Don’t try to use facts to ruin their teenage temper tantrum.
Tolu Smith is a bum.
- Thread starter Baddog11
- Start date
And regardless of how Tolu did offensively it was one of our best offensive outputs of the year. The game was lost on defense. With the usual issues- on ball defense, particularly pick and roll.
Jans needs to be held responsible for how bad we would be without Hubbard's scoring?
Haha, how the absolute 17 can someone be held responsible for how we would be if not for being different?
That's just absurd.
They were better than us at every position. And we got zero from jones, moore. Murphy. I’m surprised the game was as close as it was.
He also credited them(USCe) with being smart enough to inbound it to a good free throw shooter with seconds left to play, right after we unbounded to DJ for our fouls shots. Because everyone knew both teams were fouling off the inbounds. They hit both, we miss one. And Coach Williams called it correct again. He’s been griping half the season that Tolu needs to go straight up and dunk more. I love listening to Coach. He knows ball and will tell it given the chance. I really appreciate our radio crew!!
I just believe Tolu has been playing with an injury, honestly. And credit to the kid if he is, but dayum. At some point you gotta change something. We throw the same plan on the court no matter our opponent and they continue to carve us up. No one can stay in front of any player on any team and no one tries slowing them down. We either have to run as much as possible to score with them or pray we get Hubs a decent look, which doesn’t happen so he has to rely on his jumper getting enough air under his feet to shoot over the d. Credit to Hubs he’s kept us in many games and won a few for us. We are a turnover machine trying to get it in to Tolu and when he does catch a pass he either can’t get close enough for a missed layup or just misses it. Every D in our conference has figured us out. Jans is doing what he thinks can win, but it’s not working. We’ve got to figure something out fast.
Then explain to me how in SEC games he is 12th in the conference in scoring and 4th in rebounding. He did have a double double Saturday against USCe. Pretty good for a SWAC guy.
Im not as down on Tolu as some on this board are... but this take just gets old. He's the ONLY big in the league that plays with this skill set. No good teams have a back to the basket, dump it in there, and let him work guy. Teams rely on 3s, stretch big men, movement, etc now.
He scores because he's got a good post game, but also because teams would rather him go 1 on 1 than give up free 3s. They'd trade 2s for 3s on the other end, or they'll foul him where he's horrible at the line.
Rebounding the same way. He never leaves the paint. Hes not capable of guarding on the perimeter and he's not capable of playing out on the perimeter. So he's always 10 feet from the glass at ALL times.
You have to give him credit for getting those counting numbers... but he's not a guy that would fit in at any top tier program. And I dont think hed be anything more than a role player on any of the top SEC teams either. He cant defend, he cant challenge shots at the rim, he's a terrible free throw shooter, he cant stretch the floor. His game just doesnt translate very many places in the game of basketball anymore.
in the sec alone: Broome, Aidoo, Samuel, Nelson-- even guys like Mitchell from Kentucky and Mack from South Carolina-- are more marketable bigs at this point.
Last edited:
So you view him as the 7th best big in the conference. Ok, that isnt excactly bad.
As an experiment- I would happily take a team full of the 7th best conference players at each position every single day because I think that team would be pretty damn good.
Also, you claim he scores because teams dont double him. WT17 games do you watch? Teams have doubled him this entire season. He scores 1on1, 1on2, and also kicks it out to open or dishes to cutting players all the time...who are open because Tolu was being doubled.
I like that you mention he take you are responding to gets old. As if the constant belittling of Tolu's play and accomplishments dont get old?
Posters claim he cant finish- but he is finishing at a higher % than he has in prior years. Posters claim he cant rebound- but he is rebounding at the same rate he has in years past.
Tolu is tied for 10th in the conference in PPG 3rd in the conference in RPG, and leads the conference in FG%. But there is always a way to excuse away stats and results. The latest way is to basically say 'well Tolu isnt one of the top few in the conference, so he sucks', and that is just dumb.
Last edited:
Actually again I was defeding Tolu.
I dont view Tolu as the 7th best big in the conference, I named guys that suit the positiion better than he does. And i could probably list more if i wanted to scroll thru the teams, but I really dont care too.
I didnt say he scores when teams dont double him. There have been plenty of teams that have played him 1 on 1. Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee-- He is a threat on the post-- but good teams dont center their offense around a guy like him. There is literally no one else in the league that does. And minus Edey at Purdue whose 7-5, no one in the country does.
He's a 1 trick pony. He can score on the block. The rest of him game, for the position he plays in below average. Again he cant defend, he cant block shots, he cant shoot free throws, he cant guard the perimeter on switch outs, he cant stretch the defense because he cant hit a 12 footer, he cant get up and down the floor, he cant handle the ball.... there is literally nothing else he does even average.
While he gets numbers because we throw it down in the post to him, because we literally have only 1 other offensive option... and he gets rebounds, which anyone should that never leaves the paint on either end of the floor... he's simply not someone good teams would build around or want as the focal point of their teams... and going back to the orginial statement, there arent any high level teams, or the top teams in the sec... with people of his skill set on their rosters-- and there is a good reason for this.
Spot on
The one thing I’ve noticed that makes the double team issues even worse is not recognizing it enough to create floor space.
One of two things often happens….its an immediate double team (like A&M ran) and there’s no outlet for him to pass to or a double team occurs because another player on offense drags a defender down in the post to allow the double team. You can fix those with floor spacing and reacting to the defense but it’s not really happening enough. Doesn’t help they only have one true perimeter shooter.
Pardon my inability to recognize you were defending him in the prior post or this most recent one.
There are some positives i said as well. Nor did i refer to him as a bum, like many in this thread have. I recongize his skill set. So do other coaches in prominent basketball schools.
Pardon my inability to recognize you were defending him in the prior post or this most recent one.
Is there anything in the red you highlighted I mentioned that is wrong?
He made 1st team for the second straight year. I wish we had a lot of bums like him on the team.
Get unlimited access today.