Best Hoya Backcourt Ever???

[SirSaxa]

OK, you probably are expecting me to say Austin and Chris, or Austin and Jason. Or maybe even Jason and Austin. NOT!

Hey, let's see what everyone has to say about this. We'll have a little survey on the Best Hoya Guard duo ever.
I am considering starters only, but if you want to say the best group of 3 or 4 guards, that's OK too.
And.. since we are really starting 3 guards currently, you can pick which ever two you'd like.

Who were the best Hoya Guards Duo Ever?

"Ever" -- Essentially, we are talking about the "Thompson Era", which began with the '72-'73 season and continues to this day (JT2 thru JT3). If Lic or someone wants to nominate a pair from earlier, please feel welcome to do so, but I think the "best duo" is going to be from the Thompson Era anyway.

If I were going to say BEST ATHLETES, it would be Allen Iverson and Victor Page. Heck, it could be Allen Iverson and my grandmama as Iverson was such an extraordinary athletic FREAK!!

And I know HoyaChris and some of you other guys will do this a LOT more thoroughly than I. But, for me, the best ever Hoya backcourt duo ever was.... drumroll please.....
Sleepy Floyd and John "Ba Ba" Duren.

Closely followed, perhaps, by
John Duren and Derrick Jackson.
Charles Smith and Mark Tillmon were pretty awesome too. ;D

Austin, Chris and Jason are a GREAT trio of guards (despite all the negatives the Debbie Downers want to throw at Chris ). It looks like Vee, Markel and maybe Aaron can make this an incredible "Group of Six".

Anyway, please share your thoughts and your selections!

[chep3]

Having not been alive for Sleepy and John Duren, I'm going with AI and Victor Page.

[FrazierFanatic]

Have to agree. Ba Ba was just a bull, incredibly strong and tough, while Sleepy was quick and smooth. They gave us everything we needed at the guard position.

[JohnJacquesLayup]

Too young to remember the early 80's line ups, so I'm also going with AI and Page.

[JB5]

You have to include Michael Jackson and David Wingate in the discussion. Plus they had Gene Smith and Fred Brown coming off the bench.

[hoyainspirit]

Perhaps I'm biased because of my age, but I've seen many a Hoya backcourt, and I agree with SirSaxa. For my money, Duren and Floyd, though I know strong arguments can be made for others. Floyd could not only shoot lights out, but he finished great at the rim, and, importantly, could flat out just create his own shot whenever he needed to. As well, he constantly looked to do so. Ba Ba was as strong as they come, and once he got into the lane, either scored or set somebody up. As a pair, they intimidated most opposing guards like you would not believe, just took their hearts. And they were a joy to watch. Austin seems to have reached the point where he can create his shot whenever he wants to, also.

[hoya73]

Duren and Floyd. No contest. Floyd our all time scoring leader and would be another 300 points ahead of the rest if he played in the three-point shot era.
Duren our best point guard ever and the player who set the example for playing every minute with intensity that the John Thompson Hoyas followed to such great success.

[sleepyjackson21]

Sleepy and Duren #1 then i follow that up with the foursome of Smitty, Jaren Jackson, Dwayne Bryant and Mark Tillmon (you can even add a solid Bobby Winston to that group). Still, i think Austin, Jason and Chris have a chance to be the best group of Hoya guards since 1990 outside of AI and Page.

[seaweed]

no way i answer that question three games into what will be our most guard-centric and skilled team in 30+ years. Agree that Duren/Floyd is a high std, but if CW bags 12 and 12 all season, well, let's just say the potential is there. Biggest factor this year could be Austin's strength and ability to stay balanced going in amongst the trees...can we call him baba jr?

[DanMcQ]

Duren & Floyd. Case closed.

[HoyaChris]

Duren and Floyd. The Hoyas have had three first round picks at guard, and two of them played together for two years. They were exquisite together.

That said, I am beginning to think that Jason Clark has the potential to have a nice NBA career.

[jerseyhoya34]

I think the current group also suffers because they have not achieved anything relevant together. No league titles or BET titles, and Chris/Austin only have 1 NCAA tournament win. Their stats are gaudy, but it is another thing entirely to do it while winning tournament games and titles.

[HometownHoya]

Nov 18, 2010 18:25:19 GMT -5 HoyaChris said:

Duren and Floyd. The Hoyas have had three first round picks at guard, and two of them played together for two years. They were exquisite together.

That said, I am beginning to think that Jason Clark has the potential to have a nice NBA career.

Am I the only one who thinks this number is going to jump drastically under JTIII?

[blueandgray]

Deepest backcourt ever...Jackson, wingate, brown, smith, and horace

Most potent duo....iverson and page

[Ranch Dressing]

1978-80 Duren and Floyd get my #1 vote, and I don't think it's all that close. As someone mentioned above, Duren was our best point guard ever. Floyd was our best shooting guard ever.

1995-96 Iverson and Page #2

1976-78 Duren and Jackson #3

1980-82 Floyd and Brown (pre-knee injury) #4; people sometimes forget how solid Freddy was before the injury. He had great size and was terrific at setting up Floyd for open jumpers.

1982-86 Jackson and Wingate #5 (played together for 4 years - Jackson was as steady as they come with an underrated outside shot. Wingate sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because of Ewing and later Reggie's dominance, but he was a serious talent, high school Parade First Teamer, and a hellavu college player; a GREAT defender)

2007-11 Freeman and Wright #6 (another pair to play together 4 years, Wright's frosh injury aside; a work in progress with room to move up)

1988-89 Smitty and Tillmon #7 (Smitty was a first team all american and Tillmon came in as a frosh to play strong minutes)

[prhoya]

I'm going to go with the backcourt that won the National Championship!

If we're going by stats, then it's Sleepy and Duren. But, talentwise, it's pretty hard to compare them to AI and Page because of the early departures. If AI and Page would have stayed together, we probably would have won another Narional Championship.

The Tillmon-Bryant-Smitty backcourt was awesome too, 2 h.s. McD's and a Player of the Year.

[HoyaChris]

Nov 18, 2010 22:45:02 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

1978-80 Duren and Floyd get my #1 vote, and I don't think it's all that close. As someone mentioned above, Duren was our best point guard ever. Floyd was our best shooting guard ever.

1995-96 Iverson and Page #2

1976-78 Duren and Jackson #3

1980-82 Floyd and Brown (pre-knee injury) #4; people sometimes forget how solid Freddy was before the injury. He had great size and was terrific at setting up Floyd for open jumpers.

1982-86 Jackson and Wingate #5 (played together for 4 years - Jackson was as steady as they come with an underrated outside shot. Wingate sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because of Ewing and later Reggie's dominance, but he was a serious talent, high school Parade First Teamer, and a hellavu college player; a GREAT defender)

2007-11 Freeman and Wright #6 (another pair to play together 4 years, Wright's frosh injury aside; a work in progress with room to move up)

1988-89 Smitty and Tillmon #7 (Smitty was a first team all american and Tillmon came in as a frosh to play strong minutes)

I think this is a good list, although Mark Tillmon was a junior in 88-89 and played hurt that year. With a big year the Freeman/Wright combo might get to be as high as #3. As a trio Freeman/Wright/Clark has a good chance to be our best offensive trio ever and might be right now. The competition is probably 1980 with the addition of Eric Smith to the Duren/Floyd pairing but Smith was not that good of an offensive player as a sophomore.

[HoyaFanNY]

duren and sleepy no doubt.

[bigelephant]

no doubt!!!!!!!!!!!

[JohnJacquesLayup]

Braswell and Hunter?