NC State Wolfpack: Why Dennis Smith is a Brilliant Failure
Dennis Smith Jr. marks among the ACC’s best players yet continues to fail the NC State Wolfpack in the wake of Mark Gottfried’s dismissal.
It’s official — I’m off the Dennis Smith bandwagon.
Looking directly at the stat sheet, it’s hard to place blame on the Fayetteville native for the NC State Wolfpack‘s abysmal season. In fact, many would say he’s the only bright spot. He averages 18.7 points and 6.3 assists per game and leads the conference in the latter category. However, this is what makes the Wolfpack’s troubles that much more infuriating.
State had a tough hill to climb after dropping four of its first five ACC games, especially after getting pummeled by UNC-Chapel Hill by 51 points. Then on January 23, the Pack upset No. 17 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Smith finished with 32 points as the game looked like the start of a complete turnaround for the season. The exact opposite happened as NC State would lose its next seven games.
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In the face of that adversity, one would think somebody would step up and become a leader that a team could rally behind. Smith, on the other hand, seems to have been continuing to look out for “number one.”
The biggest indication of this egocentrism came against Syracuse. Smith dominated the entire game, finishing with a triple-double (31 points, 15 assists, 11 rebounds). State maintained the trend until the point Smith reached his ninth rebound with double-digits in points and assists already in the bag. After that moment, Smith left his spot in the defensive backcourt to camp near the Orange basket to capture his 10th rebound. That allowed John Gillon and Syracuse to start their rally to send the game into overtime with all the momentum before coming away with the seven-point win at PNC Arena on a night where the Pack could have won in an outstanding fashion similar to its victory over Virginia Tech, another contest in which Smith recorded a triple-double.
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With the season slipping further and further out of reach, Smith receded into focusing on his future beyond the Wolfpack, it’s shown in his demeanor, and it’s bringing down the rest of the team. Scrutiny that should fall on the players, Smith included, has instead been directed to head coach Mark Gottfried, and it’s resulted in the sixth-year skipper getting fired from the program once the season ends.
The irritating part of the recession is that Smith is talented enough to where he can phone it in every game, and it wouldn’t hurt his statistics. He’s still one of the favorites for ACC Freshman of the Year, has all but locked up a spot on an All-ACC team, and has been slated as an NBA Draft lottery pick. But the latter is entirely laughable at this point.
Don’t get me wrong — Smith is incredibly talented. He’s lived up to the hype in terms of scoring production. However, that’s all he is: raw talent. Though showing flashes of it, he is severely lacking in leadership, which is a crucial characteristic for a potential NBA player, especially a point guard. He can score all day long, but he’s in a completely different lower tier from players like Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook, the NBA’s archetypical point guards.
Here’s why Smith is brilliant though: his shortcomings don’t matter, and he knows it.
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He is blissfully aware that people are riding high on the euphoria of his successful statistics, and that no matter how far the Pack sinks, he’s incredibly safe. That’s why he can phone it in with little regard to damaging his future. He’s virtually guaranteed his NBA money for next year, and aside from injury, there’s nothing that will damage that.
Enjoy the bright future that is all but given to you, Dennis, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.