Marcus Smart takes aim in Brazil
Marcus Smart lit it up for the U18 Team USA at the FIBA Americas Championship in Brazil over the last two weeks. His stat line for the five games:
Minutes: 100
Points: 37
Rebounds: 17
Assists: 20
Steals: 18
He’s going to play a little more than 30 minutes a game at OSU and those averages come out to somewhere around a 12-3-3-3 stat line which, from your potential point guard (?), would be pretty incredible.
Obviously he’s going to face stiffer competition in Austin and Ames than he did against the Virgin Islands and Mexico, but consider the last time Team USA took a U18 team to the FIBA Americas, the only person to post 30+ points, 15+ boards, 20+ assists, and 8+ steals was a guy by the name of Kyrie Irving.
Maybe you’ve heard of him?
I expect big things from Smart and Nash this year, and the former’s at-times dominance in Brazil while playing with a group he said is like nothing he’s ever seen did nothing to quell my hopes for OSU hoops next year.
I know the competition is weak. But…
18 steals in 100 minutes is ridiculous. To put that into perspective, Cornell Hatcher had the most steals per 40 minutes in the Sutton/Ford era at 4.4 (1991-92).
Smart averaged 7.2 steals per 40 minutes in this tournament.
Just a reminder that another OSU golfer had a great 2 weeks in a
row. Casey Whittenberg won the Wichita Open on the NATIONWIDE TOUR
this weekend. Number 2 for the year. One more and he graduates to
the big tour.
Come on now… This is against nobodys. He would face better competition at the Colvin… in the summer. There will definitely be a learning curve for Mr. Smart. He looks promising, but don’t expect him to come in and blow your doors off right away. It took Nash quite a while and playing PG is a whole different ball game.