Swan88 Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 Lee Barfknecht has an interesting article in this morning's Omaha World-Herald. Here is an excerpt:Coach Tim Miles called a meeting. . . . Leslee Smith — all 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds of him — stood up to talk. Four separate times. And people listened. “We had to get some things cleared up and out of the way,” said the junior forward from the British Virgin Islands. “I had a lot to say. I’ve been at a few other schools and been through meetings like this before.” His ideas? They weren’t complicated: pass the ball to the open man; help on defense when the ball gets into the lane; and stick to the game plan whether ahead or behind. . . . When you get that off your chest, you really come together.”Nice to see someone with maturity and experience taking a leadership role. Quote
Norm Peterson Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 Leslee Smith also has surprisingly quick hands on defense. For a big guy, he gets more steals in the open floor than you'd ever imagine. Right now, he has more steals than anyone on the team except David Rivers. Not bad for a guy who's 6th on the team in minutes played. jdostal and Hooper 2 Quote
throwback Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 I was going to start a thread that named Smith the MVP to this point, but this thread will be better as it already made one of my points - he might not be a captain, but clearly is a team leader. I remember another article about him in the pre-season that mentioned he was the player the others went to for advice, as he I believe is 23 - very important to have a guy like him in the locker room with so many 19 and 20 year olds. Hard to duplicate the experiences he has had - being told he wasn't good enough to play at SMU, work his way through a ju-co, battle injuries, etc. And his physical play may be the key to NU surviving/thriving in Big Ten play - hard to imagine where this team would be now or going forward without his rebounding and defensive capabilities - Norm mentioned the steals, which have been a nice bonus. And his offensive skills, especially out on the floor, have been an unexpected surprise. He's not going to lead the team in minutes or scoring probably any night this season, but he may very well be the guy NU can least afford to lose at this point. hhcmatt 1 Quote
GoBigRed Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 He is 6'8" but it looks like he has longer arms than usual for even a guy his size. He can do a lot of things deceptively like make steals and tip in rebounds that you don't think he's going to get to. And unlike 99.9% of big men who have played here the last decade, I don't cringe when he dribbles the basketball. Quote
TheKamdyMan Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 He reminds me of a poor mans DeJuan Blair with his size and abilities. Shuttlesworth, FredsSlacks and a0t0w0 3 Quote
The Coach Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 We need to find 1-2 more Leslees for next year. Hooper and hhcmatt 2 Quote
Huskerpapa Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 Leslee has been the most pleasant surprise this season...man, if he can get/stay healthy he is really going to play a major role on our team....please stay healthy, please! Quote
royalfan Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 He reminds me of a poor mans DeJuan Blair with his size and abilities. Good comparison. Quote
FredsSlacks Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 He reminds me of a poor mans DeJuan Blair with his size and abilities. Good comparison. yep. They even share knee issues. Quote
hskr4life Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 Leslee Smith also has surprisingly quick hands on defense. For a big guy, he gets more steals in the open floor than you'd ever imagine. Right now, he has more steals than anyone on the team except David Rivers. Not bad for a guy who's 6th on the team in minutes played. I do not mind that his minutes are low now. Would not mind if he is 6th in minutes in the Non Con... as we will need him come the B1G games this season. Quote
Hooper Posted November 25, 2013 Report Posted November 25, 2013 I expected Smith to help a lot this year, but he's really exceeded expectations thus far in my opinion, and he seems to continue to show improvement almost game to game. Right now, he's the glue that holds this whole thing together. He's the only guy who's really doing the dirty work on the court, and our only true big. This was a huge addition for the program. He's essential to our success, and obviously a valuable team leader. Quote
Cybrrmonky Posted November 26, 2013 Report Posted November 26, 2013 not bad for a guy that was plan "D" last spring when looking for a big man. This guy is way better than I expected glad we got him. that entire recruiting class last year was really solid. Fuller & Hawkins are going to be good players for us in the future as well. Quote
royalfan Posted November 26, 2013 Report Posted November 26, 2013 I expected Smith to help a lot this year, but he's really exceeded expectations thus far in my opinion, and he seems to continue to show improvement almost game to game. Right now, he's the glue that holds this whole thing together. He's the only guy who's really doing the dirty work on the court, and our only true big. This was a huge addition for the program. He's essential to our success, and obviously a valuable team leader. Yep and he is probably the 3rd or 4th guy we can leas afford to get hurt. And you could make a case for even more important than that. Quote
hskr4life Posted November 26, 2013 Report Posted November 26, 2013 I expected Smith to help a lot this year, but he's really exceeded expectations thus far in my opinion, and he seems to continue to show improvement almost game to game. Right now, he's the glue that holds this whole thing together. He's the only guy who's really doing the dirty work on the court, and our only true big. This was a huge addition for the program. He's essential to our success, and obviously a valuable team leader. Yep and he is probably the 3rd or 4th guy we can leas afford to get hurt. And you could make a case for even more important than that. Honestly I think he is more important than that... we have no other post presence. Could you see him going down and having to start Pitchford at the 5. Man that would be rough. Quote
jdostal Posted November 26, 2013 Report Posted November 26, 2013 Especially considering we already do start Pitch at the 5. hhcmatt and atskooc 2 Quote
trickey Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 Here is a link to a free rivals article about Smith: http://nebraska.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1582640 Not much that seems new...but nice. hhcmatt 1 Quote
AuroranHusker Posted December 3, 2013 Report Posted December 3, 2013 I expected Smith to help a lot this year, but he's really exceeded expectations thus far in my opinion, and he seems to continue to show improvement almost game to game. Right now, he's the glue that holds this whole thing together. He's the only guy who's really doing the dirty work on the court, and our only true big. This was a huge addition for the program. He's essential to our success, and obviously a valuable team leader. Yep and he is probably the 3rd or 4th guy we can leas afford to get hurt. And you could make a case for even more important than that. I'd suggest due to extraordinary leadership, post prowess & all-around toughness make Leslee Smith the one unique player NU could least afford to lose at the present time. Quote
Huskerpapa Posted December 3, 2013 Report Posted December 3, 2013 It leaves you wondering what the heck happened at SMU, other than (and perhaps the only thing) a new coach. Quote
hhcmatt Posted December 3, 2013 Report Posted December 3, 2013 It leaves you wondering what the heck happened at SMU, other than (and perhaps the only thing) a new coach. Larry Brown doesn't have the time to wonder if Leslee's knee will hold up. He said it was the only original roster move he went back and forth on. Quote
Silverbacked1 Posted December 3, 2013 Report Posted December 3, 2013 Yeah isn't Larry like 105 now? He needs to win now for more than one reason. Quote
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