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Braden Smith Commits to Purdue


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9 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

My family is Indiana for generations. I'm Illinois born. Besides Alford, Calbert, Edwards, and Bailey....Skiles is absolutely one of my favorite college hoops players of all time. His comments to Joubert still to this day is some of the best. Not to mention he was nice to us on the lake years ago. Always a Skiles fan.

I remember reading about the Joubert trash talking.  Something about body shaming Joubert, I believe.  LOL.  😂

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22 minutes ago, Go__Hoosiers said:

Will be interesting to see if all the hype for Smith is real. Right now his only offer is Indiana Wesleyan which is more worrisome to me than his national ranking. If he has the potential to be a high major player - why haven't any mid major programs offered yet? The pandemic?

My opinion only. He's an undersized class of 22 guy. Some coaches are still scrambling to fill out their 20 rosters. He keeps having games like he did this past weekend plenty will come calling. 

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Somebody may recall the details better than me, but we’ve heard that Archie really likes him.  I think the story was something like Braden visited for a game, and afterwards Archie said he liked him and didn’t care how tall he was.  

I have not seen the kid in person so it’s hard to get a good gauge on this from clips, but he looks physically strong and tough.  It looks like his core is especially solid.  My thinking is everything starts with the core,  Being a tough, strong guard can be a plus.  There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and not everybody needs to be long, lean and an electric athlete.

As for ranking, I truly don’t care other than a curiosity.  I, like others, tend to think he won’t be top 150.  The ratings “gurus” tend to overrate physical athleticism and length, and underestimate the “it factor” and the kid that just has that indescribable winning gene.  There are plenty of good athletes that play basketball that end up rated 75 or whatever because they fit the profile.  But they may not have what I referred to as the “it factor.”  They run around, look good physically, but just don’t have the knack to make those winning plays. 

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5 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

Somebody may recall the details better than me, but we’ve heard that Archie really likes him.  I think the story was something like Braden visited for a game, and afterwards Archie said he liked him and didn’t care how tall he was.  

I have not seen the kid in person so it’s hard to get a good gauge on this from clips, but he looks physically strong and tough.  It looks like his core is especially solid.  My thinking is everything starts with the core,  Being a tough, strong guard can be a plus.  There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and not everybody needs to be long, lean and an electric athlete.

As for ranking, I truly don’t care other than a curiosity.  I, like others, tend to think he won’t be top 150.  The ratings “gurus” tend to overrate physical athleticism and length, and underestimate the “it factor” and the kid that just has that indescribable winning gene.  There are plenty of good athletes that play basketball that end up rated 75 or whatever because they fit the profile.  But they may not have what I referred to as the “it factor.”  They run around, look good physically, but just don’t have the knack to make those winning plays. 

I agree with you about rankings. They seem to be for NBA projections more than for college anyway, so I can see why he wouldn't be top 150 if that's the case. 

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I'm going to ask it here...why is Braden Smith seen so much more favorably than Luke Brown?  I've watched highlights of both and I'd like Hoosier Nation to sell me on why Archie likes the shorter player so much better when one of the knocks against Luke Brown was that he's not tall enough for the Big Ten.  I just watched a highlight reel of Luke Brown knocking down jumper after jumper often with guys 4-5 inches taller than him guarding him.

To be clear...I'm going with the premise that Archie is the professional here and we trust his judgment.  I just want more than "because Archie likes him better."

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12 minutes ago, FKIM01 said:

I'm going to ask it here...why is Braden Smith seen so much more favorably than Luke Brown?  I've watched highlights of both and I'd like Hoosier Nation to sell me on why Archie likes the shorter player so much better when one of the knocks against Luke Brown was that he's not tall enough for the Big Ten.  I just watched a highlight reel of Luke Brown knocking down jumper after jumper often with guys 4-5 inches taller than him guarding him.

To be clear...I'm going with the premise that Archie is the professional here and we trust his judgment.  I just want more than "because Archie likes him better."

Westfield vs Blackford. Brown is not a PG at the next level, I dont think. More of a two and that creates an issue on the other end... Smith is a 1. 

Two completely different classes, as well. I'm going to assume athletically(bench, squat, clean, timing, quickness, etc) Smith is pretty superior or projects that way. 

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2 hours ago, FKIM01 said:

I'm going to ask it here...why is Braden Smith seen so much more favorably than Luke Brown?  I've watched highlights of both and I'd like Hoosier Nation to sell me on why Archie likes the shorter player so much better when one of the knocks against Luke Brown was that he's not tall enough for the Big Ten.  I just watched a highlight reel of Luke Brown knocking down jumper after jumper often with guys 4-5 inches taller than him guarding him.

To be clear...I'm going with the premise that Archie is the professional here and we trust his judgment.  I just want more than "because Archie likes him better."

Smith plays against some of the best competition in the state every game, he is a better athlete, faster, and he has better handles.  They are both good shooters.  But what really sets Smith apart is his court vision.  He makes passes that blow your mind.  That is something that Brown has too, but Smith is elite seeing the floor, and in my opinion you have to have something elite to get serious high major attention.

To be sure Smith doesn't have any real offers yet and the gap isn't really that wide, but those are the factors that I believe set him apart and why he will ultimately be a more coveted recruit.

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4 hours ago, btownqb said:

Westfield vs Blackford. Brown is not a PG at the next level, I dont think. More of a two and that creates an issue on the other end... Smith is a 1. 

Two completely different classes, as well. I'm going to assume athletically(bench, squat, clean, timing, quickness, etc) Smith is pretty superior or projects that way. 

 

1 hour ago, The Daily Hoosier said:

Smith plays against some of the best competition in the state every game, he is a better athlete, faster, and he has better handles.  They are both good shooters.  But what really sets Smith apart is his court vision.  He makes passes that blow your mind.  That is something that Brown has too, but Smith is elite seeing the floor, and in my opinion you have to have something elite to get serious high major attention.

To be sure Smith doesn't have any real offers yet and the gap isn't really that wide, but those are the factors that I believe set him apart and why he will ultimately be a more coveted recruit.

Thanks.  This is the kind of insight I was looking for.  I realize it's mostly projection at this point but it's still helpful in understanding why one player gets more attention than another.

How does Braden Smith project against a Jordan Hulls?

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3 minutes ago, FKIM01 said:

 

Thanks.  This is the kind of insight I was looking for.  I realize it's mostly projection at this point but it's still helpful in understanding why one player gets more attention than another.

How does Braden Smith project against a Jordan Hulls?

Similar. Jordy was better shooter. Braden seems to have more court awareness at this stage. Probably a tad more Yogi in terms of PG ability. I don't want to build this kid into something he isn't but very, very good. If our staff goes a different direction so be it but if Braden is the kid in 22.....I'm down.

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12 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

Similar. Jordy was better shooter. Braden seems to have more court awareness at this stage. Probably a tad more Yogi in terms of PG ability. I don't want to build this kid into something he isn't but very, very good. If our staff goes a different direction so be it but if Braden is the kid in 22.....I'm down.

This

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33 minutes ago, FKIM01 said:

 

Thanks.  This is the kind of insight I was looking for.  I realize it's mostly projection at this point but it's still helpful in understanding why one player gets more attention than another.

How does Braden Smith project against a Jordan Hulls?

The only way I think of Hulls and Smith in the same light is when it comes to being undersized -- and how that impacts their recruitment.  Jordy was sending out film to coaches before he finally started getting some good offers.

Smith is a true PG, Jordy a true SG.  Smith has better handles and is a better passer.  Jordy was a better shooter.  That was his elite skill that ultimately got him offers.

If Smith truly gets to 6-1 or taller, he will blow up.

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4 hours ago, Billingsley99 said:

I for one will be ecstatic when he suits up for the Hoosiers.  Nothing to not love his only knock is size ,but for me getting cheesey here, the size of his heart is what matters and he and Jordy have lots of it

When he suits up...is that a hint?

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