Blog with Bryan Smithson

I have continued to rest my feet and will probably do this until the middle of next week.  I have really enjoyed the rest but at the same time I am very eager to get back out on the court and do some work.  I have been spending a lot of time in the weight room and on the stationary bike to keep a decent condition until I get started again.  School is getting extremely hectic right now as deadlines are approaching for research papers, presentations, Oh and you can't forget about TESTS.  I have moved some of my concentration to the books as of late because I had gotten so off track with basketball distracting.  However, I can't say that it is much easier focusing on school now either.  It is tough when you have certain people telling you "Whatever you do, make sure you finish school!" and others saying "Keep all your focus on basketball and training because you can always go back to school."  I can only imagine what lottery picks and 1st round guys go through in relation to this.  Must be absolutely CRAZY.  On top of that stuff it has come time for me to begin my agent selection process.  I had been talking to several different agents and have recently narrowed it down to a couple that I really like.  I have been setting meetings up with them this week and next week- thanks to my brother who has been helping me with this.  I met with one today and we sat down and had lunch.  He was a really cool guy and sounded like he could really help me get where I want to go. 

REALISTIC is the word that I like these guys to use right now.  What is realistic for me?  1st pick- no, Lottery pick?-no, 1st round-no...Sneaking into the second round- Possible and Realistic.  Overseas- Possible and Realistic.  I want my agent to give me the opportunities I need to make these things possible and the rest is up to me.  I cannot ask for more than that.  These are my goals as of right now and they won't change regardless of the criticism I may take.  Hey I am 6ft, white, and if you ever saw me off the court, you'd probably think I play baseball or something.  But, I have been like this my entire life while letting haters hate.  I will continue to listen to what a couple more agents have to say and I will be making my decision very soon on who I will let represent me.   Stay up,

**IF YOU HAVEN"T SIGNED THE GUESTBOOK YET PLEASE DO SO!!  ALSO, FEEL FREE TO USE THE FORUMS TO TALK ABOUT COLLEGE BASKETBALL AND/OR NBA BASKETBALL

Posted by bryan at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On selection Sunday my teammates and I joined a lot of our fan base at Wild Wings in downtown Asheville as ESPN revealed the NIT brackets.  We all ate wings and talked about basketball the majority of the time.  Our athletic director said some nice things about our team and Coach B followed.  It was revealed that we would have to travel to Columbus to play Ohio State who was the number 1 overall seed in the tournament.  This was not to our surprise because we knew that the NCAA didn't want to risk the chance of us having a home game (which is played at the higher seeds homecourt) because of our small venue.  Everybody was excited and it all happened pretty quick because we had to get on a plane the next day at noon.  This was my first flight since I have been on the UNCA basketball team.  Crazy right???  It was a good one though.  We chartered a flight on the same plane the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats just got done using.  That pretty much explaiins how nice it was.

As for the game, we came out like we hadn't played in a week and a half.  Thats because we hadn't.  KJ and I turned the ball over on some miscommunications with teammates and it was very uncharacteristic for the two of us.  I also had a backcourt call that was definitely the wrong call and the ref admitted to me that he messed up.  Thats not usual!!  However, we gave up almost 60% from the field and had 14 turnovers in the first half.  Its tough to win a game playing like that.  Ohio State is a pretty good team but they are very beatable.  Hats off to them for winning the game.  On the positive side of things after the initial turnovers we played pretty well.  Reid Augst seemed to be in the right spot on the offensive end time and time again- 20pts result.  I am looking forward to watching him grow next year.  However, I do want to vent a little bit about this game though.  I think the Big South tournament is waaayyyy to early and it puts our teams at a huge disadvantage.  We hadn't played in nearly 2 weeks and Ohio state just got done with their tourney a couple days before our game.  Many times broadcasters and newspaper writers say that this gives a team time to recover and rest before a game.  I totally disagree and I think if you have played college basketball you disagree too.  It is nearly impossible to have that much time off and not be rusty.  I just watched Winthrop play a good part of the first half and then "rustiness" or even tired legs affected them.  Not tired from a recent game, but tired from the absence of a game!!  Congrats to them though they played hard and have once again represented the Big South well.  But, we did lose and as hard as it is, its time to move on.

The flight back from Ohio was not so nice. It was a commercial flight with minimal room and a lot of turbulence.  My knees were hurting so I can only imagine what Kenny George was feeling!! He was a good sport about it all though- as usual.  When we got back I immediately went to the weight room and lifted.  I have to give my feet a rest because the beating they took this season so I decided to focus in the weight room right away.  It is also important for me to stick to good nutrition now that it is the off season and I can begin rebuilding my body.   

Posted by bryan at 08:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mostly everybody was able to watch the Big south championship on espn2.  It was very ugly.  Winthrop came to play and we didn't.  We were unable to get into any flow of offense and that blame can be put on me.  They contained me pretty well, but I also helped the cause by falling into slow motion on both ends of the floor.  This loss was extremely tough to take considering all the hard work that is put in to get to that point. However, Winthrop worked extremely hard to put themselves in the same position and they performed at the right time.  Congratulations to their seniors for really putting Winthrop on the map!  The good thing about our situation is our season is not over.  We got our NIT bid for winning the regular season championship. I was named to the All tournament team which was a weird situation considering they announced it immediately after we lost the game.  Now that I have had time to reflect on the tournament I am very proud to have been named with an elite group of guys. 

At first, the NIT didn't sound to appetizing because we got so close to the NCAA's.  After thinking about it for a few days and watching other conference tournaments I realized that a lot of teams saw their season end the last week and we weren't one of them.  This will be my first postseason apperance and a lot of my teammates as well.

It has been extremely tough getting my priorities in order the last week or so.  There is a lot of behind the scenes work to get my professional career started and I am still juggling school and the season.  I am hoping to get a Portsmouth invitation because their were rumors a couple weeks ago that I was being highly considered.  If I am able to get in, it is important for me to train for the next couple weeks before the tournament.  If I don't, Ill possibly be named as an alternate and I would still have to be prepared to get up and go at the ring of a phone.  Although I want to be at PIT, its definitely not the end of the world and there is a couple different routes that I can take if I don't.  With all this going on and preparing for the NIT it has been hard to find time for my school work.  Missing class so much during the season really put me behind considering I am in all senior level courses and they don't cut much slack.  The last week I have been meeting with my professors to fill them in with my situation and the possibility that I may be missing more classes.  

I am watching the UNC and Clemson game right now and I'm always impressed with the way Clemson plays them.  Their big men are really really tough.  That is a high level game that I would love to be playing in today.  As for our team, we will be meeting tonight for dinner to see who we will be playing in the first round of the NIT! 

Posted by bryan at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We got together as a team today to eat lunch at a restaraunt called Lonestar.  I ordered chicken fingers and they brought me 4 sticks that were the size of my fingers on a huge plate with nothing else on it.  All I could do was laugh and order something else.  The reason I bring lunch up though is because this is where my teammates and I found out about the Big South regular season awards.  When our coaches began to talk about them I had a flashback to last year when I was left off both all conference teams.  This feeling has carried with me from that point until today when I was told I was a first team selection.  I feel fortunate to have recieved this award and its another one of those things that proves to me that hard work returns rewards.  Also, It makes me feel good about the sacrifices that I make in the offseason- early mornings, hot days, tired muscles, no money, dieting and missing out on things that regular college students get to do during the summer.  When you put that much work in and don't see results in the form of awards and such, you may began dreading these types of sacrifices.  I didn't** but instead I embrace them and count on them to get me to where I want to be.  With that said, I also want to recognize KJ Garland and Kenny George for being selected to the 2nd team.  They both earned it and it wouldn't be difficult to argue for either one of them to be selected to the 1st team.  I am extremely lucky to have these guys on my team.  Also, there is several guys on our team that don't get recognized on days like today but do not go unnoticed in my eyes.  Especially Ried Augst, who is probably the most underrated player in the conference and he will prove that soon.  I know that without my teammates help and dedication none of us would have been selected today. Moving on to the Coach of the Year- Eddie Biedenbach!  Good job coach, you have really done a lot for the UNCA program and even more for the players.  Wrapping the awards up I do want to recognize Mike Jefferson (high point pg) for a great career.  Mike got left off the lists today ( I don't know how) but he is an all conference player even with the loaded conference right now.  Congrats Mike!

We had a real light practice today and went over some game plan for charleston southern.  We are expecting an extremely tough game out of them.  I predict them to do something out of the ordinary that they usually don't do.  Only time will tell, but mental focus has began....... 

Posted by bryan at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

It all started last week with a home game against charleston southern.  Our homecoming game and another sellout crowd.  My ankle has been feeling much better and I have been working extremely hard to get back to shape- physically and mentally.  Our team had a meeting about how we needed to treat the last 3 game stretch like it is the big south tournament and prove to ourselves that we could indeed take it all.  Anyway, I came out of the gates in this one fast and hit 5 threes in the first half off of 5 attempts.  This gave us a huge spark as I finished the first half with 19 points.  From there my teammates stepped up as Reid Augst had a huge second half and finished the game with 21.  Charleston got close a couple times but we had an answer everytime they made a run.  Including big Kenny George who is getting back to being himself once again.  After the game we cleared are heads and immediately got ready for Coastal Carolina and senior night.

First off, senior night was great and very emotional for me in particular because it has been such a long road to get to where I am today.  It was great watching Garrett, Vincent, and KJ enjoy the moment with me.  I wouldn't trade those guys for anybody.  However, it was very important for us 4 to keep mentally focused as all the celebration was going on.  We did a very good job of this because we didn't start the game off slow (as most seniors on senior night do) and we just began to chip away at coastal.  We went into halftime with a 10 point lead riding on great play from Kenny George.  Coastal came back from halftime and made a couple runs but none more significant than the one with 5 minutes left that got them within striking distance.  We held them off and made plays and free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.  Congratulations to Jack Leasure for hitting the 400 mark for three pointers made.  VERY impressive jack!  Just like after the first game we needed to switch are attention immediately to a very tough road game at winthrop for the regular season title.

This game started out with the celebration of Winthrop's seniors.  There is not a group of guys in the conference who have more to celebrate than these guys.  Congrats to Chris, MJ, Taj, and Harris for unbelievable careers at Winthrop.  Just like at our senior night it was important for us to stay focused and not let any of the celebrating affect OUR play.  This game started out just like everybody would imagine- dogfight, struggle to gain control.  There was one play in the first half that I know will stand out in my mind for a long time- Everybody was diving on the floor trying to get the ball and it popped out to Jenkins who dunked it for winthrop.  I have played at UNC, Tennessee, Va tech, Cincinatti, Wyoming, louisville, etc and there is very few times I can remember it being that loud in an arena.  Although they had the homecourt advantage, we were able to slowly pull away in the second half to gain the victory.  KJ really controlled the pace of the game and Kenny George impacted the game like no other as usual.  I scored 21 points in the second half and my team really rallied behind this and everybody did their part in order for us to win the game.  REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS.

This game was very important to me because I don't have any championships that I can tie my name to.  Also, Vince, KJ, and Garrett all deserve to have this after paying the price for so long.  The championship guarenteed us a post season regardless of what happens in the Big south tournament.  For me, that is not enough though.  I want to go to the NCAA tournament and have a good time with my team.  From here, our team has to stay focused on the task at hand (Charleston Southern).  I am going to the training room soon to do some rehab and try to get as close to 100% as possible.  Since I will be in Asheville for the tournament I will be updating the blog daily if not 2x a day so check back later and I will be updating again.  tHANKS TO ALL THE UNCA FANS THAT CAME TO WINTHROP AND CHEERED LOUD!!!! YALL ARE A PART OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS! 

*Pictures are being updated

Posted by bryan at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)