Goodbye China, Hello Dubai

DUBAI -- With three wins and a fantastic Chinese cultural experience under its belt, the Duke men's basketball team took flight to Dubai on Wednesday. After a quick stop in Thailand to refuel, the Blue Devils were off to the United Arab Emirates.

"We are excited about coming to Dubai for another new experience," said freshman Austin Rivers after the 15-hour journey from Beijing to the Middle East. "The trip to China was great from a cultural and team perspective and we are really looking forward to continuing that in Dubai."

Duke arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand at midday and spent about an hour on site before reboarding flight NA72. In that time the Blue Devils did a little shopping, grabbed a quick bite to eat and observed a monk sitting on an airport bench. A small mental note for future visitor's to Thailand, do not purchase Skittles from the duty free shop. While they were as good as Skittles from the United States they did not quite live up to the $9 price tag.

Marshall Plumlee scored an Aunt Annie's pretzel and grabbed a chicken sandwich from Burger King. Both were highly recommended by the freshman forward/center much to the chagrin of others who purchased hamburgers from a local establishment.

After another six hours on the 757 North American flight, the Blue Devils touched down at Dubai International Airport with temperatures nearing 100 in the late afternoon.

The travel convoy of five buses arrived at the palacial Mina A'Salam Hotel at the Madinat Jumeirah Resort and everyone dispersed to prepare for the evening.

"It was definitely a different experience," admitted freshman guard Michael Gbinije. "It's a nice seven-star hotel. It had some rock climbing and the rooms were a whole lot different than your average hotel, so it was nice."

With Muslims currently observing Ramadan, all food and drink in public is prohibited. Therefore, the Blue Devils waited until sundown to grab a bite to eat in preparation for an evening practice and coaches clinic at the Al Wasl Club.

"The court doesn't really have a back drop," said sophomore point guard Tyler Thornton when asked about his impressions of the gym that Duke will play in Thursday night. "It's kind of far behind the basket and sometimes that will give you the perception that the court is longer. It kinds of reminds me of Cameron [Indoor Stadium] a little bit with how small it is, more so than the other gyms that we've played at since we've been out here."

More than 50 coaches attended the clinic and practice which lasted about an hour and allowed the Blue Devils to exert some energy after nearly 15 hours of travel. Following practice, head coach Mike Krzyzewski conducted an 20+ minute press conference with the media in attendance.

"After nine or ten hours in the air it felt good to get back out on the court to get our legs under us," said Thornton after Wednesday night's practice. "This is what we came here for - this is a business trip. Everything else is fun, but when we get in the gym it's all business - we have to get focused. No matter what time it is or how tired we are, we need to keep our focus so we can practice and prepare for the game."

Duke concludes its tour game schedule tomorrow evening with a game against the United Arab Emiratis National Team. The game will be shown live in the U.S. on ESPNU and ESPN3.com.

Players Mentioned

Michael Gbinije

Marshall Plumlee

Austin Rivers

Tyler Thornton

Duke information