Tag Archives: Duke

A Duke Fans Guide to the Nike PK80 Event

November 20, 2017 Mark Watson

You almost need a map to navigate the many games in the Nike PK-80 event which is a tribute to company fonder Phil Knight and his 80th birthday. There are two brackets, the Victory and Motion groups. The two eight-team brackets will run simultaneously in the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the Rose Quarter with the crowning of two champions.

Duke will play in the Motion Bracket and open the event with an on campus game tonight against Furman in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Blue Devils will then head to Portland, OR. tomorrow to face Portland State which is currently 3-0 on Thanksgiving Day in a game scheduled to tip-off at 4:30 on EPSN.

Duke will then face the winner of the Texas (3-0) with Top 25 honorable mention votes vs Butler (3-1 ) on Friday. Butler handed Furman their only defeat of the season by 17 at home while they lost only to Maryland thus far. Texas features Muhammad Bamba and Matt Coleman, two players Duke recruited, It almost seems like a Duke vs Texas match up is in the works, but we will see if that is what the Basketball Gods have in mind,

Duke will play Furman in a PK80 on campus game tonight, then head to Eugene, Oregon.

If Duke survives that game they will play in the championship game on Sunday. Opponent possibilities are 7th ranked Florida, 17th ranked Gonzaga, Stanford and Ohio State, I kind of think Florida will come out of that side but a Gonzaga team playing near home will be tough as well. Should both of those teams and Duke advance it will provide strong competition.

Duke arch rival North Carolina will play in the Victory Bracket that features a team Duke just defeated in Michigan State. They open with Portland who lost to Duke's opening opponent Portland State (3-0) on their home court, Oregon is likely the best of the rest which features Arkansas, Oklahoma, UConn and Georgetown.

All of the teams participating in this event will end up playing three games via brackets or sessions. Not all of the teams play an on campus game. For example Stanford takes on North Carolina at home tonight but neither of them play a home PK game.

There is some leeway with concern to starting times in future games as teams advance. But it would seem Duke would tip-off at 3:00 on Friday on ESPNU against Texas or Butler with a win on Thursday. On the ESPN website, they currently have the Motion Championship Game slated for ESPNU at 3:00, the same time as the Victory title game on ESPN.

Duke Basketball

Duke Ranked #1 in the Nation by Coaches

October 19, 2017 Mark Watson

The 2017-18 Duke Basketball team has been ranked number one in the nation by the USA Today Coaches poll.

1	Duke	28-9	774	20	NR	–
2	Michigan St	20-15	747	9	NR	–
3	Kansas	31-5	723	0	NR	–
4	Kentucky	32-6	678	0	NR	–
5	Arizona	32-5	654	2	NR	–
6	Villanova	32-4	623	0	NR	–
7	Florida	27-9	549	1	NR	–
8	Wichita St.	31-5	543	0	NR	–

Once again, the Blue Devils will have a target on their back before they even set foot on the court. Duke returns just one starter from a season ago but features the nations top recruiting class.

Duke holds their annual Countdown to Craziness tomorrow evening which will be televised on the ACC Network via ESPN via their streaming service.

Countdown to Craziness will broadcast live via ACC Network Extra as Ryan Craig, Gerald Henderson and Chris Spatola provide commentary and analysis. ACC Network Extra is an Atlantic Coast Conference-dedicated live-events digital network available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app.

Duke will open the 2017-18 regular season when it welcomes Elon to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Friday, Nov. 10. Prior to the start of the regular season, Duke will host exhibition games against Northwest Missouri State on Oct. 27 and Bowie State on Nov. 4.

9	North Carolina	33-7	515	NR	–
10	West Virginia	28-9	458	NR	–
11	Southern California	26-10	396	NR	–
12	Miami-Florida	21-12	383	NR	–
13	Cincinnati	30-6	349	NR	–
14	Notre Dame	26-10	305	NR	–
15	Minnesota	24-10	303	NR	–
16	Louisville	25-9	295	NR	–
17	Xavier	24-14	284	NR	–
18	UCLA	31-5	275	NR	–
19	Gonzaga	37-2	242	NR	–
20	Northwestern	24-12	208	NR	–
21	Purdue	27-8	167	NR	–
22	St. Mary's	29-5	152	NR	–
23	Seton Hall	21-12	139	NR	–
24	Baylor	27-8	107	NR	–
25	Alabama	19-15	82	NR

Duke Football

Preview — Northwestern at Duke

September 6, 2017 Mark Watson

NORTHWESTERN (1-0) at DUKE (1-0)

TV - ESPNU

KICKOFF - 12:00 noon, Wallace Wade Stadium, Brooks Field

What we learned in week one

Duke will play a lot of true freshman this season. Several newcomers on the defensive front and in the back got significant snap counts. The Blue Devils ran all over the NCCU defense as they walloped their cross town foe 60-7. The only truly concerning thing in the game was a missed extra point.

About Northwestern

The Wildcats are picked 2nd only to Wisconsin in their Big Ten West division. They return 16 starters off a bowl team and could be the most experienced team Duke will face this season.

Northwestern is really strong on the defensive front with physical veterans at every position and they are solid on the back side of the defense as well. Their top three recruits are even defensive lineman, so running the ball against them will be a challenge. Phil Steele rates their DB's as 2nd best in the Big Ten and touts their QB and RB situation as 3rd and 2nd respectively.

The Wildcats feature a veteran duo of QB Clayton Thompson and RB Justin Jackson on offense. Both of these players are among the nations best at their positions. Thompson racked up 352 yards passing in their opening win over Nevada. The Wildcats at over 500 yards in total offense.

How Duke can win

The Blue Devils are tabbed a 3.5 underdog at home against Northwestern. The Wildcats will test the young Duke secondary in a big way, so limiting big plays is a key. This weeks opponent is very balanced in all phases of the game but their special teams are suspect.

Duke will need to establish enough of a run against a tough front to help the passing game. With Shaun Wilson and Brittain Brown this is possible. The Blue Devils will also need some big plays of their own while not turning the ball over.

The main key could be special teams play. Duke cannot afford a missed chip shot against a good team. Nor can they allow for a big momentum swinging returns to the end zone as happened recently in this series.

If you want to beat Northwestern, you cannot play from behind. Duke needs early success on the scoring front or it could prove to be a long day of playing catch up against a veteran team. Northwestern has perhaps their best team in a decade on paper and David Cutcliffe is 0-3 against them. As fate would have it, they go off the schedule next season when they will be rebuilding. That said, now is the time for some sweet revenge.

The Pick

Duke is young for sure, but they are also talented and fast. Northwestern knows how to win, but this Saturday they face a fired up group of Blue Devils who gut out a close win.

DUKE 31 NORTHWESTERN 28

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Duke Puts Out Feelers to Several Prospects

June 21, 2017 Mark Watson

This past weekend ended a quiet period where Duke was able to contact prospects by phone. The staff wasted little time and here is a short list of some prospects which heard from them during the NBA Top 100 Camp.

Cole Swider and David McCormack - We have already discussed these two guys with interviews. The two played on the same Bucks team. McCormack visited this past weekend and Swider will be in on Friday.

Byran Antoine is a 6-5 guard from Ramsey School in Trenton, NJ and is a part of the class of 2019. Duke put in time on the phones with him and the interest here might stick in that it is reciprocal.

Armando Bacot is a 2019 PF who plays for Trinity Episcopal in Richmond, Virginia. He stands 6-9 and is considered a team player. Duke made the calls and will likely continue to stay in close touch.

Cole Anthony was the best 2019 PG I saw and he is still open to many schools. But Duke is one of them and they were in touch with his father, Greg Anthony who played against Duke when at UNLV. Anthony keeps things close to the vest but would say Duke was in it for his services late in the camp. We will have an interview up soon with him. He plays for Archbishop Molloy, stands 6-3 and has a feel for the game via lineage.

Matthew Hurt is a 2019 PF who plays for Rochester John Marshall in Minnesota. Duke has had their eyes on him and made the calls, His Dad quickly re-tweeted that Duke was showing interest when I sent one out. He is 6-8 and active.

Simisola Shitu is a 2018 PF that got a call for Duke after being a stat stuffer at the camp. A 6-10 PF from Vermont will be recruited if he shows interest in that Duke needs lots of bodies in this years class. Stay tuned.

Quentin Grimes is another 2018 prospect Duke is showing interest in. The Texan native is a tall swing guard type who plays at Woodlands. See, Duke needs bodies above.

Scottie Lewis, a 6-6 SG from Trinton Falls, NJ got a call as well to be informed he was on the watch list.

Duke has also checked out Joey Baler a 2019 SF and Kofi Cockburn who from what I gathered will not work out but still talked with him which I will mention in time.

The Blue Devils have many more calls into players not listed here as well and they will use the rest of the summer to zero in on the guys they feel can help them. They are gauging interest while learning more about kids.

I chatted up all of these guys but may just list the highlights of those conversations instead of the whole interview. If there are some you want to see what they said in its entirety, let me know. Anyhow, this is just a list of some of the new names to watch.

Monday Musings

Monday Musings – Duke Mania: Three Games in 26 Hours

November 10, 2014 Mark Watson

Take your vitamins now Duke fans for there is a busy, yet fun weekend coming up. It all starts this Friday at 6 p.m. when Coach Mike Krzyewski and the Blue Devils basketball team takes on Presbyterian in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The very next day, Duke (8-1) will host Virginia Tech in football at high noon in Wallace Wade Stadium. And later that evening, Duke will play its second basketball game of the young season against Fairfield at 8 p.m. in Cameron, again.

Yep! That's three games tipping or kicking off on campus within 26 hours. I suppose that makes for a maniacal experience for many and it's sure to keep a lot of scribes banging at their keyboards from duck until dawn. That said, let's take a look at the two basketball games sandwiching a huge football game in between in the latest Monday Musings.

The Season Opens For Duke Basketball

There is no shortage of excitement for this years tip off to the men's basketball season at Duke and for good reason, or reasons. Firstly Coach Mike Krzyzewski will win his unprecedented 1000th collegiate basketball victory unless half the team is goes down to injury. Yes, that was sarcasm for this years team is truly loaded. It all starts with an incredibly talented and mature freshman class which features the much hyped Jahlil Okafor. Blend the group which includes Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow and Grayson Allen in with some key vets like Amile Jefferson, Quinn Cook, Matt Jones, Rasheed Sulaimon, Semi Ojeleye, Marshall Plumlee and you have a pretty darn good team. Anyhow, they will take on the Blue Hose who hope the second part of their last name doesn't get a letter added by games end. Presbyterian is led by Jordan Downing who is a Big South Pre Season All Conference Team player, Downing is a guy they need on the court and he is a prolific scorer.

Enter The Hokies At Noon On Saturday

Wallace Wade should be rocking when a traditional ACC power Virginia Tech comes to town. What makes the Hokies dangerous is that they are coming off a bye week and they'll be hungry to avenge last seasons home loss to Duke. The word out of Blacksburg is that they expect to sweep their final three games and carry a 7-5 resurgent record into bowl game. But Duke is on a roll and they are fighting to get back to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game. The Blue Devils have become not only a good team under David Cutcliffe, but a good program. The Blue Devils are firmly ranked in the polls, but they want to prove the few doubters remaining wrong and solidify their standing as a program that has arrived. This will be a physical battle between to very hungry teams and Wade will need their Wacko's to be there and into the game from start to finish and wearing their Duke Blue.

Catch Your Breath Quickly, For Hoops Plays Fairfield The Same Evening

By the end of the evening, the Duke Men's Coaching Staff will have a much better idea of what their team is capable of doing this season. With two games in two days, Duke is likely to play a lot of players and combinations and that'll be fine by Coach K. Early in the season, Krzyzewski is known to experiment with his line ups. We'll see right off the bat how his team responds to two games in two days which is what you will get at year's end in tournament settings. The opponent for Duke will be the Fairfield Staggs who are coming off and exhibition win over Bridgeport. The player to watch for the Staggs will be Marcus Gilbert who scored 26 points in the win. Look for Duke to try to push him off the three-point stripe where he is effective. It's bit of a rebuilding year for the Staggs who are picked at the bottom of their conference.

Logistics

We checked with some local motels and there are a lot of rooms booked for the weekend but plenty left if you're willing to drive some reasonable miles. There are some tickets left at GoDuke for the football game. If you cannot attend this weekend, tune into Blue Devil Nation who will be at all three games. For those who cannot make the trip to Durham for the games, both basketball games and the football contest will all be carried by ESPNU.

Duke Had a Visitor And Will Get Another

Caleb Swanigan, a 6-8 post player from the Class of 2015 visited Duke during its exhibition basketball game win this past weekend. Swanigan has offers from pretty much everybody. Duke will get a visit from their main target in the lithe Brandon Ingram this Saturday as well. He is considering neighbors UNC and NCSU as well and recently visited UCLA. More talk on him for members of the Blue Devil Nation Premium section.

Blue Devil Nation Social Media

Follow our football staff at Bob Green @JBobGreen, Patrick Cacchio @PatrickCacchio. For basketball and football, that would be me @BlueDevilNation.Net. Also please like our slowly being built Blue Devil Nation Facebook page and if you are a Duke fan join our popular Facebook Group Blue Devil Nation where you'll find great Duke content.

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Miami at Duke Game Notes

March 1, 2013 Mark Watson

Duke vs. Miami

Saturday, March 2, 2013 • 6:10 p.m. • ESPN

Durham, N.C. • Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)

Television

ESPN

Play-by-Play: Dave O’Brien

Analyst: Dick Vitale

Sideline: Doris Burke

Radio

Blue Devil IMG Sports Network

Play-by-Play: Bob Harris

Analyst: John Roth

Sirius - 91; XM – 91

The Opening Tip

• The Blue Devils are ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. Duke is 1-1 this season and 110-23 overall when ranked No. 3 in the country.

• The Blue Devils have been ranked in the AP top 10 for 110 consecutive weeks. Duke had been ranked in the top five in 14 of the 17 polls this season.

• Duke is playing its 205th straight game as a top-10 team in the AP poll. Duke is 170-34 in that span.

• Head coach Mike Krzyzewski ranks third for most wins by a coach at one school with 878 career victories at Duke. He is one win shy of tying Dean Smith for second on that list.

• The Blue Devils are one league win shy of winning 12 or more ACC games for the fourth straight season.

• Duke is the only team in the top 5 of the Associated Press Poll (No. 3), Coaches Poll (No. 3), NCAA RPI (No. 1) and Strength of Schedule index (No. 2).

The Last Time Out

• Virginia guard Joe Harris scored 36 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 73-68 upset over No. 3

Duke in Charlottesville Thursday. Harris grabbed seven rebounds, including four offensive, while adding two blocks, a steal and an assist. Harris shot 12-of-20 from the floor, 2-of-5 from three-point range and 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

• Harris’ performance was enough to overcome a 28-point effort from Duke’s Seth Curry and a 22-point showing from Quinn Cook.

• Virginia led by as much as 16 points with less than seven minutes remaining before Duke closed the gap to seven points with 40 seconds left. Cook scored 11 points in the final two minutes to cut the deficit.

• Virginia outrebounded Duke 36-25 and scored 18 points on second-chance opportunities.

• Duke outscored Virginia 24-9 from three-point range, but Virginia outscored Duke 34-22 in the paint.

Numbers Game

• Head coach Mike Krzyzewski is one win shy of matching Dean Smith for the second-most wins at one school. Coach K is also one win shy of joining Smith as the only coaches in league history to amass 400 or more ACC victories.

• Duke, ranked No. 3 in the latest AP Poll, has been ranked in the top 10 of the poll 110 consecutive weeks. The last time Duke was not ranked in the top 10 was Nov. 19, 2007.

• Duke is the only team in the top 5 of the Associated Press Poll (No. 3), Coaches Poll (No. 3), NCAA RPI (No. 1) and Strength of Schedule index (No. 2). Miami and Louisville are the only schools to rank in the top 10 in all four polls.

• Duke is 14-0 in Cameron Indoor Stadium this season. The Blue Devils have gone undefeated at home 16 times, including nine under Coach K.

• The Blue Devils lead the ACC in three-point percentage (.411) and three-point field goals per game (7.7 3pg.). The .411 clip would rank as the third-best in school history.

• Duke is on a four-game win streak over top-5 teams with wins over No. 2 Louisville, No. 3 Kentucky and No. 4 Ohio State this season as well as last year’s 85-84 win over No. 5 North Carolina. Duke has won five of its last six games over teams ranked in the top 5 of the AP poll.

• Mason Plumlee is tied for the ACC lead with 16 double-doubles on the year. Plumlee is averaging 17.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and is attempting to become the second Blue Devil (joining Shelden Williams in 2005 & 2006) under Coach K to average a double-double for a season.

• Seth Curry has scored in double figures in 10 straight contests, including six games with 20+ points in that span. He is averaging 19.6 points per game, while shooting 44.9 percent (27-of-61) from three-point range over the last 10 outings.

• Rasheed Sulaimon is shooting .475 (28-of-59) from three-point range at home this season. He has hit multiple three-pointers and shot .500 or better from long range in four of his last five home games.

• Duke is one win shy of posting 25 or more victories for the sixth straight season and the 22nd time overall under Mike Krzyzewski. One more win would also give Duke 12 ACC victories for the fourth straight season.

Duke-Miami Series History

• Duke and Miami have met 19 times leading into Saturday’s meeting with the Blue Devils holding a 15-4 lead in the series.

• Duke is 7-1 against Miami in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Six of those eight meetings have been decided by 10 or more points.

• Duke has won 15 of the last 18 meetings with Miami but has lost two straight. Duke has never lost back-to-back meetings against Miami.

• Duke is 15-3 against Miami under Coach K.

• In the first meeting of the 2012-13 season between Duke and Miami, the Hurricanes held Duke to .297 shooting from the field on the way to a 90-63 win in Coral Gables, Fla. Duke hit just 4-of-23 (.174) shots from three-point range in the loss while Miami 9-of-19 (.474) from beyond the arc.

• Freshmen Amile Jefferson and Rasheed Sulaimon combined to score 29 points in the last meeting against Miami with Sulaimon netting 16 and Jefferson 13. Redshirt freshman Alex Murphy scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.