It's been 231 days since Duke last took the basketball court for a game. When the Blue Devils line up against Division-II Shaw tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 6:30 p.m., they'll do so with new faces, a new offensive mindset and some old motivation.
"We had a rough season last year where there was a lot of negativity surrounding us," senior DeMarcus Nelson said at the team's preseason media conference. "A lot of people were saying we weren't the Duke team of old. Having to hear that all year has really motivated myself and motivated the team to make sure we play up to our standards and our capabilities this year."
Last year's Duke squad ended the season with four consecutive losses and the program's earliest departure from the NCAA Tournament in 11 seasons. This year's Blue Devils plan to erase those memories with a more aggressive and fast-paced offensive approach.
The addition of talented freshmen Kyle Singler, Taylor King and Nolan Smith provides Duke with a deeper bench than head coach Mike Krzyzewski has used in the past.
"We'll play a lot of people," Krzyzewski said. "We'd like to push the ball a little bit more and pick up a bit more defensively. Depth will help, because we've got a lot of depth on the perimeter."
That style was on display in Saturday's Blue-White scrimmage, in which the two teams combined for 133 points in 30 minutes of play.
Pushing the ball capitalizes on Duke's strength at the perimeter. The Blue Devils have two athletic wings in Nelson and Gerald Henderson who can finish-often in high-flying fashion-at the rim. Guards Greg Paulus and Jon Scheyer also have proven to be solid decision-makers in the open court.
"It's very fun [to play uptempo]," Nelson said after the Blue-White scrimmage. "It creates a lot of possessions and mismatch problems. It creates floor balance and spacing, and it gives guys room to be players and make decisions and make reads based upon what the defense is doing. We got a lot of easy buckets doing it, and it's going to be fun for our team playing that way."
Nelson remains the team's elder statesman as the lone senior, and this year he will serve as Duke's only captain. Nelson plans on being a stronger and more vocal leader after sharing the honor a year ago with Paulus and second-round draft pick Josh McRoberts.
"This team is ours," Nelson said at media day. "The players have to take ownership of this team, and that's something that last year we didn't do a good job of."
Shaw, much like Duke, returns the corps from an inexperienced team that struggled to score a year ago. Unlike the Blue Devils, the Bears could not overcome their offensive shortcomings and limped to a 3-25 season, not including their 96-45 exhibition loss at Cameron.
Shaw's lineup is highlighted by last season's two leading scorers, seniors Damola Obadina and John Kornegay. Obadina, a 6-foot-5 forward, averaged 14.1 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Bears a year ago and has been named to the preseason All-conference team in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
Kornegay, a 5-foot-10 point guard, poured in an even 10 points per contest as a junior. Seniors Robert Espinosa and Cori Gaither also return from last year's rotation.
Shaw head coach Robert Brickey is also making a return of sorts. Brickey played for Krzyzewski from 1987-90, serving as a Blue Devils' captain during his final season in Durham.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.