"When Chris [Duhon] leads, he's the best leader I've ever seen, take it from a guy who's played with him," former Duke point guard Jason Williams said minutes before Wednesday's game against UNC. "When he decides to lead and take this team, he can take it anywhere he wants. I think he's going to start doing that tonight."
Duhon started the game from an unusual place - the Duke bench - but ended it in the role everyone expected him to fill at the beginning of the season: undisputed floor leader of the Blue Devils.
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski informed his players Monday that Daniel Ewing would be starting in place of Duhon.
"He's been putting too much pressure on himself," Krzyzewski said. "We just told him, 'Just relax, have fun and let things come naturally.'"
Slightly more than three minutes into the game, Duhon checked in and dribbled past a pick at the top of the key. He looked at the rim for a split second, but passed up the shot, instead rifling the ball to Casey Sanders, who was cutting to the basket for a dunk.
Two minutes later, Duhon darted in front of a Byron Sanders pass and intercepted it, but his momentum carried him out of bounds. Duhon leaped onto press row and into the Cameron Crazies, a move characteristic of his first two seasons but rarely seen this year. As he teetered on the press table, with his fans supporting him, Duhon surveyed the court knowing he'd just served notice that Krzyzewski's message was received.
"I owe it to this University; I owe it to these guys in the locker room, to Coach K, to everybody," Duhon said. "The tradition is to go out and play for Duke, not for myself, not for anybody else, but to go out and play my heart out for this program. That's all it was. It was just me not thinking about myself, and thinking about my teammates and going out and trying to win together. Not by myself, but together. That's the best feeling in the world."
In the second half, Duhon was instrumental in pulling the Blue Devils even with the Tar Heels. The junior point guard put the game away on three consecutive plays with less than five minutes remaining. While Duhon held the ball on the perimeter, Dahntay Jones sprinted around a Nick Horvath pick and toward the basket. When Duhon served up a near-perfect lob, Jones slammed it down to ear-rattling cheers. On the ensuing possession, Duhon got another pick at the top of the key, and this time took - and buried - the three-pointer. After two missed UNC free throws and most of the time on Duke's shot clock elapsed, Duhon drove along the baseline and swished an underhand layup.
UNC was suddenly down by eight and would never recover.
"To have a game like this tonight was great for the team, but it was even better for Chris," freshman guard J.J. Redick said. "To see his passion in the second half, it was perfect."
At the same time, Duke switched to a zone defense to contain the Tar Heels' Raymond Felton, who was consistently beating whichever Blue Devil covered him. Duhon found himself leading on defense.
"He was such a good leader tonight," Krzyzewski said. "Setting things up, communication with the bench, this was by far his best game. We went to the matchup and Chris looked like a traffic cop in Times Square, making sure that everybody was in the right place."
In total, Duhon finished with his fourth career double-double, dishing out 10 assists and scoring 12 points, all of which came in the second half. He didn't have an exceptional, or even particularly good, shooting game - he made just 5-of-12 from the field and only 2-of-7 from beyond the arc - but he led his team and made the big plays when Duke needed them. After entering the game, Duhon did not rest until only seven seconds remained, and Andre Buckner replaced him as the crowd stood and cheered.
Although he still has a distance to go before he meets all the expectations of Duke fans - and it's debatable whether a Duke basketball player can ever meet all the fans' expectations - Duhon took an essential first step toward leading this Blue Devil team to its full potential.
"I thought I did a pretty good job," Duhon said. "I think I was aggressive getting my teammates involved. It just felt good being out there - being out there and having fun. I'm exhausted now."
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