Purdue star Braden Smith's standard for himself: 'Perfection'
Braden Smith has been forged into the player that he’s become — the Big Ten’s preseason player-of-the-year — by slights, be them real or manufactured.
That’s not uncommon for great players, to revel in every shred of disrespect they can get their eyes on.
But these days, Smith is an expected All-America-level player, he’s the preseason POY in his conference, he’s been to a Final Four and his team is the October favorite to win its third Big Ten title in as many years.
So will he have to look harder for things to agitate him, to poke his competitive drive?
“(The disrespect) will always be there,” he said last week at Big Ten media days in Chicago.
Yeah, maybe, but it also may be less credible than ever before, as if the engagement-farming Twitter graphics that have set him off before were ever even worth a second thought. Or the take complex that tends to exist online around small, brash and highly visible players with big reputations.
Smith’s standard for himself, he says: “Perfection.”
“I feel like I always have something to prove,” he said. “I hold myself to perfection. I like to be perfect in everything I do. When I miss a shot, if I turn it over, when I’m not a good teammate, not this or that, I hold myself to the highest standard possible.”
Purdue doesn’t need Smith to be perfect this season. That’s unrealistic for any player.
But it does need him to be great. With Zach Edey gone, Smith succeeds the two-time Player-of-the-Year as the Boilermakers’ alpha, both in accomplishment and personality. That his point guard position affords him a platform to raise the level of those around him only amplifies the magnitude of his importance.
Leadership, too. Smith admits that his intense competitiveness can sometimes get the best of him as a communicator.
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“I’m just trying to be a better, trying to be more vocal, figuring out ways to communicate with different teammates,” Smith said. “I’m not great at it. (Fletcher Loyer) could tell you that. Coach (Matt) Painter could tell you that. Everybody could tell you that. But I’m working at it.”
The Smith seen in Purdue’s off-season practices has been patient and chatty, often seen explaining things as a coach would to any of his five new freshman teammates or returnees now moving into different roles. It’s essential, for example, that Smith gels with bigs Trey Kaufman-Renn and Will Berg — and rookie Daniel Jacobsen — in ball-screen offensive actions, where he and Edey were elite together. That can’t be expected to happen overnight.
As is, Smith will be asked to be great as a scorer, great as a facilitator, great as a leader and great as his team’s competitive engine, all areas where he’s proven himself to the point of being the most known star in the Big Ten.
Thus, the preseason player-of-the-year nod.
“It’s just a preseason thing,” Smith said. “It’s not my goal. I don’t want to be the preseason (player-of-the-year). I want to be that at the end of the year.”
