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"Coach does a really good job of letting the kids know they're the Sixth Man," says Scott Yakola, Duke's director of sports promotions. As for the coach's effect on the students, Yakola says, "He could take a dump on a plate and serve it to them, and they'd love it."
--Chris Ballard, SI.com
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Duhon ready to make point for Blue Devils
by Mike DeCourcy
October 30, 2001
The best point guard in Division I plays for Duke. But you knew that, right? You've seen what Jason Williams can do with a basketball. You've seen him score 34 points against Boston College, nail 15-of-18 free throws against NC State, pass for 11 assists against Clemson. You've seen him direct the Blue Devils to an NCAA championship.
He's great, isn't he?
Yeah, but we're talking about Chris Duhon here.
Williams is the best player in the nation, and he plays point guard for the Blue Devils. But nobody plays the point -- running an offense, controlling the ball, delivering passes where teammates prefer them, defending against opposing ballhandlers -- better than Duhon.
You haven't had much chance to see that. There was some of it in the championship game against Arizona, when foul trouble limited Williams to 29 minutes and Duhon handled the ball in his absence. But most of us were distracted by Mike Dunleavy's breathless 3-point shooting splurge and Shane Battier's late-game flights above the rim.
The best opportunities to see Duhon run a team were last June in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the USA Basketball trials, which was closed to the public, and in August in the Young Men's World Championship in Japan. Those fortunate enough to catch Duhon's act in those venues saw him instantly acclimate himself to the point guard role and assert command of his team.
He averaged 11.9 points and a team-record 6.8 assists and shot 46.2 percent from the field in leading the U.S. to the gold medal in Japan. Duhon was so impressive that USA Basketball chose him as its male athlete of the year -- ahead of the dozen NBA pros who won the gold in the Goodwill Games.
'He is exquisite,' says Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, using an adjective rarely applied to basketball players but appropriate in this case. 'It does give us the luxury of having an incredible point guard out there for 40 minutes.'
Having Duhon and Williams also presents the pleasant predicament of whether Duke should consider adjusting the roles the players fill during the course of a game.
Because Williams was established as the team's primary ballhandler when Duhon entered the lineup late last February, and because Williams generates his scoring off the dribble and not off the catch, he remained the primary point guard throughout the championship season. Duhon took over defending the point, which had been a weakness, and that allowed Williams to concentrate more energy on creating offense.
Given Duhon's extraordinary summer play, though, and with the 76ers' Allen Iverson demonstrating a shooting guard can handle the ball enough to generate overwhelming scoring opportunities, Krzyzewski might improve the Blue Devils by putting Duhon in charge of the offense.
'I get more confident and feel my teammates play a little better when I'm in control, controlling everything,' Duhon says. 'I feel like I see the court very well and see things that will help our team be more successful. I'm looking forward to doing more of that this year.'
When Duke was recruiting Duhon, Williams had not played a game for the Blue Devils but had been the top-ranked guard in his high school senior class. Duhon often heard the backcourt wasn't big enough for the two of them. Krzyzewski's response: 'Anybody who tells you that is an idiot. You can play beautifully, magnificently with Jason. Now, how exactly that would happen, I don't know.'
Krzyzewski believes in experimenting with his team, a luxury Duke enjoys because of its wealth of talented, versatile players.
'I don't need to have everything in in December,' he says. 'Jason's probably the most explosive scorer in college basketball, and you want to make sure you're doing enough for him in doing that.
'I know they'll do anything I ask. I've got to make sure what I ask of them is the right thing. So I'll be willing to change if I see myself making some mistakes.'
Such problems. Krzyzewski has the best point guard in the country. And he has the best player playing point guard. How can he go wrong?
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