In a cruel twist of fate, my time was otherwise spoken for during Evansville game. I took furtive glances at the game cast whenever the opportunity arose and watched as Fletcher Loyer’s point totaled steadily
ticked towards 30, while Braden Smith’s stagnated at six. I was thrilled with Fletcher’s shooting clinic, but based on the box score alone, I thought Braden’s six points and eleven assists on 3-9 shooting left something to be desired. That’s how high I’ve got the bar set for Purdue’s point guard.
How on earth did Evansville hold the preseason favorite for Wooden Award to six points…and with Trey Kaufmann-Renn out of the lineup to boot?
I expected him to come out gunning on opening night to make a statement. Six points wasn’t the statement I was expecting. After watching the game as a fan, and then going back and watching Braden specifically, the statement jumped off the screen.
Braden Smith is no mortal point guard, no friends, Braden Smith is the Point God of college basketball.
My one knock on Braden over the years is his occasional lapses in body language. Every now and then you could see a little frustration bubble to the surface when a sure assist gets fumbled away or when a pinpoint pass is rewarded with a blown layup. I get it. Braden sees the game of basketball in slow motion while the rest of us, including some of his teammates, are forced to experience the game at regular speed. I didn’t catch a whiff of frustration against Evansville, even on a few occasions when it was warranted. Braden was the consummate team leader on Tuesday night.
In fact, he played on of the most selfless games I’ve seen from a guy capable of putting up 30 points on his own if the mood strikes him. Don’t get it twisted; Matt Painter is going to need Braden Smith to score this season, but he didn’t need him to score against Evansville. What Purdue needed out of their opening game, more than anything else, was for the pieces around Braden and TKR to settle in and feel good about life in Mackey arena.
Braden stuck to task all night.
Evansville stayed in the game for the first ten minutes because he let them stay in the game. Don’t construe that as a complaint against Braden. The outcome of this contest was never in doubt. Purdue needs the supporting cast to find some confidence for the Boilermakers to be the best possible version of themselves this season. Instead of taking over the game with his scoring, as he’s more than capable of doing, Smith took over the game with his passing. When one his new teammates made a mistake, he didn’t get discouraged, despite the fact that he played a 20-assist game and only ended up with eleven dimes in the score book. He put the needs of the team over his personal stats, and that’s something you don’t always see from an elite player.
I don’t think I need to talk about how he set the table for Fletcher. Once it was clear his long-time back court running buddy was eating from behind the arc, Braden continued to feed him. Smith knew exactly where and when Fletcher needed the ball. A few of Loyer’s open transition three’s that lit his fuse were from wide open looks provided from by Braden. Great point guards find their hot shooters, and Smith searched out Fletch all game long.
What impressed me more than how he set the table for Fletcher’s thirty points was how he stuck with Daniel Jacobson. Purdue needs Jacobson to finish lobs; that’s his primary function in the offense. When Braden put a couple of lobs on a silver platter for Daniel to polish off and the impossibly long freshman failed to convert, he threw a third lob that DJ finally got on the end of and flushed. No one would have questioned Smith for calling his own number in the pick and roll but he wasn’t playing Evansville in the opener. He was playing a team down the line where Jacobson getting on the end of a lob might be the difference between a win and a loss. Two points from DJ, in a way, were worth more than two points from Braden in that game. I have no question about his confidence. Purdue’s 7’4” center needs to build some and throwing down a couple massive dunks in the home opener accomplishes just that, even if there were a few misfires.
The same thing can be said about Jack Benter. Jack is going to be the primary back-up to TKR at power forward this season. Hamer and Rails’ own Casey Bartley has been raving about Benter’s basketball IQ and practice exploits, but we’ve yet to see it from Jack in a game. He looked completely unremarkable in both scrimmages. Against Evansville, Braden made it point to get Benter involved from behind the arc. One of my favorite plays of the game happens at the 16:15 mark of the first half when Smith, with an open pull up transition three clearly in his sites, drops a perfect dime to his freshman forward instead. We all know Braden can hit a pull up three. Having your freshman forward step into a wide-open transition three to open his account as a Boilermaker is more important to the team than your senior All-American pulling up and drilling a transition three against Evansville. Benter went on to hit three of his six attempts from three (with another make coming off a Smith assist) and certainly looked like a quality addition to the rotation in his first game.
Braden put the program over his own stats all game long. He put a 10+ point, 20+ assist double-double game together against the Purple Aces. A couple bad rolls several instances where he passed up an open shot in order to get someone else involved, kept his point total down. Fumbled passes, missed layups, and a few misfires on wide open threes deprived Purdue fans the satisfaction of seeing a 20 spot in his assist column, Don’t get it twisted though, that was a 20-assist game from the best point guard to ever do it, even if the box score only indicates 11. He puts the ball where it needs to be, it’s up to everyone else to finish. After checking the box score, I was a little disappointed in Braden’s performance. After watching the game, I’m convinced that we’re on the cusp of one of the truly special college basketball seasons from a point guard in NCAA History.
Braden Smith has reached his final form; he’s gone from a point guard to a Point God. Enjoy it folks, it’s not often you get to watch someone at the pinnacle of their craft.
