Gold Rush: Deacon Guard Trio
12/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2003
It may have been born out of necessity, but Wake Forest's three-guard lineup has proven to be quite a conundrum for Wake Forest's early opponents. The stairstep trio of freshman Chris Paul, sophomore Justin Gray and junior Taron Downey provide the speedy and talented personnel to play at another speed. It's the style head coach Skip Prosser has longed for since taking over the Demon Deacon program just over two seasons ago, and at times it's frightening just how good these three make this team.
Just ask Indiana how many problems the Deacon threesome posed for the Hoosiers in this year's ACC/Big 10 Challenge. The three, who, by the way, are all North Carolina products, combined to score 33 points in the 100-67 drubbing. Paul, the much-heralded freshman, scored 20 points, but it was more the trio's defensive presence that changed the face of the game in the opening minutes. The three-guard lineup helped force 16 Hoosier turnovers - by halftime. Indiana finished with a whopping 22 turnovers for the game. The three had six of Wake's 13 steals, and they accounted for 15 of 19 assists. Their presence made it look like it eight against five at times as the scrambling full-court pressure overwhelmed Indiana.
"I think Chris Paul may be the best point guard we've played against since I've been at Indiana," head coach Mike Davis of Indiana said after the game. "You can't get a good gauge watching him on tape. It's impossible to pick him up full court. He gets it to the people who can score and play. It was like watching poetry in motion watching him play.
"Justin Gray, you know what he can do. He's a really good basketball player, but he has a toughness you need. He's just a sophomore and maybe has the toughness of a fifth-year senior. But those three guys, if the way they played tonight is the way they play all the time, they're going to win a lot of ball games."
It's almost as if the Downey, Gray and Paul couldn't wait to play together. The three began getting to know each other last season when Paul, who had already committed to Wake Forest, attended most, if not all, home games as a spectator. Over the summer Paul played with his future teammates during pickup games on campus. They say the chemistry was instant. At that time, little did they know that chemistry would be needed so immediately.
As the 2003-2004 season began, junior Vytas Danelius, slated to be one of the starters, battled tendonitis in his knee and wasn't ready to play. By necessity Prosser decided to play a three-guard lineup. Gray and Paul have started every game this season, and Downey would have most certainly started the season opener against Memphis had he not had to undergo an emergency appendectomy just eight days before the game. The experiment, so far, has worked, and Prosser hasn't had a reason to mess with success.
"Number one, they're very bright basketball players," Prosser said. "They have a high IQ for the game. Secondarily, they're very unselfish basketball players. We talk all the time about playing for others, driving the basketball for others, and they do that. They're very good friends off the court, and I think they take a special bit of pride that, despite their diminutive size, they can still do a credible job on the backboard. They tell me that all the time - don't worry about the rebounds. But having said that, I still worry about it. But we just have a bunch of guys who generally like one another and genuinely love to play basketball. We have to kick them out of the gym."
Downey, Gray and Paul bring a variety of skills to the table and give Prosser a great deal of versatility. It's not like they have prescribed roles either. All three can play either the point or the off-guard positions. All three can shoot the three and slash to the basket. All three have the ability to be playmakers.
They've taken turns in all those roles through four games this year. Teams haven't been able to focus on stopping just one of them. Downey, fresh off surgery, poured in a career-high 20 points against Memphis. Gray has scored in double figures for 12 straight games following his 11-point output against Indiana. And Paul erupted for 20 points, eight assists, and five steals against the Hoosiers.
What's also intriguing is just how supportive the three are of each other. Often egos get in the way when players vie for playing time or attention. But these three genuinely like to see each other succeed. Downey and Gray call Paul their "little brother," and Gray talks about their relationship on the court in terms of watching each other's backs.
"Our chemistry is amazing," Paul said. "Coach is always talking about he can play us as much as possible but we have to prove we can rebound. With us in the game, we should pressure and get as many steals as possible. It really did (come together at the start of the season) because last year it was just Justin and Taron. But I came to every game, and we got to know each other, so we're just like brothers. We hang out before practice, after practice. We had a photo shoot the other week and we couldn't even look at each other without laughing."
"We have a good attitude toward the game," Gray said. "Taron and I just try to keep feeding off of him (Paul). We're just trying to get him a lot of confidence before league play. But we can play three guards. You may outrebound us at first, but when we get it going and hitting the boards, we're fast, and we're going to get it out and run it at you."
Gray wore a wry smile as talked about playing at full speed and in the open court. He said that once they get in transition, play-calling is put on hold and what happens is often "just natural basketball instincts." So far, it seems the three are in their element in the open court.
"If you like each other like we do, it's going to show up on the court," Downey said. "It's not like coach is making us play together, we just do it. It (the chemistry) was instant, so we thought why not play well from the beginning. (As a junior) I'm just trying to be a leader."
Prosser was quick to point out that the return of Danelius is critical to Wake Forest's success this season. He scored 13 points in 17 minutes coming off the bench. Working Danelius back into playing shape is a current focus. Danelius has his own package of skills that will help give Wake Forest another dimension. Perhaps the overlooked luxury Downey, Gray, and Paul are providing is that Danelius doesn't have to be rushed back to action before he's truly ready.
When Danelius is back to 100 percent and Chris Ellis returns to action from a broken foot, Wake Forest should have the ability to go bigger and be even more rugged. Until that time comes Prosser won't fix something that isn't broken.
"I'm not the sharpest guy in the world, but right now those three guys are playing pretty well together, and our lineup is playing pretty well," Prosser said. "Vytas, we're trying to force feed him in there, but he still has a lot of time to make up in practice in terms of repetitions and developing good habits. So for us to be ultimately successful, Vytas Danelius is going to be an integral part of what we're doing. He's aware of that, and our players are aware of that.
"Ours is a team that doesn't have an preseason All-Americans or Wooden Award nominees, and I think our guys are cognizant of the fact that for us to be successful we really have to guard, be unselfish on offense, prepare and follow the plan. But when our defense creates our offense, we have a much better chance of winning."