The green flag is waving, and after months of buildup and heightened expectations, the men's basketball team has finally reached the starting line.
Duke opens up the 1997-98 season this Sunday at 1 p.m. against Army. The preseason third-ranked Blue Devils will be looking for their 16th straight season-opening victory when they tip off at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y.
"Its been a long wait for us," freshman Shane Battier said. "We're all real excited to just get things going and start up for real."
But while this game will count on Duke's record, the competition is far from the caliber of most regular-season opponents. The Blue Devils trounced Army 100-38 in a very physical game last December in Durham, and since then the Cadets have graduated seven players while Duke brought in its heralded freshman class.
In last year's game, Duke limited Army to 11 first-half points and 29 percent shooting overall, while Roshown McLeod led the Blue Devils with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Little has changed in the interim.
Yet, for a team that expects so much of itself this year, Duke is looking to come out strong from game one.
"I think we're approaching this game like every game," Battier said. "One of the key points coach is telling us is that the great teams never approach anyone with less fire than if they were playing the national championship. We're treating every game like it's a big game, and that held true in the preseason games."
For Mike Krzyzewski, this game holds a little extra significance. On Sunday, Krzyzewski returns to Christl as a coach for the first time since he left Army in 1980. The West Point graduate began his coaching career with the Cadets in 1975 and compiled a 71-59 record over five years before departing for Durham.
Krzyzewski's counterpart, Pat Harris, is coaching his first game for Army. Harris, who was Krzyzewski's point guard from 1976-79, was an assistant women's basketball coach at Army for two years before inheriting this position from Dino Gaudio, who took the head coaching spot at Loyola.
"I think that this is a tremendous game," Harris said. "It is a win-win situation playing Duke in that it is going to help recruiting, and it's not very hard to get players up for the first game of the season when you are playing Duke. We will be able to let people know before a packed house what we are going to be made of."
Army's main strength is in its backcourt. George Tatum and Babe Kwasniak are the Cadets' only returning starters from last year's 10-16 campaign. Tatum led Army in scoring and rebounding in '96, with 17.5 points and seven boards per contest.
For the Cadets, this is easily their biggest and toughest game of the year. Not the case for Duke.
This is only the beginning for the Blue Devils. But for a team that needs time to blend 11 players into one system, Sunday's opportunity is a good one, especially as Duke slowly prepares for more difficult competition on the horizon.
"Every year every team has a different look, and I think that's our case this year with the whole different style that we're approaching," Battier said. "I definitely think it's going to be a feeling-out game, but nonetheless we're going to do everything we can to win."
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