Q&A with Assistant Coach Nevada Smith, Year 4

We’ve gotten a chance to talk with Nevada Smith, now an assistant coach with Marquette, each of the past 3 seasons, and not wanting to be the one to blame should things go sideways this year, wanted to cover some ground before the season once more.

Below is a transcript of our conversation.

In terms of where this team is compared to where you’ve seen the previous iterations of this team the last three seasons, how would you describe that right now?
You know, I think it’s more competitive, from a standpoint of guys are just fighting. I think the bottom half of the roster is really good, and they battle, you know, the guys that are back and the guys that play big minutes. So I think those guys just competing every day, on and off the floor, building that connection. They’re super connected, probably the most connected group we’ve had. I think that’s a testament to our guys and a testament to what they’ve built and how quickly they’ve acclimated the freshmen. But I would say that the competitiveness of practice and then how connected those guys are.

Losing Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, does it mean that you’re going to see a little bit more of individual creation for players by themselves, or does that mean you’re going to have more set actions and less feel reads? Or do you still have the same kind of mentality, the same kind of processes, just with different players?
We don’t have a ton of great one on one, break you down talent. That’s not how we’re built. So we need each other. So we’re going to win with two man actions. We’re going to create advantages for our teammates. We’re going to hit the guy in the chin and put the ball on time, on target, and then once we get an advantage, we’re very good. So creating an advantage for someone and then letting them attack it, and whatever happens after the attack, hopefully it’s something really good, either a play at the rim, a kick out three to a player, we can be violent and get the free throw line.

How we actually might get to some things could look a little different, but Kam’s a ridiculous passer. He’s a very good passer. He sprays it around. He hits guys where they need the ball. He knows how to read a defense. So it’s not like we’re throwing out there someone that doesn’t have any clue what he’s doing. He’s done it in a smaller level. If you watch the games where Tyler was out, he played pretty well. And I think you’ll see more things like that. More spacing of the floor really, really matters for us. So you’re not going to replace a guy and do it the same way you did it. You’re going to do it by committee. You’re going to do it by playing to each other’s strengths and really letting them press advantages that they have and creating a little advantage for them to get started.

Now, in terms of the offensive approach, it seemed like a lot of action started with Oso you know, either in the on the post or the top of the arc, but does that approach remain the same without him?
Yeah. I mean, I think you’ll see the guys that will kind of play that position, Ben Gold, Caedin Hamilton and Royce Parham, they’re very good with the ball. So they can do some things differently than Oso, but they can do some things that Oso can’t do. So I think that those guys will have the ball in their hands making plays for others. They will have some more off ball actions to get some guys loose, and we got Kam, Stevie, Chase, Ross, Joplin, Lowry and Tre, plus Damaris Owens and Sean when he gets back, you know, we have some weapons. We just got to get those guys in the right spots and let them do their thing. So that’s kind of what we’ve been focused on, where can we get guys the ball, where they can really, you know, press their advantages.

For the games without Kolek, and particularly the minutes without Oso on the floor, it seemed like the big change in play types was there was a lot more shooting, in the sense that the volume went up significantly for dribble jumpers, pick and pops, with less, cuts, a few less pick and rolls to the basket. Was that a more of a hey, we’re used to playing this way, and we don’t have this player for this time. Or does that kind of signify, like you were saying, a little bit of the other things that the players in someone like in like a Ben in particular, can do in that role where they are a threat from the perimeter. So basically, the question being, do you see a little bit more reliance on jumpers and shooting this year, or would it still be kind of a blend?
I don’t know if reliance is the right word. Tyler was a great shooter, but didn’t shoot a ton of volume. Oso didn’t take a three. The guys that are going to play those minutes are high volume shooters, so we’re probably going to take more threes. I would expect our three point rate to go up just with the guys that are going to be on the floor. I think what it does do, from an offensive standpoint, is our spacing is going to be even better than than it was last year. And I think the one thing that you really got to worry about with Kam having the ball, not that Tyler wasn’t a threat, but Kam’s mentality is “score.” If you don’t guard that first action, he’s just going to score, whereas Tyler was looking to get everybody involved, not that that’s not what Kam’s doing. But he’s a he’s probably a bigger scoring threat with the ball, with initial action. So it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be open. Our uptick will be threes. We’ll probably take more threes than we did, but we’re not going to lose the bread and butter at the rim. We’re going to attack the rim, we’re going to be at the rim. We’re going to put pressure on the officials to make calls, and we’re going to play violently. And the one good thing about the space is there’s a lot of driving gaps and rim protection is going to be, hopefully, on the perimeter, so we can get in there and make plays at the rim and then finish without a huge body there waiting for us,

Since 2008 Ben Gold had the highest three point rate in Division I history for a 6’10” player or taller, at 78%. But he’s also one of the best finishers on a very, very small sample, obviously. How do you strike a balance for someone like him, where he has the ability to shoot, can stretch out the floor, but maybe not become so reliant on that outside shot because he has that ability to attack and score?
I think it’s just a mix of him reading the defense. He’s going to generate more closeouts. He’s going to be on the floor, probably more. He’s going to be higher on the scouting report than he was. So when he gets a play with space, he can shoot it, obviously, or he can drive by bigger guys. It’s the one nice thing about him playing that trigger spot. He probably has a quickness advantage over most bigs and especially if you’re closing out to him. So I think the mix is just him getting comfortable making that read and either driving it using a shot fake or just letting it fly. It’s not something you can really micromanage in the moment. It’s more a “here are your options, see what you think, and let him go.” And he’s still going to take a bunch because he’s going to be open. He’s a good shooter. He’s been close to 40% every year he’s been here. So it’s going to be a different attack for us from a standpoint of space on the floor.

There’s been a huge emphasis at the NBA level on crashing the offensive glass, particularly for longer threes, to create a little bit more variety in the type of rebounds, where the spacing might not necessarily be there. Is that something that’s being emphasized, as you’re saying with an eye on the three point rate that might be increasing, and if so, or if not, where does that balance lie in crashing and sending people to the glass versus falling back into a transition D?
We’re going to crash. We’re going to be a better offensive rebounding team than we were last year. We’re doing a great job of it right now, in the preseason, it’s an emphasis every day, and we’re going to be better at it. We’re doing a better job of reading the ball, we’re doing a better job of crashing when the ball releases a shooter’s hand, and our guys are bought into what it does for us as a team. It slows the opponent down the transition, and it gives us more chances to score. So I think they’ve, they’ve really done a great job of knowing that that’s, you know, low hanging fruit for us, and they’ve attacked it.

It seems like rim and three is now the norm, it’s to be expected. And so then the question lies where do you think there is a big inefficiency in terms of just general mentality on the offensive end currently. And it doesn’t have to be something you’re doing this year, but just in general, where do you see the game finding that next, that next inefficient piece?
It’s deep threes. I think great shooters getting more range and stretching the defense even further and shooting it at a percentage that that is still efficient. You know me, I hope teams start winning with two bigs, and they throw it in the post every time, and everyone switches back and it goes in cycles. So that will probably happen. But I think just from the way the game is played, it’s hard to get good shooters, really good shots, and I think you got to be able to stretch it even further and have deeper range and allow for deeper, deeper attempts, which in turn, create more space for guys to really make plays. So I think that’s probably the biggest thing. If you’d asked me three years ago, I would have said offensive rebounding. But people are really smart right now. There’s not much left. To be honest. There’s not a ton of things out there that you can do that’s like, man, that’d be really good to try. I’ve thought deep threes for a long time. So I think getting a 40% shooter to take some from 35 feet, which sounds kind of crazy, they’ll make enough, and you’ll rebound enough of it to make it efficient.

Which of your previous point guards does Kam remind you most of?
From a shooting and scoring ability, probably Isaiah Cannan. The ability to score at will, the ability to get in the paint, still do a great job of finding guys and making plays for others. You know, he’s similar to that. That’s probably the best one. Just the scoring mentality is just different. You know, he he didn’t really have to pass a ton because when he caught the ball last year from Tyler, he was finishing plays. He didn’t have to worry about creating a ton of plays. Now it’s ‘Hey, you got to create, and you got to finish, and you got to shoot.’ So I think he’s going to get that mentality. He’s been terrific. We expect big things from him, and it’s going to be fun.

In the past you have mentioned that rebounding in particular is personnel adjacent. So if you have good rebounders, you’re going to be a better rebounding team, regardless of scheme or everything else. From the newer players, and the player in newer roles, do you think the personnel has improved, from a rebounding standpoint?
I think it’s improved. I think Caedin Hamilton’s a great rebounder. He’s a big, physical presence. I think our sophomore class, Tre Norman and Zaide Lowery, are very good rebounders. And I think the freshmen are very good rebounders for their positions. Both Royce and Damarius are very good rebounders. The biggest one we’ll miss is Tyler. He got a ton of long rebounds and cleaned up a lot of plays. So our guards have to do a great job of getting those rebounds. The longer ones, the grimy ones, the ones that hit the ground. But I think with the other guys that will be playing, that either didn’t play last year or, you know, played limited minutes. I think our personnel is better to be a great rebounding team.

And speaking of personnel, who has surprised you most based off of you seen this offseason?
I would say that that sophomore group has really grown. The Zaide, Tre, Caedin group, has really grown into really leaders and able to be guys that can be counted on going into this year. They had great summers, they had great off seasons. They’re bigger, they’re stronger, they’re more confident. They’ve worked on areas of their game to really have different advantages than they had before. And I think the freshmen are going to be ready offensively to help. You know, defensively, they’re getting better every day and they’re learning, but they’re two very, very good offensive pieces. So I think those guys have been great.

Where do you see your career trajectory at this point? Do you still think that you will be a D1 head coach? Or do you think a head coach job is in your future at some point? Is that what you’re working towards? Or are you more still in the coordinator, kind of mastermind realm, in whatever level you see fit
I love it here. I love our guys. I love our coaching staff. I love Marquette, everyone around it. So it’s a special place. When you’re at a special place, you’re not quick to leave it

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