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Five ways the Blue Devils improve

Just a week ago, Duke entered the Maui Invitational as the No. 1 team in America and the favorite to win the national title.

The Blue Devils steamrollered Kentucky in the Champions Classic, and their four freshman prodigies all looked the part of future NBA players capable of leading the program to a national title.

Then a great Gonzaga squad, one full of grown men who fear nothing, held off the Blue Devils in the title game, an 89-87 thriller.

Now the same folks who debated Duke's chances of beating an NBA squad -- that was silly -- began to question the hype.