Jason Williams will score over 20 every night this year, Carlos Boozer will emerge as the dominant center in the ACC and Dahntay Jones will have the most goal-tending violations of anyone ever.
And on Monday night, these big-name athletes stuffed it to the Electronic Artists.
Ho-hum.
These guys will have plenty of opportunities to prove their dominance throughout the season against much stiffer competition than the EA All-Stars could ever muster up.
In flimsy exhibition games, the superstars fly high above the rim for a while and pour in points with ease, and everyone goes home happy. Nevertheless, the real meat of these contests can be found in studying how the understudies perform. How Nick Horvath responds to a live game situation gleans so much more about the type of year that awaits this team than watching Williams sleepwalk his way to 28 points.
And as for Horvath, though beset by his various foot and ankle ailments,he still managed to pour in seven
"I was too busy watching him shoot airballs to get a read on his defensive play," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said wryly about Horvath's first action since the spring of 2000.
Another Blue Devil who heads into this season as somewhat of a wild card, freshman Daniel Ewing, exhibited the type of all-around game Monday that should give Duke great depth as the season progresses. From knocking down 11 to playing strong defense, including a steal and a forced charge on transition, Ewing appears to possess the gifts necessary to ignite this team off the bench.
"Coach K preaches putting a lot of pressure on the point guard, and I tried to bring a lot of havoc," the freshman said. "I came out trying to pressure their players as much as I could and cause some turnovers, and I think I did that."
Casey Sanders also offered indications that this may be the year that he fulfills some of that potential he had coming out of Tampa Prep. Though still waifish, Sanders showed a couple new low-post moves that he must have added to his repertoire over the summer.
Sanders also exhibited a sense of poise on the offensive end of the court that he lacked in his previous two campaigns. Whereas he previously appeared hurried and distracted when swarmed underneath, against the EA All-Stars, he maintained his composure in scoring eight points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field.
"He's only improving too," Boozer said about his companion down low. "I think you will see how much better he has gotten over the summer. I think he will play a key role on this team throughout the season, and he played a great one tonight."
Yes, Duke's starters outscored all of the EA All-Stars combined-but only by one. It is now the role of Horvath, Ewing, Sanders and, to a lesser degree, Christensen, to ensure that Duke maintains a balanced team that can play nine-deep against real squads.
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