Creating the Ultimate College Point Guard

Having a high basketball IQ and being a good decision maker are more important attributes for a point guard than any other position on a basketball court.

The brain of Levance Fields would prove to be a tremendous starting point when building the ultimate point guard. The Pitt senior brings experience in his final season in the Steel City.

Fields separates himself from the pack because of his unmatched decision making. Coach Jamie Dixon has a floor general who rarely loses command on the court.

The point guard's assist to turnover rate is the tops in the country by a lot. Fields turns the ball over just once every four assists. The next closest big name point guard is Ty Lawson at a solid, but distant 3.3 assists per turnover. The Pitt star's assist rate of 38.4 percent is good for 12th in the entire country.

It takes a big man to star at Duke until his senior season, take a demotion to the bench in favor of a sophomore, and then provide a spark and heart to a lineup full of McDonald's All-Americans.

Greg Paulus played at least 27 minutes per contest during his first three seasons in Durham, but in his senior campaign Coach Mike Krzyzewski sent him to the bench in favor of the more athletic Nolan Smith.

In 2009, the Blue Devil senior receives under 20 minutes per game, and his 5.7 points per game scoring average is the lowest of his career.

But Paulus hasn't stopped being an emotional leader for Krzyzewski. He's the first to jump off the bench to pick up a teammate, the first to dive for a loose ball, and the last to ever have his desire questioned.

Few point guards have to play as much as Florida State's Toney Douglas, but also be as vital a part as Douglas is for the Seminoles.

Douglas ranks 32nd in the country in percentage of minutes played, as the senior stays on the court for almost 90 percent of every contest. Douglas plays on average 36.1 minutes per game.

Besides clocking in for so long each game, Douglas also must perform at a high level for Leonard Hamilton's team to keep winning.

The senior point guard takes 30.5 percent of his team's field goal attempts when he's on the floor (which is almost always), but also assists on 20.1 percent of his teammates' field goals. That means Douglas is involved with more than 50 percent of his team's field goal attempts.

Jeff Teague can stomach any task handed to him, any challenge he decides to take. Few players are as fearless as Teague when attacking the hoop.

The Wake Forest sophomore has quickly earned the reputation as one of the best slashers in the country with his dazzling dribbling and incredible quickness.

Teague showed against the big bodies of Clemson that long, athletic forwards would not deter him from attacking the basket. In that game, Teague dropped 24 points and took 18 free throws.

Against North Carolina's strong front line, the super sophomore once again showed off his fearlessness, tallying 34 points and taking 15 free throws.

Very few college point guards stand as tall and broad as Florida's sensational sophomore.

Nick Calathes runs the point standing an astounding 6'6", and his height serves as a tremendous advantage.

The Gator guard is still a tremendous ball handler and can navigate open court situations with ease. He's got a gaudy assist rate of 36.2 percent, 19th best in the country.

Calathes can also shoot the ball well, as he shoots typically over undersized guards trying to D him up. His true shot percentage of 63.1 percent is 68th in the country.

Is there anyone faster in the game of college basketball than Ty Lawson?

Well, maybe.

But is there anyone that can function effectively as quickly as the Tar Heel floor general?

Probably not.

Roy Williams has a dandy of a point guard that flies up and down the court making tremendous decisions. Lawson is in the top five in the country in assist to turnover rate at 3.3.

Lawson is the reason North Carolina plays the fifth fastest basketball in the game and is deadly on the offensive end as the second most efficient offensive team in the country. The junior guard also ranks first in the entire country in offensive rating at a whopping 135.1.

The little known Tennessee-Martin guard has grabbed headlines with a quadruple-double in 2008 and his 26.9 scoring average.

Hudson can also leap out of the gym, allowing the guard to rock the gym with monster jams, but also grab over seven rebounds per game despite standing just 6'2".

The Skyhawk senior guard will try to lead his team through the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament to show off his skills on the national stage. UT-Martin, at 12-4 in the conference and 19-8 overall, is considered the league favorite.

The other leg of the Ultimate College Point Guard belongs to another little known scorer. The Chicago State point guard scores at a phenomenal rate, taking an incredible number of shots, and still connects at an above average rate despite standing a mere 5'8".

The little Cougar guard takes over 10 three-pointers per game and accounts for 35.7 percent of his team's shots when he's on the floor, which is over 86 percent of the time.

Holston's legs rarely tire, as he still manages to drill over 37 percent of his three-pointers and dishes out six assists per game. He's directly involved in over 70 percent of Chicago State's field goal attempts when he is on the court.

Devan Downey might be able to give Ty Lawson a run for his money for fastest point guard, but all of his appendages are quick. The Gamecock guard has extremely slick hands and instincts on the defensive end of the floor.

The junior guard is one of the best defenders in the land, as Downey picks up a steal during one out of every 20 possessions that he's on the floor. That incredible rate is seventh in the entire country.

Besides possessing the ability to end an opponent's offensive possession, Downey is a stud ball handler with an ability to slice and dice his way through any defense a team throws at him.

It's impossible to create the Ultimate College Point Guard without taking some part of Stephen Curry's gifted body.

The Davidson wonder-child does it all—he scores, he passes, and he defends. He leads and hustles.

But if it wasn't for his right hand, Curry wouldn't garner more attention than a booger in a five-year-old's nose.

That right hand sets up his shots, it takes his shots, and it delivers passes. That right hand does all those things at an alarmingly impressive rate.

Curry uses the most of his team's offensive possessions in the country (being the finisher of an astounding 38.2 percent). He takes 38.1 percent of his team's shots when he's on the floor, which is fourth most in the country, but he also assists on 41.2 percent of his team's field goals. More than four out of every five shots that Davidson takes when Curry is checked into the game somehow go through the Wildcat superstar.

Stephen Curry also ranks 36th in the nation in registering steals, as he ends 4.4 percent of the opposition's possessions in steals.

The debate has raged all season in the Big East: Who has the better smile, Jonny Flynn or DeJuan Blair? Luckily that battle doesn't have to be decided today, as Blair will likely never play the point.

The Syracuse sophomore flashes his trademark grin as often as a teenage girl flips her hair trying to get a boy's attention.

He's influenced signs from SU students that read "Fear the Grin" and feature his wide-eyed smile.

Flynn's got the smile and the game as the Orange's leading scorer and passer.

The 'Cuse floor general is also eligible for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard.