Quarterbacks and Point Guards

The two positions that are the most important in basketball and football is the quarterback and point guard.

They are the same position in their respective sport.

North Carolina State had Philip Rivers at quarterback for 51 straight games from 2000-03. Since his departure there has been a revolving door from week to week who have played quarterback.

This season in basketball, State can't find a point guard that they are willing to stick with more than a couple of games at a time.

The quarterback and point guard are the coach on the field or court. They make decisions based on what is happening as the play transpires. It is their decision to change the play as it is happening. Get the ball to the person who can make something happen this play.

This past football season, B.W. Holt was able to make the Rocky Mount High football team better by placing Collins Cuthrell at quarterback and moving Hiawatha Bunn to corner back.

Bunn was a much better runner than Cuthrell. Cuthrell is a much better passer than Bunn. The running game we had we needed to be able to open thing up with the pass which Collins could do.

Moving Bunn to corner back was the last piece of the puzzle that made the Gryphon defense as great as it was this past year.

Duke basketball's weak point is its inside game. Yesterday, without an inside game, the Blue Devils almost loss another game. But, what does Duke have? Point guards! The general on the court helps disguise the weak spots because it gets the ball to their strengths.

Earlier this week during his news conference talking about this year's recruits, State football coach Tom O'Brien expressed a surprising displeasure in Russell Wilson ability to run with the ball. He said that during his three injuries he sustained this year they all came when running with the ball not running the play as designed. He pointed out that State lost all the games he was either injured in or fail to play the next week.

O'Brien wants his quarterback to stay healthy. It is hard for any player or team to get better when they are either not on the field playing or having a different player in the game at most important times.

Look at this year's ACC basketball teams. Each one that is getting good guard play has won more than they have lost. Those that haven't had it continue to search.

Those of us who sit in front of the TV or in the stands fail to realize how coaches put their livelihoods in the hands of youngsters. The coaches who have a general on the field live a more stress-free than those that can't. A stress-free life for a coach is winning. You win with a quarterback and point guard who relieves a coach's stress.