Delaware Blue Coats

The Blue Review: Zhaire Smith is living his best life in 2020

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Happy 2020, everybody! I hope your new year has been kind and your preparations for World War three are well underway!

When we last left our Delaware Blue Coats, they had lost both games of the G-League showcase in Las Vegas and fallen from third in the Eastern conference to fourth. Following their trip to Lost Wages, the Coats dropped another two games, one at home and one in Portland, ending 2019 on a four-game losing streak.

Since the calendar flipped, they’ve been able to settle themselves down a bit. They’ve won four of their six games in 2020, moving their record to 14-10, two games out of third place in the East. They’re essentially in the same place they were before the new year with the most notable difference being the play of Zhaire Smith.

In the last edition of the Blue Review, I mentioned Smith had been slowly improving after his slow start to the season. Well, the improvements haven’t been so slow lately as he has made some drastic improvements to his play in recent games, specifically his three point shot.

Per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Noah Levick, Smith is shooting 41.5% from three since December 3rd. Over his last five games, he is shooting 48% from three on five attempts per game. He is also shooting 52% from the floor and 79% from the line with a 63% true shooting percentage.

Not only is he sinking his shots, Smith is also showing the ability to hit an array of different three point shots; off the dribble, catch-and-shoot, stepbacks, and off of jab steps. It’s been amazing to see how Smith is able to develop when he’s fully healthy and not on his peanut-related death bed.

Smith has recently gone as far as to say he’s full on hunting three pointers now. He said, with tongue in cheek, that he’s no longer looking to dunk. He’s taking the lazy approach and looking for the long ball.

This is a very welcome change of pace considering how painful it’s been watching Sixers’ first-round picks develop their three point shot. If he keeps this up, he may make himself too valuable for the Sixers to trade come the February 6th deadline.

In other performance related news, Christ Koumadje rang in the new year with a some major fire works recording a points-rebounds-blocks triple double (12 pts/16 reb/10 blks) on January 4th against the Long Island Nets. Some of the all-time greats who have achieved this milestone include David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and, more recently, Anthony Davis. Koumadje, an undrafted free agent, is currently first in blocks per game (3.7) among G-Leaguers with at least five games played.

Blue Coats’ leadings scorer Marial Shayock saw a six-game 20-point scoring streak come to an end earlier this month against the Grand Rapids Drive. He dropped 29 in their recent win over the South Bay Lakers, so he’s already on his way to another scoring streak. The Sixers’ second-round selection currently sits third in the G-League in scoring among players with at least 20 games played, 23.4 points per game, and is only 0.4 points away from tying first place. He really doesn’t have much left to prove at the G-League level, so hopefully we get to see Shayock with the Sixers’ main squad after the trade deadline.

The Blue Coats also announced the acquisition of rookie point guard Justin Robinson after being waived by the Washington Wizards. The Sixers had their eye on Robinson leading up to the draft and held a pre-draft workout for the former Hokie. Although he is undersized, Robinson is an intriguing player to develop in the G-League. Here’s what I wrote about the guard leading up to the draft:

JUSTIN ROBINSON G, VIRGINIA TECH (6’2 195LB)

Virginia Tech’s all-time assist leader, Robinson is a true floor general. He is excellent at creating for himself, but more specifically, others. He’s a very smart player who knows how to overload the defense to one side in order to create open looks. He can thread the needle on passes into the post through traffic and has a great head fake on no look passes. His three point shot creates good spacing for those around him. He has a smooth shot that can hit from deep three point range. He can struggle to finish in the paint because of his size, but he has good body control and does a good job finishing though through traffic in order to draw fouls. He’s a feisty defender who is constantly looking to poke the ball out. However, he lacks the size to defend anything other than guards at the next level. Robinson might slip out of the draft because of his size and athleticism, but he has a chance to be a solid sixth man in the NBA.

*All stats used were taken prior to the Blue Coats loss on January 22nd

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