Here is a piece on Austin Rivers, he talks about having his dad in the stands and loving the time spent together during the NBA lockout, it couldn’t have come at a better time as unfortunate a situation as it was. Noted is Rivers’ unshakable confidence, and his drive to get Duke in a position to win a National Championship.
Rasheed Sulaimon is getting the best and the worst parts of signing with Duke. Recruits get the recognition of signing with a national power and the competitors respect and their best shots, but alas the heckling that goes along with that is, well, probably pretty intense and unbearable. Clearly the name Duke is a lightning rod for criticism, and more. Sulaimon handles it, takes it all in stride, even going as far as wearing Duke socks during the Raleigh Holiday Tournament attended by Coach K.
This article from GoDuke.com is a nice synopsis on where the Devils are now and where they were a couple of years ago, heading into the home stretch of national title run. It mentions the insertion of guard Tyler Thornton into the starting lineup this year which hopefully will continue to pay dividends for Duke, and while not an offensive threat like Seth Curry, his defensive prowess and tenacity is something the Devils were lacking in the starting lineup.
Duke, hopefully, has learned a lot from the embarrassing loss to OSU and the near miss in MSG against Washington, as well as the slow starts against some teams that should have been put away early. Tonight against Western Michigan (7pm, ESPN2) we will see how Duke responds to both the long layoff and having played not its best basketball this month.
