Quinn Cook and Tyler Thornton have been quite the pair for Duke this season. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Tyler Thornton is Duke’s unsung hero.

I wrote about this after the Temple game when head coach Mike Krzyzewski mentioned that Thornton plays the role of Seth Curry in practice. Curry can’t practice much due to his lingering right shin injury but he hasn’t had any problems getting into a rhythm with his teammates on the floor.

Curry isn’t the only benefactor from Thornton’s team-first mentality. Thornton has also helped developed Quinn Cook, a friend of his since middle school, even though Cook’s rise meant less playing time for Thronton. I wrote about the dynamic of that relationship for today’s paper.

“Any time he can help Quinn, that's what he tries to do,” associate head coach Chris Collins said of Thronton. “They work out together, they get extra shots up, they watch film, all the things that a good leader does, that is what Tyler has done for Quinn.

“Tyler has an amazing security with who he is as a player. He's one of those rare guys where it really doesn't matter if he starts or comes off the bench. He knows what his role is. He knows he is good at it. He's confident in who he is.”

There have been a few surprises this season in Durham. Pretty much all of them have been positive. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

In honor of the day (12-12-12 for those who, somehow, haven't had this pointed out to them at least 12 times today), here's a dozen thoughts on No. 2 Duke (9-0) so far this year

1. Anyone that tells you they predicted Duke would be 9-0 at this point of the season is either a) lacking objectivity or b) not being truthful. Not even Mike Krzyzewski could have predicted this strong of start.

“If you looked at our schedule, I don’t think you could have expected to be 9-0 at this time,” he said after the win against Temple.

In fact, by being 9-0, Duke has done something no team in NCAA history has done before: beat three top-5 teams before the end of December. As a review, Duke beat then-No. 3 Kentucky 75-68 in Atlanta in the second game of the year, then-No. 2 Louisville 76-71 in the Battle 4 Atlantis final and then No.-4 Ohio State 73-68 in the ACC/Big 10 challenge.

2. While Kentucky has fallen out of the polls, both the Cardinals and the Buckeyes remain in the top 10. Minnesota, another Duke victim in the Bahamas, is now No. 13 with an 11-1 record. I was super impressed with the Gophers when I saw them. Rodney Williams (who was held in check by Ryan Kelly) is as athletic a player as you will find in college basketball.

Behind the scenes work by Tyler Thornton has played a large role in Duke's success this year. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

As the Blue Devils take some time away from the court to write their final papers and study for their semester-ending exams, perhaps we should take some time to reflect on what's been a rather successful start to the Duke hoops season. Traditional awards would be rather anticlimactic (Mason Plumlee for MVP, Quinn Cook for most improved, Rasheed Sulaimon for best newcomer, etc. etc.), so here's one ever-so-slightly out of the box

The unsung hero award goes to...Tyler Thornton.

The main reason was detailed in a story I wrote earlier this week. When Seth Curry can't practice (and that's normally the case), Thornton simulates his role. By nature, Curry and Thornton are completely different players: Curry is a score first shooting guard who has steadily improved his defense over the years, and Thronton is a defense-first point guard who rarely looks to score (to that point, he leads the team with 18 steals).

GREENSBORO – Duke is a basketball program known for scheduling tough nonconference games early in the season. The Blue Devils have also played against some of the best offensive players in the country during ACC play.

Now, in its second-round NCAA Tournament game, Duke will face Lehigh, a quality team the Blue Devils could see in future nonconference games. The Mountain Hawks also have guard C.J. McCollum, who is fifth in the nation in scoring at 22 points a game.

Already, McCollum has 2,030 points in his career – and he’s a junior.

“He’s really good and he can score in different ways,” guard Tyler Thornton said of McCollum.  “Even in our conference, we’ve played against guys who can score and dribble.”

Give a team enough 3-point shooters —  Duke has several — and there can be games when traditional basketball logic doesn’t count for much.

DURHAM —If you're into ogling, keep an eye trained behind the Duke bench during the Blue-White scrimmage starting at 1 p.m. You'll see the future of Duke basketball as Duke hosts all four of its recruiting commitments in its next two incoming classes.

Forwards Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee from the 2009 class and combo guard Tyler Thornton and forward Josh Hairston from the 2010 class will be taking in annual intrasquad scrimmage.

Also, small forward Harrison Barnes, a top five prospect in the 2010 class being recruited by, well, everyone, will visit Duke next weekend when the Blue Devils hosts Virginia Union at 1 p.m. in their first exhibition game of the preseason.