"A.M. Mayhem" was less about basketball
and more about setting a tone for the season, especially with the fans. Really, the 12-minute scrimmage was little more
than a jumped-up pickup game, only with a large and enthusiastic audience. However, Coach K sensed that there was a real
need to get the message out to the Sixth Man that they will be needed, and out in force,
this season. This event was a way of showing
that the program is willing to reach out and find ways to generate excitement beyond what
is simply on the court. (One of the
exhibition games will be "freshman night", where they get in first, as a way of
introducing them to Cameron and instilling traditions right away.) Coach K also noted that he's not going to do skits
or dress up like Elvis, but he didn't mind doing something like this.
The practice was the culmination of a festive
first day of Homecoming at Duke. Octoberfest
was held during the day, and various bands and DJ's did their thing at night. A couple of hours before midnight, a giant TV
screen outside Cameron was showing highlights of the 2001 championship, the last ten
minutes of the 2003 ACC finals, and a women's hoops highlight video. A huge crowd of students gathered lined up
outside, and were loudly chanting even before they got in.
Inside Cameron, they were showing highlights on a
couple of big screens with the lights dimmed. As
midnight approached, the crowd got louder and louder.
The lower level was completely packed with students, and the upstairs (in
the sections that weren't roped off because of the screens) were near capacity. Many of the folks in attendance weren't regular
season ticket-holders. A few minutes before
midnight, a lone figure on crutches slowly stalked his way to the center circle. The crowd instantly knew who it was despite a lack
of light. When he reached mid-court, a
spotlight shone on Jason Williams, making his first public speech since his accident. The huge wave of applause and cheers thundered
down from the rafters and clearly overwhelmed him. As
he was too overcome to speak, the old chants of "Jay-Will, Jay-Will Rock You!"
started up. If Jason needed a public burst of
affection from his old fans and classmates, he certainly got it. Eventually, he composed himself and thanked the
crowd, noting that he needed a moment since he cried the last time he was on this court. He welcomed the fans and told them that this could
be a special year for Duke and its "new wave of superstars", and that he'd be
here at many games this year. In general,
Jason looked fit though it was clear that he still couldn't move one of his legs very
much. He's obviously been working out a lot
in addition to doing his normal rehab, and looks to have gotten back some of the weight he
lost.
As the crowd counted down to midnight, a
basketball was lowered from the scoreboard, New Year's-style. The team emerged to a huge ovation, and Chris
Duhon ran over to disconnect the ball from its cord.
The team spent the first twelve minutes "warming up", i.e.,
holding their own dunk contest. Luol Deng
threw the first one down, and amazed everyone with his tremendous body control and
vertical leap. Also, his hands are enormous
and sure. Shavlik Randolph also threw down
some impressive dunks, as did JJ Redick (!) and frosh Patrick Davidson (!!). Daniel Ewing was getting up higher than almost
anyone else. The players were introduced, and
the seniors (Borman, Means, & Duhon) all shook hands with Coach K and went over to
Jason Williams. Duhon gave him a big hug.
The 12 minute scrimmage matched a Blue team of
Sean Dockery, Randolph, Redick, Deng and Michael Thompson vs a White team with Duhon,
Ewing, Lee Melchionni, Shelden Williams and Nick Horvath.
Early on, both teams went inside, with Williams & Thompson getting some
early buckets. Duhon threw a memorable lob to
Ewing that he hammered down. Randolph looked
both smooth and powerful, cleaning the boards at the defensive end and hitting a three at
the offensive end. Deng struggled from the
field early on as Lee M stuck to him like glue. Williams
and Thompson pounded on each other, while a muscular Horvath was throwing his weight
around inside. Duhon's team took a lead going into the 6 minute timeout, thanks to him
carving up the floor on the break and finding Ewing & Melchionni for some shots.
The White team was up 21-14 and the Blue team was
struggling, taking rushed shots from the perimeter. Finally,
Deng took over, scoring 8 points on drives and rebounds.
Redick hit a couple of three point bombs and used about 10 different fakes
to get off a 10' shot on the baseline. The Blues closed out with a 16-2 run to win the
game. I'm not going to go into much more
detail, because this wasn't a scrimmage that really warrants such attention. I will say that Shavlik looks not only much
bigger, but much more confident. Redick and
Duhon both shed a few pounds and look quicker. Thompson
looks a bit more fluid. Horvath looks huge
and could help out inside. Deng didn't shoot
well in this game, but demonstrated his enormous talent down the stretch and hustled every
second. Duhon shot poorly but had some
ridiculous passes and played great defense. Melchionni
played extremely well at both ends. All ten
guys did some good things and some bad things, and while it's clear there's a lot of work
to do, Duke has an enormous amount of talent.
After the scrimmage, there were various shooting
games involving a student trying to hit a halfcourt shot for $20K (he missed) and students
engaging in shooting contests with the players. For
these games, Coach K divided Cameron into two sides, one rooting for Blue and the other
for White. The best of the contests was a
foul shooting contest where the two "recruits" were two young ladies, both
students. The contest was simple: each player
had to take a free throw. The side that had
the most made free throws won. The crowd was
instructed to distract the team taking the shots on their side! Quoth K: "And no Speedos!"
Both teams were swishing shot after shot, despite
the distractions. Duhon blew kisses to the crowd after he made his. Finally, Deng missed his foul shot, much to his
chagrin. Duhon was whipping him with his
towel in mockery. When Dan Ewing went up for
his turn, not only was the Duke band running around like lunatics, but Deng himself ran
behind the basket, waving his arms frantically. It
worked, as Dan missed his shot! Luol looked like the cat who ate the canary. When it was JJ Redick's turn, everyone on the
other team tried to distract him, but that was fruitless.
Finally, it came down to the two students.
The first student missed her shot, but the second woman hit an underhand
Rick Barry-shot and it went in! The team
celebrated around her like she had won the national title.
Finally, K had the team assemble at center court
for some photos. Then he called out the small
army of managers. Then he had a true
"team photo", as all the students came out of the stands for a group shot. K concluded by saying that the only time the crowd
should storm the court all season after this is if Duke wins the national championship. His best quote all night was when he first came
out to address the crowd and stopped short of center court.
He noted that ordinarily he'd be out at center court, but tonight it
belonged to Jason Williams, and that he couldn't wait to see him back on the court next
year.
Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu
Rob's Archive
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