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12-03-2003, 02:10 AM
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#1 | ||
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Aug 2002
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Blue Chip in the FBCB
6’7” and 242lbs. Tony Smith looks to be the real deal and is at the top of the list in the nation this year. All-American, All-State, and Mr. Basketball for the state of New York, Smith has garnered the attention of some of the most prestigious colleges across the country. Texas, Ohio St., Kansas, Kentucky, and the Deamon Deacons of Wake Forest have all offered this 20ppg all-star a scholarship to come and play ball for them next season. Not only is this kid a great ball player, he brings with him a decent ability in the classroom. Tony hasn’t declared yet what he wants to major in at the college level, but he has the ability to do whatever he wants. October comes and goes, and Tony prepares to play his final season for Ichabod Crane H.S. in preparation for the next level.
As the start of Tony’s senior season, he wanted nothing more than to just go ahead and sign with a team so that he could devote all his time and energy for his last season at Ichabod Crane and hopefully lead them to their 2nd straight state championship. The press came in bundles and waited impatiently to hear who Tony was planning on signing with. All signs pointed south, as Texas was leading the way for the past couple of months. Boston College even snuck in the mix with a late burst of interest in Tony. However, BC came just a bit too late and Tony felt he wasn’t given his respect and looked elsewhere. Tony’s mom sat beside him on the left and smiled at the reporters. His dad was nowhere to be found and it is common knowledge that Tony hasn’t had a father figure in his life at all. After some talking and some kind words to the recruiters and coaches at Texas, Tony calmly, and without hesitation pulls out a black hat. The black hat was blazing….with a big, fat, red O on it. Tony Smith is going to be a Buckeye, and is on his way to Ohio State in what was a total shock. Smith reports his auntie lives in Hilliard, Ohio and he wanted to be closer to some sort of family. His mom plans on moving to Ohio as soon as the season is over. Wishing Tony Smith a great career at The Ohio State University and wherever his future leads after. Code:
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12-03-2003, 03:29 AM
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#2 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Aug 2002
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Start of the 2004/2005 season
“I can handle the ball, I can dish it out, I am the complete player!” Boasting about his prowess on the court, Arthur Rascon may just be that. The complete player. He can score, rebound, dish it out, and brings with him a 3.04 GPA and a 1240 on his SAT. He led his team as a freshman to a state championship for Rosamond High School however, the past 2 years has been a bit of a let down falling 2 times in the area finals. He is getting tons of recognition though for his complete player abilities. West Coast, East Coast, Midwest teams all look at Arthur to possibly lead them to the promised land. “Oklahoma and Coach Devaney are at the top of my list right now” explains Rascon as he prepares to get on the court to practice. As of now though, Arizona, UCLA, Duke, trail Oklahoma. “My family wants me to stay close to home, but I don’t know anymore.” After last season and the Tony Smith debacle and a surprising commitment to Ohio State, nobody can be too sure what will happen with the top Blue Chip recruit in the country. As has been the custom with the best player in the country, Arthur Rascon decides to commit before his high school season gets under way so he has no other worries. The media fully expects the decision to go the way they have planned. That would be a written commitment to Oklahoma to play for Coach Devaney and the Sooners. But again, this season, Duke jumped out of and gained some high interest from Rascon and even BYU surprised plenty of people and stuck their nose in to the recruiting fold. Rascon is happy, his family is happy, which looks as though they will be getting what they want and that is a that their boy will be staying close to home. But Rascon wastes no more time and spends much less time than Tony Smith did last year and immediately pulls out the red hat with yet another O on it. But this time….its good news for the Sooners and Coach Devaney. Rascon will be a member of the Sooner squad next season and bring with him the total package. Code:
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12-03-2003, 03:33 AM
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#3 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Aug 2002
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11/14/04
It was never close. Tony Smith has come to Columbus and given the fans, the media, the nation, everything they expected and more. Was there any doubt? In his first collegiate game of his career, Smith comes out blazing for the Buckeyes. He earned the starting spot and is showing why, playing for 24 minutes and shooting 5-10 from the field with 8 rebounds and 3 of those offensive. 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3-6 shooting from 3 point range rounds out the game for Smith in his debut in Columbus. Code:
Tony leads his 1-0 #17 Buckeyes on his first road trip to Detroit in 2 days. 11/16/04 He did it again folks. The true freshman has yet to disappoint his fans, his skeptics…nobody. Detroit wasn’t able to stop him as Smith rolls to an 12 point performance on 5-10 shooting and 2-5 from beyond the arc. Adding 3 rebounds and an assist to help his cause Smith was able to help lead his Buckeyes past Detroit 65-59 and roll to a 2-0 record. If there is one flaw in Tony’s game right now, it would be his turnovers, as he was charged with 4 this game, but he also accounted for 2 steals. Code:
Binghamton lays in wait at Columbus in just 3 days. 11/19/04 Another game, another fine performance by Smith. Binghamton posed no threat to the Buckeyes and Smith brought with him his 50% shooting from the field on 4-8 shooting and 1-3 from 3 point land. Smith also contributed on the free throw line this game, going 4-6 from the charity stripe. Adding 4 rebounds and 2 assists along with 4 steals, Smith was able to tone down on the turnovers this game, only having 2. A good game by the freshman and the folks in Buckeye land hope he stays for awhile. Code:
Smith leads his 3-0 #15 ranked Buckeyes to the Pre-Season NIT tournament vs. Clemson on the 23rd. Be there! |
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12-03-2003, 10:48 PM
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#4 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Aug 2002
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11/23/04
First found of the Pre- Season NIT found Tony a bit nervous. A huge crowd, partial to no team, in a huge stadium, in an unfamiliar place and Tony was brought down to earth a bit. Held in check all night Smith was 2-7 from the field and went to the stripe once for a 2-2 night. Only contributing 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and no steals, Tony was out of his element tonight. The good news though, is Tony has yet to face defeat this season, and helped his Buckeye squad in a through trouncing of Clemson 83-69 and advance to the next round of the tournament. Hopefully Tony learns from this experience and will show a better game next round against 3-0 Gonzaga. (OSU 4-0) Code:
11/25/04 What a game. His skeptics said he can’t handle a challenge…that he never had one. He can’t handle the truth! 2 days after his worst performance of his young college career, Tony answers back in what may be his best overall performance. 2-5 from 3pt. land, and another stellar shooting performance from the field going 5-10 and 5-8 from the charity stripe for 17 points and the scoring lead for his team. Tony also brought down 5 boards had 5 steals with no turnovers! He would have been the POG in my opinion had it not been for a stellar game by Gonzagas own SF Reuben Reyes. But enough about Reuben. OSU wins again truly being led all the way by Smith in a close 71-67 game. Next game is the Semis against #3 Florida. (OSU 5-0) Code:
12/1/04 The Buckeyes and Smith ran into a brick wall tonight in the Semis against a tough, tough Gator defense. In a 61-35 butt-kicking Smith was held to another low with 8 points on 3-8 shooting and 0-3 from 3pt land. Smith showed some good rebounding ability though, bringing in 5 boards but not passing the ball for any assists. Tony and the Buckeyes moved up in the polls to #11. They will probably fall to start the new week. OSU is off until the 7th of the month. (OSU 5-1) Code:
OSU falls to #18. Taking a look at Tony’s stats through is first 6 game: Code:
Tony is looking pretty good averaging 12 a game in just 24 minutes of play. He is sharing time with the 2nd string SF who is getting an average of 16 minutes each game. Tony is the 2nd leading scorer on the team and 4th in rebounds. He is not much of a passer and isn’t finding the open man, but I guess that isn’t his job. |
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12-04-2003, 12:26 AM
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#5 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Aug 2002
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12/7/04
After the overall below average performance by Tony in the Pre-Season NIT, Tony and the Buckeyes traveled to St.Johns. Tony had a pretty nice game again tonight and was the 2nd leading scorer for the Bucks in a 81-75 loss. Smith is continuing to show good shot selection going 6-10 from the field while being 2-5 from 3 pt. land. I think what is separating Tony from getting more points is his inability to slash for the basket and drive for it, and he is taking more jump shots. The boy can play some defense though and stole the ball 6 times while committing only 1 turnover. He added 4 rebounds and an assist. Ohio St. is again on the road in their next game vs. Toledo on the 14th of Dec. and haven’t been at home since the 19th of Nov. (OSU 5-2) Code:
OSU falls out of the Top 25. 12/14/04 Tony hasn’t been away from home or his family for this long in his career. He isn’t playing complete games. It looks like the traveling, the pressure, and some hidden things may be hurting him. Without a doubt, Tony has his worst game of not only his college career, but his whole career as a whole. OSU wins 81-68 but no thanks to Tony. In his worst shooting output Tony is 1-7 from the field and 1-3 from the line. He did however add 4 boards and 3 assists to go along with his poor scoring output. The good news here I guess is that when he cant score at least he will dish it out, and contribute in some other way. 2 Steals and 1 turnover round out Tony’s day. After almost a month away from his family, Tony and the Buckeyes head back home to play Iowa St. on the 19th of the month. (OSU 6-2) Code:
12/17/04 At home finally Tony still seems to be lacking a bit of focus. Playing only 21 minutes and possibly being in jeopardy of losing his starting job, Tony rattles in 8 points in a 78-69 victory over Iowa St. He just isn’t taking enough shots, nor getting enough minutes. 3-6 from the field, a few boards here and there, and some assists. Although I will give him credit that he finally passing the ball around which he had not been doing much of in his first 6 games averaging less than an assist per game. He has now jumped that up .15 pts. He contributed no steals this game, and no turnovers. (OSU 7-2) Code:
Right now id have to say Tony has slacked off a bit from his first few games. He is not getting as much playing time and has lost a few minutes in each of his last few starts to the 2nd stringer. Im sure if he doesn’t pick up his pace, he will be splitting more time and possibly losing his starting spot. |
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12-04-2003, 11:03 PM
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#6 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Aug 2002
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12/19/04
Wright St. came to Columbus for the battle against Tony Smith and the Bucks. Tony did his job, again being the 2nd leading scorer of the game, which is now becoming commonplace for the most part. Tony pulls down 5 boards and 3 assists to go along with his great shooting day of 5-9 from the field and 2-4 from the line. Not a bad day at all. Tony did commit 2 turnovers but made up for it with 4 steals in helping his team win in nice fashion, 87-55. He is showing great shot selection and defensive skills. The Buckeyes get back in the top 25 and are now ranked 18th again. (OSU 8-2) Code:
12/24/04 Christmas Eve and the Buckeyes and Tony are on the road playing Valparaiso. Crappy scheduling by the A.D. there. Some sort of burr was up Tony for this game as he took a season high 15 shots. With his high shot selection and percentage, it looked like it might be a season high in scoring for him, but that wasn’t the case for this game. 5-15 from the field, and 1-6 from 3pt land. Also, Tony was 0-1 from the line…he really needs to start pushing at the basket more and get on the line and take advantage of some free points. He did however add 4 rebounds, all of them offensive, so he is helping out the cause for his team. Either way, Tony again was the 2nd leading scorer on the team and helped lead the 18th ranked Bucks to a 65-49 victory. The boys get to head home for Christmas, then play Texas the day after. Crappy schedule! (OSU 9-2) Code:
12/26/04 Day after Christmas, Texas in town, crappy game by Tony. I don’t know what happened here for Tony. 2 days ago, he takes 15 shots, tonight only 5. He committed 4 turnovers, and only had 2 assists. He did however have 6 assists in a season high in that category and added a nice 4 rebounds. He was surely not any help in the scoring category, but has I have said before, when he isn’t scoring he finds other ways to help out, either with assists which he has improved on greatly, or rebounds or defensively. The Buckeyes win though, 83-61 and are now 16th in the nation. Tony and his team get a nice little vacation, and wont play again, until the 5th of January where they will start conference play against Purdue and where Tony will get his first taste of Big Ten basketball. (OSU 10-2) Code:
Tony’s last 3 games saw him up and down a bit, but he did get a few more minutes than he had been the previous 3 games. Taking a look now at his stats in his OOC games and heading into conference play. Code:
Tony has greatly improved his assists per game. Just 6 games ago he averaged .7 assists a game and he jumped that to 1.7. Very nice as he is showing more ability in that area. He did drop in scoring average by 1.3ppg, but still averaging double figures there. He is still about the same in rebounds losing a tenth of a point there. His assist to turnover ration improved, again showing his ability to pass the ball and play good defense with some steals. Tony is still showing good shot selection dropping from .453 to .438. He needs to improve his free throw ability though as that is dropping some. He is now the teams 3rd leading scorer. He had a few bad games in this 6 game stretch but I think overall is finding more to do on the court besides score. Once conference play starts will be the challenge for him to overcome. |
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