re: LSU basketball hasn' signed a New Orleans high school player in 8 years

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Going back to this earlier post, might be a safe bet Butler will be turning out better than Smart

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I don't know how this season will turn out; but I actually did a response post comparing the 2 of them a week or two ago.

If you look at their first 2 seasons, Smart actually had better stats across the board than Butler. Now, for the most part they were marginally better; but still better. The only thing Butler was better was in PPG in year 2; however, if you look at conference only stats, he was only marginally better than Smart in points as well.

The argument I make is that Butler is probably more of a true PG than Smart, who is much better as a combo guard; so that limits Smart's stats some.

The other thing that limits Smart's stats in comparison, especially scoring, is the team they have playing around them. Last year, for example, Butler was by far the highest scoring player on the team, whereas Smart was 3rd or even 4th best scorer; and not b/c he was bad, but just b/c he had teammates like Mays, Watford, Williams, and Days around him. In fact, 1-7, LSU's roster outscored every comparative player on Baylor's roster. So LSU didn't need Smart to score like Baylor needs Butler to.

Finally, I think Butler gets the recognition that he does b/c he is the best player on one of the best teams in one of the best conferences in the country. We all know that sort of thing often helps players garner more accolades even though statistically they may not be better than many others at their same position.