Pro-Am Last Night

Well, last night was quite an experience. I got to see Josh and Kyrie play live for the first time, witnessed a transformed Miles Plumlee (physically and folically),
and got to see a team of Duke players up close and personal who have an unbelievable amount of team chemistry.

Nolan Smith, Ryan Kelly, Andre Dawkins, and Tyler Thornton were all on hand to watch their teammates play at the Greater Rucker NC Pro-Am on NCCU's campus just down the road from Duke. They, along with the rest of the 3,200 person (may have been a few more than that, but don't tell the fire marshalls) capacity crowd were not disappointed. The action started off with Team Hendrick vs. Team Navy featuring Kyrie Irving in his debut performance at the Summer League. Kyle Singler is normally on his team, but was apparently resting up for his appearance on the Espys tonight (set your DVRs!) Kyle's absence did not stop Kyrie from having a breakout performance in his first Pro-Am. See video from our friends at Crazie-Talk here: http://www.crazie-talk.com/2010/07/14/video-duke-at-the-nc-pro-am/ I haven't seen a player with Kyrie's ability to handle the ball and change directions at his breakneck speed since Chris Paul's days at Wake Forest. Kyrie can stop and start on a dime, using a nice hesitation move to freeze his defender and giving him an opening to make one of his patented moves to the basket. Needless to say, I'm very excited to watch Kyrie over the rest of the league, and of course for the next year at Duke. Enjoy him while you can, because if he plays like expected, he won't be around Durham very long...

The next game featured Miles Plumlee, Seth Curry, and Josh Hairston. Their team dominated a much smaller squad as Miles and Josh were beasts on the boards all evening. Miles had a litany of dunks, one-handed, two-handed, from up close, and from a few feet out. He was a monster. Not really too much you can take from such a mismatch, but I was very impressed with Miles' ability to stay in front of smaller, quicker guards, and he recovered nicely for blocks when he did get beat off the dribble. Rumors of a much more chiseled Miles from last year are true, as I'd say he's put on 10 lbs of pure muscle.

Josh also used his size to his advantage on the boards, and had a number of rebounds. He had a little trouble finishing though and will need to work more on his ability to put the ball in the basket from up close. While his work down low left something to be desired, he showed a much better handle in the open court than I expected and had a very nice touch on his turnaround jumpers from 10-15 feet. For those Duke fans expected Josh to play more of a PF/C role, I think you should be expecting more of a SF/PF player a la Battier or Singler (this past year.) Josh simply doesn't have the body to bang down low yet and hasn't learned how use his sturdy frame to bang around down low. Duke's 2011 recruits (Marshall Plumlee and Tyler Adams) will allow Josh to slide over to a more perimeter-oriented role.

Seth Curry was definitely my standout player of the night. While he wasn't as flashy as Kyrie, Seth showed a patience you don't normally see in these games. He allowed the game to come to him and found ways to score that I didn't know he had in his arsenal. From dribble penetration to step back threes, to steals and breakaway scores, Seth did it all. It's easy not to notice him putting up points, as he does it in such a quiet way. I was very impressed with Seth's ability to be a facilitator of his team and saw some "floor general" qualities that should allow him to step into the leadership role that will certainly be left after Nolan graduates.

I don't generally take too much away from these glorified pickup games, but a backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Nolan would be Top 5 in the nation. Add in the Nation's leading scoring Freshman from two years ago in Seth Curry, rising Sophomore Andre Dawkins, and incoming Freshman Tyler Thornton and it's just not fair how deep and talented Duke will be in the back court next year. As we all know, elite talented guards make big guys look a lot better than they are, so look out for the Plumlee Brothers Dunking Company to wow some people next year as well.

I think some carolina and state guys played after Duke did, but I'm not sure. You can probably find something online about it somewhere. Someone said there would be a matchup between Leslie and Harriett but I didn't think girls were playing in this league. Who knows?!?

I'll be attending the league for the rest of the season, so look back here for reports -- Adam

Don't forget to check our twitter for live tweets from last night's and subsequent games: http://twitter.com/dukehoopblog