Happy New Year to all our Duke fans! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and that 2009 is filled with health, happiness, and lots of Blue Devil championships!
Our team’s holiday season was a mix of business and pleasure. After the Xavier game, our players and staff got to go home to celebrate the holiday season with their families. Coach K has always been a big believer in having our players have a break around the holidays. He wants to them to connect and celebrate with their families as well as get refreshed for the challenges of the ACC season.
We got back together as a group on the morning of the 27th and began our preparation for the games ahead. This time, right after the holidays, is one of the most important times of the year. Because there are no cIasses and the rest of the student body is away, you have the opportunity to really focus on basketball and improving individually and collectively. I always loved this time as a player and I believe our guys do as well. Our team worked very hard prior to the New Year often practicing twice a day. We really focused on fundamentals and improving in all areas of the game. Our team really took advantage of this time. I think our guys know that we have the toughest schedule in the country and that we need to be prepared for the challenges ahead.
The ACC is again the toughest conference in the country. We have three teams ranked in the Top Five in the country and on any given night you can lose to anyone in the conference. Our guys are excited to see how we stack up against the competition!
I hope all our Blue Devil fans share in our excitement and will support our guys throughout 2009! As always, we appreciate your support and encouragement. Before I go, I wanted to give a special thanks to the energetic and loud crowd at our Davidson game and to all the Crazies who have already set up their tents in K-Ville!
Go Duke!
Steve Wojciechowski
