Loyola’s Smith Believes Best Is Yet to Come : Playmaking Guard Already Is Doing the Lion’s Share of Scoring

Midway through his junior year, Keith Smith ranks sixth among the nation’s major-college scoring leaders and already has scored 25 or more points 18 times in his college career. But the Loyola Marymount guard says nobody has seen his best basketball game.

There’s this game running through his mind, sort of a combination Magic Johnson-Oscar Robertson highlight film starring Smith, in which he plays the perfect game. That game, will happen, Smith believes.

“I shoot well, pass well, run the team, do everything well,” he said. “I’ve had some good games, but I haven’t played the kind of game yet that I’d like to in college. I still feel that game’s in me. That keeps me going, looking for that game. And for the team to play like that, get that one big victory.”

Several opposing coaches already have seen quite enough of Smith. In December, he scored 33 points in an overtime loss at Utah, then followed that with a career-high 36 in a victory at UC Irvine. After he had scored 28 in a close loss at Arizona, Wildcat Coach Lute Olson said Smith was “the best one-on-one player we’ll face before conference.”

“I hope we never see another shooting exhibition like that again,” Olson added.

After consecutive 33-point games recently, Smith had an off-night in the West Coast Athletic Conference opener against Pepperdine but still finished with 23 points. Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick called Smith a special talent.

Loyola Coach Ed Goorjian agrees. “We feel he’s about as good a guard as there is on the West Coast,” he said. But he rarely tells Smith that. Instead, he harps at Smith to work on his defense or cut down his turnovers. That’s fine with Smith.

“Coach tells me don’t believe what they’re saying about me in the papers,” Smith, 20, said. “That’s his job, to push me to get better. I’m never satisfied. I put more pressure on myself than anybody else does. If I score 30 points, I’ll still say to myself, ‘Why did I miss a shot I should have hit?’ ”

Smith, a 6-3 left-hander, combines shooting range with speed, quickness and jumping ability--talents that make him dangerous inside and out. He describes himself as more a scorer than a shooter.

Though he averaged nearly 20 points a game at West Covina High School, Smith was recruited as a point guard. The Loyola coaches certainly didn’t expect his prolific scoring.

“It’s pretty obvious he has a great deal of talent, but he’s come along much further (than anticipated),” Goorjian said. “The thing that surprised everybody is how he handles everybody. Nobody takes him one-on-one. And he’s going to get nothing but better.”

Smith blossomed as a scorer last season, when he averaged 20 points in conference games and got a high of 35 against Portland. He averaged 17.8 points and 6.1 assists for the season. He was playing with all-conference forward Forrest McKenzie, however, and, because opponents usually geared their defenses to stop McKenzie, Smith usually got his share of open shots.

No more. When McKenzie was declared ineligible by the NCAA, Smith immediately became a marked man. The only other player in the lineup averaging double figures is freshman guard Steve Haney, and the Lions are starting three freshmen. Essentially, against a competitive opponent, if Smith doesn’t score 25 to 30, Loyola doesn’t win.

Smith is averaging 24.4 points and 5.9 assists a game, and is shooting 46%. He has played the entire 40 minutes six times and is averaging more than 37 minutes a game.

When senior captain Steve Haderlein missed several games with an ankle injury, Smith not only increased his scoring, he assumed vocal leadership of the club as well, barking out directions and sometimes chewing out teammates.

“It’s his team now,” Goorjian said. “I just hope he lets me coach.”

Smith said he enjoys the added responsibilities. “I don’t think I could showcase what I can do anywhere else like I am here,” he said. Even so, he is looking forward to next season, when the 6-8 McKenzie will rejoin the team, along with Vic Lazzaretti, a 6-9 transfer from Marquette.

“It’s been pretty challenging for me to go out and get that kind of (defensive) coverage,” Smith said. “I knew when Forrest wasn’t going to play, the team would need me more than last year. When Haderlein got hurt, it was like I had to play the senior now. But I think all the guys respect me. It wasn’t hard to do.

“Next year, I’m not going to be the only option on offense. Next year I want to handle the ball, get the ball to the guys. I think I can do that pretty well. Being realistic, I’m not going to score 25 a game next year. I’m doing it because it’s necessary. Ten assists (a game) would be great.

“Of course, I’ll still love to score. Everybody likes to score. But I also like to pass. I’d like to have them guard someone else like they guard me. Then I’d get open for unmolested shots.”

Despite their youth and the loss of McKenzie, the Lions have managed to play .500, and Smith feels they can still be a factor in the WCAC. They’re 9-9 overall and 1-2 in the conference going into Thursday’s home game against Santa Clara.

Coming out of a successful high school program at West Covina--Smith’s teams were 20-7 in his junior and senior years and made the CIF 3-A quarterfinals both seasons--Smith has had to adjust to playing in a struggling program.

“The only time it’s not fun is when we lose,” he said. “I used to think seven losses were a lot. Now we lose that before conference. I don’t take losing well.”

Smith, a business major, will complete his four years at Loyola, then hopes to try the NBA and says he hopes to land in a big city, preferably Los Angeles. The Flint, Mich., native moved here with his family five years ago when his stepfather changed jobs, and it took a while for Los Angeles to grow on him. He’s an only child and missed his friends, several of whom are now starring in the Big Ten.

Goorjian expects Smith to have a shot at the NBA as a playmaking guard, and also expects Smith to play more of that role next year. “If Forrest was here (playing), I think (Smith would) be scoring three or four less per game but his production would be even better--better quality scoring, plus his assists would be up with anybody,” Goorjian said.

For now, though, Smith has to settle for being Southern California’s top offensive guard. And taking the lumps that go with it.