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DURHAM -- To hear the Duke Blue Devils tell it, the end of the season last year was almost a reprieve. They finished with four straight losses and tired legs.

If they can't fully predict the tides of March 2008, they at least think they're ready for them.

"Completely different -- not only physically in terms of feeling energized," backup center Brian Zoubek said. "Mentally, it's huge. The difference between this year and last year in where we are emotionally and mentally is vast. For every one of us, we're enthusiastic.

"Last year, we might have been exhausted. Definitely worn down."

The end came in a first-round NCAA tournament game against Virginia Commonwealth at Buffalo, N.Y. The second-seeded Blue Devils hope to avoid a repeat when they face 15th-seeded Belmont at 7:10 p.m. Thursday in a first-round West Region game at Washington (WFMY-2).

In the aftermath of 2007, when Duke lost eight of its final 12 games, coach Mike Krzyzewski said he felt compelled to re-evaluate virtually everything about his team's preparation. He hadn't concluded there were obvious or rampant flaws; he just thought it was time to study.

One difference came in September and early October last year. Preseason conditioning, which had been amped up three seasons earlier, was dialed back a bit. An especially intense preseason might have been counterproductive for Zoubek (foot) and point guard Greg Paulus (wrist), both of whom had offseason surgery, anyway. Zoubek's latest foot injury in January further defined Duke's offensive character.

Through the rest of the regular season, the Devils weren't going to have a physical, low-post presence; they would have a one-in, four-out formation big on dribble penetration and quick perimeter passing.

So Krzyzewski did something that seemingly went against his military training and three decades of coaching: He tweaked the structure and content of his practices.

"There wasn't as much banging with each other," sophomore guard Jon Scheyer said. "Coach has kept practices shorter, and guys are really excited to come to practice because of it."

Shorter practices? What would Coach Knight say?

Last week, Krzyzewski sent his bench a message it was happy to receive. About three minutes into each half of Duke's ACC tournament games, he sent in five new guys as a unit -- Zoubek, Scheyer, Taylor King, David McClure and Nolan Smith.

The specific deployment won't be repeated in the NCAAs, the coach said, but its general tenor remains: Everybody must be ready.

"I think that worked," Krzyzewski said. "Brian played really well. Dave played his best basketball, and Nolan pressured the ball better than he has all year. I thought it was a great week for us. I think we have a better chance of being good now than we did 10 days ago."

It was Krzyzewski's most overt use of the ACC tournament as a preparation tool in recent memory. Zoubek, who had never played more than 18 minutes of a close game in his two-year career, logged 20 in the semifinal loss to Clemson.

Belmont doesn't have a traditional post game, either, which means Zoubek won't necessarily be required as a defensive presence. But the 7-footer might be valuable down the road in a region headlined by UCLA's bruising center, Kevin Love.

Zoubek also might have been tested as a means of resting ACC rookie of the year Kyle Singler, 12-for-50 from the 3-point line in the past nine games. Often playing out of position on defense, the 6-8, 220-pound freshman hasn't recoiled from any challenge, but he might be thinking and stressing too much on offense, Krzyzewski suggested this week.

Duke, which got 36 percent of its minutes from freshmen last season, is using rookies for 27 percent of the available time this season. That's still enough volume to make the Devils sensitive to burnout issues.

"I think we're going to be fresh and excited, and we're going to play to win," Krzyzewski said.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com