CTE teammates Shaun Holmes and Danny Smith went toe-to-toe in Columbia last night

Smith

Shaun Holmes and Danny Smith played together in the Las Vegas National Tournament last May for Columbia The Elite (CTE), forming a dynamic backcourt duo. They combined to average 33.4 points, 11 rebounds and 9.7 assists while shooting 44% from the field and 44% from deep.

CTE, led by Kenny Zeigler, are one of the 16 teams that registered for this year’s tournament in Vegas, and I’d expect to see Holmes and Smith back together again in charge of the backcourt.

Instead of tormenting defenses together, they went up against each other last night in the Columbia Draft League, and they did not disappoint. Holmes’ Heat ended up coming away with a 73-70 victory over Smith’s Nets.

Holmes had an extremely efficient night, scoring 37 points on 12-16 shooting from the field, 3-4 from deep and 10-12 from the free-throw line. The 37 points from Holmes is just above half of the Heat’s total 73 points.

Smith also had a big scoring night, as he had a game-high 43 points (61% of the Nets’ total points) on 14-30 shooting from the field, adding 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Smith and Holmes have been two of the best players in the league through two games this season, as the PPR leaderboard shows. Smith leads the league with a PPR of 38.5, and Holmes is third with a PPR of 28.3.

While these two will continue to battle for the Columbia title this season, they might be playing together for a chance at a national title in May.