Duke Basketball vs. Arizona State and Connecticut

The Arizona State game was the first time I've gotten to see Duke play this year. My initial thoughts:

Which coach gave them a number one vote in the coaches poll? Even after watching them beat Connecticut, I can't help but believe that this vote will go to another team.

I think it is evident that they miss having a true point guard who can speed up the floor every so often. I think that will come back to bite them at various points of the season.

Their big men seemed to get beat left and right by a couple of Arizona State's players. I believe the half time criticism on ESPN 2 was right on when one of the commentators said that Duke just didn't look very athletic.

On the plus side, I wasn't overly nervous about this game. My sense was that Duke was just the better team and that Arizona State was lucky to stick so close. It just seemed that Duke was in control.

The Connecticut game was obviously my second game. My thoughts watching the game:

Duke had some bad defense the first ten minutes or so. They adjusted though.

Maybe Zoubek should be a Dennis Rodman type player and just rebound and kick the ball out. That guy had so many up close shots that he simply couldn't hit. Get the rebounds and help reset the offense. I don't know.

The last ten minutes or so of the game either was great Connecticut defense or Duke's offense just went south.

What's up with Kyle Singler? In my mind, this was the second game he just wasn't up to par. And perhaps it was my imagination, but in the last ten minutes it looked like he wasn't even involved in the offense. I wonder if he's injured or sick.

Looking at the score of the Arizona State vs. LSU game, obviously the fact that Connecticut blew out LSU really didn't mean anything. With UCLA stinking it up in the early season and California losing two, as well, perhaps Arizona State will be the team to beat in the PAC-10 (along with Washington).

Andre Dawkins looked great offensively in both games. I'm sure Duke is super thankful this Thanksgiving week for that guy. If Elliot Williams hadn't had to transfer to Memphis, this team would rock -- of course, still short a point guard unfortunately.