Tyler Thornton is a point guard. Nolan Smith is not.
Fully taking advantage of Smith’s considerable talents might be as simple as realizing that.
Since Kyrie Irving’s injured toe sidelined him in December, Smith has taken the reins as Duke’s floor general. And in the immediate aftermath of the injury, Smith looked to have overcome his sophomore-year struggles at the position—in Duke’s next five games after Smith adjusted to the position against Bradley, he averaged more than 26 points a game along with 5.6 assists while never shooting less than 50 percent from the field, albeit against generally inferior competition.
And even as ACC season began in earnest, Smith’s numbers continued to be exemplary. Beneath the statistics, however, lies a truth that many Duke fans want to ignore: Nolan Smith is better as a shooting guard.
His declining shooting percentages, for one, show he is better when he receives the ball: In order to reach 20 points per game, Smith has been taking more and more shots, many of which disrupt the flow of the Blue Devils’ offense. Smith has also kept the ball in his hands deep into the shot-clock or even for an entire possession, leading to many ill-advised fade-away jumpers.
In his last five games, the senior has averaged 19 shots a game for 21.4 points per contest, a slight improvement over the 17.8 points per game he averaged in his first eight games. But early in the season, he hoisted a much more efficient 12 shots per game.
The numbers exemplify a trend that has hindered Duke in ACC play, especially in its lone loss versus Florida State. With Irving in the lineup, Duke’s offense ran with Smith stationed at the wing, allowing him to be an efficient scorer. With Smith at the point, Duke’s offense runs around Smith, relying too often on his one-on-one talents rather than the team-wide offensive execution that has been a staple of head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s reign at Duke.
Meanwhile, during the past month, Thornton has come off the bench and shown that, with him at the point, Duke’s offense runs more naturally. In reality, that’s all Duke needs at that position.
The important thing to note is that Smith’s play seems to rely more on his position on the floor rather than the personnel around him. Smith’s struggles his sophomore year are well documented, but after he moved permanently to the wing last season both his points per game and assists per game nearly doubled.
Thornton won’t be explosive off the dribble or on the fast-break like Irving. But beyond his obvious defensive prowess, he knows how to run Duke’s offense. He may not put up the dazzling assist numbers of Irving or even Smith, but he doesn’t have to—Thornton makes the first pass that starts Duke’s offense and more often than not gets the entire team involved—rather than just Smith or Kyle Singler.
The difference between Thornton and Smith’s styles at the point were on display Saturday against Wake Forest, a game in which Thornton played the most minutes of his career. For a majority of the game, Duke’s offense revolved around Smith and his one-on-one abilities. Smith often forced shots early in the shot clock and without using his teammates, leading to a 6-for-22 shooting performance.
But when Thornton was allowed to bring the ball up, the movement, ball-rotation and quick passes that epitomized this team under both Jon Scheyer and Irving reappeared. Thornton’s presence at the point forced the Blue Devils to run their offensive sets, getting big men Ryan Kelly and Miles Plumlee more touches in the paint and more open shots for Singler, Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins.
True, Thornton’s impact doesn’t show up on his stat-line, and Smith still finished the game with 19 points. But in many cases the all-important eye-test trumps pure statistics, and with Thornton at the point Duke’s offense simply looks better.
He doesn’t have to start and he doesn’t need to dominate the stat-sheet. But if Krzyzewski continues to give Thornton extended minutes and the freedom to bring the ball up the court, the Blue Devils and their national championship hopes will be better for it.
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