Duhon must lead; Duke must follow

Sporting News, The, Jan 27, 2003 by Mike DeCourcy

The drought Duke's Chris Duhon endured was of biblical proportions, lasting 40 days and 40 nights, from the third day of December until January was 12 days old. As a long-range shooter, he was a threat only to himself.

It did not matter whether the opponent represented North Carolina A&T or Georgetown, whether the game was played at Cameron Indoor Stadium or some other arena within driving distance of the Research Triangle.

This would have been a horrible time for Duhon were it not for the fact he otherwise was playing wonderfully and the team was winning big. Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils remained unbeaten until their season was nearly two months old--longer than either of Duke's two most recent Final Four teams stayed perfect. With four freshmen in the primary rotation, they climbed to the No. 1 spot in every major poll and in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

Duhon became the NCAA leader in assists, 8.2 per game. He passed for 13 in a victory over Ohio State, 10 against Fairfield and had nine in four consecutive games against major-conference opponents. Though less emphatically than when he was a freshman rescuing Duke's national title pursuit with his pugnacious attacks on the ball, Duhon directed Duke's disruptive defense and picked up 29 steals. He was so indispensable that Krzyzewski frequently subbed out the entire unit save for his point guard, leaving Duhon on the floor to make a team of whomever entered the game.

Duhon never lost sight of the fact that scoring points is more a by-product of his efforts than a fundamental part of his job description. He is there to lead his team, whatever that requires.

"Basically, I was just focused on else: running the team, making sure the guys were confident," Duhon says. "It was fine with me. We were still winning, doing a great job. Those things happen.

Over the course of time, Coach was telling me, `Don't forget you're a great shooter. You can still score.'"

Duhon entered the season with 98 career 3-pointers and 34.9 percent accuracy. Part of the reason for the middling percentage was his tendency to fire from as far as 25 feet, where he made enough to force defenses to honor that threat and thus stretch themselves beyond comfort.

After hitting seven of 22 in the first five games this season, though, he couldn't land a 3-pointer from any distance.

"It was a matter of me just not being ready," he says. "It was kind of like, `Oh, I've got the ball, I've got to shoot.' Instead of `This is my shot.' I was so much into other parts of the game that when it was time for me to shoot, I wasn't in a rhythm."

The slump began innocuously, with a 1-for-4 effort from 3-point range in a comfortable victory over Ohio State. Eventually, the skid reached seven games. He was just 3-of-27 (11.1 percent) on 3-pointers in that stretch and 17-of-55 (30.9 percent) from the field. Duke won those games by an average of 19.2 points. Freshman wing J.J. Redick emerged as such a formidable scorer that sophomore Daniel Ewing was bumped from the lineup and Duhon had a new backcourt partner.

"He's a great leader," Redick says. "He really looks for me. He makes my job easy, and it's so much fun to play with him"

Most of the time, anyway. Duke had the good fortune to play most early games at home, and only one of the first dozen against a team (Wake Forest) currently in the top 25. When the Devils finally faced a serious road game, at Maryland, Duhon discovered his team needed more than he had to offer. He finished with three assists as his teammates failed to finish a few opportunities he created.

"They are executing as well as any Duke team I've seen," says Maryland assistant Jimmy Patsos. So well, the Terps used a nuisance-type press in the second half to interfere with the Blue Devils running their sets. That fractured Duke's attack.

"We were undisciplined," Duhon says. "When the game got out of hand, guys were trying to do things themselves. We were soft. We showed no toughness."

It was Duhon's duty at that point to reestablish control of the Duke offense. This was another sketchy shooting performance--three of 10 from the field, one of four on 3-pointers--so his leadership and direction were essential to the cause. He wasn't able to make these qualities matter.

Which is one more reason Duke is not yet (and no longer) a perfect team. The Devils must respond to their leader in dire circumstances. They can learn much from Duhon. When he was struggling with the most obvious aspect of his game, he found other ways to win.

Doing college basketball math is easy with statistics, standings and schedules at www.sportingnews.com/cbasketball.

M@IL BONDING

MIKE DeCOURCY ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Do you think Hawaii is top 25 or NCAA Tournament material? WAC teams have a tendency of getting snubbed.

Alex Limo, Honolulu

Alex: Hawaii certainly does not belong in the top 25, and it would take an enormous winning streak to change my thinking. With five games remaining on the road, where the team has not had great success, that seems unlikely.