No one knew what to expect from Russ Smith this season.
Few expected him to return to the University of Louisville basketball team. His freshman season was a blur, a disaster really, one injury after another. The official list included a broken foot, a concussion, a strained foot, and a sore knee.
When he did get in a game, he seemed to be a loose cannon, playing without apparent purpose or self-control. He sat on the opposite end of the bench from the coaches even when he wasn’t injured. His future, if he had one, seemed to be destined for mop-up operations.
But that was last season and this is this year. The ever confident Russ Smith knew what he was capable of, all he had to do was convince Rick Pitino. He would get his chance as he recovered from his injuries while some teammates were dealing with new ones.
He has taken advantage of the opportunity, constantly refining his game. In a span of 10 games, a fearless point-hungry approach has gradually grown to include more balanced game that promises to make him an equally ambitious on defense. Making him a better overall player, his 24 points and seven steals against Memphis ample evidence.
We haven’t seen a U of L defender get under the skin of opposing guards since the days of Andre McGee, now an assistant coach. Andre once said he played so hard on defense because he knew it would reap dividends in the form of more playing time. He was actually scared not to play great defense.
We suspect that Andre may have passed that advice along to Russ.
Saw that. This guy gets it, and he’s going to keep getting better and better.
Did anyone else see Russ on the CRP Show Saturday morning? It was a fun time. Coach was really ribbing him and he was taking it all in stride. Very poised young man. You just knew he was gonna have a good/great game. Coach even used the “You screw up the scouting report because you don’t know any plays that we run” line and Russ just took with a smile.