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We had a thread on him a couple weeks ago when he decided to transfer, and most posters seemed to shrug it off and make fun of his weight (including me). The more I consider it, though, the more I think he could be a huge piece to next seasons team if Ollie decides to recruit him.
Hear me out:
- The first thing (and possibly only thing) you need to know about him is that he's 6'10, 305 pounds. Now, I love this years UConn team, I really do, but never in all my time watching UConn basketball have I seen a group of interior players get pushed around as much as I have this year. Giffey and Olander play their asses off, and I'm eternally grateful for their decisions to stick it out when so many others bolted, but , Leslie and Howell shoved those kids around like they were a couple of rag dolls. Josh Smith is built like a truck, and he is fourth (4th) for his career in the pac-12 in total rebounding percentage. Some quick math tells me that per 40 minutes, Josh Smith has averaged over 11 rebounds in his UCLA career. Add a kid who can rebound at that rate to this years team, and suddenly they're a top 20 team.
- He adds another dimension to the offense. In his first year at UCLA, he averaged 10.9 points on 56% shooting in only 22 minutes per game. In his second year he averaged 9.9 points on 57% shooting in only 17 minutes per game. In his career at UCLA, he has scored over 20 PPG per 40 minutes on 57% shooting. Obviously he won't be this potent offensively playing 30+ minutes, but the point stands that this kid can score in the paint at a rate that dwarfs anybody on our current team.
- The elephant in the room here (no pun intended) is his weight and conditioning. There have been a lot of unflattering stories about his diet and desire to be a great basketball player. However, speaking as somebody who isn't exactly a vegetarian, and likes to sleep as much as humanly possible, I can tell you that even I get fired up to hit the gym when I hear Kevin Ollie speak. We still don't know how good of a coach Kevin Ollie really is (although I think he can be a good one), but the one thing we know for sure is that he has created a culture of hard-work here at UConn. The one thing that nobody has ever doubted about Joshua Smith is his talent level, and if Ollie can get him to put his ten toes on the table, and commit to working his ass off, I believe he could be a force in the paint. Worst case scenario, he improves his conditioning marginally, and he can give us a solid 15-20 minutes a game, akin to Okwandu, just playing at a much higher level. His PER (player efficiency rating) during his two seasons at UCLA were 26.2, and 25.8 respectively, both exceptionally high marks. These numbers would seem to suggest he has a solid foundation of defensive fundamentals, so I don't think he'll hurt us much if at all on that end of the court.
This seems like a low-risk, high reward proposition for UConn. Worst case scenario, he adds some much needed depth to the frontcourt. And maybe getting away from the temptaions of Los Angelos will prove to be a good thing.
This potentially gives us a 2012-13 roster of:
Boatright/Napier/Samuel
Napier/Calhoun
Calhoun/Giffey/Tolksdorf
Daniels/Facey/Olander/Nolan
Smith/Wolf/Facey
Hear me out:
- The first thing (and possibly only thing) you need to know about him is that he's 6'10, 305 pounds. Now, I love this years UConn team, I really do, but never in all my time watching UConn basketball have I seen a group of interior players get pushed around as much as I have this year. Giffey and Olander play their asses off, and I'm eternally grateful for their decisions to stick it out when so many others bolted, but , Leslie and Howell shoved those kids around like they were a couple of rag dolls. Josh Smith is built like a truck, and he is fourth (4th) for his career in the pac-12 in total rebounding percentage. Some quick math tells me that per 40 minutes, Josh Smith has averaged over 11 rebounds in his UCLA career. Add a kid who can rebound at that rate to this years team, and suddenly they're a top 20 team.
- He adds another dimension to the offense. In his first year at UCLA, he averaged 10.9 points on 56% shooting in only 22 minutes per game. In his second year he averaged 9.9 points on 57% shooting in only 17 minutes per game. In his career at UCLA, he has scored over 20 PPG per 40 minutes on 57% shooting. Obviously he won't be this potent offensively playing 30+ minutes, but the point stands that this kid can score in the paint at a rate that dwarfs anybody on our current team.
- The elephant in the room here (no pun intended) is his weight and conditioning. There have been a lot of unflattering stories about his diet and desire to be a great basketball player. However, speaking as somebody who isn't exactly a vegetarian, and likes to sleep as much as humanly possible, I can tell you that even I get fired up to hit the gym when I hear Kevin Ollie speak. We still don't know how good of a coach Kevin Ollie really is (although I think he can be a good one), but the one thing we know for sure is that he has created a culture of hard-work here at UConn. The one thing that nobody has ever doubted about Joshua Smith is his talent level, and if Ollie can get him to put his ten toes on the table, and commit to working his ass off, I believe he could be a force in the paint. Worst case scenario, he improves his conditioning marginally, and he can give us a solid 15-20 minutes a game, akin to Okwandu, just playing at a much higher level. His PER (player efficiency rating) during his two seasons at UCLA were 26.2, and 25.8 respectively, both exceptionally high marks. These numbers would seem to suggest he has a solid foundation of defensive fundamentals, so I don't think he'll hurt us much if at all on that end of the court.
This seems like a low-risk, high reward proposition for UConn. Worst case scenario, he adds some much needed depth to the frontcourt. And maybe getting away from the temptaions of Los Angelos will prove to be a good thing.
This potentially gives us a 2012-13 roster of:
Boatright/Napier/Samuel
Napier/Calhoun
Calhoun/Giffey/Tolksdorf
Daniels/Facey/Olander/Nolan
Smith/Wolf/Facey
