Eggers: Profiling Craig "The Rhino" Smith
Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune takes a look at new Portland Trail Blazers forward Craig "The Rhino" Smith...
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"You think of Portland, (the Blazers) always play hard and they get into the playoffs no matter what their roster is," he says. "They called me and said, ‘Hey, we really want you here.’
"It’s good to have a feeling like that, where somebody wants you. I’d had a tough five years on some bad teams. It was time to change that."
The Blazers love Smith’s work ethic. Assistant coach Buck Williams says Smith has his number on speed-dial, at his beck-and-call for a workout at the team’s practice facility.
"He’ll text me and said, ‘Let’s go work out,’ " Williams says. "He is in the gym all the time. He has heart, and he does a lot of stuff on the box. He is not afraid to take tough shots in there. He has been phenomenal for us so far."
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Blazers Acting GM Chad Buchanan credits Basketball Analytics Manager Ben Falk with helping to identify Smith's strong per-minute efficiency numbers during the offseason.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
4 months ago
Ben Golliver
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Rhino is beast. Buck's the man as well.
by Jumbaco! on Jan 26, 2012 3:02 PM PST via mobile reply actions
great off-season pick-up.
The LPB (low-post banger) that fans have been clamoring for, at a low cost, with a great attitude. Glad the Blazers got him, instead of some other team.
Unleash The Beast!!!!!!!!! Feed The RHINO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the energy, power and efficiency that he brings to the bench squad!
Craig Smith is a keeper!
LET THE LAMONSTER ERA BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love stories like this
Good guys finally catching a break. Welcome to Rip City, Rhino!
Extend him
Love to see the Rhino go toe to toe with Garnett or some other chump.
There are very few true low-post scorers in the game today
Having one off the bench is a great luxury for the Blazers.
I love the Rhino!
"Brandon Roy has done this before."
Rhino is probably the only true low post scorer on the team. Wallace and LMA just don't look comfortable down there, and nobody else even bothers to try.
Pretty sad when almost all your “low” post players (LMA, Camby, Kurt Thomas, Babbitt and Wallace) prefer to shoot outside jumpers, and your guards can’t shoot at all. No wonder our FG% stinks. Rhino definitely needs more minutes with the second team, and preferable a 2nd team PG who will feed him the ball, and not Crawford missing from outside.
I love it!
Man we need to keep him around for next year! If we get joel freeland next year from europe we will have a pretty great lineup with our bigs! Assuming we trade a deal with either camby and wallace or camby and batum we can get another good center(hibbert or javale mcgee I hope) and if felton works out for us resihn him and matthews
Formally known as: My_name_a_rudy
by Blaze_that_trail on Jan 26, 2012 3:54 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
That's from Elephantmen, isn't it?
Love that series.
I don't always root for an NBA franchise, but when I do, I prefer the Portland Trail Blazers.
by Oh. Em. Gee. on Jan 26, 2012 5:36 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
smith has been our greatest off-
Tell me again why we traded Miller?
by RenoBlazerFan on Jan 26, 2012 4:06 PM PST via mobile reply actions
oops bad phone!
Tell me again why we traded Miller?
by RenoBlazerFan on Jan 26, 2012 4:08 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
smith has been our greatest offseason pickup by far this year
Tell me again why we traded Miller?
by RenoBlazerFan on Jan 26, 2012 4:07 PM PST via mobile reply actions
my favorite pickup for sure.
Didn’t know much about him before but i’m so happy he’s on our team
#52
Think about our bench:
The PG has 3 legit options to pass to (Batum, Crawford and Smith). Why isn’t it more effective offensively?
I don't always root for an NBA franchise, but when I do, I prefer the Portland Trail Blazers.
by Oh. Em. Gee. on Jan 26, 2012 5:38 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
the pg (craw) has to actually pass
For it to be effective
Tell me again why we traded Miller?
by RenoBlazerFan on Jan 26, 2012 8:32 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I really wish Nolan and Armon would pass the ball
a bench full of guys that can score and we’re either stuck with Jamal at the 1 that will always get his own shot or Nolan/Armon who try to do the same but suck at it.
We have a bench squad with inside threat, outside threats, mid-range threats. We just need someone to make it run.
Patty, Rudy, somebody… any scrub with any trickle of PG instincts. Someone could do something with that. Just no-one that we have apparently.
Goes to show how much losing teams sink their players' values
I wasn’t very wild about picking him up. Partly due to his size/rebounding but partly because I thought he had a reputation as a knucklehead. Mea culpa!
It turns out that he’s hardworking and just the right amount goofy for a bench energy guy. No way he goes for the minimum if he hadn’t been playing for the Wolves and Clippers these past years.
Still hope we add someone with size for the bench, but I’m glad we get the Rhino for a season!
Hollinger
has been touting his per-minute production for years, often citing him as one of those players that he didn’t understand why he didn’t get more burn. Those sorts of statistics can be wrong. For example, Marreese Speights is a player who has had solid per minute stats for years, but seeing him in person the other day vs. Memphis one could see immediately from his behavior and body language why he doesn’t get more consistent burn. the Rhino’s the opposite of that, he just get’s in there and plays, no BS. But my larger point is, it doesn’t take massive amounts of basketball analytics to determine that Craig Smith is potentially a high value bench player — even commonly available ESPN stats show that, and your eyes can show that he’s got his head screwed on straight. Why don’t more NBA GMs see what’s right in front of them?
That "per-minute efficiency" is incredible
Especially in light of all the whiners we usually have coming off the bench who can’t seem to be productive because they don’t get enough minutes to “get their rhythm going” or whatever. Here’s a clue: stop shooting jump shots! Do like the Rhino. Play tough defense, take it to the hole, take your opportunities as they present themselves. And quit whining.
I really like The Rhino (c) and his game BUT...
the dough ball really needs to pass out of double and triple teams. once he starts doing that, his game will be really good!
Idk, I like the draw he brings:
You find him low enough in the post and a pump fake or two and he’s And 1ing it up at the line.
I don't always root for an NBA franchise, but when I do, I prefer the Portland Trail Blazers.
by Oh. Em. Gee. on Jan 26, 2012 5:41 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
remember, once he gets the ball in the post it's probably after crawford or felton have taken 7 crossover jumpers, lost 3 turnovers, and he only got the ball because it got deflected to him off an errant dribble
i wouldn’t pass it back out either.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
by mittsabishy on Jan 26, 2012 9:49 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
+1
i can totally agree with that lol. Really, if the second unit would pass and share the ball more, our second unit would be really good.
Craig Smith is a smart fella.
Why hoist inefficient jumpers when you can get a higher percentage shot inside? He knows how to use his body! If only he were a few inches taller, he’d probably be a beastly rebounder too.
This guy has his feet on the ground and a head on his shoulders.
What stood out the most to me was ..
- "It was the best of both worlds," Smith says. "It was an opportunity for a great education from a very good school" (Boston College is a good school.)
- He earned a degree in sociology. (How many players spend four years and finish their degrees in a field that requires the ability for introspection?)
- And he said, “I really enjoyed my academic experience” (This tells me a lot about him.)
Nice article. Love Craig Smith!
-Jack
I really like his game.
Smith has been rebounding at a nice rate this season — about 10 per 36 minutes, which is higher than Thomas and Aldridge. More steals than turnovers so far, too. Very efficient.
I wouldn’t mind retaining him for multiple years. He seems like the kind of player who could accept any role, and he’d be productive scorer and rebounder as a fill-in when the inevitable injuries occur.
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