Playmakers Could Be the ACC’s Best Ever

For the teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference, point guards have been like opinions -- everyone has one and will argue until he’s blue in the face that his is the best.

And, depending on what one is looking for, each opinion might be correct. For those who don’t have to decide, part of the beauty of this weekend’s conference tournament in Charlotte, N.C., will be watching the triggermen, regarded by many as the best group of point guards in ACC history.

“They can certainly hold their own and perhaps are better than any other group that’s been here at one time in the league,” said Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom.

Added Virginia Coach Jeff Jones, himself a very capable backcourt performer during his playing days with the Cavaliers: “They’re the best since I’ve been part of the ACC family. They have different styles, but they’re the players who make their teams go.

“Kenny Anderson has done everything that’s been asked of him. As a freshman he distributed the ball; this year he’s been a great scorer and rebounder. Chris Corchiani is the consummate point guard and John Crotty has taken our team wherever it’s needed to go.”

Three of the league’s top 12 scorers this season are point guards, led by Anderson of Georgia Tech, who was second with a 26.6 points per-game average. Corchiani of North Carolina State was ninth and Crotty was 12th. Not included is Walt Williams of Maryland, whose 18.7 average would have been fifth had he played enough to qualify. He missed 11 games because of injury.

The Terrapins will not participate in the tournament because of NCAA sanctions.

Last season, Williams was the only ACC player to finish in the top 10 in assists, steals and blocks and was in the top 20 in two other categories. His numbers this season would have put him among the leaders in eight categories.

Corchiani is the only NCAA player to amass more than 1,000 assists. Anderson, a slightly built 6 feet 1, managed to average six rebounds per game and finished just ahead of Corchiani for the league lead in steals.

Dean Smith would argue that seventh-ranked North Carolina’s 22-5 record wouldn’t have been possible without the steadying hand of senior guard King Rice, who had three assists for every turnover.

Bobby Hurley manned the point as a freshman during Duke’s run to the Final Four last year and Coach Mike Krzyzewski thinks he topped that effort this year because of the competition he faced on a nightly basis.

“It helped Bobby focus more,” said Krzyzewski. “Going against those guys you either had to get better or else you fail.”

But Krzyzewski is hesitant to say that this season’s group of point guards is the best ever, citing a group in 1985-86 that included his own Tommy Amaker, North Carolina’s Kenny Smith and Mark Price of Georgia Tech.

Amaker now is one of Krzyzewski’s assistant coaches, the other two are NBA starters. Only time will tell but, by those criteria, this season’s group may not measure up.

Anderson is regarded as a consensus top-five selection should he decide to enter this June’s NBA draft. Pro scouts list Corchiani and Crotty behind Anderson and Greg Anthony of Nevada-Las Vegas, among others. Both may be first-round picks, say the scouts, but only because this is a down year for point guards.

For others, the benchmark for ACC point guards is the mid-’70s group that included Maryland’s John Lucas, North Carolina’s Phil Ford and Monte Towe of N.C. State.

More was at stake in those days, it could be argued, because the league had only one representative in the NCAA tournament -- the ACC tournament champion more important.

But although every point guard in Charlotte this weekend, with the exception of Clemson’s Steve Harris, should get to play in at least one NCAA tournament game this month, that doesn’t detract from the sense of competition.

Williams admits to picking up the newspapers the day after a Georgia Tech game to find out how Anderson fared. Corchiani admits that “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t check out the other guys and how they play.”