Sean Dockery made Michigan look silly in his 17 minutes of playing time, particularly toward the end of the first half when he pulled a play out of White Men Can't Jump, sending the Cameron Crazies into a frenzy and turning the outcome of the contest into a no-brainer.
Dockery, a rare true point guard, was the inbounds passer under the Blue Devils' basket. He quickly surveyed the setup of his teammates and of Michigan's defenders.
What Dockery observed was that one Wolverine, LaVell Blanchard, was playing deny defense on the wing by standing just outside of the block on the right side of the floor. Blanchard's court awareness was poor, as he had his back to Dockery and had no idea where the ball was.
Defenders are supposed to play ball-you-man defense, allowing the defender to see both the person he is guarding and the location of the ball. But positioning is worthless if you're not facing the ball. Certainly, coaches preach that their defenders must play with their backs to the basket, as Blanchard was doing--but not without knowing the whereabouts of the ball.
And especially not when Dockery is taking the ball out of bounds.
"Actually that was one of the plays that coach told us, 'If they turn keep turning their backs to us just to throw it off their back,'" Dockery said. "So I mean I was kind of nervous about it, but I had to do it."
Without hesitation, Dockery passed the ball to himself by ricocheting it off the back of Blanchard, who was standing directly in front of where Dockery had taken the ball out of bounds. The ball did not make an awkward bounce, so Dockery collected it easily, made a drop step and scored an uncontested layup. The play capped off a 13-4 Blue Devil run before halftime, and took the spirit out of the Wolverines.
The play was indicative of the intelligence, maturity and composure that Dockery displayed against Michigan. And though he only compiled only five points, two assists and one steal, the Julian High School product was stellar and efficient for head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his teammates.
Other highlights for Dockery included making a driving layup while being fouled, forcing a few of Michigan's 25 turnovers with hard-nosed, in-your-face defense, and running the offense well enough to give his backcourt colleagues Chris Duhon and Daniel Ewing a chance to focus a bit more on the offensive end rather than setting up the offense--Duhon and Ewing scored 15 and 17 points, respectfully.
"He's just getting better and better," Duhon said. "He's learning the game quickly."
Dockery also made a great athletic play in the 12th minute of the game, when he was sprinting downcourt in between two defenders. J.J. Redick tried to pass the ball ahead to Dockery, but the pass was far short. Dockery, who was running with his head on a swivel so he could see the ball, stopped on a dime, took a step forward, leaped into the air and prevented a Blue Devil turnover.
"That's two really good games in a row that Sean's [played]," Krzyzewski said. In addition to blanketing defense and the play before halftime, Dockery's relaxed play impressed the Hall of Fame coach. "He's playing more like an upperclassman instead of a freshman."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.