The No. 2 men's basketball team takes on Nike Elite tonight at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium for its second and final exhibition game before the start of its regular season.
"Even though it's titled as an exhibition game, this is where we're trying to start," junior guard Daniel Ewing said. "This is where we're trying to begin our season, how we're going to try to define what kind of team we're going to be tomorrow."
Nike Elite has had mixed success against other college opponents. The troupe of former college players snuck by Miami 88-86. But the team has fared far worse against the ACC. Most recently, Nike Elite fell to both Georgia Tech and Clemson. The quick Nike Elite team forced 24 Yellow Jacket turnovers, but was out rebounded 41-29. After its matchup with the Blue Devils, Nike Elite continues its run through the league with contests against North Carolina and Florida State.
The squad includes a roster of eight former collegiate players that have the ability to put points on the board. Curtis Millage, a former 6-foot-2 guard for Arizona State, and Brandon Watkins of Penn State, highlight the group. Millage led Nike Elite in its most recent loss to Clemson with 16 points and five steals, and Watkins leads the team in overall scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game.
The Blue Devils will have to contend with the Nike Elite team which boasts a perimeter-dominated threat. In the team's recent loss to Clemson, four Nike Elite players scored in double figures.
The Blue Devils were lackadaisical on defense during the first half of their first exhibition contest, but the team says it has learned from its mistakes and will come out with more intensity tonight.
"Our first exhibition game showed us that we have some things that we need to work on and stuff we're not as good as we thought we were and we've been going over those things in practice," Ewing said. "Talking out on the court and communicating with each other is a big thing that we really need to work on... transition defense is another big thing."
"We're not a really good talking team right now," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "As a result, there isn't as much coordinated effort. In a fast break opportunity where it's instinctive, where you just go, there are some really great plays. We have to learn how to do that in half court."
Last time Duke was in action, it turned in a sub-par first half followed by tremendous offensive efficiency after the break. By the end of the game against EA Sports, six Blue Devils had reached double figures in points and had dominated the team, taking the game 105-74. Duke seems to have a grasp on how to balance its offense. Now it just needs to balance out its halves.
"Basically we just need to build on the things we've been working on in practice, try to have a big game like we had in the second half the whole time tomorrow," said Ewing, who led all scorers against EA Sports with 23. "We have to start off making connection plays with each other, communicating, talking, just being on the same page."
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