Why Marcus Smart should start at SG

Bluewhale · Post #241 » by **Bluewhale** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 3:06 pm

So, you will take Randle over Smart? Even Randle use 33 FGA to score 32 points and playing no defense?

All picks after pick 4 have weakness, I am not ready to write off Smart for several preseason bad shooting game.

bbd24 · Post #242 » by **bbd24** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 3:35 pm

sam_I_am wrote:
bbd24 wrote:
sam_I_am wrote:
Tony Allen could put up 20 ppg as a starter on this quality type team before knee injury. He may not be much of a shooter - like Smart - but few players could keep him from getting to the rim when he had the green light after Pierce got hurt. I have yet to see a single instance where Smart has displayed that type of ability.

You're not seeing it because Smart is looking to distribute and is doing a damn good job of it. Very good PG skills for just 20 yrs old. Always looking to move the ball for the best shot.

The D is of course it's own beast and Tony Allen like right off the bat.

Smarts an extremely gifted talent at 20. Keep the development going.

Rondo looks to distribute too but can score at a 48% clip.

Stop making excuses for the kid. Sure he's a good guy and Kobe Bryant is a jerk. But one can score at NBA level and one has yet to prove it.

I'm not saying he never can. I'm just saying he is a project - even more so than Aaron Gordon. I'm glad so many believe in the kid but if I could get a proven vet like Al Horford - I would trade him in a heartbeat.

As a rookie how much did a Rondo do ? Don't compare today's Rondo numbers to a rookie named Smart. I've seen both play in their first preseason games, & Smart is right on par with what Rondo did at that time. Shoot, maybe even further along since his defense is that darn good. I'd say Rondo was a better distributor from the jump but Smarts not far behind if you look at it.

Rondo was an even bigger project some would say.

If we're going back to Tony Allen, & his rookie season, you'll see people on here talking about how bad his overall game was. Shooting, turnovers, etc.

That's why it's best not to treat these rookies like 6 year vets. They can & will get better. It's not about excuses, it's about staying patient & letting players get comfortable & develop. Smart & Young are both talented enough to be starters & then some in this league if the work & development are put in.

SichtingLives · Post #243 » by **SichtingLives** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:05 pm

So to the point of OP.....Avery and Thornton are both far superior SG's to Smart, and Turner would be too if he were playing the 2. Not surprisingly this guy hasn't created another account to own up and eat all this crow. Count it off JB!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGq7-B-4ykA[/youtube]

rickrolled · Post #244 » by **rickrolled** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:21 pm

I didn't like when Smart gave up easy layup to assist Bradley. But on the flip side the plays he gives up turns into great passes/assists.

He needs to improve his offensive game, attack the rim and take less 3 pointers, plus be more selfish, he just doen't feel it's "his" shots yet ??

lon3lytoaster · Post #245 » by **lon3lytoaster** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:45 pm

Is it too early to ask someone for his percentages from three in spot up situations? Ive just been noticing he actually seems better taking it off the dribble, off a screen or in transition. I'd love to see numbers and decide if there's anything to my observation.

But again, I'd really like to see him move in a ways. I think he can pretty efficient from mid-range with his shot. I believe he's only taken one actual mid range jumper so far.

Kids Are Alright · Post #246 » by **Kids Are Alright** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:28 am

Wow...a lot of negativity for preseason. He's got a great release, he'll get it going to the hoop, Rondo could never release the ball the way Smart does, let alone take decent looking foul shots. I think Smart will be a lot of fun to watch this year.

Really my biggest beef with him thus far was defense against the Raptors, he got burned a bunch of times off screens. Two steals doesn't negate that.

Anyone notice that for all of the love that Turner got, his man scored at will in the first half against the Raptors.

lon3lytoaster · Post #247 » by **lon3lytoaster** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 1:28 am

Kids Are Alright wrote:Wow...a lot of negativity for preseason. He's got a great release, he'll get it going to the hoop, Rondo could never release the ball the way Smart does, let alone take decent looking foul shots. I think Smart will be a lot of fun to watch this year.

Really my biggest beef with him thus far was defense against the Raptors, he got burned a bunch of times off screens. Two steals doesn't negate that.

Anyone notice that for all of the love that Turner got, his man scored at will in the first half against the Raptors.

He gets called for same bad fouls fighting over screens and thus playing with the thought of foul trouble in mind. I don't want to excuse him not fighting through picks, but I understand to an extent.

I think most people who aren't liking smart are just frustrated he's taking so many threes and not looking for his own shot after primarily being known as a scoring guard. I'm kind of part of that crowd who's disappointed and frustrated with him trying to score the ball but I'm 100% in his corner and I love what he brings and I just want to see him do well.

Dogen · Post #248 » by **Dogen** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 3:25 am

lon3lytoaster wrote:I think most people who aren't liking smart are just frustrated he's taking so many threes and not looking for his own shot after primarily being known as a scoring guard. I'm kind of part of that crowd who's disappointed and frustrated with him trying to score the ball but I'm 100% in his corner and I love what he brings and I just want to see him do well.

I'm a little frustrated watching it too, but willing to look at the bigger picture, which I think in this case means that Smart is being a good rookie and following the coach's game plan. And in this case I suspect Stephens is asking him to distribute the ball and take the three when he's open. I really think Smart could get to the rim more if he wanted, it's just not what he's being asked to do... yet.

Again, guessing, I would think Stephens will want to see more versatility out of Smart before the season opens, so he may get 'off the leash' a bit, but the long perspective means that your PG/SG is going to have to take those threes. Better to have Smart focus on that before the games mean something. Unfortunately, he's just not a good shooter... yet. His mechanics look pretty decent though and I think the 3-ball will come along over the next season or two as he adjusts to the NBA line. My gut tells me that the mid-range and post game is there for him when he wants it, but time will tell cuz we ain't seeing it in the preseason.

BannersOnly · Post #249 » by **BannersOnly** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 4:08 pm

Anyone who paid attention to Smart in college isn't surprised by his subpar offensive game in the pros.........the kid relied on his "man's body" to dominate inferior/weaker talent in the college game on drives to the hoop and that ain't cutting it in the pro's where everyone has a "man's body". The kid just ain't that good........PERIOD. I said it before the draft and nothing has changed my view so far and I don't expect it to. He is a very good defender(please spare me the "great" defender talk already) and a solid "combo" guard that can give you quality minutes. That's about it. He simply can't shoot and he's not crafty enough like Rondo to find ways to score. People crack me up when they bitch about Rondo's shooting but don't give that guy any credit whatsoever for his ability to find ways to score and get points within 15 feet. Hell, he's Michael Jordan compared to Smart's offensive game.

There's a REASON why we needed a Top 5 pick last year people and a reason why guys like myself were pissed when we failed to tank correctly and land a Top 5 pick at minimum.

humblebum · Post #250 » by **humblebum** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 4:11 pm

BannersOnly wrote:Anyone who paid attention to Smart in college isn't surprised by his subpar offensive game in the pros.........the kid relied on his "man's body" to dominate inferior/weaker talent in the college game on drives to the hoop and that ain't cutting it in the pro's where everyone has a "man's body". The kid just ain't that good........PERIOD. I said it before the draft and nothing has changed my view so far and I don't expect it to. He is a very good defender(please spare me the "great" defender talk already) and a solid "combo" guard that can give you quality minutes. That's about it. He simply can't shoot and he's not crafty enough like Rondo to find ways to score. People crack me up when they bitch about Rondo's shooting but don't give that guy any credit whatsoever for his ability to find ways to score and get points within 15 feet. Hell, he's Michael Jordan compared to Smart's offensive game.

There's a REASON why we needed a Top 5 pick last year people and a reason why guys like myself were pissed when we failed to tank correctly and land a Top 5 pick at minimum.

I challenge you to make a post about something positive about the Celtics current team.

BannersOnly · Post #251 » by **BannersOnly** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 4:19 pm

humblebum wrote:
BannersOnly wrote:Anyone who paid attention to Smart in college isn't surprised by his subpar offensive game in the pros.........the kid relied on his "man's body" to dominate inferior/weaker talent in the college game on drives to the hoop and that ain't cutting it in the pro's where everyone has a "man's body". The kid just ain't that good........PERIOD. I said it before the draft and nothing has changed my view so far and I don't expect it to. He is a very good defender(please spare me the "great" defender talk already) and a solid "combo" guard that can give you quality minutes. That's about it. He simply can't shoot and he's not crafty enough like Rondo to find ways to score. People crack me up when they bitch about Rondo's shooting but don't give that guy any credit whatsoever for his ability to find ways to score and get points within 15 feet. Hell, he's Michael Jordan compared to Smart's offensive game.

There's a REASON why we needed a Top 5 pick last year people and a reason why guys like myself were pissed when we failed to tank correctly and land a Top 5 pick at minimum.

I challenge you to make a post about something positive about the Celtics current team.

I did.........I said I LOVE the James Young pick and I'm one of the most pro-Rondo guys you can find. I'm always defending Rondo for his unappreciated talent that too many Celtics fans always overlook. Outside of Rondo and Young, what else do we have that's so appealing to other teams via trade? Sully? Olynyck? Nice players but flawed defensively and athletically. Bradley? Please. Pressey? Cmon. Wallace? LOL. Green? Nobody is giving us a bag of chips for that guy's contract. I mean, hey, I'm not going to sugarcoat stuff and act like everything is great because it's not. We had a chance to tank correctly last season and we flat out blew it. What did we get for a reward for winning an extra 4-5 meaningless games last season? Marcus Smart. EXACTLY.......I don't drink the Kool-Aid. I call it like I see it. There's a reason we got laughed at by Minnesota for Kevin Love.........our "assets" are not as good as Celtics fans think they are. We are going to STINK this year again.

Bluewhale · Post #252 » by **Bluewhale** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 4:32 pm

It's sad that we didn't land top 3 pick.

But from 4 to 6 I feel the talent is close.

humblebum · Post #253 » by **humblebum** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:28 pm

BannersOnly wrote:
humblebum wrote:
BannersOnly wrote:Anyone who paid attention to Smart in college isn't surprised by his subpar offensive game in the pros.........the kid relied on his "man's body" to dominate inferior/weaker talent in the college game on drives to the hoop and that ain't cutting it in the pro's where everyone has a "man's body". The kid just ain't that good........PERIOD. I said it before the draft and nothing has changed my view so far and I don't expect it to. He is a very good defender(please spare me the "great" defender talk already) and a solid "combo" guard that can give you quality minutes. That's about it. He simply can't shoot and he's not crafty enough like Rondo to find ways to score. People crack me up when they bitch about Rondo's shooting but don't give that guy any credit whatsoever for his ability to find ways to score and get points within 15 feet. Hell, he's Michael Jordan compared to Smart's offensive game.

There's a REASON why we needed a Top 5 pick last year people and a reason why guys like myself were pissed when we failed to tank correctly and land a Top 5 pick at minimum.

I challenge you to make a post about something positive about the Celtics current team.

I did.........I said I LOVE the James Young pick and I'm one of the most pro-Rondo guys you can find. I'm always defending Rondo for his unappreciated talent that too many Celtics fans always overlook. Outside of Rondo and Young, what else do we have that's so appealing to other teams via trade? Sully? Olynyck? Nice players but flawed defensively and athletically. Bradley? Please. Pressey? Cmon. Wallace? LOL. Green? Nobody is giving us a bag of chips for that guy's contract. I mean, hey, I'm not going to sugarcoat stuff and act like everything is great because it's not. We had a chance to tank correctly last season and we flat out blew it. What did we get for a reward for winning an extra 4-5 meaningless games last season? Marcus Smart. EXACTLY.......I don't drink the Kool-Aid. I call it like I see it. There's a reason we got laughed at by Minnesota for Kevin Love.........our "assets" are not as good as Celtics fans think they are. We are going to STINK this year again.

But you of course realize that even if the Celtics had the worst or second worst record they likely still would've missed out on the top three guys? I mean you don't smell anything even remotely fishy about what has happened in Cleveland and lottery balls the last few years?

I just think that you're more than a tad over emotional. The Celtics are rebuilding. That takes time. Acclimating to the NBA game takes time and right now Smart is way ahead of the curve on defense and he's also a pretty darn good passer.

I find it interesting that you're a Rondo supporter and a Smart detractor. I mean you don't see ANY similarities between these two players?

Post #254 » by **UGA Hayes** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:32 pm

He looks like the second coming of baron on Davis to me. In fact I see a lot of similarities between our team and the young Charlotte hornets circa 1999 2000.

Bluewhale · Post #255 » by **Bluewhale** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:38 pm

humblebum wrote:I find it interesting that you're a Rondo supporter and a Smart detractor. I mean you don't see ANY similarities between these two players?

I am a Smart supporter.

But to be honest, Rondo make things happened on the offensive end even as a rookie, and had bigger impact than statistics showed.

I didn't have the same feeling for Smart. He is way too passive in offense.

(Although Smart is very good in defense)

humblebum · Post #256 » by **humblebum** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:30 pm

Bluewhale wrote:
humblebum wrote:I find it interesting that you're a Rondo supporter and a Smart detractor. I mean you don't see ANY similarities between these two players?

I am a Smart supporter.

But to be honest, Rondo make things happened on the offensive end even as a rookie, and had bigger impact than statistics showed.

I didn't have the same feeling for Smart. He is way too passive in offense.

(Although Smart is very good in defense)

Smart is not as slick of a dribbler as Rondo and I think that is the biggest difference between their skillsets offensively (speaking in terms of Rookie Rondo). But Smart is a ball mover and really understands angles. The key to unleashing Smart's offense is putting him down on the low block, IMO. From that area of the floor he can be Mark Jackson-esque.

Otherwise I think we are going to have to be patient in seeing his development as a driver of the ball. He's going to have to do a lot of that by utilizing angles in the PnR.

SichtingLives · Post #257 » by **SichtingLives** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:50 pm

One can only hope he has a Billups career arc offensively. I would be happy with him going through the same progression on offense that Kelly has since his first games last year, he was tentative as hell (and still is at times) but he has come a long way since then. As of today Smart still looks like a smaller, stronger G. Wallace with PG skills. He'll certainly grow beyond that but he hasn't earned himself a huge role just yet which is good because he will develop more smoothly without a lot of pressure on him to do things that aren't in his professional repertoire yet. Let him keep playing the deferential PG role and he'll start working his own offense in more as it presents itself and he becomes more comfortable with the huge leaps in talent, size and athleticism that go along with the transition from NCAA to the NBA.

BannersOnly · Post #258 » by **BannersOnly** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:10 pm

I see no similarities AT ALL between Rondo and Smart. None. Nada. Zippo. In fact, if Smart was playing for the Kings right now than NOBODY on this board would even think about the guy or even compare him to Rondo. How are they similar? Rondo is a true PG who is arguably the best passer in the entire league. Smart is good(not great) ballhandler that likes to move the ball instead of setting up an offense like Rondo. Where and how are they similar? Because neither one is a great shooter? That's about it. Rondo can lead ANY NBA offense and has proven himself to have the ability to mesh good with proven NBA all star talents. Smart hasn't even shown the ability to be a NBA starting PG or SG yet. Putting Smart in the same sentence with a proven NBA all star like Rondo is a joke right now. He's not even close to being in Kyle Lowry's neighborhood LOL.

bbd24 · Post #259 » by **bbd24** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:44 pm

BannersOnly wrote:I see no similarities AT ALL between Rondo and Smart. None. Nada. Zippo. In fact, if Smart was playing for the Kings right now than NOBODY on this board would even think about the guy or even compare him to Rondo. How are they similar? Rondo is a true PG who is arguably the best passer in the entire league. Smart is good(not great) ballhandler that likes to move the ball instead of setting up an offense like Rondo. Where and how are they similar? Because neither one is a great shooter? That's about it. Rondo can lead ANY NBA offense and has proven himself to have the ability to mesh good with proven NBA all star talents. Smart hasn't even shown the ability to be a NBA starting PG or SG yet. Putting Smart in the same sentence with a proven NBA all star like Rondo is a joke right now. He's not even close to being in Kyle Lowry's neighborhood LOL.

Now analyze Rondo vs Smart in their 1st seasons. It's great you'll analyze a first year player against a guy with 8 years experience. Problem is, that's like comparing an apple to an orange.

Now take your thinking cap out and analyze both in their rookie seasons. You know, the rookie season where Rondo shot .20 % from 3, 60% from the Free Throw line, and had 3 assists to go with his 6 pts per game in 23 minutes of play. He also did not look like Smart whatsoever on the defensive end.

Go !

BannersOnly · Post #260 » by **BannersOnly** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:25 pm

bbd24 wrote:
BannersOnly wrote:I see no similarities AT ALL between Rondo and Smart. None. Nada. Zippo. In fact, if Smart was playing for the Kings right now than NOBODY on this board would even think about the guy or even compare him to Rondo. How are they similar? Rondo is a true PG who is arguably the best passer in the entire league. Smart is good(not great) ballhandler that likes to move the ball instead of setting up an offense like Rondo. Where and how are they similar? Because neither one is a great shooter? That's about it. Rondo can lead ANY NBA offense and has proven himself to have the ability to mesh good with proven NBA all star talents. Smart hasn't even shown the ability to be a NBA starting PG or SG yet. Putting Smart in the same sentence with a proven NBA all star like Rondo is a joke right now. He's not even close to being in Kyle Lowry's neighborhood LOL.

Now analyze Rondo vs Smart in their 1st seasons. It's great you'll analyze a first year player against a guy with 8 years experience. Problem is, that's like comparing an apple to an orange.

Now take your thinking cap out and analyze both in their rookie seasons. You know, the rookie season where Rondo shot .20 % from 3, 60% from the Free Throw line, and had 3 assists to go with his 6 pts per game in 23 minutes of play. He also did not look like Smart whatsoever on the defensive end.

Go !

Completely different players. Anyone who watched Rondo play his rookie year knew one thing for 100% certainty........he was a TRUE POINT GUARD. Period. Is anyone 100% certain Smart is a true PG?????? No. He wasn't asked to be a true PG in college and the jury is still out if he can be one in the pros. Rondo was "raw" as a rookie but A) he was the #19 overall pick I believe and not a #6 pick and B) he was definitely a true PG who just needed time to develop. I'm not sure what the hell Smart is because I know he isn't a true shooting guard because he can't shoot and I still haven't seen the court vision and creativity as a point guard to believe he can be a top shelf NBA caliber point guard.