Agreed Dylan about Kihei Clark regarding his low 2pts shooting % and his high turnover rate.
That being said, wouldn’t you be thrilled if Mike Smith (being under 6’) plays as well for Michigan next year as Kihei Clark did for UVA last year? Kihei led the team in 3pts % and assists, and was 3rd team all ACC.
So I just got through watching a lot of condensed games/film on Mike Smith. I’ve come away convinced more than ever that he is going to be just fine on offense. Even in his game against Virginia who was the top defense in the nation he played ok (6-14 for 16 points and two assists) Obviously the turnovers were bad in that game and I’m not giving him a pass on that but he still was able to get buckets and create. Most d’s are not Virginia’s though. He also did very well versus wake forest.
His film on d versus Virginia in the pnr concerns me though. That is going to be the real issue with the jump to the big ten. If he can just avoid being an atrocity on d then this is going to work out for us very well imo.
I really think he is going to be a pleasant surprise on offense for our roster next year. If livers stays we could have a very deadly shooting/overall offense next year.
edit: in fact he gave wake forest the business. if you have not watched the highlights of that game he absolutely destroys them. He also had huge games versus Harvard and Yale who were both good teams. I believe he put up thirty multiple times on those two.
Let’s just say it. Smith can’t guard B1G players.
His offense will be vastly limited unless he can successfully transition to a much more efficient game with drastically less usage.
Generally less usage and more efficiency go hand-in-hand…so I think that’s a given.
Theoretically. But I’m not so sure this kid is going to be able to adapt to not dominating the ball.
Less opportunities usually brings impatience and rushed shots.
He’s used to high volume attempts and on to the next possession. He’s not going to get that here.
How could we possibly know that for sure? There is reason to doubt how good his defense will be in the B1G, of course, but in no way is this as certain as you state it.
He’s small and not a particularly good athlete (Simpson was at least a very good athlete) - I think it scans.
My issue is that I’m not sure how much it matters. I think it’s likely that Smith guards the worst of the oppositions 3 smallest guys.
I don’t know about that, but one person he probably can’t guard is Ant Wright.
He’s going to struggle greatly from what I’ve seen of him. Kid is elvish and not exactly committed on that end. Just my opinion.
Juwan is going to recruit well. Believe it.
As far as commitment goes that probably has a lot to do with being his teams only source of offense. But I agree that if he can even just be a below average defender that’d be a decent outcome for M.
On February 29, I saw him play in NY. Needless to say, that was before any of us knew he would play for Michigan next year. He was clearly the best player on the team, but he was also surprisingly patient and never tried to force things too much. My reaction, actually, was that he should be more aggressive. I know it’s just an n of 1, but looking back, with the concerns expressed here, it’s encouraging.
I’m concerned about it for sure. His ability on offense though has me optimistic that he could still be a net positive here and lead a potentially potent offense.
Hopefully he realizes that he has to commit on that end and finds a way to get by on d.
“I love to let everybody else eat first and I eat after. Just like a dad or mom or something, you let the kids eat first and then you eat after. It’s the right thing to do and the right way to play basketball.”
Haha all the interviews I’ve seen/heard with this kid are good. Very outgoing and you could see him taking on a real leadership role despite being a transfer in his first year at Michigan.
Honestly, quotes like this definitely make Smith endearing to me. Rooting for him.