Author Topic: Marcus Smart Discussion  (Read 9599 times)

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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #30 on: July 06, 2015, 02:56:24 PM »

Offline CelticSooner

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I think we'll see Smart penetrate with the ball more than what we saw last season. He was very good at getting to the rim in college and was doing more of that in the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised if CBS wanted him to stay on the perimeter his rookie year and continue to work on his shot. I think he'll be completely unleashed so to speak this season. He's better than just a 3&D player. Will he ever be an All-Star? No idea

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #31 on: July 06, 2015, 03:01:57 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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I'm not suggesting Smart will ever be a star.  However, even with only modest improvement from his rookie season, if Smart got starter minutes (i.e. approximately 32-36 minutes), he could easily put up a line that looks like this:

14 points, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 st, 40/35/70

For a guy that gives you versatile, high level defense at a position that is weak league-wide, that's pretty good.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #32 on: July 06, 2015, 03:04:46 PM »

Offline Greenbean

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I think we'll see Smart penetrate with the ball more than what we saw last season. He was very good at getting to the rim in college and was doing more of that in the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised if CBS wanted him to stay on the perimeter his rookie year and continue to work on his shot. I think he'll be completely unleashed so to speak this season. He's better than just a 3&D player. Will he ever be an All-Star? No idea

Yes I agree. This is the path to him become a viable offensive player. And it is entirely plausible.


Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #33 on: July 06, 2015, 03:11:25 PM »

Offline PickNRoll

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Smart's ankle was never right after the injury.  I'm hopeful we'll see better burst this year, which should help him get in the paint.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #34 on: July 06, 2015, 03:35:59 PM »

Offline droopdog7

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Smart's ankle was never right after the injury.  I'm hopeful we'll see better burst this year, which should help him get in the paint.
He must have injured his ankle before summer league last year?

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #35 on: July 06, 2015, 03:47:24 PM »

Offline CFAN38

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My 2 cents on the topic of smart and his offense. I think we as fans saw a small glimpse of what Smart can be in the playoffs last season. I can't recall which game it was but at one point he passed the ball started cutting to the hoop and when the lane wasnt open he simply spun, posted up Irving, and they dropped the ball down to him. I think this is an area where he could thrive. Im not saying he lives on the block up at 6'3 225+lbs he should be able to score 6-8 pts a game off of size/strength miss matches in the paint or high post. As Celtics fans think how often he watched Pierce use his wide body in the high post to get around quicker players. Couple this with an improved spot up game and P&R facilitator and the Cs should have a future 13-15ppg swiss army knife on defense as a long time captain.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #36 on: July 06, 2015, 04:11:25 PM »

Offline 2short

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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #37 on: July 06, 2015, 05:13:57 PM »

Offline mmmmm

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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.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can see the roses here. You would think that most fan bases would be utterly disappointed if a 6th overall pick 1. Was beat out by a second round pick for the Rookie 1st Team and 2. Put up extremely mediocre stats like 7.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 3 APG on shooting percentages of 36% from the field and 33% from behind the arc in 27 minutes per game. 27 minutes!! I honestly think you guys are blinded by this allegiance to Ainge because those stats are terrible.

Well, he may have been beat out in a vote, but Smart still managed to lead all rookies in total Win Shares, Box-Score Plus/Minus and VORP (Value Over Replacment Player).  And those scores weren't even close.

I think you are seriously underselling how valuable Smart actually is.

I do agree with all those pointing out that his offensive limitations were and may be a limiter on his upside.  It was certainly very painful to watch opposing teams basically ignore him when playing our starters down the stretch.   If he doesn't show significant improvement in his offensive impact this season, then it's hard to see him as a starter on a contending team unless he has the right complementary pieces around him.

I personally don't want to see the offensively inept Avery-Smart-Turner trio as the starting 1-2-3 punch this fall or ever again.   That was just gawd-awful, not only on offense, but it wasn't really all that good on defense.

But I won't assert that Smart was the singular problem there.  He worked fine in lineups next to Thomas.  Heck, Avery and Turner also worked fine in lineups next to Thomas.

The problem was less about the individual players than about the combination as a whole.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #38 on: July 06, 2015, 05:28:33 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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The problem was less about the individual players than about the combination as a whole.

The problem was that Turner was the best ball-handler of that trio, and Bradley was the best shooter.  Those are not positive signs for any three-man grouping.

Smart's role in that grouping was appropriate.  He should be the secondary ball-handler and a complementary outside shooter on offense.  Hopefully he also develops an ability to attack close-outs either by adding a mid-range game or by figuring out how to get into the paint and draw contact or finish against NBA defenders.  Even without that, he is already a useful player.

Put a sweet shooting small forward and a penetrating ball-handler at point guard (or visa versa, perhaps) around Smart at off-guard and you'll have a pretty solid starting 1-2-3 grouping.

Rozier - Smart - Young, perhaps?  Probably not this season.  Maybe a couple seasons down the road.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #39 on: July 06, 2015, 05:50:49 PM »

Offline mmmmm

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The problem was less about the individual players than about the combination as a whole.

The problem was that Turner was the best ball-handler of that trio, and Bradley was the best shooter.  Those are not positive signs for any three-man grouping.

Smart's role in that grouping was appropriate.  He should be the secondary ball-handler and a complementary outside shooter on offense.  Hopefully he also develops an ability to attack close-outs either by adding a mid-range game or by figuring out how to get into the paint and draw contact or finish against NBA defenders.  Even without that, he is already a useful player.

Put a sweet shooting small forward and a penetrating ball-handler at point guard (or visa versa, perhaps) around Smart at off-guard and you'll have a pretty solid starting 1-2-3 grouping.

Rozier - Smart - Young, perhaps?  Probably not this season.  Maybe a couple seasons down the road.

Agreed.   It's worth noting that the Thomas+Smart+Crowder trio was a solid +12 net points per 100 possessions this Spring (unlike the above mentioned AB+MS+ET trio, which was -4.6).

Unfortunately, Brad saw only to use the Thomas+Smart+Crowder trio just 140 minutes compared to the 388 minutes he used on the starting trio (as of Game 53, when the roster finalized).

Don't ask me why Brad did that.  I can't explain it.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #40 on: July 06, 2015, 06:01:49 PM »

Offline tenn_smoothie

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Not sure I understand all this backcourt discussion with so little mention of Isiah Thomas. Isn't he our quick, ball-handling scoring machine at the PG spot with Rozier as the current backup ?

Smart, Bradley, Turner, Young plus the two guard draft picks are all 2 guards as I see it.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #41 on: July 06, 2015, 06:13:21 PM »

Offline alewilliam789

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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.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can see the roses here. You would think that most fan bases would be utterly disappointed if a 6th overall pick 1. Was beat out by a second round pick for the Rookie 1st Team and 2. Put up extremely mediocre stats like 7.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 3 APG on shooting percentages of 36% from the field and 33% from behind the arc in 27 minutes per game. 27 minutes!! I honestly think you guys are blinded by this allegiance to Ainge because those stats are terrible.

Well, he may have been beat out in a vote, but Smart still managed to lead all rookies in total Win Shares, Box-Score Plus/Minus and VORP (Value Over Replacment Player).  And those scores weren't even close.

I think you are seriously underselling how valuable Smart actually is.

I do agree with all those pointing out that his offensive limitations were and may be a limiter on his upside.  It was certainly very painful to watch opposing teams basically ignore him when playing our starters down the stretch.   If he doesn't show significant improvement in his offensive impact this season, then it's hard to see him as a starter on a contending team unless he has the right complementary pieces around him.

I personally don't want to see the offensively inept Avery-Smart-Turner trio as the starting 1-2-3 punch this fall or ever again.   That was just gawd-awful, not only on offense, but it wasn't really all that good on defense.

But I won't assert that Smart was the singular problem there.  He worked fine in lineups next to Thomas.  Heck, Avery and Turner also worked fine in lineups next to Thomas.

The problem was less about the individual players than about the combination as a whole.

You're right he did have statistical positives, but for me the most disappointing part was that Smart just could not handle the ball that well. He would always pick up his dribble coming off a pick and roll and just had a sloppy handle on the ball. This was as a 6th overall pick as a PG! I wasn't mad at Smart, but I was more mad at Ainge for clearly swinging and whiffing on that pick after the Olynyk pick the year before.  Hopefully Smart proves me wrong and takes the starting job with success, but I'm not overly optimistic.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #42 on: July 06, 2015, 06:18:36 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Hopefully Smart proves me wrong and takes the starting job with success, but I'm not overly optimistic.

It does appear that Ainge only succeeded in securing a quality role player and someday-above-average-starter with the #6 pick in the draft, which is disappointing. 

That said, to this point, none of the guys taken after Smart has shown enough to indicate any of them will be better than that.
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Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #43 on: July 06, 2015, 06:23:04 PM »

Offline Rondo9

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Hopefully Smart proves me wrong and takes the starting job with success, but I'm not overly optimistic.

It does appear that Ainge only succeeded in securing a quality role player and someday-above-average-starter with the #6 pick in the draft, which is disappointing. 

That said, to this point, none of the guys taken after Smart has shown enough to indicate any of them will be better than that.

After one season? Let's wait until the 3rd season until we can determine if he's role player or not.

Re: Marcus Smart Discussion
« Reply #44 on: July 06, 2015, 06:24:56 PM »

Offline alewilliam789

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Hopefully Smart proves me wrong and takes the starting job with success, but I'm not overly optimistic.

It does appear that Ainge only succeeded in securing a quality role player and someday-above-average-starter with the #6 pick in the draft, which is disappointing. 

That said, to this point, none of the guys taken after Smart has shown enough to indicate any of them will be better than that.

LaVine?? He may not have been statistically as good as Smart, but visually you can see he has all the talent in the world to take that next step. People may laugh at me for saying this, but LaVine could easily become a Westbrook type player. Also this is not just based on watching the dunk contest. The tape I've seen from LaVine displays his ability to get to the rim, finish, create offense for himself, play above the rim, and shows his sweet stroke. I'm telling you if they clear up a spot for LaVine at either the 2 or the 1 next year watch out. I'm expecting a huge improvement this next year for LaVine.