Following a long summer, an intrasquad scrimmage and two exhibition games, Duke is finally ready to play its first regular-season game of the season.
The Blue Devils host Columbia in the first round of the CBE Classic Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
"It feels like I've been here forever, and I haven't even played a game yet," freshman Jon Scheyer said. "I'm just looking forward to getting started. We have to bring it now-it's going to be intense."
The biggest question heading into the season-opener continues to be the status of point guard Greg Paulus, who has missed both exhibition games with a foot injury.
Paulus returned to practice Wednesday, but whether he will play against Columbia Sunday night will be a game-time decision.
"There is a chance of [Paulus] playing," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "After a few days, we'll make a decision."
Scheyer leads a quartet of Duke freshmen that will be playing the first regular-season game of their college careers. Scheyer has been impressive while filling in for Paulus, scoring 31 points in the two exhibition games against Shaw and N.C. Central.
"When Greg was out, I wasn't trying to be Greg-that's not who I am," Scheyer said. "Greg is a special player.... Sunday, whether Greg's back or not, I have to be ready for both positions. And if he's back, he makes me a lot better, and I'm going to try to make him better."
Scheyer isn't the only Blue Devil anxious to start the season. Junior DeMarcus Nelson, the elder statesmen of Duke's inexperienced roster, hopes to bounce back from an injury-plagued sophomore campaign.
"It was a very long, very hard off-season and summer for me to get physically back to a good spot," Nelson said. "It's very exciting to get to this point as far as health-wise. Now it's just time for the games to begin."
Nelson, one of three captains along with Paulus and Josh McRoberts, feels the team is starting to come together.
"We have a very unselfish team that is looking to make the extra pass," Nelson said. "Our chemistry is going very well-just guys have to be ready to shoot and make the extra pass."
Paulus' return-either Sunday or in the second round of the CBE Classic Monday night-should only bolster the team's on-court camaraderie.
Even when Paulus comes back, however, all four freshmen will play integral roles on a team that needs to replace its top two scorers from last season.
"These four guys can play, and they're going to have that opportunity to play." Krzyzewski said. "We didn't use Greg's injury as an excuse for not getting better, so when he returns we'll have to fit him in and hopefully everyone will continue to step up."
Duke needs its freshmen to mature quickly, as its early-season schedule includes games with Indiana, Georgetown, and possible tilts with Stanford and Marquette or Texas Tech in the later rounds of the CBE Classic.
The development of the freshmen-along with the growth of sophomores Marty Pocius and Jamal Boykin-should give the Blue Devils a deeper bench than it has had in the recent past.
Duke relied heavily on its starting five last season, with Paulus, J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams all averaging over 32 minutes per game.
The Blue Devils face a Columbia team returning all five starters from an 11-16 season. The Lions showed potential last year in late-season wins over the Ivy League's top two teams, Penn and Princeton.
"Sunday is the real thing," Nelson said. "The atmosphere that you build in practice carries over to games. So in practice, you have to set good habits-execution, discipline, toughness. That's how good teams become great teams, and that's how championship teams are built."
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