Malachi Smith commits to UConn

[nomar]

We did play Dayton this year, has anyone gone back and watched that game?
4 TOs in 23 min.
2 assists
9 pts on 2-7 shooting
I’m sure he had better games
3rd game in 3 days, he was given lots of rest

You are correct that he had better games. Demary had a bad game against SJU and Pitino went after him, too.

 

[That Guy]

Post / handle

My favorite part about this board will always be the fact that you can't point out such a simple and objective fact that the staff has missed on some of the guys they brought in. Any tiny bit of criticism of anything whatsoever leads to being labeled as a massive hater. It's absolutely comical.

 

[HooperScooper]

“That was the one thing that really stood out from our conversation, is that I believe Malachi would be a great fit at UConn,” Lopez said. “He is not the most athletic guard. He is not going to wow you with his size. But in terms of his efficiency, I think he can really take a talented roster to the next level.

“To me, he is the prototypical New York City guard. He plays so hard. He takes so much pride in his defense. He is a pass-first point guard. He is not worried about his numbers and about himself looking good. He is more concerned about looking at the bigger picture, making those around him better and getting the win.”

https://www.nhregister.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/malachi-smith-transfer-point-guard-uconn-huskies-20276143.php

Alternate access:

What the UConn men's basketball team can expect from transfer Malachi Smith: 'New York City guard'​

 

[Waquoit]

Hold it! What am I hearing? He had a poor game once? Hard Pass!

 

[sdglast]

Not too concerned. He had 22 points and 9 assists the day before against Iowa State. Had 11 assists against Marquette and Stevie Mitchell (although shot 3-10).

Given his anticipated role, he may be a major contributor some nights and just a hold the fort guy for a few minutes a half on others. If he can get our shooters shots and get Reed the ball in good places, he’ll help us win.

Agree. He's what Diarra was in the NC seasons - a really solid 10-15 minute guy who will give maximum effort. If you plan on playing him 20-30 minutes, the warts will start to show a bit. I think hold the fort guy is a perfect compliment to him. Have a few games where he plays great, but most of the time he just gives you quality minutes on both ends of the floor.

 

[Captbluefin]

I feel we are going to get more out of Malachi than we expect.

This is a guy coming in knowing his place and wants to be coached up to help as much as possible.

 

[alphasigko]

If you’re small, you need some sort of “plus” skill. Nobody has ever called a 6-0 player a “glue guy”. Nowell never really showed one last year - maybe something in him will be unlocked at VCU, and there’s no reason not to pull for him. But he wasn’t tough to guard - he didn’t have explosive quickness and he didn’t look like a great shooter or someone who had much of a creative bag. He had a couple nice passes here and there - but struggled getting us into our offense. At a lower level, maybe he’ll be able to get into positions where that will come out a little more. Or maybe he could have improved as a 15 mpg backup here if he wanted to stay - but obviously he had higher aspirations coming out of HS.

Smith is older and has a couple of plus skills - he ranked 14th in the country in assist rate and was in the 94th percentile in spot up three point shooting. He has flaws (shooting off the dribble, finishing at the rim) - but at the very least he can be a change of pace guy who pushes tempo and gets guys shots, and then be a knockdown shooter if the ball comes back his way. And I like the idea of being able to move Demary off the ball if he’s got the hot hand without forcing Solo into doing something he’s not good at. He also makes us less vulnerable to pressing teams and heavy ball pressure.

Thanks for taking the time to provide a detailed and no condescending explanation. Much appreciated.

 

[Gurleyman]

My favorite part about this board will always be the fact that you can't point out such a simple and objective fact that the staff has missed on some of the guys they brought in. Any tiny bit of criticism of anything whatsoever leads to being labeled as a massive hater. It's absolutely comical.

That’s objectively true. But show me a staff that doesn’t miss. Duke had to run their whole team out of town last year. And they frankly whiffed badly on Gillis so they lacked a stabilizing veteran presence, which bit them. He played 25 minutes in the national championship game last year and I had to go to the tape to remember who he was. He brought absolutely nothing to the table. That left James - who had never played in a big game and it showed.

It’s a hypothetical - but I think we’d have been fine this year (ie a 3 or 4 seed making a deeper run) if Liam stayed healthy and on his development curve. Hass staying healthy would have been nice too - we had the pieces in place to overcome Mahaney being a miss. Then those things all happening put too much on AK and he went off the rails.

But we’ll never know. Mahaney was a miss and it left us less margin for error.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I feel we are going to get more out of Malachi than we expect.

This is a guy coming in knowing his place and wants to be coached up to help as much as possible.

And the staff felt what they can get out of Malachi was better than what they could get from Nowell or Mahaney.

More than ever roster construction is a zero sum game.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

We did play Dayton this year, has anyone gone back and watched that game?
4 TOs in 23 min.
2 assists
9 pts on 2-7 shooting
I’m sure he had better games
3rd game in 3 days, he was given lots of rest

Good point. So much of a team's success in the portal boils down to the single game they watch when they evaluate somebody.

 

[bendm]

My favorite part about this board will always be the fact that you can't point out such a simple and objective fact that the staff has missed on some of the guys they brought in. Any tiny bit of criticism of anything whatsoever leads to being labeled as a massive hater. It's absolutely comical.

Glad I didn’t disappoint. Come up with a new interesting criticism then, rather than stating the obvious, which has already been posted hundreds of times. Also timing. Why rain on the parade?

 

[navery12]

My favorite part about this board will always be the fact that you can't point out such a simple and objective fact that the staff has missed on some of the guys they brought in. Any tiny bit of criticism of anything whatsoever leads to being labeled as a massive hater. It's absolutely comical.

Have you considered the fact that you actually are just a massive hater, as evidenced by your history of posts?

 

[Inyatkin]

My favorite part about this board will always be the fact that you can't point out such a simple and objective fact that the staff has missed on some of the guys they brought in. Any tiny bit of criticism of anything whatsoever leads to being labeled as a massive hater. It's absolutely comical.

Your post was the kind of thing where someone would precede it by saying "Not to be that guy, but ..."

Your handle is "That Guy"

The joke was "post/handle." No one called you a massive hater.

It was pretty funny, by Boneyard standards.

 

[Vancat]

Your post was the kind of thing where someone would precede it by saying "Not to be that guy, but ..."

Your handle is "That Guy"

The joke was "post/handle." No one called you a massive hater.

It was pretty funny, by Boneyard standards.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Good point. So much of a team's success in the portal boils down to the single game they watch when they evaluate somebody.

I do it in the 3 minute portal entry hype videos myself. Work smarter, not harder.

 

[CL82]

My favorite part about this board will always be the fact that you can't point out such a simple and objective fact that the staff has missed on some of the guys they brought in. Any tiny bit of criticism of anything whatsoever leads to being labeled as a massive hater. It's absolutely comical.

Hmmm, this sounds suspiciously like the third stage of the lifecycle of a troll – playing the victim.

 

[CL82]

"He is not the most athletic guard. He is not going to wow you with his size"

Wow! Way to sell your guy, coach.

 

[Lafayette]

Good point. So much of a team's success in the portal boils down to the single game they watch when they evaluate somebody.

Did you watch Dayton (Smith) handle VCU (Nowell going) last season?

Smith had 7 assists to 1 turnover, 1-1 on 3s and great game overall. He is a 5th year guy we are getting so Darius can log big minutes in one more year.

 

[alphasigko]

Have you considered the fact that you actually are just a massive hater, as evidenced by your history of posts?

That is rich coming from you.

 

[navery12]

That is rich coming from you.

You think I hate Dan Hurley?

 

[3rdbass]

 

[Sonofabeach]

 

[Marat]

Lots of love for the PG pickups for Hurley and in general for the UConn guard unit.

Just curious why that guy thought Tarris as a bench center to Reibe? Didn't make sense ....

 

[superjohn]

Lots of love for the PG pickups for Hurley and in general for the UConn guard unit.

Just curious why that guy thought Tarris as a bench center to Reibe? Didn't make sense ....

He's never been a fan of Tarris. He said he didn't like the pickup last season and it was a point of contention for him all season with UConn fans. He's probably needling Husky fans a bit with it at this point.

 

[3rdbass]

Lots of love for the PG pickups for Hurley and in general for the UConn guard unit.

Just curious why that guy thought Tarris as a bench center to Reibe? Didn't make sense ....

Yeah, that won’t happen. I just think some of these podcast who review UConn don’t really have a good pulse on UConn’s lineup as the other guy never mentioned Mahaney as playing the PG and totally disrespected Diarra who was injured most of the year and maybe could of been a better scorer if healthy. No way Tarris doesn’t start. Reibe needs time to get use to the physical play and speed of the Big East.