Well, after most of us have read far too may previews, it's time to throw the ball up for real.  Starting tonight each basket our talented freshman make goes into the official state book.

North Carolina Central goes crosstown to play its first ever NCAA basketball game versus our Duke Blue Devils.  That means it's time for me to throw out a prediction and needless to say the first couple of games prove difficult.

The Eagles have a lot of newcomers from the JUCO ranks and it is hard to assess just how much better they may be from last season.  Duke has shown that it will run in the pre season and tonight will be no different.

My feeling is that we hit the century mark right off the bat.  While I do not think Coach K wants to run the score up, it may be a difficult task in that not happening with the Blue Devil's depth.

What I am saying is this.  In the exhibition games, Duke hasn't shot well from the three point stripe and still won handily.  They will find their range tonight and cruise to a 103-55 win.

The Durham Herald-Sun has three new Duke articles posted:

Dascenzo: Say what you mean?

Devils, Eagles meet today as Division I foes

Louisville files lawsuit against Duke over dropped games

Is Coach K the most powerful man in college hoops?

Former Women's Coach Joanne Boyle

Dan Wiederer, at the Fayetteville Observer, has written a nice article on Greg Paulus.  The following quotes from Senior team captain DeMarcus Nelson and Coach K are prominent:

"When Greg’s at his best, he brings the verve to our team," said forward DeMarcus Nelson, Duke’s lone senior. "Greg still provides a voice for our team and we need him to."

"You can’t confuse helping people with leading," Krzyzewski said. "If you’re in Las Vegas, there’s a concierge and you go to him and say, ‘We need tickets to a show.’ And he says, ‘I’ll help you, I’ll help you.’ But they’re not leaders. You need someone to tell you, ‘Ya know what, you’re going to go this show, you’re going to go to that restaurant and you’re going to order this.’ Greg needs to do more of that."

The whole article is here.

At the News & Observer, Luciana Chavez has written an article titled: Paulus and Smith point the way for Blue Devils.  The article contains this statement:

"The Duke program starts with defense at the point, directed by Mike Krzyzewski, a former Army point guard who learned the defense-first philosophy under Bobby Knight."