Duke Basketball is Back

Coach Mike Krzyzewski thinks this team has the ability to make special things happen, "We're trying to personalize a system for this team. We've tried to do that every year; it's just that this team has more weapons. We're deeper and more experienced than last year."
After last years disappointing 22-11 season and finishing 6th in the highly competitive ACC Conference, sports commentators were writing Duke off and believed that it was officially the end of a dynasty. Well, anybody who thought along those lines were dead wrong. Duke is out to make a statement this year in basketball. They are undefeated in both the Maui EA Sports Invitational and the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. They won the Maui Tournament in 1992, 1997, 2001, and now they have won this year. The win against Marquette was a statement on how the Duke team will play this year. Their speed and tenacity on defense allows them to stop aggressive attacks from teams with great point guard play. And after watching them the other night against Wisconsin (which kept them undefeated in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the only team without a loss in the challenge), which had four players taller than any other Duke player, it is obvious that this Duke team will not be intimidated by size. Through their speed and athleticism, Duke barely lost the rebound battle 42-40, while also scoring 17 fast-break points (quintessential Duke basketball). Duke plays defense and has now added the threat of playing zone on teams, a deadly combination with their fast-break offense. But one of the biggest differences I have seen this year are the points coming off the bench. Last year, the Duke bench only scored about 17 points a game, while this year they are averaging over 33 points a game. This difference plus the difference in total points scored per game will allow Duke to shut down opponents on the defensive end while running the score up on the other. Shame on those people who thought the Duke dynasty was over. I could not be more excited about this upcoming season, or next season where Duke has already signed the #3 shooting guard in the country (Elliot Williams) and the #27 power forward in the country (Olek Czyz), while only losing ONE senior. Screw UNC, Hansborough, and all the pre-season hype. Let's see what happens when they have the mismatches against Kyle Singler, DeMarcus Nelson, and Gerald Henderson. In March, this team will at least make the Sweet 16, if not, the Elite Eight. Get off bitches.