I dont think Smith is be playing 30 minutes a game unless Browns Waiver is denied.
Smith is the only person on the team with a shot to shoulder a specific extremely important role, or at least the only with any track record of doing it.
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That’s my take too. Maybe Smiths limitations hold his minutes under 30, but it won’t be by much. I think he averages 25-30. Eli can play 40 minutes.
Maybe Zeb comes on strong during the season as a high energy guy who plays hard D (think X as a freshman) and works his way into a consistent 7mpg…but my money is on Smith as a 30mpg guy.
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That’s asking an awful lot of an up transfer from the Ivy League. I don’t see it but who knows. If he’s an average B1G point guard that’d be great
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For sure…hoping for average B10 PG from him. I just don’t see how you fill the guard minutes without Smith playing a lot and I like his film against power five teams.
If Smith can only survive for 15ish mpg, then you’re asking a lot out of Zeb or one of the wings to play the two. Plus you have Eli running the offense most of the time and I don’t think that’s his strength either.
I think you’re right to be skeptical of Smith…but the alternatives this year aren’t great. So I will gamble on the 23 year old true PG with a lot of games who was the entire offense for his team.
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Basically my take too but I’m driving the smith will be a surprise bandwagon. If he plays under 25 then his d is atrocious ( something I grant is a very real possibility. His film did not look good on that end). As you guys pointed out though he’s the only slightly proven guy at a very real need and team weakness.
I love Eli but him at the point beyond spot minutes is not ideal. I really like zeb but particularly early on smith would be my bet as guy most ready to run the show offensively.
I could see smith as low as 20 and as high as 32.
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Watching the UNC game from last year on BTN, and damn it would have been nice to have DDJ back. He absolutely destroyed Anthony on more than one possession
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I’d say there were three Dave DeJulius’s last year: November Dave (great), January Dave (lost) and March Dave (refocused).
Will be fascinating to see which version he plays at UC.
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I just watched that and thought the same thing. I don’t think he ever quite figured out what type of player he wanted to be.
But his minutes are an interesting thing to consider when speculating about Smith or Zeb. X was about 34mpg, Eli was close behind at 32, and DDJ still played 21 despite having his struggles and being behind two vets.
So if we assume Eli is around 33mpg, we still need to find 47 between Smith, Zeb, and a three forward lineup. That’s why I have Smith at 25 and Zeb getting some run early in the season to see if he’s ready.
Any chance we fill the last scholarship with a traditional sit out transfer?
Yea, I really liked all three transfers out to be honest. Loved ddj.
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Juwan’s probably keeping his eyes peeled on using the last spot but it’s probably too late
Anything is possible… Nojel Eastern transferred and committed in about 48 hours … but there aren’t many viable options in the transfer portal right now and team workouts are starting at many places. Feels like most people who are going to transfer have already transferred.
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70 minutes from Eli and Smith wouldn’t bode well.
I actually think this is right but there are a bunch of assumptions at the heart of it —Smith can be a BIG10 PG, Eli can’t, the bigs are worse than (or the team works worse with the bigs) Smith. None of those assumptions are proven. I really hope they play this year bc it is going to be a huge super interesting coaching challenge. Can’t wait to see Juwan handle.
Last thought - good job forcing mins to John’s. Totally agree. Somehow someway he has to deserve and get 25-30.
I like Slyboogie’s minute breakdown too (never thought I’d type that sentence…). If someone wants to give 4-5 minutes of Smith to Jackson, that’s fine too. If we do that, we end up with:
33 - Brooks
33 - Wagner
32 - Livers
27 - Brown
25 - Johns
25 - Smith
12 - Dickinson
8 - Davis
5 - Jackson
I like Johns and think he has a lot of potential - but I think 20-25 feels right to me if Brown is eligible. I think it might be on the higher side early while Dickinson gets his feet wet but then I think he’ll give up some of those minutes to Hunter late in the year, who will have a McGary-like trajectory of starting slow and playing more late.
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When did I say 70 minutes for them? I think Eli’s at 31-33 and Smith is probably 25-28, so that gets you 60. And even with that, where Smith-skeptics would be concerned, requires you to find 20 minutes at guard for Jackson, Wagner, or Brown.
I think Smith could have a season like Freshman Derrick Walton (27mpg, 7.9pts, 3ast, 41% from 3pt) or Junior Spike Albrecht (32mpg, 7.5pts, 4ast, 37%). Both guys were on the court a lot and part of the offense, but neither were ideally suited to run the team as a conventional PG for various reasons. I think Smith has more offensive upside, but even if I’m wrong - I think those two seasons illustrate a way that Smith can be productive without having to be a ball-dominant PG.
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What are you thinking his ceiling might be? I feel like if you watch his games versus wake and Virginia that you gotta leave optimistic about his chances to make a nice impact offensively ( I think you said you did watch those two so you know). He didn’t have a great game versus Virginia but you can extrapolate a good baseline from it as he’s going against a great defender in Clarke and the overall top d and he didn’t look outclassed by any means. If he had help I think he does much better.
I personally think on offense he can give us more than Frosh Walton ( not knocking d-Walt) smith just looks much farther long working out of the ball screen game.
I hope we have a season because I’m excited about their chances to sneak up on the country. It will also be fun to see a d that can’t just sag off or go under screens anymore. He’s no x all around but he can distribute and will make you pay from deep.
I think most PGs are going to have their struggles against Virginia’s defense - and that’s only going to be worse when you don’t have any reliable teammates to warrant attention. When I watched Wake, a bad Power-5 team but still a Power-5 team, start trying to guard Smith at 85-feet to deny him the ball because he had already torched every defender they tried against him…I started to feel better about his ceiling.
The other thing that stood out to me was how he facilitated the offense. I was worried he was a hero-ball type (for obvious reasons on that team) who spent his time taking off-balance shots and forcing things. When I watched how many times he ran a ball-screen and set up a teammate for an open 3 or layup (most of which were botched), I increased my hope for him more.
He will not be a top-3 PG in the conference given his size, but I don’t see why he couldn’t be in the top half.
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Pretty much what I was thinking. I’m excited to see him surrounded by higher talent. I don’t think it’s out of the question he averages double figures with 4-5 assists a game.
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