Putting Paulus on bench a risky move for Coach K

Greg Paulus' career as a reserve officially started Monday night.

It will continue Tuesday night.

And that just seems strange, doesn't it?

I mean, love him or hate him, one thing you could pretty much count on the past three seasons was that Paulus would be in Duke's starting lineup, trotting out during introductions and preparing to dive headfirst into the scorer's table if the situation required it. He was by no means the best point guard in the country or even the ACC. But he was in many ways the perfect Blue Devil in how he approached the game while enduring the wrath of opposing fans.

And now he starts on the bench.

Just like Lance Thomas and Martynas Pocius.

That's the decision Mike Krzyzewski made this preseason. Even though Paulus started 95 of 103 games during his first three years of college, it is time to remove him from that role in favor of sophomore Nolan Smith. From a basketball standpoint it makes sense because Smith is more athletic and has more physical gifts, long as I'm being honest.

But there is no denying this has the potential to have an adverse effect on the Blue Devils if only because demoting a captain and three-year starter can create chemistry issues.

Now let me be clear: I'm not claiming Krzyzewski made the wrong decision, because Smith has apparently been very good in practices and not starting him if he's noticeably better than Paulus could send the wrong message just the same. For instance, the last thing a coach wants recruits thinking is that he values experience over talent. Recruits don't want to hear that in this one-and-done world.

So let the record show I'm OK with Krzyzewski's decision because A) it probably makes Duke better defensively; B) it allows Duke to have an extra shooter (in Paulus) coming off the bench; and C) Coach K might be the best in the business at convincing individuals to strive for the greater good.

Greg Paulus gets sent to the bench after three years as Duke's starting point guard. (US Presswire)

That said, it's still difficult not to wonder whether the bold move was necessary.

Or whether Paulus will ever truly embrace this the way everybody hopes. Oh sure, he'll say all the right things. He's decent like that.

But make no mistake, the "starter" label matters to college players -- Paulus included -- and when you've started as a freshman, sophomore and junior you damn well expect to be starting as a senior. It's just the natural order of things, the way your career is supposed to end.

Barring this experiment blowing up -- and Smith's 15-point effort on 6-of-7 shooting against Presbyterian on Monday indicates it probably won't -- Paulus will spend his senior year playing a less prominent role than he did as a freshman and will by extension be further exposed to constant ridicule on the road, which will get to him unless he's a better human than 99 percent of all other humans on the planet.

Remember, Paulus is a guy who already deals with should've-played-football chants from opposing student sections who think the former two-sport star picked the wrong one to pursue. Having heard it up close, I can tell you it's brutal. And now it'll be worse because all the people who hate Paulus (and that group is second in members only to the group that hates Tyler Hansbrough) have new ammo for their guns, and it shouldn't take long for students at North Carolina or Maryland to start asking Paulus if he would like to sit with them for the first five minutes of the game or whether his warmups come off.

That's why this move is risky. It could unnecessarily burden Paulus.

The safer route would've been allowing him to continue as a "starter" because he's a leader, and as one coach told me one time, "it's hard to lead from the bench." This approach would've ensured Paulus' confidence remained intact while saving him the humiliation of having to answer questions about no longer being a starter. On the flip side, if Smith is truly better, then he could play the "important" minutes and be on the court in crunch time, which would've let Paulus keep his label yet let Smith know he's going to be running the point when the game is on the line.

In that case, everybody would be happy. As it is, only one person (Smith) is guaranteed to be happy.

Because though Paulus is saying all the right things and will undoubtedly continue to do so, I'd bet every dollar in Coach K's bank account that a part of him feels like he's been wronged. Deep down, Greg Paulus can't like coming off the bench. But that's where he starts every game now, just like Lance Thomas and Martynas Pocius, and it's difficult not to wonder whether he will ever truly embrace this the way everybody hopes.