Nolan Smith has always had the talent to be a top-tier ACC point guard.
But through it all, there was something missing-something that every team leader in every sport, whether the point guard or the quarterback or the head coach, needs not only to perform at the top level, but also to lead others to their maximum potential.
He needed confidence.
"Freshman year, you can lose some [confidence] as the year goes on, not knowing what's going on, second-guessing yourself," Smith said.
By the end of the season, when a great 22-1 start had started to unravel against the Blue Devils, Smith was hardly seeing the court. In two NCAA Tournament games, he played a combined 22 minutes and recorded just eight points on 2-of-6 field goals with zero assists.
It was a far cry from even the latter half of the season, when Smith erupted for a 21-point outburst in a 86-73 loss to Wake Forest Feb. 17. In that game, Smith showed glimmers of brilliance when he scored Duke's final seven points.
To make those flashes more permanent, the sophomore guard went to Philadelphia and began a rigorous exercise schedule, working out several times a day and practicing with NBA draft picks Michael Beasley and DeAndre Jordan. Over the course of the summer workouts, he lost more than 10 pounds and managed to regain his confidence.
In the process, Smith, who was unanimously praised by the team as having improved the most since last season, improved his swagger-and he also likely leapfrogged senior captain Greg Paulus for the starting point guard job, essentially making this year's squad his team to run.
"I can step on this court and be one of the best point guards in the ACC," Smith said. "Having a year under my belt, knowing what the coaches expect-it's just really helped me get ready to push this team to the next level."
His words aren't empty bravado, either. His demeanor is calm when he answers questions and there is never a sense of hesitation when he's asked about his belief in himself or the team.
Much of his newfound confidence comes Smith's ability to slow the game down, a trait he lost at times last season.
Paulus described having a year under Smith's belt as Smith understanding "the difference between high school and college" game speed.
But with head coach Mike Krzyzewski wanting his team to push the ball aggressively on offense, there will be times when Smith may have to speed the game up as opposed to processing it slowly-and, conversely, Smith can shine when the game does slow down.
"With they way we play-that we would like to play-we're going to force a certain amount of turnovers, which will produce numerically advantaged breaks and you don't want to slow down for that," Krzyzewski said. "The moment of decision for a good point guard is when the offense is a little scattered and so is the defense, but it's congested. Do you go into congestion or do you pull it out?... The speed you take it down with is cool, but how far do you take that speed?"
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