J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams carry an inordinate burden on the offensive end as Duke searches for a third scorer. This is not news, but it is unusual.
Since 1980, when Georgia Tech joined the league, only four other ACC squads had a pair of scorers who carried a heavier burden than the combined 53.6 percent of Dukeâs points provided by Redick and Williams thus far in 2005-06.
Good news and bad news: Of that earlier foursome, only the 1990 Yellow Jackets posted a winning record. They reached the schoolâs first Final Four with a scoring tandem that easily topped the production of Redick and Williams. Dennis Scott, the league scoring leader, and Brian Oliver averaged 49.0 points per game, compared to 43.1 for Dukeâs duo.
Tech had a third double-figure scorer in freshman playmaker Kenny Anderson. He averaged 20.6 points. Coach Bobby Creminsâ trio of 20-point was aptly dubbed âLethal Weapon Threeâ by the schoolâs sports information office, after the series of Mel Gibson-Danny Glover shoot-em-up films.
| POTENT PAIRS | |||
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Pairs of Players Responsible For Highest Percentage of Teams Points For Season |
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| Percent Of Team Points | Avg. Points | School, Season | Players, Scoring Averages |
| 63.3* | 36.1 | Georgia Tech, 1980 | Brook Steppe, 18.9; Lenny Horton, 17.2 |
| 59.5* | 39.1 | Virginia, 1998 | Norman Nolan, 21.0; Curtis Staples, 18.1 |
| 55.5* | 35.5 | Duke, 1982 | Vince Taylor, 20.3; Chip Engelland, 15.2 |
| 55.4 | 49.0 | Georgia Tech, 1990 | Dennis Scott, 27.7#; Brian Oliver, 21.3 |
| 53.6 | 43.1 | Duke, 2006 | J.J. Redick, 24.7; Shelden Williams, 18.4 |
| 52.7* | 42.7 | Maryland, 1992 | Walt Williams, 26.8#; Evers Burns, 15.9 |
| 52.7 | 38.6 | Duke, 1980 | Mike Gminski, 21.3; Gene Banks, 17.3 |
| 52.6 | 40.9 | Wake Forest, 1993 | Rodney Rogers, 21.2#; Randolph Childress, 19.7 |
| 52.6 | 37.0 | Maryland, 1985 | Len Bias, 18.9#; Adrian Branch, 18.1 |
| 52.4 | 40.0 | Georgia Tech, 1998 | Matt Harpring, 21.6; Dion Glover, 18.4 |
| 52.1* | 34.8 | Virginia, 1988 | Mel Kennedy, 19.2; John Johnson, 15.6 |
| 51.7 | 36.9 | Wake Forest, 199 | 5 Randolph Childress, 20.1; Tim Duncan, 16.8 |
| 51.4 | 41.2 | Georgia Tech, 1989 | Tom Hammonds, 20.9; Dennis Scott, 20.3 |
| 50.8 | 36.8 | Virginia, 1990 | Bryant Stith, 20.8; John Crotty, 16.0 |
| 50.7 | 41.8 | Georgia Tech, 1991 | Kenny Anderson, 25.9; Jon Barry, 15.9 |
| 50.3 | 35.9 | Miami, 2005 | Guillermo Diaz, 18.6; Robert Hite, 17.3 |
| 50.2* | 32.3 | Clemson, 2000 | Will Solomon, 20.9#; Adam Allenspach, 11.4 |
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* Losing record. |
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- Ten of the previous 16 teams that relied most heavily on two players for their scoring posted winning records overall.
- Ten of the previous 16 duo-dependent squads had at least three double-figure scorers. Maryland in 1992, Georgia Tech in 1991, and Virginia in 1990 each had four players in double figures.
- Over the previous decade just four ACC squads were as dependent on a scoring duo as is Duke in 2006.