The college basketball season is upon us.  The Duke Blue Devils get things underway with back to back games starting Friday with Siena and ending with Bryant on Saturday evening.  Due to the close proximity of these games, we take a look at both contests.

About Siena

A season ago, Siena was picked pre season 2nd in the MAAC but injuries derailed high hopes and they finished in the bottom four of their league.  This season the Saints are once again picked 2nd in the MACC, the reason being that Brett Bisping and Imah Silas are healthy.  Unlike the Blue Devils two exhibition opponents, the Saints front line will present a challenge.  Led by the aforementioned Bisping, Imah Silas and the now eligible Javion Ogunyemi, the Saints are quite formidable up front.  The Siena backcourt will be led by Marquis Wright who will be leaned upon to get the ball in the paint to a talented trio.  Ryan Oliver will likely get the start at the shooting guard spot for the Saints against Duke.

What to expect

The Siena front court can challenge Duke in the paint and likely will at times on Friday evening.  However, unless the Saint get some open looks from three point line and knock them down, they will have little hope of derailing the Blue Devils.  Look for Duke to try to pressure the Saints in this contest while trying to get their running game going which should not allow the Saints to sit back in a tight zone.  Getting some points off the break will be key for Duke as will  solid rebounding to make this happen.  Duke wins this game for sure in my opinion but the players will likely see that the regular season is a far cry from the previous two exhibition games in terms of competitiveness.

Enter Bryant

Duke will have little time to move on to their next opponent this weekend as they take on Bryant in a Saturday evening in a game scheduled to tip off at 8:00.  The Bulldogs are picked 3rd in the NEC, due to a nucleus of three players.  They will be led by All Conference performer Dan Garvin who helped lead his team to a  12-6 league mark a season ago.  Bosko Kostur and Shane McGlaughlin will also be key contributors and they both have solid game experience.  Expect het Bulldogs to lean heavily on the three aforementioned players in that they lost two double figure scorers off last years team.

What to expect

I expect Duke to employ a similar strategy as they do against Siena.  The team will look to get out and run for a reason as I will mention shortly.  Expect Duke to come away with a 2-0 record when the dust clears having played a lot of players and combinations.  The staff is still very much learning this years team and Bryant will be a dress rehearsal before Duke takes on Kentucky on Tuesday evening.  Let me be clear in saying that both Siena and Bryant are solid teams in their leagues and each could wake the Blue Devils up to early season weaknesses.

Looming Giant ...

Make no mistake that Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski will not allow his team to look ahead.  But the rest of the world cannot help to do so in that the game with Kentucky in Chicago looms.  Duke is very young and they will be tested with three games in five days to start the season.  Krzyzewski will use the two openers to teach various lessons and may well orchestrate certain situations to see how his team reacts.  I think Duke will get out and run at times in the first two games in that Kentucky will press the Blue Devils with their line up.  Anyhow, enough on that game for now.

The bottom line ...

Duke will learn more about themselves as a team by the end of Saturday evening.  Make no mistake in thinking that Duke doesn't schedule teams who can challenge for their league each season.  This is not Mike Krzyzeski's first rodeo and he knows how to make sure his team is tested.

Additional Notes

The Duke-Siena game starts at 7:00 and will be televised by ESPNU.  The Bryant game is slated for ESPN3 and is the only game Duke plays on that network all season long.  ESPN3 presents a challenge to watch for some fans.  That, coupled with the fact that this game will be after the Duke-Pitt football game in Wallace Wade will likely make this game a tougher ticket. Of course all Duke home games in Cameron have been sold out since a game with Boston Colelge in the pre season NIT many moons ago.  Coach Mike Krzyzewski enters the season with an NCAA record 1018 career wins.  Duke has been ranked 479 weeks in the Top Ten under his watch.  Should Duke Senior Captain Amile Jefferson earn All ACC Academic honors this season, he will be the first player to do so all four years.  Duke has won 30 or more games in four of the past five seasons which is one incredible achievement.