Author Topic: Appreciating Smart  (Read 3587 times)

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Appreciating Smart
« on: February 25, 2018, 01:10:26 AM »

Offline LilRip

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I’ve been a fan of his so I may come off as biased here but Smart these past 2 games has been a breath of fresh air! I sincerely hope the team locks him up long term. He brings an identity to this team and (I know this has been said ad nauseum) he just makes “winning plays”.

He’s not a perfect player. Far from it. But that’s why won’t get paid superstar money anyway. From the eye test though, the team just plays better when he plays. The bench is less of a mess (though still not great) and the team just has more...spring in their step?

Lock him up DA!
- LilRip

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2018, 08:15:27 AM »

Offline hodgy03038

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I agree.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2018, 08:55:16 AM »

Online Roy H.

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I’d like him back, but it’s hard to commit big money to a guy who is only proficient on one end (Kyrie aside, haha).  If we can get him for around the MLE, I’d love to have him back.

If you’re Marcus’ agent, do you recommend a sub-$9 million contract, or do you have him play on his qualifying offer?


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Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2018, 09:06:18 AM »

Offline Eja117

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I thought we'd never miss him, but I missed him. I'm starting to wonder if we'd miss Rozier the way we missed him.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2018, 09:16:09 AM »

Offline Chris22

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We need to keep Smart. In addition to what was said above, Smart is built for playoff basketball, which is much rougher than the regular season.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2018, 11:43:16 AM »

Offline GRADYCOLNON

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I’d like him back, but it’s hard to commit big money to a guy who is only proficient on one end (Kyrie aside, haha).  If we can get him for around the MLE, I’d love to have him back.

If you’re Marcus’ agent, do you recommend a sub-$9 million contract, or do you have him play on his qualifying offer?

His agent is a baffoon.  He will try to get him to sign the qualifier and go elsewhere.  But it will just sour the relationship Smart values.  It also guarantees he makes less going forward because just like Thomas and Bradley, the Celtics will cut ties to save a buck, indicating to the league that the team that knows him best isn't even willing to invest in this guy so why should we pay him.  Best move in Smart's position is to take a deal for 2-3 years, make good money and work your arse off to get in a position to make a better contract before you plateau.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2018, 04:11:17 AM »

Offline LilRip

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I’d like him back, but it’s hard to commit big money to a guy who is only proficient on one end (Kyrie aside, haha).  If we can get him for around the MLE, I’d love to have him back.

If you’re Marcus’ agent, do you recommend a sub-$9 million contract, or do you have him play on his qualifying offer?

I think a contract slightly above MLE is a fair offer. Smart is better than your average NBA player. If MLE is 8m, maybe 9m for 3 years plus player option?
- LilRip

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2018, 04:57:11 AM »

Offline GreenFaith1819

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He certainly brings an edge to this team.

And I really believe he wants to be here long-term.

Just this gem alone from a Player's Tribune article on him speaks volumes about his mentality and intensity - during a battle with none other than KG during a contest with the Nets

Quote
At that point, halfway through my rookie year, a Celtics legend reminded me of that. Kevin Garnett wasn’t even on the team anymore, but he did a little thing that made a big impact on me.

It was December of 2014 — we were playing the Nets at the Garden. It was the third quarter and I was guarding Jarrett Jack at the top of the key. KG came to set a pick on me … and then I saw that the ball had popped out of Jarrett’s hands.

A loose ball. The sweetest sight there ever was.

I just went off instinct and jumped on it. I grabbed the ball, but out of the corner of my eye I saw KG — it looked like he was going to land on me, so I just tossed the ball down the court and we ended up getting an easy bucket. KG almost fell right on top of me. The whistle blew. We were still both down on the court, trying not to get tangled up. My first thought was how lucky I was KG didn’t really dive on me.

Then KG gave me a little tap — just real quick, on the chest — and told me I made a good play.

Just that one little compliment from KG meant so much. I haven’t talked to KG about that play since then, but I still think about it. At that time in my rookie year, it was the dose of confidence I needed to keep playing my style of basketball — not to go crazy trying to score a ton of points, but to play my game. And coming from a guy who wore the Celtics uniform … a guy who won a ring for Boston … a guy always embodied that hustle mentality … it wasn’t a small thing for me.

I wonder if he even remembers that play.



The loose ball comment....his admiration of KG....

Marcus Smart brings a needed edge to this team. He is a bag of intangibles that - when he plays  within himself - oftentimes brings so many positives and can affect the game so many ways.

That article was not even a year ago, April 2017.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/marcus-smart-boston-celtics-playoffs-2017/

I REALLY hope something can be worked out long term for Smart to stay in BOS.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2018, 05:48:54 AM »

Offline Alleyoopster

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When average player's like Turner sign for 17.5MM/year or Mahinmi at 16MM/year one gets the feeling that at least one GM will offer Smart big bucks this off-season.

Last year the Nets practically forced Washington to offer Otto Porter 26.6MM/years for 4 years. Porter's good....not crazy money good.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2018, 05:56:53 AM »

Offline LilRip

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When average player's like Turner sign for 17.5MM/year or Mahinmi at 16MM/year one gets the feeling that at least one GM will offer Smart big bucks this off-season.

Last year the Nets practically forced Washington to offer Otto Porter 26.6MM/years for 4 years. Porter's good....not crazy money good.

I don’t know about this. Maybe before, when teams had an embarrassing amount of cap space. But how many teams have 15-17Mn/year to throw around?

Plus as much as I hate to admit it, Porter is a much better player than Smart. Porter is a highly efficient player who can play D and has started showing some potential of creating his own shot. I can see why someone would offer him Harrison Barnes money.

- LilRip

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2018, 06:53:36 AM »

Offline JBcat

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He looks like like he lost a little weight during his time off, and maybe that’s helped him a little bit.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2018, 07:57:29 AM »

Offline kozlodoev

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Didn't we miss Smart for his defense, supposedly? Well, he's been back for 2 games and the defense is still awful...
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2018, 08:04:18 AM »

Offline bellerephon

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They held Detroit to 30% from three and 43% overall while keeping them under 100 points, that's not awful. The defense was bad against the Knicks, true enough, but the team has looked better overall since his return.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2018, 09:21:04 AM »

Offline Sophomore

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They held Detroit to 30% from three and 43% overall while keeping them under 100 points, that's not awful. The defense was bad against the Knicks, true enough, but the team has looked better overall since his return.

The stats weren't all that different in the Knicks game -- we held them to 22% and 46.9%. The shooting percentage for Detroit overall was actually 43.5% - a difference of 3.4% - but that's in part because they took more 3s and that pulled their average down. Also, the Knicks were allowed to convert a few garbage time baskets after the game was decided. In the end, pretty much a wash.

The Knicks scored more points mostly because the game pace was so fast; they had about 13 more possessions than Detroit (I'm estimating based on # shots, free throws, and turnovers) and scored about 14 more points. If there's a site that gives the pts/100 possessions per game, that'd be interesting.

Re: Appreciating Smart
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2018, 09:48:02 AM »

Offline Sophomore

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And, actually, I just found a site that would give me defensive efficiency.

Against NYK, Boston allowed 105 pts/100 possessions, which was only good for about 14th or 15th best in the league. So, better than during our recent losing streak, but not great.

The margin between league best and average is pretty fine. Best in the league is 100 points/100 possessions (us!). Let somebody score 4 or 5 more buckets every 100 possessions and we'd be worst in the league (Phoenix, 109)!

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/defensive-efficiency