Marcus Smart is a bust at #6

[flybono]

Work in progress Yes, Bust no..

Did you watch AGordan today?  I can only imagine your scouting report on that player...


Takes time my friend. Patience!

[Beat LA]

Patience you must have my young padawan   I've missed all of the games so far, so for everyone who has gotten to see Smart play, answer me this - if he were to take midrange shots instead of threes, which he struggled with in college, do you think that his numbers would be much better?  Is it the range, perhaps?  I don't know, I'm just throwing out ideas here.  Some guys are better from midrange than they are from downtown, and that's fine, imho, because I like players with that old school game, so if Smart was to accept his limitations in said department (for now) and focus on the shots that he can make, would we be having this overreaction haha?  His form doesn't look that bad, imo, and look at guys who arent't three point shooters who are stars at the pg and sg positions - Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade (even though I hate to admit it), Lance Stephenson, John Wall, and Tony Parker.  I also find it interesting how the players who people say 'can't shoot' often end up being great midrange shooters.  Just because you're not a great three point shooter doesn't mean that you can't shoot.  It just means that you're not there yet, as a player.

[Nikki8]

Are we just going to focus on his shooting and neglect every other facet of his game?

EDIT:  Also, this is the first time I can ever recall a guy being labeled a bust due to Summer League action.  Not even an NBA regular season, or preseason game for that matter.  But a summer league game.  Wow.

I'm not positive but I think that the statement that Smart is a bust before he has ever played might be the most CRAZIEST thing that I've ever heard. WOW

[LarBrd33]

Work in progress Yes, Bust no..

Did you watch AGordan today?  I can only imagine your scouting report on that player...


Takes time my friend. Patience!

Some mocks had Gordon at 10th and Smart at 8th. 

I'm mostly interested to see how Vonleh, Randle and Exum play.   Not that we could have drafted Exum, but it will be interesting to see if Orlando ends up regretting passing on him.

Even so... Gordon was drafted for his potential.  He's a raw prospect.

Smart was drafted, because he's "NBA ready".

[Celtics4ever]

I think Smart went at Elfrid hard and upped his game because of the other PG.

[kozlodoev]

Work in progress Yes, Bust no..

Did you watch AGordan today?  I can only imagine your scouting report on that player...


Takes time my friend. Patience!

Some mocks had Gordon at 10th and Smart at 8th. 

I'm mostly interested to see how Vonleh, Randle and Exum play.   Not that we could have drafted Exum, but it will be interesting to see if Orlando ends up regretting passing on him.

Even so... Gordon was drafted for his potential.  He's a raw prospect.

Smart was drafted, because he's "NBA ready".

Smart was the "most NBA ready" of all the top prospects, that doesn't mean he's a finished product. He's still just 20.

[crimson_stallion]

You guys don't watch the games I guess, this kid has natural drive and dish instincts with superb defense, his shot will drop, it's smooth. Give em time

Exactly,  I agree.

Watching the kid play he just looks like he has natural instincts out there on both ends of the court.   I've been very impressed with the way he's handled double teams,  his court vision (hes made cross-court passes to open guys that I, as a spectator with full view of the court, didn't even see!), and his decision making (he seems to make decisions very instinctively on the fly, and rarely hesitates).   Plus his shot,  though it hasnt been falling,  actually looks pretty good.

Most importantly he has shown he's absolutely fearless attacking the basket.   He's getting to the line 18 times in three games, and has connected on 78% of those attempts.

In fact looking at his stats, they have been pretty good.   Per 36 hes averaging 14.7 points, 5.4 assists, 5.4 Rebound,  3.4 steals, 0.9 blocks and a not-unreasonable 2.9 turnovers.  The only area where he's struggled has been shooting, which may well just be a slump or nerves.   Aside from that he's been excellent. 

Oh and for the guys criticising the Dwyane Wade comparison,  in the 2003 summer league Wade averaged 6 Rebound,  4.6 assists and < 14.2ppg.

Do those starts sound similar to anybody else who is currently playing in summer league?

[DraftSmart33]

Work in progress Yes, Bust no..

Did you watch AGordan today?  I can only imagine your scouting report on that player...


Takes time my friend. Patience!

Some mocks had Gordon at 10th and Smart at 8th. 

I'm mostly interested to see how Vonleh, Randle and Exum play.   Not that we could have drafted Exum, but it will be interesting to see if Orlando ends up regretting passing on him.

Even so... Gordon was drafted for his potential.  He's a raw prospect.

Smart was drafted, because he's "NBA ready".

Smart was drafted because he was considered the BPA. 

[Kane3387]

Smart still had 19 points.

He defends, gets to the line, is unselfish...

Rome wasn't built in a day. Let's not go all Rick pitino. (Billups)

[esel1000]

Work in progress Yes, Bust no..

Did you watch AGordan today?  I can only imagine your scouting report on that player...


Takes time my friend. Patience!

Some mocks had Gordon at 10th and Smart at 8th. 

I'm mostly interested to see how Vonleh, Randle and Exum play.   Not that we could have drafted Exum, but it will be interesting to see if Orlando ends up regretting passing on him.

Even so... Gordon was drafted for his potential.  He's a raw prospect.

Smart was drafted, because he's "NBA ready".

Smart was the "most NBA ready" of all the top prospects, that doesn't mean he's a finished product. He's still just 20.

Thank you... besides he does a lot out there that is NBA ready.

From what I've seen in the SL games I've been able to watch, Smart has done a lot of good. He's destroyed +/- so far. Teams literally go on runs when he's taken out, but when he's on the floor/running the offense it's been night and day. His defense and passing instincts have been great. His shooting has been rough...

Then I remembered it's SL aka chucking league. Many guards have really poor shooting games. Caldwell-Pope was 7-20 last night. Smart is by no means a great shooter, but I'm sure he's been given the green light to just let it fly when given the chance. I think he'll improve over time.

He'll get mins in the regular season for his defense and the offense will (hopefully) come along. From what I've seen so far he looks like he'll be far from a bust...and I'm definitely not throwing that label on him for some SL games, the same games where ROY MCW shot 27%

[the_Bird]

I'm kinda new to the forum, but is this why he has -7 tommy points?

I was wondering the same thing.

Back in the day you could give or take away TPs.  People who made unpopular posts often wound up with negative numbers, which is why they got rid of it.  So you'll only see it on a few really old accounts and Roy Hobbs.

This thread's a pretty good argument for bringing 'em back.

[TheBig3]

Work in progress Yes, Bust no..

Did you watch AGordan today?  I can only imagine your scouting report on that player...


Takes time my friend. Patience!

Some mocks had Gordon at 10th and Smart at 8th. 

I'm mostly interested to see how Vonleh, Randle and Exum play.   Not that we could have drafted Exum, but it will be interesting to see if Orlando ends up regretting passing on him.

Even so... Gordon was drafted for his potential.  He's a raw prospect.

Smart was drafted, because he's "NBA ready".

I believe you have part of that correct .... What I recall they said was that he had an NBA ready body and that his defense was NBA ready.

[dreamgreen]

Smart still had 19 points.

He defends, gets to the line, is unselfish...

Rome wasn't built in a day. Let's not go all Rick pitino. (Billups)

Good point, when I think of young players I always think of Billups and Joe Johnson, trading them and not giving them the time to mature was a HUGE mistake.

[manl_lui]

Smart still had 19 points.

He defends, gets to the line, is unselfish...

Rome wasn't built in a day. Let's not go all Rick pitino. (Billups)

Good point, when I think of young players I always think of Billups and Joe Johnson, trading them and not giving them the time to mature was a HUGE mistake.

and that's playing with scrubs + Kelly + Pressey

can you imagine him with a better cast with Rondo and Bradley?

[Mazingerz]

Its just summer league folks.