Miles Plumlee fell just short of a double-double last evening, but he still played a key role in Duke's easy exhibition win over Findlay. Today, BDN introduces "Fast Break," which is a basketball version of our "Quick Hitter's," in football. The aforementioned are brief audio clips lasting no longer than four minutes.
Just press play -
Kyle Singler scored 20 points and grabbed 9 boards in Duke's 84-48 win tonight. Kyle discusses the Duke-Findlay game -
Durham, N.C. - The Duke Blue Devils wound up their exhibition season with a 84-48 win over the defending Division-II National Champions, the Findlay Oilers.
The Blue Devils started the game without Nolan Smith who sat for the first half after a release stated that he'll miss the first two games of the regular season from performing in two unsanctioned summer league. His absence effected the Blue Devils chemistry early on as they took a 36-23 lead into the half.
The second half was a different story as Duke rolled out to a 60-27 lead less than eight minutes into the contest. The Blue Devils were spread out for the entire game by the Oilers offensive attack and playing against a team like this will certainly help once Duke starts the regular season.
Duke took advantage of their height in blocking 12 shots and they held a 21 rebound edge and 42 points in the paint in the final stats. The Duke defense also forced 20 turnovers but committed 19 of their own.
The most effective player on the court was Kyle Singler, who was recently named to the Associated Press All American team. Singler went 8 of 12 from the field translating into 20 points to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
"Team wise, we could have played better. Findlay is a good team, especially for their division," said Singler after the game.
Jon Scheyer warmed up in the second half 11 of his 19 points, but had just 1 assist. Scheyer ran the point against constant pressure for most of the game.
"It was about a B-. We had some good moments, but we have a lot of things to work on. It was a decent job overall," said Scheyer when asked of his teams performance.
Lance Thomas brought energy to the court where he was 3 of 3 from the field finishing with 8 points and 9 rebounds. His teammate Brian Zoubek also garnered 9 rebounds.
Miles Plumlee joined the rebounding party as well with a team high of ten to go with his 9 points.
BDN will have up more player comments shortly as well as comments from Krzyzewski. Duke will next face UNC-G in their opening game of the 2009-10 season on November 13th.
Luke Harangody should get used to being on top of lists.
The senior forward from Notre Dame was the leading vote-getter Monday on The Associated Press' preseason All-America team, and if he has the type of season he usually does, he will become the leader for his school and conference in scoring and rebounding.
The 6-foot-8 Harangody received 57 votes from the 65-member national media panel and was followed in the balloting by Kansas teammates Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins.
Aldrich, a 6-11 junior who recorded a triple-double in the NCAA tournament, received 49 votes, 10 more than Collins, a senior point guard.
Junior forwards Patrick Patterson of Kentucky, who had 35 votes, and Kyle Singler of Duke, who had 30, rounded out the team announced Monday.
Harangody averaged 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds last season, the only player to rank in the top 10 nationally in both categories. He was a pres
Aldrich's stock rose all last season and it culminated with the first official triple-double in Kansas history when he had 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocks in a second-round NCAA win over Dayton.
Collins didn't become a full-time starter until last season when he averaged 18.9 points and 5.0 assists in earning third-team All-American honors. He and Aldrich are the stars of a deep Kansas team picked No. 1 in the preseason Top 25.
Aldrich and Cole are the first teammates chosen to the preseason team since J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams of Duke in 2005-06.
The 6-9 Patterson averaged 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds for the Wildcats last season and he's expected to be more of an inside presence this season with the addition of freshman point guard John Wall to new coach John Calipari's offense.
Singler averaged 16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds last season for the Blue Devils but his role should change to more of a perimeter one this season.
Durham, N.C. - Coaches from all around the region and some from afar flocked to Durham to participate in Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Annual Coaching Clinic this past weekend. It's an awesome event where participants learn X's and O's from the entire Duke staff all while seeing the 2009-2010 Blue Devils in two practices.
The clinic offers a great opportunity for a coach or novice to understand more about teaching the game of basketball all while getting a behind the scenes look at the program. BDN was once again on hand and I was able to learn how to attack a zone which will help me in coaching this season. But, we were also able to get K's comments on his team, individual players and his basic philosophy. That said, here are several interesting tidbits gleaned during the event -
K on Miles Plumlee - Coach said that Miles was really starting to emerge as a player and that when he is relentless he's at his best. "We are working with Miles on defining his role," said Krzyzewski. He mentioned that Miles had become bigger and stronger in the off season and commented on how he wants to do well. K used the word "formative," in describing Miles, saying that he talks with him about [private] his mistakes and that Miles learns from that. It was clear that Miles is still a work in progress but that he will be a vital cog in Duke's attack this season. K wants him to do certain things well in an effort to lay out where he is needed from a team perspective. Also said Miles is a bit fragile with his confidence so he didn't yell at him, but would other players.
K on Lance Thomas - He's developed a dependable shot from 15 feet. Mentioned again, that Lance would play a lot of on ball defense on the other teams guards and that Nolan would do the same.
K on Ryan Kelly - Stated that Kelly has great basketball skills but there were limitations in what he could do at this level until he gains more strength. K said he could play ten minutes a game sometime, but what he didn't say was that Kelly will probably get an average of 5 or 6 minutes a game at this time.
K on Kyle Singler - K talked extensively of Singler changing his body and position. While Kyle has lost some weight to play more on the outside, he's is the best shape of his life. ""He's a pro - a lottery pick whenever he comes out. "He's a starter in the NBA," said K. Singler has arranged a class schedule which allows him to better dedicate himself to basketball. Singler called and went over to K's house one time and showed interest in leadership. In fact Singler joined Scheyer for a class at Duke where a Lt.Colonel teaches a class on leadership. Best quote - "Kyle has the ego to be a very good player, but he'll need even more of an ego to be a great player." Also said Kyle was a quiet kid when he came to Duke so he handled him differently. Mentioned that he had a speech impediment growing up.
K mentioned that he had been recruiting hard - K said that he was on the road a whole lot during the recruiting window and that it had been grueling at times.
K on Mason Plumlee - "He's a special player -- very talented. Today was his best practice," stated K.
Above the rim - We haven't looked to go down low for three years and now we have guys who play above the rim," said Coach K in reference to the Plumlee brothers.
Pleased with the offense - K said that he expected this years team to average a lot of points and lauded his teams offensive play so far this season. "This past week was a good one for us."
Next play - K is looking forward to Tuesday's game with Findley and warned his team that they would be much tougher than Pfeiffer. Mentioned they were national champs in their division and that they we but he 38-0. Duke has today [Sunday] off and will return to court on Monday for their 16th practice of the season.
K on AD - "He's got a good shot. He's yet to play for a team with structure and he has a lot to learn where he wasn't taught the skills that are needed at this level."
K on Zoubek - "He had his best week of practice this past week."
K's practice emphasis - K emphasized communication skills, meaning getting players to talk and react. Duke worked on attacking the zone defense and the usual drills such as weaves, game situations, 4 on 4 and 5 on 5 game situations.
Players chose teams and K used that as a message- Singler and Scheyer picked teams for a scrimmage and K later used that as stating to the players, "Wherever you were picked is how your teammates feel about you at this point."
K celebrates with players differently - K treats each player differently in an effort to bring out the best results. IOW, some kids take criticism differently than others. The same goes for when he pats them on the back.
Ending K quote -"I'm going to be here for awhile. I'm healthy and fresh and I'm looking forward to coaching." [/private]
Durham, N.C. -A lot of Duke fans were not around when current Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski was first named the basketball coach at Duke University. Thirty years ago, Tom Butters interviewed the then Army coach at the bequest of Bobby Knight and the rest is glorious history for the Duke program.
Krzyzewski didn't inherit a lot save two seniors Gene Banks and Kenny Dennard from previous coach Bill Foster and that meant a few lean years before Duke turned into the perennial national power it is today. I have been around since the very first day Kryzewski came aboard and remember well him being introduced along with his family on the concourse in between Cameron Indoor Stadium and Card Gymnasium.
Practices were fairly open back then and on a few occasions I'd drop by to see how Krzyzewski handled his program. It was on a pre season day in his third year that it became oh-s0 clear to me what he was trying to do, that being develop a system. I knew then that it was simply a matter of him getting a few top notch players before his man to man would work.
A few years later, he made up for some early misses when Jay Bilas, Mark Alarie, Johnny Dawkins and David Henderson came aboard. Oddly, just before that happened Duke had some disgruntled fans who couldn't see the foundation being laid, but that's a story for another day.
Several key words describe the Duke program. The word family is the first that comes to mind, but character goes hand in hand with that. During ACC Operation Basketball I had a chance to confer with Krzyzewski about many things. When I asked about playing zone defense, that allowed him to segue into how his man to man defense and principles build character.
Why not hear what he said for your self by pressing play below -
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