Some great quotes and interesting comments from the coach yesterday. Key takeaways, from my view:
1- The two biggest pleasant surprises in early practice appear to be Noah Williams and Volodymyr Markovetskyy...although he admits it's really early.
2- If he had his way, he'd redshirt both of those guys...and, in fact, a lot more of the newcomers. Probably won't be able to do it, but he's really trying to build a program through development.
3- Smith described what kind of team fans can expect this year: “You’re going to see a gritty team. We have got to get to where we defend, rebound, take care of the ball. Hopefully, we’ll be there. We’ve got to find ways to get stops.”
4- Smith and Elleby appear to have a very good relationship. He'd like CJ to continue working on defense and rebounding, but says he's a great kid. Could play some point forward for the Cougs this year. Also, he indicated that Elleby was closer to staying in the NBA draft than anyone thought, but that it was a good sign that he wanted to come back and play at WSU.
5- He likes the job and the team a lot so far...quipping, "I haven't lost [a game] yet." Smith has a great sense of humor.
Here's a link to the full transcript of his comments at Media Day:
https://static.pac-12.com/sports/basketball-m/MediaDay19/19-WSUMBBSmith.pdf
1- The two biggest pleasant surprises in early practice appear to be Noah Williams and Volodymyr Markovetskyy...although he admits it's really early.
2- If he had his way, he'd redshirt both of those guys...and, in fact, a lot more of the newcomers. Probably won't be able to do it, but he's really trying to build a program through development.
3- Smith described what kind of team fans can expect this year: “You’re going to see a gritty team. We have got to get to where we defend, rebound, take care of the ball. Hopefully, we’ll be there. We’ve got to find ways to get stops.”
4- Smith and Elleby appear to have a very good relationship. He'd like CJ to continue working on defense and rebounding, but says he's a great kid. Could play some point forward for the Cougs this year. Also, he indicated that Elleby was closer to staying in the NBA draft than anyone thought, but that it was a good sign that he wanted to come back and play at WSU.
5- He likes the job and the team a lot so far...quipping, "I haven't lost [a game] yet." Smith has a great sense of humor.
Here's a link to the full transcript of his comments at Media Day:
https://static.pac-12.com/sports/basketball-m/MediaDay19/19-WSUMBBSmith.pdf