Wellington Smith ready for new role
Wellington Smith woke up Monday morning and saw the sun that had set in the west had once again risen in the east. The Earth was still spinning safely on its axis. When he went to work a basketball camp later in the day, the rim was still 10 feet above the ground and the court measured 94 feet long and 50 feet wide.
Everything was normal.
True, his teammate, Joe Alexander, had declared himself fit for the NBA Draft the day before and that decision directly affects Smith's future, but things seemed no different.
"We always knew Joe was probably going to go and we've been playing here without him ever since he left for the camps,"
the junior from Summit, N.J. said. "Nothing has really changed for any of us other than the fact we're not going to have him around."
Alexander not only takes with him a team-high 16.9 points and 6.4 rebounds, but also 31.6 minutes per game. He averaged one shot every two or so minutes and a point every other possession.
It's a valuable void to be filled and the duty almost certainly goes to Smith, who averaged 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
"I've got to be smart and play hard and know that my minutes on the court are more valuable than ever now,"
he said. "I have to try to score more than I did last year and be more of an all-around player."
Smith was something of a role player last year. He played in every game and started twice when the matchups didn't favor center Jamie Smalligan. He was a rebounder and a shot-blocker who didn't get a lot of shots and understood they were to instead go to Alexander, Alex Ruoff, and Da'Sean Butler.
He even convinced himself he had no business attempting 3-point shots.
Now, though, the same player who never played more than 13 minutes as a freshman and only once topped 29 as a sophomore is probably looking at 30 minutes a game next season.
He averaged 20 per game last season, even though he was usually the first person off what was usually a three- or two-person bench.
"I'm looking forward to it,"
he said. "A lot of times last year, I got in foul trouble because people didn't know me and thought I was just coming in to foul people. Now I've got a chance for people to get to know me and get some different calls."
The people Smith speaks of are the referees, who at least knew Smith's number last year. He committed a team-high 108 fouls and fouled out of six games.
Darris Nichols set a NCAA record by never fouling out in his 141 career games.
Smith believes players earn reputations with the way they play and that his reputation didn't allow him to get away with what he called his "wild and crazy ways" that often led him to needless fouls.
"I have to be aggressive on offense and slow down on defense,"
he said. "I'd get dumb over-the-back calls or I'd try and reach for a ball I couldn't get. I need to be more fundamental and that'll lead me very far."
Offense isn't a great concern for Smith, especially if he can rediscover his touch on the perimeter, which he seemed to be doing late last season. He's not going to be expected to replace Alexander's scoring by himself, either, as a cast of talented players returns and welcomes freshman Devin Ebanks into the equation next year.
The story is different defensively.
"We won't have a real post presence,"
Smith said.
Yet the 6-foot-7, 215-pound Smith is likely to accept the task of guarding the opponent's best post player.
"I can do it if it's a (center) that's 6-10 or 6-11,"
he said. "If it's (Connecticut's 7-3, 265-pound) Hasheem Thabeet,, I cannot guard him because he's so big and heavy. Even a guy like (6-7, 265-pound) Dejuan Blair at Pitt is tough for me to guard because he's so heavy. But I can definitely try more to become a better defender. I have to."
