Why Marcus Smart should start at SG

[NL41]

Elite defensive talent is rare at the guard position these days. Smart looks like a stronger version of Dennis Johnson, but this caliber of talent is rare. We just happen to have two of them in Smart and Bradley, and we happened to have Tony Allen, another relatively rare defensive talent.

Rondo being overrated defensively in the past doesn't mean that guard defense is overrated. That's a logical fallacy. it just means that Rondo's defense was overrated.

Calling Smart and Bradley effectively the same size is like calling Jeff Green and Sullinger the same size. Smart weighs just about as much as Jeff Green, so Smart is as much Jeff Green's size as he is Avery Bradley's size.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-0MWR-VEog[/youtube]

Jonathan Givony @DraftExpress
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Marcus Smart also bench pressed 185 pounds 19 times, tied for 3rd best at the NBA Combine this year. One of best ever among PGs historically

ESPN Stats & Info ✔ @ESPNStatsInfo
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Marcus Smart's lane agility time of 10.82 is faster than John Wall (10.84), Russell Westbrook (10.98) and Chris Paul (11.09)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2069 ... raft-stock

We lucked into a historically unique physical specimen who just happens to also be a great leader with great confidence and a great love of defense. Oh, and he also has point guard skills, is an rebounder for a guard, and he averaged 18 ppg in arguably the toughest conference in the country, with an outstanding PER two years in a row. Like, almost double Bradley's PER at Texas.

Smart is the kind of extremely rare player that could have multiple quadruple-doubles in his career, and as many triple doubles as Rondo.

Sometimes it's ok to start two triple-double threats in the backcourt. Sometimes rules of thumb and trendy wisdom about ideal roles for shooting guards go out the window.

Our big men need as much help as they can get this year. Help they didn't get last year. Help like 40 extra pounds of stat stuffing bad ass from the shooting guard position.

Smart is not just going to withstand opposing shooting guards, he is going to bully them around and crush their spirit. And that's how you start winning games you're not supposed to win. Over and over again.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0utw7005-Pw[/youtube]

[NL41]

this is a good breakdown of one game:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhBbhM-oyXI[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yla2KxG5r5w[/youtube]

[BfB]

8 million dollars is not a lot of money in today's nba. If we didn't have an elite prospect like Smart, I wouldn't suggest some rookie or anybody else starting over Bradley. But 8 million is very reasonable for an elite bench player.

Like I said, it may take Stevens some time to figure this out, but I really wouldn't be surprised if he puts Smart in the starting lineup next to Rondo in the second half of the preseason.

What is going to happen is Smart will end up starting, but he'll be the first sub out after 4-5 minutes, and then he'll come in for Rondo after a few more minutes.

At the start of the games, Smart can really help set that high energy tone, which has been a problem for the team. And he can attack the rim, setting the physical tone and getting opposing bigs in early foul trouble. It's going to be awesome.

Yes, it may take Brad Stevens - the guy with incredible resources and experience - to realize what you've discovered...

All 3 guards are going to play significant minutes. Smart has a lot to prove before he is an NBA starter, let alone better than Avery Bradley - a player who has been a 2nd team All NBA player and a 40% 3 point shooter.

Smart will be a great defensive SG almost right away - he can play 1 through 3 effectively. But, using "size" as your variable of argument belays a very rudimentary understanding of how perimeter defense is played. Just because a guy is "big" doesn't mean his skillset favors taking advantage of "size" to be effective. Size matters much more when a player is effective at getting to the basket - extremely overrated when talking about perimeter defense.

Bradley has done more than enough to show his credentials as a defender at both the 1 and 2. Once Smart shows he can actually be an efficient offensive player, he will be given the opportunity to play more with Rondo. Until then, he's probably going to log most of his minutes with Bradley and Thornton - whoever can shoot.

[BfB]

Elite defensive talent is rare at the guard position these days. Smart looks like a stronger version of Dennis Johnson, but this caliber of talent is rare. We just happen to have two of them in Smart and Bradley, and we happened to have Tony Allen, another relatively rare defensive talent.

Rondo being overrated defensively in the past doesn't mean that guard defense is overrated. That's a logical fallacy. it just means that Rondo's defense was overrated.

Calling Smart and Bradley effectively the same size is like calling Jeff Green and Sullinger the same size. Smart weighs just about as much as Jeff Green, so Smart is as much Jeff Green's size as he is Avery Bradley's size.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-0MWR-VEog[/youtube]

Jonathan Givony @DraftExpress
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Marcus Smart also bench pressed 185 pounds 19 times, tied for 3rd best at the NBA Combine this year. One of best ever among PGs historically

ESPN Stats & Info ✔ @ESPNStatsInfo
Follow

Marcus Smart's lane agility time of 10.82 is faster than John Wall (10.84), Russell Westbrook (10.98) and Chris Paul (11.09)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2069 ... raft-stock

We lucked into a historically unique physical specimen who just happens to also be a great leader with great confidence and a great love of defense. Oh, and he also has point guard skills, is an rebounder for a guard, and he averaged 18 ppg in arguably the toughest conference in the country, with an outstanding PER two years in a row. Like, almost double Bradley's PER at Texas.

Smart is the kind of extremely rare player that could have multiple quadruple-doubles in his career, and as many triple doubles as Rondo.

Sometimes it's ok to start two triple-double threats in the backcourt. Sometimes rules of thumb and trendy wisdom about ideal roles for shooting guards go out the window.

Our big men need as much help as they can get this year. Help they didn't get last year. Help like 40 extra pounds of stat stuffing bad ass from the shooting guard position.

Smart is not just going to withstand opposing shooting guards, he is going to bully them around and crush their spirit. And that's how you start winning games you're not supposed to win. Over and over again.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0utw7005-Pw[/youtube]

"Trendy" analytic wisdom tells us that winning is exponentially easier when there are 3 or more legit three point threats in the lineup. Smart hasn't proven to be more than adaquete, uncontested, from college three point range....he's not starting anytime soon...

[robbie84]

Avery Bradley is a lock to start at SG. Smart will have to earn it.

Bradley can guard most of those guys you listed. ie Dwayne Wade has always struggled vs Bradley.
I think Smart will be a better player than Bradley, but to get the most out of him they'll probably take a 'work hard and you'll get a chance' route.

And this team as currently constructed has about a 10% chance of making the playoffs.
Unfortunately without any defensive force controlling the paint we'll get torched inside like last season. We arguably lost our best big man defender in Humphries and now Kelly O's going to have to take up those minutes which will really hurt.
We don't have any go to scorers or defensive bigs. We are going to be utterly terrible.

[Celtic King]

As for writing them off, what the hell does that mean? It's a fact that they are not going anywhere this season

Unfortunately, I'm not a retired mod, so I can't go calling people stupid.
So I'll just say thanks for posting.

I called your post stupid. Stop trolling AND stirring the pot.

SD, He probably supports ISIL as well and would write a diatribe on why and then complain when people criticizes it.

[NL41]

Unfortunately, I'm not a retired mod, so I can't go calling people stupid.
So I'll just say thanks for posting.

I called your post stupid. Stop trolling AND stirring the pot.

SD, He probably supports ISIL as well and would write a diatribe on why and then complain when people criticizes it.

Is that what you got from my post about Marcus Smart, or do you have some shameless, manipulative agenda?

[SichtingLives]

Smart is going to be neck and neck with Brandon Bass on the games started list this season, assuming Bass (or Smart) don't get dealt and the team enjoys good health.

[NL41]

Our last two preseason games and our first regular season game are against the Nets. Smart will get plenty of preseason minutes to audition against Joe Johnson.

Bradley and Smart are going to have some spirited practices against each other, but I don't see Bradley getting the best of that matchup.

Then after playing Joe Johnson 3 times in a row, our next game is against James Harden and the Rockets. Another big strong high scoring two guard.

[robbie84]

So what percentage chance would you put on Smart starting over Bradley, and how much money would you put down on Smart starting over Bradley?

[GuyClinch]

"Trendy" analytic wisdom tells us that winning is exponentially easier when there are 3 or more legit three point threats in the lineup. Smart hasn't proven to be more than adaquete, uncontested, from college three point range....he's not starting anytime soon...

This. Rondo is already a liability at 3. We can't have both our guards hoisting up bricks. I like Smart - I think he will be our future PG. But this is just square peg round hole stuff..

All this talk of Bradley - what about Turner and Thorton? That's a lot of established talent to beat out at the SG spot. At PG smart just has to beat out Pressey to get a little burn.

[Joel Embust]

Unfortunately, I'm not a retired mod, so I can't go calling people stupid.
So I'll just say thanks for posting.

I called your post stupid. Stop trolling AND stirring the pot.

SD, He probably supports ISIL as well and would write a diatribe on why and then complain when people criticizes it.

Crazy ass post.

[bucknersrevenge]

Avery Bradley is a lock to start at SG. Smart will have to earn it.

Bradley can guard most of those guys you listed. ie Dwayne Wade has always struggled vs Bradley.
I think Smart will be a better player than Bradley, but to get the most out of him they'll probably take a 'work hard and you'll get a chance' route.

And this team as currently constructed has about a 10% chance of making the playoffs.
Unfortunately without any defensive force controlling the paint we'll get torched inside like last season. We arguably lost our best big man defender in Humphries and now Kelly O's going to have to take up those minutes which will really hurt.We don't have any go to scorers or defensive bigs. We are going to be utterly terrible.

I don't think KO is going to be taking up as many of those minutes as you might think. For whatever small degree you care to admit to, I think Zeller wins the starting Center spot and he will be better defensively than Olynyk I think by a wide margin as he has considerably more size and bulk in the paint if not actual length. I also expect Fav to get another crack at backup minutes as well at some point. We will be better there than last year by at least some small measure simply because I don't think it's possible for us to be much worse than we were last year.

[NL41]

I called your post stupid. Stop trolling AND stirring the pot.

SD, He probably supports ISIL as well and would write a diatribe on why and then complain when people criticizes it.

Crazy ass post.

Reminds me of the guy who said he hoped I got tortured to death by Hamas, because of my sig.

[NL41]

Avery Bradley is a lock to start at SG. Smart will have to earn it.

Bradley can guard most of those guys you listed. ie Dwayne Wade has always struggled vs Bradley.
I think Smart will be a better player than Bradley, but to get the most out of him they'll probably take a 'work hard and you'll get a chance' route.

And this team as currently constructed has about a 10% chance of making the playoffs.
Unfortunately without any defensive force controlling the paint we'll get torched inside like last season. We arguably lost our best big man defender in Humphries and now Kelly O's going to have to take up those minutes which will really hurt.We don't have any go to scorers or defensive bigs. We are going to be utterly terrible.

I don't think KO is going to be taking up as many of those minutes as you might think. For whatever small degree you care to admit to, I think Zeller wins the starting Center spot and he will be better defensively than Olynyk I think by a wide margin as he has considerably more size and bulk in the paint if not actual length. I also expect Fav to get another crack at backup minutes as well at some point. We will be better there than last year by at least some small measure simply because I don't think it's possible for us to be much worse than we were last year.

Zeller was listed last year at around 250, which is super, but it turns out he was actually 240 all year, which is the same or less than KO was playing at. Zeller had his apendix taken out or something in training camp and it set him back.
So both Zeller and KO have gained weight this summer, but I think they're both going to come in around 250 lbs.

And KO's ability to pull Cs and PFs out to the 3 point line is a clear advantage. If Zeller was some Marcus Smart caliber defender, KO's 3 point shooting wouldn't matter as much, but that's not the case.

[KJandHondo35]

To start I have to say I truly believe we really lucked into getting Smart in the draft and for whatever reason his stocked dropped with an extra season where he statistically got better in almost everything but 3pt shooting and attempts. He had a legit chance at going 1st in the previous draft from a skill/production/ceiling standpoint and put up arguably better numbers than Derrick Rose in college for 2 straight seasons. Honestly, I haven’t seen someone so close to having Rose type of potential as with Smart, he might be a little less explosive (4’ less max vert, 1.5’ standing vert, but 0.8 seconds faster lane agility) but is extremely better strength/defensively and Rose is no slouch. Like everyone has pointed out over and over again, Smart singular flaw is the amount of times he takes 3pt shots. Rose’s best offensive season was when he was VERY selective in his 3pt attempts and really just hung in the midrange and took it to the hoop in 2009-2010.

See: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/can-d ... ose-shoot/

Smart has a solid stroke and can be a capable mid-range shooter as evidenced from the solid career FT%s and he is equally dominant in the paint while getting fouled (both Rose and Smart have 60+% FG% at the rim).

See: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-n ... ery-picks/

Year-Team-GP-Min-Pts-FG-FGA-FG%-2Pt-2PtA-2P%-3Pt-3PtA-3P%-FTM-FTA-FT%-Off-Def-TOT-Asts-Stls-Blks-TOs-PFs
2007/08-Memphis-40-29.2-14.9-5.2-10.9-47.7-4.3-8.3-52.1-0.9-2.6-33.7-3.7-5.1-71.2-1.4-3.2-4.5-4.7-1.2-0.4-2.7-1.7
2012/13-Oklahoma State-33-33.5-15.4-4.6-11.4-40.5-3.5-7.4-46.7-1.2-4.0-29.0-5.1-6.5-77.7-1.5-4.3-5.8-4.2-3.0-0.7-3.4-2.8
2013/14-Oklahoma State-31-32.7-18.0-5.3-12.5-42.2-3.7-7.2-51-4 1.6-5.3-29.9-5.9-8.1-72.8-1.4-4.5-5.9-4.8-2.9-0.6-2.7-2.9

With that said tho, I don’t think the starting lineup on Game 1 of next season really matters. Smart will get his chance to shine, and might even be more beneficial to let him lead the 2nd Unit from the PG position and learn behind Rondo for a few months. He has All-Star level potential and can lead a team from a defensive/effort/competitiveness standpoint. But, he’s still a rookie and should earn his spot (as the PG hopefully) and he will, probably very quickly.

Size-wise he is indeed the same height as Bradley and we all wish Bradley had an ounce of ball handling/court vision so he could play PG but he doesn’t so that’s not an option. Smart has that which creates a bigger advantage as the PG vs SG though he can definitely still man up and cover 1-3. But him at PG and someone 6’5”+ at SG is a much better size advantage which is the future goal I would hope. Young is the wildcard, looks like he would be better severed as a SF but he’s also so young (no pun intended) and not even close to fully developed physically so could easily project to a possible SG in a year or 2, and his nickname is Jimmy Buckets so… sky’s the limit.

Lastly, I’ve seen some comments saying he’s more of an Off-Ball Defender than On-Ball but I’ve watched almost every video out there and looks fairly elite at both.
Like for instance: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TncQcm7gmxk[/youtube]
Where Smart covers Exum the full-court to the point AUS can’t even inbound him the ball. I mean I just think he legit is considerably awesome on defense regardless of if his man has the ball or doesn’t.

And I haven’t seen this video posted on here yet so I’ll just toss it in. Smart Offensive highlights on Team USA U19, shows a few different moves at the basket and reaffirms he does more and can do more than just bang into guys at the rim (tho, he does excel at that as well)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6G3wvcvabA[/youtube]

[165bows]

Unfortunately, I'm not a retired mod, so I can't go calling people stupid.
So I'll just say thanks for posting.

I called your post stupid. Stop trolling AND stirring the pot.

SD, He probably supports ISIL as well and would write a diatribe on why and then complain when people criticizes it.

Pretty much none of this is appropriate here. Consider this a warning.

[humblebum]

Excellent post KJ, I'm really excited about the prospect we have here in Smart.

To NL: the reality is that it's not going to be a Smart vs Bradley battle at camp. It's going to be Rondo and Bradley vs Smart and Turner/Thornton. We have to remember that Smart will likely be groomed to play the point guard position first and foremost. While he does have a ton of versatility that can be utilized by this organization moving forward it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to play him primarily at off guard where he has to use the part of his game that is his weakest area, spot up shooting, as his primary weapon in a Rondo ball dominated lineup.

Smart can be THE guy on the ball with the second unit in a way way he'll never be allowed to playing alongside Rondo. That doesn't mean Smart won't earn more Pt and play alongside Rondo a bunch but playing him there for a majority of his minutes does more to thwart his full potential.

And again you're simply underrating how good of a pair and how excellent the chemistry is between these two players. This being the first opportunity to see both guys fully healthy to start the season together is one of the major aspects to get excited about this season.

smart leadin a rejuvenated bench squad is another aspect to get excited about and I think the Smart Olynyk dynamic is going to be a great one to watch over the course of the season. Likewise I think Zeller is just an excellent fit next to Rondo. He's kind of like an offensive hybrid of Bass and Wilcox to use two familiar names who Rondo has had excellent offensive chemistry with. Now obviously Zeller won't catch lobs in quite a dramatic fashio as did Wilcox but he's a runner like Wilcox and Zeller will be a similar threat in pick and pop to Bass, and brings similar weaknesss terms of rebounding and weak shotblocking ability.

[FakeScreenName123]

He'll get ~ 30 starts by the end of the year mostly due to Bradley's injuries. That amount of starts and 25 mpg will be more than fine for a high pick rookie.

[NL41]

I'm not so sure that playing point guard is the best way for Smart to fully develop his potential. There are a couple dozen excellent point guards in the league, but only a couple/few excellent shooting guards.

I think Smart can be an All Star/Superstar as a ball dominant shooting guard, in the Wade/Harden mold. Those guys wouldn't be as effective if they had to chase around point guards all game, and also handle full-time ball handling duties.

Like Wade and Harden, Smart is elite at attacking the rim and finishing there, while drawing fouls at an elite rate and shooting well from the FT line.

People here talk about how the Celtics don't have a go-to scorer, but I think Smart can absolutely be that just about from day 1.

Smart doesn't have an advantage in quickness at the point guard position, but he does from the shooting guard position. He can fill up the basket and the stat sheet as a shooting guard.

Nobody suggested that Ray Allen should start over DWade just because Ray was a much better 3 point shooter. I see Smart as a less explosive and exciting, but stronger and just as effective version of DWade.

And this orthodoxy that says that 3 point shooting % is all important for shooting guards is based on the premise that you don't have a center shooting 36-40%, drawing the other team's best rim protector away from the hoop in the process.

Rondo and Smart playing together with floor stretching bigs is going to turn into a layup line.

If Stevens was like Doc and wanted or refused to resist Rondo dominating the ball and the offense, then Bradley would start to make slightly more sense.
But I don't think Stevens has any intention of letting Rondo dominate the ball and the organization. And having Smart next to Rondo is going to strengthen Stevens hand in any battle of wills Stevens might have with Rondo.

I think Stevens is going to demand good ball movement and a quicker pace, and having Smart on the floor next to Rondo is going to help Rondo get with the program. And if Rondo insists on his stubborn ways, he's not going to have any leverage.

When Smart comes down with the defensive rebound or somebody passes him the outlet pass, Rondo is going to be told to fill a G_d D_mn lane and run up the court, instead of looking for the ball and slowing things way down.

Rondo/Smart is going to be a lot like Rondo/Pierce during our glory days. Rondo was our point guard and quarterback, but the offense was still often run through Pierce, and Rondo deferred to Pierce enough that it worked out really well. Rondo is simply going to have to learn how to defer to Smart regularly.

I've heard a few of you mention how perfect Smart is for a role as super-sub, but this is something that Bradley can also do. A fresh Bradley guarding backup point guards for 94 ft can have a big impact on every game, and Bradley can create his own offense very well, even if it usually seems to result in long twos or 3s.

Another point I've heard made is that Bradley is a good perimeter defender and so is Smart. But defense isn't just about guarding your own guy on the perimeter. It's not even just about guarding your own guy. Sure, Bradley and Smart are both excellent on-ball, perimeter defenders. But that's only part of the equation.

Smart can switch onto ones, twos, threes, and even fours. He even weighs about as much as centers like Larry Sanders. When Bradley gets switched up onto these bigger guys and gets destroyed, we just write it off because Bradley is only 180-190 pounds.

Not only can Smart switch onto all these different positions and hold his own and prevent untold buckets in doing so, but he can play much much better all around off ball defense. Smart has a much higher bbiq on both offense and defense, and his defensive impact is only partially captured by looking at his on-ball defense.

Even with last year's team, we lost dozens of games by 6 points or less. Smart is the kind of guy that can regularly dominate games even when his shot is off, and that kind of impact swings a lot of close losses into victories.

Smart is good for 2-3 extra rebounds per game, 1-2 extra steals per game, 5-6 extra free throws per game, 3-5 extra assists per game, while being just as good of an overall scorer. In addition to the stats that get recorded, the team's defensive performance when Smart is on the court is going to be noticeable, because of all the times that Smart forces a turnover without getting the steal, and the successful switches onto forwards that doesn't result in easy baskets.

Having Rondo dominate the ball makes a lot more sense when he's playing alongside poor passers like Bradley, Bass, and (to a lesser extent) Green. But we saw the team get worse when Rondo came back last year, just like we saw the Celtics get better the day after Rondo got hurt in January '13.

Stevens didn't take this Celtics job to sit back and watch the Rondo show. This is Stevens' team, he wants to go uptempo, and he wants to run a motion offense in the half court. Rondo has two choices.