If it seems like Nate James has had a spring in his step lately, it's the literal truth.
The senior captain has been sporting a new pair of Nike Shox that he received over the holiday break. The new shoe is based on spring technology rather than the air technology that has been Nike's trademark for so long.
"I'm just going to say I've been playing pretty good in them," said James, who resisted the chance to say anything more about his new shoes. "I'm not going to jinx them," he said.
Sunday afternoon, however, it was Clemson star Will Solomon's turn to be shocked.
James, after sitting out of practice two days ago with a bruised tailbone from the Florida State game, limited Solomon, the ACC's leading scorer, to three points in the first half, outnumbered only by his four turnovers. Duke's Andy Borman came off the bench for the final two minutes and scored twice as much as Solomon could pull off in the first half.
"Yesterday we were a little bit unsure whether [James] would go 100 percent today," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's a veteran. He played a great game today. Knowing that he was coming from that injury makes it even better."
Solomon was limited to 13 points overall off 5-for-12 shooting, well below his average 22.1 percent heading into Sunday's matchup.
In fact, Solomon's numbers have not been inflated in blowout games. His season high of 32 came both against then-No. 25 Cincinnati and then-No. 17 Maryland; the Clemson senior hit another 31 in November against then-No. 11 Seton Hall, proving that, unlike in Sunday's game, Solomon has stepped up his offense in big games.
Clemson lost to the Bearcats, the Pirates and the Terrapins by a combined 21 points; Solomon's Tigers lost to the Blue Devils by 41 points.
James was central to that blowout, both defensively and offensively, adding 21 points and six rebounds on top of his defense against Solomon. Although he was only 1-for-6 from beyond the arc Sunday, James was comfortable playing inside and getting to the foul line. The senior, who leads the team in free throw shooting, hit 10 free throws Sunday in 12 shots.
"Not only did I want to stop [Solomon], I wanted to push on him so it's not going one way," James said. "If I'm just playing offense and he's just playing defense, that game's no fun. I tried to attack him while he was attacking me. I just tried to deny him the ball."
And deny it he did. But for James, his career has not always been so dominant-but rather a gradually improving work in progress. His rise to become a vital link to Duke's team is strikingly similar to the strides made by last season's captain, Chris Carrawell.
"Coach talked to me before the year and said, 'Hey, we're losing Chris Carrawell, and we need you to step in there and do the things that he did, going in there, playing defense, making big plays,'" James said. "I think I did that, I am kind of coming into my own, so to speak. My teammates have confidence in me and Coach has confidence in me."
Like Carrawell, that confidence has been slowly building game by game, year by year, and it is now frustrating the opposition. Interestingly, James and Carrawell are linked as the only two players in history to win four outright ACC titles.
Last year, it was Carrawell who took the job of defending Solomon; at Cameron, he limited Solomon to zero points in the first half in a 93-59 decision for Duke, a result similarly achieved by this year's team sans Carrawell, but with a much more confident James.
"What Nate does that's so important is he looks to take on the roles of a stopper and glue guy," Shane Battier said. "Today's the classic example. He took it upon himself to be on Will Solomon.... In this program, we've always had guys who've stepped up, whether it's Billy King, Tommy Amaker, or Chris Carrawell, or Brian Davis-people who step up."
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