I kind of expected to see a different Josh McRoberts this evening and my inclination proved accurate as it was clear early on that the sophomore came to play.  Josh, like other Duke players seemed  caught off guard by seven footer Brian Zoubek's play.

McRoberts took the ball straight by Zoubek to start this evening off.  He then reached into his bag of tricks, taking the freshman inside and out, setting a different tone which enabled him to hit from the three point stripe and allowed his team to win the first two games.

Josh seems to have a totally new body.  He is a little more slender than last season and that seems to have improved his quickness.  Duke fans saw flashes of brilliance last season and he started where he left off, throwing down some thunderous dunks.  He still has the ability to assist his teammates nicely with his advanced passing skills for a big man.

DeMarcus Nelson had three dunks that brought the oohs and ahs from the crowd.  He is aggressive when going to the hole and has the majority of his power back on his moves.  He used the glass well in warding of defenders when they collapsed on his drives. He nailed about half of his outside shots, some being threes and plays lockdown defense at times.  He over commits in transition at times, but the entire squad could do a better job in knowing when to give the ball up.  Still, I see Markie as a clear leader for this years team.

Boykin continues to hustle and has improved his game, but he sometimes lingers to long in making his decision to shoot on offense, when he should be looking for a cutting teammate or a kick out.  He is always around the glass, but isn't a terrific leaper, yet positions well at times.  He gets lots of garbage baskets which I attribute to hustle and staying with the play.

Newcomer Gerald Henderson started a tad slow this evening, but as the games wore on, he warmed up nicely.  He has a nice stutter step, which loses his defensive player and allow a clear look on the jump shot.  He is capable of the alley oop passes and plays above the rim much of the time.  His spacing needs a little work, but he battles well on defense and is ahead of the curve in this area.  He has a nasty crossover and can explode on dunks.  He was clearly the most impressive freshmen tonight in my eyes.

Fellow Freshman, Jon Scheyer showed me more of why he was named the top player in the Chicago area.  It  may have gone unnoticed or I may have missed a shot, but I had him 4 for 4, with 3 of those being three pointers from various areas on the court. Scheyer is allowing his teammates to take on a large role and they have yet to seek him out for shots unless he is open, yet he seems resigned to fit in.  The kid can shoot the ball and I will watch the rest of his game closely tonight.

I guess after reading about McRoberts early success on Zoubek, you expected the youngster to wither.  Well, he did for a game and a half, but to his credit plugged away and ended up showing some nice skills.  He was smart enough to allow a defensive player to go by and then kindly dunked with authority.  The play before he backed down McRoberts and used him inside.  I am impressed by the shape he seems to be in and that he didn't let McRobert's early play change his game.  He does need some footwork help on defense, but his size makes up for mistakes in that he is often able to recover.  I can only imagine that what Wojo will do with him, allowing him to provide some serious help defense.  He had a couple of balls raked out of his hands this evening, but still claims boards with authority and will surely draw a few fouls should he continue to go after the ball.  He doesn't reach much and that may mean he is not foul prone.

McClure plays a quiet and effective game.  He has developed a nice mid range shot and is rarely out of play with footwork.  Still, taller players can sometimes take advantage of him, but he makes up for a lot with good defense and knowing when to reach in for a deflection.

Greg Paulus shot horribly early on and committed some turnovers.  In fact, it was the Jordan Davidson led team that won the first two games.  Davidson's hustle should prepare Paulus well in practice.  The highlight if Greg's game was his ultimate determination.  In game four, which was the last of the evening, Greg drilled a three for the win, yet a discrepancy ensued.  Game point in pick ups do not come cheap and a grimacing Greg, frustrated from several early missed shots, took the ball back out, only to get it on the left side and drill another three, which this time counted and ended the nights games.  In my mind it atoned from some early mistakes and showed his competitiveness.   I expect Greg is just getting warmed up.

In closing I will go on record as saying that I see another top ten team in the making, and while they may be young, we have many tools for Krzyzewski to work with.

Notes:  JJ Redick made an appearance tonight and was treated like a rock star.  Many campers kept their eyes on him the whole time pick ups were played.  JJ had to be flanked by team managers and partitions.  Oklahoma Coach Jeff Capel sat with the Duke Assistant's this evening.  Quinn Syder was in the house for Saturday's games.  The kids, as always enjoy this well organized event known as the Duke Basketball Camp and I encourage any parent to let their son experience the discipline and teachings offered.