Duke has often pointed out that the team of the moment isn't the same one that took the floor in November.
With former shooting guard Jon Scheyer at the point, the Blue Devils hope this one is much, much better.
After a three-week midseason stretch that saw the Blue Devils drop four out of six contests to teams with lightning-quick guards, head coach Mike Krzyzewski stunned the basketball world by making a major lineup change. He started freshman Elliot Williams for his hounding defense and bumped Scheyer to point guard.
It was quite possibly the best thing that could have happened to Scheyer, who declared that, in a way, it was almost like a new season.
That season began Feb. 19 against St. John's. In nine games with Scheyer at its head, this Blue Devil squad has gone 8-1 and capped the streak with an ACC Tournament championship last week.
Scheyer has reaped the lasting benefits of the shake-up even more so than Williams, the original catalyst. For one thing, once Scheyer passes the ball off, he tends to have a few inches on his defender-the opposing team's point guard-who may not be used to chasing a scorer off screens.
The other benefit is far more subtle: Scheyer has simply become more familiar with the ball.
"Jon is touching the ball more-that's a big part of it," Krzyzewski said. "He brings it up, and he doesn't just touch it once [before he] has to score.... That has made him much more familiar with the ball when it comes time to shoot it."
The increased familiarity helped Scheyer break out of his midseason shooting slump. It's hard to say how much of the differential was due to Scheyer's return to form and how much came from becoming the primary ballhandler. Since making the shift nine games ago, though, Scheyer's scoring average has jettisoned upward-he is averaging 20.2 points per game since the move, and has scored 12 points or more each time he has taken the floor.
Despite the furor over Scheyer's shiny new role, it is not the first time the junior tri-captain has taken up the mantle of point guard. Scheyer handled the ball at times in high school, and during his freshman year, he was entrusted with the position through two exhibition games while Greg Paulus recovered from a foot injury.
"I still have to have a scorer's mindset, making plays, whether it's for myself or other people," said Scheyer after the first exhibition in 2006-07. "I don't actually [feel any pressure bringing the ball up] because Josh [McRoberts] will bring it up sometimes and DeMarcus [Nelson] can bring it up."
Fast-forward two and a half years, and Scheyer could have just as well been describing his current team, which also boasts multiple players who can help out with ballhandling duties. By virtue of Duke running a motion offense, Scheyer has been able to pass the ball off to Gerald Henderson or Kyle Singler after crossing midcourt.
And perhaps not coincidentally, Duke's turnovers have actually decreased since the Blue Devils' unconventional point guard took over. Even with Nolan Smith's post-concussion resurgence, it seems as though Scheyer will maintain his point guard duties heading into the NCAA Tournament. He is averaging only 1.1 turnovers per game through the last nine, and Duke will need every bit of his consistency in order to make a deep postseason run.
"When we're playing our best basketball, we're really keeping our turnovers low," Scheyer said. "That is a key for our team. That's something, whether I'm there or not, we have to have."
As it turns out, Duke has it much more when Scheyer is handling the ball.
Being such a steady player has often caused Scheyer to fly under the radar. His contributions to the team are often masked by those of the flashier Henderson or Singler. Even after averaging 14.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in conference play, as well as emerging as the Blue Devils' steady leader, Scheyer didn't earn any All-ACC honors.
"Scheyer's interesting because he looks like a steady player, just a steady, solid player," said Maryland head coach Gary Williams last week. "All of a sudden, you look at the stats at the end of the game-he's got great stats. That's to his credit that he plays like that."
It took a three-game average of 21.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the ACC Tournament to land Scheyer Tournament Most Valuable Player accolades. He beat out Singler by one vote.
The junior knows that this group, more than any of his previous Duke teams, has the potential for tournament success-something it has already shown by winning in Atlanta.
And it is clear that Scheyer is at the center of the revival-the pivotal piece that allows the lineup to succeed in its present form without a true point guard.
Nine games after embarking on a new season with an unproven lineup, the Blue Devils are starting another season, one in which every team is 0-0. If Scheyer has anything to say about it, it's going to be a good one.
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