Duke Blue Devils’ China tour will feature NBA stars as well: NBA Update
Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball team is all set to leave for a two week tour to China. The tour will begin from Sunday. The exciting part about this group is that it will also feature ex- Duke and present NBA players like Jay
Williams, Grant Hill, recently drafted Kyrie Irving and Nolan Smith.
However, it is not confirmed yet that whether these National Basketball Association players will remain with the squad for half or full trip, as told by Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The team will travel to China and then to Dubai during these two weeks. Duke will play three games against different Chinese clubs and one against the national team of the United Arab Emirates. The coach is pretty optimistic about
the tour and believes that this tour will definitely bring the players together.
It will be a great learning experience for the college players, as not just players like Hill and Williams are accompanying them, but Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers is also amongst the travellers, whose son Austin plays guard
with the Blue Devils.
Guard Seth Curry said, "The biggest thing hopefully will be growing together as a team and getting to know my teammates more. Going to a different country, that's all you got, us guys together for two weeks. We're going to be able
to grow on the court and even more off the court, and that's going to help us grow as a family."
The Blue Devils represents the Duke University based in Atlantic Coast Conference and falls under National Collegiate Association Athleticism Division I. The squad has produced several talented players over years that were successfully
drafted by the league. The number touches 71 mark with the selection of Nolan and Irving in this year’s draft.
The university holds the fourth most winnings record of all time in men’s basketball competition. So far Duke has lifted the NCAA championship title four times and also holds the most excellent .750 percent NCAA tournament winning
percentage. Moreover 11 Duke players were selected as the National Player of the Year.
Unfortunately freshman guard Quinn Cook wouldn’t be able to travel with the team, as he is still recuperating from his knee injury that he endured during the final season of high school.
Krzyzewski said, "The knee wasn't strong enough. We could tell that after a few practices. So we've kind of shut him down. ... He needs not only to strengthen the knee but his hip area. His body mechanics have got to be better.
Otherwise, he really risks more injury."
Cook was selected for the 2011 USA Basketball Junior National Select Team and with them he wrecked 12 points and dished out three assists during his 16 minutes stay on court, against the World Select Team. His effort enabled Team
USA to defeat the World Select Team by 92-80.
Duke will surely miss Cook, who might recommence his training from mid September. Coach Krzyzewski is quite hopeful about Cook and expects him to be fully fit by the time Duke’s practice will begin from October.
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