The North Carolina Pro Am is rolling along and once again a bevy of Dukies took the court to play some hoops in the dog days of summer. Team Duhon bounced back tonight crushing their opponent 97-47 behind Mason Plumlee's 17 points. Plumlee, who struggled from the field the night before, threw down three early slams on his way to 11 first half points.
The incoming freshman seemed to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder and that led to 17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists, 2 steals despite sitting out eight and a half minutes of the lopsided game. The PA announcer was pretty creative when Mason scored saying, "on the flipper," "Mason Plumlee with authority," or "Get out of the way, Mason Plumlee with the slam."
Plumlee's teammate Jon Scheyer started the game slow, mainly due to him not seeing the ball from fellow guards. Nevermind he is the starting PG at Duke. Anyhow, Scheyer adjusted and drained 3 three pointers, had 16 points and dished around 5 assists. It was clear to me that Scheyer will have no trouble picking up where he left off running the show for Duke this coming season.
In the evening's first game, freshman to be Ryan Kelly scored 15 points but his team fell short 74-59 after their win over the aforementioned Team Duhon the night before. Kelly finished well around the bucket and like the Plumlees has a good handle. The big problem for Ryan was getting the ball in his hand. I joked to one guy that getting a pass was like finding a polar bear in the tropics for some of the Duke players.
The nightcap feature the return of Kyle Singler and he didn't disappoint with his play. Singler scored 20 points on his usual variety of moves and showed that he is ready to go this season. Singler has lost some weight in an effort to play a different role for Duke this season, but he is still effective on the glass.
His teammate, rising soph Miles Plumlee ended the game with 8 points, but the PA announcer raved about his ball handling skills and a sweet reverse dunk. Unfortunately, their team came up short losing 72-64 down the stretch in a game that was nip and tuck throughout. Some questionable calls and balls falling off the rim late sealed their fate and they look to bounce back in the next go round.
There was another Blue Devil on the floor, but he played for the victors. Walk on Casey Peters played some significant minutes and hustled throughout the game on his way to 6 points. Peters was responsible to leading the Duke managers in a win over the UNC crew last season and was added to the team for the coming year.
Blue Devils were in the stands as well on Wednesday. Nolan Smith was there to cheer on his teammates and socialize in the environment and Plumlee's mom, Leslie was their supporting her boys. There was another future Devil going unnoticed as well, in Seth Curry. The youthful looking Curry will sit out this coming season after transferring from Liberty University.
The action continues this evening and admission is free. Check the NC Pro Am site for schedules and rosters. Keep in mind that as the event goes on, there will be some no shows by the players. For past reports, scan the archives or go to the Duke Basketball drop down menu on the top left of the main page.
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