Top 30 Grad Transfers (Tarin Smith 19th) | The Boneyard

Top 30 Grad Transfers (Tarin Smith 19th)

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19. Tarin Smith G, UConn
2017-18 stats: 12.4 ppg, 3.2 apg, 33% 3pt at Duquesne

UConn is making an NCAA push in Dan Hurley’s first year as head coach and adding talented veterans like Smith will only help their chances. Smith started his career at Nebraska and played the last two seasons at Duquesne. He is a good fit in Hurley’s guard centric style and can play alongside Jalen Adams and Alterique Gilbert. Smith will likely come off the bench, but could see close to starters minutes.

NCAA Basketball: Ranking the Top 30 Graduate Transfers for 2018-19
 
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It will be nice to have some depth at guard this season after having only 3 healthy guards last season. Jalen is the only sure fire starter that I can see, but the rotation should be solid with Vital, Gilbert, Smith and B. Adams all competing for minutes. Should be an interesting and exciting season. A tourney berth would be a great step forward, and is certainly a distinct possibility.
 

HuskyHawk

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I think he'll be a solid contributor, and should help push Vital while providing insurance and time for Gilbert to show he is ready. It's nice to have 5 guards for a change, and I hope that playing fewer minutes helps make Jalen's minutes more effective, especially on D.
 
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As I said before, I wonder if Smith might be better than we think. He averaged 17 points and 5 assists per 40 minutes. That's not the production of a role player. The reviews of his defense seem pretty solid, as well.
 
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As I said before, I wonder if Smith might be better than we think. He averaged 17 points and 5 assists per 40 minutes. That's not the production of a role player. The reviews of his defense seem pretty solid, as well.

I agree Smith might be better than expected. Especially if he preps for a role of a 15-20 min per game guy. If he recognizes his role is to be a spark, play defense like a maniac, and lead, he could be a really positive influence on the team.
 
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I dont mean any disrespect, but im just hoping he can have a bigger impact than Antwoine Anderson had last year. I honestly thought Anderson was going to be a solid player for us, but there were times when he just looked lost.
 
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I dont mean any disrespect, but im just hoping he can have a bigger impact than Antwoine Anderson had last year. I honestly thought Anderson was going to be a solid player for us, but there were times when he just looked lost.

I think Antwoine would have been a very good role player. He was simply forced into too big of a role due to team injuries.
 
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Counterpoint: he's a guard who started 4 games for Duquense, a .500 A-10 team that started 3 guards.

If he's expecte to be a star, he'll be a failure. If uconn nation recognizes his ceiling is a solid roleplayer, I think he could do quite well here.
 
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Counterpoint: he's a guard who started 4 games for Duquense, a .500 A-10 team that started 3 guards.

It does seem like there is more to the story than the stats would show. Not that it would be unprecedented for a great player to get lost in the shuffle at a bad program (Damien Lee when he was at Drexel and Shonn Miller at Cornell are two examples that come to mind), but you don't get the sense that his former coaches revere him in that same way.

It feels ambitious to compare him to Kromah (24 MPG for a sub .500 George Washington team in '13), but then again I'm a bigger Kromah fan than most. The question will be what he gives you on defense and it's hard to know.
 

ConnHuskBask

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It does seem like there is more to the story than the stats would show. Not that it would be unprecedented for a great player to get lost in the shuffle at a bad program (Damien Lee when he was at Drexel and Shonn Miller at Cornell are two examples that come to mind), but you don't get the sense that his former coaches revere him in that same way.

It feels ambitious to compare him to Kromah (24 MPG for a sub .500 George Washington team in '13), but then again I'm a bigger Kromah fan than most. The question will be what he gives you on defense and it's hard to know.

Didn't Shonn Miller make 1st team All Ivy League at Cornell?

I expect this guy to be an adequate backup who can provide some energy off the bench. Nothing more than that - which is perfectly acceptable.
 
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It does seem like there is more to the story than the stats would show. Not that it would be unprecedented for a great player to get lost in the shuffle at a bad program (Damien Lee when he was at Drexel and Shonn Miller at Cornell are two examples that come to mind), but you don't get the sense that his former coaches revere him in that same way.

It feels ambitious to compare him to Kromah (24 MPG for a sub .500 George Washington team in '13), but then again I'm a bigger Kromah fan than most. The question will be what he gives you on defense and it's hard to know.

Stats show he played the 4th most minutes on the team and took the 2nd most proportion of shots when he was on the court (and utilized the most possessions including assists and turnovers). The team's 3 most used lineups all featured Smith. The team's 4 best players were 3 6'2" or shorter guards and a 6'5" wing. They juggled their guards' playing time and their offense was fairly balanced, although Smith was the least efficient of the 4. The biggest trouble spots were his poor foul shooting and below average 3-point shooting. I don't expect either to significantly improve with reduced usage as they have been pretty consistently poor throughout his career and foul shooting is not subject to a usage skill curve (and is itself a good predictor of 3-point shooting).
 

StepbackCity

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I dont mean any disrespect, but im just hoping he can have a bigger impact than Antwoine Anderson had last year. I honestly thought Anderson was going to be a solid player for us, but there were times when he just looked lost.
Pleeeeease be better than Antwoine, pleeeeease don’t have to play 30 minutes a game.
 
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Didn't Shonn Miller make 1st team All Ivy League at Cornell?

I expect this guy to be an adequate backup who can provide some energy off the bench. Nothing more than that - which is perfectly acceptable.

Yes, Miller and Lee were both better than Smith. My point is only that it is possible to post legit numbers on a bad team.

"Adequate backup" seems light, but it could just be semantics. To me he's the type of player that could win sixth man of the year in the conference or maybe catch on as a starter.
 
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Stats show he played the 4th most minutes on the team and took the 2nd most proportion of shots when he was on the court (and utilized the most possessions including assists and turnovers). The team's 3 most used lineups all featured Smith. The team's 4 best players were 3 6'2" or shorter guards and a 6'5" wing. They juggled their guards' playing time and their offense was fairly balanced, although Smith was the least efficient of the 4. The biggest trouble spots were his poor foul shooting and below average 3-point shooting. I don't expect either to significantly improve with reduced usage as they have been pretty consistently poor throughout his career and foul shooting is not subject to a usage skill curve (and is itself a good predictor of 3-point shooting).

On the flip side, he was much closer to leading the team in minutes than he was to fifth place. He also got to the line six times per 40 minutes and posted the highest assist rate on the team. 33% from three doesn't sound great, but they'll at least have to guard him. I'll sign up for 33% from him right now.

He's not an ideal player for the modern game by any means. 6'2 (which I'm guessing means limited versatility), not a great shooter, can maybe get his own but not enough to make it worth our while. But we know we're going to have to cobble together pieces and squeeze out just enough offense. Perhaps he's somewhat quirky and perhaps we have a somewhat quirky team, but if you can give me a fifth year who offers major secondary playmaking (this is where you'd think he'll benefit from playing with more talent) and defends his balls off to put alongside Adams and Gilbert, let's just say it'll be a short leash for Vital. The question is can he play defense...
 
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Not sure if it was in one of his podcast interviews or elsewhere but I remember Hurley saying Tarin was good enough to be a starter for us.
 

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