news-record.com

WINSTON-SALEM — Scott Wood never heard the footsteps, never sensed the trouble.

He was all alone. Surely, no one could catch him. He had far too big a head start.

So in the middle of his first ACC game, N.C. State's 6-foot-7 freshman guard went in for a badly needed fast-break layup at Joel Coliseum.

"Dennis (Horner) got a steal," Wood said. "He was probably between the half-court line and the top of the key. Dennis threw it right to me ... and Ish ran me all the way down, caught up to me and blocked my shot. I still don't know where he came from. It's months later, and I'm still amazed he got to me that quick."

Welcome to the league, rookie.

"Ish" is Wake Forest senior point guard Ishmael Smith. And his strong, swift legs are the pistons that drive the engine of the Demon Deacons' offense. Wake Forest, the No. 9 seed in the NCAA's East Regional, will play Texas about 9:35 p.m. today in New Orleans.

Wake (19-10) has a fine team. Al-Farouq Aminu averages a double-double at small forward. L.D. Williams is a lock-down defender, a four-year starter who needs 10 points for 1,000 in his career. Chas McFarland, Tony Woods and David Weaver are tall, big and strong inside. Freshmen C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart are 3-point shooting threats.

But make no mistake: It all starts with Ish Smith and his blazing speed.

"His speed means a lot to us, because that's who we are offensively," Wake coach Dino Gaudio said. "We want to play fast. We want to push the ball. We want to score in transition, because we're not a terrific shooting team by any means. Ish gets some easy baskets for himself and for his teammates with his speed, and we need those baskets."

Just how fast is Ish Smith?

For what it's worth, he claims his speed is nothing special — until he's dribbling the ball on the run.

"I've never clocked myself," Smith said. "The funny thing is, if me and you race, you might beat me. I'm not the fastest guy on two legs, but when I have the basketball in my hands, I don't know what it is, but I'm faster with the basketball than I am just racing."

Think he's kidding? He's not. And he's not alone in that assessment of his speed.

Ask an opposing coach tasked with slowing Smith. Maryland's Gary Williams said Smith has "Steve Francis' quickness" in a smaller body. Francis sprinted all the way from College Park to the NBA.

"Everybody talked about (North Carolina's Ty) Lawson last year as being the fastest player in the country, and I think Ish is right there with Lawson," Williams said. "What you like in transition is a guy that can dribble the ball foul line to foul line quickly, and that's what Ish does. And he's added to his game this year to where he's more confident scoring the ball. So now you can't just play him as a passer. When point guards take that step, they become better."

Smith said the biggest step in his development was slowing down.

"My freshman year, I was the fastest out-of-control guy in the country," Smith said. "Now I control it. I've learned how to change gears, change pace and control the dribble a little bit more.

"You don't want to give anyone a steady dosage of the same thing. You've got to switch it up. Maybe one possession you push it up hard. Next possession you might pass it up. Next possession you might slow down, and then take off running. It's all about controlling your speed and changing gears."

At 6-foot-nothing, Smith said he's learned to use the big bodies around him on the fast-break in a high-speed game of hide-and-seek.

Sometimes he snakes in and out quickly, disappearing behind 7-foot McFarland or 6-11 Woods, only to reappear where the defense doesn't expect him.

Other times, he intentionally slows to allow those big guys to run the break with him, creating three-on-one or five-on-three mismatches.

Isn't that something he's always done?

"No. No. Absolutely, no," Smith said, eyes wide and shaking his head. "As a freshman, I'm trying to beat you to the rim every time. That was my one thing. Now I've learned a lot and gotten better."

Smith has learned the game in a program that's churned out a couple of NBA point guards in the last five years.

"Believe you me, I'm not saying Ish is better than Chris Paul or Jeff Teague," said Gaudio, who coached both of them, "but he's faster than those kids north and south with the basketball. ... I know this: There might be somebody as quick, but I don't think there's anybody quicker getting the ball from end line to end line."

And so the Demon Deacons move on to the NCAA tournament, where they'll go as far as Ish Smith's swift legs will carry them.

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