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Duke Preps for Second Game of International Tour
8/18/2011 3:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SHANGHAI, CHINA -- Thursday's exhibition game at the Mercedez-Benz Arena is expected to be a big event in Shanghai. Not only will be Duke be facing the Chinese Olympic Team in a live nationally televised (ESPNU, 8 am ET) contest, but several prominent figures are also expected to be in attendance.
The potential celebrity list includes vice president Joe Biden, Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming, former Duke standouts Grant Hill, Kyrie Irving and Nolan Smith as well as NBA All-Stars LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire and Rajan Rondo.
"Politically and basketball-wise there are a lot of celebrities that visit Shanghai," said junior Mason Plumlee. "It will be great to have them at the game, but our focus is on going out and playing great regardless of who is watching."
Despite all the fanfare and excitement heading into the night, the Blue Devils prepared for the contest just like they would for any other game.
Following a standard breakfast, Duke went in to an extensive film session where the freshman class got their first taste of watching actual game tape.
"Film is always serious, but today was pretty intense and there was a little more focus," said freshman Austin Rivers. "It was nice to have game film and we actually learned more from our mistakes because we saw what we were doing in a real game. Film helped me see that I need to help out on defensive rebounds and attack the paint to draw fouls and create shots for my teammates."
The Blue Devils left the hotel at 11:30 am local time to head to Mercedez-Benz Arena, a 15,000 seat NBA-style venue, for an afternoon shootaround. Duke emerged through a tunnel under the Wong Pu River into a convention area that recently hosted the World Trade Expo. The expo drew 300,000 visitors a day for six months according to the tour guide. Among the venues in the convention area was the China Pavilion, which looks like an upside down pyramid.
There are also several other buildings in the area, including a temporary facility that cost nearly 300 million dollars to build for the expo that will be demolished in the near future. The convention area was the first real example of China's crowded streets as hundreds of locals, including one particular man that was decked out in a full throwback Houston Rockets uniform, littered the sidewalks.
After a short stretch, Duke went to work walking through the various offensive and defensive tactics used by the Chinese team in Kunshan. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski patiently talked through press breakers, rebounding techniques and offensive and defensive sets in a low impact, heavily mental one-hour session.
"Today has been a great day for us so far and hopefully it turns into a great night," said assistant coach Jeff Capel. "We were able to have a really good film session this morning to give our guys some some feedback on the things they did well and some of the things they didn't do well last night."
The potential celebrity list includes vice president Joe Biden, Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming, former Duke standouts Grant Hill, Kyrie Irving and Nolan Smith as well as NBA All-Stars LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire and Rajan Rondo.
"Politically and basketball-wise there are a lot of celebrities that visit Shanghai," said junior Mason Plumlee. "It will be great to have them at the game, but our focus is on going out and playing great regardless of who is watching."
Despite all the fanfare and excitement heading into the night, the Blue Devils prepared for the contest just like they would for any other game.
Following a standard breakfast, Duke went in to an extensive film session where the freshman class got their first taste of watching actual game tape.
"Film is always serious, but today was pretty intense and there was a little more focus," said freshman Austin Rivers. "It was nice to have game film and we actually learned more from our mistakes because we saw what we were doing in a real game. Film helped me see that I need to help out on defensive rebounds and attack the paint to draw fouls and create shots for my teammates."
The Blue Devils left the hotel at 11:30 am local time to head to Mercedez-Benz Arena, a 15,000 seat NBA-style venue, for an afternoon shootaround. Duke emerged through a tunnel under the Wong Pu River into a convention area that recently hosted the World Trade Expo. The expo drew 300,000 visitors a day for six months according to the tour guide. Among the venues in the convention area was the China Pavilion, which looks like an upside down pyramid.
There are also several other buildings in the area, including a temporary facility that cost nearly 300 million dollars to build for the expo that will be demolished in the near future. The convention area was the first real example of China's crowded streets as hundreds of locals, including one particular man that was decked out in a full throwback Houston Rockets uniform, littered the sidewalks.
After a short stretch, Duke went to work walking through the various offensive and defensive tactics used by the Chinese team in Kunshan. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski patiently talked through press breakers, rebounding techniques and offensive and defensive sets in a low impact, heavily mental one-hour session.
"Today has been a great day for us so far and hopefully it turns into a great night," said assistant coach Jeff Capel. "We were able to have a really good film session this morning to give our guys some some feedback on the things they did well and some of the things they didn't do well last night."
The Blue Devils boarded the bus to return to the hotel for an afternoon snack and some rest prior to their second exhibition game of the trip. While several players continued a debate on rap and hip-hop artists others settled in to iPad games and people watching as the bus rolled through downtown Shanghai. Junior Todd Zafirovski continued to develop his own Sin City with RockVegas, while another Duke basketball staffer harvested crops in his growing Smurf Village.
Despite being across the world, the distractions of celebrities attending tonight's game, and the excitement of competing against the China Olympic Team, the Blue Devils have maintained the same focus on growth and development that has led to such great success under Krzyzewski.
"Today's routine is as important as anything we will do on this trip," added Capel. "Last night our freshman learned about being in the game, what it means to wear a Duke uniform and the standards we have here in this program. The other part [of the learning process] is how to prepare. Going through the film session, walk-thru and game plan gives them the opportunity to learn that in August instead of November."
Players Mentioned
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