Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303080237
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long
SMITH NOT GIVING UP HIS SEAT ON THE CAVALIERS' BENCH
Senior Day is an occasion when coaches all over the country recognize the contributions of players with what, for many of them, is the first start of their career.Doug Smith doesn't need it.
Smith wants to enter his final game at University Hall today in the same manner he has made his first 111 appearances - coming off the bench.
"I wish I'd started since I'd been here," said Smith, a 6-foot-1 guard from Fayetteville, Tenn., "but, for just one game, it doesn't make a lot of sense. I don't want a sympathy start."
Coach Jeff Jones, affiliated with the program since the late 1970s, said he couldn't remember the last time a UVa senior declined the opportunity to start his final home game.
"It's more of a reward for his considerable accomplishments over the years," Jones said, "but if that's [not starting] what he wants, I have no objection. He's been a regular in our minds."
Jones, who has used the same starting lineup for all of Virginia's 25 games, said he knows he can count on Smith for production off the bench and isn't sure UVa (17-8) would have the same chemistry by changing the elements.
"It used to bug me more than it does now," Smith said. "As you get older and wiser, you know what to mess with and what not to mess with. You can't beat it to death. I don't think asking for a meeting is going to make me start. The only stat I look at is minutes-played."
You could say that Smith is Virginia's sixth man, except he averages more minutes (25.0) than one of the starters, Jason Williford. Smith has played 30 or more minutes in four of the Cavaliers' past seven games, although that doesn't make him any more secure.
"The down side of not starting is, someone else is getting the first chance," he said. "If I were starting I could count on 25 minutes per game. Since I'm not a starter, I feel I have to play in such a way that the coaches can't take me out."
There are no statistics kept for games finished, which might be the most accurate reflection of Smith's value. However, in one recent game, the referees scarcely had time to blow the whistle before Smith was headed to the scorer's table with 17:38 remaining in the first half.
"I always feel like it's forever till I go in," said Smith, the top sub for all three of UVa's perimeter players. "What happens if all three players are playing great? Then, I don't go in at all."
That was a concern during Smith's first two seasons, when he might play 18 minutes one game, then never get off the bench in the next, as he did in the first round of the 1991 ACC Tournament. Since then, he has played in 59 of 60 games.
"The only game I missed was when I had my appendix out," Smith said. "I came back to play six days later, though. That was a career highlight."
There was little fanfare when Smith signed with Virginia after a brief courtship in the spring of 1989. It was late in the season before the Cavaliers realized that then-freshman Anthony Oliver was not the answer as point guard John Crotty's back-up.
"When I went to see [Smith] play, I was surprised he was as good as he was," said Jones, an assistant to Terry Holland at the time. "He probably wasn't getting the kind of attention he deserved."
Nebraska and Texas A&M had expressed interest, but when early favorite Stanford backed off, Smith was available. He was not a big scorer - 16 points per game as a senior - but he had the presence to relieve Crotty for a couple of minutes per game.
For two years, that's what he did. But, with Crotty scheduled to depart after the 1990-91 season, the UVa faithful held their breaths for six months as Jones' first-year staff wooed high-school All-American Cory Alexander.
"I was playing in the dell [UVa's outdoor courts] one day and I heard two guys talking about our team," Smith said. "They were like, `Cory better sign here. And, if he comes here he'll start because they don't have any other point guards.'
"It was ironic that I was the guy standing on the court next to them. I guess they still had no clue who I was, or maybe they did. That's the way everybody felt. I heard it and I knew it."
Virginia wouldn't have been the same team without Alexander, but the Cavaliers would have had a point guard. Nobody in the ACC does a better job of protecting the ball than Smith, who at week's start led the conference in assist-turnover ratio (77-29).
Smith doesn't play much point guard these days, primarily because he has another role for the Cavaliers, 3-point specialist. After shying away from the shot early in his college career, he has taken 97 of his 123 field-goal attempts this season from beyond the arc.
Moreover, more than a few of Smith's 40 made 3-pointers have come in critical situations. He had two 3-pointers and 14 second-half points in UVa's 77-69 victory at Duke; then, his 3-pointer with 1:31 left snapped a tie and helped lift the Cavaliers to a 70-68 triumph at Maryland, which visits UVa today at 4 p.m.
"I never started shooting 3-point shots till my third year in college," he said. "In high school, I'd say I had 20 [attempts], maximum, for my whole career. I did what our team needed me to do, but, at the same time, I wish I'd expanded my game. If I was open or had a couple of feet on a guy, I didn't always shoot."
Now, Smith has become almost fearless. With fewer than four minutes remaining and UVa trying to hold onto a 10-point lead Wednesday night against College of Charleston, Smith put up a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. It swished.
"He's earned the respect of the opposition," said Wake Forest coach Dave Odom, a UVa assistant when Smith was recruited. "When he goes in the game, he has our attention. You can't gear up your defense to stop Cory Alexander. You've got to guard [Smith].
"What I thought, when we recruited him, was that he would be a very good fourth guard, which we needed. What he turned out to be was an excellent third guard who, in essence, is a full-time player."
So, Smith doesn't really need a start to be recognized. In fact, if he did start, it would take away his place in history. No Virginia player has ever played in as many as 111 games without starting.
"Don't get me wrong," Smith said. "I'm living my dream. I don't think I came here trying to prove anything to myself, but I'm not sure other people thought I belonged. It was a matter of making my way. I've enjoyed the ride."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL