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My favorite part.

Q. What about your game? What new wrinkles have you added for your fourth season?

A. As always I'm just trying to get better. I've been shooting a ton of 3s [pointers]. I've definitely been working on the 3-ball. And I've put on a lot of weight, too. I'm up to about 245 with seven percent body fat. I'm as big and strong as I've ever been. I'm finally starting to fill out my frame and it feels good.

Both very good things to hear!

I am still predicting that at some point in his career he ends up as a PF. I can definitely see him as the second coming of Joe Smith.

Great news! If Marvin can knock down 3's consistently it's only going to open things up for his teammates and most of all Joe Johnson.

I am still predicting that at some point in his career he ends up as a PF.

I agree. 245 with his skill set. I could almost see him playing at PF with Horford at C similar to the Phoenix Suns frontcourt last year of Stoudamire and Marion.

Offensively, they'd be a handful for the bigger, slowr forwards in the league.

If he finally adds the 3pt shoot to his game, he will definately be a threat. His natural position is SF, I don't think he can defend post players but he is quick enough to defend wing players. Anyway I have the feeling he will explode this year as McGrady did, Childress has left and will not steal minutes from him, he will the starting SF without discussion, he is adding the so much needed 3pt shot, physically seems has improved a lot and is his contract year. Go Marvin, show us why you were 2nd round pick!

Very good news. He needs to become a legit threat from 3. The added weight will hopefully help him posting up and finishing his drives.

Plus this year he isn't looking over his back knowing that Chill was sharing mins with him and Marvin was the first to go to the bench because Chill was the 6th man. Now with Chill gone, Marvin doesn't have to worry about having Chill there.

Oh and for the record, even though it was a bad play in the playoffs when he got ejected, I liked his aggression and attitude. We need that. Excluding JJ, Horford's pointing in the face of Pierce, and Marvin's aggressive play was my fav parts in the playoffs.

This is a great article. I really like how Marvin is stepping into his role, and it seems like he's really working hard this offseason. If he can get that three point shot down while gaining weight (while staying the same speed) he will easily be one of the best small forwards in the league. Keep up the good work, Marv.

With Marvin, Smoove and Horford all at or above 245, our frontline is getting bigger.

I've always thought Marvin would evolve into an PF as well. It could turn out (very soon) that we are very deep at PF and very thin at SF.

The 245 lbs doesn't mean he has to play PF. Look at Lebron James. He's a small forward at 250 lbs. If Marvin maintains his speed and quickness he becomes a more effective SF. I too am hopeful that the size improves his ability to finish drives. That combined with confidence to take the 3 pt shot will go a long way toward establishing his value. Still have to see it on the court, but I think it would be nice long term if the Hawks actually made a strong attempt to ink him long term this summer rather than let the market get set elsewhere. Of course it takes both sides agreeing, but I would hope the events of the summer make the Hawks at least start with a reasonable offer.

He has to be able to keep up with or get around faster players on the outside. We are all happy if he can improve his post and finishing, while including a three and being able to play good D against the NBA's premier SF's.

That's a tall order, especially if his frame is better suited to an interiour position.

Lebron is a phenom. Almost noone as big as him has his control and speed. Marvin is way behing on the control thing and nowhere near as fast.

Marvin needs control more than anything. His speed is OK for his size and he has a shot. Get things under control, slow the game down, while moving quickly and he can step up.

I think he's going to make a better PF than SF though.

A very encouraging interview. He had a good first half of the season. Now he just need to put it all together. If he does breakout we could be looking at handing another $10-$12 mil per contract out.

Well I'd like to see what he looks like but he doesn't really have a PF frame. He's narrow and wiry whereas Smithi is kind of thick. I'm not sure why people say he has a PF skill set, he has no post game, he's not a good shotblocker for his size, and he isn't special are rebounding for an SF...

conleyorbust wrote:Well I'd like to see what he looks like but he doesn't really have a PF frame. He's narrow and wiry whereas Smithi is kind of thick. I'm not sure why people say he has a PF skill set, he has no post game, he's not a good shotblocker for his size, and he isn't special are rebounding for an SF...

I don't necessary agree with you. Marvin's frame appears to me as one that has more room to grow compared to Josh Smiths. Josh on the other hand probably has to work even harder to gain muscle. I've mentioned Marvin being a 4 on here during the past and have discussed it with friends/fans off line. I do feel he could possibly be a starting 4, but it's going to take a great deal of work, and I'm not sure if he has the heart for it. If it does happen it's not going to be around the corner unless his game dramatically improves in many different areas.

Your right about him not having the skill set to play the 4 right now. Having Josh Smith and Al Horford on the floor allows Marvin to stand off on the boards. It shocked me how Marvin attacked the boards against Boston during the playoffs at times.

For the time being I'm just happy to hear he's been working on his range. It's such a concern of mine that it's caused me to think negative about him.

HMFFL, you may be right. I remember Smoove looking like a poor rebounder when he played a lot of SF a couple of years ago -- AND he didn't block shots, as well. Could be Woodson's system.

Maybe Marvin would look better as a big if he played PF.... On the other hand, why bother? Smoove's a lousy SF, so it'd do no good to move him there.

I see Marvin's build being like that of Ron Artest or even Al Harrington with more athleticism. What amazes me is he's gotten to that weight and maintained 7% body fat. With the additional strength will come better body control too. LeBron is a freak in that his body matured earlier than so many other athletes that it gave him amazing control right out the shoot. Being 245 is not going to hurt his ability to play SF. In fact, I think it will give him a decided advantage. He will probably look awkward still at times by smaller, quicker SFs, but he will punish them as well. I do think the 3pt shot is key for him, but I also think his post game will become just as important. The more he can develop his overall game, the more he will take advantage of his size/strength advantage and reach the potential that so many people that he had on draft day.

HMFFL wrote:

conleyorbust wrote:Well I'd like to see what he looks like but he doesn't really have a PF frame. He's narrow and wiry whereas Smithi is kind of thick. I'm not sure why people say he has a PF skill set, he has no post game, he's not a good shotblocker for his size, and he isn't special are rebounding for an SF...

I don't necessary agree with you. Marvin's frame appears to me as one that has more room to grow compared to Josh Smiths. Josh on the other hand probably has to work even harder to gain muscle. I've mentioned Marvin being a 4 on here during the past and have discussed it with friends/fans off line. I do feel he could possibly be a starting 4, but it's going to take a great deal of work, and I'm not sure if he has the heart for it. If it does happen it's not going to be around the corner unless his game dramatically improves in many different areas.

Your right about him not having the skill set to play the 4 right now. Having Josh Smith and Al Horford on the floor allows Marvin to stand off on the boards. It shocked me how Marvin attacked the boards against Boston during the playoffs at times.

For the time being I'm just happy to hear he's been working on his range. It's such a concern of mine that it's caused me to think negative about him.

Well killbuckner said Joe Smith, I can see that offensive as Smith is mainly a midrange jump-shooter on offense. The thing is, Marv was essentially our backup PF this season because our only reliable sub was a SF and our only backup in the frontcourt was Zaza for the second half of the season and his minutes were way down. Marv hasn't shown the ability to attack the boards like Joe did and, even at a light weight, he doesn't have a phenomal second jump to grab boards or contest shots.

Not saying that he CAN'T play the position in the future, just that I don't see why he is necessarilly better suited for it than he is for SF.

I don't think he will ever have the quickness advantage at SF to consistently exploit poor defenders at SF. That with the lack of range is just a bad combination. I think at PF he would be able to take defenders off the dribble more and his midrange jumper would be far more useful.

killbuckner wrote:I don't think he will ever have the quickness advantage at SF to consistently exploit poor defenders at SF. That with the lack of range is just a bad combination. I think at PF he would be able to take defenders off the dribble more and his midrange jumper would be far more useful.

Really? He has a good first step, he usually drives while his defender is recovering instead of isoing but I think that is more because he isn't confident enough in his handles to go one-on-one.

Either way, he'll have some weaknesses in his game if he doesn't do some work. He'll probably be a below average rebounder and shotblocker at PF unless he puts on a LOT more muscle AND gets more explosive and he won't be as effective as he should be at SF unless he develops a little more range and can lock in on defense a little more often.

I just happen to think the latter is more obtainable.

COB- he has a good first step when the defender isn't set up? Thats not an endorsement... To be an elite starting SF you want a guy who can consistently do something against a double team. To be an above average SF you want a guy who can consistently take most defenders off the dribble when they are set up. To be an average SF you want a guy who can at least exploit poor defenders 1 on 1. Having a deadly 3 point shot or great defense can make up for that of course, but neither of those apply to marvin. Marvin's assets on offense are the ability to knock down a mid range shot and the ability to drive when someone else creates an opening for him. Those skills at PF can make him a weapon, particularly if he can start taking lumbering players off the dribble. I simply don't think he will go from being a guy who doesn't regularly exploit weak defenders to someone who can consistently draw a doubleteam against a set defense.