GLENDALE, Ariz. — Braden Smith went from sarcastically slow-clapping himself on the floor to muttering in an arena tunnel to sitting in a folding chair and explaining why he’d been very bad in a Final Four game. “Terrible,” actually, was the specific phrasing from Purdue’s sophomore point guard. This self-immolation went on for a while. Eventually, the locker room emptied, and Smith was alone at his stall when his head coach passed by.
Matt Painter slapped him on the back, hard, three times.
“Way to go, man,” the Boilermakers’ coach declared, before disappearing into the back.
“See that?” Smith said, after Painter was gone. “That’s how lucky I am. I played like crap and he left me in for 40 minutes. He trusts me. Not everybody can say that.”
The good news, as everyone correctly pointed out, was the 63-50 win over NC State and the berth in the national championship game that came with it, all while the engine ran without oil for a couple of hours. The less acknowledged issue was that it happened at all. That an All-Big Ten point guard looked, for a while, like he forgot how to play point guard. Given the monsters under this particular program’s bed, the idea that a solved problem is suddenly a problem again is not a small thing.
When Connecticut jumps in the tank on Monday and the water rises to Purdue’s chins, five turnovers, 1-of-9 shooting and increasing passivity on the offensive end by Smith is a very good way to ensure Connecticut wins the national title. This is not the most scorching of takes. It is, however, reality. And a pressure point that will carry through the weekend; Smith is now shooting 39.2 percent since March began, and five of his 12 single-digit scoring outings on the season have come in the postseason.
Even if Purdue isn’t worried, there are thousands here and elsewhere who will worry for Purdue. “I look forward to Monday,” director of player development P.J. Thompson said, “because I know a Braden on edge is a really good Braden.”
The official box score indeed shows Smith logged 40 minutes, but that’s not entirely accurate: After giving a foul with 1.9 seconds left in the first half, just to disrupt NC State’s push for a final shot, he headed to the bench. He dropped to his seat like he’d swallowed a cinder block. He put his head in his hands. He rubbed his temples. He did not look well.
Before Smith even enrolled, Thompson — a former Purdue point guard himself — told him there was no other guard he’d rather have run the show. Such is their relationship that Thompson figured he’d get a request for film cut-ups from Smith not long after the team meal back at the hotel in downtown Phoenix, and such is their relationship that Thompson can calculate the correct amount of gravity or levity that will pull Smith out of a spiral.
On Saturday evening, with the halftime break moments away, he turned right and leaned in.
I’m not worried, he told Smith. We’re up six and you’re playing the worst game of your life.
This was the triage for a player who might be harder on himself than anyone else in the room, who committed uncharacteristically inane mistakes like two over-and-back violations in the first half. No tactical adjustments. No Xs-and-Os overhaul. It was all jitters or anxiety, in Painter’s estimation. So Purdue needed to get Braden Smith’s brain to stop hitting itself.
Braden Smith was at a loss to explain his struggles, but the Boilermakers are marching on to Monday night anyway. (Grace Hollars / USA Today)
Strong face, is what forward Mason Gillis told him, over and over, invoking the team’s code words for dealing with taxing and potentially compromising situations. (If any team would have that sort of reference point, it is this one.)
“That’s our job — pick him up,” Gillis said. “Remind him what he’s done for us. Remind him how we’ve got him. Keep that strong face. We’re going to be fine.”
Fine is relative. Smith didn’t commit another turnover after the break. He also recorded one of his six assists and didn’t hit a shot until a 3-pointer fell with three and a half minutes left, bumping the lead to 18 and prompting an NC State timeout. A triumphant moment that Smith greeted with a little bit of self-loathing.
Having already retreated to the defensive end, he turned to face the crowd. He pursed his lips. He stared at no one in particular. And he gave himself a few tired, overly long claps before Gillis arrived to drag him back to the huddle. “I’m a very self-critical person,” Smith said. “I hold myself to the highest expectation possible. It’s just like, yeah, we’re in the national championship — I’m just a little frustrated at myself.”
The only way is through, Painter indicated after the game. Leave Smith out there to figure it out as a gesture of confidence. And three steals and eight rebounds aren’t nothing, when it feels like every other part of your game is collapsing. “Wish I had an answer for you,” Smith said in the locker room, as baffled about why this happened as anyone else.
A moot point, anyway, so long as it doesn’t happen again. “When he’s passive, and he doesn’t shoot shots in rhythm, it hurts our offense,” Thompson said. “And he knows that. But that’s what film is for. You got a chance to correct it and play for a national championship.”
Purdue wasn’t countenancing the idea of a repeat Saturday. To explain what his roommate looks like when he’s angry, Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer referred back to December. Smith scored two points in a win over Iowa. He was not overly pleased with this. He then scored 53 points, combined, in games against Alabama and Arizona.
Loyer understands as well as anyone how Smith can pretzel himself over poor performances. He likes to believe he can say the right things to untwist his point guard. He kept reminding Smith that he was going to play for a national championship despite it all. He’s as interested as anyone about how well his message lands.
“If he listens to me, we’ll be able to see on Monday,” Loyer said. “Because he’ll play a lot better.”
(Top photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
