Something About DOCKERY

His eyes latch on to the defender and he takes a defensive position akin to the one your high school coach always demanded of you, but you never could quite achieve. As the rest of the Duke team looks at his back and watches him make the calculated steps of adjustment to maintain his athletic stance, the intensity builds.

Sean Dockery's presence on the court takes the defense to that so-called next level. He inspires his teammates and simultaneously holds up his end of the bargain. The 6-foot-1 point guard is defense first-just how Krzyzewski likes it.

"The guys say they love it," Dockery said about his ferocious on-the-ball defense. "When I put pressure on a player it motivates them. It kind of brings our team together and when I am doing that for our team I feel good about it."

While Dockery is a tremendous defensive player, it is this emotional intangible that may be his most valuable attribute.

"When you see Sean go into the game, your eyes light up," said Shavlik Randolph, who admits Dockery's presence has a measurable effect on his defense.

Yet this energy boost does not tell the full story of Dockery's effect on the Blue Devils' defense. The insertion of Dockery into the lineup allows Chris Duhon to play off the ball where, according to Krzyzewski, he is the team's best off-the-ball defender.

"Putting him on the ball handler helps our team a lot," a complimentary Duhon said. "He is probably our best on-the-ball defender and it gives me an opportunity to go off the ball and get in the passing lanes and hopefully we can cause some corruption there."

The corruption is evident. Duhon's off-the-ball defense, in conjunction with Dockery guarding the ball, has resulted in more steals, errant passes and other offensive miscues by the opponent. Duhon is averaging 2.77 steals per game, almost a steal above his previous season average, while the team is averaging almost two more steals per game versus last year.

The Duhon-Dockery relationship is strong, aided by this defensive collaboration. The two have been in search of names for each other that reflect their defensive tenacity. To date the point guards have been more successful with defense than with the art of nicknames.

Still, having each other as an opponent and a competitor in practice has been beneficial to both players, the fruits of which have been seen on the court this season.

"The thing is that we push each other in practice," Duhon said. "We go against each other. It helps me become a better player and it helps him become a better player. I am just trying to give him the extra things that he needs to push his game to another level."

"He has been there for me all the time," Dockery said. "He has been there to motivate me on defense. He knows that with both of us in the game we can bring the intensity up."

While Dockery is a natural defender, he has much to learn from his elder Duhon about becoming an offensive weapon and championship-winning floor leader. Dockery is the first to admit that the offensive side of the ball is much harder for him. While seeing action the all of the teams 33 games last season, he only marshaled 3.3 points per game, attempting fewer than three shots each contest. His scoring average is up to 4.4 points per game this season-still far from an offensive juggernaut.

"I work on my offense as much as I work on my defense. I am just trying to see if it is working now," Dockery said with a grin after the Blue Devils rout of Fairfield when he saw 20 minutes of action and netted seven points.

Confidence offensively may be one of the lacking elements for Dockery, but the combination of defensive accolades and improvements in practice may be turning this around.

"I am gaining confidence from my teammates," he said.

Likely more important than scoring for this Duke team is Dockery's ability to run the offense and allow Duhon to, at times, become more of a scorer.

"I work on that role a lot-being a point guard when Chris is off the ball-because Chris can play as well as he can play at point guard off the ball so that helps the team and it brings it along," Dockery said.

It is also likely that Dockery's play has been very helpful for Duhon's vast improvements over last season. Defending off the ball requires less energy than pressure on the ball, allowing Duhon to reserve energy. The same goes for Duhon not having to bring the ball up the floor each possession. Also, when Dockery runs the offense, Duhon can look for his shot more, increasing the team's offensive output.

Dockery's play of late has been somewhat surprising. Many in the media speculated that he was considering transferring when Michael Thompson announced his decision to leave the program in December.

Until recently, the McDonalds All-American point guard had not lived up to the expectations that were garnered when he came to Duke as a member of the freshman-six last season. Critics were further disappointed when fellow potential point guard recruits Gerry McNamara and Anthony Roberson flourished at Syracuse and Florida, respectively.

With Duhon's graduation at the end of this season and Dockery's improved play, the starting point guard position next year would appear to be his. However, due to a pair of highly-touted recruits, Dockery could potentially remain a four-year role player. 6-foot-7 point guard Sean Livingston has committed to play at Duke next season, and if he lives up to his billing-and does not skip college for the NBA-he may start from day one. For the 2005-06 campaign, Krzyzewski has attracted Greg Paulus, another top-rated floor general who will play for the Blue Devils.

Yet, even if Dockery never emerges as Duke's true starting point guard, his defensive contributions-tangible and intangible-are enough to make him a critical piece of this and future Blue Devil teams. And when Krzyzewski needs a stop to seal a critical game, Dockery will likely be there, staring down the opponent and shuffling his feet.