Ken Davis

In preparation for Duke’s relentless pressure defense, Albany coach Will Brown decided to change things up a bit in practice. The Great Danes found themselves trying to run their offensive sets against seven defenders.

Maybe it helped. But it wasn’t enough. Duke beat Albany, a decent team from the America East Conference, 111-70 Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Let the following advice from Brown serve as a warning to all future Duke opponents.

“We should have practiced 5-on-10,” the Albany coach said after the loss. “Not only is their pressure tremendous, they’re doing it with long, good-sized athletes. . . . They’re all long, they’re strong, they’re quick.”

It’s true. The Blue Devils are back. And there are more of them than ever. Mike Krzyzewski, who broke down the doors to the Hall of Fame without ever going too deep into his bench, has nine players averaging more than 12 minutes a game and no one playing more than 29. He has five players averaging more than 11 points per game. He has a poised senior in DeMarcus Nelson and a freshman who plays well beyond his years in Kyle Singler.

Brown described their physical attributes. The final score against Albany is an indication of the pain and punishment they can inflict.

“When you break down against Duke, especially this Duke team, they make you pay,” Brown said. “They have so many guys that can put the ball in the basket. They’re bringing guys in off the bench that are getting 17 and 18 [points] in Taylor King and Jon Scheyer. They just make you pay for every mistake.”

Those Duke haters (and you know who you are) who are still celebrating the average nature of a 22-10 season and a first-round loss to VCU in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament need to get over it. Now. Last season was not the collapse of the Duke Empire. It wasn’t the beginning of the end for Coach K.

The Blue Devils are ranked sixth in this week’s Associated Press poll and getting better with each game. They started 10-0 for the third time in the last four seasons and the 12th time in 28 seasons under Krzyzewski. Their first loss came at the hands of No. 11 Pittsburgh (11-0) on Thursday night in New York’s Madison Square Garden, but it is safe to say the Devils are among the elite teams in college basketball again, with a very realistic shot at the 2008 national championship.

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They are doing it with a small team, one that relies on the perimeter game but doesn’t have a designated go-to guy. They are doing it with a 7-foot center, Brian Zoubek, who has the lowest scoring average among the top nine players and who made his first start against Albany.

“It’s a different style of play and I think it’s a fun way to play if we do it the right way,” said Scheyer, who comes off the bench to average 11.6 points. “At times we can get really good looks, having the big guys who can shoot. That’s a strength for our team, so that’s something we need to keep doing.”

Those legendary Duke teams Krzyzewski coached to the Final Four year after year after year routinely used the same formula. The Blue Devils would pull into the drive-thru lane and order up their share of McDonald’s All-Americans. This season Coach K has eight on the roster. And those classic teams always featured a 6-foot-8 or 6-9 star that could create enormous matchup problems on the wing.

Guys named Grant Hill, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, Roshown McLeod, and Luol Deng created headaches for ACC opponents and beyond. The new name on that list is Singler, a 6-8 freshman who was the ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year. His debut so far has been remarkable. He may be the most complete freshman in the country.

“He’s an outstanding player,” Marquette coach Tom Crean said after a loss to Duke in the Maui Invitational championship game. “He’s got great moxie and is very patient. Kyle is someone that’s gone in and done an excellent job of understanding what the Duke program wants from him. He can play outside, he can play mid-range, he can play at the rim. And, for a freshman, he’s a very good defensive player.”

Duke has had five different players score 20 or more points this season. But Krzyzewski points to Nelson, averaging 12.8 points, as Duke’s main man.

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“He’s been our most consistent excellent player,” Krzyzewski said. “He goes below the radar because this freshman did this, or this guy is doing that, which is good because those guys should get credit. DeMarcus has been the solid one.”

There is no Christian Laettner on this team, no guy who wants to be the dominant personality or the leading scorer every night. Duke truly is a “team” again in 2008, with a bench that is averaging 35.1 points through the first 10 games. The Blue Devils have received 102 points from their bench the last two games. Duke’s scoring margin of plus-26.3 ranks third in the nation. The Blue Devils are averaging 89.1 points, fourth-best nationally. And they’ve recorded 39 assists with only 16 turnovers in the past two games.

With numbers like those, it’s easy to explain Duke’s improved look. And if you need a witness, just ask Albany’s Brown. Asked what he would tell his grandchildren one day about coaching in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Charlotte Observer reported Brown said, “That we held Duke to 111 points.”

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