Russell Smith

Scouting Reports:
June 2008 – Smith is a very quick combo guard who can get into the lane with ease and has the athletic ability to finish in traffic. He is a skilled penetrator who is shifty with the ball and loves to utilize his jump-stop once he gets inside the arc. Smith is also extremely athletic and showed his leaping ability when he dunked the ball fairly easily on a fast break. Defensively, he has quick hands and racks up steals. He also constantly back-taps and reaches for the ball from behind when he gets beaten; he did that a number of a times, but it seemed to work. Smith is outstanding with the ball and can distribute fairly well. On the other hand, though, he is still very skinny and needs to put on muscle in a major way. His biggest problem is that he tries to do too much; he tries to finish every time he gets into the lane, and his acrobatic attempts usually don’t work. He loves to shoot the ball whenever he gets it, and despite his good range, is an inconsistent shooter from behind the arc. He also needs to improve his decision-making; he called a timeout in the final minutes when they had none left (Jeff Borzello at Rumble in the Bronx).
Aug 2009 – Unarguably the most impressive player in the game. It wasn’t even close. From the second he got his first basket, he showed an aggressiveness and assertiveness that we don’t get to see very often from Smith. The announcers and fans had a feeling of anticipation every time he touched the ball, and was good enough to garner two different nicknames throughout the game. He had an excellent windmill dunk to kick things off, and was able to get to the basket whenever he wanted. His handle and quickness were on display the entire day (Jeff Borzello at Nike TOC HS Showcase).

Stories/Articles:
Big East Recruiting Update: Smith Verbals to Louisville (NBE Basketball Report) – Nov 2009
Prep Profile of South Kent (New England Recruiting Report) – Oct 2009
Recruiting Updates: Russ Smith (NBE Basketball Report) – Oct 2009
Big East Recruiting Notes from Weekend (NBE Basketball Report) – Sept 2009
Nike TOC HS Showcase Recap (NBE Basketball Report) – Aug 2009
Frankie Williams Charity Classic Review (NBE Basketball Report) – June 2009
Jordan Brand Classic Game Reviews (NBE Basketball Report) – Apr 2009
Catching up with Russ Smith (NBE Basketball Report) – Dec 2008
Rumble in the Bronx Opening Night (NBE Basketball Report) – June 2008

Be Sociable, Share!

•