Duke has changed for better, brothers in hoops, more

By allowing guards like DeMarcus Nelson to penetrate, Coach K has opened up Duke's offense. AP

MAILBAG Grant Wahl will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Ask and ye shall receive. Last week a loyal 'Bag reader claimed that 9-0 Duke (Duke!) wasn't getting enough attention after the Blue Devils' fast start. And while we'd hardly say that Coach K and the boys are underexposed, it's true that the 'Bag hasn't discussed Duke much this season. So we solicited questions, and you brought them with vigor:

A.J. from Arlington, Va., wants to know the 'Bag's thoughts on how Coach K's Team USA experience is translating on the court for Duke. Bo King from Atlanta asks if the offensive principles K has borrowed from his U.S. assistant (and Phoenix Suns coach) Mike D'Antoni will oblige him to finally use more of his depth. B. Wille of Atlanta asks if freshman Nolan Smith will be the odd man out when Coach K inevitably shortens his bench in 2008.

Andrew of Washington D.C. and Adam Lisook of Cincinnati want to know if Duke can run Suns stuff without an Amaré Stoudemire-like big man and whether the small-ball Devils can survive against teams with top-flight post players (like North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and Georgetown's Roy Hibbert). Meanwhile, Adam Bonneau of Denton, Texas, asks if any of the people who question Duke's interior defense have seen the Devils play, pointing out that they have several guys who can double-team down low. In fact, he wonders, will a good big man hurt Duke more by drawing double-teams and freeing up hot three-point shooters?

First off, it's clear that the tactical changes in Durham this season represent one of the biggest transformations of Mike Krzyzewski's storied career. Coach K has indeed been impacted by his work on Team USA with assistants D'Antoni and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. Duke isn't running a carbon copy of the Suns attack -- this isn't Seven Seconds or Less -- but the pace has definitely increased. According to kenpom.com, the Blue Devils are averaging 73.2 possessions per game, up from 66.1 last season.

"We talked a lot this summer and [Coach K] said he was going to open it up more," D'Antoni told reporters in Phoenix recently. "I told him, 'Be careful, they might kick you out of the Hall of Fame for that.' You can't go being a rebel now."

Transition basketball suits Duke's personnel well. No, there isn't an Amaré-quality big man or a Steve Nash-quality point guard, but Greg Paulus is doing a nice job so far, and pick-and-rolls are available with Kyle Singler and Taylor King. The main thing I'm marveling at these days is Duke's spacing on offense, which forces defenses either to choose between collapsing on penetration (a forte of DeMarcus Nelson and Smith) and giving up open threes from the wings and corners (a strength of King, Singler and Jon Scheyer).

I really do think K will keep using his depth into ACC play. The three Duke freshmen (Singler, King and Smith) are too good to sit, and the style Duke is playing benefits from using more players. As for the biggest concern -- the lack of a really good big man (Brian Zoubek doesn't fit) -- it really could be a problem against teams like UNC and Georgetown. Carolina, especially, is designed to attack from the inside at all costs, and Hansbrough seems well-suited to getting defenders into foul trouble.

That said, it's good to see a Duke freshman class that's actually meeting (and even exceeding) expectations, and it's refreshing to see a Hall of Fame coach who's willing to change with the times instead of just running the same old things year after year. This will be a fun season in Durham.

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