Hoosier State of Mind
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Indiana Basketball: Justin Smith’s path to the NBA

By Trevor Gersmehl

BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 23: Justin Smith #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers brings the ball up court during the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Assembly Hall on February 23, 2020 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 23: Justin Smith #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers brings the ball up court during the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Assembly Hall on February 23, 2020 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Indiana Basketball, Justin Smith
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA – MARCH 04: Justin Smith #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers steals the ball in the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Assembly Hall on March 04, 2020 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Areas of Improvement

The most glaring weakness in Smith’s game is his three-point shooting. His mechanics are wonky and his shot looks the furthest thing from effortless. The statistics back this up too, as he is an atrocious 25% from three in his career at IU.

Some players are poor shooters just from lack of repetitions. Armaan Franklin only shot 26% from three his freshman season, but his shot looks mechanically sound. He just needs time in the gym.

Smith is a whole different animal. If he is serious about playing in the NBA, he needs to hire a shooting coach and put in a crazy amount of hours shooting. This is possible too, but if it hasn’t happened after three years, will it happen after a fourth?.

Smith has more offensive detriments than just his shooting. He just takes up space on offense in the halfcourt. His lack of ball-handling skills makes him reliant on others creating opportunities for him, but Smith makes no effort to move without the ball. We have seen some instances of him deciding to take the ball to the rim with authority and using that massive vertical jump to leap over everybody and throw down a dunk. Why that doesn’t happen more is a mystery to me.

Defensively, Smith is an animal…when he chooses to be. However, he often drifts or seems to not put as much effort in on that end as he maybe should, especially considering he is basically dead weight on offense in the half-court.

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