How Nick Smith Jr. fared in his Arkansas debut
When Arkansas freshman Nick Smith Jr. checked into Monday's 74-61 win over Troy, he received a standing ovation from the Razorback faithful. The highly-touted five-star prospect played just six minutes in his debut, but there was plenty to takeaway from it.
Smith checked in at the 14:10 mark in the first half and he was 0-2 from the field and brought down one rebound during his time on the court. Arkansas' offense wasn't moving the ball well before he got in the game, and things didn't really improve with him. The team was minus-4 with Smith on the court.
Though the stat sheet tells one story, head coach Eric Musselman had a different thought process in his head.
"I think the biggest thing I kept thinking about is he's going to have four days of practice leading up to the next game," Musselman said. "Nick is really anxious to play, and we're really anxious to have him play."
There has to be a lot of pressure on Smith, who is projected as a lottery pick in virtually every 2023 NBA mock draft.
"You’re talking about both teams being 6, 7 games in while a player has been slowly progressing," Musselman said. "And then the crowd gives him somewhat of a standing ovation or whatever because they’re excited for him. It’s not an easy situation for a young man to be in."
All six of Smith's minutes came in the first half, but Musselman said he thought about putting Smith in the second half when the Hogs were struggling to put the Trojans away.
"I thought about it probably four or five times about putting Nick back in," Musselman said. "Maybe more than four or five times. And I just thought it was completely unfair once we got past the 12-minute mark. I'm not going to do that to a player when the game was a one-point game, and he had sat for that long. I just did not think it was fair to any player. If Gilbert Arenas was sitting there, I wouldn't have."
Working Smith into the offense is something that will take time, but as Musselman mentioned, there are four days of practice leading up to Saturday's game against San Jose State, and Smith should be able to work in more during team drills.
Musselman was asked if Smith would remain on a minutes restriction for the next few games, but he said he needs to talk to the doctors and see what they have to say.
His teammates didn't seem to think there will be an adjustment period for Smith.
"I mean, yes, he hasn’t played the first couple of regular season games," guard Ricky Council IV said. "But we played with him all in Spain, play with him in practice every day, so it’s nothing new. He’s going to be back. First game, that’s expected. So, he’s going to be fine."
Council said he didn't think there were first game jitters for Smith, but rather it was just his first game back and everybody deals with struggles early.
The Hogs will likely continue to play things conservatively with Smith, but there's no question that the team will take an immediate step forward whenever he is at full-go.
Arkansas will host San Jose State at 3 p.m. CT Saturday at Bud Walton Arena. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.