Can Dockery Answer the Call?

Since the end of the 2003-2004 season, the landscape of Duke basketball has changed quite a bit. Most Duke fans were disappointed with the heartbreaking loss to Connecticut in the Final Four, but were comforted with the fact that the Blue Devils would likely challenge for national honors once again during the 2004-2005 season. Afterall, Duke was only losing seldom-used Nick Horvath & point guard Chris Duhon, while bringing in 3 highly-ranked recruits, including the top-rated point guard prospect in the high school Class of 2004, Shaun Livingston. Coming off an appearance in the Final Four, things were looking very rosy for Duke basketball in 2004-2005. However, things changed quickly when, during the course of a week, freshman sensation Luol Deng & Livingston could not resist the riches of the NBA & both decided to enter the NBA draft.

The news that Livingston would not be suiting up for Duke caused Sean Dockery to become the focus of many discussions concerning Duke's prospects for the 04-05 season without Livingston & with the graduation of Duhon. Dockery will be the only pure point guard on Duke's roster next season & will likely now become the starter at the point guard position in 04-05. Many have expressed concerns about having to rely on Dockery as the primary point guard next season. At first glance, these concerns are well-founded & are based on 3 primary factors.

First of all, many Duke fan's concern seems to center on Dockery's shooting ability. A quick look at the statistics seems to indicate this is a legitimate concern. During the 03-04 season, Dockery shot only 12% (3-25) from beyond the arc. He also shot only 41% overall from the field, which was the lowest percentage of any Duke player who played regular minutes. Also, he shot only 51% from the free throw line, which is also the lowest among Duke regulars. While it is hard to argue against those stats, it is important to remember that those numbers should improve greatly with regular minutes & raised expectations of playing time. Hopefully, Dockery will spend a lot of time in the gym working on his shooting during the off-season. It is also important to remember that Chris Duhon was not exactly noted for his perimeter shooting, particularly during his last 2 seasons at Duke. Also, Livingston was never considered to be an outstanding shooter, as well. It is not a stretch to expect those shooting percentages to improve tremendously with more consistent playing time.

The second area of concern regarding Dockery seems to be his tendency to commit reaching fouls. Since he will likely be Duke's primary ballhandler, it will be important that Dockery stay on the court as much as possible & avoid getting into consistent foul trouble. However, it is important to remember that Dockery has been primarily a role player the last 2 seasons. His role was to come off the bench & provide a defensive spark, which entails him being aggressive & trying to create havoc on the defensive end of the court. As a starter, Dockery should enter each contest with an entirely different mindset than he has early in his career. While this could be a concern, it is a concern that will likely be taken care of with experience & additional playing time.

The third area of concern among Duke fans regarding Dockery seems to be his tendency to play out of control, at times. While this was true during his freshman season, it does not appear to be a legitimate concern, based on his play during his just-completed sophomore season. If you are going to use his shooting stats to voice concerns about his shooting, you must also accept his assist/turnover stats to dispute the contention that he plays out of control. The fact is that point guards tend to turn the ball over more often than most, primarily because the ball is in their hands so often & because they are often expected to create on the offensive end of the floor. Dockery had a very respectable 1.8/1 assist/turnover ratio (47 assists/26 turnovers) during the 03-04 season. Therefore, there is very little to indicate that Dockery's ability to make plays while avoiding turnovers is a legitimate concern. In fact, Dockery made an impressive improvement in this area of play during his sophomore season, when compared to his freshman season.

Perhaps it is useful to study how Dockery has responded in the past when he received consistent minutes. Afterall, He was considered one of the top point guard prospects in the country as a high school senior. Since he has spent his first 2 years at Duke as a backup to Chris Duhon, it may be best to consider how Dockery performed in high school when he was given major minutes & responsibilities. Following are some quotes regarding Dockery's play during his high school & AAU career:

"The difference between Julian's Sean Dockery and others is simply indescribable. While some are known to drop a nice dime every now and again, the situation doesn't matter for Doc. He can thread a needle better then the best seamstress, drop dimes better than any banker or dish better then world famous chiefs. Between the opponents legs, around his back, over the shoulder, its all made to look so simple, yet each results with the same outcome of another completed pass brought to you by Doc." Frank Rusnak (High School Elite)

"Strengths: By all means, a capable scorer as evidenced by his 50 point output against Will Bynum (Arizona) and Crane High School his junior year. Known more for his distribution skills, Doc can thread a needle better than Martha Stewart and will never give his teammate the ball in any spot other an ideal scoring position. A tough competitor, he will play through pain and always wants the ball for his team in the clutch. A great handle on the ball and fierce defense are other positives to this cool operator" NBADraft.net

"Sean once again showed great speed and the ability to drive through traffic and dish to the open teammate. The only problem was that his teammates did a poor job of finishing around the basket. He didn't take too many perimeter jump shots, but when he did he connected on close to half of them. He also executed one of the highlights of the weekend, when in transition he brought the ball around his waist and finger rolled it in to the hoop, while getting fouled. Defensively he took too many gambles, and found himself out of the play more often than not. Still there is no doubt he's one of the top floor generals in the Class of 2002." - AllStar Report

Yes, based on previous performance, Dockery's shooting is a concern. However, it is probably the only major concern regarding Sean Dockery. He has outstanding ballhandling skills & is an excellent on-the-ball defender. He has the heart of a champion & will give 100% effort each time he steps on the court. He will make mistakes & it may take him awhile to make the adjustment from limited minutes off the bench to fulltime starter. However, it is our guess that by the time March rolls around next season we will be very proud that Sean Dockery is a Dukie & don't be surprised if he makes us forget all about Shaun Livingston.