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TALLAHASSEE - Wake Forest sophomore point guard Chris Paul had just come up with a steal and, for a split second, considered driving the ball to the North Carolina basket.
But he knew he had a better choice. Or more to the point, he knew his backcourt mate, sharpshooting junior Justin Gray.
"I knew he was going to be spotting up (at the 3-point line)," Paul said.
"I might not say a lot," Gray jumped in. "I might say, "Right,' or "Left.' And just by saying that, he knows I'm going to be there. We see a lot of the same things."
Gray was exactly where Paul anticipated, and after taking the pass from Paul, he hit the open shot; a "dagger," Paul likes calling it. That helped the Demon Deacons rout the the then-No.3 Tar Heels 95-82 Saturday afternoon and enter tonight's ACC game at Florida State on a 10-game roll.
"It's a trust issue, and trust is something we talk about all the time," said Skip Prosser, coach of No.3 Wake Forest. "They'll be times when the point guard doesn't see the 2-guard and the 2-guard thinks he should and times when the 2-guard has the ball and doesn't see the point guard and the point guard thinks he should. It can lead to some contentiousness.
"But these guys have complete trust in one another. Their communication is outstanding."
Okay. Teammates are supposed to know one another. Shoot. That's the goal of endless hours of practice. But Paul and Gray, who share a dorm room on the Winston-Salem, N.C., campus, have developed an especially strong friendship off the court that is unmistakably special on the court.
"There's no question. The more you know about somebody, you might know a tendency that somebody else who doesn't know them as well wouldn't know," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "So I think it does help, and with Chris and Justin, it is evident."
* * *
Gray, 20, can't help but beam when he thinks back to first meeting Paul, then a heralded senior at nearby West Forysth (N.C.) High and a Winston-Salem native.
"The connection just started," he said. "We have a lot of stuff in common."
Like what? Well, they realized they shared a lot of the same friends as well as a similar passion and personality. Both are laid-back but are outspoken.
"They've been thick as thieves really since before Chris came to Wake Forest," Prosser said.
Consider this past summer. They were together in school. They and their families then took a cruise to the Bahamas. After that, they worked a camp, then tried out and made the U.S. under-20 team. They led the group to a 5-0 record and the gold medal in the World Championship qualifying tournament in Nova Scotia. From there, they squeezed in another camp stint. Whew.
"After all of that, if you're not friends, you've got problems," Gray quipped.
But the truth is, not all teammates are bosom buddies.
Not that that's a prerequisite to success.
"Exactly," said Paul, 19, "but I think it helps out a lot."
In their case, they're close enough that if one does something wrong on the court, the other is not the least bit afraid to let him know it, confident he will take it the right way.
"Me and J, we argue. We argue all the time," Paul said, smiling.
"We do, but it might not look like it," Gray said.
They often laugh about it afterward.
* * *
The 6-foot-2, 186-pound Gray was a first-team All-ACC pick as a sophomore last season and entered this season eighth on his school's all-time scoring list. He averages 17.4 points and leads the league in 3-pointers (53).
On most teams, he would be the guy. Not here.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Paul, the ACC's rookie of the year (not Duke's Luol Deng, who bolted early and was an NBA lottery pick), is stronger and more mature than a year ago and averages 15 points, 6.5 assists and 2.1 steals. He also was the guy you'd see on the cover of preseason magazines and All-America teams.
That's the kind of thing that can splinter a team. Not here.
"I think that's always a concern, but in this case, it's not a factor," Prosser said.
Paul and Gray like each other too much to let it be. They respect each other too much to let it be. Gray will tell you that there are others, such as senior guard Taron Downey or junior center Chris Ellis, who would be the headliners elsewhere. Paul will tell you he's not the best player on the team or in his room.
"It's always nice to have that special relationship where you communicate and maybe have a better feel for one another," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.
"The thing about these guys that's most impressive is they're individually talented. They're smart, heady players, and they're doing all the things that's necessary for the good of the team, not necessary for themselves individually. That's what makes Wake Forest's team special."