UNBELIEVABLE BELIEVERS
games that had slipped away in the final minutes in 2006-07. “The team has an aura about themselves that they definitely weren’t happy about last season," stated Singler back then. "You have to learn from the past, learn from mistakes, and move forward.” It didn't take long for Kyle to make his mark or for the 2007-08 Blue Devils
to earn a measure of redemption. On November 21st, 2007, No. 13 Duke met No. 11 Marquette in the finals of the Maui Invitational. The night before, the team had seen a highlight video cut to the obligatory "Hawaii 5-0" track, with clips of previous Duke teams making plays in the well-known early- season Hawaiian tournament. Coach K had brought his Blue Devils to Maui three times prior and all three teams left with the championship trophy.
It
was evident to the 2007-08 group that Duke doesn't travel to the scenic island to enjoy the surf and sights, and they relished the chance to win a trophy that previously had been claimed by the likes of Laettner, Hurley, Hill, Brand, Battier, Boozer, Dunleavy, and Jason Williams. It was a close game throughout, with Marquette leading by one with 9:07 left, but then trailing by two with 33 seconds to go after scoring on a layup. The Golden Eagles opted to foul Singler, who calmly sank both free throws despite Marquette's at- tempt to freeze him with a timeout after he made the first one. The Oregon native scored 25 points in the game while hauling in seven boards, earning MVP honors for the tournament after just his fifth game at Duke. DeMarcus Nelson, the team's captain that year, recognized that the victory had Duke right on track. "This was special for this team. It was a chance for us to be a champion. We talked about that since the beginning of the year. It was our first chance to be a champion. At this time last year, we didn't do that. We've improved and gotten better." Duke left Maui with confidence, eager to continue their pursuit of champi- onship banners in Cameron. However, they were reminded of just how chal- lenging that pursuit is in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. After jumping out to a 34-29 lead at halftime of a second-round game against West Virginia, Duke experienced a second half that would have short and long-term rami- fications. In the final 20 minutes, the Mountaineers outrebounded Duke 25- 11, dominating the boards and owning the paint. For the game, WVU scored 17 second-chance points compared to just five for Duke. After the ballgame, various WVU players and media members suggested that Duke was highly vulnerable against physical, athletic teams. “We got out-toughed" recalls Zoubek. "Everyone knew it. We’re not going to forget that. Ever.”
NEXT PLAY Coach K, after the 2007-08 season:
"I'm very next-play oriented because the next play is a livable moment, where the one that you had, you already lived -- it's a memory. The neat thing about livable moments, it means you live instead of maintain or look in the future. 'Let's knock the heck out of these livable moments."'
The Blue Devils moved right to the next play in the aftermath of the WVU
loss. Coach Wojo, who works primarily with the Duke big men, was on a mission to make the Devils the nation's toughest team, and it would begin in the frontcourt. So, while the guards were working on jumpers, the bigs might be engaged in a ferocious "Survival of the Fittest" rebounding drill. Or, when the perimeter players had left for the day, the bigs might be fooled into think- ing they were done too, only to have more sprints and physical drills added. "Coach Wojo drilled us so hard, that everything became instinctual," said
Zoubek. "And our ability to get angry started in practice with us getting angry at him for all the stuff we had to do. We used that fire until the very last moment, and we wouldn’t have won it without those two things." "When you do drills everyday, it’s me, Brian, Mason, Miles, we’re the ones fighting each other everyday,” said Thomas. "Literally, there were times when we were about to get in fistfights with each other doing certain drills. That type of camaraderie helped develop the edge we had as a team and it started with our frontcourt. We just had that mind-set that it was us vs. them, and we were going to go for it." Practice wasn't a casual stroll through the Duke Gardens for the perimeter
guys either. Says Scheyer, "No matter who you are, you can get killed one day in practice. It makes you better." “Practices are competitive -- you’ve got your individual battles, team battles," said Smith. "Whatever team Coach puts out there in practice, it’s going to be a fight. We’re not literally fighting, but if you came in there and just heard the way we talk and yell at each other, you’d think we were about to fight. It’s the competitiveness that we have just to make each other the best that we can.” The 2008-09 team experienced countless intense practices, and it was behind closed doors in Cameron and the K Center that Duke evolved from a smaller team you could outrebound to a feisty, powerful, burly team you could not push around. The painstaking and disciplined effort would pay off, most notably first in the 2009 ACC Tournament.
BECOME A WORTHY CHAMPION Coach K, after winning the 2009 ACC Tournament:
“We’re ecstatic about being ACC champs and really happy for these guys, especially the guys in our junior class. These guys have had to go through a couple of years where they didn’t have any upperclassmen. I’m really pleased for them to win their first championship. I’m very proud. This class is a special class for me, because they helped build a championship... They’ve done a great job. This is a class that I’ll always remember in my coaching career.”
Before the 2009 ACC Championship Game in Atlanta, Coach K wrote on the locker room marker board, "BE A CHAMPION." The juniors -- Jon, Lance, Brian, Gerald -- had their first chance to hang a banner in Cameron and they were ready. The Devils played perhaps their finest half of the sea- son in the opening 20 minutes against Florida State that day, burying seven of 14 three-point attempts and rolling to a 35-21 lead. The No. 22 Seminoles had no answer for Scheyer, who earned tournament MVP honors after a 29-point outing in the final, or Henderson, who netted 27. After the game, as the team met back in the locker room, Coach K erased his pregame message and wrote, "YOU ARE CHAMPIONS." The ACC title was another fruitful step for the program and the players took time to enjoy the moment. This wasn't a Final Four or national title, but the importance of the victory and the banner was clearly not lost on the Blue Devils. “It’s a long time coming," said Henderson after the game. "We’ve put a lot
of work in building our team into what it is today. Winning this champion- ship is an accomplishment, because we’ve waited a long time for it. It feels good.” “We played our hearts out," added Smith. "We’ve been working hard all season long and we deserve it. I’m so proud. I’m speechless. Now I
144 DUKE 2010
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