Just saw the box score. Smart put up stats, but 6-20?.... Woof. How'd he look? Still bricking ill advised shots? Did he try penatrating at all?
How did Exum look? Saw he was +31. Was he looking more aggressive?
A look at Smart's FTA should answer that one for you - I think he hit over 10 free throws. Was getting to the paint at will. His finishing ability once he got the has been questioned by some, but he was driving like a beast.
Exum looked...ok.
He looked like a solid NBA player, didn't see much that screamed "star potential" to me. He still looks a bit awkward in the way he moves.
Based on Eye test alone, I felt like Smart was by far the more dominant of the two - even if the stats suggest it was much closer than that.
Good to know.
And yeah, Smart should be better than Exum right now. Smart had two years of NCAA basketball. Exum is the only player in NBA history to transition directly from a foreign high school straight to the pros. Exum's ceiling is believed to be higher. Looks like he's showing some progress. Last year Utah won with him in the starting lineup, but he was very passive.. He was shockingly good defensively, though (read some article about how his advanced defensive stats were arguably better than either Smart or Nerlens Noel). It will be interesting to see what kind of player Exum becomes long-term.
I guess the best way to put it is that Exum looked like a 'good all rounder' type of guy - kinda like a mini Gordon Hayward / Chandler Parsons.
Marcus Smart looked like a superstar - like a Dwyane Wade or James Harden - with how he was just dominating and having his way with the defense.
Of course this is a scale model of those guys, since we're talking about D-League / 3rd string NBA talent here haha but you get the idea
Funny... I just started watching highlights and that's really not how anyone is portraying it. They said Smart was good, but Exum asserted his will in the second half and the Jazz ran away with it. I do see that Exum hurt his ankle late, though. That's a bummer. Would have liked to see him play more.
Exum played well, no doubt about it.
He seems to have more of a 'quiet' style of play though - where it looks like he has 12 points, but then you check the stat sheet later and he had 20. It's hard to explain, but watching Exum play I didn't see him displaying a huge amount of explosiveness, power, great ball handling, etc in his game - I have questions as to whether the looks he got tonight will be there when he gets to the NBA.
Exum seemed (to me) like he was still a bit cautious and laid back - didn't play with that extreme intensity. Played a solid game fundamentally - got the the basket a few times, hit a few jumpers, made some nice passes. But I just didn't see that "character" or "killer instinct". Undoubtedly a skilled kid, I think he could be a nice player.
Smart on the other hand (at least to my own eye test) just looked so explosive and so powerful physically, and just looked so confident. If felt like there was not a single defender on that court who could keep Smart in front of them - he was blowing by everybody and getting in to the paint absolutely at will. This guy shot something like 30% from the field and STILL had 26 points - he was just that aggressive. If he shot even close to a reasonable percentage he'd have probably had 32-35 points.
It's not just that though - maybe it's just me, but I thought he looked far more developed in terms of both his ball handling and his passing. He didn't seem to hesitate as much when faced with pressure, seemed quicker in his decision making and seemed like he had the confidence there all the time.
He just played with that 'swagger' that you see when you watch superstars like Kobe, Wade, etc. Like he was the best player on the court, and he knew it. Just so intense.
The only real cricism's for Smart are that:
1) He got to the rim at will, but at times looked like he didn't know what to do once he got there. Ended up just trying to use his power to go straight through guys rather than drawing the D and passing it out. etc
2) He did (as mentioned by others) take a LOT of thee's - some were reasonable decisions (not highly contested and/or to beat the shot clock) while some were just poor shot selection.
Basically if Smart can develop his ability to finish around the basket and improve his shot selection, while continuing to play with this aggressiveness, then I'm calling future All-Star.