Russ Smith

I like his game. Cat quick and good handles, kinda reminds me a little of Kemba Walker

 

Love this kids commitment to Defense. Moves his feet soo incredibly well. Shot needs more lift, but shooting improves with the amount of work you put in. Would love to see him manning the second squad when Morey trades Bev for 1st

 

I love this kid too. On top of all the comments about his quickness on both ends of the court I might add this...he simply bleeds winner from every pore. Something about his attitude and spirit. He's just .. a winner.

 

Interesting player.

 

Good player. I expect he will have success at the next level.

 

How does this guy compare to Patrick Beverley?

They seem to be cut from the same cloth.

 

A 6 foot shooting guard? Who scores half his points near the rim?

I really what I've seen from Smith but I have doubts how his game translates into the NBA. I do think his D does translate. His O is the reason that he won't be a first round pick.

 

Projected to be right around where our NY 2nd round pick is. Improved outside shooting(37% from 3) and assist/to rate this season.

 

It's a good choice if we draft him in second round

 

Right where he would have gone in last year's draft.

In theory, he came back to Louisville this year to work on his PG skills, so he could work his way into the lottery.

 

I'm a fan of his. I'd happily take him on as a 3rd strong PG.

 

Draftexpress updated his profile:

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Russ-Smith-19043/

Still improving and fit our system like a glove.

 

As a Louisville fan, I had the chance to see Russ in almost every game last season. I believe that his game fits very well with the Rockets. Russ' greatest strength is his ability in the open court, both finishing/drawing fouls and pushing the pace. His ball handling is excellent but he tends to make the occasional dumb pass. Decision making and passing has improved drastically from junior to senior year, as did his 3 point shooting.

One cause for concern is his decrease in free throw percentage, which was only 70% his senior year. His free throw form is off balance and really hurt the team in games last year (was only 4-10 in tournament game against Kentucky). His greatest weakness is his height and build, which would limit him defensively against some teams.

Overall, if Russ was available for our second round pick, I would love to have him on the team. Might be valuable as a backup point guard (he brings more to the table than Canaan) depending on where the Lin situation goes in the coming years.

Video is from his game vs SMU where he went off for 22 points in a 10 minute stretch (starting from 13 minutes left in second half)

http://youtu.be/VYNRX8_di_g?t=3m4s

 

Size could more or less be an issue, but it's a good pick in mid second round. If we are lucky, here's another guy maybe still available when we pick(but he's projected to go in late first or early second in previous versions):

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Deonte-Burton-6487/

Deonte Burton has adequate size, length and athleticism to compete with any PG. He has to should much more offensive load for his team, so shot selection and heavy usage caused the outside shooting percentage to appear worse.

He's actually one of my second round favorites with decent potential, which can't be said for most second round picks.

 

big louisville fan, i would love russ on this team.

he's already a better fit than lin, and i believe hes a better fit than canaan. he reminds me of a pat-bev lite, with better scoring ability.

would be a very good fit next to james.

 

and, FWIW, its not like this is a young, inexperienced kid.

Smith is 23. He's logged a lot of important minutes over a 4 year career in college.