it appears that nobody can shut him up.....

Block "O" · 06-11-2011, 11:04 AM

the only time i suipported Duke was when the media tryed to play the race card and railroad those lacrosse players, other than that I HATE Duke!!!!

PHATBUCK13 · 01-12-2012, 04:09 PM

Just stumbled acrossed this on YouTube.

For those that don't know, these are UNC players talking about Coach K at the McDonalds AA Game....

SanDiegoBuckeye · 01-12-2012, 06:04 PM

I don't hate Duke as much as I should. I just love seeing how butt hurt sUcK basketball fans still are to this day about the Christian Laettner shot. I hate sUcK basketball more than any team in any sport. They have the worst fans on Earth.

louts8wings · 01-13-2012, 07:44 AM

i don't hate duke. but i hate the people that cheer for ohio state during football season and then during basketball season they are UNC or Duke fans. if your a buckeyes fan then stick with them. fair weather fans annoy me!

OSUBasketballJunkie · 01-13-2012, 12:37 PM

Ohio State destroyed Duke this year.........we possibly could have beat them by 35-40 points if we kept the starters in..........enough said.

SanDiegoBuckeye · 01-13-2012, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louts8wings

i don't hate duke. but i hate the people that cheer for ohio state during football season and then during basketball season they are UNC or Duke fans. if your a buckeyes fan then stick with them. fair weather fans annoy me!

I'm not much of a basketball fan anymore but I used to be obsessed with UNC basketball. They were the only non-Ohio team I cheered for. My reasons for liking them were b/c of Michael Jordan and my grandfather liking UNC basketball.

Michael Jordan, like most kids, was my favorite player and it was only natural for me to like the college that he went to. Plus when he made the game winning shot in the national title game his freshman year, that was the exact date that I was born. March 29, 1982. So you can say it was fate, haha!

My grandpa was from West Virginia so he didn't have a hometown team to cheer for growing up. All of his favorite teams were completely random. Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Cardinals, Notre Dame Football, UNC Basketball. I loved watching UNC games with him growing up. He was a huge Dean Smith fan and always preached about how Dean did things the right way.

I liked OSU basketball, too. I also cheered for UC, Xavier and Dayton. I miss the Bob Thuggins days at UC. They may have been thugs but they won games! UC was Da U of college basketball.

louts8wings · 01-13-2012, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SanDiegoBuckeye

I'm not much of a basketball fan anymore but I used to be obsessed with UNC basketball. They were the only non-Ohio team I cheered for. My reasons for liking them were b/c of Michael Jordan and my grandfather liking UNC basketball.

Michael Jordan, like most kids, was my favorite player and it was only natural for me to like the college that he went to. Plus when he made the game winning shot in the national title game his freshman year, that was the exact date that I was born. March 29, 1982. So you can say it was fate, haha!

My grandpa was from West Virginia so he didn't have a hometown team to cheer for growing up. All of his favorite teams were completely random. Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Cardinals, Notre Dame Football, UNC Basketball. I loved watching UNC games with him growing up. He was a huge Dean Smith fan and always preached about how Dean did things the right way.

I liked OSU basketball, too. I also cheered for UC, Xavier and Dayton. I miss the Bob Thuggins days at UC. They may have been thugs but they won games! UC was Da U of college basketball.

march 29th??? i got ya on that one! march 8, 1982 turning 30 is going to suck!