For the second Saturday in a row, the Blue Devils opened up the doors to Cameron Indoor Stadium, this time for an open practice.
Players signed autographs for an hour preceding Saturday morning's practice, with demand so high that a line went out the doors into the wet conditions. Freshman center Jahlil Okafor said following practice that some fans told him they had driven four or five hours to be in Durham for the occasion.
After the autograph session, fans filed into Cameron's upper bowl to take in head coach Mike Krzyzewski's two-hour practice. Practice featured a combination of drills and short scrimmages, designed to simulate game environments. The first scrimmage represented the last six minutes of the first half, the second represented the final minute of the first half and the final iteration represented the last six minutes of the game.
Here are some observations from practice:
The first and second units remained unchanged from the groups that started last weekend's Countdown to Craziness scrimmage. The White squad consisted of three freshmen—Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow—as well as sophomore Matt Jones and junior captain Amile Jefferson. The Blue team was comprised of senior captain Quinn Cook, junior Rasheed Sulaimon, redshirt junior Marshall Plumlee, sophomore Semi Ojeleye and freshman Grayson Allen. Halfway through practice, Cook and Allen swapped teams with Winslow and Tyus Jones.
At Duke's in-practice scrimmage Oct. 21, the White team ran away from the Blue team by a margin of 40-plus points, but the teams were much more evenly matched Saturday. The White team still won three of the four contests, but only won the net "game" by less than 10 points.
Okafor continued to impress with a diverse arsenal of post moves, beating Plumlee off the dribble and showcasing a hook shot and jumper off the backboard, extending out to eight to ten feet from the rim. The Chicago native was well-complemented by Tyus Jones, who made several crafty passes in the scrimmages to Winslow for easy finishes. Winslow converted some aggressive, nifty drives of his own. On the other end, Sulaimon and Cook kept the Blue team competitive with their shooting from beyond the arc.
Both teams displayed various full-court presses for most of the scrimmage, and the Blue Devils will likely look to pick up in the full court more frequently this season. With a loaded stable of stable guards on the perimeter, Krzyzewski should be able to substitute liberally to keep fresh legs on the court and turn up the pressure on opponents. It wasn't VCU's "Havoc" or Louisville's swarming press, but the Blue Devil traps forced some ill-advised passes that led to steals and layups.
However, both offenses still found holes in the opposing defense, often leaking out in transition with long outlet passes. If Duke is going to apply full-court pressure, it will have to do a better job of getting back on defense and limiting transition opportunities. On the offensive end, playing up-tempo will fit the Blue Devils well with speedy floor generals in Cook and Tyus Jones and athletic wings in Winslow, Allen and Sulaimon.
At the end of practice, Krzyzewski had his team do a shooting drill for the first time all season. Groups of three Blue Devils raced downcourt and received passes from teammates. One finished a layup—worth one point—and the others launched jumpers—worth two points each. They then ran back downcourt to repeat the same process before the next group of three began. Krzyzewski set the goal at 120 points in 4:15, and for awhile it seemed the Blue Devils would fall far short of that mark.
But shots began to fall, and the Blue Devils were sitting at 119 with less than five seconds remaining. Sprinting downcourt to beat the buzzer, Okafor received a feed and flushed home a dunk as the horn sounded, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd and a mob-scene from his teammates.
After another solid practice that saw no injuries, the Blue Devils will prepare for the first of two exhibition games Tuesday against Livingstone at 7 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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