With little fanfare, some running and plenty of competition, the men's basketball team officially began the '96-'97 season on Tuesday with its first supervised practice.
The Blue Devils first four practices of the season were marked by increased intensity, increased depth and immediate pursuit of what should be precious minutes on the floor.
"The first thing you notice out there is how much more intensity there is," Duke tri-captain Jeff Capel said. "Most of the time last year, it would be five scholarship athletes versus four walk-ons and Roshown McLeod in practice. That wasn't very competitive.
"This year we're very deep, we're competitive and we're intense. That's going to make us a better team."
This year with 11 scholarship athletes healthy, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski expects to play as many as 10 players in his regular rotation. While he has not set any lineups or rotations after just two days, Krzyzewski is already aware of all the possibilities that have been opened up to him and the Blue Devils.
Duke opened up with two practices each of the first two days. Krzyzewski concluded practice on Tuesday afternoon with a scrimmage in which the three Blue Devil freshmen-Mike Chappell, Chris Carrawell and Nate James-all shined.
"Just getting to know our guys is the most important thing right now," Krzyzewski said before Wednesday's afternoon practice. "We need to look at different combinations of guys on the floor. We need to try many things instead of pigeon-holing people into positions."
At one point in Tuesday's practice, Krzyzewski had senior Greg Newton, junior transfer Roshown McLeod, sophomore redshirt Trajan Langdon and freshmen Carrawell and Chappell wearing the white shirts signifying the starters. But he stressed that he will be doing a lot of experimenting in the early going to find out who plays well with whom, and to figure out which combinations put the best group out on the floor.
With so many talented players this year practice has taken on a new intensity, and Krzyzewski stresses that players will have to earn whatever minutes they play this year. Last season, healthy Blue Devils were often forced to play over three-quarters of a game because no one was on the bench. Such is not the case this year.
"Our opponents are going to notice that there will be one guy coming at them hard for four or five minutes, and then another guy will be able to come in off the bench and apply the same pressure," Newton said.
With so much depth, Krzyzewski hopes to go back to a type of pressure man-to-man defense that he has not played in a number of years. He hopes to play more full-court defense and to have Duke run on offense more often than in the past.
Because of his desire to refocus on those facets of the game, Krzyzewski has been careful in recruiting to focus on bringing in more athleticism and depth. He believes all three freshmen are excellent examples of the type of player he hopes to bring into the Blue Devil program in the coming years, and after two days of practice he is very positive about the potential results this season.
"We're going to be a better basketball team this year," Krzyzewski said. "The major obstacle is to experience playing together in a new system. Hopefully, this year we'll be very successful... but this season will also serve as a base for the program."
The common theme seems to be change amongst the coaches and players: more depth, more competition, more intensity and a new defensive and offensive focus. But there is one thing that the players hope will not change this season.
"The energy that the students give can carry a lot of players," Chappell said. "I am looking forward to experiencing that."
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