Ant did a breakdown that had some film
6 Likes
Not sure why people are super surprised at Michigan pursuing a PG. Eli played over 75% of minutes primarily at SG and is going to be there again. If Christopher doesn’t come you’re super shorthanded at guard, especially at point guard. With Aiken being pursued by MSU and others who he explicitly highlighted wanting to go to, Smith is a great option to pursue as well. Given how Juwan himself was in on him first and personally reached out, I think he’s doing well covering his bases.
3 Likes
Four game highlight reels from some of his better games this past season.
1 Like
Looks like the rest of his team was absolutely terrible. So maybe the bump in competition will be mitigated a bit by a bump in teammates as well?
2 Likes
I’m trying to compare his stats and profile to Jaaron to see if there are any hints there. Based on conference rankings the Ivy and the MAC are on similar levels. MAC a bit stronger but probably not a tier above.
Probably the stat that sticks out the most for Smith is the TO rate. Very impressive, especially with how he was basically his teams entire offense. Jaaron had much higher and perhaps alarming numbers there. Smith looks like the better shooter to me, although Jaaron’s 3 pt % is higher. I say that based on a couple things. 1. Film - Jaaron had an unorthodox shot and Smith’s looks much better. 2. Volume - Jaaron averaged fewer than 3PA per game his 2 years at Ohio while Smith has averaged over 5 3PA per game over his career. Smith is also the better FT shooter.
Other than that, not a ton to glean just from the stats - at least from my eye.
3 Likes
One thing to keep in mind is that Beilein’s system was extremely complicated especially for a PG. He might’ve been effective in the Big Ten with a simpler offense.
5 Likes
is there any reason to think this kid would actually be better than brooks or DDJ?
How sure are you that both will be on the roster next year?
I totally agree with this. I would expect Juwan and his staff are quite happy with how Eli played in his role as mostly a 3 and D guy this year. Helps to have a second ballhandler on the court against pressure and late in the game as a good foul shooter but I highly doubt Eli will be a high usage ball screen creator next year even with Simpson on the roster. In this case, Smith seems like a good option provided Christopher doesn’t come. Also gives Zeb a year to develop into a key rotation piece.
3 Likes
He can be reunited with Faulds! 
5 Likes
Now that Aiken is likely off the board, Smith seems like the top grad target at this point and he could fill a big need at PG. He looks like a good fit too, so let’s hope he ends up in Ann Arbor.
1 Like
My worry with Smith is his shooting. 33% career from 3. Not great. And undersized in the super physical BIG 10.
2 Likes
33% from 3 is Not great? That would’ve been like 3rd on our roster this year.
1 Like
Smith is 33.5% for his career, basically identical to the Division I average. Always tough to project with a) step up in competition and b) step down in shot difficult.
1 Like
Have to consider the types of shots he’s taking at Columbia as the focal point of a bad offense compared to the type of threes he’d be taking as a role player here. I’d expect him to shoot better if he’s spotting up around Josh Christopher than when he was forced to take and make tough shots for Columbia.
1 Like
Smith’s job will be to distribute and he’s very adept in the pick n roll. Even on a really bad Columbia team he had good numbers in APG. If Aiken doesn’t come, and it doesn’t look likely that he will, Smith looks to be our best option as a third player in the guard rotation providing some versatility with Eli and Josh, if he (Josh) comes. Is that enough for Smith to come? I don’t know. Right now, I hope so.
2 Likes
The nice thing is that he puts the ball in the basket, and can find open teammates. Smith wouldn’t start, and I’d bet he averages 3-5 shots per game. He’d basically be in the DDJ role, but with acceptance of that role. So I’m not worried about shot percentages, just quality of shots.
1 Like
I think Smith would be a more efficient version of DDJ, both 3pt shooting wise, and finishing wise. His percentages are pretty darn good considering the types of shots he took last year.
Defensively, I don’t know much about him, but with his size, he seems like he’d be a step down.
2 Likes
I wouldn’t expect Smith to be a good defender, but I don’t think U-M loses much defensively from DeJulius leaving. He always made an effort to try hard in one-on-one defensive situations – as was good at trying to make it clear that he was trying hard – but he wasn’t great off the ball and made some of the same mistakes late in the year that he did early in the season (going under screens, etc.)
5 Likes