The Duke men's basketball team plays its final exhibition game against Nike Elite today in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7:30 p.m. The team feels it has accomplished many things during the preseason.
"We've accomplished a lot," junior Casey Sanders said. "We've found our leaders. We've found a couple of our scorers. We're starting to hit our stride."
The Nike Elite team features former college players, including former Temple stand-out guard Quincy Wadley and 7-foot-2 former Georgia Tech center Robb Dryden. The backcourt is also very strong, and Duke is not taking it lightly.
"They're all great shooters," Sanders said. "They bring speed, quickness. They're a very old team. They're a lot older than we are."
Nike Elite has played in a limited number of games, and it is hard for Duke to judge what type of team they are. Elite's shot selection changes nightly, with many arbitrary one-on-one shots being taken. The team feels the best way to stop its opponents is straight "in your face" defense.
The exhibition game is helpful for Duke to prepare for its arduous defense of the national championship.
"It's a good preparational tool," guard Andre Buckner said. "We're going to play a lot of teams this year that are strong on the perimeter."
Despite Nike Elite being a virtually unknown team, Duke has been aggressively preparing for the game.
"It's just another game Duke is playing," Sanders said. "Whether we play each other or whether we play an opponent, that's basically the mentality that we bring to games as a team. Duke's playing tonight. That's all that matters."
Duke prepares for Nike Elite just like it does for every other opponent. The Blue Devils look at Nike's strengths and weaknesses, and try to take away everything they do well.
"We try to gain as much as we can from watching them [on film]," Buckner said.
In Duke's previous exhibition game, the Blue Devils cruised to a 129-94 win against EA Sports. Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer combined for 55 points, as Williams displayed his unanimous pre-season All-American status en route to a game-high 28 points.
Duke's newcomers, freshman Daniel Ewing and junior Dahntay Jones, each scored 11 points, receiving quality experience in Cameron.
"I was kind of nervous at first," Jones said. "I was just trying to get used to the atmosphere in general, but as the game went on, I started getting a little more comfortable and started getting into the game."
The Blue Devils leave Saturday for Maui, Hawaii, and they begin their defense of the national championship against Seton Hall on Nov. 19 at 9 p.m. in a game televised on ESPN.
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