With its performance in the annual Blue-White game, the men's basketball team sent the world a simple message: forget about the 1994-95 campaign.
The Duke team that wowed the Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd Saturday night bore little resemblance to the one that finished last in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season. This year's Blue Devils opened their season with an impressive showing, as senior guard Chris Collins scored 31 points on six-of-eight three-point shooting to lead the White squad to a 69-50 victory.
"[Last year] was just a tough situation," Collins said. "I was really disappointed with the way I played, and that was my driving force all summer long."
Collins, who was relegated to a reserve role last season after starting the previous year, made only 23 percent of his three-point shots in 1994-95.
"My whole life I've proved people wrong," Collins said. "I've had doubters since I was in high school . . . [but] that's when I excel the most--when people doubt me."
In addition to Collins' spectacular outing, Saturday's contest featured several other comebacks and debuts. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski returned to the sidelines and the Blue Devils welcomed three newcomers to their frontcourt. Junior forward Roshown McLeod, a transfer from St. John's, made a major impact, pouring in 22 points on nine-of-13 shooting. For the versatile McLeod, who must sit out this season, the scrimmage presented an opportunity to play in a game situation and to operate within Duke's system.
"What Roshown has to do is play this season like it is a season, where he comes to practice and tries to be the best player on the Blue unit and learns to work with people," Krzyzewski said. "He's going to be a very good player in our system."
Freshmen Taymon Domzalski and Matt Christensen also made their Duke debuts, and each rebounded well and played unselfishly. Domzalski and Christensen recorded four and three assists, respectively, and the freshmen's willingness to pass the ball to open three-point shooters allowed Duke's perimeter game to flourish.
Collins scored 16 first-half points to propel the White team to a 35-28 halftime lead, but the game's most intense action did not come until after the break. The White squad opened the second stanza on a 10-4 run, capped off by Collins' alley-oop pass to junior forward Carmen Wallace and junior center Greg Newton's dunk off Collins' diving steal. After hitting the floor to save the ball that led to Newton's dunk, Collins threw his fists in the air and pranced around the court, celebrating his return to glory.
But the Blue team, down 45-32, refused to quit. After two of his teammates scored, sophomore forward Ricky Price took over. Price nailed a 10-foot jumper, then dazzled the crowd with an exhilarating 360-degree spinning dunk.
"Those are things that it's very difficult to simulate in practice," Krzyzewski said. "Someone has a run on you, it looks like it's not going well, and all of a sudden you respond favorably. Each team did that in the second half."
In a game where several players were impressive, Newton stood out as much as anyone else. Both Krzyzewski and the Duke players have recognized Newton as the team's best player so far, and in the Blue-White game the junior center produced a 16-point effort on six-of-eight shooting. Newton, who was suspended last season for academic improprieties, attributed his play more to his newfound personal dedication than to on-court adjustments.
"I've definitely got my priorities straight," Newton said. "I'm attending classes, I've quit smoking, I've quit drinking, I've done everything that has helped me come back to playing basketball. I made some sacrifices this summer and really concentrated on being in shape and being in the gym every day."
Much to the pleasure of the Cameron crowd, the Blue Devils Saturday donned the traditional uniforms worn by the championship-caliber Duke squads of the late '80s and early '90s. Combined with the old uniforms, the Blue Devils' impressive performance encouraged Duke fans to believe that last season's failure may have been a fluke.
"We played with enthusiasm, it looked like we enjoyed playing," Krzyzewski said. "I'd like to see that same attitude, where we feel somewhat confident, enthusiastic and just happy to be playing basketball. I feel like if we can get our team to do that every night, then this team will have a chance to be as good as this team can be."
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