Oklahoma State Basketball

Trailing by double-digits at halftime, and with a 21-point loss already in their rearview mirror, there was little reason to be optimistic about the Memphis Tigers chances to even the score with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. 

But, they did.

The No.21 Tigers (5-1, 0-0 AAC) used a 41-26 second half, along with drastically improved guard-play, to storm back and upset the No. 5 Cowboys (7-1, 0-0 Big 12) 73-68 Sunday night in the finals of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla.

It was a huge character win for Coach Josh Pastner's team—who finally got their first victory over a ranked team during his tenure—and helped erase the memories of a disastrous trip to Stillwater earlier this season in which his team trailed by as much as 34 points.

The Tigers were led by sophomore forward Shaq Goodwin, who scored a team-high 17 points along with eight boards and three assists. His energy-level was infections to his teammates throughout the game, and helped propel the team to victory.

Coming into their first matchup, much attention surrounded the Tigers guard-play. But the combination of Michael Dixon Jr., Chris Crawford, Joe Jackson and Geron Johnson was almost completely shutdown, and combined for only 21 points.

Tonight that wasn't a problem, as the foursome contributed 47 points, including several clutch shots near the end of the game to help ice the affair. 

Oklahoma State struggled early, but closed the first half on a run to snag a 10-point halftime lead. But they came out sluggish in the second half and allowed Memphis to erase the deficit in short order.

The biggest difference tonight for the Cowboys was the disappearing act of sophomore guard Marcus Smart.

Smart was dominant in the first meeting with 39 points, but tonight he struggled and finished with just 12 on 4 for 13 shooting. 

Last month I posed the question to Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford if Andrew Wiggins signing with Kansas was a good thing for his team because of the competitiveness of Marcus Smart.

Ford scuffed.

But Tuesday night, Smart may have just provided the answer with a career-high 39 points in a 101-80 dismantling of Memphis by the seventh-ranked Cowboys.

The story of the early season has been those talented freshmen—Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle—and Smart was surely watching last week when they dazzled in Chicago.

Smart is as much of a team guy as they come. Part of the reason he returned to school was because he didn't like how his freshmen season ended, getting upset in the opening round of the tournament by Oregon. 

But he's back for the individual attention too. It didn't sit right with him all the hype Wiggins was getting in the preseason.

"A lot of people are saying he's the best player in college basketball. I'm saying how can you be the best player if it's something you haven't even played in?" Smart said last month at Big 12 media day.

And so when Wiggins and the rest of the freshmen proved themselves last week, Smart had to one-up them when his team got in the spotlight for the first time this year, playing on national television against the 11th-ranked Tigers.

To knock off those freshmen and Creighton's Doug McDermott for the Naismith and Wooden awards, it's going to take some special performances. This was his first equivalent of a Heisman moment.

Smart scored 12 straight points in the opening minutes to put Oklahoma State ahead for good and had 26 by halftime. In addition to the points, he was as dominant as ever on defense with five steals, two blocks and helping hold Memphis star point guard Joe Jackson to six points, zero assists and three turnovers. 

For one night, Smart also showed he has an improved outside shot. That was the biggest knock on him after his freshman year. He shot just 29 percent from deep last year. Against Memphis, he knocked down five-of-10 threes.

And his teammates were just as good. 

Do not underestimate what this means for the Cowboys. They want to be taken seriously after that Oregon loss and they want to be in the conversation as one of the nation's elite.

This was the first step. The score wasn't as close as the final, and that's a talented Memphis team with supposedly one of the best backcourts in America.

We know one thing now. It's not better than the Cowboys.

Smart's backcourt buddy Markel Brown's performance was nearly as brilliant as his own. Brown had 20 points, four assists and three blocks.

The Cowboys also accomplished this beatdown without sixth man Phil Forte, who came into the game leading OSU in scoring after knocking down 14 of 22 threes in Oklahoma State's first three games. According to Smart in his postgame interview on ESPN, Forte played only four minutes because of food poisoning.

Smart had not done much scoring in Oklahoma State's opening three cakewalks. He came into Tuesday's game averaging only 13.7 points. Smart is the type to do what his team needs him to do. On this night without Forte, it was scoring.

Ford loves to talk about how Smart competes every single day whether it's practice or against a nobody opponent. He's always out to prove something.  

When Smart was explaining his comment about Wiggins last month, he said: "If it's me, don't just give it to me. Let me earn it." 

You have definitely earned it now, Mr. Smart. 

This could be the year of Kansas and Wiggins and the freshmen, but Smart is going to do everything in his power to change that narrative. 

And that's good for the Cowboys.

Remember around this time last week when we were talking about how great the state of college basketball was because of the great play by the top freshmen? 

Well, it's time to alter that discussion a bit and add Oklahoma State sophomore Marcus Smart to the list of players that will take the sport by storm all season long. 

Smart came out on fire on Tuesday night against Memphis by scoring a career-high 39 points in Oklahoma State's 101-80 victory. 

It wasn't just the scoring output of Smart that impressed everyone in the basketball world— including Kevin Durant, who was sitting courtside—it was the overall performance of the sophomore stud that did so. 

Smart shot 11-of-21 from the field, 12-of-16 from the free-throw line and had five steals, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks to round out his night. 

After his dominant performance against Memphis, who he may see again in the Old Spice Classic championship game on December 1, Smart is ready to take the nation by storm and steal away the National Player of the Year title from the four impressive freshmen and Creighton's Doug McDermott.

Smart has the stage in front of him, and the team around him, to steal the spotlight away from anyone that stands in his way of achieving that goal. 

Not only is Smart a strong offensive player, but he can also neutralize his opponent's best player on the defensive end. 

Just look at what he did to Memphis star Joe Jackson, who scored a meager six points on Tuesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena. 

Smart pestered Jackson for the entire game, and if that is a sign of things to come, Andrew Wiggins of Kansas better be prepared for the task ahead of him in the two showdowns between the Cowboys and Jayhawks during Big-12 play. 

Even if Smart does not record a career-high every time he steps onto the hardwood, he still has a complete team around him that can make him look good in other aspects of the game. 

Although he had just three assists on Tuesday, that total could have been much higher if Smart was playing in a closer game. 

Smart's ability to draw an extra defender opens up the game for the rest of the marvelous Cowboys backcourt that wasn't even at full strength against Memphis because Phil Forte was ill. 

Just by drawing extra attention to himself, Smart could potentially increase the point totals of Markel Brown, Stevie Clark and Forte on any given night. 

Brown is an experienced senior who was able to put away 20 points himself in the blowout win over Memphis, while Clark is a developing talent who will add a ridiculous amount of depth to the Cowboys roster when conference play comes around.

Lest we forget Smart's high school teammate and current roommate Forte, who is capable of scoring in double digits in every game as well. 

Not only did Smart re-introduce himself to the nation enamored with four freshmen, but he also announced to the college basketball scene that he and the Cowboys are serious about making a national championship run.

With the 19-year-old Smart at the helm of the Cowboys ship, they could sail to new, unimaginable heights by the time the season concludes in Arlington, Texas on April 7. 

Follow me on Twitter, @JTansey90. 

It's still early in the 2013-14 college basketball season, but Tuesday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) will pit two top teams against each other when No. 11 Memphis (1-0) visits No. 7 Oklahoma State (3-0) in Stillwater.

This game will be the first major competition for either squad, and it marks the opening of the Old Spice Classic, a high-profile tournament featuring eight teams. Let's take a look at keys for both sides as they prepare for their toughest opposition of the young season.

OSU Needs to Get Marcus Smart Going

Following his productive freshman year when he averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.0 steals per game, big things are expected of OSU guard Marcus Smart this season. The 6'4" sophomore has been solid to start the year, but not spectacular against less-than stellar competition.

He's shooting 40 percent with 13.7 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game and 4.0 steals per game, a school-record nine of those steals coming in a 93-40 rout of Utah Valley State last week.

Smart has big-time potential and is slated to be the No. 6 pick in next year's NBA draft by DraftExpress.com. Jay Bilas of ESPN recently shared his thoughts on Smart's mental makeup as well:

Smart is great at attacking the rim and drawing contact, but he had just five free-throw attempts in the first two contests to start the year. He was more aggressive in Friday's 97-63 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, going 10-of-14 at the line, but went just 3-of-9 from the field (0-of-4 on threes) to finish with a season-high 16 points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0E5D7R1_dg

The future lottery pick will need to be active on both sides of the floor in OSU's first true test of the year against an athletic Memphis squad. Smart's defensive prowess will come into focus against the Tigers, who feature four senior guards that help create one of the nation's top backcourts.

Smart has teammates on the perimeter who can score, too. The team's leading scorer is 5'11" sophomore Phil Forte, a deadly three-point shooter who has made 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) from long range this season, while senior Markel Brown is averaging 15.3 points per game on 60 percent shooting.

Memphis Guards Have to Push Tempo

Tigers coach Josh Pastner has a rare quartet of senior guards who figure to play big roles on the team this season.

The team returns its top three scorers from a year ago, Joe Jackson (13.6 PPG), Geron Johnson (10.4) and Chris Crawford (10.4), while Memphis also added transfer Michael Dixon Jr., who averaged 13.5 points and 3.3 assists per game, shooting 48.7 percent from the field.

Bilas recently offered his opinion of Jackson and the Memphis backcourt:

In their first game together, the four guards totaled 53 points to pace the Tigers to a 95-69 win against Austin Peay. Jackson, Johnson and Dixon started the game, with Crawford coming off the bench and going 3-of-5 from behind the arc in 23 minutes.

Crawford and Dixon also added four steals each, as Memphis created an impressive 22 turnovers. Entering the season, Pastner told Clay Bailey of the Associated Press about his team's approach:

We've always played fast, but we're going to take it up another notch this year. If we're going to play like I want us to play and you're giving maximum effort, it's going to be hard to play the maximum minutes everyone wants to play, so there's going to be subs.

Pastner is taking full advantage of his team's depth, allowing him to play at a breakneck pace with quality guards essentially the entire game. It resulted in six double-digit scorers for the Tigers, a trend they'd like to continue all year.

Win the Battle in the Frontcourt

While guard play will certainly play a major role in shaping the outcome of this contest, keep an eye on each team's top forward.

For Oklahoma State, it's Le'Bryan Nash, an athletic 6'7", 235-pounder who scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 117-62 win over Mississippi Valley State in the season opener. While his one-rebound performance in the second game of the year might be cause for concern, he followed it up with a nine-point, eight-rebound outing on Friday.

Memphis is hoping sophomore Shaq Goodwin can live up to his potential after an inconsistent freshman year. Goodwin opened the year with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, but he grabbed just two rebounds in 21 minutes. With transfer David Pellom out a few weeks due to knee surgery, Goodwin and freshman Austin Nichols will have to shoulder the load down low.

Marcus Smart didn't take long to establish himself as a prime-time NBA prospect. His Oklahoma State Cowboys had ups and downs, but his identity as a trusted lead guard never wavered. 

Smart made rare 2014 draft waves after recently telling Marc Spears of Yahoo! that he'll be leaving after this season to pursue his NBA career. 

Many were baffled by his decision to return to college in May, as some projected him as a No. 1 overall candidate in the 2013 draft.

He averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists, but it wasn't the numbers that blew us all away. Instead, we were impressed by his intangibles—the toughness, timeliness and unselfishness that put his two-way skill set over the top. 

In terms of the transition, there's no question he's an impact NBA player. The question is whether or not we're talking valued supporting cast member or All-Star cornerstone.

The answer will likely come down to his ability to find a niche as a combo guard.

Smart stands 6'4'', 225 pounds with a strong, imposing frame. You won't find too many ball-handlers more physical than him. 

Offensively, he's a scorer with a point guard's mindset, which is rare. Usually, combo guards are undersized scorers forced to run the point because they're unable to match up with NBA 2s. 

But Smart is different. He can handle either position, with the instincts of a 1, the size of a 2 and the skill set of both. 

Few guards are capable of playing on and off the ball in a full-time role. 

If Smart maximizes his potential as an NBA player, his best-case comparison will be James Harden of the Houston Rockets. 

Harden averaged 25.9 points, 5.8 assists and 4.9 boards last season. He emerged as an NBA superstar, as a volume scorer and situational distributor.

With the ball in his hands, Smart can create for himself or set up a teammate. He actively looks up to find the open man and waits for scoring opportunities to develop, whether they're for him or his teammates. 

Check out how he can draw the attention of the defense and cause them to miss the sneaky backdoor cutter:

He has excellent peripheral vision and always remains aware of what's going on around him. He keeps his teammates on their toes, who know that a pass or scoring opportunity can come their way whenever Smart has the ball.

Take a look at this touch pass that catches the defense sleeping:

As a scorer, Smart has no difficultly creating off the dribble and separating from defenders. He's capable of breaking down the defense, bouncing and weaving through traffic before knocking down shots off-balance. 

And like Harden, he's capable of taking over offensively. 

Tied up with 10 seconds remaining against Iowa State, Oklahoma State gave Smart the rock and let him go to work:

In the open floor, both Smart and Harden are missiles who can change direction on the dime. Houston led the NBA in pace, according to John Hollinger's advanced stats. One of the reasons the Rockets pushed the ball was to get Harden going in transition, where he's tough to contain at full speed. 

Smart has a similar combination of power, speed, explosiveness and anger. No play sums that up better than this steal for a coast-to-coast throwdown.

Few primary ball-handlers are also known as defensive assets. But both Smart and Harden are playmakers on both sides of the ball. 

Smart is an aggressive and active defender, particularly on the ball. He has an overwhelming blend of strength and quickness, which makes it difficult for opposing ball-handlers to operate with comfort. 

Watch how he shadows his assignment before making a move and stripping him at half court. He averaged three steals a game as a freshman, so this was a routine occurrence. 

Smart's weaknesses are his efficiency and consistency. 

In the worst-case scenario, the team that drafts him will gain a valuable supporting playmaker like Jarrett Jack of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jack isn't a natural point guard, but he's not a shooting guard either. A player having no true position usually results in up-and-down performances based on matchups. Therefore, NBA teams have been reluctant to start him and instead found success by letting him inject some offense off the bench. 

As a freshman, Smart only shot 40 percent from the floor and 29 percent from three. And though those numbers aren't pretty, his shooting isn't a major concern. His poor percentages were more reflective of his questionable shot selection. 

Jack has struggled with this throughout his career as well. Both of these guys can shoot, but knowing when to let it go will increase their efficiency and consistency as scorers.

Smart also turned over the ball 3.4 times a game. Sometimes, he just tries to do too much. Once he gains a feel for when to settle down and pull it back, he will maximize his team's possessions. 

We've seen Jack go off for some big games in the playoffs, but his inability to do it regularly has kept him from reaching that next level of stardom. Smart will face similar challenges when he finally makes the jump.

Smart's talent, work ethic, competitiveness and physical tools all spell long-term NBA starter. If he can remain consistently productive as a combo guard—which not many have done—he'll take over lead-guard duties for a team in a full-time role.  

Marcus Smart has declared for the 2014 NBA draft.

It's not official, of course, but Smart made his intentions known to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, saying that "barring injury" he will leave Oklahoma State after his sophomore season.

"It's safe to say that if, by the grace of God I'm healthy and everything, this will be my last year at Oklahoma State," Smart told Spears during USA Basketball's minicamp practice Tuesday at UNLV. "Nothing will change my mind on that. [Oklahoma State] understands. They didn't figure I was coming back this year. They were just as surprised as everyone else."

This is no surprise. It was already assumed that he would be gone after next year, although, to be fair, it was assumed he would jet after his freshman season when Smart was expected to be one of the top picks in the 2013 draft.

By declaring his intentions now, Smart does not have to answer questions all next season about whether he'll declare in 2014. He can simply focus on what he returned to do—enjoy college for one more year and win big at Oklahoma State.

Typically, this before-the-season-announcement would make most coaches feel uneasy, and an incoming freshman, even if it were Andrew Wiggins, should probably shy away from such an early announcement.

Would it shock everyone if Wiggins returned to Kansas as a sophomore? Yes. But he also should prove himself at the college level before he considers himself a pro.

Smart did prove himself as a freshman—winning Big 12 Player of the Year and turning a mediocre defensive team into one of the best defenses in the country. No one would have criticized Smart for leaving in 2013. It was expected. And when he bucked the trend, some thought he was crazy.

But Smart wanted to do things on his terms.

"You can only go to college and be a college athlete once," Smart told Spears. "College is a great experience. This is where you have fun. This is where you find yourself as a young man and grow up into an adult before you enter the real world.

"The NBA is the real world. Everyone just sees the entertainment part, but there is a business part to it also."

After reading that, it's hard to bet against the guy. He has a vision for what his path should be and not once has he turned down an opportunity that he thinks will prepare him for the future—from staying one more year at Oklahoma State to playing in the U-19 FIBA World Championship to accepting the invite to the USA Basketball minicamp.

Should Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford worry that Smart will play next season with one eye on the NBA? No.

Smart is different. And he earned the right to make his intentions known this summer. By doing so, he made it less of a distraction.

Marcus Smart continues to take risks this offseason—or, as I like to call it, he keeps betting on himself.

The latest Smart gamble is his addition to the USA Basketball National Team mini-camp roster on Tuesday. Smart is the only college player on the 29-man roster that will train in Las Vegas from July 22-24 and play in an intra-squad game on July 25.

The point of the mini-camp is for the U.S. coaches and chairman Jerry Colangelo to evaluate these players for consideration on the Olympic team. Smart will go up against NBA point guards Kyrie Irving, Mike Conley, Ty Lawson, Damian Lillard, John Wall, Kemba Walker and Jrue Holiday.

The reward is that if he holds his own, he improves his stock as an NBA prospect. The risk is that he’s exposed.

That's a risk Smart willingly accepted when he decided to return to Oklahoma State for his sophomore season.

Smart likely would have been a top five pick in this draft—maybe even No. 1—and next year's draft figures to be loaded. Every decision like this could cost him money. The longer you stick around in college, the more time you give scouts to find holes in your game. 

The warts for Smart continue to show. He's a poor three-point shooter. He turns the ball over too often. Part of what makes him great is his focus on the defensive end and how he plays in crunch time, but his occasional lapses in focus lead to some sloppy giveaways.

We saw both of those weaknesses during the U-19 FIBA World Championship this summer. He was 6-of-21 from the perimeter for the tournament. He had 13 turnovers in nine games—not awful—but one of the few times he went up against a team with legit guards, against Canada in the quarters, he turned it over four times.

Those are weaknesses that can be fixed, particularly the turnovers, and playing against great competition when you need to be locked in at all times could benefit Smart. He was often at his best as a freshman against the best competition. At the U-19 tourney, he averaged 16 points in the final two rounds.

Smart's play in that tournament was not always spectacular—he was his team's fifth-leading scorer—but he obviously did enough to impress those in charge of USA Basketball. Getting the invite to this mini-camp is the ultimate praise.

"It is a great honor to be invited to participate with the USA Men's National Team," Smart said in an OSU release. "The other players at the mini-camp are NBA professionals who I look up to and respect. I'm excited to learn from them and to compete against them."

That last part—he's excited to compete—captures what everyone loves about Smart. He never backs down from a challenge. 

Smart didn't have to play this summer for the U-19 team. He didn't have to accept this invite. He didn't have to come back to school.

That's something worth admiring these days when most players want to get to the pros before their stock has a chance to plummet.

Whether Smart plays well at the mini-camp or not, simply getting the invite and going says a lot about the player.

The best one-and-should-have-been-done NBA prospect spent draft night on Thursday in Prague, Czech Republic.

Marcus Smart was beating up on the Ivory Coast at the FIBA U19 World Championships instead of shaking hands with David Stern in Brooklyn.

Had Smart been in Brooklyn, the Oklahoma State sophomore-to-be may have been shaking hands with David Stern when Orlando picked second. Or, you never know, some team might have been inclined to trade Cleveland for the first pick for the opportunity to draft Smart No. 1 overall.

Thursday’s draft, and the surprise of UNLV’s Anthony Bennett going No. 1, brought up the question again: Why did Marcus Smart stay in school? 

Now stop.

Think about all of the players we criticize for leaving too early, and appreciate Smart for being different.

Listen to his logical explanation, which he gave Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News last week.

I'm a 6-4, 220-pound point guard. That's unheard of. I wanted to learn the game, learn the position a lot more before I go up and make it my job. I want to get more advice on what to do and just more experience at it.

My jump shot: I've still got to improve on that. Because a lot of guys are just going to play off me, force me to shoot it. Especially at the next level, you have to able to knock that down to keep defenses honest, to open up the lane for me and open up the drives so I can make plays for my teammates.

Smart’s perspective is refreshing. He sounds like someone devoted to his craft that NBA teams would be happy to employ. Too many players get the other message: “Learn on the job, and get paid son. You just don’t pass up that kind of money. You just don’t take that kind of risk.”

For Smart, if there is a risk involved to staying in school, it is the money. Smart would have been guaranteed somewhere around $4 million next year had he gone first or second in the draft, and that’s not including endorsements.

No matter how much he improves, next year’s stronger draft class will likely bump him down a few spots. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has Smart going sixth; DraftExpress.com has Smart slotted at fourth and CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish has Smart projected in the fifth spot.

The difference between second and fifth, according to the NBA Salary Scale and Hoopsworld.com is approximately $1 million.

Who knows if anyone broke down the dollar amounts for Smart like that, but it’s clear he wasn’t oblivious to what his decision meant for his immediate future.

"It took me a long time. I actually cried about it. It’s a hard decision for an 18-year-old kid, seeing that much money thrown at him, able to turn it down," Smart told DeCourcy. "It’s unthinkable. It’s unheard of. Nobody’s ever done that: a top-five draft pick turning that much money down, guaranteed, to come back to school for another year."

This is where Smart lacks some perspective. Blake Griffin returned for his sophomore season at Oklahoma when he would have been a high lottery pick. Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer all would have been high picks in 2006 after winning the national title and decided to return to Florida to try to repeat. Tim Duncan, who would have been coveted at any point in his college career, kept coming back to school year after year until he graduated from Wake Forest.

"Nobody’s ever done that” is a stretch, but it is extremely rare in this one-and-done era.

Those guys were willing to be different. They gambled on themselves, and it worked out for all of them. As I wrote back in April when Smart made the decision, he is doing the same. He’s gambling on himself.

Smart believes he’s not going to hurt the perception of what he can be in the league. He’s believes that he will be able to improve. And shame on him, he still wants to be in school. He still feels like he has unfinished business at Oklahoma State—a team with top-10 talent—after losing to Oregon in the Round of 64 of the NCAA tournament in 2013.  

“We have a chance to do something great, strive for a national championship,” Smart told DeCourcy. “We have the talent. We have the determination to do that.”

So if you’re tallying up the reasons to stay: Smart gets to spend one more year being a kid, attempt to achieve some goals he hasn’t accomplished yet and be more ready for the league than he is now.

The economics of his decision might not make sense, but the practicality of it does.

Marcus Smart stood uncomfortably with his coach Travis Ford and teammates Markel Brown and Le'Bryan Nash on April 17. The Oklahoma State Cowboys were holding the closest thing college basketball has ever seen to the debut of Miami Heat's Big Three with a press conference pep rally to announce the return of Brown, Nash and Smart.

All that was missing was some smoke rising in the air.

Thankfully, they left the pyrotechnics for another day. But make no mistake, this was a promotional video for the beginning of Smart's national player of the year campaign. 

You know how the college football world tries to hand the Heisman trophy out in October? (Geno Smith is wondering why he didn’t get the trophy, by the way.) Well, college basketball is about to experience the same phenomenon with the return of Smart. 

Elite freshmen point guards destined to be one of the first NBA draft picks simply don’t come back to school anymore. The last three transcendent talents at the point guard position that come to mind—Derrick Rose, John Wall and Kyrie Irving—cashed in after their freshman years. It was too much of a gamble to not go pro.

What Smart has on his side is that he doesn't seem scared of the hype—he's betting on himself by returning to school—and he's the type of player who doesn't chase numbers.

The POY awards will be his unless he doesn’t produce what’s expected. Luckily for Smart, history has been kind to the elite point guards who do return for a second season.

Numbers’ Game

Smart stuffed the stat sheet as a freshman—15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.0 steals per game—and was in consideration for national player of the year, but he ended up as a second-team All-American for two reasons: Trey Burke and poor shooting numbers.

Burke’s statistics (and we’ll get to them shortly) gave him an obvious leg up in the competition for best point guard in the country. Both players had great team impacts, so it came down to numbers and Smart fell short as a shooter.

Smart made only 29 percent of his three-pointers, but that did not stop him from attempting 131 threes.

This was his one flaw.

He played a team game most of the time, but he did have a tendency to force threes that did not come through the flow of the offense.  

Even if Smart would have taken all good looks from deep, his percentage still would have been relatively low because he didn't have a great stroke. This is where he needs to improve the most as a sophomore. History says that he should.

Six of the last eight sophomore point guards to be named first-team All-Americans improved as three-point shooters from their freshman to sophomore seasons.

Point Guard	Fr. 3-pt %	Soph. 3-pt %
Jason Kidd, Cal	28.6	36.3
Allen Iverson, Georgetown	23.2	36.6
Mike Bibby, Arizona	39.4	38.7
Jason Williams, Duke	35.4	42.7
*T.J. Ford, Texas	15.2	26.5
Chris Paul, Wake Forest	46,5	47.4
D.J. Augustin, Texas	44.1	38.4
*Trey Burke, Michigan	34.8	38.4

*Won Wooden Award that season.

You can pretty much throw Mike Bibby’s decline out the window since he was already a good three-point shooter as a freshman and the drop was less than one percent. D.J. Augustin was also a good three-point shooter as a freshman and there’s a logical explanation for his decline.

As a freshman, Augustin played with Kevin Durant, who obviously demanded a lot of defensive attention and that led to open perimeter shots for his teammates. As a sophomore without Durant, there was a demand for Augustin to take more shots—he attempted 92 more threes—and that demand led to more difficult attempts.

Smart has the benefit of his best teammates all returning next season with him, including fellow NBA prospects Markel Brown and Le’Bryan Nash. That means that Smart does not need to feel the pressure to put up bigger numbers, although history again tells us that his scoring average should go up.

Point Guard	Fr. PPG	Soph. PPG
Jason Kidd	13.0	16.7
Allen Iverson	20.4	25.0
Mike Bibby	13.5	17.2
Jason Williams	14.5	21.6
T.J. Ford	10.8	15.0
Chris Paul	14.8	15.3
D.J. Augustin	14.4	19.2
Trey Burke	14.8	18.6

The scoring is not really what makes Smart stand out, although typically that’s what the voters notice.

Every once in awhile a star will come along who does so many other things in addition to scoring that it adds up to player of the year.

Two years ago, Kentucky’s Anthony Davis became the first player to ever win the Wooden Award scoring less than 15 points per game, and it was his shot-blocking that got noticed. T.J. Ford won the award in 2003 because he was an unbelievable passer.

Ford made his teammates better on the offensive end, and Smart had that kind of impact defensively.

Oklahoma State went from the 107th-ranked defense according to Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency to No. 11 in 2013.

The only real difference was Smart. He has the defensive instincts of an NBA veteran. He always positions himself in the right spot whether he’s guarding the ball or off it. He’ll sag into the lane to cut off angles for post-entry passes. He'll swipe at the ball if the player he's guarding does not protect it with his body.

His awareness was on display in the final seconds of a win at Kansas. With Oklahoma State ahead three, Smart stayed outside the three-point line to make sure Elijah Johnson couldn’t get a three off, and then when Johnson tried to drive past him with a crossover, Smart picked his pocket.

Smart had 99 steals and came away with a theft on 5.3 percent of the possessions he played, which ranked fifth nationally according to Pomeroy’s numbers.

Because he will already be on the radar of voters, those kinds of numbers that usually go unnoticed will be appreciated, as will Oklahoma State’s team defense.

Cowboys Need to Win Big

The greatness of Smart was how much he influenced the culture of Oklahoma State. The results prove that. Oklahoma State’s record went from 15-18 to 24-9 overall and 7-11 to 13-5 in the Big 12.

The defense was the main beneficiary of Smart’s play.

The Cowboys were not that efficient—1.05 points per possession—and they settled for too many poor shots. 

The return of Oklahoma State’s seven leading scorers gives hope that the offense will mature and the program will take another step forward, which is what happened to the programs of the eight elite sophomore point guards studied for this piece.

Point Guard	Fr. Record	Soph. Record
**Jason Kidd	21-9	22-8
Allen Iverson	21-10	29-8
**Mike Bibby	29-8	30-5
Jason Williams	29-5	30-5
T.J. Ford	22-12	26-7
**Chris Paul	21-10	27-6
D.J. Augustin	25-10	31-7
Trey Burke	24-10	31-8

**Kidd, Bibby and Paul's teams were the only ones that failed to advance farther in the NCAA tournament their sophomore seasons.

Both Ford and Burke led their teams to the Final Four, which got the attention of the voters. The Cowboys will receive national attention if they are able to end KU’s streak of nine straight Big 12 titles.

The Cowboys will be the favorites with the Jayhawks losing all five starters, but the Jayhawks have been underdogs before. If any team can get past the mental edge Bill Self’s group holds over the conference, it’s the Cowboys.

Oklahoma State ended KU’s 33-game home winning streak this past year with the 85-80 win on Feb. 2. Smart played the kind of game that day that had NBA scouts drooling.

He manhandled Kansas, a team full of seniors, by grabbing eight offensive rebounds. He scored nine of his 25 points in the final 2:19, and he had five steals, including the swipe of Johnson that sealed it.

Regular season success matters when it comes to the Wooden Award, as only eight players have won it without their team winning the regular-season conference title—BYU’s Danny Ainge, Kansas’ Danny Manning, Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan, North Carolina’s Antawn Jamison, Ford, Texas’ Kevin Durant, Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and Burke.

Burke was the first player on a team that finished outside its conference’s top three—Michigan finished fourth in the Big Ten—to win the award.

Last season, Cody Zeller was the preseason favorite to be player of the year, and he had a solid season statistically but what he did was never enough because of the preseason hype.

Burke, like Smart, lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament as a freshman and there was a lot of hype for him coming back as a sophomore. He produced. He handled the hype, and he led the Wolverines to the national championship game.

Your turn, Smart. We’ll be watching.