Matt Painter Critical of Cousy Award Snubbing Purdue's Braden Smith: 'It Doesn't Make Sense'

Although he's been regarded as one of the top point guards in the country this season, Purdue sophomore Braden Smith was left off the Bob Cousy Award list earlier this week. Boilermakers coach Matt Painter had a few things to say about that.

Smith has been a critical piece of Purdue's success this year, averaging 12.1 points, seven assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. He's also shooting at a 46.3% clip on the season.

The sophomore guard plays on the No. 2 team in the country, which has wins over No. 5 Tennessee, No. 9 Marquette, No. 11 Arizona, No. 14 Illinois and No. 24 Alabama. Purdue sits at 19-2 on the year.

Tuesday, Painter was asked about Smith's snub from the Bob Cousy Award list. The veteran coach didn't hold back on his comments.

"It's like the Indiana high school sectional; I think they just drew it out of a hat," Painter said in a video posted by WLFI's Kelly Hallinan. "Yeah, it doesn't make much sense. I mean, I would think that anybody that has a committee that's gonna do something, you sit down, you go through stats, you go through everything that's happened.

"Look at his head-to-head with a couple guys that are on there. Not to say they shouldn't be on there, because they're all good players. There's nobody on that list that doesn't deserve to be on that list. ... But if you go look at his numbers and how efficient he's been and how he's played. And what his team's done. His team as the No. 1 toughest schedule in the country, and so when you beat the people that we've been able to beat — then you look at that, then look at his numbers, it doesn't make any sense."

The Bob Cousy Award list of finalists was released on Monday. The 10 players making the cut included:

• Isaiah Steves, Colorado State
• Jamal Shead, Houston
• Dajuan Harris Jr., Kansas
• Tyler Kolek, Marquette
• Jahvon Quinerly, Memphis
• Boo Buie, Northwestern
• Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
• Max Abmas, Texas
• Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M
• Tristen Newton, UConn

That's a strong group of finalists, without question. Clearly, though, Painter believes Smith should've received a mention. 

He's probably not the only one, either.

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