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DURHAM — Not many college basketball teams win 19 of their first 20 games, then consciously decide to overhaul their lineup and player rotation.

Not many elite teams get a boost from a freshman cracking the starting lineup with six games left in the regular season.

Not many teams are Duke.

The Blue Devils (25-6, 11-5 ACC) begin the ACC tournament on a roll because of role changes in the backcourt.

The casual fan looks at Duke's roster and sees the big guys and their big numbers. First-team All-ACC forward Gerald Henderson (16.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg) shows pro-caliber moves as a junior and can take over games. Second-teamer Kyle Singler (16.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg) is a 6-foot-8 rebounding machine with 3-point range on his jump shot.

But the key Blue Devils are the guards.

After experiments with Nolan Smith and Greg Paulus as the starting point guard, coach Mike Krzyzewski moved shooting guard Jon Scheyer to the point and inserted freshman Elliot Williams into the starting lineup six games ago.

The result? A team that had struggled through a 2-4 stretch that included a horrendous 74-47 loss at Clemson won five in a row and took No. 1 North Carolina to the wire in the regular-season finale in Chapel Hill.

"We were 19-1 going the way we were," Krzyzewski said. "We were playing really well, and Elliot had not emerged as much in practice. But we got knocked back, and we felt it. Going the way we were going wasn't the way that would make us the best possible team. We didn't realize just how big of an impact this would have, but it's had a huge impact. We're just a better basketball team right now."

Scheyer is averaging 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, and no Duke player has logged more minutes on the court. Although the steady 6-5 junior is not a pure point guard, he's an adequate ballhandler who makes good decisions. And because of his height, he's a nightmare for opposing defenses.

Williams, meanwhile, has averaged just 4.4 points per game this season. But he's averaged 11 points in the six games since he became a starter, and the athletic 6-4 freshman has pumped up Duke's defense.

The lineup change "has made us a better basketball team because it's had an impact not just on guarding the ball but Elliot's enthusiasm and his belief in being a really good player," Krzyzewski said. "Plus, it's changed Jon's role. As a result of those two things changing, we're adjusting to a different set of shots that we get. There are a few new shots we're getting right now that we didn't have earlier."

Now the new and improved Duke hopes to get healthy in time for its late-night quarterfinal game Friday. The Blue Devils will be the last ACC team to see the Georgia Dome court.

"It's an unusual time, but it kind of gets you ready for NCAA play, because you could play 45 minutes later in an NCAA game," Krzyzewski said. "You just try to shorten the day, get them up later. Make sure you go for a shootaround. The biggest thing, I think, is the fact it's a dome. &ellipses; That's more of a concern than playing late."

Duke heads into the game banged up. Scheyer turned an ankle and 7-1 reserve Brian Zoubek suffered a broken nose in the second-to-last game of the regular season, but neither showed any obvious ill effects in the Chapel Hill finale. Starting forward Lance Thomas was limited by a sprained left ankle, and Smith missed the last three games after suffering a concussion at Maryland.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com