Countdown to Craziness a success

DURHAM, N.C.—Countdown to Craziness was meant to get the Duke faithful energized about the upcoming season, and it did exactly that with hilarious skits, a Johnny Dawkins retro uniform, appearances from Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner and Jason Williams and a great finish to the Blue/White game and dunk contest.

“The turnout was good,” Kyle Singler said. “The energy and environment was great. I thought it drove the night because it was a long day and I thought the fans were into it throughout the whole time, so they must have enjoyed it.”

There were several moments throughout the night that captured the fans’ attention, and it wasn’t all necessarily basketball related.

Prior to the Blue-White game, Duke presented a handful of movie spoof scenes that sent the Cameron Crazies into a flurry of laughter. The most notable was Nolan Smith and Andre Dawkins’ interpretation of a scene from Titanic. Smith, playing the role of Rose DeWitt, and Dawkins’ acting as Jack Dawson, portrayed the drawing scene in which Smith drops his robe and takes his place on the sofa, as Dawkins begins his artwork masterpiece.

With Smith cheesing in his pose, Dawkins turns his canvas around to reveal his stick figure drawing - a moment that drew laughter from all in attendance.

Smith’s antics didn’t stop there, as later in the evening during the dunk contest he showed a little more skin stripping from his Duke game jersey only to display a retro Johnny Dawkins uniform underneath. His prop of short shorts and a white Dawkins No. 24 jersey wasn’t quite enough to earn him a spot in the dunk finals, however.

“I just wanted to do something different - go retro like coach said and pulling out a Johnny Dawkins was definitely retro,” Smith said. “I thought it would definitely get me into the finals, but not with those dunkers.”

The dunkers Smith was referring to was none other than sophomore Olek Czyz and freshman Andre Dawkins, who both made it into the finals with spectacular dunks.

Dawkins and Czyz were named co-champions, as they both earned consecutive 40 point scores for two dunks in the final round. Dawkins felt one of them should have been crowned, while Czyz was satisfied with the co-title.

“Well you can call it whatever you want, but as long as I am a champ that’s where it should be at,” Czyz said.

Dawkins, who on his final dunk asked for Smith’s participation had to gather his composure briefly before attempting his final slam. With Smith standing in front of him wearing the retro Dawkins uniform, Andre Dawkins simply blocked him out - chalking it up as typical Smith antics.

“That’s Nolan. I kind of expect stuff like that from Nolan - he’s a goofball,” Dawkins said. “I’ve just come to expect stuff like that from him.

“But as for the contest, I think someone definitely should have won - but I’ll go with the co-champion for now and we’ll be back next year to settle the story.”

Though the spoofs and dunking contest grabbed the audience’s attention, the night’s main event was clearly the Blue/White Game. In the first 12 minutes of action, the potential Blue Devil starting lineup (the White team) consisting of Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, Mason and Miles Plumlee flexed its muscle and cruised to a decisive 40-17 victory over the Blue team.

Smith, who clearly entered the night as the most focused Blue Devil on the court, paced the White team. The junior guard finished the first game with 15 points and two assists, while his primary offensive help came from Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, who scored 9 and 8 points, respectively.

Despite the Blue team’s struggles it was not without some quality moments of its own. Freshman Andre Dawkins had a tough time finding his shot, but the talented guard from Chesapeake, Va., showed his athleticism on multiple occasions when attacking the basket. Though it wasn’t spectacular in the first 12 minutes, his play was the best on a team that featured Lance Thomas, Ryan Kelly, Seth Curry, Brian Zoubek, Olek Czyz and Casey Peters.

The second game, which featured a mixed lineup of players, was much more competitive, and in fact went down to the wire. Smith, who had starred all night, fittingly had the last say in the contest, as he went to the free throw line with just .8 seconds remaining in the game and a tied score at 31.

Smith was fouled on a put back attempt, and prior to his two free throws, the White team called a timeout. As Smith made his way from the huddle to the free throw line he motioned for the crowd to get loud and begin cheering. In most instances, a free throw shooter hopes for a quiet, less active fan base, however, it was his goal to create an even more pressure packed situation.

When asked if that was his primary intentions, Smith responded quickly.

“Definitely, definitely because I could be in that situation against another team,” he stated. “To make it under a lot of pressure, that’s something I wanted to do instead of letting everybody be quiet.”

Smith calmly knocked down both shots to give his team a 33-31 victory. He was aided in his cause by strong play from Seth Curry, who connected on 3-of-4 three-point attempts in the game. Curry matched Smith with 10 points, while Smith also added an impressive five assists.

The White team was led by strong performances from Kyle Singler, who posted 11 points and four assists; Jon Scheyer, who scored 10 points and added five assists; and Andre Dawkins, who registered seven points.

In 23 minutes of action, Smith recorded an impressive stat line, scoring 25 points, handing out seven assists and grabbing five rebounds, while not turning the ball over at all. Singler had a strong day in his own right, posting 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Jon Scheyer registered a double double, scoring 18 points, while dishing out 18 assists.

Dawkins added 14 points and two rebounds, while Miles Plumlee put in 10 points and grabbed six boards.