The importance of the point guard in basketball is paramount to the success any team has while playing the sport.

The athlete who plays this position will, for the most part, touch the ball on every possession, set up a play and control the flow of the offense through his decision making.

“When you look at the point guard position, you want to make sure you have a guy who can take care of the ball,” said NIU coach Mark Montgomery. “You want a guy that can get his teammates in the right position. You want a guy that can control the tempo of the game. At the same time, you have to be able to defend that position.”

The failures, shortcomings or achievements of any team can usually be traced to the play of the point guard, and NIU men’s basketball is a prime example.

The beginning of the season was painful to watch, as the Huskies struggled through 11-straight losses.

A serious lack of assists and large amounts of turnovers killed any early season momentum the Huskies may have been able to generate. Montgomery cycled through a plethora of guards, starting with Antone Christian, before switching to a rotation shared between freshman Marquavese Ford, Zach Miller and Stian Berg.

“Zach, Marquavese and I are kind of sharing the point guard situation right now, and one problem we’ve had at the position is that we’re not getting much dribble penetration,” Berg said. “We’ve settled for long shots, and we’re playing too much around the perimeter.”

While it’s easy to critique a position that has been difficult for the Huskies to stabilize, the point guard is one of the hardest positions to learn how to play well. Montgomery, who played point guard at Michigan State, holds high standards.

“As a point guard, you’re always thinking,” Montgomery said. “At the four or five position, you just play, and if you’re a two or a three, you suggest things. But your point guard is in control of everything. They have to be the verbal guy. They have to be the coach on the floor, so that to me is the most … important position on the team because the have the basketball in their hands 80 percent of the time.”

While problems may still persist as the season progresses, improvements could be seen in the Huksies’ win over Central Michigan, and their competitive loss against West Division leader Ball State.

“I think on all good teams, it starts with the point guard,” Miller said. “I think that says a little bit about our team in that we’ve been getting better as the play at the point guard position has been getting better.”

Over its last four games, NIU averaged just over nine assists per game. While turnovers still happen, the outbursts don’t occur as frequently.

This can be attributed to the solidification of the position, as Miller and Berg have started to see a spike minutes on the floor.

“We have a better feel for the offense and a better feel for the defense now, and we’re getting a better feel for the guys around us,” Miller said. “Now we know where a guy will be off a ball screen or a pick, and we definitely feel more comfortable with the offense.”

Hopefully, these small improvements are a sign of things to come for the program. Montgomery is confident that down the road his players will grow into better performers.

“I have two young guys right now willing to put in the time,” Montgomery said. “They’re smart kids and they want to win. So I think that with this freshman group, in two or three years, we will be very stable.”