[private]The Blue Devil Nation talked basketball with Wojo this afternoon -
Steve Wojciechowski on his coaching role -
My role hasn't changed a great deal. Coach allows his assistants to do a lot of things. Whether game preparation or on court coaching. That's one of the best things about working as an assistant on Duke.
On playing Purdue on the road -
It was a great opportunity and a great time for a test and our team to go play in an environment which was sold out and hostile It's always good to see how your team will react in that kind of environment, because until you do it you don't know. We are happy that our kids defended and rebounded the ball very well, which have been big keys to our success this year.
Has the atmosphere changed since your playing days?
Not really. We get every team's best shot - the arena and fans as well. I can't remember a game where we've gone on the road and you felt like there was no atmosphere.
You seem to have more athleticism as a team and better front court play -
We're a different team than what you saw last year. We are growing into men's bodies. We have older kids and better depth. And knock on wood we are healthy. Our big guys have played very well defensively. For one we are healthy. Brian has played two years with a broken foot. Our guys are a year wiser, bigger and stronger, and the front court kids are doing real well for our team.
Kyle Singler is having a really nice season. Can you comment on him?
I think Kyle is one of the best players in the country. He really sets a tone for our team with his competitiveness and his will to win. I think those are his greatest attributes and he has a number of them. He plays the game the way it should be played and there is nobody on our team that has more fun than Kyle. You see that when he is out on the floor and the rest of our team should try to emulate that.
Duke must now play Michigan for a second time on their floor. What are your thoughts on the Wolverines?
I think the atmosphere will be much the same as Purdue. We've already gotten the word that it's a sell out. As a team they run a great system. Tremendous spacing offensively with really great shooters. They are very dangerous from behind the three point line. They play a very unique defense in the 1-3-1. You don't see that often. Having played them already we hope that works to our advantage. We are really looking forward to going up there and competing against a really good team.
Have you seen UNC play yet?
We were out recruiting last night, but I watched them when I got home. I had to make sure I (smiling) wasn't on the NBA channel after seeing them play. They're outstanding.
How is Greg Paulus doing with concerns to his injuries?
We'll be glad to get him back to 100%. I think it feels pretty good. What some people is that he was out most of the summer. As a player when you miss those large chunks of time - it's not easy. He continues to work himself back and for the most part I think he feels good. He's anxious to do whatever it takes to help our team win.
Blue Devil Nation was on hand for today's practice. Premium members have Q & A's with the likes of Coach K, Kyle Singler and Chris Collins. As you can see, Reggie Love was in town and enjoying himself as well. Blue Devil Nation Premium is a subscription service which focuses on Duke Athletics as well as recruiting information.[/private]
[private]Duke came into the game with Purdue undefeated in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and Boilermaker fans were chomping at the bit to get them in Mackey Arena. Tickets were going for as much as
Singler has 20 points and 12 rebounds/copyright BDNP
500.00 each on a cold Indiana evening and most of the nation was expecting a very competitive game.
Duke came out of the gate running to a 7-0 lead and they never looked back in route to a 76-60 win which lifts them to 8-0 for the season. To get to that undefeated record, the Blue Devils used three key areas of strength.
The first of course is stellar defense where they held Purdue to just 60 points on 37% shooting from the field. Add to that, just two made three point attempts for a team known for their accuracy behind the stripe.
The two Purdue stars, Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore were totally taken out of their game. Moore scored 10 points with all of them coming 30 minutes into the game. Hummel tallied 15 points to go with 10 boards, but Duke soph Kyle Singler frustrated the pre season Big Ten Player of the Year pick throughout the game.
Speaking of Singler, he continued his tenacious play with 20 points to go with a career tying effort 12 rebounds. He was clearly the best player on the court this evening and showed why he is one of the elite players in the land.
Then there was another nice effort from the free throw stripe which has also been and early season strength. They connected on 20 of 26 for the game while hitting many down the stretch not allowing a comeback attempt by the countries ninth ranked team.
The third area of mention which contributed to a convincing Blue Devil victory was their work on the boards where they out rebounded the home team by a whopping 49-29 margin. Krzyzewski made board work an off season priority and the team has improved significantly and was the second best rebounding team in the conference going into the game.
Speaking of board work, Brian Zoubek scored just 4 points, but garnered 8 rebounds in just eleven minutes of play. Not to be outdone, Henderson took his early season offensive struggles in stride by going to the glass for 8 defensive rebounds and led his team with five assists.
Jon Scheyer tied Singler for the scoring lead with twenty points, three being three point buckets. Smith who was in foul trouble throughout the contest added 12 points. Paulus had 7 points, McClure 6 and Thomas 5 points and the aforementioned Henderson 2 points to round out the scoring for Duke.
In the end, Duke showed their experience in making Purdue play their style of game. It was the Blue Devils most consistent effort from begging to end on the season as well. It was also a game which showed that Duke was having fun playing and that made for an impressive team effort.
Duke went to 10-0 in the Challenge and will now face Michigan for the second time this season in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
• The 2008-09 season marks the 10th year of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The ACC has won each of the first nine ACC/Big Ten Challenges. ACC teams have won 56 of the 87 games played over the 10 years. The ACC and Big Ten are currently tied 3-3 in the challenge with five games remaining to be played on Wednesday.
• Duke is 10-0 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, including a 3-0 record in true road games. Boston College (3-0) is the only other undefeated team in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The previous two road games for the Blue Devils came against Michigan State in 2003 (W, 72-50) and Indiana in 2005 (W, 75-67).
• Duke improved to 8-0 with a victory on Tuesday, marking the fourth time in the past five seasons they have won their first eight games. The Blue Devils have now started the season 8-0 a total of 20 times.
• Under Mike Krzyzewski Duke has started 8-0 a total of 15 times in his 29 years. Since the 2000-01 season, the Blue Devils have gotten off to an 8-0 start in seven of the nine seasons.
• The school record for most wins to start a season is 17 set by the 1991-92 national championship team and the 2005-06 squad.
• The Blue Devils played their first true road game of the 2008-09 season on Tuesday at Purdue. Duke has now won 12 of its last 13 road openers with the only loss coming at Georgia Tech on Jan. 10, 2007. Under Coach K, Duke now has a 22-7 record in road openers.
• In overall road games, Duke has now posted a 185-95 record under Coach K. The Blue Devils have posted a winning record on the road in five straight seasons and 11 of the past 12 years. Since 1996-97, Duke has recorded an 90-30 (.750) record on the road.
• Duke began December with a 16-point victory at Purdue on Tuesday. Under Coach K, the Blue Devils now have a 153-24 all-time record in the month of December.
• The Blue Devils are now 45-2 in December since 1999-2000 with the only losses coming to No. 3 Stanford (84-83) on Dec. 21, 2000 and No. 11 Pittsburgh in overtime (65-64) on Dec. 20, 2007.
• When playing on Dec. 2, Duke is now 15-5 all-time, including a 9-2 record under Coach K.
• Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski earned his 811th victory as a head coach on Tuesday. He ranks fifth all-time in NCAA Division I history for career victories and is first among active coaches.
• Krzyzewski is now 19 victories shy of Jim Phelan for fourth all-time.
• Coach K now has 738 wins as the head coach at Duke, ranking him sixth in NCAA Division I history for victories at one school and second among active coaches (Jim Boeheim, Syracuse – 771). Krzyzewski is 21 wins shy of Western Kentucky’s Ed Diddle for fifth all-time.
• Krzyzewski’s 811 victories are the second most by a head coach through 34 years of coaching. Only Dean Smith of North Carolina won more games with 830 victories.
• Duke scored 76 points against Purdue and has scored at least 70 points in all eight games of 2008-09. The Blue Devils are 652-129 under Coach K when scoring 70 or more points.
• The Blue Devils made 8-of-22 (.364) from behind the three-point line. In the last two games, Duke has 18 made treys after only making 19 in its previous four outings.
• Duke made 20-of-26 (.769) from the free throw line. It was the fourth time this season the Blue Devils made at least 20 free throws. Purdue only attempted 20 free throws, making it six of the eight games this year that Duke has made as much or more free throws than its opponent has attempted.
• The Blue Devils outrebounded the Boilermakers 49-29. Duke has outrebounded its opponents 339-248 on the season, a margin of +11.4 per game. The Blue Devils have now grabbed at least 20 more rebounds than its opponent twice this season.
• Duke had 16 offensive rebounds, the third time on the season they have had at least 15 offensive boards. The offensive rebounds led to an 18-9 advantage in second chance points.
• Duke held Purdue to 60 points and has now held its opponent to 60 or fewer points in six of the eight games this season.
• Purdue shot just .373 (22-of-59) from the field on Tuesday. The Blue Devils have held six opponents to under 40 percent from the floor this year. Duke is 285-9 under Coach K when holding an opponent under 40 percent shooting.
• The Blue Devils also held Purdue to just 2-of-13 (.154) from behind the three-point line. It marked the second straight game and third time this season the Blue Devils held an opponent under 20 percent from long range. It was the 121st time in school history the Blue Devils have held its opponent under 20 percent from deep. Duke has a 109-12 record in those contests.
• The two made treys by Purdue were a season low by a Duke opponent. The Boilermakers were averaging 7.7 made three-point field goals per game coming into Tuesday’s contest.[/private]
John Wall played in Cameron during the Gibbons TOC
The undercurrent of information has been a little quiet of late, mainly due to the flurry of November and early December games. But some tidbits are starting to trickle back in and December will allow us to cover the likes of John Wall and current commitments in person as their seasons are now in full swing. Here is an update on Duke targets -
[private] Harrison Barnes is set to begin his high school basketball season. You can follow his team by going to this LINK. Duke is in weekly touch with Barnes and they feel as if there is a solid relationship foundation which they will build upon.
There are a lot of questions concerning John Wall, but one must first understand that his camp is in no hurry to amp up his recruitment. Much like Boynton's recruitment, this one will go on for awhile, so you may as well relax until Spring. Duke is in constant touch with his camp and the two have been trying to work out an on campus visit. With the Blue Devils playing in season, they must keep their concentration on the business at hand while continuing their get to know Wall efforts. Coach K is the lead in this one, but he will be assisted by his entire staff. Most recently, Coach K and Nate James visited a Church of God game to check out Wall. They will cover his games when they can throughout his entire season. Wall has a handler named Brian Clifton. Handlers are always under scrutiny in recruiting circles for many of them have been known to sink their claws in for eventual favors. There is no reason to believe that this is the case with concerns to John in that they stepped in when he needed some guidance. In short, one never knows for sure. Wall is likely a one and done player and he could go many ways with his eventual choice. He would be in a really high profile situation at Duke, which works to both parties advantage. He could go to other schools and coast through while being the man. The Blue Devil Nation will keep close tabs on this situation which is in it's infancy at this time.
Our most recent interview was with Josh Smith who has the Devils on his list. Duke will not back out, but they are looking for and or paying attention to how his family handles the recruitment. The Smith's have not ruled out an early commitment and if that happens you can bet it's going to be on the West Coast. This one will not get real serious until March or April. It remains to be seen if Smith pays his own way for a Triangle visit. If this happens, he will likely visit Duke and UNC.
Duke talks to Brandon Knight in one way or another weekly. A lot of rumors have said he is Florida bound, but he hasn't told the Devils this. As you can see rumors are a dime a dozen in that he got out of a recent UF visit while not committing. While Boynton is at UF, this duo has to breakup at some point and time and college may be that time. Knight was a confessed UConn fan growing up and certainly has ties in his home state. UF has been managing to keep their own in state of late and common sense tells you that it can sometimes be a better "family" choice than an individual one. Knight knows Duke wants him, but Wall is at the forefront until he makes his selection.
Duke will not settle on other 2010 prospects until the picture clears with current prospects. You can bet that they will be out and about as soon as the AAU season opens looking for kids that fit.
While it has been a slow period for recruiting news, it's on the verge of picking up. We'll be covering John Wall and others at the upcoming Glaxo Invitational just after Christmas. We are also preparing for the use of video come AAU season and some almost real time ways of reporting.
As many long time members know, there are slow periods and then it opens up like a severe storm without warning. We are carrying most of our in season current player interviews to premium starting at the end of this week. This is coverage that cannot be found at Scout or some other sites.
We've been stretched a little thin of late, but I expect to finally make some long awaited additions in the coming days. We will hopefully have photo galleries back soon. As usual, thanks for being a part of the Blue Devil Nation. [/private]
[private]The Duke players and staff barely had time to unpack their bags after two victories in New York before taking on Montana early this afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke had little problem in disposing of their opponent in route to 78-58 a victory.
Once again, Duke was bolstered by its defense and balanced offensive attack. Four players managed double figure scoring for the fourth time in five games this season.
Leading the way was Nolan Smith and Gerald Henderson with 14 points each. Smith has been successful at taking over the point guard role this season while "G," as he is known by teammates, is starting to assert himself.
Kyle Singler chipped in 13 points and Jon Scheyer went for 12 as Duke improved to 6-0 on the young season.
Brian Zoubek continued to get his timing back after off season surgery, having a solid effort of 8 points and 7 rebounds.
Zoubek and the Devils out rebounded the Grizzlies 42-26, holding them under 60 points for the season. For that matter, the Blue Devils have held all of their opponents, save Rhode Island to under 60 this season.
The win gave Krzyzewski his 809th career victory and Duke won 63rd consecutive game against non conference opponents at home.
Duke looks to go 7-0 on Friday versus Duquesne in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Make no mistake that the players and coaches alike, will take advantage of a much needed Thanksgiving break.
It's unusual for a team to play six games in November, so the break is coming at a much needed time. Despite a day or two off, you can bet that Coach K will quickly gravitate toward game tape shortly after a feast during Holiday gatherings.
Duke has shown that they will be a team that thrives on defensive pressure first while letting its offensive chemistry develop. All things considered, the team is right where it wants to be early - undefeated despite putting its best game on the court yet.
Note - This game was originally scheduled after Thanksgiving, but Montana could only play the game at this time.
Today's K-ments -
I think today we did a good job against a team that played really hard against us. To me, it capped off a great week for us. You play eight games in four days, and three of the days you’re in New York with not a lot of practice time. I thought our kids played hard for all four games, and they played hard again today. We were able to look at a few things today just in our substitution. There wasn’t a substitution pattern, there were things we were trying to look at as far as who was out there at this particular time instead of subbing en masse. We had 10 guys in double-figure minutes, and that was by design to take a look at a bunch of things. And we wanted to give Greg [Paulus] some recovery time, because he’s just been playing injured. Hopefully the three or four days we can give him will bring that injury along a little bit better. It’s just kind of staying there and that’s hard for him because he wants to play so badly. All of sudden now Jon [Scheyer] was handling the ball, Elliot [Williams] was on the ball and things like that, so it was good for us to take a look at those things.”
“He’s never recovered. He’s played the last three ball games hurt. You can see it, I can see it in his shot, in how he extends. It’s just not good yet. It’s a bad bruise and we had an MRI taken against yesterday just to make sure there wasn’t anything in there that we hadn’t seen, and everything they thought was still the right way. It’s part of your body that gets hit a lot in our game. I think it was a wise decision, and it was tough for him to make it because that kid wants to play all the time, but let’s hope it helps.”
On Nolan Smith -
“I just want him to keep developing. He’s got a tough position, and it wears on you mentally, not just physically, when you’re responsible for running a team. Last year he didn’t have to do this as the primary guy and all of a sudden this is the fourth game of the week and he’s going to have different people there, and Greg is not going to play for him or with him. I got on him a little bit saying ‘Remember what’s going on today’ and I thought he responded real well and had that burst scoring wise. In the second half, I just reminded him again. How do you get better mental toughness? You do it by not just practice, but you do it by going through these situations. I thought he did a good job today.”
On the freshmen’s development, especially Miles Plumlee and Elliot Williams -
“Elliot brings an enthusiasm to play. You can tell right away that he wants to be really good. That doesn’t mean the other guys don’t want to be really good, but you can see it. He showed that up in New York. I was really impressed with how Elliot played up in New York on that stage. He looked like he belonged. When I watch tape, I see some things that you don’t see. Sometimes things just jump off the screen, and his stance really jumped off the screen up in New York. He was so wide and moving so well. He can be really good. In Miles’ case, Miles has a lot of ability and I think when you’re a big guy, it’s such a huge difference from playing in high school to college. The physicality of the game, which distracts you, but he’s got a lot of ability. We just have to keep giving him minutes, and playing with Brian [Zoubek] in practice like that is good for him. And playing with Kyle and Lance, all of sudden the familiarity of playing that way will develop. He’s a kid that could really shoot up quickly once he gets more comfortable on the court.”
“Brian’s primary thing was his injury. Brian’s a good basketball player. All of sudden he doesn’t have that [injury], he’s lost some weight and he’s running better. Brian runs well for a guy his size. He wears down a little bit, because you’re running a pretty big body. I’m really proud of the way Brian’s working at this thing.”
On the break -
“They’ll have Monday off and we’ll come back Tuesday to practice. I didn’t know it because we were in Maui last year that school ends on Tuesday here, so Wednesday becomes a really good day for us. Then it’s Thanksgiving, and then we play and we start another stretch until Michigan and then it’s exams. When we come back we have to look at that period from Tuesday’s practice until when we get back from Michigan as another segment. We’ve ended this segment pretty well and then we go into another one.”
[private]The Duke Men's Basketball team went to 5-0 on the young season defeating Michigan 71-56 to win the 2K Coaches for Cancer Classic. Michigan an upstart winner over #4 UCLA struggled against the Devils vaunted man to man defense.
Duke held the Wolverines to 35% from the field and shut down the majority of their scorers in the process. Duke travels to Ann Arbor on December 6th for a rematch.
Duke was led in scoring by Nolan Smith (16 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds) and Kyle Singler (15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists).
Singler was named the tournaments Most Valuable Player after his well rounded performances.
“Kyle is one of the best players in the country and knows how and wants to play defense. With his length, throughout his career when he is a pro player, he will be playing out in the perimeter all of the time. We like to use our guys in that manner," stated Krzyzewski.
Duke was once aided by free throw shooting, going to the line 25 times while making 19 of them.
While the victory wasn't always a pretty win on the eyes, the defensive efforts was text book. One must remember that the ideal time for a team to blossom is March and not November.
Duke is still a team searching for the right chemistry and in doing so they will play several lineups and styles. Last evening it appeared that Duke chose not to push the ball up the floor and worked more on their half court sets.
There were several positives coming from New York besides the victory. The continued improvement of Brian Zoubek was huge and if this continues it will no doubt make Duke a stronger team this season.
The two games also allowed talented junior Gerald Henderson to assert himself. His play landed him on the all tournament team.
Duke has a brief moment of rest before rolling back into Cameron Indoor Stadium for a 1:00 game with Montana. The game as always will be televised - this time on FSN-South or NESN.[/private]
[private]While many fans were expecting UCLA to be in the finals, the Wolverines proved that their program was on the upswing with a 55-52 upset win. Much of this is due to their new coach John Beilein who has his club at 3-0.
Many of you will remember Beilein as the coach of an inspired West Virginia team which knocked Duke out of the NCAA's last season. That is one of the main story lines going in. Another story line is that the Blue Devils travel to Ann Arbor on December 6th, meaning these two clubs twice in 15 days.
Michigan employs a tricky 1-3-1 zone which befuddled the Bruins. The Wolverines got 19 points from DeShaun Sims who controlled the game in the paint. Then there is Manny Harris and a cast of kids who can shoot the three, a Beilein trademark.
Duke shot more free throws than Michigan and UCLA hit and missed combined. It's no secret that the Blue Devils will hope to get to the line again and I expect to see the ball go inside early and often in that Beilein will defend the three with his zone.
Another key will be which team dictates their tempo. Duke wants to run up and down, while Michigan will be a bit more controlled or methodical. Both teams have now adjusted to New York, but it's a mystery as to whether Michigan will play loose. For that matter, Duke was pretty tight in the first half with their offense struggling.
I think Michigan will come out strong and implement their game plan, but as the game goes on, Duke will find a way to counter. Once Duke has Michigan playing in transition, fouls should mount up. Then again, if the 1-3-1 zone works as it's suppose to, passing lanes and relocation of the ball is difficult, which would force Duke to seek cutters to the rim.
While this may sound odd, if you are watching on TV, the rim to the right is extremely tight, while the one on the left seems loose. This was evident to me in last seasons Duke-Pitt game. In short, lets hope the Devils have the left rim last.
sold out and hostile It's always good to see how your team will react in that kind of environment, because until you do it you don't know. We are happy that our kids defended and rebounded the ball very well, which have been big keys to our success this year.
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