LONDON -- After the first timeout in the first game of the International Challenge Series at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski stood up, talked to his players for a bit and then actually went out on the court and acted out a move or two.
His antics were shocking; in only a few minutes, Krzyzewski had shown more movement than he typically does during an entire ACC season.
During the next timeout he did it again and again and again. Associate head coach Johnny Dawkins even stood up once.
"I told our team that I was going to do that and not to take anything personally and they responded well," Krzyzewski said. "I wouldn't do that necessarily in front of a regular season game. I'm using it more of a practice, first of all to see if the kids can respond-and they did respond-and second of all to teach them to play with a passion."
As Krzyzewski said, they did respond, and probably nobody did better than Dahntay Jones, who was the only Blue Devil to score in double figures in all four games. Jones racked up 21, 21, 12 and 10 points in each game, respectively, despite playing less than 20 minutes in the final game.
Jones used his trademark explosive step from the wing to burn his defenders on Antwerpen, Brighton and London and showed no hesitation in shooting the two or the three. On defense he was his regular self, arguably the best defender on the team.
"Dahntay's played like he has been all practice session," Krzyzewski said. "Dahntay's been the guy who overall has been our best player after 10 practices."
The other returning starter, Chris Duhon, was less of an offensive force, being more content to play his familiar role of floor general. While Duhon always found the open man, he was not the scorer that experts had been saying he needed to be for Duke to have a successful season.
However, Krzyzewski said the Slidell, La., native used this trip not to display his offensive prowess, but rather to concentrate on teaching Duke's style of play to the freshmen.
The Blue Devil head coach was particularly happy, for example, when his freshman point guard Sean Dockery came to the bench to ask advice not of the coaching staff, but rather Duhon.
"We showed a lot of toughness the whole weekend, and we'll be a tough team," Duhon said. "We learned a lot about ourselves and we know what type of team we need to be to become a great team."
Sophomore Daniel Ewing not only picked up where he left off at the end of last season, but improved upon it. He demonstrated his ability to be a go-to-guy for the Blue Devils, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter alone as the Blue Devils rallied from a 22-point deficit just before the end of the first half to win Game 3 against the Brighton Bears by eight.
Both of Duke's other main returnees--redshirt junior Nick Horvath and senior Casey Sanders--played well, with Horvath nailing several long-range jumpers and Sanders, who dropped 12 points in the last game, becoming a shot-blocking presence in the paint; the Tampa, Fla., native recorded five blocks during the trip. Both players saw a significant increase in minutes from the last two seasons as well.
"I'm so pleased for Nick, he's now playing like he's been practicing, which is well," Krzyzewski said.
Of the freshmen, Shavlik Randolph and Shelden Williams were the quickest to establish themselves, both starting the first game.
Randolph had a big first day, showing his big-man versatility by taking shots from every spot on the court, while Williams displayed his huge post skills best during the second set of games. Against Brighton, Williams dominated inside with 14 points and five boards in only 22 minutes.
"Shav is an important part of the team and he was hitting some tough shots," Jones said.
J.J. Redick and Sean Dockery both started slow but came on by the end. Dockery was arguably the most surprising Blue Devil, excelling in his role behind Duhon and showing flashes of brilliance with a couple of alley-oop passes and flashy ball handling skills. Redick, on the other hand, was streaky, but lethal when his shot was on.
The Roanoke, Va., native-who Randolph called the best shooter he's ever seen-hit several back-to-back threes, but brought down the house by sinking a sniper shot from near the half court line. Redick also dispelled any notion that he is a one-dimensional player by going to the basket on several occasions.
After playing only sparingly the first day, Michael Thompson and Lee Melchionni were used significantly on the second. Thompson was high-strung--Krzyzewski said the young center was "putting a dent into the backboard whenever he went up for a layup"--and also showed he could get in foul trouble easily, tallying nine in the last two games.
However, when Thompson did contribute he put up solid minutes as another big post presence for the Blue Devils.
The highlight of the trip for Melchionni came when he drained a three, his only points of the game, to spark the final Duke comeback against the Brighton Bears.
Duhon, Ewing and Jones all agreed that it will still take some time before the freshmen learn how to play "Duke defense." However, they also said there is no need for concern and that London had been a great learning experience for the team as a whole.
"Joking aside, this has been a great trip for us and we really appreciate the hospitality," Krzyzewski said, adding that the competition the team played in Europe was much tougher than any exhibition games Duke would play in the United States. "This experience was great."
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