When Dave Smart speaks people listen. Mr. Smart, head coach of the Carleton Ravens and assistant coach with Canadian Basketball National Team took some time out of his busy schedule to speak to students
at Perth and District Collegiate Institute (PDCI) and delivered one his finest speeches.


"I tend not to speak crap so I tend to talk the truth and sometimes it gets me in trouble," said the blunt Smart as he began his remarks as the guest speaker at the Olympic alumni homecoming ceremony PDCI on Thursday, Sept. 27, as part of National Sports Week.

In his position, he said he has spoken to well over 400 basketball coaches, and has always found himself asking the same question: What are the two most important skills for a basketball player to have?

He usually gets answers like the ability to pass, the ability to defend, or shooting skills.

"It's always shocked me that that is the answer I get because that is not even close to the answer," Smart said. "A lot of the times the kids (university players) don't get the right answer (either)."

As the assistant national coach, he has worked alongside Canada's own Steve Nash of the Los Angeles Lakers, and has found Nash to be one of the few who have gotten the right answers.

"I'm a big Steve Nash fan because I believe he is a great role model in this country," said Smart.

The answer? Number one, try. Number two, compete.

That's it.

"The best basketball player in this country answered the question right, the way I would have answered so I'm brilliant," Smart said. "I don't think people really get that, how important trying is. It's a skill. You can't just show up and try. If you don't try, every single day, how are you going to be successful against people who try all the time? "There is constancy in people who are successful. They don't think about trying. It is a given."