D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera could have played in Georgetown’s regular-season finale against Seton Hall on Saturday. He felt weakness in one of his knees, the lingering effect of a minor setback in the previous game, but had the stakes been higher, he could have gone. He chose not to.
“I just felt like we could get that game done,” he said Tuesday.
Over the course of this season, Smith-Rivera has been the Hoyas’ leader on the court, the go-to guy when the shot clock is winding down or the team needs a crucial bucket. The junior guard leads No. 23 Georgetown in scoring and was named a first-team all-Big East selection this week. He’s the first guy that opposing teams scout, and the first one they try to stop.
Leadership is often viewed through this lens, with a focus on production. Yet so much of actual leadership is a willingness to step back rather than forward, allowing teammates to succeed and thereby lifting the entire group. That’s something Smith-Rivera has come to understand and appreciate throughout his third season at Georgetown, and it’s something he displayed Saturday without even stepping on the court.
“Sometimes you can think being a leader is just yelling at guys, which is not the case at all,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said last week. “It’s been an evolution for him. I think he’s done a very good job of understanding — and you guys have all heard me say this — understanding when he has to score and accepting that he also has to get other people shots, and when to do that.”
The Hoyas will face Creighton in the first round of the Big East tournament on Thursday. As Georgetown enters the postseason, seeking to erase a reputation of early exits in the NCAA tournament, Smith-Rivera will be its most important source of both offense and poise.
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“I want to be there for my team and be reliable in pivotal moments for the rest of the guys,” he said.
Smith-Rivera missed Saturday’s game after tweaking the knee in a win on the road against Butler. “Just a wrong step,” he said. Smith-Rivera added that his absence in the regular-season finale was merely a precaution, and he does not expect any further issues moving forward.
That’s certainly a relief for the Hoyas. Smith-Rivera leads the team in most statistical categories, from 34.1 minutes to 11.6 shot attempts and 16.0 points per game. His scoring numbers are generally a tick below last year’s marks, but his assists are up from 2.7 to 3.3 per game and his turnovers are down from 1.7 to 1.5 per game.
When asked about how he has grown this season, however, Smith-Rivera didn’t talk about stats. He first said he has grown as a leader, in every sense of the word. And his teammates have noticed.
“He’s learned in his three years here, and he’s grown a lot. So I’m going to look forward to do the same thing as him,” freshman Isaac Copeland said. “[His leadership style] is more hands-on. When things happen, he likes to pull you aside right away and tell you what’s going on, help you get ready for the next play.”
Smith-Rivera has become more vocal this year, a normal progression for most underclassmen when they become upperclassmen. Yet in the eyes of seniors, his leadership has never been in question.
“From the first time Coach Thompson put him on the court, we looked at him as a leader,” Mikael Hopkins said last week. “He’s a big-time scorer when we need him to put the ball in the basket. It’s definitely a leadership role, because we look for him down the stretch.”
There should be plenty of those late-game opportunities as the postseason heats up, and Smith-Rivera is ready for them. Though he was passed up for the Big East’s Player of the Year award, which was instead given to Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono and Providence’s Kris Dunn on Wednesday, his value to the Hoyas is clear. And he still has plenty to prove.
“Hopefully I can continue to prove that I’m the best player in this conference,” Smith-Rivera said.
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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