The last two seasons, Mike Krzyzewski's teams have hung a banner for the nation's No. 1 ranking in the final Associated Press poll. Dean Smith has said that in football that banner would be the equivalent of the national championship.
In basketball, however, it's small consolation for a team that has entered the past two NCAA tournaments as legitimate contenders for national championships, only to see their banner hopes turned away by underdog teams.
In each of those seasons, apparent fatigue down the stretch has halted Duke's run for the national championship. For a team that has lost only one ACC game in the past two seasons and strung together record-breaking winning streaks, this season's mission will be to win the six games that count.
"We just have to put everything together," co-captain Nate James said. "We always seem to gel during the regular season and come up a little short down the stretch. We need to stay in better shape and get ready for the long haul. If we do that, we won't come up short this year."
It would be difficult to say that last year's team came up short, especially considering preseason expectations. Following the departures of Trajan Langdon, Elton Brand, William Avery, Corey Maggette and Chris Burgess, much of the basketball world left the Blue Devils for dead.
Well, perhaps not dead, but no better than "pretty good," which might as well be dead when it comes to basketball on Tobacco Road.
But three men were determined that Duke would be Duke, period. Tri-captains Chris Carrawell, Shane Battier and James met on a summer afternoon and promised that no matter who was gone, the Blue Devils would be great, not pretty good.
"I like the fact that we had that happen to our program because the people in our program-the coaches, my support staff and the players who are still involved-never used that as an excuse for not being excellent," Krzyzewski said. "As a result, our mindset is we thought we'd be pretty good. There is no way I felt that at the end of the season we'd be ranked No. 1 in the country."
When the players went their separate
They also know that's not good enough.
"We have a lot of winners on this team," James said. "We're not satisfied with where we got to. Everyone knows we're capable of getting to that championship level."
Another Chris Carrawell in the ranks?
It took Carrawell three seasons as a role player to make his meteoric rise to superstar and team leader. No longer overshadowed by the play of his departed teammates, Carrawell made huge strides in everything from scoring to rebounding to his once-poor free throw percentage. As he said, he became "the man."
With all eyes nationwide on player of the year candidate Battier to assume that role for the Blue Devils this season, one man who hasn't received the same media exposure is looking to do what Carrawell did a year ago.
When Duke closed out the conference crown with games to spare last season, headlines were quick to credit Carrawell as the all-time winningest player in ACC history, the first player ever to win four outright regular season titles. Few mentioned that for every minute Carrawell spent on this campus the past four seasons, Nate James was right there with him.
As soon as Duke closes out its first ACC victory this season, James alone will stand as the all-time winningest player in conference history. From points to field goal percentage to free throw percentage to rebounds to steals, James' numbers last season outshine or at least equal the stats Carrawell posted his junior season. And those close to the redshirt senior know a Carrawell-like senior season is by no means out of the question.
"Certainly I think Nate can make a big jump," Krzyzewski said. "I don't think Nate's jump last year was particularly noted because we had freshman stories, we had Carrawell stories, we had Battier stories. Then there's Nate. At
On adding depth
After playing a six-man rotation last season, Duke saw firsthand against Florida in the Sweet 16 how a small lineup could be worn down against an opponent with a deeper bench. With sophomores Nick Horvath and Casey Sanders both expected to play more minutes and two new freshmen on board, Duke won't be as thin as it was last season.
But even if the Blue Devils incorporate a nine or 10-man rotation, there's one person who won't be on the bench very often.
"I think we will play more guys next year, but you can be darn sure that Battier is going to play 32-36 minutes a game," Krzyzewski said. "We may come at [opponents] with more people, but they are going to get tired of seeing Battier's face come out."
Whether Duke's depth pans out will depend heavily on the play of freshmen Andre Sweet and Chris Duhon. Sweet, a 6-foot-6 swing player, was overlooked by many recruiters because he was only one of three outstanding seniors on his high school team. Although Sweet didn't steal the spotlight in high school, Krzyzewski said he expects him to contribute even more to this team than other freshmen have in the past.
Only time will tell what's in store for Sweet, but his summer roommate already has encountered some pretty lofty expectations from his teammates and coaching staff. Recognized for his smooth ball-handling and deadly long-range shooting, Duhon has been mentioned alongside Duke greats like Christian Laettner, Johnny Dawkins, Bobby Hurley, Tommy Amaker and Grant Hill.
Four of those Blue Devils have their jerseys hanging from Cameron's rafters, and the man who coached them all sees the same possibilities in his newest addition.
"I just think Chris Duhon is going to be a very special basketball player and I'm anxious to coach him," Krzyzewski said.
Injury report
Casey Sanders had his ankle scoped to remove a few loose bodies, but Krzyzewski said in late June that the sophomore center was close to playing again and would be fine well before the first practice of the season.
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