Earlier this week, Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Kyle Singler caught up with Krzyzewskiville Head Line Monitor Roberto Bazzani just outside K-Ville. The players learned some of K-Ville’s inside details from the Duke senior in charge of maintaining order in the tent city and ensuring the undergraduate section of Cameron is as packed as possible.
LT: It can get pretty cold out here. Is there anything the Crazies can have in their tents to warm up?
RB: Unfortunately, the fire marshal is kind of a nuisance in that sense. They can’t have anything inside their tents that provides heat because they are pretty flammable.
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JS: How long have people been tenting so far and when is the date of the game they are tenting for?
RB: The first tent got out here December 6th so they have been out here for over a month now. The first game they are tenting for is the Maryland game, which is February 13th, and then the second game is the UNC game obviously, which is March 8th. So, they’ll be out here for awhile.
RB: Unfortunately, the fire marshal is kind of a nuisance in that sense. They can’t have anything inside their tents that provides heat because they are pretty flammable.
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JS: How long have people been tenting so far and when is the date of the game they are tenting for?
RB: The first tent got out here December 6th so they have been out here for over a month now. The first game they are tenting for is the Maryland game, which is February 13th, and then the second game is the UNC game obviously, which is March 8th. So, they’ll be out here for awhile.
KS: Roberto, are you a tenter yourself?
RB: I have been in the past, but not anymore. I can’t handle the cold weather as well as some of these kids can.
JS: What is the coolest thing you have seen in a tent this year?
RB: We’ll call it a ping-pong table — Maybe not specifically for ping-pong. They have TVs in there, they hook up X-Box. They pretty much move their dorm rooms out here. It is pretty nice.
LT: How does the tenting process work? Does someone have to be in the tent at all times?
RB: They have to have one person at all times during the day and then at night time they have to have eight people there from 10 until 7 AM Sunday through Thursday night. On Friday and Saturday night, they get to go out a little later, so they have to have eight there from 2 AM to 10 AM.
JS: How many people are in each tent group?
RB: 12 per tent, so they rotate and have schedules.
LT: What about the really small tents? What are those used for?
RB: Those are the supply tents. They keep their wet shoes and other stuff in there.
KS: What is bed time out here? What time do people usually go to sleep?
RB: It depends on the night. There are people out here that stay up until 2 AM just hanging out and talking, and there are people who go to bed around 10. It is just like the dorms, whatever people want.
KS: How many tents are out here now?
RB: There are about 27 right now. In a couple weeks it will pick up and there will be about 100 tents out here.
JS: Alright, thanks Roberto, can we maybe check out some tents.
RB: Yeah no problem…
JS: Let’s do it.
NBA.com Duke Stats
Top Performer
Corey Maggette has been a star player for the Clippers all season long while Elton Brand recovers from his Achilles tendon injury, but in the past couple of weeks, he has raised his game to a new level. Corey has scored 20+ points in each of the past six games, including a monstrous game on January 19th, when he led the Clippers to a win over the New Jersey Nets with 31 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He followed that up two days later with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals in loss to Carlos Boozer’s Utah Jazz. For the month, Maggette is averaging 22.0 points per game and shooting 55% from the field.
Corey Maggette has been a star player for the Clippers all season long while Elton Brand recovers from his Achilles tendon injury, but in the past couple of weeks, he has raised his game to a new level. Corey has scored 20+ points in each of the past six games, including a monstrous game on January 19th, when he led the Clippers to a win over the New Jersey Nets with 31 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He followed that up two days later with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals in loss to Carlos Boozer’s Utah Jazz. For the month, Maggette is averaging 22.0 points per game and shooting 55% from the field.
Line of the Week
Last week we mentioned Mike Dunleavy’s terrific performance is his first trip back to Golden State since last year’s trade. The Pacers weren’t able to pull out the victory in that game, but Dunleavy delivered another dominating performance the next night back in Indiana, powering the Pacers to a victory over the Warriors with 24 points (including 11-of-11 from the line), 9 rebounds, and 2 assists. Mike is averaging 20.8 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field in his last five games.
Mike Dunleavy had a pair of nice outings against his former team, Golden State
Injury Update
Unfortunately for Blue Devil fans, most of the news this week is about players who haven’t been able to play. Elton Brand has been sidelined all season by an Achilles Tendon injury but is progressing nicely in his rehab. He will be examined at the end of January to determine whether he is ready to progress to the next stage, which includes running at full speed and jumping off both feet. If things continue to go well, we can hope to see Elton back on the court by the end of February or early March.
Unfortunately for Blue Devil fans, most of the news this week is about players who haven’t been able to play. Elton Brand has been sidelined all season by an Achilles Tendon injury but is progressing nicely in his rehab. He will be examined at the end of January to determine whether he is ready to progress to the next stage, which includes running at full speed and jumping off both feet. If things continue to go well, we can hope to see Elton back on the court by the end of February or early March.
In Chicago, both of the Bulls’ Blue Devils are experiencing injury problems. Luol Deng has been bothered on-and-off for weeks with a sore Achilles tendon, and last week was no exception. He has now missed four games in January and been significantly limited in at least two others. There is no word on how long Luol can expect to be affected by the injury. Chris Duhon is also out for 7-10 days with a bruised knee. Duhon, well-known for playing through pain at many times during his career, both in the NBA and at Duke, had started the last 13 games for Chicago, helping them to a 7-6 record in that span, before sitting out Monday’s game against Memphis. An MRI that day revealed no structural damage to the knee.
Grant Hill is recovering nicely from surgery to remove his appendix on January 9th, having practiced at full speed on Monday and ready to play in Tuesday’s game against the Bucks. “I had to get back because I was running out of suits,” joked Hill Monday.
Duke Blue Planet NBA Fantasy League Update
All the injuries are taking their toll on Duke’s standing in the Fantasy League. While still easily in third place and well over 1000 points ahead of fourth-place Florida, the hobbled Blue Devils have fallen further behind the leaders thanks to missing three of their top five fantasy players for a significant portion of the past month.
1. Connecticut Huskies: 10,224.6
2. North Carolina Tar Heels: 9965.1
3. Duke Blue Devils: 8762.9
4. Florida Gators: 7094.6
5. Arizona Wildcats: 6586.3
6. Kentucky Wildcats: 6207.9
7. Kansas Jayhawks: 5502.1
Scoring summary: one point for each point scored, 1.5 point for each rebound, two points for each assist, steal or block, 0.5 points for each 3-pointer made, and -1.2 points for each turnover. Field-goal percentage is included by subtracting 0.2 points for each field goal attempt and adding 0.5 points for each field goal made, which would mean you break even by shooting 40% from the field.
Quote of the Week
“[Mike] Dunleavy is having his most productive and enjoyable season under Jim O’Brien, who understands how to utilize his skills and appreciates them. He’s averaging a team high 17.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and is shooting 49 percent from the floor and 85 percent from the line.”
-New York Post columnist Peter Vecsey (January 20, 2008)
After waiting all day and in many cases overnight, the Cameron Crazies appeared to be more densely packed in their storied gym than any element the science majors among them had ever studied in their labs. ESPN was in the house, ready to beam the contest into homes all over the country. A strong, athletic, nationally-ranked ACC foe was gearing up to make a statement against a Duke program they hadn’t defeated since 1995. It was a perfect setting for hoops: A 6:00 PM start on Saturday allowed for the anticipation to steadily build as the weekend moved ahead, while not losing steam as it might for a 9:00 PM tip. The chilly temperatures and light snowfall outside seemed like an open invitation from the basketball gods to hurry inside a warm gym. And it was about as hot as ever inside Cameron Indoor Stadium for No. 7 Duke vs. No. 24 Clemson…
The Blue Devils and Tigers opened the contest like two prize fighters in a boxing match, feeling each other out and preparing for what the opponent has in store for the night. After Clemson pulled ahead 12-11, Duke came out firing, building an early double-figure lead and hitting 10 of 11 shots, with a Jon Scheyer three-pointer capping a 15-2 burst that made it 26-14 with 11 minutes left in the first half. It was obvious from the opening tip that the speedy Blue Devils wanted to push the tempo on both ends, hoping to assert their will on a bigger, stronger, but slightly slower Clemson team. However, the Tigers were not going to lay down, instead showing their muscle, relentlessly crashing the boards and applying their own full-court press, pulling within 41-38 on a three-pointer with 32 seconds left in the opening half.
At the break, Clemson was out-rebounding Duke by a 20-9 margin, hauling in more boards on the offensive end (12) than the Blue Devils had grabbed all game. “They had just owned the boards,” said Coach K. “At halftime, I just drew a little circle around the bucket. I said, ‘We’re dominating the other parts of the court, but they’re dominating that part. And they’re dominating it so much that if it continues, it doesn’t matter what we do on the other part of the court.’”
Despite Duke’s ambitions to better control the boards, Clemson opened the second half with the same confidence and momentum they had built in closing the first half. By the 13:40 mark, the Tigers claimed their first and what would be their only lead of the second half, 55-54. It was around this time that Duke’s resolve, Cameron’s magic, and the Crazies’ spirit teamed to hit their peak as a unit that would not be denied on this Saturday night.
Despite Duke’s ambitions to better control the boards, Clemson opened the second half with the same confidence and momentum they had built in closing the first half. By the 13:40 mark, the Tigers claimed their first and what would be their only lead of the second half, 55-54. It was around this time that Duke’s resolve, Cameron’s magic, and the Crazies’ spirit teamed to hit their peak as a unit that would not be denied on this Saturday night.
With the temperature in the building progressively rising over 80 degrees and the sweaty Crazies clad in blue body paint cheering their loudest when Duke needed it most, the Blue Devil defense forced five steals in a span of six minutes and began to experience more success on the boards, enabling a 20-5 run to steadily pull away from Clemson.
“Ultimately we want to wear teams down,” said Jon Scheyer. “By the end of the second half, I felt like they got a little tired. We were feeling pretty strong at the end.” It was Duke’s depth, heart and energy that fueled the Blue Devils, whereas Clemson was battling in an uncommon environment notorious for physically and mentally tiring its guests. When Cameron is at its best, as it often was on Saturday, the authentic atmosphere, unadulterated spirit and incessant liveliness combine to offer perhaps the most unique and sincere experience in American sports, ideal for Duke and terrific for college sports fans unless you happen to be hustling up and down Coach K court in a jersey that isn’t white.
Amid the Cameron chaos, Duke scored 37 points off of 21 Clemson turnovers. Many of the turnovers were steals in which Duke quickly turned stingy defense into fast-paced offense, helping the Blue Devils to a 29-16 advantage in fast-break points. Said Nolan Smith, “With our athleticism and our ball pressure and just getting out in the lanes, we feel that we can pressure every team that we play.”
It was a team effort on the offensive end as well, as a handful of Blue Devils keyed important stretches of the game. Smith jump-started the offense in the first half, scoring seven points in a 1:22 span shortly after entering the game for the first time at the 16:18 mark. Jon Scheyer netted 10 of his 12 points over a 1:24 first-half stretch and enjoyed an 8-0 run by himself in that span shortly after Smith’s run. Lance Thomas matched DeMarcus Nelson for a team-high three steals. Greg Paulus had the steal and subsequent layup that ignited Duke’s second-half run and scored all nine of his points in the closing half. Gerald Henderson netted 12 of his 16 points in the second stanza, aggressively driving to the bucket and getting to the line for 10 free throws in the second half. Kyle Singler, who scored 17 points in the contest, connected from three-point range at both the 6:52 and 5:47 marks of the second half, pushing the Duke lead to 16. “A bunch of guys throughout the game had stretches like that,” said Scheyer, “which is fun for our team.”
Constant all game was the toughness and leadership of senior captain DeMarcus Nelson. The senior captain set the tone, scoring 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting, grabbing three rebounds and getting three steals while often guarding Clemson’s top perimeter threats.
“Our captain was an outstanding leader for us,” Coach K said. Gerald Henderson added, “He is the rock. DeMarcus was great, he’s been a great leader all year. Defensively, he was great. Absolutely we were looking for him, even from the beginning of the game and that’s how you need to be. Whenever we needed a bucket, he came through but it’s not surprising to me.”
“Our captain was an outstanding leader for us,” Coach K said. Gerald Henderson added, “He is the rock. DeMarcus was great, he’s been a great leader all year. Defensively, he was great. Absolutely we were looking for him, even from the beginning of the game and that’s how you need to be. Whenever we needed a bucket, he came through but it’s not surprising to me.”
The result of a memorable Saturday night of pure emotion and stimulating basketball was an important ACC win for Duke in the Cameron cauldron. Certainly, there is much work ahead for the Blue Devils and the team immediately shifted its focus to the next game, a road trip to Virginia Tech. Yet, the Clemson game should not be forgotten.
The pride and passion displayed, particularly over those final 13 minutes of the second half, can serve as a valuable reference point for both the players and Cameron Crazies of what it takes to win in the ACC, and more importantly, what it takes to truly be Duke.
Said Singler, “It was a very exciting game. It was one of those games that you dream about. It was a big time win for us, and I was very proud to be a part of it.”
Thanks for visiting In Their Shoes, our BP video blog. All video footage filmed for the blog is captured by Duke team members, giving fans an intimate look at the Duke Basketball program through their eyes. Check back often for video blog entries showcasing events, players, places, and stories of interest to our team. While the camera work might not be quite as advanced as our team’s hoops skills, we hope you appreciate the authentic perspectives offered in the videos.
NBA.com Duke Stats
Top Performer
Mike Dunleavy, Jr. started for the Golden State Warriors for over three years, and Sunday, in his first trip back to the Bay Area since last year’s trade sent him to the Indiana Pacers, he made sure the Golden State fans knew what they were missing. Finishing three assists shy of a triple-double, Dunleavy stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, one steal and one block. That performance came on the heels of a 23-point, 6-rebound, 3-assist, 2-steal night in a win against Sacramento the previous evening. Mike continues to lead the Pacers in scoring and is second in assists, steals, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage.
Mike Dunleavy, Jr. started for the Golden State Warriors for over three years, and Sunday, in his first trip back to the Bay Area since last year’s trade sent him to the Indiana Pacers, he made sure the Golden State fans knew what they were missing. Finishing three assists shy of a triple-double, Dunleavy stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, one steal and one block. That performance came on the heels of a 23-point, 6-rebound, 3-assist, 2-steal night in a win against Sacramento the previous evening. Mike continues to lead the Pacers in scoring and is second in assists, steals, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage.
Line of the WeekWith All-Star Elton Brand sidelined all season thus far in Los Angeles, fellow Blue Devil alum Corey Maggette has become the go-to guy for the Clippers, leading them in scoring at 19.9 points per game. He is also second on the team in rebounding (6.0) and steals (1.2), and fifth in the NBA in free throws made per game at 7.3. Maggette put together perhaps his best all-around game of the season January 9th against the Magic with 27 points (12-of-13 from the free-throw line), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Maggette can opt out of the final year of his contract following this season and will certainly be getting a big raise next year. Here’s more from the OC Register about the Clippers’ hopes to resign their star swingman.
Grant Hill Sidelined by Surgery
Seven-time NBA All-Star Grant Hill has seen his share of operating rooms, but last week’s visit was a little different. After undergoing multiple surgeries on his ankle over the past several years, Grant had an appendectomy on Wednesday after being evaluated for what was thought to be a flu-like illness. Hill had started every game this season for the 26-11 Phoenix Suns, averaging 15.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Grant is expected to miss 2-3 weeks while he recovers.
Giving Dahntay His Due
In his short time since joining the Sacramento Kings, Dahntay Jones has established himself as a regular part of the Kings’ rotation. Dahntay is no stranger to highlight reels. In fact, this spectacular Jones dunk in only his second game with Sacramento was recently named one of the Top Ten Dunks so far in the NBA season. But Dahntay is eager to prove that his game is about more than just unbelievable athleticism and solidify a key role with the Kings, as this feature from the Sacramento Bee explains.
Redick Looking for a Change?
J.J. Redick has proven he can score in the NBA. His 10-point game in less than eight minutes of action last Tuesday is just the latest example. When he gets playing time, he can score from all over the court. However, on an Orlando Magic team full of shooters, Redick hasn’t seen regular minutes. According to this interview the ACC’s all-time leading scorer remains eager for the opportunity to assume a bigger role.
McRoberts Gets Stint in NBDL
After sitting out all of training camp and much of the early season with a severely sprained ankle, Josh McRoberts is spending some time with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Developmental League to get some valuable playing time. In his two games so far, McRoberts showed off his versatility, with 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, to go along with a steal and block in each.
Duke Blue Planet NBA Fantasy League Update
Luol Deng returned to action for the Bulls Sunday with a terrific 28-point performance after missing three games with a sore Achilles tendon. Deng’s absence, combined with the loss of Grant Hill due to an appendectomy, and of course Elton Brand’s continued absence, left Duke without three of their top contributors last week. It certainly puts the Blue Devils in a larger hole, but could set the stage for a bigger comeback once everyone returns healthy.
1. Connecticut Huskies: 8981.50
2. North Carolina Tar Heels: 8922.00
3. Duke Blue Devils: 8058.00
4. Florida Gators: 6410.20
5. Arizona Wildcats: 5997.20
6. Kentucky Wildcats: 5669.90
7. Kansas Jayhawks: 5096.60
Quote of the Week
“(Dunleavy) was three assists away from a triple-double; that speaks for itself. He’s been a wonderful, wonderful addition to our team. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody.”
-Indiana Pacers Coach Jim O’Brien, when asked how Mike Dunleavy, Jr. handled Sunday’s return to Golden State, his first since last year’s trade
