Oh Captain, my captain

With the departure of his teammates to the NBA, junior Chris Duhon now finds himself as the lone captain of one of college basketball's most prestigious programs. He sat down for an hour -long interview with Chronicle Sports Editor Paul Doran. Here are the highlights of that session:

PD: What changes have you made since you became the man for Duke basketball?

CD: I mean nothing's changed. I think the only thing that's going to change is my role on the team. The past two years, I've been more of a passive player, just running the team and making sure that whoever needs to get the ball gets the ball. But I think the difference now is that I'm one of those guys.

PD: Are you more excited about this year than last year?

CD: In a selfish way, yes, because it's definitely my team now. I mean, this is why I came to Duke, for the opportunity to be captain of one of Coach K's teams. Plus, I get a lot of the attention because of everyone that's leaving.

PD: Do you like the underdog mentality better?

CD: In a way I do kind of like it better. We're in a different boat, one we're not used to being in, and it's going to be interesting to see how we respond to the challenge.

PD: You're taking an intensive Spanish course this summer to fulfill your language requirement, why did you pick Spanish?

CD: I won't say definitely because we'll see what happens. I intend to be here four years. I mean it would have to take something outrageous with me and Coach talking [and deciding that] it would be in my best interest for me to go. But I don't think Coach wants to get rid of me anytime soon, and I'm not really ready to leave anytime soon. So I'm about 90 percent sure that I'll be back for my senior year.

PD: Let's talk about the incoming class. Is there anybody in particular who has been much better than you thought they would be?

CD: I thought Michael Thompson was much better than they said. I haven't seen Shelden [Williams] play cause he was hurt when he came on the visit.... J.J. [Redick], he just amazed me watching him play and how well he shoots the ball, how well he knows the game.... We have some great talent coming in.

PD: Back to you, what do you like to do for fun?

CD: I like to hang out with friends, play video games--

PD: Any game in particular?

CD: I usually like sports games because we get very competitive, and it is kind of like you're actually playing and it's fun. I just like to hang out with friends. We really don't have to do anything like go out or go to a club or anything, but I just like being around the people that supported me and that I feel comfortable around and doing fun things.

PD: Do you have any sports that you like or follow other than basketball?

CD: I follow football, all the time.

PD: What's your favorite football team?

CD: The 49ers.

PD: The 49ers? Not the Saints? Why the 49ers?

CD: [laughs] I don't know. When I was young, back in 1988 [they had] Montana, Rice, Ronnie Lott, all those guys, and [I liked them then and] just kept them as my team. It's kind of hard being near New Orleans rooting for the 49ers, but I have to live with it.

PD: Okay, if I put a newspaper in front of you that has a feature about Chris Duhon in it, are you going to pick it up and read it or do you ignore stuff like that?

CD: Yeah I'll read it--I want to see it [laughs]. I want to see what quotes you took and what you took off. If you misphrased me a little bit, just to see what it says, find out if you did a good job or not.

PD: What's your favorite T.V. show?

CD: Favorite T.V. show, hmmm. Actually I just started watching Friends.

PD: Aren't you about 10 years late?

CD: [laughs] Yeah. It happened when I went to Japan [playing for the USA World Championship for Young Men Team], and everything was in Japanese and they had a movie rental store and they sold some English tapes and they had the best of Friends and we rented one and we watched like three tapes. It was pretty funny. So when I got back I started watching Friends.

PD: When you go abroad, do you play the professional teams? How good are they?

CD: Yeah we play the pro teams. They're not as quick, but they're more fundamentally sound--they do everything by the book.... They shoot the ball well, and they know how to play the game. It's just different. They have good talent out there.

PD: Do you think that some of the players, particularly the guys that are coming over, that they will be able to survive in the league?

CD: No, because the league guys are quicker. I think their lack of quickness is going to hurt them, their lack of athletic ability as well. You probably have a few exceptions like Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash, guys that are quick.

PD: So, do you think Yao's going to be the biggest No. 1 bust since Joe Smith?

CD: [laughs] I don't know, I mean I really haven't seen him play--see what he can do, what he can't do. So I don't know, it's going to be interesting.

PD: What NBA great would you compare your game as being closest to?

CD: Hmmm. That's a good question. I mean and I wouldn't compare my game to this person, but I think--this is what I've heard--I've heard I play a bit like John Stockton.

PD: Can you be the scorer that you need to be for this team to succeed next year?

CD: Yeah, definitely. I have all the confidence in the world in my scoring ability. I mean I think that last year scoring wasn't my main thing. My main thing was getting the ball to the right peoples' hands.

PD: Best performance in college?

CD: I think one of my best performances was my freshman year at Virginia when we lost. I [also] think I had a pretty good ACC Tournament this year. I mean I hit a couple key shots and I think I passed the ball well--didn't have that many turnovers.

PD: Worst?

CD: Kentucky, this year, up in New Jersey. I think I played terrible. That was like one of my worst games I ever played. And Florida State down in Tallahassee. Those are just the ones off the top of my head.

PD: Can you go over tapes of your bad games, or is that just too painful?

CD: Yeah, I can, but I have to be by myself. I don't want anybody there. It's like a censored room, especially for the bad games. It gets ugly in there, and I don't want anybody to get hurt [laughs].

PD: What do you do after games?

CD: Depends on how I feel. If I'm tired I go and relax and watch Sportscenter.

PD: Do you ever look for yourself?

CD: It depends if they can give me some T.V. time. It's always like the Jason, Mike and Carlos show [laughs]. Maybe I'll make a nice pass, see if I can make Plays of the Week or something, you never know. My name could be on the bottom where they show the stats, that happens every now and then. But either that or sometimes I go out afterward if it's a home game.

PD: What do you do before games to get ready?

CD: When it's a home game I watch tape. Usually I have a tape of the other team's point guard and I'll watch that, and try to get a feel for what their tendencies are. [I also] sleep, drink a lot of fluids, and get my mind ready for the game.

PD: Do you have any superstitions?

CD: I sleep with the ball, nights before games. The type of basketball that we're playing with the next day, and hopefully it'll be lucky to me.

PD: Do you cuddle it or just kind of put it on the bed next to you?

CD: Yeah you do this [demonstrates a hugging motion and laughs] Sometimes it doesn't end up where it's supposed to in the morning, but that might be a sign, I haven't experimented with that yet [laughs].

PD: Can you guys win the national title?

CD: I believe so. One of the keys is that our freshmen come in knowing that they can't be passive. They have to come in and make an immediate impact. We don't expect them, for the first one or two months, to come out and be superstars.... Actually, I kind of think it may be easier for us to win it because the expectations from everyone else are not there.... We can go out, have fun and play.

PD: You won the national championship--all the team honors possible your freshman year. Despite any individual awards you may get over the next one or two years, do you ever worry that you might not make it back to the top and that the best is behind?

CD: No, it's because I want to get back there and feel that Duke is always going to bring in the weapons for us to get back there. It's up to us to get there. And I feel like it's going to be up to me for us to get there this year. And it's a challenge; it's something that I want to go against. I love the challenge.... I think my best days are yet to come and I really believe that we are going to do some great things.