Freshman, senior duo leads 'point of attack'

Kelvin Sampson likes to talk about the "point of attack."\nHe means the first thing opposing offenses and defenses see, whether it comes from pressure defense or the ball handler in a 3-on-1 fast break on the open floor.\nMore specifically, Sampson's point of attack comes from his point guards, freshman Armon Bassett and senior Earl Calloway. With the duo, Sampson has two differing attackers he can utilize in different situations -- two anchors on his first IU basketball team.\n"The key to our team is gonna be our point guard play," Sampson said. "It's critical."\nBoth Bassett and Calloway have seen plenty of playing time in IU's early season games. Calloway -- one of the three senior captains on the team, alongside junior D.J. White and senior Rod Wilmont -- has started all but one of the Hoosiers' contests, averaging 11 points on 72 percent shooting. Calloway's individual surge was instrumental in 2005-06, helping to resurrect an IU team dealing with the impending loss of coach Mike Davis. Calloway played well down the stretch, including in the NCAA Tournament, when he provided instant, constant energy off the bench through IU's season ending loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Sweet 16. \nBassett has averaged 18 minutes per game, largely in a reserve role. But in IU's last game, a 90-69 win against Chicago State University at Assembly Hall, Bassett started and played 29 minutes. IU didn't miss a beat, and neither did Bassett, scoring 10 points and dishing nine assists while only losing two turnovers.\n"The thing I'm finding out as I go through this early part of the schedule with this team is that I need to run some stuff for Armon," Sampson said after the team's win against Chicago State on Nov. 19. "Maybe not necessarily to get Armon a shot but to make a play. Because Armon can make a play ... Armon has a really good court presence."\nWhether Bassett, a Terre Haute native, is in the starting lineup for good is still up in the air. But as Bassett was tallying assists and points against Chicago State, Calloway largely stayed courtside, playing only 12 minutes, well below his average. \nSampson has hinted at the reasons for Bassett's elevation, saying he would "play the kids that played hard in practice" and mentioning he might start Bassett in IU's road matchup against Duke University. But he never addressed Calloway's low playing time directly.\nThe two guards' differences in style are almost as wide as their difference in collegiate class. While the senior Calloway is an all-out sprinting guard, Bassett, a freshman, is much more methodical and relaxed. \n"Earl has to learn to play at variable speeds," Sampson said. "Right now, if Earl took my child to school, he'd get a speeding ticket. He has a hard time playing in the school zone. Then sometimes you have to play in the residential area. It's 35 mph there, right? So he's got to learn to play at 20, at 35, at 55 -- right now he'd be perfect for the Autobahn. You've got to learn how to run your team ... He's learning how to run the team." \nThough he might lack Calloway's quickness, junior Lance Stemler praised Bassett for his slower style. \n"He's solid with the ball," Stemler said. "He makes smart plays. He finds the open guys and runs the team -- he does it in practice, too. He's just solid."\nSampson seems to like Bassett's playmaking ability too.\n"When Armon has the ball in the middle of the floor, I think something good is about to happen," Sampson said. "He's pretty good at that. He gets the ball to the right person."\nThough Bassett has shown good playmaking ability on the floor, he remains a freshman, prone to a deer-in-the-headlights look, Sampson said.\n"Those two games in Indianapolis, Armon didn't know whether he was on foot or horseback," he said. "He looked over there and saw Dick Vitale and ESPN, and he didn't know whether he was pitching or catching. But he's a freshman, guys. He's a freshman. But he's getting better"