Point guard imports hold key to Sunshine Stoush
THE outcome of tomorrow night’s Brisbane and Cairns NBL “Sunshine Stoush” will hinge on the output of opposing point guards Travis Trice and Scoochie Smith, according to NBL legend and former Townsville Crocodiles star Corey “Homicide” Williams.
The 2010 league Most Valuable Player and now Fox Sports special commentator has Trice, now with the Brisbane Bullets after collecting the Snakes’ MVP honour last season, as the second best import floor general in Australia, with Smith one slot behind.
He has labelled the Smith and Trice match- up in Brisbane tomorrow “electrifying”.
The outspoken Williams has urged first- year pro Smith to be the aggressor from the opening minute against the man who previously had the job in Cairns. Williams, like Smith, is from the Bronx, and said his fellow New Yorker needed to “hit” tomorrow.
“Scoochie started with a miss against Illawarra, he hit against New Zealand, missed against Adelaide and now he must hit against Brisbane,” Williams said. “As an import, he knows this match- up could have your team looking at you differently, for better or worse.
“These are the games that can define your character.
“Scoochie is coming in to bust his a--- so Cairns know they do not have a slouch at the point guard slot. I do not care what Trice did last year, this is a new year and Scoochie is out here trying to show it is his team and he is running it.”
Williams, 40, expects the Michigan State graduate to play with plenty of confidence after dropping 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists against Phoenix on Saturday.
Smith has followed a similar pattern to that of Trice in Cairns, battling injury in the preseason, starting slow and then finding a rhythm.
Williams has Melbourne’s Casper Ware at the top of the list for import point guards.