Sorry for the delay in my blog but we are coming off a stretch of 4 games in 8 days. We were pretty successful getting four wins and steadily improving.

We started in New York with a win against Southern Illinois. They were a physical defensive team and we did a pretty good job. We struggled in the first half offensively but then in the second pulled it together and made some connecting plays. Nolan and Kyle had some nice dunks to get us rolling and I knocked down a couple of open threes. Kyle and I didn't score in the first half, but we came out and had a combined 33 points in the second half. I hit four three-pointers in the second half (the most I have made in a game) and finished strong with a dunk off a curl play towards the end of the game.

After the win we were looking forward to potentially playing UCLA in the final but they lost to Michigan. Michigan is a good team with some pretty good players. We are actually scheduled to play them on December 6 in Ann Arbor.

We played solid throughout the game. Manny Harris, their best player, was the focal part of our defense. As a perimeter player, it was important for us to try to keep him from scoring as much as we could and attack him when they were on defense. He had a great game for them, but I felt like we really made him work for his points. We won the game to get our first championship of the year. It was good to have a tournament where a lot of guys played well and exciting to win a tournament championship.

I really enjoyed playing in Madison Square Garden. The building has a lot of history behind it and it is always fun to play there. It was cold up there but we got the job done so that always makes everything better. I also has a lot of family at the games in New York so it was nice to get to see and spend some time with them.

We had a quick turnaround after the Michigan game. We headed home right after our win in the Garden and got back to Durham around 2 a.m. We had Montana coming up at 1pm on Sunday so we got some rest and then had a good practice on Saturday afternoon.

We were focused on Sunday and played a pretty solid game. A lot of guys played and played well so it was a good team win.

We were off today, so I finally had time to sit down and reflect on the past week. It was good to have a day to get refreshed mentally and physically.

We have a couple of good practice days coming up to get ready for our game against Duquesne on Friday. We will have a team Thanksgiving dinner but I also have family coming in so I will definitely get some of my mom's great home cooking. She makes a mean stuffing.

We had a pretty good week last week getting our first two wins of the year. We played hard in our opener with Presbyterian but we were a little anxious and didn't play as smart as we would have wanted to. A positive was that our defense was great. We were a little stagnant on offense and only scored 80 points.

Our second game was a lot better. We beat Georgia Southern in Cameron to advance to the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic in New York. The crowd was great throughout the game. We really got after it on defense and got alot of our points off of turnovers. We played really well together and had a lot of connecting plays. That was a great feeling so early in the season. We needed to win that game to move on and play in New York. We're looking forward to playing there next week against Southern Illinois in the semifinals.

Before we even start thinking about New York, we play a tough Rhode Island team at home on Sunday. We are preparing for them with hard practices and we know that they are a really good team. Though we are going to New York next week and playing in an exiting atmosphere at the Garden, we can't overlook Rhode Island. It is important for us to win every game we play and keep getting better.

I'll check back in with everyone next week.

We played our final exhibition game on Wednesday and are getting ready to open the season on Monday. Everyone on the team is anxious to get the season started. Kyle [Singler] was great on Wednesday, finishing with 22 points and eight rebounds. At one point he drained a three from about 30-feet out. When he shot it I wasn't sure if he was feeling it or if he was tired and figured coach would take him out after that shot. As a group, everyone is playing pretty well but we know we have a lot of work to do. We started both exhibition games a little slower than we would have liked, but there have been a lot of positives as well.

We have a great group of guys and everyone has really worked hard in the offseason and in preseason to get in great shape. Several guys have bulked up and we are a more physically mature team. For the first time since I arrived at Duke, our roster features more upperclassman than freshman and sophomores. Our experience as well as the energy and athleticism we get from some of the young guys will be big this year.

Off the court, things are good. Classes have been going well in the fall. I am also excited about doing this weekly blog to give everyone a behind the scenes look at our program. In October, I went to Atlanta for the ACC media day. That was a long day, talking to the media for five hours or so. But it wasn't too bad. Some of the questions got repetitive but it was fun to catch up with Wayne [Ellington], who was down there for North Carolina. The flight was good and I got to sit and talk with Coach about the team and this year.

Anyway, I will check back in next week with some more thoughts. Enjoy the start of the college basketball season and be sure to check us out on Monday and Tuesday on ESPNU.