Get to know your Blue Devils in our unique interactive video roster
Most of the college and pro rosters are presented in table form these days, with links to player pages with bios and personal information. We wanted to bring this type of information to life with some personality and the result is our brand-new interactive video roster.
The roster starts with our players standing in front of the Crazies in Cameron, with the scoreboard and banners visible. Our song, produced at the start of the year by Duke’s own Mike Posner, plays in the background throughout the roster. From there, each player (and the Blue Devil) is clickable, with introductions by well-known sports announcer Michael Buffer.
Each player page contains various background information along with the player’s answers to a series of our questions and player highlights on the scoreboard. Wonder how Nolan Smith would describe his game? Or what rule Brian Zoubek would change if he were NCAA President? Or what Lance Thomas likes most about the Crazies? These answers and many more can be found in the new roster.
Thanks to our players, the Blue Devil, Old Blue Devil, and Crazies Tommy Ferguson, Ryan Knowles, Michael Pelehach, Remy Lupica, Lauren Haigler, Brittany Mattheson and Matt Pease for their time and enthusiasm during the production of the roster.
A new look for the last stop before Coach K Court
PHOTOS: The Defense Room
Cameron Indoor Stadium’s Defense Room, the last gathering spot for the Blue Devils before hitting the floor, has a new look. The room was renovated this week and now includes displays for Duke’s record nine National Defensive Player of the Year trophies, photos of each current player playing D, motivational quotes from Coach K, and images of former Blue Devils Shane Battier and Shelden Williams.
“The Defense Room helps get us in the right mindset before a game”, said Kyle. “Duke’s success is based on defense and it’s a nice place to remind us of that before a game. It always feels good to walk in there.”
What goes on when the Blue Devils enter the Defense Room as a team? According to Kyle: “We’ve done a few things this year. We’ve done some chants and switched them up. Our recent one is pretty good, I can’t go into too much detail, but we get in a circle and Nolan is usually in the middle screaming out some particular words to get us hyped. This one is working so we will stick to it.”
Since the National Defensive Player of the Year award was introduced in 1987, six different Duke players have combined to win the nine NDPOY awards (five more than any other school). Hopefully the updated Defense Room will help inspire a record 10th winner for the Blue Devils (and some big defensive stops and takeaways that lead to fast breaks and scoring runs).
DUKE’S NATIONAL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
2006 – Shelden Williams
2005 – Shelden Williams
2001 – Shane Battier
2000 – Shane battier
1999 – Shane Battier
1998 – Steve Wojciechowski
1993 – Grant Hill
1988 – Billy King
1987 – Tommy Amaker
Kobe Bryant, Nike share lightest hoops shoe ever made by the sportswear giant
PHOTOS: Duke Kobe V
Our players weren’t quite as excited as these guys from Cleveland to receive new shoes, but there were definitely some happy Blue Devils in the locker room today when the Duke Kobe V arrived. The Blue Devil version of the shoe is virtually identical to Kobe’s except with a Duke color scheme and the Duke Iron D on the top of the heel. Said Andre Dawkins about the shoe, “Oh yeah, it’s nice. They’re tough.”
Kobe’s version of Nike’s lightest basketball shoe ever made was released in December and the Laker superstar stated at the time, “I wanted to push the envelope with a shoe that meets the demands of my style of play. The Kobe V is lighter, lower and more stable.”
Furious Blue Devil rally from 12 down at halftime pushes Duke to 10-2 in ACC
In Pictures — Game Gallery
Top Plays
Turning Point
The Blue Devils erased the 12-point deficit with a 29-9 run to start the second half, setting the tone with a much better defensive effort.
Blue Devil Ballers
Kyle Singler scored a game-high 22 points while pulling down 11 boards to record his fourth double-double of the year. Brian Zoubek had a second consecutive outstanding game with 10 points, five boards, five steals and several dozen hustle plays and great screens. Nolan Smith scored 18 of his 21 points and buried four big 3’s in the second half.
Duke Data
56-37 — Second-half score after the Blue Devils headed to halftime down a dozen
10 — Combined steals by Jon Scheyer and Zoubs (five each)
10 — ACC wins by Duke on the year, marking the 13th time in the past 14 years the Blue Devils have won at least 10 conference games (four more than any other school)
27 — Points by which Duke outscored Miami from behind the arc (the Blue Devils were 13-for-29, including 9-for-15 in the second half)
49 — Points scored by Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith in the second half (12 more than the entire Miami team in the second half)
Coach K’s Comments
“It was a heck of a win for us because Miami was unbelievably ready for us and totally outplayed us in the first half. They were terrific. Actually I thought they played a terrific game the whole way, but in the second half our defense, especially in the first eight or nine minutes, was sensational. I think they only got about five points. We stared hitting some shots… Kyle’s three to start the half was big, but the defense in the second half was the turning point for us. Also in the last 10 minutes we attacked the zone in a little different way. We went to a different attack and it opened it up a lot of open looks. We made a couple mistakes, but most of the things we did were really good. Our perimeter had one of its worst halves of the year in the first half. They played with a much different resolve in the second half. I think we beat a really good team tonight, a team that played their hearts out against us.”
Locker Room Reaction
The Blue Devils played perhaps their best half of basketball of the season in the second half and the team was pleased with the effort. Said Kyle, “Every one of us felt like we weren’t playing as hard as we could, and we just weren’t being smart. We weren’t playing defense. We needed to get back to that, and we played great in the second half.” Jon added, ““I think we showed a lot of heart. We got together [at halftime] and said, ‘Hey, we know what we need to do. It’s on us. We’re not losing this game.’”
Sixth Man
There was a nice scattering of Duke Blue mixed among all of the Miami orange in the BankUnited Center. We spotted one Blue Devil fan sporting an impressive retro Carlos Boozer jersey in the Miami student section and another Duke fan who happens to be the NCAA’s all-time leader in assists.
Around the Web
Box score — Stat recap
AP recap — Duke pushes past Miami
Blue Devils recover — Strong second half propels Duke to the win
Singler leads Duke — Duke rides second-half surge
Hurricanes handed tough loss — Blue Devils rally in second half
Canes can’t be satisfied with good enough — Duke tough in second half
Zoubek emerges — Gives Duke more options
Miami needs a win — Duke upset would help NCAA Tourney hopes
Notes
*Next up: For the fourth time in the past five home games, first place in the ACC will be on the line in Cameron. This time, Virginia Tech (8-3 in the ACC) visits the Blue Devils (Sunday, 7:45 PM, Fox Sports Net).
Fave Photo
USA Basketball sets impressive 27-man national roster for next three years
Featuring nine members of the gold medal-winning 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and a combined 54 NBA All-Star selections, USA Basketball recently revealed the 27 players who have been named to Coach K’s 2010-2012 USA Men’s National Team program. The NBA’s top five scorers this season — LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade — headline the impressive group which also includes Blue Devil Carlos Boozer.
“This is another important step in the reassembling of the USA National Team for the next three years of competitions that will include the FIBA World Championship in 2010, and if we qualify, the 2012 Olympics in London. Unlike 2006-08 when we were first starting the program, this time we have the benefit of including players who were members of the last national team, while also incorporating players who were involved in our pipeline the last couple of summers,” said USA Basketball Managing Director Jerry Colangelo.
Coach K will have another accomplished group to work with and a number of younger players on board as well to continue the USA Basketball pipeline established during the last term from 2005-2008. The team will first get together this July to begin preparation for August’s World Championship in Turkey.
How about a lineup of Dwight Howard/Kevin Durant/LeBron James/Kobe Bryant/Chris Paul? Or maybe Chris Bosh/Carlos Boozer/Carmelo Anthony/Dwyane Wade/Deron Williams? There are endless possibilities for one of the most talented groups of players ever assembled.
Coach K’s Comments
I echo Jerry’s words of excitement about the level of talent and commitment that we have in the pool. I think we have taken a step up from the pool that we had in the last quad, and it’s exciting to see this many people interested in being a part of the program. A couple things that Jerry did during the last quad was to have a Select Team at the beginning of this quad to have a camp last summer for about 20 younger NBA players and each was well attended and I think we are seeing the benefits of not just having a World Championship Team or an Olympic Team, but also these other teams that give everybody a chance to be a part of USA Basketball.
Can you talk about getting the word out to the players about the importance of the World Championships?
Well, we believe it is extremely important. The world looks at it as the world championship. We were kidding about it during the Olympics and saying they should call it the World Cup for Basketball, and it would get even more significance. There are actually 24 teams involved in the World Championship where there are only 12 involved for the Olympics. We are trying to make that commitment through USA Basketball, and the players are showing that commitment by being part of the pool. I think by us showing that commitment, we will give it greater recognition and hopefully have success in it in Turkey this summer.
How did the performance at the mini-camp last year play into this decision, and did you consider rookies for this roster?
Well, really one of the rookies was hurt. Blake Griffin we felt would have brought the athleticism and toughness that we would be looking for. This pool is what is announced right now. During the next couple of years, just like we did in the last quadrant, people can be added to the pool.
There is a lot of talk about who is in and who is out. Are you anxious? Or are you willing to wait until July for players to say definitively what they are going to do?
This is the first step is naming the pool, announcing the pool, and then we see what happens with all the guys with family situations, with injuries, contracts and all that. Over the three years, a little bit over three years, that I was associated with (the USA National Team) before, I learned not to, like what Jerry said, put the cart ahead of the horse because there is just a lot of human things that go on. We have to allow those things to go on and then react accordingly, but having a strong pool gives us some flexibility in that regard.
What were you looking for in the new players?
We are looking at every area. We had nine of the 12 Olympians come back on this roster, which I think is an incredible amount, and you want to make sure you are looking at each position. That is why like a Kendrick Perkins, he’d be a great defensive player for a big . To have Lamar Odom, Amar’e Stoudemire, Lopez, these guys in the big’s position. Not having Michael Redd back, to make sure that we do have shooters to compliment that guys we already have. Durant is an outstanding shooter; Granger — an outstanding shooter. To get backups at the point guard position. I think what we’ve done is the pool is much better organized, and the pool is better than the one we had in the last quadrant and the interest level is higher. And so we feel like we are moving in the right direction and those were the things we were looking for.
