Smart is not a point guard

[mmmmm]

as far as his shot goes. I haven't watched his form or anything like that. but from what I've seen his major problem imo is something that just about every rookie suffers from - "shot selection".

It's more than just shot selection - though smart shot selection could certainly improve his numbers tremendously.

He has an actual, very visible flaw in his shooting form, especially as he gets farther from the basket.  Instead of bending with his knees and keeping his spine vertical throughout the shot, he "clamshells" -- bends forward at the waist before rising into the shot.   This means his spine is going backwards and forwards as he rises through the shot.

He's been doing this for the three years I've seen him on the national stage and the results are his outside shooting is what it is.  He was a 29% 3PT shooter each year in college and he's currently a 29% 3PT shooter in the NBA.

I've seen no visible attempt to address this flaw in his form so far in his limited NBA career.

This is where comparisons to Billups deviate.  Billups also struggled to shoot when he came into the NBA, but that looks more like rookie jitters in hindsight.  Billups was a 38.2% 3PT shooter in college.  (Both players took a LOT of 3PT shots in college.)

Shot selection could be the answer, if they can't fix his form.  There is no fundamental law of the universe that says Marcus Smart HAS to be a good 3PT shooter in order to be a good NBA basketball player.  He may never be a good 3PT shooter.  But he is a decent FT shooter and short-mid jump shooter and in college showed the ability to get to the hoop and the FT line.

Stevens needs to focus Marcus on doing those things that he does well and stop having him do those things that he doesn't.

In the NBA, the talent level is just too extreme to be trying to do things you are not excellent at.

[kozlodoev]

Stevens needs to focus Marcus on doing those things that he does well and stop having him do those things that he doesn't.

The next time Stevens gets anyone to focus on anything will be his first. This team has no accountability to itself or to the coach, it seems.

[mmmmm]

I think Smart will end up a really nice player... but he's off to a terrible start to his career.  He's having an awful season.

I'd say it has been a fairly typical rookie season so far and there is still 2/3rds of the season left for improvement.  Which rookies this year have actually performed much better than Smart?

Not a lot.  Here is a list of the top rookies by Win Shares, minimum 10 games, minimum 17 mpg:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&per_poss_base=100&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=2015&year_max=2015&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&shoot_hand=&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&birth_state=&college_id=&is_active=&debut_yr_nba_start=&debut_yr_nba_end=&debut_yr_aba_start=&debut_yr_aba_end=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=&award=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=&c1stat=g&c1comp=gt&c1val=10&c2stat=mp_per_g&c2comp=gt&c2val=17&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws#stats::none

Go to the link for details, but the order shakes out as:

Mirotic
Parker
Bogdanovic
K.J. McDaniels
Papanikolaou
Noel
Napier
Smart
Exum
Hood
Payton
Wiggins
LaVine

None of them are setting the world on fire.  Mirotic is the only one who's really contributing a lot to his team - helps that he's on a very solid roster.   Parker also was contributing a lot before he got hurt.

Mirotic (23), Bogdanovic (25) & Papanikolaou (24) are all older, euro players, of course.  Some guys in the list were actually drafted in prior seasons (Mirotic & Noel).

Shabazz Napier so far looks like the real deal for Miami.   I kinda wish that if we were going to go for a PG in the draft that we had used our later pick to grab him.   But passing on Smart only really would have made sense if Danny had been able to trade down a few spots.

Oh well.   It's clear that from the results so far, if we are going to call Smart a 'bust' then we probably have to say the vast majority of his draft class is a 'bust' - and that's a bit silly.

[ViolentGhandi]

yeah also Oly and Sully would be busts since they can't play D.
AB can't shoot.
and so on....

its like hunting for the hair in the soup for some ppl.

When Oly was starting at Center earlier this season it was a wonder ppl didnt burn him on a stake.

[Dino Pitino]

There are no starting shooting guards in the league who are not good shooters. Perimeter shooting has never been more valuable in the league. Also, defensive specialists are rarely starters in the NBA and are usually expert 3 point shooters i.e 3&D moniker...

Smart will most likely never be an above average shooter. He can and should be an above average passer and is already a decent perpetrator and very good defender. I like him, but only as a PG..

What's your definition of "starting", "shooting guard", and "good"? One could point to a number of shooting guards in recent history who are arguably not-good at shooting. Wade comes to mind first, of course...or is Wade a good shooter per your standards? DeRozan? Ellis? Lance Stephenson? Very recently, Tony Allen has been the starting SG for a good team, for four straight years -- exactly the kind of role Smart could have, even if he barely ever improves as a shooter.

[Boris Badenov]

I think Smart will end up a really nice player... but he's off to a terrible start to his career.  He's having an awful season.

I'd say it has been a fairly typical rookie season so far and there is still 2/3rds of the season left for improvement.  Which rookies this year have actually performed much better than Smart?

Not a lot.  Here is a list of the top rookies by Win Shares, minimum 10 games, minimum 17 mpg:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&per_poss_base=100&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=2015&year_max=2015&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&shoot_hand=&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&birth_state=&college_id=&is_active=&debut_yr_nba_start=&debut_yr_nba_end=&debut_yr_aba_start=&debut_yr_aba_end=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=&award=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=&c1stat=g&c1comp=gt&c1val=10&c2stat=mp_per_g&c2comp=gt&c2val=17&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws#stats::none

Go to the link for details, but the order shakes out as:

Mirotic
Parker
Bogdanovic
K.J. McDaniels
Papanikolaou
Noel
Napier
Smart
Exum
Hood
Payton
Wiggins
LaVine

None of them are setting the world on fire.  Mirotic is the only one who's really contributing a lot to his team - helps that he's on a very solid roster.   Parker also was contributing a lot before he got hurt.

Mirotic (23), Bogdanovic (25) & Papanikolaou (24) are all older, euro players, of course.  Some guys in the list were actually drafted in prior seasons (Mirotic & Noel).

Shabazz Napier so far looks like the real deal for Miami.   I kinda wish that if we were going to go for a PG in the draft that we had used our later pick to grab him.   But passing on Smart only really would have made sense if Danny had been able to trade down a few spots.

Oh well.   It's clear that from the results so far, if we are going to call Smart a 'bust' then we probably have to say the vast majority of his draft class is a 'bust' - and that's a bit silly.

Smart is fifth by WS48, which seems more appropriate given that he's played half as many games as those guys.

And he's the best rotation guy by net plus/minus on the C's:

http://www.82games.com/1415/1415BOS.HTM

That all said...like I noted above it's way too early. Plenty of All-Stars have started out just as poorly as Smart has (as have plenty of busts).

[wiley]

There are no starting shooting guards in the league who are not good shooters. Perimeter shooting has never been more valuable in the league. Also, defensive specialists are rarely starters in the NBA and are usually expert 3 point shooters i.e 3&D moniker...

Smart will most likely never be an above average shooter. He can and should be an above average passer and is already a decent perpetrator and very good defender. I like him, but only as a PG..

What's your definition of "starting", "shooting guard", and "good"? One could point to a number of shooting guards in recent history who are arguably not-good at shooting. Wade comes to mind first, of course...or is Wade a good shooter per your standards? DeRozan? Ellis? Lance Stephenson? Very recently, Tony Allen has been the starting SG for a good team, for four straight years -- exactly the kind of role Smart could have, even if he barely ever improves as a shooter.

Thabo Sefolosha for like 3 years.  Granted he was sandwiched by 2 of the best shooters around.  But TP for your post.  If the PG and Small Forward can shoot, especially with decent shooting bigs, there is no reason you can't have a poor shooter at SG.  Smart could do major damage as a high iq, good passing defensive stud SG.  I've recently become obsessed with the idea of a 2-combo guard backcourt, with D'Angelo Russel at the 1 and Smart at the 2.  They're both good passers but Russel can probably handle the 1 more naturally.  Bradley off the bench at the 2 next to both Smart and Russel at the 1.  Or you can get a more pure PG off the bench...Jarrett Jack would be perfect.

Russel, Jack, Smart
Smart, Bradley
Young, G. Wallace, Crowder
Oly, Sully
Brimah, Zeller

Brimah shocks the world with his readiness...
(or Dakari Johnson does... )

[Joe Green]

There are no starting shooting guards in the league who are not good shooters. Perimeter shooting has never been more valuable in the league. Also, defensive specialists are rarely starters in the NBA and are usually expert 3 point shooters i.e 3&D moniker...

Smart will most likely never be an above average shooter. He can and should be an above average passer and is already a decent perpetrator and very good defender. I like him, but only as a PG..

What's your definition of "starting", "shooting guard", and "good"? One could point to a number of shooting guards in recent history who are arguably not-good at shooting. Wade comes to mind first, of course...or is Wade a good shooter per your standards? DeRozan? Ellis? Lance Stephenson? Very recently, Tony Allen has been the starting SG for a good team, for four straight years -- exactly the kind of role Smart could have, even if he barely ever improves as a shooter.

All far superior shooters to Smart, pretty much from day 1

Rookie FG %
Wade 41% / 30%
Ellis 41% / 34%
Derozan 50%/25%

Also - all were pushed to play out of position (Ellis & Wade PG / Derozan SF) until they improved their shot

I am not saying there has NEVER been a SG who isn't a good shooter, I am just saying - they are few and far between, they struggle at the position and need to bring some other FANTASTIC stuff to the table

You can't go back in history and find a whole bunch of guys who prove me wrong, but 9 times out of 10 - I am right....

[mmmmm]

I think Smart will end up a really nice player... but he's off to a terrible start to his career.  He's having an awful season.

I'd say it has been a fairly typical rookie season so far and there is still 2/3rds of the season left for improvement.  Which rookies this year have actually performed much better than Smart?

Not a lot.  Here is a list of the top rookies by Win Shares, minimum 10 games, minimum 17 mpg:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&per_poss_base=100&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=2015&year_max=2015&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&shoot_hand=&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&birth_state=&college_id=&is_active=&debut_yr_nba_start=&debut_yr_nba_end=&debut_yr_aba_start=&debut_yr_aba_end=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=&award=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=&c1stat=g&c1comp=gt&c1val=10&c2stat=mp_per_g&c2comp=gt&c2val=17&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws#stats::none

Go to the link for details, but the order shakes out as:

Mirotic
Parker
Bogdanovic
K.J. McDaniels
Papanikolaou
Noel
Napier
Smart
Exum
Hood
Payton
Wiggins
LaVine

None of them are setting the world on fire.  Mirotic is the only one who's really contributing a lot to his team - helps that he's on a very solid roster.   Parker also was contributing a lot before he got hurt.

Mirotic (23), Bogdanovic (25) & Papanikolaou (24) are all older, euro players, of course.  Some guys in the list were actually drafted in prior seasons (Mirotic & Noel).

Shabazz Napier so far looks like the real deal for Miami.   I kinda wish that if we were going to go for a PG in the draft that we had used our later pick to grab him.   But passing on Smart only really would have made sense if Danny had been able to trade down a few spots.

Oh well.   It's clear that from the results so far, if we are going to call Smart a 'bust' then we probably have to say the vast majority of his draft class is a 'bust' - and that's a bit silly.

Smart is fifth by WS48, which seems more appropriate given that he's played half as many games as those guys.

And he's the best rotation guy by net plus/minus on the C's:

http://www.82games.com/1415/1415BOS.HTM

That all said...like I noted above it's way too early. Plenty of All-Stars have started out just as poorly as Smart has (as have plenty of busts).

Yeah, I wouldn't take the order by WS as any real 'ranking' other than possibly an indication of who has contributed most.

WS/48 might be a better indication of quality of minutes.

But even with that, the real point is simply that, while he hasn't set the world on fire, Smart also hasn't exactly been left in the dust by his draft class mates.

It's simply way too soon to really make a definitive evaluation.  It likely will be a few years.