THE GENERAL AND HIS SNIPER

This year, the men's basketball team's backcourt will have a new look-and it won't just be the new face running the point.

Last year, under the direction of point guard Steve Wojciechowski, Duke at times slowed down its offense. Diminutive for a basketball player at 5-foot-11, Wojciechowski found it more to his liking to dribble the ball up the court than to start off with a pass.

But with the graduation of Wojciechowski and the ascendance of sophomore Will Avery to the starting spot at point guard, the Blue Devils intend to shift gears. Possessing the height Wojciechowski lacked, the 6-2 Avery will run the point quicker, focusing on passing the ball up the court to an open teammate.

"He's got to move the ball up the court quickly with the pass," coach Mike Krzyzewski said of Avery. "That's not something we've done in the last few years. That wasn't Steve's strength because of his height. He couldn't see way down there, or he's not going to pass over people. I think William could do that.... If William can look for people sooner, he'll be better. William can motor down the court, but you're faster when you pass it."

So far, Avery seems comfortable with this game plan. In Duke's preseason play and in practice, he has concentrated on his passing game. By passing the ball up the court, Avery hopes to speed up the Blue Devils' transition game, thus giving Duke a chance to score more points on the fast break.

"This year when we get a rebound, we're going to push more to pass ahead, get the ball down the court as fast as we can," Avery said. "I think we'll be a little more up-tempo. I'll be more aggressive at the point, getting into the lane, creating opportunities for my teammates."

But passing and speeding up his game is not the only thing Avery will have to work on this season.

Last year Avery was never gun-shy, taking 239 shots off the bench. Only 102 of them, however, hit their mark, giving him a field-goal percentage of .427, lowest on the team. This season, Avery is trying to better fulfill the role of the traditional point guard, looking to distribute the ball to whomever has the best shot instead of always taking the shot himself.

"The more they hear my voice, the more they'll be comfortable with me," Avery said after Duke's first exhibition game, a 118-65 rout of Team Fokus. "It's a little bit of an adjustment [having a new point guard], but I've just got to communicate."

Avery's partner in the backcourt, Trajan Langdon, is also looking to carry Wojciechowski's torch.

Langdon has already proven himself to be one of Duke's, and indeed one of college basketball's, most dangerous offensive weapons.

The Wooden Award candidate ranks second in Duke history in both career three-pointers, with 230, and career three-point percentage (42.0). Last year, he was tied for third in the ACC in three-pointers per game and led the conference in free-throw percentage.

This year Langdon plans to lead the Blue Devils not just in statistics, but mentally and emotionally as well.

"Coach expects that from me, and my teammates expect that from me," Langdon said of his leadership responsibilities. "Steve was more naturally vocal. I'm going to have to work on that a little more.

"We need multiple leaders. It was apparent last year that our main leader was Steve, but I think that behind the scenes, I did some, in terms of talking to people on the sidelines. I wasn't the emotional leader on the court. We need a more vocal person on the court to kind of direct the team, besides Coach K, and that's something I'm going to try to do."

And with all of Langdon's accomplishments, as well as his maturity-having redshirted the '95-96 season due to a knee injury, he is in his fifth year at Duke-the rest of the Blue Devils will look to him for guidance. Although he has been quiet in the past, Langdon's teammates foresee him as perfectly capable of taking on a leadership role.

"Trajan hasn't been as much of a vocal leader as Steve was," sophomore Shane Battier said, "but part of growing up is doing things that one is not primarily accustomed to doing, and I think Trajan will step up to that challenge admirably."

Langdon will not only step up as Duke's emotional leader but will also look to be even more of an offensive force than in previous seasons.

After spending the summer playing on the USA World Championship Team, Langdon believes the experience of competing in an international setting and working with professional players has paid off. He feels the experience gave him a chance to improve both his athleticism and his shooting. In the game against Team Fokus, Langdon proved to his teammates, his opponents and the crowd that he had indeed reaped the benefits of playing on the World Championship Team.

Krzyzewski has also seen an improvement in Langdon's game since last year.

"I've been pleased with Langdon in that the experience playing for the World Championship NBA team and seeing them compete for the world championship really helped him," Krzyzewski said. "He's quicker. I bet he's probably about five pounds lighter. He's still strong, but he's handling it better. He's much more explosive. He's certainly one of the best players in the country."

As Krzyzewski said, Langdon's status among the nation's elite is unquestioned. And if Avery is able to build upon his improvement from the preseason, Langdon may find himself also playing on one of the best backcourts in the country.