Never mind that Jamar Smith is in the grips of a prolonged shooting slump. He still will be a marked man Saturday when Illinois plays at Purdue.
“He went into the Indiana game 4 of 34 shooting three-pointers in Big Ten games, but when he comes into Mackey Arena, we’re going to treat him like he’s 28 of 34,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
“Jamar Smith can shoot! We have to do everything in our power not to let him come out of that slump.”
Smith made his first start in five games in Tuesday’s 51-43 victory over Indiana. The sophomore guard sank his first shot from beyond the three-point line before missing his next five. He also missed his only two-point attempt, making him 5 of 40 from the field in the last five games.
This is the player who last season made 66 of 137 three-pointers to lead the Big Ten at 48.2 percent and this season hit four threes in a span of 2 minutes 14 seconds in a futile attempt to keep the Illini from losing their last non-conference game to Xavier.
But now a high sprain in his left ankle, suffered in the season opener against Austin Peay, and a low sprain in his right ankle, suffered in the Big Ten opener at Michigan, still are affecting his shooting.
“When I play my left ankle bothers me more,” Smith said. “When I wake up I find it hard to walk on my right one. When I walk and run, I kind of compensate. Last year I jumped real high on all my shots. I don’t get the same lift. Sometimes they both feel good. Sometimes they both feel bad.”
Compounding the physical problems is the psychological factor.
“The ankles have caused the mental part–the lack of confidence,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “He misses one or two and then the mental part comes in.”
“I keep thinking, `I have to make this shot’ instead of just going out and playing,” Smith said.
Like Smith, another player on Weber’s VIP list at the start of the season, junior forward Brian Randle, has pain-induced problems. After missing nine games because of a groin injury that was surgically repaired on Nov. 17, Randle was back on the disabled list for the Indiana game, this time because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot. A boot has been placed on the foot and he isn’t expected to play until at least next Saturday against Minnesota.
“Brian will have pain all season,” Weber said. “It’s going to be a matter of how much he can deal with. He has gone through so much; he’s mentally whipped.”
More Top Picks Best Light Therapy Lamps For Seasonal Depression
Painter is sympathetic and not just because he lost his two best players–forward Carl Landry and guard David Teague–for virtually the entire 2005-06 season because of injuries.
“He has been great to me,” Painter said of Weber. “If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be in this position.”
Painter played at Purdue when Weber was an assistant to Gene Keady. After Weber became a head coach at Southern Illinois, he hired Painter as an assistant.
“When you get to the halfway point in the Big Ten season, you start rooting against guys because of what helps your team in postseason play,” Painter said. “You watch him play somebody and I know it’s best for us if Illinois loses. But I still root for him.”
———-