I began my annual tour of future Flyers’ basketball games last night. I usually start this much earlier in the season, but we only have one recruit at this point and I had already seen Sam Smith play four times last year. I will probably make an effort to see him play at least one more time next week during the state championships. I felt like I was reliving the early nineties last night. It was run-and-gun with pressure all over the court. However, the result was much different that what we experienced during the O’Brien years.

Worthington Christian is a team that loves the three. Just about every player on the floor at the beginning of the game has the green light to put up a three. Their off guard, Scott Hadley, put up five threes in the first quarter before he hit his first one on the sixth try. They took 23 last night after taking 40 in their last game. They don’t seem to run any plays other than to hustle to the three-point line waiting for an opening. They typically outclass everyone that they play, including a number of good Division I teams. I truly believe that if this were Indiana in the old\ days, they would win the state tournament.

It really surprises me that Smith is not a more structured part of their offensive attack. His boxscore in the latest game was as follows: 27 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. He did this on 11 of 15 shooting from the floor, 1 for 3 behind the arc, and 4 of 5 from the foul line. The two shots that he missed other than the threes just popped out, so his numbers might have been even more impressive. He had very few touches overall considering he is one of the top players in the state. If you have read in the past that Sam plays on the outside and is a feared 3-point shooter, put that all aside. I have seen him play five times now and he has yet to display the ability to light it up from downtown. Yes, he does have the ability to hit a three, but that is not his strong suit. The kid understands the game and plays to his abilities. He had nine points in the first quarter on 4 of 5 shooting and just did what needed to be done. If they would give him a few more clear outs he would average 30 points per game.

There is no question that this kid has a world of talent. I have seen him play defense with the best of them. I have also seen him rebound like a madman. I did not  see either of those in their latest game. He seemed to be dogging it on the defensive end and didn’t attempt to block as many shots as he could have. He did alter a number of shots, but it appeared that he was playing not to get into foul trouble. He also tended to stay away from the action during some of the more contested rebounding battles. There may be good reason for that, however, in that he has some bone chips in his ankle. He’s probably been told that he needs to stay in the game and let the other big guys get to the boards.

Where he really excels is on the move to the basket. Although he doesn’t have Tony Stanley hops, he can still get up there pretty well. He is lightning quick and handles the ball more like a point guard than a 2 or 3. It didn’t matter who they had on him, he made his defender look like they were just there for the ride. He scored at will. He will bring to us another dimension next year. Although Stanley has shown more desire to establish his move to the basket, Smith is already a seasoned veteran in its use. We can only hope that Brooks learns a thing or two from the kid.

The only real concern that I have with Smith is that he still has a high school body. He has extremely thin legs, especially from the knee down. We need to get him on the body building regiment that has helped our players so much. With that, he will be able to take the banging that he will get from the big boys.

You may ask the question, will he have the opportunity to start next year? Not a chance! Will he be able to contribute? Without a doubt! We will have a team that is dominated by the 1, 2, and 3 positions next year. OP needs to keep that in mind when he puts together his offensive schemes this summer. We will need to play to our strength and that will be a 5-pronged attack from our outside players.