Just when you thought they were finished, the Duke Blue Devils are back.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski has a great recruiting class, increased depth, and solid senior leadership for the first time in a few years.
Much of the college basketball world looked on with joy last season as Duke self-destructed, ending a run of futility to finish the season with a loss to Virginia Commonwealth.
A lot of questions surrounding last year's team circled around leadership, Josh McRoberts' confidence (or lack thereof), depth, cohesiveness...the list goes on.
Coach K's team went down in a fashion we haven't seen since Pete Gaudette was at the helm during Cherokee Parks' final Blue Devil season, when they went 13-18 overall and 2-14 in the ACC.
The Devils won the Maui, with super frosh Kyle Singler leading the way. (FYI: If you hated JJ Reddick you are going to despise Singler. He's just that good.)
Demarcus Nelson has proven to be a good floor leader, stepping into the role as the only senior on the team. Singler and fellow freshmen Nolan Smith and Taylor King have given the Devils added depth.
Gerald Henderson's athleticism and extreme vertical and short range game have drawn comparison to former Duke great Grant Hill. Greg Paulus looks to be over last season's injuries and illness and is running the show for the Devils very effectively.
Due to depth, and possibly lack of a true full-time center, this team really gets up and down the floor more than any Duke team in recent memory.
After Duke beat Marquette to win the Maui, they all but shut down Dominic James, then followed that performance with wins against Eastern Kentucky and a completely dismantled Brian Butch-led Wisconsin.
While it's still early, these were big wins for the Devils that helped get last season out of their minds.
It would appear this Duke team has more scoring potential since Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, and Hill-graced Cameron Indoor Stadium with back-to-back championship banners and trophies.
Can this team live up to that hype?
It's hard to tell this early in the season, but come Final Four time, the nation will once again realize the hatred they have for the Dukies and their Cameron Crazies as the Devils make a bid for a Championship.
5 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Dave Finocchio about 1 year ago
This is a throw-back Duke team: live and die by the three and out work the other team at all costs.
It's great to see less McRoberts...and more guys who give it their all / don't hate their school.
They'll be a hell of a lot of fun to watch this year.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Just when you thought they were finished? Nobody really thought the Blue Devils were finished did they? You have to understand that last year's team had no seniors and only 1 junior (Nelson). Duke has had a few down years not because they were in decline but because we had some players leave early when they were not expected to do so. Luol Deng left after his freshman season. Shaun Livingston chose the NBA over Duke and Humphries was let out of his letter of intent to go play for Minn for 1 year before heading to the NBA. That left Duke young and not deep. What's happening now is that they are back on track because after a few years the recruiting has caught up. This year's Duke team is pretty good. Is still very young but they have great chemistry and lots of talent and a coach who's trying out a few new things he learned coaching the national team (thanks Mike D'Antoni, thanks Coach Boeheim!). They were never finished, just restocking the cupboard. I was at that Wisconsin game. It looked worse in person than it did on TV, the Badgers never had a chance.
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Michael Whittenberg about 1 year ago
He needs to recruit more players with athleticism, none of the top high school recruits commit to Duke any more.
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Major Kelchner about 1 year ago
Singler was a top 5 recruit.
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Tori Willis about 1 year ago
reminder... the devils never actually LEFT. they had a great season last year before their ending slump.
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