Early in Game Three of the International Challenge Series against the Brighton Bears, Chris Duhon caught a pass at the top right hand corner a couple feet past the three-point arc.
Then, in an atypical move, the sole captain of the men's basketball team hesitated. He didn't dribble, he didn't redirect the pass to an open man.
He stopped, realizing there was no Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy or Carlos Boozer who would have beaten their men and could easily catch a pass and rack up two more points.
He stopped, realizing that he was no longer that fourth or fifth option on an incredibly potent offensive team.
He stopped, realizing--for one of the first times in a game situation--that he was one of the guys who was supposed to score, who had to score.
The junior quickly surveyed the court, and he noticed most of his other teammates were having trouble beating the bigger, more experienced Brighton Bears, who had taken the young Blue Devils to school in the early going of the third game.
Duhon saw Dahntay Jones, who had been the team's leading scorer in the first two games, on the right wing, just below him. He faked a pass, Jones was covered.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught Daniel Ewing coming off a screen, trying to get open near the top left edge of the key. Duhon started to give the ball off to the sophomore sensation but the Bears' defender was quick and Duhon balked at the pass, knowing it would almost certainly be stolen.
Instead of passing, Duhon took a quick step with his right foot, threatening to blow by his defender to the basket, before pulling up and draining the three.
"Part of that is the adjustment he's going through with leading," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game. "He's just started to understand, and I've talked to him about it, all the concentration it takes. Once you get accustomed to it, it can energize you, but right now he doesn't know. It's like 'I'm responsible for this, I'm responsible for this, oh and there's my shot....' It may have been like all of a sudden a lightbulb [went off]."
Duhon himself claimed he would not have done anything differently if Boozer, Dunleavy and Williams had been on the floor. He said that it all depends on the flow of the game, and when the situation calls for it, he's always going to shoot.
However, he also said his new role would mean a change in his style of play-a move he was more than capable of making.
"The past two years I've been more of a passive player, just running the team making sure that whoever needs to get the ball gets the ball, making sure our main guys get the ball," the Slidell, La., native said. "But the difference now is that I'm one of those main guys. So I have to take my game to a new level especially on the offensive end and become a better leader."
A few weeks into the season, the general consensus on the team is that Duhon is becoming that leader, both with the freshmen and the returners.
In Duke's most recent exhibition he demonstrated his offensive prowess, racking up a double-double with 10 points and assists.
"To me he's been great as far as being our only captain and point guard," Ewing said. "He's handled the pressure real well as far as what the coaches want him to do and what he has to do with the team. He's tried to build a relationship with each player and I think he's done a really good job with that."
The floor general has been and should continue to be a huge asset in bringing the freshmen along. With a younger team he has taken a more proactive role, teaching on the floor-something that paid early dividends in London when backup Sean Dockery went to Duhon rather than the coaching staff for advice during a time out.
"Chris is like the coach on the court," freshman Shavlik Randolph said. "He tells us what to do, he's always honest with us-says when we're doing a good job of this, when we're not-he tells us when to pick it up. He's the best player so he's the guy we really follow and that we look to for leadership."
Off the court, Duhon admits he relishes in his new position as the leader of Duke basketball--saying that one of the reasons he came to Duke was to captain one of Krzyzewski's teams.
"This is my team, I'm the lone captain so far, and they're going go as far as I take them," he said.
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