Blue Devils triumph in tourney

ANCHORAGE, Alaska--The performance of the men's basketball team at the Carrs Great Alaska Shootout marked a new beginning for the Blue Devils. Not only did the start of the season mark the return of head coach Mike Krzyzewski to the sidelines, it brought back memories of the Duke teams of old.

With a convincing 88-81 victory over No. 10 Iowa in the finals on Saturday evening, Duke erased any doubts about whether the Blue Devils could recover from last year's downslide.

Duke not only recovered--it excelled. The team answered the many questions which surrounded it in the preseason, knocking off No. 23 Indiana, 70-64, and Old Dominion, 75-55, en route to the championship win over the Hawkeyes.

"[In this tournament I learned] that this team is pretty good--they're pretty tough kids," Krzyzewski said. "I was really happy to see them play with so much confidence. They were a little bit nervous in the first half against Old Dominion, and in the last minute and 43 seconds of that half, they started playing well and kept it going. I'm incredibly pleased for them, because they experienced all [the losses] last year."

The championship also had a special meaning for sophomore Trajan Langdon, who sat out the tournament due to a stress reaction in his left leg. The Shootout brought Langdon back to his hometown of Anchorage, giving the Blue Devils much of the home-crowd support.

"Trajan's been unbelievable," Krzyzewski said. "This has been a very difficult situation for him. But I think winning--putting myself in his position--winning makes it better, because he's that kind of young man."

In the final game, the Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead against the Hawkeyes, despite their full-court pressure.

"We weren't really turning it over that much against the press in the first half--we were turning it over at halfcourt," Krzyzewski said. "I think when you turn it over, you don't conceptualize where you turn it over. Then all of a sudden we were foolish against the press."

"I'm so proud, especially of Steve, because a lot of times people don't respect the things that he does," Collins said. "He came out in the second half and made the biggest shots for us... He got us right back into the game."

After a layup by sophomore Ricky Price and free throws by Collins and junior center Greg Newton to tie the game, Wojciechowski again stepped up for Duke. With 2:46 left in the contest, a three-pointer by the sophomore gave the Blue Devils a 74-71 lead--a lead which the Blue Devils never lost.

Despite the late comeback attempts of the Hawkeyes, Duke averted the loss by hitting 8-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes, as well as capitalizing on three dunks in the waning minutes.

"I'm ecstatic," Krzyzewski said. "I don't think I've had a team play any harder for me in an eight-minute period than that team did tonight. It was a sensational game."

On Friday evening, Duke squared off against Indiana, but the Krzyzewski-Bobby Knight matchup received most of the pregame press. Knight coached Krzyzewski at the United States Military Academy, and Krzyzewski also served as an assistant under Knight for one year at Indiana.

But the classic pupil-teacher battle was overshadowed by the strong defensive play by both teams. The Blue Devils took an early lead and never looked back.

"It was tough getting shots," Krzyzewski said of the Indiana game. "It was a very physical game, a tough game with two good teams. And we hit some free throws, too. We don't hit free throws, we're not going to win that ballgame."

Yet it took a little more than merely hitting free throws to stop the Hoosiers. Although at times Indiana seemed unorganized and out of sync, sharpshooting forward Brian Evans had to be contained by the Blue Devil defense. Price stepped up to the position of guarding Evans, and even though the Hoosier scored 21--the game's high score--Krzyzewski said Price did a good job of keeping Evans in check.

"I think Price did a good job of [containing Evans], and we were alert when he got that 8-0 run," Krzyzewski said. "And that's when I thought the game was going to turn. Evans is a terrific player, and they do so many things for him... At least we made him work for his shots."

Indiana's other main scores came from inside, with forward Andrae Patterson and Todd Lindeman joining Evans as the only Hoosiers in double digits.

"We scored well in the post," Knight said. "We're getting some scoring, obviously, our of Evans and Patterson but then we've got to find some other places to get it."

On the other hand, the Blue Devil frontcourt was silent for most of the game, as Newton picked up his fourth foul just 25 seconds into the second half, and fouled out with over five minutes left to play in the game. Duke's perimeter players created most of its buckets for the evening, led by Capel with 19.

"I thought our backcourt did an outstanding job," Krzyzewski said. "Collins was terrific and Wojciechowski played for over 20 minutes and he didn't turn it over... Capel and Price also played well."

Knight was displeased with his team's lack of offensive production, but agreed that Duke had a solid effort against his team.

"It was a good game from their standpoint," Knight said. "There's a real possibility that they have good guards--that's not out of the realm of possibility."

Just as the Duke-Indiana game came with some history and stories behind it, so did the Blue Devils' first-round matchup with Old Dominion. ODU's head coach is Jeff Capel, Sr.--father of Duke junior guard Jeff Capel, Jr. Even though he had to play against his father, the younger Capel came out strong in the first game, scoring 12 points and dishing out five assists.

"I think Capel's performance was outstanding, especially considering the circumstances," Krzyzewski said. "I think that was a very, very difficult position for both he and his father to be in. I'm glad it worked out our way, but I think that the main thing is you have to give a lot of credit to Jeff."

The younger Capel said he forced himself on removing his father from the picture, and just knowing that the opposing coach was the enemy.

"I never looked at [my father]," Capel said. "I never try to make eye contact with any coach we play against. In this situation, playing against my dad, for those 40 minutes, he was just the coach of Old Dominion and they were the enemy."

The Blue Devils started off slowly against the Monarchs, as neither team was able to maintain much of a lead until Duke built a five-point lead to end the first half. Krzyzewski contributed the sluggish start to nervousness--his own and the team's.

"I thought we were a little bit nervous in the first half, rightfully so," Krzyzewski said. "Kids are allowed--and coaches are allowed--to be nervous. The way we ended the first half was very, very good."

Once that nervousness subsided, the Blue Devils ran away with the game. Duke soon established a lead in double digits and never looked back.

"We're pleased with our effort," Krzyzewski said following the 75-55 smashing of Old Dominion. "I thought we played excellent defense, especially our big men. They were very, very active and really gave us a lot of confidence."

Note: Capel, Collins and Price were named to the Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament team.