STOP IT, NOLAN!

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Will somebody who frequents Twitter, please go tell P Dot SMITTY (or whatever he calls himself) to cut out the chest pounding and hip swiveling for the nation's cameras? That's not how a Duke player acts. As much as I love the guy, he needs to get over himself, bless his heart. I'm embarrassed.
Love, Ima

[DUKEBLUE252]

Will somebody who frequents Twitter, please go tell P Dot SMITTY (or whatever he calls himself) to cut out the chest pounding and hip swiveling for the nation's cameras? That's not how a Duke player acts. As much as I love the guy, he needs to get over himself, bless his heart. I'm embarrassed.
Love, Ima

i love him too, but he needs to show some humility and play for the name on the front of his jersey
good post

[wilson]

I see your point, Ima, but I think every team needs a dose of swagger from someone. Some of our best players ever have had a little nasty streak. Christian and J.J. come to mind first. Nolan, to me, fits into that category (although I wouldn't put him quite on the same swaggering level as those other two). I don't mind his occasional preening, and I am fully confident that if it becomes a problem for the team, K and the coaches will quickly put the kibosh on it.

[robertduke32]

I too like the swagger he brings as well, but can't say I loved the dancing. BigEastSPN picked up on it in their game re-cap and said:

"While standing over Zeglinski, Smith did a little dance."

Leave it to those guys to put Nolan in a bad light, like he was standing over him taunting him.

[wilson]

Leave it to those guys to put Nolan in a bad light, like he was standing over him taunting him.

Meh. I have quit worrying about that sort of stuff. People will continue to look for reasons to bad-mouth Duke as long as we continue to succeed at this high a level.

[Jesus_hurley]

Leave it to those guys to put Nolan in a bad light, like he was standing over him taunting him.

Meh. I have quit worrying about that sort of stuff. People will continue to look for reasons to bad-mouth Duke as long as we continue to succeed at this high a level.

See: http://www.dukehoopblog.com/2010/09/29/ ... -fan-nsfw/

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

"Swagger" denotes toughness. This "hey everybody -- look at ME" stuff isn't swagger and nothing good comes of it. I don't think we'll ever agree on this one, Wilson.
Love, Ima

[DevilWearsPrada2.0]

Will somebody who frequents Twitter, please go tell P Dot SMITTY (or whatever he calls himself) to cut out the chest pounding and hip swiveling for the nation's cameras? That's not how a Duke player acts. As much as I love the guy, he needs to get over himself, bless his heart. I'm embarrassed.
Love, Ima

I was at the Duke UVa game last night!! And Duke was represented very well in the arena! Many fans!!

I love NOLAN SMITH!! In my opinion, ACC player POY and National POY. Nolan Smith brings a SWAGGER that DUKE needs. Mr Smith has carried the Duke team, all season! (Last night was Nolan and Ryan Smith & Kelly). The 2 prior games SMITH & CURRY !

I was very proud to wear My Duke blue last night. Even the UVA fans, are impressed with Nolan. We were all disappointed with Singler's performance. Basketball fans, appreciate outstanding athletes!

IF YOU DONT LIKE WHAT NOLAN SAYS ON TWITTER......... DONT READ IT!!!!!

I love the DUKE team! and the SWAGGER!! And glad, we ARENT so VANILLA, anymore!

And as always, GO DUKE

I am sure None of the coaching staff is embarrassed with the WIN last night or the SWAGGER! THIS is 2011!! Not 19?? UVa played Rap music better the tip off. Its not my favorite, but its what the Students like!

Nolan gets the team going and pumps them up! YOU GO #2. NdotSmitty

[captmojo]

As long as he's not percieved as profane, obscene or mocking, I don't mind a little celebrating of a good play. I appreciate the deep concern you have, but his actions were short in length and had they been ruled as a taunt, the refs would have been more than happy to oblige the home crowd with a technical call. Like Wilson, I agree that if it were ruled as being 'over the top', Coach K would not hesitate to make a necessary correction.

Years ago, some guys would take an 'air swing' after what was considered a good job that seemed to be a scoring shot accompanied with a foul from a defender. This always scared the pee-wee-jingles out of me. I was afraid that one day that swing, even though it would be in completely innocent exuberance, would find contact with another. It might be the opponent, a teammate or (gulp) an official. Thank God I never saw it happen and it appears that the practice has ceased.

[DevilWearsPrada2.0]

I LOVE NOLAN'S SWAGGER! AND HIS SMITH SHOULDER SHIMMY SHIMMY SHAKE!!!!!

All the Duke fans loved it too, at the UVa game!! Took a pole, No one was embarrassed with Nolan's chest pound or his Shoulder Shimmy Shake !

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Well, we'll no doubt see a lot more of what Nolan calls his "Smitty Shimmy". (And I imagine the name has already been subject to alteration by some tongue twister.) What goes around comes around though, so we'll see how well we take it in Cameron or in the tourney when some other team's hot shot rubs it in on a night when our guys are struggling mightily. That day will come sooner or later.

Nolan is a great player and a good person and he can afford to be generous. If he were mine I'd tell him how very proud I am of him and then warn him of falling prey to a swelled head. Being a star isn't easy. The tattoo on his arm reminds him that his dad is always watching. He would probably be the first to settle Nolan down. If I recall, his father took pains to teach him sportsmanship.

I guess I do come from a kinder, gentler (albeit out-of-touch) generation. Good manners matter a lot to me.
For now though, I can see I'm definitely in the minority on this subject so I'll just go to my room .

Love you all,
Ima

[Jesus_hurley]

Overall I'm torn on the subject. On one hand, I love the swagger Nolan has. He's the best player out there and he knows it. He's scored 18+ in 17 straight games. He's the leading candidate for ACC POY and most likely NPOY at this point. On the other hand, I wasn't real happy to see the dance - at least not on the road. I might feel different about it when Duke is playing in Cameron, but on the road I think you are kind of asking for it when you do that.

Ima:
Just curious - What did you think of some of JJ's antics when he was at Duke? Personally, I think JJ took things a little further then Nolan has (more taunting, less celebratory), but that could just be because Nolan is easily one of my favorite players of the 2000's so I might be biased.

[wilson]

Personally, I think JJ took things a little further then Nolan has (more taunting, less celebratory), but that could just be because Nolan is easily one of my favorite players of the 2000's so I might be biased.

Couldn't agree more. Part of JJ's antics stemmed from the fact that opposing crowds so hated them and he reveled in things as a way to channel that energy, but his celebrations were worse than Nolan's (although frankly didn't really have a problem with most of what JJ did either). In particular, I recall a certain hand gesture that is downright obscene, which attracted far more attention (including a handful of mentions in national fora) than any celebratory act of Nolan's.

[ArkieDukie]

Didn't Dahntay do push-ups after a dunk once?

[wilson]

Didn't Dahntay do push-ups after a dunk once?

Yes.
I liked that too.

[devildeac]

Didn't Dahntay do push-ups after a dunk once?

You mean this?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOisVIE5NR8


Sick. But fun. I believe the uva dude he posterized was Nick vanderstiff. Or something like that...

[Very Duke Blue]

Leave it to those guys to put Nolan in a bad light, like he was standing over him taunting him.

Meh. I have quit worrying about that sort of stuff. People will continue to look for reasons to bad-mouth Duke as long as we continue to succeed at this high a level.

See: http://www.dukehoopblog.com/2010/09/29/ ... -fan-nsfw/

Still funny after all this time.