BREAKING POINT

Look up into the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium, and you'll quickly realize the truth behind an old NCAA Tournament cliché.

At the Northeast end hang Duke's three national championship banners. Just around the corner, along the Northwest sideline, are the retired jerseys of Nos. 11 and 22-Bobby Hurley and Jason Williams, the only Blue Devil point guards to lead their teams to national championships.

Duke fans know how important those two players were to their respective titles. Hurley, the Blue Devils' all-time assists leader with 1,076, started all but one game in his career and averaged more than 33 minutes each of his four seasons.

In addition to leading Duke to its first national championship in 1991, Hurley quarterbacked a repeat run through the NCAA Tournament the following year, this time taking home Most Outstanding Player honors, as well.

Williams, the 2002 National Player of the Year, led the Blue Devils to their most recent title in his sophomore campaign. In the 2001 NCAA Tournament, he averaged 25.7 points and 5.2 assists per game as Duke won every game by at least 10 points. Despite playing just three seasons, Williams is fourth on the all-time assists list and seventh in points.

And the trend isn't just Duke-based. Last year's Final Four teams were led by point guards Derrick Rose, Ty Lawson, Darren Collison and Mario Chalmers. The first three were finalists for the Cousy Award, which is given to the country's top point guard. The fourth was named Most Outstanding Player and hit the most memorable shot of the Tournament, a 3-pointer over Rose to send the title game to overtime.

Rose and Chalmers are already NBA starters, and Lawson and Collison will join them in the near future.

If it wasn't clear already, the common perception that guard play-particularly at the point-is crucial in the Tournament has some substantial backing.

But Smith looked uncomfortable at the point at times, and has since admitted that he feels more natural off the ball. The low point came Feb. 4 at Clemson, when Smith was just 1-of-7 from the field with no assists and four turnovers against the Tigers' full-court press.

Paulus rejoined the starting lineup three days later against Miami, playing 40 minutes and scoring 18 points in a 78-75 overtime win for the Blue Devils.

Duke, however, dropped its next two contests, prompting Krzyzewski to shuffle his starting lineup once again. Paulus was headed to the bench once again, this time replaced by athletic freshman Elliot Williams, who had averaged just 10.6 minutes per game to that point.

"You put [Krzyzewski] in a foxhole, and he breaks down all conventions," said Seth Davis, a CBS Sports analyst. "He's not worried about egos, he's not worried about seniors or freshmen or position, he just figures it out. That's Krzyzewski at his best."

The move meant that junior Jon Scheyer, a shooting guard except in emergency situations, moved to the point. And after struggling for the first half of the conference season, Scheyer broke out immediately after the switch.

He has averaged 20.2 points per game since Williams became a starter Feb. 19 against St. John's, and his precision at the point-he's turned the ball over just 10 times in those nine games-has Duke hitting its stride just in time for the NCAA Tournament.

"I like having the ball in my hands," Scheyer said. "I'm not going to make bad decisions with the ball. And when you do have the ball in your hands a little bit more, it's not like every time I catch it or anything I'm looking to score right away. I know the ball's going to come back to me. I know I'm going to touch it a lot, and I do know what Coach wants most of the time."

As much as Scheyer's steady hand has helped, though, he does not fit the traditional mold of a game-changing point guard. His 2.3 assists per game at the point are not about to be mistaken for Hurley's 7.7 or even Williams' 6.0.

Whereas Lawson and Michigan State's Kalin Lucas break down their opponents off the dribble with their quickness, Scheyer is more methodical. While Pittsburgh's Levance Fields has four years of experience at the point, Scheyer has been at it for a month.

When the finalists for the Cousy Award were announced Feb. 3, Scheyer was still two weeks away from becoming a point guard.

"My biggest concern about [the Blue Devils] is that they're not getting easy baskets," Davis said. "They don't have a point guard who can push [the fast break]. Scheyer cannot do that. Nolan Smith is just OK at that. That, to me, is unfortunate, because in the Tournament, you've got to get a couple of easy ones to get some breathing room."

And if history is any indication, that could prove a critical factor in the Blue Devils' bid to reach their first Final Four since 2004. The success of Duke's unconventional starting five may hinge more on its lack of a traditional point guard than the absence of a true center.

Meanwhile, Paulus has been relegated even further down the bench-he logged just 10 minutes during the ACC Tournament-while Smith has returned from a concussion to provide a spark for the Blue Devils. As Duke advances through the NCAA Tournament, it may need the sophomore's ability to drive and create easy looks for his teammates.

"There are going to be different situations where I'm going to have the ball," Smith said. "Now that I'm off the ball, I'm getting a good feel of what needs to be done at the point guard spot, seeing how well Jon has run it this past month. It's been a learning experience watching him at the point."

After all, Scheyer has played his best basketball of the year since moving to the point, and whether he's a traditional point guard or not, that may be enough. The Blue Devils showcased how dangerous they can be when Scheyer, Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler are all clicking at the same time in the ACC Tournament final against Florida State, when the trio combined for 70 of the team's 79 points.

That surge in offensive production-coupled with his refusal to turn the ball over-could be just what Duke needs as it attempts to run through the East. The Blue Devils are more methodical than they were earlier in the season, but they are also in their best position of the year to get to Detroit.

And when Duke has a close game against a Villanova or a Pittsburgh, the ball will likely be in the hands of its newest point guard-a task he's ready for.

"There are so many [Tournament] games down the stretch where it's a play or two that changes the game, and the guards are going to have the ball in their hands a lot bringing it up the court, taking care of the ball," Scheyer said. "So obviously a big thing that I need to do is just take care of the ball, and scoring or making plays-that stuff will just come with it. The main thing is just to do what we've been doing, get good shots, get the ball in the hands of the guys we need to have touch it."