February 11, 2009
Tyler Smith continues to be one of the most versatile prospects in the NCAA, a player who can carry multiple roles on both sides of the ball. Coming into this season, he was supposed to be the leader of a Tennessee team that was going to cruise through the SEC and establish himself as one of the premier players in the country. Flash forward to February: Smith has shown a lot of improvements in his transition to the wing, but Tennessee is unranked with a 14-8 record and Smith has gradually exposed his many strengths and weaknesses regarding his potential at the next level.
Physically, there is very little not to like about Smith. Standing a legitimate 6’7 with a nice frame and good wingspan, he has the ideal body type of an NBA small forward. His athleticism also projects nicely as he possesses good lateral quickness on the defensive end, speed in the open floor, and explosiveness around the basket. There are few collegiate combo-forwards who look the part better than Smith.
Offensively, however, he is less of a sure thing, not really diversifying his offensive game to a great degree from his sophomore to his junior season. Though his scoring rate has improved over his career, at this point he is most effective as a spot-up shooter and slasher. The problem, however, is that he is not particularly efficient from beyond the arc, where he shoots 27.6% on 2.6 attempts per game. Despite his bad percentages, his form looks salvageable, as he possesses a quick release and, for the most part, a fluid motion. He most needs to work on getting a consistent release point, as sometimes he will push the ball from his chest. Working on getting his legs more involved in his shooting motion might help him too, as he does not get much elevation in his shooting motion. Also, for somebody who neither shoots an outstanding percentage from deep nor displays the best shot selection, he sometimes will fall in love with his jump shot instead of going elsewhere in his offensive repertoire.
He is also effective as a slasher, utilizing a quick first step in addition to superb athleticism for his size; Smith is effective off of the dribble and scoring around the basket. He certainly has room to improve, however, most prominently cleaning up his handle in order to be quicker with the ball in his hands. With better ball handling abilities, Smith could easily translate his slashing ability to the next level, which would help show scouts that he has an NBA ready skill on the offensive end. It would also help him to establish a mid-range game, creating separation to get shots off inside of the three point line, which he simply does not show consistently at this point. Another aspect of his slashing game that could improve is his court vision off of the dribble. Despite the fact that he shows good court vision in general, off of the dribble and in the post, Smith has a tendency to power the ball to the basket, regardless of how many players stand in his way. His turnover rate continues to improve for the third straight season now, though, to a now solid .15 turnovers per possession.
Defensively, Smith is having somewhat of a down year, but still shows a lot of promise at the next level. For one, his size and athleticism, primarily his lateral quickness, should help him to immediately earn playing time at the next level. Smith should be able to multiple positions, even some power forwards at the next level, which is one of his best attributes right now. Though he has struggled somewhat this year on his rotations and with maintaining his focus, which has manifested itself primarily in his decreased rebound, steal, and block numbers per-40 minutes pace adjusted, inconsistency has been the norm for Tennessee this year, who have yet to gel defensively.
Thus, the book is still out on Tyler Smith. His ceiling is not considered to be as as it once was, as he projects to be a Trevor Ariza type at best and a Renaldo Balkman type at worst—a nice role player who brings energy off the bench. The trouble regarding Smith at this point is that he can do many things offensively, but none of them consistently or particularly well enough to consider him NBA ready in any particular area. The rest of this season will be considered a salvation project both for the Tennessee Volunteers and Smith, who has to prove that he can lead this team in multiple roles to more wins. He is a year older than most in his class and because of this, declaring for the draft is a strong possibility, but he has a long way to go before being considered a lock for success at the next level. Improving his jump shot and ball handling abilities seem to be the most significant areas of concern and, should he be able to improve his consistency in these areas, he could make a bigger splash than expected come June.
