What Kendall Smith Has Learned from Jawun Evans

Kendall Smith had probably the best game of his career as a Cowboy on Saturday as he posted a 20-5-5-2 line with just 2 turnovers in OSU’s win over the Cyclones. This came on the heels of probably the worst game of his short OSU career as he went 3-for-10 and had just 6 points in only 24 minutes against OU on Wednesday.

So what happened between those two games? Well, the opponent got worse — ISU is No. 151 in defensive efficiency while OU is in the top 50 — but also Smith said he started watching more tape of a former great OSU point guard. One that was tearing up this very conference just one year ago.

“I was texting Mitch last night and told him I was watching Jawun Evans’ film,” said Smith. “All of his possessions. One thing I noticed was that he pushed the ball every time in transition. I just try to push it every time and put pressure on the defense. He stopped me when I was going left, so I saw a lane going to the middle.”

Smith was talking about his play at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime, but he could have been talking about any number of moments during the game.

Smith was 7-of-18 from the field and still takes too many long 2-pointers, but he only took two 3-pointers on Saturday. He’s shot fewer than that in a game just three times this year. That’s probably a good thing for a career 33 percent 3-point shooter.

And who better to learn from than Evans, who masterfully conducted the offense last year by getting his small body into the lane and making plays? Smith is bigger and, one would think, potentially could be more productive around the rim.

According to Hoop Math, Evans took 48 percent of his shots in 2016-17 around the rim and made over 50 percent of them. Smith has taken just 31 percent of his shots this year around the rim, but he’s made 57 percent (!) of them (Jeffrey Carroll has taken 37 percent this year compared to 46 percent last year ?).

It’s something that Smith not only seems aware of but Boynton has encouraged in saying that going to the glass has been preached from Day 1 for his entire team.

OSU in 2018 has actually taken more quick transition shots off of steals and missed opponent shots than it did last year (25 percent this year to 23 percent last year). Conflate that with the reality that OSU has taken a lot fewer shots at the rim (40 percent last year to 31 percent this year) and you start to see that the Pokes seem more reticent to go hard to the bucket. More quick transition shots should not be leading to fewer around the rim shots.

There is a case to be made that with the big-bodied guards OSU has in Smith and Carroll, it should be attacking the rim a lot more than it is. Why is a team that lost Phil Forte taking four more 3-pointers a game than it was a year ago? Maybe Smith can help lead that charge (literally and figuratively).

“Every single play is competitive (in the Big 12),” said Smith on Saturday. “You can’t take plays off. When you are a leader on the team, you have to prove that every single night. I am learning and adjusting. I will continue to get better as the season goes on.”