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Singler and Smith Bring Experience to 2011 Blue Devils
5/19/2010 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. – Obviously, talent is a crucial ingredient for any successful college basketball team.
But talent is not enough to win championships.
“To go along with talent, experience is everything,” Duke guard Nolan Smith said. “When you have guys who have been through a lot – been through the ups and downs – it can really help your team. That's what this past year's team had. We had guys as seniors, who started out with a difficult freshman year. They had it rough that year. Kyle and myself, we were also part of teams that lost [early] in the NCAA Tournament and lost some hard games. Just having guys who have gone through all those tough experiences is what it takes to win championships.”
The Blue Devils did win championships in 2010 – first a share of the ACC regular season title, then the ACC Championship in Greensboro and finally the National Championship in Indianapolis. Significantly, the Blue Devils did it with a starting lineup that consisted of three seniors and two juniors. The value of all that experience can't be overestimated.
“There's no question that having older players – and seniors in particular – having them on your team helps immensely,” Blue Devil forward Kyle Singler said. “It just brings different dynamic – a sense of urgency. For those seniors, it's their last year and they're trying to accomplish something that they'll be proud of.”
That's not just true of Duke. It's fascinating to look at the teams that made it to the 2010 Final Four in Indianapolis. In an age where freshman talent is glorified – two first-year players made the consensus first-team All-American team – and one-and-done talent is often the rule, none of the four teams in Indianapolis started a freshman. Overall, the four national semifinalists combined to start seven seniors, seven juniors and six sophomores.
Even in this modern era, that's been the rule in NCAA play. Some freshmen-dominated teams have come close in recent years – freshman point guard Derrick Rose brought Memphis to within overtime of a title in 2008, while center Greg Oden and point guard Mike Conley led Ohio State to the title game as freshmen in 2007 – but the fact is, no team with a freshman starter has won a title since 2004, when first-year forward Josh Boone started for UConn (that team also featured senior Taliek Brown and juniors Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon).
Indeed, over the last decade, the 10 national champions have started 16 seniors, 20 juniors, nine sophomores and just four freshmen – Boone in 2004; Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara for Syracuse in 2003; and Chris Duhon for Duke in 2001.
Freshmen make headlines. Veterans win titles.
That's why it was so important to Duke's 2010-11 title chances that Singler and Smith, a pair of rising seniors who had a chance to go pro after cutting down the nets at Lucas Oil Arena last month, decided instead to return to Durham for another season.
They are the reason the Duke basketball team will have a chance to be something very special next season. Coach Mike Krzyzewski returns plenty of talent from this past season's 35-win national championship team. It starts with Singler, the most outstanding player in the Final Four, and Smith, the most outstanding player in the South Regional. Four other contributors to that title team return. And Coach K is adding five newcomers who bring even more talent to the roster.
Yet, the key for the 2010-11 Blue Devils will be the experience that Singer and Smith should provide as seniors. Krzyzewski might have been able to get by without their talent, but he never could have found a substitute for their experience.
“Experience in the NCAA Tournament is definitely everything,” Smith said. “I think that starts from day one for veterans to grab those young guys and get them ready. They come in as McDonald's All-Americans and they have their high expectations to do what they did in high school. At times, that's the case, but at times that might not be the case. In order for a team to win a championship, everybody's got to be on the same page. You get those young guys and give them the mentality that it's not going to be easy. If they're ready to fight from the get-go, it can really make a difference. By the ACC Tournament, NCAA Tournament time, they're playing like juniors and seniors. They're not freshmen anymore.”
The three seniors who started for Duke in Indianapolis didn't have the luxury of senior leadership when they first arrived on campus. The graduation of the core players off the No. 1 ranked 2006 team, combined with the early NBA defection of players such as Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston, who would have been upperclassmen that season, stripped the 2006-07 Blue Devils of veterans. Junior DeMarcus Nelson was the only upperclassman on a senior-less team.
“We didn't have anybody to learn from as freshmen,” Brian Zoubek said just before the Final Four. “We didn't have any established players to ride the coattails of or to teach us what to do.”
The result was that “rough year” that Smith mentioned earlier. Actually, it wasn't so terrible by most standards – Duke won 22 games and played in the NCAA Tournament – but it was a far cry from what Krzyzewski's teams usually accomplish. Indeed, the unranked 2007 team is the only Duke team since 1996 that didn't finish in the final AP top 10.
“Although we didn't start out the best, we were still 22-11,” senior guard Jon Scheyer said going into the 2010 NCAA Tournament. “As bad as it seemed to us, we probably had four or five games where we either lost in overtime or at the end of games, so we got some bad breaks. I think we've grown and gone a step farther in each of our years. It says a lot for our group to get to this point.”
Singler and Smith were along for three years of that ride. They arrived before the 2007-08 season and made an immediate impact.
Singler was a starter from day one, averaging 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds for a 28-win team that finished No. 9 in the nation. The 6-foot-9 Oregon native improved to 16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds as a sophomore, earning second-team All-ACC honors for a 30-win team that claimed the 2009 ACC Championship and finished No. 6 in the nation.
Smith's path to success was a bit rockier. The 6-foot-2 product of Oak Hill Academy was a top sub on the 2008 team, then moved into the starting lineup at point guard in 2009. Although he opened his sophomore season strong, Smith struggled with the point guard role at midseason and lost his starting job. After missing the last three games of the regular season with a concussion after running into a brutal pick by Maryland's Dave Neal, Smith returned to the rotation in postseason and played a significant role off the bench as the Blue Devils won the ACC Tournament and reached the NCAA Sweet 16.
Smith's emergence as a great player his junior season was one of the keys to Duke's transformation into a national championship team. After two seasons as a talented, but secondary player, Smith turned himself into one of college basketball's elite players. He averaged 17.4 points a game, teaming with Scheyer (18.2 points a game) and Singler (17.7 points a game) to give Duke the most prolific trio of scorers in the nation.
Remarkably, the three big scorers – who each could have been much bigger scorers without sharing the load with the other two – never let their egos get in the way of the team's success.
“We came in this year as a team with one goal,” Smith said. “We all had our individual goals … I wanted to put myself on that stage that I'm set for next year. Kyle wanted to be an All-American. Jon wanted to be an All-American. We all had our personal goals, but we knew if we did it together, all those personal goals would come.”
The big three scorers were not the only ones who were willing to sacrifice. Up front, Zoubek and Lance Thomas were willing to submerge their offensive games and concentrate on screening, rebounding and defense. Off the bench, Miles Plumlee and Mason Plumlee embraced a similar role.
“It's very unique to have a team that's unselfish and that's willing to accept their role,” Singler said. “This team did a great job of that. It's one of the reasons why we were national champions. We did a great job over the course of the year at doing what we were supposed to be doing. It comes back to our leadership and making sure we're doing what we're supposed to be doing. It wasn't about us, it was about winning.”
That leadership came from the seniors who had been through so much.
“Our seniors definitely taught us a lot,” Smith said. “They set the standards for last year's team. The one standard that really stood out was something Lance Thomas said. It was, 'Have a final mentality. Play every practice, every game like it's your last.'
“I think that's something that they learned from their first year – that it wasn't always going to be sweet. They had to take advantage of every chance they had.”
One of the lessons imparted by all that experience was trust – trust in each other and the coaching staff … a trust that was built slowly over the years.
“I think it starts with trust from the time they were freshmen,” Krzyzewski said during a press conference in Houston during the NCAA Tournament. “We've been together for a long time, and we not only like one another, but we respect one another and we trust one another. So you can say things in a moment that you might not say to other people in the manner in which you would say it, whether it be in anger, in joy, whatever. You can express your emotions right away with them. We have those type of relationships. I think in order to consistently win, it has to start with trust.”
Smith and Singler should be the bridge to extend that hard-won trust to a new Duke team, one that will start next season as one of the favorites to reach the 2011 Final Four at Reliant Stadium in Houston – the same venue where the 2010 Blue Devils beat Purdue and Baylor in the South Regionals.
The seniors have proven they are among college basketball's most talented players. Now they have to prove that their leadership skills match their jump shots.
Part two of the Senior Leadership series will be released on Thursday at 6 a.m. exclusively on GoDuke.com.
But talent is not enough to win championships.
“To go along with talent, experience is everything,” Duke guard Nolan Smith said. “When you have guys who have been through a lot – been through the ups and downs – it can really help your team. That's what this past year's team had. We had guys as seniors, who started out with a difficult freshman year. They had it rough that year. Kyle and myself, we were also part of teams that lost [early] in the NCAA Tournament and lost some hard games. Just having guys who have gone through all those tough experiences is what it takes to win championships.”
The Blue Devils did win championships in 2010 – first a share of the ACC regular season title, then the ACC Championship in Greensboro and finally the National Championship in Indianapolis. Significantly, the Blue Devils did it with a starting lineup that consisted of three seniors and two juniors. The value of all that experience can't be overestimated.
“There's no question that having older players – and seniors in particular – having them on your team helps immensely,” Blue Devil forward Kyle Singler said. “It just brings different dynamic – a sense of urgency. For those seniors, it's their last year and they're trying to accomplish something that they'll be proud of.”
That's not just true of Duke. It's fascinating to look at the teams that made it to the 2010 Final Four in Indianapolis. In an age where freshman talent is glorified – two first-year players made the consensus first-team All-American team – and one-and-done talent is often the rule, none of the four teams in Indianapolis started a freshman. Overall, the four national semifinalists combined to start seven seniors, seven juniors and six sophomores.
Even in this modern era, that's been the rule in NCAA play. Some freshmen-dominated teams have come close in recent years – freshman point guard Derrick Rose brought Memphis to within overtime of a title in 2008, while center Greg Oden and point guard Mike Conley led Ohio State to the title game as freshmen in 2007 – but the fact is, no team with a freshman starter has won a title since 2004, when first-year forward Josh Boone started for UConn (that team also featured senior Taliek Brown and juniors Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon).
Indeed, over the last decade, the 10 national champions have started 16 seniors, 20 juniors, nine sophomores and just four freshmen – Boone in 2004; Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara for Syracuse in 2003; and Chris Duhon for Duke in 2001.
Freshmen make headlines. Veterans win titles.
That's why it was so important to Duke's 2010-11 title chances that Singler and Smith, a pair of rising seniors who had a chance to go pro after cutting down the nets at Lucas Oil Arena last month, decided instead to return to Durham for another season.
They are the reason the Duke basketball team will have a chance to be something very special next season. Coach Mike Krzyzewski returns plenty of talent from this past season's 35-win national championship team. It starts with Singler, the most outstanding player in the Final Four, and Smith, the most outstanding player in the South Regional. Four other contributors to that title team return. And Coach K is adding five newcomers who bring even more talent to the roster.
Yet, the key for the 2010-11 Blue Devils will be the experience that Singer and Smith should provide as seniors. Krzyzewski might have been able to get by without their talent, but he never could have found a substitute for their experience.
“Experience in the NCAA Tournament is definitely everything,” Smith said. “I think that starts from day one for veterans to grab those young guys and get them ready. They come in as McDonald's All-Americans and they have their high expectations to do what they did in high school. At times, that's the case, but at times that might not be the case. In order for a team to win a championship, everybody's got to be on the same page. You get those young guys and give them the mentality that it's not going to be easy. If they're ready to fight from the get-go, it can really make a difference. By the ACC Tournament, NCAA Tournament time, they're playing like juniors and seniors. They're not freshmen anymore.”
The three seniors who started for Duke in Indianapolis didn't have the luxury of senior leadership when they first arrived on campus. The graduation of the core players off the No. 1 ranked 2006 team, combined with the early NBA defection of players such as Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston, who would have been upperclassmen that season, stripped the 2006-07 Blue Devils of veterans. Junior DeMarcus Nelson was the only upperclassman on a senior-less team.
“We didn't have anybody to learn from as freshmen,” Brian Zoubek said just before the Final Four. “We didn't have any established players to ride the coattails of or to teach us what to do.”
The result was that “rough year” that Smith mentioned earlier. Actually, it wasn't so terrible by most standards – Duke won 22 games and played in the NCAA Tournament – but it was a far cry from what Krzyzewski's teams usually accomplish. Indeed, the unranked 2007 team is the only Duke team since 1996 that didn't finish in the final AP top 10.
“Although we didn't start out the best, we were still 22-11,” senior guard Jon Scheyer said going into the 2010 NCAA Tournament. “As bad as it seemed to us, we probably had four or five games where we either lost in overtime or at the end of games, so we got some bad breaks. I think we've grown and gone a step farther in each of our years. It says a lot for our group to get to this point.”
Singler and Smith were along for three years of that ride. They arrived before the 2007-08 season and made an immediate impact.
Singler was a starter from day one, averaging 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds for a 28-win team that finished No. 9 in the nation. The 6-foot-9 Oregon native improved to 16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds as a sophomore, earning second-team All-ACC honors for a 30-win team that claimed the 2009 ACC Championship and finished No. 6 in the nation.
Smith's path to success was a bit rockier. The 6-foot-2 product of Oak Hill Academy was a top sub on the 2008 team, then moved into the starting lineup at point guard in 2009. Although he opened his sophomore season strong, Smith struggled with the point guard role at midseason and lost his starting job. After missing the last three games of the regular season with a concussion after running into a brutal pick by Maryland's Dave Neal, Smith returned to the rotation in postseason and played a significant role off the bench as the Blue Devils won the ACC Tournament and reached the NCAA Sweet 16.
Smith's emergence as a great player his junior season was one of the keys to Duke's transformation into a national championship team. After two seasons as a talented, but secondary player, Smith turned himself into one of college basketball's elite players. He averaged 17.4 points a game, teaming with Scheyer (18.2 points a game) and Singler (17.7 points a game) to give Duke the most prolific trio of scorers in the nation.
Remarkably, the three big scorers – who each could have been much bigger scorers without sharing the load with the other two – never let their egos get in the way of the team's success.
“We came in this year as a team with one goal,” Smith said. “We all had our individual goals … I wanted to put myself on that stage that I'm set for next year. Kyle wanted to be an All-American. Jon wanted to be an All-American. We all had our personal goals, but we knew if we did it together, all those personal goals would come.”
The big three scorers were not the only ones who were willing to sacrifice. Up front, Zoubek and Lance Thomas were willing to submerge their offensive games and concentrate on screening, rebounding and defense. Off the bench, Miles Plumlee and Mason Plumlee embraced a similar role.
“It's very unique to have a team that's unselfish and that's willing to accept their role,” Singler said. “This team did a great job of that. It's one of the reasons why we were national champions. We did a great job over the course of the year at doing what we were supposed to be doing. It comes back to our leadership and making sure we're doing what we're supposed to be doing. It wasn't about us, it was about winning.”
That leadership came from the seniors who had been through so much.
“Our seniors definitely taught us a lot,” Smith said. “They set the standards for last year's team. The one standard that really stood out was something Lance Thomas said. It was, 'Have a final mentality. Play every practice, every game like it's your last.'
“I think that's something that they learned from their first year – that it wasn't always going to be sweet. They had to take advantage of every chance they had.”
One of the lessons imparted by all that experience was trust – trust in each other and the coaching staff … a trust that was built slowly over the years.
“I think it starts with trust from the time they were freshmen,” Krzyzewski said during a press conference in Houston during the NCAA Tournament. “We've been together for a long time, and we not only like one another, but we respect one another and we trust one another. So you can say things in a moment that you might not say to other people in the manner in which you would say it, whether it be in anger, in joy, whatever. You can express your emotions right away with them. We have those type of relationships. I think in order to consistently win, it has to start with trust.”
Smith and Singler should be the bridge to extend that hard-won trust to a new Duke team, one that will start next season as one of the favorites to reach the 2011 Final Four at Reliant Stadium in Houston – the same venue where the 2010 Blue Devils beat Purdue and Baylor in the South Regionals.
The seniors have proven they are among college basketball's most talented players. Now they have to prove that their leadership skills match their jump shots.
Part two of the Senior Leadership series will be released on Thursday at 6 a.m. exclusively on GoDuke.com.
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