Tag Archives: Countdown to Craziness

Sportswrap: BOWL SO HARD

Eighteen years later and Duke football is bowl bound again.

This week's "BOWL SO HARD" sportswrap honors Duke football's first bowl berth since 1994.

With the dramatic 33-30 victory against North Carolina Saturday, the Blue Devils earned their first bowl berth since 1994 and beat the Tar Heels for the first time since 2003, bringing the Victory Bell back to Durham.

Make sure to check out that story—”VICTORY BOWL”—and the rest of this week’s Sportswrap, The Chronicle’s Monday sports supplement:

 

Countdown gives fans first look at Duke basketball

Duke’s Countdown to Craziness performance showcased the squad’s mix of old and new talent.

Seniors Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly got things going with hot starts to kick off the 2012-2013 season in the annual Blue-White scrimmage, and new Blue Devils Rodney Hood and Rasheed Sulaimon settled in to put on solid performances of their own for the Cameron crowd.

As part of Countdown to Craziness, the Blue Devils played two intrasquad scrimmages in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The first 10-minute matchup pitted a Blue team composed of Tyler Thornton, Josh Hairston, Amile Jefferson, Rodney Hood and Todd Zafirovski against a White team with Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon, Alex Murphy, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee.

Right off the bat, Plumlee and Kelly made the most of their size advantage to give the White team the lead.

Plumlee started the contest by scoring two baskets, dishing two assists and intercepting a pass to spur a fast-break. Kelly added two jumpers and a three-point play to put the White team up 15-6.

In the early minutes, Hairston, a junior, kept the White team from pulling too far ahead by knocking down three consecutive jumpers for six points. Shooting just 1-5 for the rest of the period, Hairston could not keep the Blue team in the game, and the White team ended the half with a 26-15 lead.

For the second period, the score was reset to 0-0. Additionally, Hairston and Thornton moved to the White team while Cook and Kelly switched to the Blue team.

In the second period, two Duke newcomers seized the spotlight to start things off, going back-and-forth in the early minutes.

Guarding the six-foot-eight-inch Hood—who must sit out the 2012-2013 season due to NCAA transfer rules—the six-foot-four Sulaimon matched Hood basket for basket in the first four minutes of the period.

“[Rodney’s] a handful—two hands full,” Sulaimon said. “He’s a great player. He can shoot. He can drive. He’s very athletic. He’s fast. But I love going up against him. I like the challenge because I think at the end of the day, it’s just going to help me to become a better defensive player and help me down the stretch.”

Sulaimon finished with 10 points for the White team in the half, and Hood ended with eight. The Blue team pulled away, though, and ended with a 29-18 lead as Kelly added eight points, and Cook, a sophomore point guard, scored nine points in the period.

For the twenty minutes, Kelly ended with a game-high 15 points. Murphy, a redshirt freshman, posted eight rebounds and three blocks—both game highs as well.

Senior Seth Curry and redshirt freshman Marshall Plumlee sat out the scrimmage with injuries.

“We’re really happy with where we are right now as a team,” Jefferson, who scored four points and grabbed five rebounds, said. “[We] can’t wait to get the season started when we can actually play against someone else.”

AskChron: Lineup, Final Four and leadership

With Countdown to Craziness bringing in a new season today for Duke basketball, we solicited some questions from our Twitter account @dukebasketball.

Read: Top recruits visit Duke basketball for Countdown to Craziness

Here are three of the best questions with answers:

Q: @GoDuke2011 asked, “@dukebasketball #askchron What is your projected starting lineup for the season opener?”

A: The best guess we have at a projected lineup comes from the way that the teams were divided during scrimmages at Fort Bragg. Duke basketball head coach Krzyzewski might deny that he splits the preseason teams based on expected starters, but one of the teams from Monday’s friendly sure looks like it could be a good starting five. That group started Quinn Cook at the point, Seth Curry as the off-guard, Alex Murphy on the wing, Ryan Kelly at the four, and Mason Plumlee at center. Curry has missed a good chunk of preseason practice with an injury, so his health will determine his status. If he’s not 100% for the opener, we could see Rasheed Sulaimon representing the freshman class among the starters. In Curry’s limited participation, he spent the majority of the time with that first unit.

This starting five is close to my favorite from among the different options. Starting Cook over Tyler Thornton puts the best playmaker on the floor with the first unit and allows Thornton to be a steady asset off the bench if a surer hand is needed. Starting Murphy at the three gives Duke its most “traditional” lineup, with a pure small forward alongside Kelly as a stretch four and Plumlee as a true center. Krzyzewski can always move later in the game to a three-guard lineup, which he has utilized often in recent years.

Q: @CoachSoderling asked, “@dukebasketball #AskChron With this team’s makeup, could it be a final four or even national championship material? Looks similar to 2010.”

A: It depends what you mean by “makeup” here. In terms of attitude and work ethic, any team led by Krzyzewski is a good candidate to have the moxie to play late into March. But after last year’s team lacked leadership and cohesion, new leaders will need to step up from among the players (see question #3).

Read: Duke ranked No. 8 in USA Today Coaches’ Poll

I have to say I’m not sure I see a comparison with the veteran 2010 squad, as this is still a fairly young team that has plenty to prove. In terms of talent, it’s awfully early to be making too many judgments, but Duke has something to prove in that sense before I’m ready to declare them a Final Four team. There is a ton of talent on the roster this year, but every player comes with question marks or past inconsistencies.

There is no bona fide star. Will Mason Plumlee blossom into a star big man? Will Ryan Kelly take another step forward? Will Quinn Cook turn into a dynamic team leader? All of these things could happen, but I need to see it before I believe it.

Q: @BlayneOwens asked, “@dukebasketball #askchron who is stepping up as the leader(s) of. This team?”

A: This is a very difficult team to get a read on from a leadership perspective. Krzyzewski has emphasized the need for Mason Plumlee to step into a leadership role, and it would be a huge boon for Duke if Plumlee met those expectations. Ryan Kelly shares Plumlee’s captain title, and his cerebral approach could grow into a quiet leadership role.

Interestingly, though, many of the more vocal Blue Devils are either underclassmen or not expected to start. Josh Hairston’s enthusiasm is reminiscent of Lance Thomas, and Quinn Cook is one of the more extroverted Duke players. The freshman class also comes in with excellent reputations as high-character players. Like I mentioned in question #2 regarding the team’s talent, there is leadership potential all over the Duke roster, but potential will need to become reality if Duke is to be a championship contender.

Countdown to Craziness to be broadcast on ESPN3

The Duke men’s basketball team’s opening festivities will be simulcast live on ESPN3.

Countdown to Craziness, which begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, will feature a Blue and White scrimmage, player introductions and a dunk contest.

Bill Raftery and Lou Canellis will provide live commentary from Cameron Indoor Stadium during the entire event. ESPNU will feature highlights from Duke, along with 10 other schools, as part of its “ESPNU Midnight Madness” special.

Duke opens play Oct. 29 in a home exhibition against Bellarmine. The team will play its first official game against Belmont Nov. 11 as part of the Maui Invitational.

Quinn Cook to Attend Countdown to Craziness Tonight

Quinn Cook will visit Duke tonight.

One major impetus behind Duke’s creation of Countdown to Craziness last season was to awe potential recruits, a strategy that could very well pay dividends tonight.

Point guard Quinn Cook, a five-star prospect according to scout.com, will take his official visit to Duke during Countdown to Craziness tonight. According to Scout.com’s Dave Telep, Cook is Duke’s number one choice for its finally scholarship in class of 2011, and the website has reported that Cook is nearing a decision.

Duke is widely considered to be the leader for Cook, due not only to the point guard’s admiration for head coach Mike Krzyzewski but also thanks to Cook’s close relationship with current Blue Devil Nolan Smith, whom Cook considers an older brother.

After leaving Durham, Cook plans to visit Villanova on October 22, and may try to visit Kansas before his high school season begins on October 29.

Allow The Blue Devils To Introduce Themselves

During Countdown to Craziness Friday night, the Blue Devils combined the Blue-White game with a videos featuring players, an awards show and a dunk contest, but before all of that, the Duke players strutted out, one-by-one, to entrance music of their choice. Duke even lured Michael Buffer—are you ready to rumble?—into introducing the squad, a nice little touch that, alas, few seemed to acknowledge.

Do the musical selections say anything about the players? Probably not in all cases, but definitely for some.

Of course Nolan Smith came out to Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement,” while rocking some slick stunner shades. (On the other hand, would anyone have blamed him for coming out to Wale’s “Chillin’”? He is, after all, from Washington D.C., and he’s even tweeted some of the lyrics before.) Brian Zoubek even danced out to “Ice Ice Baby,” which got a lot of love from the Cameron Crazies.

Anyway, below is the full list of players’ choices.

If you could pick a song for a player, what would it be?