NEW ORLEANS — There are only a handful of Colorado-bred NBA players. But even so, one player who local fans might have forgotten about is Jason Smith.
Lately, though, the Kersey native has been making a name for himself in New Orleans.
In the previous two games heading into Friday, Smith tallied 16 points and eight rebounds at Utah and then nine and two against Philadelphia. For the season, the former Colorado State big man is averaging 6.8 points per game and 3.5 boards.
“He’s playing great,” Nuggets coach George Karl said about the fourth-year pro. “He’s by far their best outside shooter for a big. He’s playing short minutes, but he’s playing well. They still need to figure out their Chris Kaman-Carl Landry-Emeka Okafor rotation, but I think he’s proved that he’s back after his injury and he’s definitely a bench player in the NBA — and maybe a little bit more.”
Tricky ticks. With a deep team — and reserves such Kosta Koufos making an impact so far this season — Karl joked Friday that “I petitioned the league to play a 60-minute game, so I can get everybody minutes.”
In the coming weeks, Karl said he might change his coaching strategies to accommodate his players.
“With the depth we have, there’s kind of a different way I’m thinking about (rotating),” Karl said. “Instead of foul trouble, I might not worry as much with foul trouble with certain players — just let them play hard, and if they do get into foul trouble, just put another guy in there.
“A big thing for us is to try to play better than the crew already on the court. And there’s already been that kind of competition with the second unit playing better than the first unit. There’s been an energy and trash talk going on.”
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
