And it's the point guards who almost always decide which team will win a national championship.
This Final Four is no exception.
Ty Lawson of North Carolina and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State were their conference's player of the year. Lawson, A.J. Price of Connecticut and Scottie Reynolds of Villanova were the MVP of their regional.
All made their teams good enough to win 30 games, good enough to reach the Final Four.
"Point guard is obviously the most important position on the basketball court, everybody knows that," Price said without any trace of bragging. "A point guard does deserve a lot of credit when they lead their teams to a victory, and 30-some odd victories says a lot about a point guard. When things aren't going right, the point guard is who you have to look at as well."
Price is averaging 14.7 points and 4.8 assists this season. In the four tournament games, those numbers increase to 20.0 and 5.2.
Lucas, a sophomore and the youngest of the Final Four point guards, is averaging 14.6 points and 4.6 assists for the season. In the Spartans' four wins to get here, he averaged 12.8 points and 5.5 assists while committing nine turnovers, not bad for a player who specializes in driving inside to create opportunities for his teammates.
Former Georgetown coach John Thompson used to say the best point guards are the ones coaches share a brain with.
"You don't have to call him over, you don't need hand signals," the Hall of Fame coach said. "He knows what you need, not what you want, but what you need."
In just two years, Lucas has a relationship like that with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.
"Me and coach have been watching film, and one thing he wanted me to do more this year than last year was he wanted me to lead more, be more vocal on the court and create," Lucas said. "I think that's something I'm doing better this year. I'm creating as a point guard."
During the tournament, all eyes were on Lawson during the tournament as he recovered from a right big toe injury. He didn't play in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament because it and missed the opening-round win over Radford.
He has looked like himself the last three games, averaging 20.3 points and 6.7 assists while turning the ball over just twice.
"In the tournament I've worked on taking care of the ball, not going too fast, slowing down to make better decisions, and that's why I've had only two turnovers in three games," he said.
Lawson, who is averaging 16.3 points and 6.5 assists for the season, has a good relationship with Reynolds as opponents in high school and AAU competition. The two were roommates at LeBron James' basketball camp two summers ago.
"Ty is a cool dude, he's very laid back," said Reynolds, who is averaging 15.2 points and 3.3 assists this season. "We get along great. We have matched up against each other, we've played against each other and we have worked out with each other. I have good respect for what he has done this year, coming back from an injury and taking over that team and getting them to where he has taken them. I didn't expect anything less from him."
Reynolds is the reason Villanova is in the Final Four, scoring the winning basket with less than a second to play in the regional final against Pittsburgh.
It's that kind of play that thrills fans and players alike.
"I watch a lot of college basketball, but I definitely watch a lot of point guards because I can learn from them, and they're fun to watch," he said.
This weekend, he won't be the only one watching.
- VOTE: Cast your votes NOW for the winners in 6abc.com's Bracket Busters!
- VIDEO: Get a listing of all the Action News sports teams' Bracket Busters video reports.
- RELATED: Get the latest NCAA basketball news anywhere from 6abc.com on your wireless device!
Get Action News on your website
