Man... this discussion got heated. Some of the comments are entirely off the wall. Like MBung, who had no actual point to make so he just started saying "but LB's a Philly fan". Not really even worth responding to.
I do side with tankcity! on this one. I found a thread on the NBA subreddit yesterday
comparing Marcus Smart to Julius Randle. Surprise Surprise, most casual fans think Randle is a superior prospect. The best comment in the entire thread comes from a Spurs fan. Inevitably a Celtic fan joined the thread to dismiss the statistical analysis and say something to the extent if, "you need to watch the games to understand why Smart is better"... to which this Spurs fan commented: "Thats something people say when they have nothing to support a players skill other than homerism." Nail on head.
Jpotter, I don't care that I'm in the minority here. Don't use "consensus opinion" as some proof point. This board slants homer. It doesn't reflect the actual consensus opinion on any Celtic or non-Celtic player.
My point wasn't to bash Smart. He's doing some positive things. But he's always done some positive things. There's never been a doubt that Smart was capable of doing positive things. He's always helped us win games. That's what role players do. What I was reacting to is that we're now in his 3rd season and so far he's shown no real improvement from his rookie season.
If people are happy about the positive things Marcus Smart does, that's fine. Be happy about it. I'm happy about it too. He's a quality role player that's helping us win games. But don't claim these positive things are a sign of progress. They aren't. Especially don't claim "this isn't about stats" and then use the fact that he had 8 assists as proof that he's improved. That's completely contradictory. On that note, I've pointed out that during Smart's rookie year he had a 4 game stretch in which he had 9, 3, 8 and 8 assists... they won 3 of those games. Smart being able to throw up 8 assists isn't a sign of progress. It's a sign that he's being utilized differently. Just like Smart shooting 2-10 isn't a sign of progress. It's a sign that he still is a terrible offensive player.
If you truly ignore stats and just are reacting to the "little things" he does on the court to make positive contributions, fine. But these are the same ill-defined "little things" he did on the court to make positive contributions the past two years. This isn't new territory. We were all excited about Smart's intangibles from day 1. I don't think we've seen much progress in his ill-defined "little things" category.
Honestly, the irony is that most people claiming Smart is improved are claiming this because of a boost in stats... and then they bark "this isn't about stats!" when you show it's not true. The boost in stats has more to do with his role changing and the fact he's averaging 5 more minutes per game this year than the last two. That has more to do with Evan Turner signing in Portland than anything.
It is what it is. He's shown minimal improvement over the past 3 years. In some ways, he's regressed. Even out his minutes and you'll see he's impacting the games in the same way statistically:
Season FG% 3P% 2P% FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PTS
2014-15 .367 .335 .410 .646 4.4 4.1 2.0 0.4 1.8 10.4
2015-16 .348 .253 .427 .777 5.5 4.0 2.0 0.4 1.7 12.1
2016-17 .359 .306 .409 .471 5.4 4.3 1.6 0.6 2.2 11.2
Career .357 .297 .419 .706 5.0 4.1 1.9 0.4 1.8 11.2
Minuscule uptick in assists is offset by the rise in turnovers - both of which suggest a slight change in his role and a higher usage rate. Not a fan of stats? Fine. My arbitrary "eye test" tells me he's the same player he was as a rookie and is doing the same "little things" he did as a rookie to help us win.
Minimal progress. We're all waiting for the "3rd year leap". I still think the leap can happen. In-fact, I'm willing to give Smart at least 35 games this season before I get too concerned - mainly because he's injury prone and missed 34 games over the past two seasons... so I'm willing to pretend his 3rd season doesn't officially start until he has 164 career games under his belt (he's only at 140 right now). But the big thing he obviously needs to improve at is the same big thing he obviously needed to improve at as a rookie... his shooting is terrible. So don't sit here and pretend like Marcus has actually started making significant progress by pointing out things he was always good at. He's still a deeply flawed player. In Smart's defense, nobody would care about the fact he's a deeply flawed player if he was taken with a late 1st rounder. The only reason this is a discussion is because he was the #6 pick and projected to be a future all-star.
Topic: Celtics (8-6) at Nets (4-9) Game #15 11/23/16 (Read 39904 times)