Daily Bullets (June 18)

Cracking the Code

The Boston Celtics named Marcus Smart their “sixth man of the year”, citing his intangibles that Cowboy fans know and love.

Smart’s greatest contributions, however, didn’t come in the form of traditional statistics. His most appreciable quality was his ability to create winning plays on a nightly basis, whether it was making a key deflection, grabbing an offensive rebound during crunch time, or diving on a loose ball to gain or retain possession. [NBA.com]

That’ll be the tricky thing for Smart when/if he hits free agency next summer: how do you quantify and pay for the premium he provides?

 Seat at the Table

Jawun has truly maximized his chances of going in the first round.

“He’s so good in pick-and-roll situations,” Bilas said. “His pick-and-roll feel, you just don’t see that very often. You’re not taught that. He’s been well-taught, but he’s got a feel for that that a lot of players don’t have.

“There’s a little bit of Chris Paul in him, but he’s not as big. His size is going to be a factor. But smaller guards can be more effective now than maybe 10 years ago. The fact that the game’s called a little bit closer is helpful to a smaller guard” [NewsOK]

Having an NBA-ready pick-and-roll game and instant offensive game will make it hard for teams to pass on the former OSU guard.

OSU and NCAA Notes

Rickie’s got a 50/50 shot at the U.S. Open on the final day….Pacers are giving Jawun a hard look at No. 18….NFL.com says James Washington is going to be an NFL star….Jim Harbaugh invites the Obama’s out to Michigan

Rickie’s certainly in the hunt going into the final day.

68 on Moving Day and @RickieFowler is in the hunt heading into Sunday at @usopengolf! #okstate #golfschool pic.twitter.com/kc8cA8mZxX

— Oklahoma State Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) June 17, 2017

Pretty good watching locals around the U.S. Open trying to pronounce Jordan Niebrugge – “knee-brew-gee”, right?

Heard 30 diff pronounciations of @jniebs5 last name here at the @usopengolf so I went to the fans for some help—> ?https://t.co/6bM0hDiqT1

— Kaitlin Sharkey (@KRoseSharkey) June 16, 2017

Seems like an important fact in conversations with your Texas Tech friends this fall.

In 1923–when OK State adopted their cowboy–Texas Tech's football team was called the Matadors, but sure https://t.co/rJIp51bD0o

— BUM CHILLUPS (@edsbs) June 16, 2017

What You Missed on PFB

• Porter on Rickie and the U.S. Open is great
• Get to know one of the o-line’s biggest studs