Duke Men’s Team Outlasts Delays To Finally Leave For China

MORRISVILLE — A trip expected to last 20 hours was delayed more than that number, but Duke’s basketball team finally embarked toward the Far East on Monday.

The Blue Devils — plus a group of school officials, boosters and their families that surpassed 100 people in total — were supposed to leave on a chartered flight to Shanghai, China, at 3 p.m. on Sunday from Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

A mechanical issue and thunderstorms disrupted that plan, causing some members of the traveling party to spend 12 hours at RDU on Sunday.

After spending the night either at local hotels, homes or apartments, the Blue Devils and their fans returned to RDU by 10 a.m. Monday for check-in and their plane took off around 1 p.m.

“The main thing is we didn’t get on a plane that had a mechanical issue, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday morning. Safety is the main thing. But once you start the trip, the trip has started. It gave us a chance to bond here.”

The Blue Devils are traveling to China and Dubai on a four-game exhibition tour and will return home on Aug. 27.

The trip is in conjunction with Duke’s overseas initiative. The school is building a campus in Kunshan, a Chinese city about a two-hour drive from Shanghai where the Blue Devils will play their first exhibition game Wednesday at 8 a.m., which is 8 p.m. in China.

Original travel plans were to allow the team time to hold a practice session in China before the first game. That won’t be possible now since the team is scheduled to arrive in Shanghai around midnight Tuesday night, less than 24 hours prior to the game.

The Blue Devils play against the Chinese Olympic team Thursday night in Shanghai.

“It’ll be tougher because we’ll just get there and play two games, Krzyzewski said. But we’re not playing for the NCAA Tournament.”

Junior Andre Dawkins doesn’t see that as a problem, considering the team already has been practicing prior to its trip.

“We’re basketball players, Dawkins said. We’ll be playing basketball. That’s why we’ve practiced so far. It will be a little weird, but we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.”

The chartered plane traveled from Miami to Raleigh-Durham on Sunday, where it was to pick up the Duke traveling party. An issue with the Boeing 767 had been discovered in Miami and a subsequent inspection at RDU showed an issue that prevented it from carrying the team on Sunday.

Some of those traveling had arrived at RDU around noon on Sunday. The players and coaches, aware of a possible issue with the flight, stayed on campus until around 7:15 p.m., when they traveled by bus to RDU.

About five hours later, just before midnight, word came that another plane wouldn’t be available until Monday.

Only a freshman, Marshall Plumlee perhaps summed up Duke’s travel travails Sunday and Monday with a single Twitter post.

“Thunder delaying our flight to China, the Duke center wrote on Sunday. Should have taken a boat… Lol.”

While hotel rooms were provided for those who needed overnight accommodations, Duke’s players and coaches returned to campus. The dorms currently are closed since students are on a break from classes, which left the freshmen players to stay with older teammates who have apartments.

“It’s kind of a blessing in disguise — a pretty good disguise, Duke senior center Miles Plumlee said. It’s pretty horrible to sit around all day. Two hours waiting in the locker room, two hours at the apartment, come back, come back and wait I don’t know how many hours. But everybody is getting to hang out and it’s fun.”

At the terminal Sunday night, Dawkins and some of his teammates played games with Krzyzewski’s grandchildren, Joey, Michael, Emmie and Carly Savarino, who are on the trip.

“There was a lot of stuff going on, Dawkins said.

Duke’s original flight was supposed to stop in Alaska for refueling before heading to Shanghai. The plane that left Monday was smaller, necessitating stops in Alaska and Japan before landing in Shanghai.

When the team gathered again Monday morning, Krzyzewski distributed papers containing quotations he felt appropriate.

One read: Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

Read more: The Herald-Sun – Blue Devils make the most of delay in travel plans

Duke Men’s Team Outlasts Delays To Finally Leave For China

HeraldSun.com, Steve Wiseman

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/15102063/article-Blue-Devils-make-the-most-of-delay-in-travel-plans?instance=main_article

MORRISVILLE — A trip expected to last 20 hours was delayed more than that number, but Duke’s basketball team finally embarked toward the Far East on Monday. The Blue Devils — plus a group of school officials, boosters and their families that surpassed 100 people in total — were supposed to leave on a chartered flight to Shanghai, China, at 3 p.m. on Sunday from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. A mechanical issue and thunderstorms disrupted that plan, causing some members of the traveling party to spend 12 hours at RDU on Sunday. After spending the night either at local hotels, homes or apartments, the Blue Devils and their fans returned to RDU by 10 a.m. Monday for check-in and their plane took off around 1 p.m. “The main thing is we didn’t get on a plane that had a mechanical issue, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday morning. Safety is the main thing. But once you start the trip, the trip has started. It gave us a chance to bond here.” The Blue Devils are traveling to China and Dubai on a four-game exhibition tour and will return home on Aug. 27. The trip is in conjunction with Duke’s overseas initiative. The school is building a campus in Kunshan, a Chinese city about a two-hour drive from Shanghai where the Blue Devils will play their first exhibition game Wednesday at 8 a.m., which is 8 p.m. in China. Original travel plans were to allow the team time to hold a practice session in China before the first game. That won’t be possible now since the team is scheduled to arrive in Shanghai around midnight Tuesday night, less than 24 hours prior to the game. The Blue Devils play against the Chinese Olympic team Thursday night in Shanghai. “It’ll be tougher because we’ll just get there and play two games, Krzyzewski said. But we’re not playing for the NCAA Tournament.” Junior Andre Dawkins doesn’t see that as a problem, considering the team already has been practicing prior to its trip. “We’re basketball players, Dawkins said. We’ll be playing basketball. That’s why we’ve practiced so far. It will be a little weird, but we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.” The chartered plane traveled from Miami to Raleigh-Durham on Sunday, where it was to pick up the Duke traveling party. An issue with the Boeing 767 had been discovered in Miami and a subsequent inspection at RDU showed an issue that prevented it from carrying the team on Sunday. Some of those traveling had arrived at RDU around noon on Sunday. The players and coaches, aware of a possible issue with the flight, stayed on campus until around 7:15 p.m., when they traveled by bus to RDU. About five hours later, just before midnight, word came that another plane wouldn’t be available until Monday. Only a freshman, Marshall Plumlee perhaps summed up Duke’s travel travails Sunday and Monday with a single Twitter post. “Thunder delaying our flight to China, the Duke center wrote on Sunday. Should have taken a boat… Lol.” While hotel rooms were provided for those who needed overnight accommodations, Duke’s players and coaches returned to campus. The dorms currently are closed since students are on a break from classes, which left the freshmen players to stay with older teammates who have apartments. “It’s kind of a blessing in disguise — a pretty good disguise, Duke senior center Miles Plumlee said. It’s pretty horrible to sit around all day. Two hours waiting in the locker room, two hours at the apartment, come back, come back and wait I don’t know how many hours. But everybody is getting to hang out and it’s fun.” At the terminal Sunday night, Dawkins and some of his teammates played games with Krzyzewski’s grandchildren, Joey, Michael, Emmie and Carly Savarino, who are on the trip. “There was a lot of stuff going on, Dawkins said. Duke’s original flight was supposed to stop in Alaska for refueling before heading to Shanghai. The plane that left Monday was smaller, necessitating stops in Alaska and Japan before landing in Shanghai. When the team gathered again Monday morning, Krzyzewski distributed papers containing quotations he felt appropriate. One read: Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

Read more: The Herald-Sun – Blue Devils make the most of delay in travel plans