Don’t call it a blow out at least don’t expect Mike Krzyzewski to judge it as such despite the Duke’s convincing 111-77 opening victory over Davidson.
“We played really well. We beat a really good team,” Krzyzewski said “We were really good tonight. People will see the score and say ‘boy they blew them out,’ but that wasn’t the case. In the last 10 minutes they didn’t hit and we hit and got that working margin.”
The Blue Devils used an unbelievably efficient offensive effort that included shooting 70 percent from the floor. If that doesn’t show you how hot Duke was consider they only shot just under 69 percent from the foul line.
Jabari Parker certainly lived up to the hype scoring 22 points in 23 minutes while shooting 8 of 10 from the floor and 3 for 3 from beyond the arc. Still despite the impressive numbers he still felt he could have played even better than he did.
“I did okay. I could rebound a little bit more. be a little bit more aggressive. Just different things I can always improve on,” Parker said. “I’m going to watch some film today on myself. Just have to stay hungry to keep on improving.
Parker and Krzyzewski both credited the atmosphere in Cameron which was electric throughout. Duke fans went crazy whenever the highly touted freshman touched the ball and Parker took notice.
“Our fans played a big role in that. We just fed off their energy. The first win is very important We can build from there.
After the Blue Devils struggled a bit in their final exhibition game against Drury Parker said that it was more important to come out and play well against Davidson.
” (We are) just looking forward to the season. exhibitions are good but I think this is more important,” he said.
If not for Parker’s performance Rodney Hood would have likely received most of the headlines as the sophomore transfer from Mississippi State was all over the court and was just as potent offensively as Parker scoring 22 points in 33 minutes. The Blue Devils also got a solid scoring performances out of Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon who scored 21 and 20 points respectively.
Cook also had eight assists and no turnovers, an exclamation point on a night marked by efficiency.
Duke now sets its sites on Kansas, the No. 5 team in the country who the Blue Devils will play in the Champions Classic in Chicago. A homecoming for both Krzyzewski and Parker, Chicago natives. The game will also pit Parker against Andrew Wiggins, the player who battled Parker for top billing among high school players.
Parker addressed the match up briefly after the game as did Krzyzewski but both dismissed the game as merely a one on one battle between two great freshmen. Parker also didn’t feel like he was slighted by not getting some of the hype nationally as Wiggins.
“He’s a good player. Athletic, real fast. You’ve got to show your A-game against him,” Parker said. “I really don’t care. You see the media we have, Duke Blue Planet everything is separate. We don’t allow nobody else to come inside of our family and I can just focus on school and basketball and that’s what’s most important. I really don’t focus on that.”
