Coach: Mike Krzyzewski 868-279 35 seasons (795-220 30 seasons in Durham).

Fifty-one Blue Devils have played in the National Basketball Association including currently Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand, Luol Deng, Chris Duhon, Mike Dunleavy, Gerald Henderson, Grant Hill, Dahntay Jones, Corey Maggette, Josh McRoberts, J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams.

Duke’s season has ended in the NCAA tournament 34 times. The Devils climbed the ladder at the Final Four in ’91, ’92, ’01 and last year.  Duke has been national runner-up six times with five additional showings in the natinal semi-finals.

Notable Non-Conference Tilts: 11/14 vs. Princeton, 11/22 vs. Marquette, 11/23 vs. Gonzaga/ Kansas State, 11/27 at Oregon, 12/1 vs. Michigan, 12/4 vs. Butler, 1/30 at St. John’s

Stat of Identity: 28.3 percent 3-pt. field goal defense.

Key Returners:

Kyle Singler 36.8 mpg, 18.2 ppg, 7 rpg

Nolan Smith 35.5 mpg, 17.4 ppg, 3 apg

Miles Plumlee 16.4 mpg, 5.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg

Andre Dawkins 12.6 mpg, 4.4 ppg

Mason Plumlee 14.1 mpg, 3.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg

By Paul Casey Gotham

The bulls eye is back in Durham, North Carolina. After nearly a decade absence, the men’s college basketball world will focus on knocking Duke from the top of the mountain.

The 2010-11 Blue Devils will prove worthy of the task.

Seniors, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith will garner much of the attention, but it is how the rest of the Blue Devil lineup contributes that will determine the fate of the ’10-’11 Duke squad.

Last year’s squad understood tempo. They recognized opportunities to score in transition, but they also knew when to run half-court sets. Much of this decision-making came from the now-departed Jon Scheyer.

Can this year’s group glean from that experience?

The deliberate offense resulted in an improved rebound margin (6.3 – 14th in the country) for the Blue Devils. Something that had been missing for Duke in recent years. The methodical offense allowed Greg Zoubek and Lance Thomas to get in position for offensive rebounds. Zoubek was one of the best in the nation on the offensive glass.

Zoubek and Thomas graduated.

Brothers, Miles and Mason Plumlee will need to carry the responsibility in the paint. Both played significant minutes late last season. Now, they will be relied upon to contribute.

Singler will move to a power forward role and  add to the rebounding. Freshman, Josh Hairston (6’7″) brings depth to the front court.

Smith will primarily play in the off-guard spot as he did last season, but he will some time at point when freshman, Kyrie Irving, comes out of the game. Irving will shoulder the brunt of the responsibility for dictating the tempo of the Duke offense. Prior to Scheyer’s time at the point, Duke played up-tempo with an open set in half-court. Watch for the Blue Devils to continue embracing that style of play while using Irving’s speed in the full-court.

Andre Dawkins and transfer, Seth Curry, round out what could be the deepest Duke squad in recent memory. Coach K will have plenty offensive power to deploy night to night. As a freshman, Curry averaged 20 points per game for Liberty. Dawkins showed flashes of brilliance last year.

Tyler Thornton will also compete for playing time.

Courtesy of NBA.com

By Paul Gotham

Celtics getting taller.

If  Danny Ainge and his staff took one lesson from the recent playoffs, it’s that you can’t teach height.

With Kevin Garnett dressed to the nines the reigning champs struggled to survive the first round before bowing from the post-season.

Since then, the Cavaliers signed Shaq. Boston responded by getting Rasheed Wallace. Ainge and crew haven’t rested.

Last week, Boston signed Shelden Williams to a contract. Since Atlanta took Williams with the fifth pick in the ’06 draft, ‘The Landlord’ has bounced from the Hawks to Minnesota to Sacramento. If nothing else, the signing of Williams  sent a message to Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis.

After expressing his frustration through various tweets, Davis finally came to terms with the Cs. Perhaps, Davis realized he’s a dime a dozen and to make buzzer beaters in the playoffs, one actually has to play on a team that qualifies for the post-season.

However you cut it, Boston will have plenty of fouls to give with their revamped frontcourt.

Nash signs extension with the Suns.

He may not be a dog, but Steve Nash sure is loyal. Instead of testing the free agent waters next summer, the 35-year-old Nash opted to sign a three-year deal with the Suns.

Two years ago, the Suns lost in Conference semi-final to the Spurs. Since that fateful night when ‘Kindergarten’ Marion and Amare Stoudemire each earned a game suspension for doing their finest Lynyrd Skynrd and ‘taking’ three steps, the Suns have been in decline. The Shaq experiment reaped a first-round exit last year and a playoff miss this year.

The upcoming season doesn’t look much better. No one could blame Nash for wanting a change in scenery. Instead the the 13-year veteran is staying put.

Felton still unsigned.

We should create a new category: head scratchers.

This past season Raymond Felton averaged 14 ppg, 3.8 RPG, and 6.7 APG. All of those numbers are pretty consistent with his previous three seasons in the league. Yet, Felton is still looking for a team. There are no teams out there in need of a reliable point guard?

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