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KVNU had this interview with Coach Smith on earlier this week as part of their Full Court Press show. It starts at about the 30:30 mark at the link below:

https://www.kvnutalk.com/9-25-2018-3/

Some interesting (to me) points from the interview:

- He plans to play fast. He recently got after Sam Merrill for passing up a transition three. Not from the interview, but last year's KenPom stats have South Dakota ranked at 52nd for tempo and Utah State at 244th. This could be a dramatic change.

- The defense is coming along. They will definitely use the press, but not all the time.

- He is looking to fill one more position on the staff. The assistant positions are full, so this would be a player development/support staff person. Its been reported on the board that this hire should be announced soon and Coach seems to confirm that.

- He speaks highly of Neemias and his defensive abilities. He even attempts to mimic the Portuguese accent.

- He emphasizes three areas, limit turnovers, rebounding, and maximizing free throws. He says we are weak in two of those areas.

- He confirms all the injury news (Brown, Stall, Knight, and Roche) that we have heard over the last few months.

From the interview, it sounds like the team has a long ways to go. I'm not expecting much this season, but hopefully the improvement is noticeable as the season progresses.

What injury did Knight have? I was aware of Stall/Rooch being out the year and Brown being out for a month or so, but was not aware the Knight injury.

Knight III had surgery early in the summer. He just got cleared to resume basketball activities about 10 days ago.

Sam lost 15 lbs and is lean and mean. Will be interesting to see how his new body impacts his game.

Also of note is Fakira has put in a lot of body work and is big and strong as a freshman. Neemias has 7’5” wingspan and is a legitimate rim protector.

Could be rough year, but coach sounds keyed in. Offensive speed, rebounds, turnovers? All shortcomings the last few years.


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I saw Spencer Nelson at the Cache Valley parade of homes last week. He is still living in the valley. I wonder if he is being considered for the last position?

Sam lost 15 lbs and is lean and mean.

He was at soccer the other day and it took me a minute to recognize him. He looks much slimmer.