How much is Smart actually helping the Celtics? Can't score, can't shoot and getting rep for being a flopper...
MikeB
Well ...
He's not getting as many steals, his rebounding is a little bit worse, his shooting isn't any better, he's getting to the rim less, his free throw rate is less ...
Also, his defensive rating stinks.
I guess the answer is that he's providing ballhandling and playmaking on the second unit. His assist rate is significantly higher than it was last year. But his point per-36 are down despite his usage rate being higher.
Combine that with the fact that his defense has not been up to his previous standard.
So, yeah, Smart seems to be stagnating. It's pretty disappointing.
Love how people ignore his defensive skills. C'mon.
Is it ignoring his defensive skills to note that his defense is measurably worse than it has been in the past, on top of everything else?
He's an OK backup ball-handler and defensive guard. That's all.
You are just wrong Phosita. His DRPM is actually higher regarding the ranking of PG's.
https://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM/position/1
Smitty77
It's interesting that his DRPM is that high (compared to other point guards) given that his Defensive Rating is way up and his steal rate is way down.
You're right to point out his DRPM ranking among point guards. That's a mark in his favor, though RPM overall has him ranked very low because of how bad he is offensively.
Generally, what I see with Marcus is that he is as bad as ever on offense, apart from his passing. While his defense is still good, especially for his size, he isn't the playmaker on that end he has been in the past. Part of that dropoff may indeed be due to the fact he's been asked to guard larger players.
In any case, it seems fairly evident he isn't up to the standard we hoped he would be at this point. He is a nice defensive backup, but he's a decided negative offensively and hasn't shown much development as a scorer.
Please note I'm as disappointed as anybody to reach that conclusion. I had high hopes for Marcus as recently as a year ago. It's not hard to find old posts of mine opining that he could become a quality starter.