Author Topic: Marcus Smart Discussion  (Read 9600 times)

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Marcus Smart Discussion
« on: July 06, 2015, 10:18:10 AM »

Offline Greenbean

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I havent been active here for a long time but I have been back lurking for a little while and want to jump into the forums a bit.

I am curious to take fans' temperature on one of my favorite Celtics to watch, Marcus Smart.

I think we are looking at a guy that can potentially be an all star in this league. He can be dominant defensively against guards, and can hold his own on switches on bigger swingmen.

Offensively, he is a work in progress, but he has a great handle, strength, athelticism, and some finishing ability. Needless to say he has to work on his shot but he is a confident player and a hard worker. I have faith that his shot will become a weapon for him.

All that being said, I still dont think any roster should start wth a guy who is not a matchup nightmare on offense (That's my personal criteria for who you should build a roster around.). I dont think teams will ever have to game plan or really focus on doubling Marcus even if he reaches his full offensive potential.

So I think that his value and upside is apparent to the rest of the league. I also am predicting a sizable leap from year 1-2 from him. I can see him putting up 15/5/5/2 easily. I also think that if that does happen, Ainge should explore making Smart the trade centerpiece to bring in the next star that will lead this team to titles.

Im talking about a guy that I really love to watch and I want to see have a long winning career, but I think we should cash in with his value at its highest.

We waited too long on Rondo, another guy that is tough to build a team around with his shooting limitations. Lets not wait too long on Smart if he can bring back the next small forward or big man that can lead this team to a title.

So what do you guys think? Is Smart in your starting lineup on the next championship wining Boston Celtics team?



Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2015, 10:22:07 AM »

Offline MrMorrill

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I love his bullish play, dude does not give up. 15/5/5 seems pretty achievable although I hope a slight increase in scoring doesn't take away from his D AB's did. At this moment, I don't see how smart can be a big centerpiece for a star. League has a lot of good PGs and smart is in the middle of the pack. He has a lot more to prove other than his solid D.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2015, 10:24:44 AM »

Offline footey

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I don't think he has enough quickness and ball handling skill (or shot) to compensate for his lack of height.  I love his make up and defense, but that will not punch his ticket to the all star game.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2015, 10:29:36 AM »

Offline clover

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I don't think he has enough quickness and ball handling skill (or shot) to compensate for his lack of height.  I love his make up and defense, but that will not punch his ticket to the all star game.

That's why pairing him with Rozier could be so good. Rozier has the speed to keep up with other top PGs, which Smart sometimes doesn't have. But they both could be combo-guard playmakers back there. Crowder, KO, and Johnson are three heady players to really make the ball spin out there with them.

I also have high hopes for Thornton coming on as a complementary pairing with him at some point too.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2015, 10:31:20 AM »

Offline clover

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I don't think he has enough quickness and ball handling skill (or shot) to compensate for his lack of height.  I love his make up and defense, but that will not punch his ticket to the all star game.

That's why pairing him with Rozier could be so good. Rozier has the speed to keep up with other top PGs, which Smart sometimes doesn't have. But they both could be combo-guard playmakers back there. Crowder, KO, and Johnson are three heady players to really make the ball spin out there with them.

I also have high hopes for Thornton coming on as a complementary pairing with him at some point too.

I think the 2013 and 2015 drafts will prove to be Danny's two best since he bagged Rondo a decade ago.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2015, 10:32:06 AM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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I think he will always be a guy that other team hate to play against because of his D, grit and attitude.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2015, 10:32:18 AM »

Offline Evantime34

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I'm a huge fan. By the end of his rookie deal I think he will be the best perimeter defender in the league.

On offense, we should see him attack the rim a lot more this year like he did in college. In college he was excellent at drawing fouls, as he gets more respect from referees he will do that in the NBA. I also expect him to be able to get his 3 point percentage up.

This upcoming season Smart will probably take a big step and give us a more accurate picture of what he is going to be long term.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2015, 10:34:08 AM »

Offline PhoSita

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I think Smart is a shooting guard.  I see him as a defensively-oriented version of Eric Gordon, or a beefier version of George Hill. 

Drafting Rozier in this context does make some sense.  If Rozier can be a penetrating, drive-and-kick player with the ability to hit spot up shots from outside and get to the line relatively often, he could fit nicely next to Smart.

I don't believe Smart will ever be a good fit next to Avery Bradley, though.  It puts a lot of pressure our wings and bigs to be able to penetrate and create because neither Smart nor Bradley is particularly good at that, and they both have a tendency to turn the ball over if they are heavily pressured while dribbling.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2015, 10:39:37 AM »

Offline GreenCoffeeBean

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I think Smart is a shooting guard.  I see him as a defensively-oriented version of Eric Gordon, or a beefier version of George Hill. 

Drafting Rozier in this context does make some sense.  If Rozier can be a penetrating, drive-and-kick player with the ability to hit spot up shots from outside and get to the line relatively often, he could fit nicely next to Smart.

I don't believe Smart will ever be a good fit next to Avery Bradley, though.  It puts a lot of pressure our wings and bigs to be able to penetrate and create because neither Smart nor Bradley is particularly good at that, and they both have a tendency to turn the ball over if they are heavily pressured while dribbling.

Yup. This is the only way I see this all working out. Smart needs to develop a shot and Rozier needs to be able to dish. We don't need Rondo-like passing out of Rozier because in modern day NBA assists come from all over the place. Rozier needs to be able to at least put the fear into the defenses that he could pass the ball or else his effectiveness with the ball in his hands goes way down.

Basically, we need our top guards to be less one dimensional.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2015, 10:40:05 AM »

Offline coffee425

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All that being said, I still dont think any roster should start wth a guy who is not a matchup nightmare on offense (That's my personal criteria for who you should build a roster around.). I dont think teams will ever have to game plan or really focus on doubling Marcus even if he reaches his full offensive potential.

I'm on the opposite opinion of this. I think that if you're a liability on defense, you really shouldn't be on the floor. Isaiah is the best example of an offensive mismatch on this team because of his quickness, but we can't afford to have him start if you don't expect every guard to abuse his defense.

Like I've always said, it'll be a lot easier to improve one aspect of your game (offense) if you're already above average in another aspect. Especially for a rookie. For comparison's sake, I've lived in Oklahoma long enough to see the disaster that Russell Westbrook was on both ends of the floor during his rookie year but got by due to his elite athleticism. He's worked on his game and really hit his offensive stride during his 3rd year (though I still don't think he can shoot).
On the other hand, a kid like Damian Lillard has so much time to work on his defense to see improvement just as James Harden improved this year. There's still plenty of time for Marcus.

Back to your actual question. Would he be starting on a Banner 18 team? Absolutely. Championship teams need a player with heart. If you look at the last group of champions, there's always a glue/heart player that drives the team with defense and effort in the clutch (Draymond Green, old Tim Duncan, injured DWade, old KG, Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace, Derek Fisher). How many plays did he make late in games, especially during the playoff stretch of last year?

If Marcus even turns out to have the above-average ceiling of a Kyle Lowry, but have the heart of KG; How could you not want that as your starting pg.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #10 on: July 06, 2015, 10:42:43 AM »

Offline LGC88

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His ankle slow him down on the offense event. It's hard from me to draw conclusion since we still haven't see Smart working on offense in nba.
Having said that, Smart shows he can be a clutch player, entering 3s at crucial time several times in the late season.
To win a title you need a guy like him that will be able to stop anybody 1on1 and do everything well for the team.
Let's see if his offense starts to kick in next season and we'll know if he has D-Wade potential or just a 3 and D guy. In the later case, yes, I agree that Smart could be the centerpiece to trade for a star.
But if it's the first case, those type of players are rare, better keep him.
I believe we'll have 1 or 2 other young players that might be the centerpiece of a trade. Patience guys.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #11 on: July 06, 2015, 10:55:41 AM »

Offline Evantime34

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This article got me excited because it means that he understands how he needs to get better and gives you indication that he believes he will be better next year

Quote
“Definitely,” Smart said. “Last year, my ankle injury held me back from a lot of things. I couldn’t do a lot of things that I was capable of doing in college, like getting to the rim. It kind of slowed me down. Now that my ankle’s healing up, I’m getting to the rim. I’m beating people off the dribble and making plays like I was in college.
Quote
“I’m more comfortable being at the point guard position and treading the defense and kind of just running the whole offense,” Smart said.

If he can get to the basket and run the offense better next year, we will be a much better team.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2015, 11:27:38 AM »

Offline The One

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Love his play...love his attitude...his offensive skills are good and will get better.

Defense is already great.

He's only 21!  I think the sky's the limit!!




Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #13 on: July 06, 2015, 12:14:36 PM »

Offline Jon

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I don't disagree with the OP's assessment of Smart.  He likely will never be a 20+ ppg scorer or a 10 apg distributor.  So the idea that we could move him for a star elsewhere isn't a bad one.

But I disagree with the idea that DA should be looking to actively do it.  Quite frankly we don't know what we have with the rest of the roster or what we might stumble across in the draft or in free agency over the next season or two.  Maybe we will stumble across that small forward or big man without having to make a trade at all.  Or maybe we can repeat the KG deal where we dealt some of our young assets, but managed to hold onto Rondo. 

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #14 on: July 06, 2015, 12:17:23 PM »

Offline droopdog7

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I see a good defender with not obvious strength on the offensive end.  He isn't a PG and won't necessarily learn how to be one in the NBA.  He's a below average shooter and with practice, could become average.  His handle is shaky though it could improve a little.  With a shaky handle, and not being extremely explosive, he will have difficulties breaking down his man and getting to the hoop and finishing. 

So in a nutshell, I see a defensive specialist that will need to find a niche on the offensive end if he is to become an NBA level rotation player.

Is this harsh?  I am sure many will think so.  But everything is also true.  Smart has a ways to go.