In
Dannie Smith's first college basketball game, he experienced no nerves, no butterflies. Nothing at all – except the confidence of a man who had done this dozens of times already.
"Dannie's a well-rounded player. Nerves for Dannie – I don't think they exist. When you've been on two state championship teams, winning is in your DNA," said
Steve Christiansen, Triton's head coach.
After playing on two Orr Academy High School state championship teams out of the Chicago Public High School League, the 6-foot-6 forward knew how to come up big. In Triton's season opener against Malcolm X on Friday, Nov. 1, Smith played like anything but a rookie with 25 points (9-for-14 shooting) along with 10 rebounds and five assists. He was the centerpiece in a dominating 98-62 victory over Malcolm X at the Triton College Tip-Off Classic.
"My teammates had confidence in me coming into the game as one of the leaders on the team," Smith said. "So as long as they got my back, there was nothing to be nervous about."
Coach Christiansen had to dig deep in his memory bank to come up with a comparable Trojans' debut that matched or exceeded Smith's.
"That's a great debut, it takes me back to the debut of Don Thompson in my first season (2004-05). He went 36 (points) and 18 (rebounds). It has taken 16 years to replicate a debut like that," Christiansen said.
The next day of the Classic, Triton had no problems in a 118-69 rout over Daley College. The Trojans jumped out to 34-4 lead and never looked back.
The Tip-Off Classic kicked off a season full of high expectations for the Trojans and Smith was predicted to be a big contributor to the team's success. He took immediate action to fulfill the expectations with 16 first-half points as Triton raced to a 55-25 halftime lead. Smith's teammates immediately took note, and ran coach
Steve Christiansen's plays directly into his hands.
"A lot of plays got him open to where he freed himself up to get a score," sophomore
Carlos Curtis said. "Being a point guard, I want to see everyone else succeed ahead of myself. As long as they keep finishing, I'll keep giving it to them."
"The guys trusted me," Smith said. "They said I was hot – they kept going to me. I trusted the coaches to be put in the right position to make plays."
Smith's huge contributions influenced his teammates. Fellow starting forward
Austin Richie and Smith roommate
Trey Boston each had 12 points, with Richie adding eight rebounds. Guard
Quinlan Bennett had 10 points. Curtis and
David Swedura, his backup at the point, combined for 18 points.
Triton backups simply added to the momentum in the middle of the first half.
"We can't come in and slow the pace down," said Boston, a guard. "We got to pick up where they left off."
The only slowdown against Malcolm X came near game's end, when the Trojans just missed reaching the 100-point mark. The Trojans will still have plenty of opportunities to reach their record of 12 100-point games, matched in each of the past two seasons.
In a time when most teams rely on shooting more three-pointers than making layups, Triton's strategy to remains simple: drive to the basket for high-percentage shots. They succeeded with a 51 overall shooting percentage for the game. The Trojans were 6-for-14 from behind the three point line.
"I'm really confident about this season," he said. "I'm really confident about my freshman year where we're trying to win a national championship. It's looking really good."
On the second day of the Classic against Daley College, seven Trojans were in double-figures led by Richie with 20 points. Boston finished with 18 points, freshman forward
Sergio Nanu scored 14 points. Sophomore center
Jalen Shaw had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Bennett 13 points and 13 rebounds. Curtis and sophomore forward
Piotr Gago ended up with 10 points apiece for Triton.
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