Q&A: Duke's Andre Dawkins on China trip

As Duke readied for another game in China, guard Andre Dawkins answered a few questions about the trip, the team's performance and Georgetown's altercation.

ESPN.com: What was your first impression of China upon arrival?
Andre Dawkins: There are a lot of people and a lot of tall buildings. Everything is built straight up instead of spread out like in America.

ESPN.com: How long did it take to get over the jet lag?
Dawkins: It didn't take long. By the second day I was here, I was on my regular schedule.

ESPN.com: What's been the most interesting off-the-court experience so far?
Dawkins: The market we went to in Shanghai was a cool cultural experience. I had a lot of fun bartering prices with the people out there.

ESPN.com: After losing longtime leaders like Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, is a trip like this good for team bonding and unity?
Dawkins: I think so. The interesting part of that is that Nolan is on the trip with us, but this has definitely been a time for leaders to step up and the team to grow because we are all experiencing this trip together.

ESPN.com: Let's talk about the games -- how has the team been so far?
Dawkins: I think we have handled both games pretty well. We have battled adversity well with foul trouble and some calls not going our way. We ended up winning both games so we are starting to build some resiliency as a team. Overall, I think we have played well but we need to continue to keep developing.

ESPN.com: Who has been most impressive? Anything or anybody surprise you so far?
Dawkins: Ryan Kelly has been playing really well. He is shooting the ball great and scoring and rebounding at a high rate. He is a very good player and is going to be big for us heading into the season.

ESPN.com: Have the games with the Chinese been more physical than you anticipated?
Dawkins: We anticipated that is was going to be a more physical game, but you can't really practice against that. We were taken aback by it at first, but I think we have adjusted pretty well.

ESPN.com: You've surely seen highlights from Georgetown's brawl. What was your initial reaction and were you surprised something like that could happen? What has your team's experience with Chinese opponents been like?
Dawkins: Anytime you see something like that, it is surprising, especially in exhibition games. In our games, both teams are competing hard and trying to win basketball games. We have played two physical, aggressive and clean games.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/34364/qa-dukes-andre-dawkins-on-china-trip

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