Exhibition games against Team Fokus aren't supposed to be full of surprises. And last night's 118-65 win for the men's basketball did not have many of them.
But while freshman Corey Maggette's performance might not have been a shock, Duke's only newcomer showed no hesitation in his first collegiate game. Maggette scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots in 22 minutes off the bench for the Blue Devils.
"It was fun, with the crowd and the atmosphere," Maggette said. "I'm just trying to work on my game. I've been working hard in practice. If I can keep practicing hard, my game's going to improve."
Offensively, Maggette displayed a far more varied repertoire than most freshmen have at this point in their careers. He began with a pull-up three-pointer from the right baseline, added another from the wing and made a nice drop step for two points in the low post.
Then he demonstrated the known quantity-athleticism. Maggette quickly became a fan favorite after an alley-oop off a feed from Chris Carrawell and a put-back dunk following a Nate James miss.
"As you can see, everyone knows he's very athletic," teammate Elton Brand said. "But he can do more than that-shooting the ball well and passing well. He's a phenomenal player, he's just playing well and we're just helping him get acclimated to the system."
What earned the most praise from head coach Mike Krzyzewski was Maggette's defense. The freshman had three rejections, including two in a sequence late in the game and another that led to a dunk by Brand. Yet most impressive was his defensive play out top.
Maggette forced a five-second call in the first half and then an over-and-back violation with nine minutes left in the game. After just a few weeks in practice, Maggette is quickly grasping Duke's man-to-man defensive system.
"He played really hard," Krzyzewski said. "It's obvious that he's an outstanding athlete-we want to make him a great basketball player.
"I think if he embraces defense first, the other stuff will naturally come because it'll give him the discipline to his game."
In addition to discipline, Maggette knows that there are other aspects of his game that will have to improve. Before taking any questions in the locker room, Maggette wanted to know how many free throws he missed. Indeed, the Illinois native was consistently put on the free-throw line after drives to the basket, but only converted 4 of 10 from the stripe.
Still, on a team that has more depth in the frontcourt than it does on the perimeter, Krzyzewski made special mention of Maggette's importance coming off the bench. Behind Will Avery and Trajan Langdon, Duke needs someone to provide a boost in the backcourt. The athletic Maggette could be the answer.
"That's what he's got to do," Avery said. "Coming off the bench, when a starter goes out, we need him to come in and give us a spark. He did a great job tonight giving us a spark offensively and defensively."
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