The student body got its second look at the 1999-2000 Blue Devils at Saturday night's Blue-White scrimmage and saw Shane Battier shining on offense, Mike Dunleavy showing off his versatility and Carlos Boozer playing in a Duke uniform for the first time.
Battier led the fast-paced game in scoring-in the mold of last season's 27-point torching of Maryland-with 28 points, including four three-pointers, as his Blue team won 64-46.
And Battier is finding the advantages of the new work detail.
"It's better shooting threes than taking charges," he said. "But I'm not giving up my charge role yet."
Battier backed up the second part of that statement with three charges in a game that at times featured strong defensive play.
His scoring performance was made possible largely because of the play of teammate Jason Williams. The freshman point guard was the game's second-leading scorer with 15 points and controlled the flow of much of the game.
But the most positive development of the night for Duke might have been a third member of the Blue team just taking the floor.
Boozer made his first appearance on the court after having sat out the midnight practice while recovering from a broken bone in his left foot. Boozer struggled from the floor, shooting just 1-of-9, but led all Dukies with nine rebounds.
"I felt good," the freshman said. "I am getting much stronger, but I don't know how close I am to full strength yet. I am building up my confidence, then I'll be at full force."
The White team matched Battier's charges with Casey Sanders' blocked shots. Sanders demonstrated his widely-praised athleticism, sending four Blue team shots back in the direction which they came. He also contributing six points on 2-of-3 shooting.
"Offensively, I need to get that going," he said. "But I ran the floor and blocked shots. The other things will come."
Matt Christensen, who redshirted last season after taking off two years on a Mormon mission, was the only Duke big man to shine offensively, leading the White team with 14 points and five rebounds.
"Once the season gets going I have to rebound better," he said. "My role is more to rebound and anchor the defense. The scoring I do on top of that is just gravy."
With Boozer, Sanders and Nick Horvath all freshmen and Christensen three years removed from playing in a real game, Duke's frontcourt is sorely lacking in experience.
However, the glut of talent on the wings might be able to overturn the ill effects of a frontcourt-light team, as Dunleavy's ultra-versatile performance Saturday indicated.
The freshman brought the ball up the court for the White team, kicked in 11 points and covered both Battier and Williams. If necessary, Dunleavy could even play point this season.
"I played point guard my freshman year of high school before I grew," he said. "I didn't get the reps in practice, but I still feel comfortable."
And with the extreme learning curve of this year's squad, comfort might be harder to come by than Final Fours.
Notes: Chris Carrawell scored 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting and dished out four assists, while Nate James scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.... Yesterday at the ACC's annual Operation Basketball press conference, members of the media voted on the ACC's projected order of finish. North Carolina was voted No. 1 with 74 first-place votes, followed by Duke, with 16 first-place votes.
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