Duke Bedevils Defenses Without A True Point Guard

The old adage is that guard play wins basketball games, especially tournament games.

The adage rings true, for the most part, because in the heat of a possession things can go wrong. Screens get missed, passes get denied, sets get mucked up. Chaos ensues. This is when creativity is needed to bail out a possession.

It’s when the master creator at the point guard position comes riding in on his white horse.

Kenny Anderson crosses someone over, slices to the bucket as the shot clock expires. Scottie Reynolds shot fakes his way into the lane and kicks out to Cory Stokes for a wide open three. Sean Miller lobs a feathery oop for a Jerome Lane slam.

The 2010 Blue Devils don’t have that master creator or elite point guard. They have Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler, all of whom are solid ball-handlers, good shooters, and fiercely unselfish. And when they’re on the floor together their talents combine to mirror the effects of having a truly elite lead guard on the roster.

Here’s how…

Skills

Duke’s three-headed monster can all handle, shoot, and pass extremely well for their position. Smith is the closest to being a true one and he’s found his shooting stroke of late. He’s always had an ability to get in the lane with a good combo of solid quickness and strength for a lead guard. He’s also got a point guard’s willingness to defer.

Jon Scheyer uses his shooting credibility to create driving opportunities off of shot fakes when he’s got the ball. Away from the ball, he’s a tireless worker who’s good at reading his defender and making the proper cut off of screens, which is an overlooked component of his game. Jon gets many of his assists from plays he makes away from the ball off of screens because the senior isn’t always looking to shoot the way a lot of players do.

Kyle Singler has great skills for a three but when he’s playing the four, he’s an elite shooter, ball handler, and passer. He’s the most skilled four in college basketball today. His ability to threaten the arc as a shooter/driver from the four position opens up the floor for Duke’s motion game and creates driving lanes to the bucket that Emmit Smith would be happy to run through. Which leads into my next point…

Matchups Dictate the Lead Guard

You’d be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of college basketball teams that have two elite backcourt defenders. There may be one or two teams with two elite defensive guards and a power forward with the athletic ability and experience to chase and defend Kyle Singler around the arc.

If your club is defensively inept at any of these three positions, Coach K and the Devils are going to find that player and exploit the weakness by running offense through that position. Voila, there’s your point guard.

The Holy Trinity

No, I’m not channeling Tim Brando on Tim Tebow in this discussion. I’m talking about the three most important components that go into playing offense as a team.

Movement, patience, and unselfishness.

Indiana won two national championships without a true point guard because of these important pieces. And no, I won’t ever call Quin Buckner and Keith Smart true point guards.

Teams that move with and without the ball, are patient enough to probe the defense for good shots, and are unselfish enough to make the extra pass to an open teammate, are usually the hardest teams to guard. Not only are good ball movement teams tough to defend, but they typically make rebounding and transition offense difficult because they usually have good floor balance and rarely turn the ball over.

There’s a reason the Devils are the top ranked efficiency offense according to kenpom.com. It’s not because they’re chockablock with NBA players.

So take the holy trinity of team offense, couple it with the holy trinity of skill (shooting, handling, and passing) in the form of players like Scheyer, Smith, and Singler and you can be wildly successful.

Who needs Bobby Hurley?

This article was written by Kevin Berger of March To March

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @MarchToMarch