5 takeaways from Duke basketball secret scrimmage against Villanova

The Duke basketball team finally has put film together against a different opponent. 

It was a not-so-secret scrimmage between the Duke basketball program and Villanova Wildcats in Washington D.C. on Saturday afternoon, and the Blue Devils were kind enough to release highlights from the day on its social media channels.

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1452047186301267970?s=20

The format of the scrimmage was less of a 40-minute game and more of a chance to play against another team in a controlled environment where the Hall of Fame coaches, Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright, created settings for their teams to play against.

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Reports have surfaced that the Blue Devils won a large majority of the different scenarios that were created in the game and freshman Paolo Banchero dominated against the No. 4 team in the Preseason Associated Press Top-25 Poll.

The Wildcats return the Big East Conference Player of the Year in point guard Collin Gillespie as well as key starters Justin Moore and Jermaine Samuels.

Jay Wright’s team was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Big East this season.

Duke basketball has visions of sending Mike Krzyzewski out on top

Last season was one to forget for many reasons for Duke, but in the final season under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils look poised to send the Hall of Famer out on top in 2021-22.

Duke also held a public intrasquad scrimmage last weekend in the annual Countdown to Craziness event, in which the freshman duo of Paolo Banchero and Trevor Keels dominated against their teammates.

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The Blue Devils will have a traditional scrimmage on Saturday afternoon inside Cameron Indoor Stadium against Winston Salem-State before facing No. 10 Kentucky in the season opener on November 9 at Madison Square Garden in the State Farm Champions Classic.

Now, we take a look at what we learned from Duke’s scrimmage against Villanova.