Q&A with Assistant Coach Nevada Smith, Year 5

We’ve gotten a chance to talk with Marquette Assistant Coach Nevada Smith each of the past 4 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, edited for clarity.

Q: With the season here, has it been a relatively normal lead up for you, or how does it feel on your end?
A: I mean, it’s, it’s a little different because you know, those guys that left were here with us from the beginning, right? So it’s like you always had the familiarity of seeing those guys in the gym as they kind of got here when we got here. So it’s, it’s been fun.

We’re the youngest team in the Big East again, and will probably always be, but they’re fun. We’re way more athletic, and probably a lot faster than we were. You know I love those 3 guys [Kam, Jop, Stevie], but they weren’t the most athletic guys out there. So I think we will look a little different, but I think all the things that when you think of Marquette basketball, you’ll still see all those things, just kind of with different guys doing it, which will be fun. 

Speed

Q: When we talked in the spring, you had a feeling of that athleticism gap. We talked about the the lack of dunks in the last year, obviously the lack of athleticism in terms of the players that you had out there probably weren’t the fastest runners the tallest jumpers. Now that you’ve been with this team for a full offseason, what’s changed the most between what you thought this team might be and now what you’ve seen?
A: I think the speed. I know Coach (Smart) has probably talked about that a ton, but it is it’s evident. We’re just fast and fast pretty much everywhere. You even think of our big guys a, they’re pretty quick. They’re not slow. Like Caedin (Hamilton) has good feet. Josh Clark has good feet. They’re not slow guys. 

And they’re going to have to be fast to keep up with the ball. So it is one nice thing when you have really fast point guards and fast guys with the ball. Those other guys have to run or they’re going to get left behind. So that part’s fun, the pressure we can put on the ball is “Havoc-esque”. Our athleticism, our quickness, our depth have definitely been things that have stuck out. 

Q: I don’t know how much NBA you’ve watched the last two weeks since the season began, but I track a lot of the stat stuff, and that they’re showing that the press defense in the NBA is at its highest level that it’s been in the last like 20 years. The last 4 years, your defense isn’t really a press, more like a pressure defense, I would say.

Would you say this year there would be more actual press, as in looking for the turnover, rather than just kind of delaying the offense? Or will the general strategy still be more conservative of like, we’re going to make you work to get up the line but we’re not necessarily going to press or double in the back court?
A: I think you’ll see both. I think our pressure is going to create turnovers, whether we’re super aggressive or Just kind of into you. These guys are hard to dribble against, which makes you pass it, which leads to a lot of deflections, which hopefully leads to turnovers. So I think you’ll kind of see both.

I think the NBA’s just copycat. The Pacers made a run because they pressed and now everyone’s like, oh, we should do this. It’s like you watch the watch the last 4 teams, watch the Eastern and Western conference finals, watch the NBA finals and you’ll see what everyone’s going to try to do next year. Because everyone else is bored, and it’s the only thing on. 

Q: Is there anything that you’ve picked up? I know we usually talk about stuff that you think might make a run like, I know 2 years ago, you were talking about offensive rebounds. Last year, we talked about deeper 3’s as kind of a market inefficiency. Or something you’ve seen of late, that you’re like, you know what, this is something that may not necessarily be popular this year. But we’ve seen enough of it that it might be something we’re looking to implement, or at least check out?
A: I think the the pressing for sure, but you’ve already seen it. You’re going to see more teams trying to pick up full court and use some bench guys to create some pace and create some turnovers. 

I actually think you’re going to see a ton of zone this year, with the rules and the hand check, it’s just hard to guard people man to man. I think you’re going to see more teams that just say we’re just going to sit in the zone and make you shoot it. And If you make it, you’ll beat us. So I do think in college, you’re going to see more zone than the last couple years. It will be interesting to track what teams that don’t traditionally play zone, play more zone this year. 

You know, knowing from our scrimmages, there will be a lot of whistles, I think, early in the year. You’re going to just see a little bit more. By the middle of the year, you’ll see if it works or not. If it’ll be sustainable or if it’ll kind of go away, but I think definitely early in the year, you’re going to see that. 

Q: Mark wanted me to ask you, why do teams, particularly in college, touch the ball on an inbound and start the shot clock so quickly? Is that something that can be taught?
A: We work on those situational things. In the flow of the game, where the shot clock’s not an issue. We’re actually trying to get the ball in and up as quick as we can, to try to play against distorted defense. 

So to me, it doesn’t make sense the way we play to do that. Now situationally, like you said, Tyler trying to lead to the last shot or whatever, we’re going to work in those situations all the time. I think Coach [Smart] is one of the best in the country at finding and saving 2 for 1 opportunities and making sure we get the last shot. And you know, we’re creative in how we do those things at times but just gameplay. If we had Jokic and we needed him to run clock, then maybe. 

But we’re going way faster than that. So yeah, it’s not something we will ever do in live play.

Scrimmage Thoughts

Q: I was actually going to ask you, in terms of the scrimmages, you get to learn a lot right? Because there’s there’s a whole different feel. There’s a whole different kind of opportunity because you’re not playing yourself for the first time in months. What do you think the biggest takeaway was from those 2 scrimmages that you had against Missouri and Colorado? 
A: They’re secret, how do you know about those.

I think college basketball in general needs to do a better job of allowing our kids to play other people. And the 2 is crazy. The NBA takes 3 months off, gets together for a couple weeks and then they’re playing different people. We play against each other for 5 months. It’s nuts, we gotta do something to fix that. It’s just crazy to me.

You learn a lot though. We kind of prepare a little bit for it, but we also want our guys to kind of be like, oh s***, we’re shocked a little bit because it’s not what we’re used to for the last 5 months.

You’ve seen us play enough for the last couple years, I’d say the last 3 years where when we see some things, it takes us an immediate time out sometimes to be like all right, this is what they’re doing. We screwed that up and then, you know, we play the first 6 minutes and the score is like 6-5, and it’s not typical our basketball. And then we figure it out, then the game goes the way it goes. We’ve been blessed with some guys that can figure stuff out on the fly. This group, I think, can do that. 

But I think they can react a little bit quicker because they can move a little faster, So hopefully we see something, and it just takes one time and be like all right. Well, this was open. I just gotta do this, and then they’re going to have to change. So hopefully we see something, and it just takes one time and be like all right, this was open. I just gotta do this, and then they’re going to have to change.

So it it was refreshing to see those guys, how quickly they picked some stuff up. And you know, it’s different. We don’t play like everybody else on both ends. So yeah, to get a different feel, a different vibe. Different physicality level different size, it’s good to see it.

Q: Shaka has been on the record again. With Ben Steele from the Journal Sentinel that he likes the secret scrimmages, he likes the aspect that they can control the situations. That it’s more of a teaching environment than something like a public exhibition would be. But if there were to be more of those, if they were to go to 4, let’s say they double the current output, would it then make sense to kind of include some of the public facing ones?

Or from a coaching perspective, you’re like, no, I want to keep this as tight as I can because when I face Indiana, I don’t want them to know what I look like this year. Or are you like personally, not you as Marquette, More like, you know what, it doesn’t matter, they’re going to find out when we play Albany anyways?
A: All it takes is one game on film and you have at least what they’ve worked on for five months. If I was the commissioner of college basketball, I would allow one one play date, maybe 2 in the summer. Or you can go scrimmage somebody in the summer, one in that fall session in September and then 2 scrimmages and one exhibition game and then roll it out there. So everyone’s in the same boat. It would just make it better from a standpoint of I think it helps the game look better. 

The thing about the exhibition games is, you got fan bases thinking their team stinks when they’re doing stuff. Then, you’re just dealing with that. Then, you’re dealing with social media, your kids have to deal with that. And now, they’re dealing with extra scrutiny of like, Purdue, how’d you guys lose? You’re the number one team in the country? You guys stink.

So I mean, it is what it is. It’s it’s the world we live in today. Who knows where we’ll end up? Who knows what we’ll do, but I mean I’m with coach. I like the scrimmage setting. I like the being able to do what you want to do, and I’ll play in some different parameters if needed. 

Players to Watch

Q: Someone we didn’t really discuss in the spring is Nigel James. I’ve read and seen a lot about him this offseason. What do you see his contributions being? Because it’s hard, I never expect much from a freshman. It’s just a very difficult jump for freshmen, let alone someone that’s going to have ball handling responsibilities for the first time and against some of the best athletes in the world. But if you were to say, like from an expectation setting perspective, do you think he’s someone that can jump in and fill that backup role, or is it more like, he’s got talent, he’s going to work into it, but don’t necessarily it’s not going to be someone you rely on for 16 minutes at the 1 from day 1?
A: He’s pretty good. He’s played at a high level for a long time against the best players. He is a supremely gifted passer. He does things that you kind of look like, oh man, I remember 11 [Kolek] used to do that. You know, 11 can make that pass. He’s a little different than Sean [Jones], but they complement each other really, really well.

They’re both so impossible to keep in front by yourself. That’s probably one different thing. Tyler [Kolek] and Kam [Jones] were terrific. They needed some help to get open and get a shoulder. But they needed a screen a lot to create some separation. These 2 don’t need anything, they can do it all by themselves, which is nice. But his vision, his speed, his presence. He’s really high IQ. It’s gonna be fun to see him out there in game situations like we’ve seen him in practice. We know what he can do when the lights go on in front of 17,18 thousand. It’s going to be fun watching his growth, watching him go through the ups and downs that you go through. As a freshman basketball player, especially freshman point guard in the Big East.

They’re both both really talented. They’re both different, but at the same time, they’re kind of the engine that makes us go along with Chase [Ross].

Q: From a personnel perspective, I always like to ask you, because now you’ve seen it first-hand, but who’s the player that has surprised you the most this summer? Not maybe not the best, but just from the expectation that you might have had of him in April to what he is now in late October. 
A: I mean, Caedin’s been terrific. I think that’s been pretty well documented too with all the awards and the dominoes. His growth has been fun to watch. His maturity level, his overall game, is at a level that can really help us win and complement the other guys on the floor.

So I’m excited to see him out there against some other people in an environment where, he probably didn’t have the year he wanted to have last year. So I’m excited for him to be able to to show his growth on the floor and see what he can do. And it’s gonna be exciting to watch.

Odds and Ends

Q: Obviously the new continuation rule is going to be implemented in the scrimmages that you’ve participated and in the exhibitions that you’ve seen. Is that something that can be taught? Is that something like you guys are drilling in, like, don’t pull up, just continue the motion and finish whether you get the call or not? Or is that something that is just more naturally kind of a skill that is personnel based?
A: Talking to a lot of coaches around the country that have had refs in practice and scrimmages, it’s going to be different early in the season. It’s a different call. College refs haven’t been used to calling this like NBA refs. So I think the error early is just when you hear the whistle shoot it. I don’t know if they’re going to get them all right, it’s not something we can challenge. So it’s going to be interesting to say the least. Really watch the first week of games, teams that foul up 3, really pay attention and see how they call those. It’s going to be extremely interesting.

Q: When a freshman gets to campus, you’ve seen them in the recruiting, you’ve probably had them in the gym, you’ve met them, but what is that evaluation like from like a shooting perspective? Is that something that you can you can say, “Hey we got to tweak your shot over the summer.” I know you talked about working with Tyler a few summers ago and it’s a very intrusive process where you kind of have to break it down, and you don’t really want to do that as they’re adjusting to the college game. What is the process that you guys implement for shooting mechanics for the newest players that come through? 
A: It’s hard with the young guys when they get there because it’s not until June, and their head’s going to be spinning with 7000 things that they’re trying to accomplish. Just give them any any tips, quick things. Making sure they’re getting into it, shooting it the same way. Get their momentum forward, shoot it on the on the way up. Little things. And you’re not teaching anything, you’re kind of reminded them. And you probably don’t have a ton of time to tweak or change until you know the offseason. We’ve done a lot of that stuff in those postseason workouts before the summer, those April workouts.

Really in college basketball it’s hard to do. I think of guys that in the NBA have changed their shots, and they do they do it for 3 months and nothing else. It takes a driven player who’s okay in monotony and will really be diligent, not to revert back the old habits. Because it is, when you think about it. You’re changing your shot and then you play a pickup game and you’re getting a situation where your competitive juices come out. And you want to take some things you probably shouldn’t do. You’re going to revert back and a lot of the work you put in, you’re going to lose and you know, it really takes time. It takes it takes a lot to change and make something different. When you think about it, most of these guys have been shooting the same way for 15 years, 12 years. To change that, it’s tough.

Q: I’m guessing you’re going to shoot a lot of 3’s. I don’t think that’s ever going to change. But is the expectation still that the shooting was so stabilize around January and going to roll with that? Or is that something that if you see it kind of start slower, you might see the approach change a little bit?
A: I think we have a good shooting group. I think you saw 2 anomalies happen at the same time with Kam and Jop in Big East play. It wasn’t like they were taking more difficult shots. It was tough that it happened to 2 guys at the same time. Right now, this group’s unproven from a standpoint of volume. Ben and Chase are probably the only 2 guys that have shot at volume at this levels. Zaide a little bit towards the middle of the year.

I think we’re a good shooting basketball team. I think we’ll be, hopefully, top half of the Big East. And I think when we have been, we’ve really good on that end of the floor.

The one thing is, we’re not playing guys that really can’t shoot, or don’t look to shoot, or it’s not something they do. I can guarantee you we’re going to be open, we’re going to fire them up there. I think our players think and our staff and everyone believes that we’re going to fire a couple in there and really use that line as a weapon to open up the floor so we can dominate the paint.

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