Finestrg wrote:Kentucky pulls ahead late and took that game right away from Louisville. Felt like Louisville was ahead 3-5 pts or more most of the way. Pretty big upset. Wow.

It's the type of game that may cement Russ Smith to go late in the draft, perhaps even go undrafted. Think he had 23 on 9-20 from the field overall with is good but other things will continue to give people pause -- only 1-7 from 3, 4-10 at the FT line, only 3 assists and 1 steal ----> critics are gonna say he still can't shoot the ball, he's still not a PG, can't play good defense, is too small, etc. Baloney. I don't buy any of that. I think he really showed good development and maturity this year. I think he improved in all these areas tenfold. One game isn't gonna change that for me. I'm with Briggs on this kid --- if he's there late and we can snag a deep pick for a modest amount of cash, with our questions at PG, I'd take a chance here. And if he goes undrafted, we need to be first on line to sign him up for Vegas summer ball and training camp...Hopefully Phil's got his eye on this kid.

I think Smith's got a smooth game, more than just a scorer (which is the constant with him and a plus--I've always looked at scoring points as a bonus). He's got a solid, shifty handle & is actually a very good passer with pretty good court vision -- finds open men with regularity and delivers crisp, on-the-money passes time after time. He improved his 3-pt shooting to around the 40% mark this year and contrary to what I've read, he plays good defense, ball-hawking his man full court at times. All Rick Pitino-coached guards do. That's Rick's way and it's a good one that will only serve his players well at the next level. Tell ya right now -- Russ Smith, legit PG or not, is a hell of a lot better than anything we have at the point right now.

On a smaller scale, I really like this Luke Hancock too. Here's another guy that probably goes undrafted, almost a foregone conclusion, but this kid can ball man. 6'6" SG/SF with maturity, a high IQ and an underrated game. 2 years in a row now he's shown up and played huge in real big games for Lousiville...People are gonna say he's not NBA material and that may be true but I'd like to see him get a shot somewhere. Ask yourselves -- is a guy like Landry Fields that much better than Hancock? I don't think so...I see a real nice glue guy here potentially.. Wouldn't surprise me if he latched on somewhere in the NBA. Also wouldn't surprise me if he improved his jumper even further and became a real marksman eventually. Another guy to keep in mind for SL..

callmened wrote:as bad as landry is...hes way more athletic than hancock. that shows you how tough it is to make it in the NBA

i think hancock is a nice college player that will play well over seas
russ smith is 2 erratic for my liking. the best pro prospect on louisville is harrell. and hes not even that great. a 6-6 faried clone

kentucky has lots of pro prospects starting with randle of course. but any 7fter that can defend and rebound has a chance in the nba...that includes cauley-stein and dakari johnson. im not sold on the harrison twins or young. but all these players will declare for the nba anyways

BigDaddyG wrote:

Finestrg wrote:Kentucky pulls ahead late and took that game right away from Louisville. Felt like Louisville was ahead 3-5 pts or more most of the way. Pretty big upset. Wow.

It's the type of game that may cement Russ Smith to go late in the draft, perhaps even go undrafted. Think he had 23 on 9-20 from the field overall with is good but other things will continue to give people pause -- only 1-7 from 3, 4-10 at the FT line, only 3 assists and 1 steal ----> critics are gonna say he still can't shoot the ball, he's still not a PG, can't play good defense, is too small, etc. Baloney. I don't buy any of that. I think he really showed good development and maturity this year. I think he improved in all these areas tenfold. One game isn't gonna change that for me. I'm with Briggs on this kid --- if he's there late and we can snag a deep pick for a modest amount of cash, with our questions at PG, I'd take a chance here. And if he goes undrafted, we need to be first on line to sign him up for Vegas summer ball and training camp...Hopefully Phil's got his eye on this kid.

I think Smith's got a smooth game, more than just a scorer (which is the constant with him and a plus--I've always looked at scoring points as a bonus). He's got a solid, shifty handle & is actually a very good passer with pretty good court vision -- finds open men with regularity and delivers crisp, on-the-money passes time after time. He improved his 3-pt shooting to around the 40% mark this year and contrary to what I've read, he plays good defense, ball-hawking his man full court at times. All Rick Pitino-coached guards do. That's Rick's way and it's a good one that will only serve his players well at the next level. Tell ya right now -- Russ Smith, legit PG or not, is a hell of a lot better than anything we have at the point right now.

On a smaller scale, I really like this Luke Hancock too. Here's another guy that probably goes undrafted, almost a foregone conclusion, but this kid can ball man. 6'6" SG/SF with maturity, a high IQ and an underrated game. 2 years in a row now he's shown up and played huge in real big games for Lousiville...People are gonna say he's not NBA material and that may be true but I'd like to see him get a shot somewhere. Ask yourselves -- is a guy like Landry Fields that much better than Hancock? I don't think so...I see a real nice glue guy here potentially.. Wouldn't surprise me if he latched on somewhere in the NBA. Also wouldn't surprise me if he improved his jumper even further and became a real marksman eventually. Another guy to keep in mind for SL..

Russ reminds me a little Gilbert Arenas when he was in college, but I could also see him crapping out of the league after two season. Russ's fate depends on the team he lands on. He shot 39 percent from three this season, so you can't read too much into his percentages during the Kentucky game. The dude can score. The question heading in to the draft is whether or not he learns to run a team a decent level.

I think he has learned to do that this year and he can do it at the next level, at least in spurts. The kid's a scorer first & foremost, no denying that, and that's fine. A PG that can score the ball like that is a bonus, but I think he showed great improvement this year finding open teammates, passing the ball and making decisions with the ball in his hands. This kid has value. Beggars can't be choosers. We suck, we need a PG upgrade in the worst way yet are over the cap, have zero picks in this draft and a limited amount of ways we can trade into it. Hopefully for Smith's sake, his value soars and he goes as high as he can in this draft -- I'd like to see the young man do well for himself. Yet I still feel the word on him right now is that he has limited potential, esp. as an orchestrator/distributor. For us that's great -- I'll go the other way and look at him glass half full. If he continues to sit low 2nd round to undrafted, we'll have a shot at adding a very good player. I'm sorry -- if given a choice between Russ Smith and continuing with Felton/Prigioni next year, I'll take Smith, alleged shortcomings and all.

callmened wrote:as bad as landry is...hes way more athletic than hancock. that shows you how tough it is to make it in the NBA

i think hancock is a nice college player that will play well over seas

russ smith is 2 erratic for my liking. the best pro prospect on louisville is harrell. and hes not even that great. a 6-6 faried clone

kentucky has lots of pro prospects starting with randle of course. but any 7fter that can defend and rebound has a chance in the nba...that includes cauley-stein and dakari johnson. im not sold on the harrison twins or young. but all these players will declare for the nba anyways

Disagree that "the best pro prospect on Louisville is Harrell." As of right now, this upcoming draft, I still give the nod to Smith. I like the Faried comparison for Harrell -- personally think it'll be a mistake to come out this early, unless he gets some kind of a guarantee from someone of course. He had himself a pretty good 2nd year -- I like the strength/agility/athleticism but he needs to work on some things before he's ready for the pro game, namely developing his jumper much further, tightening up his defense and his FT shooting...Smith showed a ton of maturity in his game this year. I think he's ready for the pro game. Really think he could excel in the pro game actually.

callmened wrote:russ is explosive...but thats exactly what im afraid of. lol. plus dude is TINY and does NOT have a PG mentality...this has juan dixon written all over it

holfresh wrote:Both teams are just loaded with talent..

Yeah they are. Imagine if Kentucky had a real PG. I think Michigan might be more athletic than KU now.

yellowboy90 wrote:Staukas looks more athletic than people give him credit for. I think he is a better shooting Bradley Beal. I am not sure if he can rebound like Beal but I think they are comparable.

Staukas reminds me of shorter version of Peja with the step backs, back cuts etc. Maybe taller version of Hersey Hawkin is better. Staukas is a good athlete but I don't think he's at Beal's level. He'd help himself if he developed a post game.

yellowboy90 wrote:This Michigan and Kentucky game is back and forth.

Russ can do it all. and it wouldnt surprise me if he makes an NBA roster (and yes hes better than any PG we have now). I just think the concern about his decision making is legit.