As has often been the case this season, one of the stars of Georgia Tech’s win over Duquesne on Tuesday was guard Adam Smith. His back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half flipped a one-point deficit into a four-point lead that the Yellow Jackets never relinquished en route to their 73-67 win that closed the non-conference portion of the schedule.
Earlier in the day, Smith put up about 500 shots to stay sharp, coach Brian Gregory said.
“The day before, 500 shots in the morning,” Gregory said. “Other guys see that. That’s impacted our program maybe every bit as much as the stuff on the court. He’s the best shooter in the conference and why is it? Here’s why.”
The truth about the Jackets, who begin ACC play Saturday against No. 7 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., will be uncovered over their 18 league games. But, at 10-3, they appear improved from last season’s team that stumbled to a 12-19 record, perhaps considerably so. If the appearance proves reality, the biggest difference maker could well be Smith, a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech who has given the Jackets the consistent 3-point threat that Gregory has pined for in his first four seasons.
“Probably, their success will be dictated on how well (Quinton) Stephens and Smith make shots,” VCU coach Will Wade said after Tech’s win over the Rams on Dec. 15. “If those guards can make 3’s, I think they’ll be very tough to beat, because you can’t dig down on the post as much.”
In Smith, Tech has the player who led the ACC in 3-point shooting percentage last season, at 42.4 percent (81-for-191), and has backed it up at 43.7 percent (38-for-87) this season, seventh in the league. He could be Tech’s most dangerous 3-point shooter since Anthony Morrow knocked down 44.8 percent of his 3-pointers in 2007-08.
As has been typical with Gregory’s teams, the Jackets have a multi-faceted frontcourt rotation with Charles Mitchell, Nick Jacobs, James White and Ben Lammers. Before Smith, though, opponents often double-teamed the post and forced the Jackets to beat them from the outside, which they were consistently unable to do. Tech shot 26.7 percent last season, the third-lowest rate in the NCAA. Two seasons ago, they made 31.5 percent, 273rd in the country.
The defining statistic of Tech’s collapse last season was its 0-13 record in games against ACC opponents decided by seven points or less. Complicit in the failure was its atrocious perimeter shooting. Two of the more extreme examples were near-upsets of Syracuse and Louisville, both one-point losses. The Jackets shot a combined 4-for-28 from 3-point range.
Gregory has witnessed the accumulating pressure and frustration that the misses caused in games where the Jackets were often fighting to stay competitive.
“We’d run some stuff to get a 3, and we’d get (an open shot), and it wouldn’t go in,” Gregory said. “It’s just as good as a turnover.”
Last spring, when Smith considered Tech as a possible transfer destination, Gregory’s pitch was simple — the Jackets were desperate for someone with his shooting eye and could get him open shots. Smith did his research, poring over the Jackets’ shooting numbers.
Said Smith, “I figured I’d fit right in with them.”
As Gregory noted, Smith’s craft is honed daily. Smith shoots on his own for 45 minutes to an hour every day. He does ballhandling drills, takes one- and two-dribble jumpers and goes around the 3-point arc using Tech’s “Gun” shooting machine, which collects rebounds and fires out passes. He began the routine last season after hearing how NBA gunners like Stephen Curry, Ray Allen and Kyle Korver stayed sharp with hundreds of shots daily.
“It’s really just about staying in the rhythm,” he said. “That’s it.”
Smith took Christmas Day off. Speaking Wednesday, he said he wasn’t sure how many consecutive days he’d shot until then, “but it’s a lot.”
After three seasons of carrying Tech’s scoring burden, forward Marcus Georges-Hunt said that with his new running mate, “it’s like I can take a deep breath and just play relaxed.” Gregory described it in similar terms.
“As a coach, obviously, it gives you a greater peace and with the players, it does, too,” he said. “Because when he misses one, you just have the feeling he isn’t going to miss the next one. It’s every bit as much mental as it is everything else.”
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