The Blue Devils head into the 2009-2010 season with a lot to prove.
No. 6 Duke finally started to come together at the end of the year for the first time under head coach Joanne P. McCallie’s, recording wins over perennial powerhouses Tennessee and North Carolina in February and taking eventual Elite Eight participant Maryland into overtime before finally succumbing in the ACC Championship game. The offense was clicking, the patented press defense was flustering opponents and the Blue Devils were brimming with confidence.
In short, the pieces were seemingly in place for a deep run in March, which is exactly why McCallie was hired in the first place.
And then, the season came to a crashing halt.
One loss to No. 9-seeded Michigan State—on the Spartans’ home court, no less—and Duke’s season had ended in failure. The toughness that McCallie and the Blue Devils were supposed to embody had evaporated in front of a raucous road crowd, and No. 1-seeded Duke was on the wrong end of the record books.
Which means that this year’s Blue Devils are eager to show that they aren’t the same team as the one that preceded them.
“Everybody wants the same things and we want to accomplish the same things,” junior Karima Christmas said. “We have been to the ACC Tournament [final] twice and have come up short both times. So that is one thing we’re looking forward to improving on: getting past that hump and just being able to go further than we have in the past. We are all driven to do great things, but we want to do them, not just talk about them.”
First and foremost, Duke is quite literally stronger than its 2008-09 predecessor. McCallie said this is the first team she has coached in 17 years that has three players who can bench 180 pounds, giving the Blue Devils a formidable presence in the post.
Freshman Allison Vernerey joins junior Krystal Thomas and senior captain Joy Cheek to anchor a frontcourt that will be relied upon to lead the offense, even in the absence of graduated seniors Chante Black and Carrem Gay, who averaged 14.2 and 6.6 points per game, respectively.
“The emphasis on getting it inside is still there,” junior Jasmine Thomas said. “Our focus is still the same.”
Thomas, a preseason All-American, will also have to shoulder a great deal of the offensive burden for Duke. The junior emerged as a go-to scorer in the clutch— exemplified by her nearly flawless performance in an overtime victory over the Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium—but benefited from Black’s inside presence and the outside threat Abby Waner provided.
Without those two, defenses will zero in on Thomas, Duke’s leading returning scorer, unless other offensive options emerge early in the year.
One player expected to step up and help fill that void is senior Bridgette Mitchell, whom fellow senior Keturah Jackson called this year’s most improved player. Mitchell has yet to consistently score from the perimeter, but her hustle has never been questioned. With a better outside shot and a willingness to attack the basket, Mitchell could contribute more than ever before.
“She’s much more aggressive and more comfortable out there,” Jackson said of Mitchell. “She’s always been vocal, but now more so, playing her game without hesitating, letting it come to her. She’s a great presence every time she’s on the court.”
Mitchell, Thomas and the rest of the Duke squad will have to grow comfortable with the new options on offense almost immediately. The Blue Devils face arguably the toughest schedule in the country, including games against the preseason Nos. 1, 2 and 3 teams in the country. Duke plays several challenging road games before Christmas, among them a trip to Maine to face McCallie’s old team, and takes on second-ranked Stanford and the No. 3 Buckeyes in early December.
As if the Blue Devils needed more good teams to prove themselves against, defending national champion Connecticut visits Cameron Jan. 18.
McCallie said the schedule is no accident, and expects it to help her team mature quickly.
“I just believe you have to play the best to become the best,” McCallie said.
She won’t have to worry about not being challenged—this Duke team faces more tests than most do. The Blue Devils will know if they deserve their No. 6 ranking right away. If they do, McCallie’s third year might be the charm after all.