I was able to take in Countdown to Craziness last night, and while I'm sure DukeHoopBlog.com will have a more comprehensive update coming soon, just wanted to pass on a few quick observations:
- Kyrie Irving will not play like a freshman this season. Irving played on the winning team in both 12 minutes halves, and it was easy to see how he made others better. Consider Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton, while neither contributed much in period 1 while playing against Irving, they flourished playing along side Irving. Hairston finished with 18 points in period 2 while Thornton scored 8 points.
- Not much to comment on Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, both players let the game come to them. Smith got a little sloppy at times, but like Singler got their points.
- Its clear that the Plumlees are going to be the players that make this team and legitamite contender. Both rebounded pretty well, and contributed their share of highlight plays, but Miles is the better player right now. The older Plumlee dominated the glass and appears ready to replace Zoubek as the "beast" of this team.
- After sitting out a year as a transfer Seth Curry opened the game with Irving picking his pocket and getting an easy two. The next time down the floor, Curry hit a 3 off a screen. Those 2 plays probably give a reasonable expectation of what you will get from Curry. The redshirt sophomore will be a little rusty early on, but he's going to score for this Duke team. Curry took an elbow from Nolan Smith in the first game and received 8 stitches on the inside of his right eyebrow. Not surprisingly, after sitting out all last year, Curry returned after getting the stitches.
From a student game of knockout, to the DUI skits featuring the basketball team, to watching Grimace play defense in a mascot game of musical chairs, to the featured Blue-White game, the night was full of excitement. Despite all of the other fun, the highlight of the night for any Duke fan was watching Duke raise their 4th banner to the rafters. As Coach K would tell you, this team isn't defending a national championship, but are they on their way to a 5th banner?
Video courtesy Crazie-Talk.com:
