cinematographer wrote:skones wrote:Smart's size and physicality puts him on an entirely different plane than Flynn. Completely different playing styles as a result. In playing style, Mason isn't a bad comparison, although Wiggins would have more versatility on the defensive end because of his size. As far as floor, I'd be looking at Rodney Stuckey.
Size and physicality means nothing if he can't stick with the players he's being assigned to guard.
Yes, he plays differently than Flynn, but that won't really matter when he hits "bust".
As I've stated before, I'm not a huge Smart fan, but you're acting like Smart has all of these flags whereas other players do not.
Marcus Smart is a combo guard who can't do the chief job of either guard position and his limited upside.
He can't shoot. He can't run an offense. He'll have trouble defending. He can't do anything as well as what Wiggins can do in transition. Smart's red flags are far more severe than any other of the top prospects.
I mean, ****. He's shooting .315 from three after shooting just .290 last year. That's a red flag that's gone supernova.
Few players in the NBA can do what Gerald Green can do in transition too. Ultimately it's not something I'm going to draft a guy for......
With that being said, if you want to focus on his three point shooting that's fine. It just shows you're ignoring other major factors to make a point. For example, his overall field goal percentage jumped from 40.5% to 46.7% which I'd call a significant increase.
He's finishing around the hoop at an elite level this season, and he's getting there at a clip higher than Wiggins despite all of these physical advantages that Wiggins has. What's truly astonishing is that Smart has 54 field goal attempts at the rim this season in comparison to Wiggins 46 and is finishing at a nearly identical clip. (77.8% for Smart vs. 78.2% for Wiggins) I think it's also safe to assume that Smart's attempts are under more duress than are Wiggins due to a variety of factors, namely Wiggins being assisted on 50.8% of his made field goals vs. 41.6% of Smarts.
As far as his defense is concerned, I'm not nearly as worried about it as some here seem to be. Where he lacks the quickness he'll make up for it with his size and length once he becomes more familiar with defensive principles. He's also one of the few players in this draft who WANTS to lock down the guy he's defending, and often times, that's half the battle. Some of you are acting like he's slow as molasses laterally. That's just not the case. He gets caught gambling far too much, that'll need to be shored up.
As far as running an offense, keep in mind that this is only his second season in which he's actually played the point guard position. Does he have a way to go? Absolutely. However, his intangibles give cause for a legitimate belief that he'll get it together.
