Now Randy Is A Dandy

What Randy docs best is play defense. "There is not a man in the league who can run with him," says Ramsay . Smith sometimes literally runs circles around his man to steal the ball from behind, or disrupts the other team's flow by deflecting the ball with a blurring swipe of his foot, both tactics he has adapted from soccer. He will run full speed into a pick and spin away without losing either his balance or his speed. Last season he ranked third in the league in steals, averaging 2.5 a game.

Smith has improved on offense, where the forward-to-guard switch is more difficult. He is the Braves' second-leading scorer with 18 points a game, is a .475 shooter and stands fourth in the league in assists. What may be of most value to his team, though, is his ability to run the opponent's best guard into exhaustion, which he takes particular pleasure in doing to the Knicks ' Walt Frazier .

Soaking both feet in ice water after the Knicks had lost one to Buffalo in mid-season, Frazier shook a weary head. Smith had scored only 14 points and Frazier had put in 24, but the Knicks had come undone when Frazier slowed down in the game's closing minutes.

"I hate guarding him," said Frazier . "Even when he isn't scoring, he's running so fast all over the place and I have to chase him. I feel like a free safety."

What Smith lacks is consistency on offense—the game-after-game reliability of a Frazier , a Jo Jo White , a Phil Chenier . As the Braves' "off-guard" last year, Randy was free of many duties, which were handled by his backcourt mate, rookie Ernie DiGregorio. After DiGregorio was injured early this season, Randy had to become the playmaker, and when Forward Jim McMillian went out with appendicitis soon after DiGregorio was sidelined, Buffalo was expected to fold. Instead it led the Atlantic Division until Boston regained its form. "I had to readjust," Smith says, "to be conscious of setting up plays."

It wasn't easy for a jumping-jack ex-forward who moved so fast in his first two years that he would run away from his own teammates on a fast break. "I've seen Randy turn a three-on-one break into a one-on-zero," says Melchiorre. "He'd run away from both his wing men and the defender and lay it in himself." Melchiorre made Smith wear a weighted belt in practice so his teammates could keep up with him.

"He's amazing," says Ramsay , who takes a fatherly shine to all his players. "Each player needs the correct approach. Randy requires patience and a soft hand. He does best if I can keep him calm and poised and make my point to him. But I have to be sure that he understands.

"Two years ago he used to do things you wouldn't believe. We had a game in Milwaukee and they ran off six straight points. I wanted a time-out. Randy was bringing the ball up and I yelled, 'Randy, time-out!' He just left the ball in the middle of his dribble and came over. He forgot to call it."

In another game that year at Golden State , the Braves were playing unusually well. They led all the way, but the Warriors were catching up in the final seconds. After a Golden State field goal, the Warriors pressed as Smith tried to find an open receiver. With the clock ticking down and the crowd screaming, Ramsay remembers yelling for Randy to call a time-out. Instead, Smith casually flipped the ball in the direction of Don Murphy, the referee, who had to jump out of the way. Jeff Mullins got the ball and the Warriors went on to win. "I was beside myself," says Ramsay . "I said, 'Randy, what are you doing?' He looked puzzled and said, 'Coach, the ref knew I was throwing it to him.' "

Ramsay and the Braves can laugh off such stories now, as Smith gains what Ramsay calls "game awareness": knowledge of how much time is left in the game and on the 24-second clock, the team foul situation, who's guarding who. "Randy didn't used to see these things," says McMillian . "He'd be going so fast he couldn't look up to see what was happening."