November 3, 2005.   Cameron Indoor Stadium.

  This game had a slow, sloppy and sluggish start, but the polish of the seniors combined with the enthusiasm of the frosh helped Duke take a double-digit lead five minutes into the game and put it into full-fledged blowout mode ten minutes in.  At times, the game wasn't pretty to watch, partially because it was called so closely.   Quite frankly, it was a good thing they did, because Concordia was forced to hold and push because they couldn't stop Duke any other way. Conversely, Duke's young players were often beaten to the spot and forced to hand-check or push.

  Duke's first three baskets were all stickbacks.  For the game, Duke would get an incredible 9 rebound baskets.  Shelden Williams had a bunch of these (and a ridiculous 10 offensive rebounds overall), but Marty Pocius, Josh McRoberts, DeMarcus Nelson, Eric Boateng and Jamal Boykin all had at least three offensive boards.  That gave Duke an absurd 34-8 in that category.  That's why Duke was able to score 123 points despite shooting a bit under 50%.  The Devils got 33 more attempts than Concordia.

  Concordia was a small but scrappy team that played reasonably well as a unit.  On the occasions when Duke wasn't using its size to intimidate, they ran some nice scoring plays that exploited Duke's overplaying defense.  Still, they simply weren't ready to deal with a player like Williams or a rangy forward like McRoberts.

  Duke had small leads in the early going as they had trouble getting stops against a feisty opponent. A three by DeMarcus Nelson, along with a Lee Melchionni drive, helped give Duke some breathing room, before they hit 12 free throws to earn a 27-14 lead.  By this time, Concordia seemed a bit dazed.  Duke took advantage, ripping off a 19-0 run to put the game away. The run featured 3 threes and 10 points combined from Redick and Dockery.  The lead stayed at about thirty for most of the half.

  Duke continued to pile on in the second, starting the half on a 24-10 run that was ignited by 4 three pointers.  Duke started to go off and running, with a number of McRoberts dunks highlighting the late portion of the games.

  The Devils fouled way too much in the first half, but changed their approach in the second half.  Duke concentrated a bit less on trying to attack the ballhandler and instead concentrated on passing lanes, and the result was 8 second half steals.   Duke only put Concordia on the line 7 times in the second half, after giving them 14 freebies in the first.

  Overall, this game was a nice way of working out some kinks against a team that had discipline though not much size or talent.  It was especially good for the frosh to get out there and learn how they reacted in certain situations and with certain players.

  Player-by-Player:

  ** Williams:  Shelden was a man amongst boys, scattering the Stingers like toy soldiers.  Anytime he missed a shot, he simply got the ball back and kept trying until he scored or was fouled.  His 19 points were not unexpected, his 16 boards weren't a shock, and his 5 blocks were just another day at the office. But I was most impressed by his 4 assists.  All four of them came after he reversed the ball out of the post to open shooters.  He found Dockery, Pocius, Melchionni and Redick that way.  A Williams he can quickly pass and find the open man would truly be an All-American for Duke, because working the offense from the inside out always makes things easier for a team.

  ** McRoberts:  Josh threw down a spectacular dunk in the early going, but also picked up 2 quick fouls.  While backing off a bit on defense, he was still able to find Nelson inside and Redick for three.  McRoberts started to get more comfortable in the second half and found a groove, throwing down 3 more dunks and getting a stickback.  Josh also had an impressive block and started to dominate the boards, with 5 offensive rebounds alone.  His court vision is still his most impressive attribute; he can pass like very few big men can. That will help keep the offensive crisp and unpredictable, because he will be far from a black hole when he gets the ball.  The only negatives in this game for Josh, other than fouling, were his 1-4 showing from the foul line and a couple of weak stickback attempts.  When he grabs the ball and goes up, look out below.  But when he takes his own incredible spring out of the occasion with poorly-measured tip-ins, he only handicaps himself. Still, he learns quickly from his mistakes; he threw down 3 dunks shortly after he missed some tip-ins.

  ** Nelson:  Markie was unrelenting on the offensive end, starting things off by throwing a perfect lob to McRoberts.  He's certainly Duke's most versatile scorer.  In the first half alone, he muscled up for a stickback, drained a three, scored on a gorgeous spin move and finished a fast break.  In the second half, he scored on another stickback and fastbreak, but his best play came when he picked up a steal and found McRoberts again for a transition dunk.  About his only negative of the game came when he missed a couple of free throws. There's no question that Nelson can be Duke's x-factor this year at both ends of the floor.

  ** Redick: Offensively, this was not a great night for JJ.   He hit half of his threes, but missed several shorter but higher-difficulty shots. What made JJ so dangerous in this game was his willingness to find open teammates.  In addition to feeding Boateng for a score, he had 2 nice outlet passes to McRoberts for dunks.  He also passed out to Nelson and Melchionni for open threes that they swished.  JJ also hit 3 free throws when he was fouled beyond the arc and 8-8 for the game.  His ability to manufacture points from the foul line will be a huge asset as a senior. It is interesting that an off-game for JJ still meant 21 points and 7 assists.

  ** Dockery: Sean is playing with an incredible amount of confidence right now. He's still focusing on his role of perimeter defensive stopper and caretaker of the ball, but one can see him branching out when the opportunity arises.  In the middle of the first half, he nailed a three, dished inside to William, and then sank a 15' jumper in that span of a couple of minutes.  In the second half, he had a steal and layup along with 3 free throws after getting fouled from beyond the arc. He was also a defensive terror, attacking the ball for 4 steals.  The form on his jumper is excellent, and he's not afraid to take it.  He makes a perfect fifth scoring option on the floor, because he doesn't care about getting a lot of shots, but can't be left alone due to his ability to score.

  ** Melchionni:   Lee has truly mastered the art of "right place, right time", knowing when and how to get open when Redick or Williams are covered.  He used a size mismatch to get an early score off the dribble, then nailed 3 threes in the first half.  Two of the threes came from frosh (Boateng and Paulus), while he simply pulled up for another.  Lee wasn't shy about hoisting shots, and he got so many good ones that it was hard to resist.  He sank another couple of threes in the second half, including a long one from NBA range.  Overall, Melchionni didn't do anything spectacular--but that's not his game.  He comes in, hits shots, slips in for timely rebounds and fires up the crowd.  He'll make an excellent sixth man, coming in for anyone who isn't playing with a lot of energy.  He's still not much of a defender, but good things simply seem to happen with him out there.

  ** Paulus: Greg looked stiff and hesitant in the first half, afraid to accept the metaphorical keys to Duke's offense.  He finally started to loosen up late in the first half, with an assist to Melchionni for a three and 3 foul shots of his own.  In the second half, he started to show off some real daring, penetrating and pitching.  He found Lee again, this time on a cut, and dished off to Redick for a three after he drove.  Later in the game, he drove in for a layup of his own and passed to Patrick Johnson for a score.  Paulus still has a ways to go, but one can see that he's slowly adjusting. Next on his to-do list is learning to anticipate better defensively, hitting the pull-up jumper, and figuring out where his teammates like passes delivered on the break.

  ** Pocius: Marty is another daredevil of a frosh who loves to attack on both ends.  His problem is that he doesn't quite know when to reel it in a bit, because he fouled out in just 11 minutes of play.  That all-out style of his helped him grab 5 rebounds in that span, including getting a stickback.  Pocius also stroked a 19' jumper from the corner.  I like the fact that Marty isn't shy, but he simply needs to make better decisions.  His problems on defense show that he just doesn't know where to be on the court at the right time, and he winds up playing defense with his hands instead of his feet.  Until he overcomes this tendency, he won't get meaningful minutes.

  ** Boateng: Eric was quite tentative, which was a change from his aggressive showing at the Blue-White game.   I think this can be attributed to nerves and still going through a learning process.  When Eric can react quicktly, good things happen; in the first half, JJ fed him in the post and Boateng immediately flipped up a nice half-hook for a score.  That would be his only field goal of the game.  There were other times when he broke the cardinal rule of what to do when you get an offensive rebound: he brought the ball down.  On one occasion, he tried to dribble with the ball after a defensive board, and promptly had it stripped; of course, this was due partly to no one helping him out in the backcourt.  Boateng was able to get to the foul line with ease in the second half, but he seemed shaky at the line, bricking 4 of his last 5 tries.  I still think that he has the potential to earn minutes as a frosh, if he can learn to simplify the game for himself.

  ** Boykin:  Like the other frosh, Jamal started slowly and nervously. He proved to be an energy guy right from the very start, throwing his body around like a crazy man.  He slapped the floor on more than one occasion; in a game where Duke was up by 40+ points, it did seem a bit much. However, one must admire his passion and enthusiasm.  In the first half, he flew around the court and managed to get a steal and block a shot.  In the second half, he nailed a 15' jumper and had 2 stickbacks, one for a three point play.  His one big mistake on offense was getting an offensive rebound and bringing the ball down.  As he tried to go up again, the ball was stripped for a turnover.  On the plus side, there was another play where he went after a player who was dribbling near the sidelines and forced him into a turnover.  I do think that Jamal has a chance to become a useful role player as a frosh; he just needs to relax a bit more and let the game come to him.

  ** The Walk-Ons: Duke's walk-ons have quite a bit of experience, with Patrick Johnson getting significant minutes at times.  They didn't disappoint here, as Paulus found Johnson for a score inside.  Johnson later hit Joe Pagliucca for a three.

  ** Cameron Craziness: The fans screamed "OH!" during every verse of "Oh, Canada"; chanted USA in the early going and "ski home safely" towards the end.

           Rob's Archive