FOXBOROUGH, Mass. --- Sometimes you ask questions expecting a specific sort of answer.

Sometimes you ask questions because you flat-out don't know the answer and are either really curious or just don't want to be ignorant.

And sometimes you ask questions because you want to find out if a person subscribes to the critique of his or her work.

It was with that in mind that it seemed fair yesterday to offer a mildly leading question to Duke coach John Danowski: How much did you pick up from your first final four a year ago?

"I think a bunch," Danowski said. "Last year we tried to be loose and relaxed and i think we were. Cornell was a great comeback.The weather, the heat was an issue and our guys were exhausted at the end of Saturday so we didn't practice on Sunday and that was probably a little bit of a mistake. I think we'll do something Sunday if we're fortunate enough to get there this year. We would do that."

Almost as soon as it became known last year that Duke didn't even bother to pick up its sticks the day between the semifinals and the title game, the whispers started that it might not have been a slick move. The fact that the Blue Devils were facing a team led by Dave Pietramala, who at the very least will never allow himself to be outprepared, turned the whispers into murmurs.

So it would appear Danowski acknowledges his choice probably wasn't the wisest, although he still merited plenty of credit for managing the 2007 Duke circus as well as he did.

If Danowski and his team can get that elusive postseason victory over Hopkins today, he'll be able to put that experience to good use tomorrow.

--- Patrick Stevens