Duke may be overshadowed by a host of ACC teams dominating the top five, but after a grueling preseason, No. 11 Duke is ready to begin its 100th season of Basketball. The Blue Devils take on Tennessee Martin in the season opener Saturday at 7 p.m., and Coach K finally gets a chance to see what his experienced but thin team brings to the court.
J.J. Redick has gone without chicken filet biscuits from Bojangles since July. Shavlik Randolph and Shelden Williams have simulated playing in foul trouble during practice. The Blue Devils have sweated through 5 a.m. workouts in the dark during which they were sure they would lose the contents of their stomachs.
When the men’s basketball team begins its season against Tennessee-Martin Saturday at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium, it will mark the culmination of an off-season that players say was the toughest they have ever experienced. Entering the season with its lowest preseason ranking since 1995, No. 11 Duke has stressed physical preparedness in its quest to exceed expectations.
“We’re an older team so we demand a little more of ourselves. We’ve had the expectation that we’ve got to be good, we can’t rely on Coach motivating us,” Redick said. “It’s certainly in the back of our minds that people are picking against us.”
The most obvious addition to Duke’s off-season training was the introduction of agility drills. Before each conditioning session, the team did 25 minutes of footwork and defensive stance practice. Combined with what junior Lee Melchionni called “inordinate amounts of running,” the agility exercises were designed to keep the thin Blue Devils out of fatigue-induced foul trouble.
“Everyone at some point in the year is going to be put in a position where they’re going to be called upon,” said Melchionni, who has played sparingly in his first two seasons. “And you’ve got to be ready.”
Along with conditioning superiority, the Blue Devils are banking on leadership from upperclassmen to help them surpass preseason predictions. Redick and senior Daniel Ewing captain a team that boasts two seniors and five juniors who will see significant playing time.
“I feel like there’s a little bit more responsibility on my shoulders this year because I am one of the captains,” Redick said. “But if anything, that just gets me more excited.”
The team will have its first opportunity to show its maturity against Tennessee-Martin, a squad obviously less talented than the Blue Devils. The Skyhawks were a late addition to the schedule after Duke was forced to pull out of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. A lawsuit challenging an NCAA rule allowing teams to play in exempt tournaments only twice every four years was not settled in time for Duke to remain in the tournament.
Until the beginning of August the players believed they would play a top opponent to open their season in the Coaches Versus Cancer Classic. Still, the team refuses to allow disappointment over the lost opportunity to impact its preparation for Tennessee-Martin.
“Every time we talk about it, we say Duke is playing,” Melchionni said. “And when Duke is playing we feel like it’s a big game no matter who we’re playing against.”
Tennessee-Martin coach Bret Campbell described the game as both an opportunity and a very big challenge.
“Our goal is to be in the game with eight minutes to go,” Campbell said of a team that went 10-18 last season. “Anything can go any way with eight minutes to go. Our goal is to give ourselves a chance.”
Key players for Tennessee-Martin include guards Earl Bullock, Justin Flatt and guard/forward Jared Newson. Bullock, who holds the Skyhawks’ records for three-pointers attempted and made in a single season, is among the best long-range shooters in the Ohio Valley Conference. Newson earned All-OVC honors last season, carrying the team in place of the injured Bullock. Flatt, a transfer from N.C. State, will be playing his first year for Tennessee-Martin.
With all five of his starters returning from last year, Campbell believes his team’s depth is among its strengths. Despite the experience of his players, the sixth-year coach is realistic about his team’s chances against the Blue Devils.
“There are two keys for us to be in the game,” Campbell said. “One is to take care of the basketball, and two is to eliminate second shots for Duke. Those two areas can really expose us if we come up short.”
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