My First Duke Game

Now that my pictures have arrived (thanks!), I can share with you the details of my first Duke game this past Saturday. This was an exhibition against Barton College - where no player is over 6'6". Not that it matters at all, but Duke won 105-44.

Freshman note: Kyle Singler (27 points on 10-12 shooting, 10 rebounds, 2 assists) is going to be VERY good. Great basketball IQ (i.e., he anticipates the plays, and makes the right ones), scrappy, and has a lot of heart. All of those intangibles that you just can't teach.

The point guard position will be interesting, but if they give Nolan Smith a start, this kid shows a lot of promise. He finished with 18 points. I predict that he'll get some good minutes in place of Greg Paulus. Since this was an exhibition game, they weren't really running too many plays, but it looks like there will be a lot more fast break points with Singler and sophomore Gerald Henderson. Henderson added 16 points and 7 boards to the total.

I won't re-hash the preview I gave prior to my visit, but suffice it to say that this team definitely will be faster than last year, and shouldn't have a problem making up for the void left by Josh McRoberts.

Enjoy the pics. And thank you to my "photographer" who let me borrow the camera to snap a few myself!

Coach K

The Duke bench, at the time the picture was taken anyway.

Battling (not sure who that is, just know it's not Pocius - #5).

DeMarcus Nelson at the free throw line. He spent a lot of time there, which means he's driving to the hole, which is always a good thing (unless you're playing Duke).