Strength, Versatility Make Duke's Nelson Special

At a recent press conference, Gerald Henderson was asked how many guys in the ACC could guard Sean Singletary in one game and James Gist in another.

"Not many, not many," Henderson said. "DeMarcus has done that pretty much his whole career here."

Indeed, being versatile is nothing new to DeMarcus Nelson, Duke's senior captain. An outside viewer might think it's a mismatch when the 6-foot-4 Nelson guards the 6-9 Gist, but Nelson has the uncanny ability — not to mention strength — to bother Gist. And at the same time, he has the lateral quickness to stay in front of a speedster like Singletary.

After Nelson's defense and career-high 27 points led Duke to a comeback 93-84 win over Maryland more than two weeks ago, Terrapins coach Gary Williams compared his defensive versatility to that of former Terps swingman Byron Mouton.

"He doesn't fear guarding a guy smaller or a guy bigger than he is," Williams said.

"They play great defense as a team, and he's certainly one of the leaders of that part of their defense."

But guarding every position is just one of many things Nelson does for the No. 2 Blue Devils. Nelson leads Duke in points and minutes per game and is second in rebounds, assists and steals. He also happens to be Duke's lone senior and captain.

"DeMarcus has been great for us," Henderson said. "You know, coach [Mike Krzyzewski] has said that all the Duke captains in the past would be proud of him just because he's really stepped his game up, stepped his leadership up in terms of not just points."

"The kid's having one of the best years of any of the seniors I've coached,” Krzyzewski said. “He hasn't had a bad game, and in the conference, they've all been great games — not just good ones.

"I'm using him everywhere, offense and defense. He's been a rock. There's no more valuable player for us than him. It's not even close."

Judging from his past, Nelson's production isn't surprising. He's been an all-around guy since grade school.

When an eighth-grader runs scrimmages with NBA players — and doesn't get completely dominated — it's a good sign for his future. That's what Nelson went through growing up in Elk Grove, Calif., just northeast of the Bay Area.

Not only did Nelson admire Seattle Supersonics star Gary Payton, he got to play with his favorite professional star. Payton wasn't the only pro he ran up and down the court with.

Jason Kidd. Bobby Jackson. Bryan Shaw. Dale Davis.

Nelson got the chance, at a young age, to get schooled by stars. He hasn't forgotten what they taught him.

"All those guys were kind of like mentor figures to me coming up," Nelson said. "Just like, when a good player sees a younger player coming up behind them, they want to make sure that he's successful, and I think those guys kind of did the same thing with me, making sure that I was training and I was doing the right type of things."

From an early age, Payton was Nelson's favorite. Seattle's scrawny point guard was known as "The Glove" for his defensive tenacity, and Nelson admired his all-around game that helped lead the Sonics to the 1996 NBA Finals.

"He was a great defender, he was a great point guard, he was a winner, he could score the ball, he would distribute the ball, he got his teammates involved," Nelson said of Payton.

By watching Payton and through the influence of his father, Ron, Nelson focused on all facets of his game at an age when most kids simply want to put the ball in the hoop.

"That's just the way I was trained since I was little — was to do everything," Nelson said. "They never tried to make me be one thing.

"You're more successful, I think, as a player, the more things you do on the court, because if one thing's not going, you can still affect the game with another thing. So I've always tried to be a total well-rounded player, especially at the guard position where I can handle the ball, I can pass, I can shoot, drive to the bucket, defend, rebound."

Nelson began playing organized basketball in third grade under the guidance of his father. By seventh grade, both father and son knew that son could be special. That's when Nelson starting molding his body into its current chiseled form.

Today, Nelson, at 200 pounds, is one of the strongest players in the ACC. That's how he's able to battle against bigger, heavier players such as Maryland's Bambale Osby (6-8, 250 pounds). That's also how he's able to make plays such as when he drove the lane, hung in the air and muscled in a floater over Boston's College's Tyrelle Blair.

Blair is the ACC's top shot-blocker.

Nelson is modest about his strength, but he did relent that he bench-pressed 225 pounds 14 times. Teammate Jon Scheyer said Nelson and 7-1 giant Brian Zoubek are the strongest Duke players.

Nelson wasn't born a broad-shouldered giant. In fact, he was skinny for much of his childhood. But once he realized that in order to fully compete against the pros he needed to add bulk to his body, he started training relentlessly.

"I did good against those guys, but one thing that was present was I definitely was nowhere close to being strong enough to defend them," Nelson said. "And that was another thing that made me want to get stronger also because I just thought that I was not strong enough to defend those guys."

Around eighth grade, Nelson started working out with a personal trainer, a practice he kept up through high school.

It also didn't hurt that he played other sports and stayed in great shape. Nelson was the star quarterback of the football team through his sophomore year of high school and he played several positions — most prominently shortstop, center field and pitcher — for baseball teams prior to high school.

He was an extremely busy kid with a lot on his plate. One hour, he'd be swinging for the fences. A few hours later, he'd be boxing out.

"Football was probably my best sport, baseball was probably my most natural sport, but basketball was just where my heart was at," Nelson said.

"Some days it would be going from baseball practice in the morning to basketball practice or a game and then having football practice later on that evening, so everything was always interfering with each other."

At the advice of the high school baseball coach, Nelson dropped the sport because his club basketball season would make him miss too many baseball games. Nelson eventually quit football also because of his coach — but rather the coach's actions instead of words.

The team's offense ran the Wing-T formation, which involved a heavy dose of running plays. On several plays, Nelson was expected to run out in front of his running back and block. And all too often, defenders would try to dive and take out his legs. When nothing changed in the offense, Nelson figured the bruises he was taking and the risk of injury weren't worth it.

"I thought, 'I'm not going to put my body and career on the line for this team when the coach isn't doing what he's supposed to do for us to be successful,'" Nelson said.

With the focus completely on basketball and training, Nelson had a record-breaking high school career that included becoming California's all-time points leader and culminated with his team-high 22-point performance in the 2004 McDonald's All-Star Game.

A star had been born.

But a leader? No, not yet. That was a few years in the making.

Nelson said he was surprised when he found out he'd been chosen as Duke's solo captain before this season.

"I was surprised because, yeah, I was a senior, but it's not because of age, it's whoever everyone thinks deserves it the most," Nelson said. "And when there's stuff like that, there's always doubt, but once I was told that everyone thought that I would deserve it most, it was more so getting everyone's approval to go out there and lead those guys."

Nelson had a rocky experience as a tri-captain last season alongside now-departed Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus. The team suffered two four-game losing streaks — including the one that ended the season — and Nelson said the captains didn't take the necessary measures to guide the Devils in the right direction.

"We didn't do a good job of acting on our instincts and taking responsibility for what was going on throughout the course of the season," Nelson said. "That's something that we didn't want to address this year, and that's why the team, the program, the coaches felt that we should have one captain.

"Everyone thought that I would be the best guy for it."

Nelson admits it. He's not the most vocal guy. It's rare to see him yelling at a teammate during a game or jawing with an opponent. But unlike last year, he hasn't held back when necessary. During Duke's early-season win over Davidson, Nelson felt he needed to get on his teammates for their play, so he did. He wasn't necessarily comfortable with it, but he had to fulfill his role as captain.

"That's not my natural personality to do that [yell at his teammates], but if that's what our team needs, then I'm going to do it," Nelson said. "It's winning by whatever means necessary, and in the Davidson game is when I had to.

"There have been different times throughout the course of the year in practice or in games where I had to really be very vocal and demonstrative the way I talk to the guys and the way I talk to the team. And in all the instances, either the individual or the team responded well."

The rest of Duke's players know to listen when Nelson speaks up. He's not just cracking a joke or trying to loosen up his teammates. Every word he speaks is meaningful.

"When he says something, we know it's important," Paulus said.

Paulus pointed to the first Maryland game, when Duke trailed by nine at halftime in a hostile road environment.

"At halftime, he was just telling us, 'Don't panic, let's take it one possession at a time.' Just showing a lot of poise out there," Paulus said.

But words can only do so much, and what Nelson did best against the Terps was lead by example. When he's playing well on both ends of the floor, his teammates usually do the same, and that's been the case almost the entire season — especially in conference play.

In that game, Nelson came out of the locker room and immediately rejuvenated the Devils with a steal and a basket … and then another basket. In no time, Duke narrowed Maryland's lead to three.

And in crunch time, with Duke hanging onto a precarious three-point advantage, Nelson bulled his way into the lane — like he has so many times this season — and scored a tough runner. The basket deflated the Terps and their home crowd.

"DeMarcus led us so well," Krzyzewski said after the game. "He was strong in every sense of the word — offensively, defensively and in leadership. We kind of rode him."

Nelson thinks his work ethic outside of games has carried over to his teammates.

"When everyone sees you being a leader and being as successful as I have been, but still constantly being the first one on the court (at practice) and the last one off the court (it makes a difference)," Nelson said.

"And (when) they see that hard work and dedication, it's conducive. Now, you get guys who want to come in with you. They want to do extra work, and all of a sudden now the whole team's doing extra work and it really rubs off."

It's safe to say everyone on Duke's bench is comfortable with their senior leader. He may not be a rah-rah guy, but the results are what matter most.

"He's definitely been our most consistent and best player from the start of the year," assistant coach Chris Collins said, "and we've been really proud of the captain and leader he's been."

One of the reasons Krzyzewski says he loves his team is because of its unselfishness. Playing a style focused on pushing the ball up the court, the Devils love to share with each other, whether it's Paulus feeding Taylor King for a 3-pointer on the wing or Henderson for one of his high-flying dunks.

Nelson might hold the California scoring record, but to him, all meaningful statistics are tantamount.

"They're all equal to me, honestly," Nelson said. "If I make a shot or if I throw the pass that makes the shot, I'm just as happy because it's still the same amount of points going on the board for our team, and I'm just happy that I was involved in that play.

"I don't put the importance of one over the other. If I go through a game and have 30 points, obviously, that's great. But if I go through a game and have, you know, five points and maybe 15 assists and I'm responsible for 30 or 40 points, then that's still a great game in my eyes."

It is rare for Krzyzewski to say Nelson played a poor game. Nelson might only get the headlines when he leads the Devils in scoring, but his coach recognizes all he does on the court.

According to Collins, "And he's just a rock on both ends of the floor. He takes a lot of big shots for us, but we put him on guys at four different positions. He guards point guards, he guards the 2 spot, the 3 spot, and if we need to at times, he can guard a small forward."

Undoubtedly, Nelson will find himself matched up with Osby— and his large Afro — and Gist on certain occasions Wednesday. When that occurs, he won't back off or ask for help. He'll simply lower his stance and prepare for contact.

Just like the 6-4 Payton did consistently throughout his 17-year NBA career.

"I just try to compete and fight with them every possession," Nelson said. "Make them try to catch the ball away from the basket as far as possible, try to use my size against them, because I'm lower to the ground so I can get inside their legs. Big guys really don't like that.