As the Blue Devils trudged off the court following Sunday night's 81-67 win over Cornell, their expressions told a vastly different story than the scoreboard did.
The message was clear: No. 9 Duke (11-1) won this one, but with conference play only one week away, there were plenty of things they needed to do better.
"We just didn't come out with the type of intensity and defensive intensity that we wanted to," guard Gerald Henderson said. "That was a game that Cornell could've won.. The result of the game-we won the game-but we didn't play with the kind of excitement and intensity that we wanted to come out with."
Duke had gone 17 days without playing between a loss to Pittsburgh Dec. 20 and the Jan. 6 win over the Big Red. The Blue Devils' rust showed as they struggled to communicate on defense, shot poorly from three-point range and missed a few shots around the basket.
Wednesday night's contest against Temple (6-6) at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia will be a final chance to shake off the rust before the ACC season starts Sunday.
Krzyzewski and the players pointed to the team's lack of communication on defense as the biggest and most problematic result of the long layoff. Cornell's big men were able to slip away from Duke's defense for several uncontested layups.
"We've had a long break," Krzyzewski said, noting that the hiatus was partially a result of this year's season being two weeks longer than that of most years. "I don't know if we're in game shape or game talk yet. We weren't communicating very well out on the court.. We just weren't sharp. Not so much X's and O's, but we've got to get back to playing basketball."
Despite Duke's communication shortcomings, the outcome of the Cornell game never seemed in doubt. The Blue Devils took a nine-point lead into intermission, and after a fast second-half start by the Big Red cut the deficit to four, a 9-0 Duke run pushed the lead to 13. Cornell never again got closer than eight, but the deficit was never more than 15.
Poor 3-point shooting-the Blue Devils were only 6-for-23 from long range, after a 4-for-19 effort against Pitt-and missed layups prevented Duke from putting the game out of reach.
"When you miss a three, that's one thing, but when you miss something close, it gives your opponent energy," Krzyzewski said. "You have to finish at the line and finish close to the bucket. That's what championship teams do."
The type of game the Blue Devils played against Cornell was enough to beat the Big Red, but they know they have to play better to beat Temple-to say nothing of ACC teams.
"It should be a good game for us, especially leading into the ACC [regular season schedule]," Henderson said. "We feel like the game before we should be at our best, so we're looking to go up there and play really well."
Although the Owls are only 6-6 and have lost seven straight against Duke, they beat Ohio this season-a team that won at Maryland-and have played the nation's 14th-toughest schedule, according to kenpom.com. Guard Dionte Christmas leads the Atlantic-10 in scoring at 20.9 points per game.
And though the Owls are only 1-3 on neutral courts this season, the game will be played close to the Temple campus. The Owls, in fact, will be taking the Philadelphia subway to the stop closest to the arena and then walking the rest of the way there.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for our team to travel as Philadelphians do on a daily basis to and from work," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said.
For the Blue Devils, it will be their third trip to an NBA arena this season. Although Duke has historically been successful in NBA buildings, it struggled in its prior two trips this season-a 79-73 win over Davidson at the Charlotte Coliseum Dec. 1 and the loss to Pitt at Madison Square Garden.
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