On Saturday night, the men's basketball team set out to show what it could do. And what it did was steamroll the Upstate All-Stars, 128-74 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
From Trajan Langdon's first three-point shot to Chris Burgess' final dunk with less than a minute remaining, the Blue Devils overwhelmed the All-Stars for the entire 40 minutes.
After constantly struggling to rebound and drive to the basket last season, the new-look Blue Devils appeared on their way to conquering the demons that plagued them last year. Elton Brand demonstrated a strong inside presence early on, scoring on a jump shot, a dunk and a layup on three consecutive possessions in the opening minutes of the first half.
On the defensive end of the court, Brand, Burgess, Roshown McLeod and Shane Battier each recorded crowd-pleasing blocks as Duke showed off its new style of full-court defense.
"That's how we wanted to play last year, but we didn't have the size to kind of use the rebounding game, and this year we do," McLeod said. "We have the guys that can do that now, and we're in better shape."
In addition to showcasing their full-court press, Saturday's matchup highlighted the Blue Devils' transition game, as they sunk basket after basket in transition. In one instance late in the game, Battier rejected a Richard Dumas attempt and lobbed the ball to Mike Chappell, who nailed a three-pointer.
Duke's increased depth this year has made the faster transition game possible. Substituting freely, coach Mike Krzyzewski had the opportunity to experiment with different combinations of players as well as giving everyone a chance to rest.
"This year you get in the game and play as hard as you can, and you know that you can get a break or whatever," James said. "You just do your best for the five, six, seven minutes you come out and the next guy comes in and does the same thing. It's like a cycle. Everyone just plays their best for however long they're in the game. And that leads to good things, when everyone gives 100 percent."
Freshman point guard William Avery brought another dimension to the fast break game, hitting six field goals, four of which came on drives to the basket. Avery and 1997 team MVP Steve Wojciechowski seemed to complement each other perfectly at the point. While Wojciechowski was deadly in recording five steals, Avery showed his ability to score off the dribble.
"I can learn a lot from [Steve], his leadership, his experience and the way he can handle situations," Avery said. "He's more of a steady point guard; I'm more of a scoring threat. I like to create opportunities."
While all four freshmen had the chance to display their talent playing against someone other than their teammates for the first time, it was sophomore Nate James who stole the show. Plagued by hand and knee injuries, James saw little playing time last year.
But Saturday James led Duke in rebounds with seven and netted 16 points, including two on a dunk over former NBA forward Richard Dumas. He then proceeded to sink the Blue Devils' next basket from beyond the three-point arc, and on the All-Stars' subsequent possession, grabbed the defensive rebound and heaved it across the court to set Burgess up for an alley-oop dunk.
"[James] added a little bit of defensive nastiness that needed a little bit more work," Krzyzewski said. "He gave us a real shot in the arm, and it was good to see because his knee's not been the best in the preseason. But it didn't bother him tonight, and he certainly didn't have a chance to show who he was last year."
While Duke revealed its power in the paint, its perimeter game appeared not to have dropped off a bit. Led by Langdon's five-for-seven three-point shooting on the night, the Blue Devils were 16-for-26 from beyond the arc.
"We can score from a number of positions," Krzyzewski said. "Certainly Trajan has to get shots. Trajan's our best scorer. We have to develop an inside presence, and that can be a number of players, and then you build around that. In transition if we're able to run, we're going to get some open shots...."
Chappell also came out on fire Saturday. Lethal from the perimeter, he hit five-of-eight from three-point territory.
Although the Blue Devils blew away their competition Saturday, the rest of the season won't come as easily. Since the All-Stars didn't have the opportunity to practice for weeks and go through conditioning, Duke was realistic about the level of competition.
"Everyone did pretty well; it was obvious," Krzyzewski said. "But we have to remember we're playing a team that has some good players but hasn't had a chance to practice. They didn't go through a preseason conditioning program and all that, so we have to keep it in perspective."
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