DURHAM - BDN's in marathon coverage mode for it is March. We'll head out to see the Duke women in the semi finals of the ACC Tournament and then to Chapel Hill for Duke versus UNC for the regular season title. We'll continue our basketball coverage and spring football as well as the month winds down and then there is recruiting, which we specialize in too. BDN is the place to be for March Madness, so bookmark us now and follow our popular twitter site and our Facebook public page. You can always count on BDN to be on the scene. For full site access, join BDN Premium for the most Duke-centric experience around, catch up on the latest behind the scenes chatter on our private message board and settle in for the best AAU and recruiting coverage anywhere. BDN was the only site to follow the team in person the whole way through to last seasons championship and we were at all the major AAU events, the only site that can lay factual claim to that as well. That said, check out Rollin' Nolan Smith and Manly Mason Plumlee's videos to get you in the mood for tonight's big game. Let's go Devils!
DURHAM - BDN spoke to Mason Plumlee in the Duke locker room after his team scored a 79-57 win over Georgia Tech in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Plumlee is averaging over 10 rebounds a game in conference play and he scored 9 points and 9 rebounds for the second straight game. Plumlee dished 3 assists as well.
RALEIGH - Last season the N.C. State Wolfpack served up some home cooking by shooting lights out in the RBC Center against the Duke Blue Devils, the eventual national champion. This year, there was a different result as Coach Mike Krzyzewski played nine players significant minutes and each of them contributed.
Duke ran out to a 42-28 half time advantage and then held off each run the Wolfpack tried to muster as both teams scored 50 points each, thus giving Duke a 92-78 victory. There are many story lines on the Duke end, but we'll go with the improved play of the bigs as the difference maker.
One can always depend on Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler to play well and tonight was no different. Smith tossed in a game high 22 points to go with 6 assists which keeps him atop the ACC in that category. In fact, he leads the league in scoring and assists. Singler started slow, but was key down the stretch scoring 14 of his 18 points in the second half.
But it was the Duke front court that came to play this evening, be it the brothers Plumlee or Ryan Kelly. Miles Plumlee, who has sat the bench the last two games, played his best game of the season tallying 11 points and 8 rebounds while his brother Mason scored 7 points to go with his game high 10 rebounds and a whopping 6 blocked shots.
During the post game, Miles Plumlee exclaimed, "I think we have a chance to be one of the best front courts in the nation and tonight we showed that."
Then, there was the play of Ryan Kelly who was a perfect 4 of 4 from the field which translated into 11 points and he too worked the boards hard finishing with 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
"I just wanted to come home and be aggressive and went out there and tried to make plays for the team and we came out with a win," said Kelly.
The Blue Devils shot 50% from the floor and that helped them to a 17-1 overall record and 4-1 in the ACC. Duke outscored the Wolfpack in the paint by a 32-30 margin and held a 10 rebound edge when the dust cleared.
"That's the best we rebounded all year. The Plumlees had 9 rebounds each and Ryan Kelly had 8 and Josh Hairston gave us some positive minutes. All nine guys contributed in the win," said Mike Krzyzewski who now has 885 career wins.
The Blue Devils will now turn their attention to Wake Forest where they hope to garner another conference road win in a game that tips off 4:00 this coming Saturday. Tickets are still available for the game. Game Box Score
What do we know about this year's team as 2011 quickly approaches? Well, for starters, we know Duke is deep with the ability to place a lot of top talent onto the court. Plus, we know Duke has all the different pieces required to be a champion commencing with senior leadership. Additionally, we know Kyrie Irving is the real deal. He has proven all the hype was warranted. Unfortunately, what we do not know is when Kyrie will be available and on the court for Duke due to his right big toe injury. We know the freshman to sophomore jump is alive and well in Durham. All one has to do is look at the improvements in the play of Mason Plumlee, Andre Dawkins and Ryan Kelly. Finally, we know the team still needs to develop and improve if they are to equal the accomplishments of last season's team.
There’s no real point in discussing Kyrie’s injury because there is too much we do not know so let's take a look at each of the "things we know" and break them down:
Duke has senior leadership.
The presence of senior leadership is not widespread in today’s college basketball landscape; however that does not make it any less valuable. In fact, it makes it more valuable as Duke has what few other teams have – two proven senior leaders in All American candidates Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith.
Coach Krzyzewski discussed Singler after the victory over Oregon in Portland: "I'm very proud of Kyle. Today was a special day for him. He is truly one of the special kids I've had the opportunity to coach at any level. He has a warrior's spirit. He's all about winning and playing hard and I love the way he performs. He's never nervous. He's the same all the time. He never has a play in a game or in practice when he's not working hard. He's what I call a no-maintenance guy."
Nolan Smith is currently number eight on statistics guru Ken Pomeroy’s list of contenders for the 2011 Player-of-the-Year Award.
During the St. Louis post game press conference, Associate Head Coach Chris Collins stated, “For Nolan to get back, I mean he didn’t have a field goal against Bradley the other night, but he played a good floor game. For him to come back today and have the six rebounds, five assists but also get 22 points at the point guard position, I thought was really good.”
Last season’s run to the national championship demonstrated the utility of senior leadership as Scheyer, Thomas and Zoubek combined to be a steadying influence upon the Blue Devils during the stretch run. In 2009, North Carolina won the championship with senior Tyler Hansbrough as their key player. Kansas started two seniors and two juniors in 2008 when they won the national championship, and when the Florida Gators repeated as national champions in 2007, they started a senior and four juniors.
There seems to be a pattern here and the pattern is experience is King come March and April. The experienced leadership on Duke’s roster in 2011 will provide the Blue Devils a decided advantage once the post season arrives. Singler and Smith are two of the best players in the nation.
Duke is deep and talented.
The roster contains five McDonald’s All Americans: Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly and Kyrie Irving. However, other players on the roster earned accolades prior to arriving in Durham.
Freshman Tyler Thornton was the Washington D.C. Gatorade Player-of-the-Year while fellow freshman Josh Hairston was the Maryland Gatorade Player-of-the-Year. After the St. Louis game, Associate Head Coach Chris Collins commented on the play of Thornton and Hairston, “I mean we felt great when the guys came off the bench. I mean Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton did a great job, especially in the second half. They hit us with a little run to start the half. We weren’t as happy with our energy coming out of halftime. We went to our bench and those guys played great.”
Prior to transferring to Duke, Seth Curry was the Big South Conference Freshman of the Year.
Andre Dawkins skipped his senior year of high school and enrolled at Duke early so he missed out on the opportunity to be named as a member of the various All American teams. However, he was a two-time first team NCSAA All-American.
Duke has all the requisite pieces required to be a champion.
It takes more than talented players to win a championship. It takes the right mix of players who complement each others game. A championship team needs perimeter players and inside players, jump shooters as well as players who can attack the rim, rebounding specialists and defensive specialists. Chemistry is vital to building a championship team.
Duke’s roster contains all of those individual pieces.
The freshman to sophomore jump is alive and well in Durham.
Andre Dawkins was inserted into the starting line-up for the Bradley game in response to Irving’s toe injury. Dawkins responded by scoring 28 points on 8-14 shooting on 3-pointers. After the game, Coach Krzyzewski stated, “It’s great; I hope it’s not a passing fancy. Andre has been, and I said it last week, Andre has been as consistent as anybody we’ve had this season including Kyle and Nolan and Kyrie. Andre has been solid, just really solid and was hitting with a limited amount of shots.”
Dawkins currently leads the ACC in 3-PT FG percentage at .536 and is averaging 12 points per game.
Mason Plumlee is averaging 8.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Against Michigan State, in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, Mason played 35 minutes, having five steals, to go along with a 10 points, 10 rebounds double-double. Coach Krzyzewski praised his performance, “Mason had to play 35 minutes with the foul trouble we had and they kept alternating bigs and Mason got a double-double and five steals. As obviously sensational as Kyrie was, quietly Mason was outstanding, he was outstanding.”
Mason’s high scoring game so far this season was against Marquette when the 6’10 big man exploded for 25 points on 12-16 shooting from the field. Additionally, he recorded 12 rebounds and five blocked shots. Mason leads the team in blocked shots.
Ryan Kelly scored a career high 13 points in the most recent game against Elon. Kelly is a versatile player with advanced passing skills and solid shooting ability. He has demonstrated rebounding and shot blocking skills as well. As his playing time increases, his game will continue to develop. Kelly is much better now than he was as a freshman, and he will most likely be much better in March compared to December.
Seth Curry is the fourth sophomore but he is two years removed from his freshman season due to sitting out last season after his transfer to Duke from Liberty. Curry has been a little inconsistent at times this season but he has demonstrated a solid shooting stroke and excellent wing defense skills. Curry has second most steals on the team behind Singler.
This team still needs to develop in several areas.
Duke is 11-0 and the unanimous number one ranked team in the country. The ACC schedule kicks off next week when the Miami Hurricanes visit Cameron Indoor Stadium, and with the conference schedule comes games against teams, and perhaps more importantly coaches, who are intimately familiar with the Blue Devils. Things are going to get tougher in January and February before the real test of March and hopefully April arrives. This Duke team is deep and talented with the senior leadership that provides an unlimited upside, so 2011 has the potential to be another great year, but everyone knows there is a lot of work to be accomplished over the next three and a half months.
Every team has to develop their unique identity but this year’s team has been thrown a curve ball with the injury to Irving. Therefore, a need exists for the team to rediscover who they are specifically in regard to playing style. Will the team continue to apply maximum pressure on the perimeter with an emphasis on creating turnovers? Or will they revert to last season’s style, which focused upon rebounding? On offense, will they push the ball at every opportunity? Or will they look to become a dominant half court offensive team?
There are a lot of questions and the answers will be forthcoming over the next month, all one has to do is watch. Coach Krzyzewski is a master at transforming a team.
Free throw shooting is another area where the team could improve. Duke is shooting .743 as a team; however, Mason Plumlee (.417), Miles Plumlee (.611) and Josh Hairston (.538) all have room to improve. In a close game, the ability of these players to convert from the free throw line could the decisive factor.
With 2011 literally just around the corner, it is time for Duke fans to sit back and enjoy the ride as Coach Krzyzewski and the Staff lead the Blue Devils in their pursuit of excellence. No one knows how the season will end, but it is apparent the 2011 Duke Blue Devils have all the pieces in place to make a serious run toward Houston and another national championship.
Kyrie Irving scores a career high 31 points to lead Duke past Michigan State 84-79, Photo Lance King for BDN
The Duke Blue Devils rode a 31 point effort from Kyrie Irving to take out pesky Michigan State 84-79 in a jam packed Cameron Indoor Stadium. With the win the Blue Devils go to 7-0 on the season and next entertain Butler in a rematch of last seasons national championship game. BDN takes a look at the win with our post game report.
Kyrie, Kyrie and Kyrie
Almost every question posed from the media was about Kyrie Irving no matter who they were talking to. I followed Irving on the AAU trail and saw him play 20 plus games before he set foot on campus so tonight's 31 point career high effort is no surprise to me. Irving blew up in the eyes of the national media tonight and the freshman made an early statement as the conferences best newcomer. Heck, he may be the best freshman in the nation. Irving was in short sensational ... wait I stole that from Krzyzewski. Irving's 13 made free throws is tops of any freshman in Duke history. His two blocked shots were a season high. Irving had been sick earlier in the week on Monday but returned to practice on Tuesday.
Sensational, superb, scintillating
When asked by media members to describe Irving's game Krzyzewski joked with the media member who asked him to use adjectives which you will hear in the post game audio below. Krzyzewski borrowed some from Dick Vitale but hey, they sounded original. Krzyzewski's mood was as expected good after beating a solid Spartans team.
Stars warm up just in time
After slow starts Kyle Singler and fellow senior Nolan Smith warmed up and both finished strong. Singler knocked down two three pointers after going 2 of 11 early on finishing with 15 points to go with 7 rebounds. Smith had a team high 5 assists to go with 17 points and he had back to back baskets during a key stretch run.
Mason Plumlee was a man
Mason had a double-double sure. But it was his 5 steals which really impressed and that earned him glowing comments from Krzyzewski. Plumlee has turned the corner of late and was an iron man in the game but he did not participate in post game interviews. The reason is he was immediately treated for a sprained ankle. Duke would not have won this game had Mason not played as well as he did. It's a game he can really build on.
Duke forces 20 turnovers
The Duke defense was especially good during a second half run an they forced the Spartans into 20 turnovers and scored a whopping 28 points. Michigan State forced Duke into 15 but scored just 14 off of theirs.
More notes - Duke moves to 11-1 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and their streak of home wins goes to 81. Duke has now won 17 straight games going back to last season. Duke has recorded ten or more steals in 5 of 7 games to date. Duke has trailed a grand total of three total minutes in all games this season. Duke has started 7-0 for the 12th time. Mason Plumlee now has three career double-doubles. Nolan Smith leads the ACC with 18 straight double figure scoring games.
Coach K left the podium at 12:20 and here are his comments verbatim -
My pal Lance King was on the scene and took this photo of the Champions
It was billed as a battle between two heavyweights and before tip off there was an NCAA Tournament atmosphere just two days shy of Thanksgiving. Duke came in with the target on their back and Kansas State thought they had set a trap but these Blue Devils had other ideas and when the dust cleared, it was evident that the nation's top rated team was not over-hyped.
Let's start with Coach K's 800th victory
Kansas City proved a good setting for Coach K's 800th career win in that it is rich in college basketball lore. A couple of days before Krzyzewski participated in the induction of one of his best players in Christian Laettner and the HOF atmosphere was appropriate in many ways. Face it, Coach K is a living legend and he now joins the rare few coaches who've been supremely successful in the game per their wins. The great thing is that Coach is fresher than ever and seems to be enjoying the success with no plans of ending the ride any time soon. Milestones are nothing new for Krzyzewski for they seem to keep on coming be it at Duke or coaching Team USA.
This is Kyrie Irving
Irving showed flashes of brilliance last evening, something I had seen before while covering him on the AAU circuit. The young man is a difference maker and he'll drive ACC coaches bonkers as the year goes on. He shared defensive assignments with his team on Kansas star guard Jacob Pollen who couldn't find any rhythm. Irving has some jets and he can score in droves but he's accepted a role on this team which is loaded with talent. In short, you ain't seen nothing yet.
The Blue Devils stole KSU's heart
Duke jumped on Kansas State early and weathered their best shot before demoralizing on of the nations top ranked teams. The Blue Devils took what looked to be a raucous crowd right out of the game and gave them no opportunity to get their team going by staying ahead double digits throughout most of the game. You could see the confidence on the faces of the players for Duke, in that they were loose and happy. Meanwhile, the Wildcat's players looked shell shocked and even when they cut it to 7 points in the second half, they looked frazzled. The body language of the KSU players spoke volumes.
Mason Plumlee
Plumlee had a nice couple of games and folks are seeing now what I had while covering him in high school. Plumlee is now the anchor of the Blue Devils front court and his play early in the game set the tone for other teammates to succeed. And make no mistake, the Wildcats game plan was to keep him off the boards, but they couldn't shut him completely down.
A little bit of leadership
When Duke needed a basket, Nolan Smith was there scoring 17 points and sharing top honors with Irving who had the same output. Smith was a steadying influence when KSU started any kind of run and his defense was a key factor.
And Mr. Offense became Mr. Defense
When Seth Curry comes off the Duke bench one expects a flurry and that's what fans got last night from the transfer. The thing is that we are not talking a bunch of threes but his abilities to play passing lanes and pick the ball out of the opponents hands. Curry had 5 steals and each one of them demoralized the Wildcats who saw the Duke backcourt coming at them in waves.
Mr. offensive efficiency
Talk about a spark off the bench! Andre Dawkins comes in and hits all of his field goal and free throw attempts and the basket looked like a giant barrel. Did any of his shots hit rim against KSU?
10-0 run was a knockout punch
Duke used a 10-0 second half run to thwart any hope Kansas State had at a comeback. The spurt game Duke a 62-47 lead with 12:13 left and they stretched that lead even more before settling on an 82-68 victory.
Kyle Singler
The pre season All American is playing for Duke and not individual accolades to date and that means Duke is even better. How scary is it knowing he's yet to hit his stride in an effort to get more teammates involved and keep Duke in the win column? I imagine he'll have a decent game against Oregon on Saturday for his homecoming and word is the his teammates will get some of his mom's home cooking.
We'll have more on the two games in Kansas City coming, so stay tuned to BDN for top notch coverage of all things Duke Basketball.
OFFICIAL GAME NOTES -
Team Notes:
- Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski earned his 800th career win while at Duke, becoming the fifth coach in NCAA history to win 800 games at one school. The win was the 873rd overall for Krzyzewski.
- The Blue Devils played in a game featuring two top-five teams for the first time since 2008 when the then second-ranked Blue Devils knocked off No. 3 North Carolina on the road, 89-78. Duke has won the last three matchups between top five teams and are 19-11 all-time under Krzyzewski in such games. The Blue Devils have also now won four straight games against ranked teams.
- Duke claimed the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic Championship to give them four straight in-season tournament titles. They also won the Maui Invitational (2007), 2K Sports Classic (2008) and NIT Season Tip-Off (2009) in the last three years. They have won 15 straight in-season tournament games.
- Duke freshman Kyrie Irving was named the CBE Classic Tournament MVP after recording 17 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals in the championship game. The last Duke freshman to receive MVP honors in an in-season tournament was Kyle Singler in the 2007 Maui Invitational. Irving was joined on the all-tournament team by sophomore Mason Plumlee, who had 10 points and five rebounds on Tuesday and 25 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in the semifinal win over Marquette.
- In the month of November, Duke has won 27 consecutive games since a loss to Marquette in the 2006 CBE Classic.
- Dating back to last season, the Blue Devils have now won 15 straight games.
- Duke improved to 5-0 for the fourth straight season and 19th time under Krzyzewski.
- The Blue Devils only trailed for 1:19 total minutes in the game. On the season Duke has only trailed for 2:15 of 200 total minutes. Duke has not trailed by more than two points at any point on the year.
- The Duke guards combined to hold Jacob Pullen, the AP preseason All-America and Big 12 preseason player of the year, to just four points on 1-of-12 shooting, including 1-of-8 from behind the three-point line. Pullen also had just one assist and four turnovers.
- Five Blue Devils scored in double figures, the third this season Duke has had at least five players score 10 points in a game. Entering the contest, six players were averaging over 10 points a game. Duke has had five different players lead the team in scoring in games this season with Irving becoming the fifth against Kansas State.
- For the second straight game, Duke held its opponent to 20 percent or less from three-point range. The Wildcats shot just .176 (3-of-17) from long range in the game, including 0-for-6 in the second half.
- On the other end, the Blue Devils made 6-of-12 (.500) from deep, the second time this year they have shot 50 percent or better from beyond the arc.
- Duke forced 21 turnovers, taking advantage with a 25-18 edge in points off turnovers. It is the third game that the Blue Devils have caused 20 or more turnovers this season. Of those 21 turnovers, 11 came on steals, giving them 10 or more in four of the five games.
Player Notes:
Seth Curry
- Sophomore Seth Curry registered a career-high five steals to more than double his season total of four from the previous four games. The last Duke player with five steals in a game was Jon Scheyer against Virginia last February.
Andre Dawkins
- Sophomore Andre Dawkins was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, including 3-of-3 from behind the three point line for 11 points. He has reached double figures in scoring in three games this season and in nine career contests.
- Dawkins has made at least three treys three times this year and in seven career games.
Kyrie Irving
- Freshman Kyrie Irving averaged 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game in the four games of the CBE Classic to earn MVP honors.
- He has now scored in double figures in each of his first five collegiate games, matching a season high with 17 points against Kansas State.
- Irving was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line and is now shooting .913 (21-of-23) from the charity stripe this season.
- He tied for the team lead with five rebounds, which ties his top total this year.
- The freshman guard continued to find his teammates with six assists and now has five or more in four of the five games this season.
- Irving also posted two steals and has two swipes in three contests.
Mason Plumlee
- Sophomore Mason Plumlee recorded his third game this season with 10 or more points.
- Plumlee matched a career high with four made free throws.
- He has a blocked shot in all five games this season, leading the team with 10 blocks.
Kyle Singler
- Senior Kyle Singler drew his team-leading 73rd consecutive start and has now started in 115 of his 116 career games.
- Singler scored in double figures for the 99th time in his career and fourth game this season.
- He was 2-of-2 from the free throw line and is now 13-of-14 (.929) through five games.
Nolan Smith
- Senior Nolan Smith extending his ACC-leading streak of double figure scoring games to 16 with his 17 points. He has scored 10 or more points in 29 of the last 30 games for the Blue Devils.
- Smith pulled down five rebounds to give him three games with five or more. He is averaging 5.0 per game this season after entering the year with a 2.2 career average
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