The Dayton Flyers forward was talking about Scoochie Smith, the team’s sophomore point guard with the jazzman goatee, the nickname his grandpa gave him as a kid back in the Bronx and those trademark long black tights that cover his legs.
“I do it to get my knees warm,” he explained with a shrug. “My knees just don’t get as hot as the rest of my body. This gets my knees going too.”
The rest of his body – particularly those hands that consistently steal the ball from the opposition and make him the best passer on the team and one of the more accurate 3-point shooters in the Atlantic 10 — were as hot as could be in the second half Wednesday night against La Salle at UD Arena.
The Flyers trailed 25-23 at halftime, but in a span of less than four minutes early in the second half, Smith scored 10 points, made a great bounce pass assist to Pierre, who drove the baseline for an easy layup, and then picked the pocket of guard Khalid Lewis at midcourt to create his own easy basket.
His play ignited his team, which suddenly led by eight points and forced La Salle to call time out to regroup — which the Explorers never quite did.
Dayton ended up with the 61-50 victory and has opened the conference schedule 4-0, something they last did 11 years ago.
That the Flyers are doing it while undermanned and undersized is all the more impressive and a lot of that credit goes back to Smith, whose final line Wednesday night was 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and two steals. He had two turnovers in 36 minutes.
“I thought Scoochie played really, really well,” UD coach Archie Miller said. “He continues to give us really steady play at the point guard spot. For the first time in his career, he’s very comfortable going to the basket. He’s converting a lot of layups and two-point finishes.
“He’s really a confident shooter and that makes it easier on our team now. He’s a terrific steady ship in terms of what he’s doing.
“The second half was great — almost like nothing bothered him. He was flawless.”
This was the Flyers’ 14th straight win at home, though the streak looked in jeopardy early on as La Salle was disciplined in its attack and capitalized on its size advantage inside. But the Explorers got away from that after intermission and it cost them.
“I think they just got a little careless with the basketball,” said Smith. “When they did we were able to make all the plays. We made blocks, steals, we were running in transition.”
The biggest scare of the night came with just over 10 ½ minutes left when Jordan Sibert, the Flyers’ leading scorer, was knocked to the floor while driving for a layup through an Explorer defense that included 6-foot-11, 240-pound Steve Zack.
Sibert injured his left knee, which already was bound in a black support sleeve. He sat at the end of the court until time was called and the arena went quiet. He was helped to the dressing room and then reappeared with just over six minutes left and he promptly entered the game.
Miller said he thought Sibert would be OK, though he would undergo more tests and certainly “be sore” today.
During Sibert’s absence it was Smith who again stepped up with two quick baskets.
“It’s always the next man up, but with him being the leading scorer, I knew the team needed a little more spark,” Smith said. “And, thankfully, the team followed behind me.”
As for Sibert’s fate, he said:
“I wasn’t sure what happened, but I wasn’t too concerned. He wasn’t crying.”
For all the things he did Wednesday night, Smith said the plays he likes most are when he makes an assist. He leads the team in that category and is third in the A-10 with 4.1 per game.
“I like assists the best because they make two guys happy, me and the second guy who gets the basket,” he said.
He has slowly emerged as one of the fan favorites in UD Arena and the feeling is mutual.
“I’m still a New York kid, but being here in the Midwest is a good feeling,” he said. “The Flyer Faithful really supports us. They know their basketball.”
And that’s why they embrace him.
They know the same thing Pierre does:
As Scoochie goes, so go the Flyers.
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