Why Marcus Smart should start at SG

[Gomes3PC]

Smart's points per shot in preseason right now is 1:1. That's ugly, but not the end of the world. Rondo had a PPS of 1.1 as a rookie and turned into an All-NBA player. Like Rondo, Smart does everything else well except shoot, meaning he can be productive off the bench as a rookie despite his broken shot. He's getting to the line at a reasonable clip despite clearly jacking up 3's per coach's orders (~4 per 36 minutes), he's rebounding very well, and his defense has been just as advertised.

My guess is he posts a line of something like: 24 MPG, 8 PPG, 5 APG, 4 RPG, 2 SPG on 42/30/75 shooting, with near-elite defense. Basically, a similar line to Victor Oladipo last year, just in more limited minutes.

[humblebum]

I'm sorry but I have to still call BS on these lame excuses. If you can get to the rim and dunk with authority - no coach can stop you. If you are shooting 19% from the field you don't pass on a chance to explode to the basket. Pressey is a terrible shooter and jacks up a lot of 3s too - but he gets to the rim a lot. Smart has played a dozen games in a Celtics uniform and he is strictly a jump shooter at NBA level right now. Unfortunately, the Derrick Rose and Westbrook comparisons before the draft simply have no merit. He just doesn't have that game.

Im not saying he never will - I mean the guy is 20, has a lot of heart and drive and is a heck of a talent. Looking at Avery Bradley as a rookie and seeing what he can do now is proof that guys with great character and talent can develop. Billups is a guy who showed more ability as a rookie but many teams gave up on him before he became a stud. Sometimes players don't develop - ie. Marcus Banks. So I suggest we hold off on plans of trading Rondo so we can hand the franchise over to a 19% jump shooter.

You realize he hasn't played a game that counts yet right?

Preseason is a time to work on specific aspects of the game. Have you ever heard of pitchers working on a curveball in spring training?

Look I think people just got caught up in the idea that Smart is this all world scorer, that he was going to slide seemlessly into the SG spot and that he would dominate from the jump. The reality is that this kid is a PG thru and thru and his weak pitch right now is his long ball. So he's working on that and he's focusing on facilitating ball movement.

Does that mean that he'll come out in game 1 of the reg season and be Tony Parker? Of course not. But this idea that we have enough of a sample to compare him to other great point guards is asinine. He didn't forget how to drive the lane or how to jump. Just a little hesitant right now but let's at least give him half a season before we declare he's a glorified spot up shooter who can't drive or finish FFS.

[Gomes3PC]

I would caution people to temper expectations all year with Smart, as we've already seen once with this coaching staff's advice to Sullinger that they are willing to let a guy play sub-optimally for the team now in order to make them a better player and team in the future. I have no doubt they told Sully to jack 3's all year long last year, and I also have no doubt that helped him a lot to improve like he has so far this year.

The same could very well be true with Smart this year. They're going to want him to launch as many 3's as he sees out there, even if he fails to crack 30% for the year. Like Sully, we have to be patient, remember these guys are barely out of high school, and will go through growing pains until they get to age 24-25.

[Slartibartfast]

Smart's points per shot in preseason right now is 1:1. That's ugly, but not the end of the world. Rondo had a PPS of 1.1 as a rookie and turned into an All-NBA player. Like Rondo, Smart does everything else well except shoot, meaning he can be productive off the bench as a rookie despite his broken shot. He's getting to the line at a reasonable clip despite clearly jacking up 3's per coach's orders (~4 per 36 minutes), he's rebounding very well, and his defense has been just as advertised.

My guess is he posts a line of something like: 24 MPG, 8 PPG, 5 APG, 4 RPG, 2 SPG on 42/30/75 shooting, with near-elite defense. Basically, a similar line to Victor Oladipo last year, just in more limited minutes.

Hate to rain on the parade, but Rondo's scoring efficiency isn't what turned him into an all-NBA player. If Smart ends up a career 11ppg, .51TS% guy like Rondo I think we should all be disappointed. He's got to be a lot better than Rondo as a scorer to reach a similar level as a player.

And Smart has been a little disappointing as a rebounder too - 3.7 per 36 is okay for a PG and weak for a SG. I was hoping for 5-6 per 36 given his size and aggression.

You may be right, but he hasn't played anything like Oladipo thus far. Overall he's putting up about 9/6/4 per 36 this preseason on .27/.23/.70 shooting. Last preseason Oladipo was putting up 19/8/6 per 36 on .41/.24/.84.

That's a massive disparity.

[truth18]

So NL41 got banned? What happened if you don't mind me asking? Haven't been able to read the boards as much lately.

If the question is inappropriate, then that's my fault. Carry on

[shawn unkempt]

I'm sorry but I have to still call BS on these lame excuses. If you can get to the rim and dunk with authority - no coach can stop you. If you are shooting 19% from the field you don't pass on a chance to explode to the basket. Pressey is a terrible shooter and jacks up a lot of 3s too - but he gets to the rim a lot. Smart has played a dozen games in a Celtics uniform and he is strictly a jump shooter at NBA level right now. Unfortunately, the Derrick Rose and Westbrook comparisons before the draft simply have no merit. He just doesn't have that game.

Im not saying he never will - I mean the guy is 20, has a lot of heart and drive and is a heck of a talent. Looking at Avery Bradley as a rookie and seeing what he can do now is proof that guys with great character and talent can develop. Billups is a guy who showed more ability as a rookie but many teams gave up on him before he became a stud. Sometimes players don't develop - ie. Marcus Banks. So I suggest we hold off on plans of trading Rondo so we can hand the franchise over to a 19% jump shooter.

This is probably more spot on than the people on this board are willing to admit. I'm sure Brad and the staff want Smart working on his shooting, but I doubt they'd tell him to completely abandon every other aspect of his game at the same time. That's just dumb. Until I see otherwise, I'll have to assume that he just can't drive to the rim and score yet.

[bbd24]

I'm sorry but I have to still call BS on these lame excuses. If you can get to the rim and dunk with authority - no coach can stop you. If you are shooting 19% from the field you don't pass on a chance to explode to the basket. Pressey is a terrible shooter and jacks up a lot of 3s too - but he gets to the rim a lot. Smart has played a dozen games in a Celtics uniform and he is strictly a jump shooter at NBA level right now. Unfortunately, the Derrick Rose and Westbrook comparisons before the draft simply have no merit. He just doesn't have that game.

Im not saying he never will - I mean the guy is 20, has a lot of heart and drive and is a heck of a talent. Looking at Avery Bradley as a rookie and seeing what he can do now is proof that guys with great character and talent can develop. Billups is a guy who showed more ability as a rookie but many teams gave up on him before he became a stud. Sometimes players don't develop - ie. Marcus Banks. So I suggest we hold off on plans of trading Rondo so we can hand the franchise over to a 19% jump shooter.

What did you say about Rondo during his 1st preseason ?

What about Tony Allen, Al Jefferson, & Kendrick Perkins ?

Half this board had all these guys traded and out of Boston by 30 regular season games. They said these players would 'never' develop, & they based it on half a season ! A rookie season for some that were only 20 and younger !

True, sometimes players don't develop. Sometimes they do. So I suggest holding off on plans to dump Smart until you let him actually start his career.

So you can call it excuses, but most would call it logic. I think I'd agree with Coach Stevens over you.

[Gomes3PC]

Smart's points per shot in preseason right now is 1:1. That's ugly, but not the end of the world. Rondo had a PPS of 1.1 as a rookie and turned into an All-NBA player. Like Rondo, Smart does everything else well except shoot, meaning he can be productive off the bench as a rookie despite his broken shot. He's getting to the line at a reasonable clip despite clearly jacking up 3's per coach's orders (~4 per 36 minutes), he's rebounding very well, and his defense has been just as advertised.

My guess is he posts a line of something like: 24 MPG, 8 PPG, 5 APG, 4 RPG, 2 SPG on 42/30/75 shooting, with near-elite defense. Basically, a similar line to Victor Oladipo last year, just in more limited minutes.

Hate to rain on the parade, but Rondo's scoring efficiency isn't what turned him into an all-NBA player. If Smart ends up a career 11ppg, .51TS% guy like Rondo I think we should all be disappointed. He's got to be a lot better than Rondo as a scorer to reach a similar level as a player.

And Smart has been a little disappointing as a rebounder too - 3.7 per 36 is okay for a PG and weak for a SG. I was hoping for 5-6 per 36 given his size and aggression.

You may be right, but he hasn't played anything like Oladipo thus far. Overall he's putting up about 9/6/4 per 36 this preseason on .27/.23/.70 shooting. Last preseason Oladipo was putting up 19/8/6 per 36 on .41/.24/.84.

That's a massive disparity.

Well, we'll wait and see on Smart vs. Oladipo. I would bet good money in 18 months nobody here would be willing to trade Smart for Victor.

As for the Rondo comparison, that's fine. Plenty of other examples. Tony Parker averaged 1.1 PPS as a rookie. Jason Kidd was at 1.08. Steve "Mr. 50/40/90" Nash averaged 1.13 PPS his first three years in the league.

Nothing about Smart's 3 point shot makes me think he won't develop into a 35-38% deep ball shooter. There's no hitch, the load isn't crazy, it's fairly compact. He does have a tendency to let his elbow get out and he shoots off-balance too much, but those are common and fixable traits for 20 year old's shooting from the NBA 3 point line. Most importantly, he's a tireless worker and supremely confident - those two factors will push him to get better.

[Powe-Fessional]

I'm a big Smart fan. You can talk all you want about his shooting deficiencies right now, but there are two things about Smart that will always keep me in his corner: guy will do whatever it takes to win a basketball game and he's going to have the ability to affect the outcome of a game without dominating the stat sheet.

Is the 3 point shot concerning? Yeah sure a little bit but not enough for me to completely write this kid off, which some of you seem to be doing. Maybe it's not writing him off, but some of you have come to conclusions based off a very small sample size. I think Marcus will be able to shoot eventually. It's not like he has MKG form. As Mike Gorman alluded to the other night against Brooklyn, it seems like he's pretty good straight away and decent off the right and left wings. I don't think I've seen him take a corner 3 yet, but I haven't seen every minute of the pre-season games.

As a "shooter" myself, I find that the more I play in a particular gym the more comfortable I feel and the more my shot goes in. Before I even play a game of pick-up and latch onto a team I normally just shoot around between games. This way I can at least get an idea of where I am at certain days. Some days you have the rhythm other days you don't. So, with this idea in mind, I went back and looked at all of Marcus' home games last year and tracked how well he shot from 3. I figured if he's going to shoot well it's going to come on his home floor. He's used to the depth perception there. There were games he lit it up (5-10) and others he fell flat on his face (0-7). He ended up at home going a combined 46-187, which is a 25% clip.

Obviously these aren't great numbers. But you also have to remember Marcus took A LOT of bad shots last year. You hope with Stevens and CO that he learns how to take better shots. Seems like he has a better sense of it just a few games into the preseason.

Back to the original point here, Marcus is not a shooting guard. I'm not saying he could thrive in a 2-PG lineup with Rondo or with Turner playing point-forward, but to expect him to be a reliable 2 is unfair. Kid has better-than-advertised vision and can guard 1-3. That's enough for me knowing he's a rookie, has good form on his jumper, and will work hard enough to improve.

[KamikazeK]

I can't believe people in here are actually passing judgement on Smart's NBA career in the middle of preseason of his rookie year. The kid hasn't even played an actual NBA game yet. Some of you guys are ridiculous.

[shawn unkempt]

I can't believe people in here are actually passing judgement on Smart's NBA career in the middle of preseason of his rookie year. The kid hasn't even played an actual NBA game yet. Some of you guys are ridiculous.

There's nobody here making definitive claims about his career in here, just analyzing what he brings to the table right now. People need to stop being so defensive over valid criticism.

[humblebum]

I'm sorry but I have to still call BS on these lame excuses. If you can get to the rim and dunk with authority - no coach can stop you. If you are shooting 19% from the field you don't pass on a chance to explode to the basket. Pressey is a terrible shooter and jacks up a lot of 3s too - but he gets to the rim a lot. Smart has played a dozen games in a Celtics uniform and he is strictly a jump shooter at NBA level right now. Unfortunately, the Derrick Rose and Westbrook comparisons before the draft simply have no merit. He just doesn't have that game.

Im not saying he never will - I mean the guy is 20, has a lot of heart and drive and is a heck of a talent. Looking at Avery Bradley as a rookie and seeing what he can do now is proof that guys with great character and talent can develop. Billups is a guy who showed more ability as a rookie but many teams gave up on him before he became a stud. Sometimes players don't develop - ie. Marcus Banks. So I suggest we hold off on plans of trading Rondo so we can hand the franchise over to a 19% jump shooter.

You realize he hasn't played a game that counts yet right?

Preseason is a time to work on specific aspects of the game. Have you ever heard of pitchers working on a curveball in spring training?

Look I think people just got caught up in the idea that Smart is this all world scorer, that he was going to slide seemlessly into the SG spot and that he would dominate from the jump. The reality is that this kid is a PG thru and thru and his weak pitch right now is his long ball. So he's working on that and he's focusing on facilitating ball movement.

Does that mean that he'll come out in game 1 of the reg season and be Tony Parker? Of course not. But this idea that we have enough of a sample to compare him to other great point guards is asinine. He didn't forget how to drive the lane or how to jump. Just a little hesitant right now but let's at least give him half a season before we declare he's a glorified spot up shooter who can't drive or finish FFS.

[165bows]

I'm sorry but I have to still call BS on these lame excuses. If you can get to the rim and dunk with authority - no coach can stop you. If you are shooting 19% from the field you don't pass on a chance to explode to the basket. Pressey is a terrible shooter and jacks up a lot of 3s too - but he gets to the rim a lot. Smart has played a dozen games in a Celtics uniform and he is strictly a jump shooter at NBA level right now. Unfortunately, the Derrick Rose and Westbrook comparisons before the draft simply have no merit. He just doesn't have that game.

Im not saying he never will - I mean the guy is 20, has a lot of heart and drive and is a heck of a talent. Looking at Avery Bradley as a rookie and seeing what he can do now is proof that guys with great character and talent can develop. Billups is a guy who showed more ability as a rookie but many teams gave up on him before he became a stud. Sometimes players don't develop - ie. Marcus Banks. So I suggest we hold off on plans of trading Rondo so we can hand the franchise over to a 19% jump shooter.

You realize he hasn't played a game that counts yet right?

Preseason is a time to work on specific aspects of the game. Have you ever heard of pitchers working on a curveball in spring training?

Look I think people just got caught up in the idea that Smart is this all world scorer, that he was going to slide seemlessly into the SG spot and that he would dominate from the jump. The reality is that this kid is a PG thru and thru and his weak pitch right now is his long ball. So he's working on that and he's focusing on facilitating ball movement.

Does that mean that he'll come out in game 1 of the reg season and be Tony Parker? Of course not. But this idea that we have enough of a sample to compare him to other great point guards is asinine. He didn't forget how to drive the lane or how to jump. Just a little hesitant right now but let's at least give him half a season before we declare he's a glorified spot up shooter who can't drive or finish FFS.

I think the Ron Artest comp is good to keep in mind, especially if people were thinking this guy was going to be Derrick Rose. Basically a guy that will have some high points on offense but mainly scores 15 modestly efficient points/game and plays awesome physical defense. Frankly at this point I hope they can pull off the Gasol/Gay scenario or something else similar, and then draft one of Stanley Johnson/Justise Winslow this summer. A good team with KO and two Ron Artest-type guys coming off the bench and a bunch of extra first round picks isn't something anybody wants to deal with.

[bbd24]

I can't believe people in here are actually passing judgement on Smart's NBA career in the middle of preseason of his rookie year. The kid hasn't even played an actual NBA game yet. Some of you guys are ridiculous.

That's what I'm trying to get at. They're murdering this kid and his shot during his 1st preseason !

It's not logical.

They probably murdered Rondo, Jefferson, Perkins, and Tony Allen during their first preseason games as well. How did that turn out for them ?

[bbd24]

I'm a big Smart fan. You can talk all you want about his shooting deficiencies right now, but there are two things about Smart that will always keep me in his corner: guy will do whatever it takes to win a basketball game and he's going to have the ability to affect the outcome of a game without dominating the stat sheet.

Is the 3 point shot concerning? Yeah sure a little bit but not enough for me to completely write this kid off, which some of you seem to be doing. Maybe it's not writing him off, but some of you have come to conclusions based off a very small sample size. I think Marcus will be able to shoot eventually. It's not like he has MKG form. As Mike Gorman alluded to the other night against Brooklyn, it seems like he's pretty good straight away and decent off the right and left wings. I don't think I've seen him take a corner 3 yet, but I haven't seen every minute of the pre-season games.

As a "shooter" myself, I find that the more I play in a particular gym the more comfortable I feel and the more my shot goes in. Before I even play a game of pick-up and latch onto a team I normally just shoot around between games. This way I can at least get an idea of where I am at certain days. Some days you have the rhythm other days you don't. So, with this idea in mind, I went back and looked at all of Marcus' home games last year and tracked how well he shot from 3. I figured if he's going to shoot well it's going to come on his home floor. He's used to the depth perception there. There were games he lit it up (5-10) and others he fell flat on his face (0-7). He ended up at home going a combined 46-187, which is a 25% clip.

Obviously these aren't great numbers. But you also have to remember Marcus took A LOT of bad shots last year. You hope with Stevens and CO that he learns how to take better shots. Seems like he has a better sense of it just a few games into the preseason.

Back to the original point here, Marcus is not a shooting guard. I'm not saying he could thrive in a 2-PG lineup with Rondo or with Turner playing point-forward, but to expect him to be a reliable 2 is unfair. Kid has better-than-advertised vision and can guard 1-3. That's enough for me knowing he's a rookie, has good form on his jumper, and will work hard enough to improve.

The defense and ability to distribute from the Point are two things that stand out for me. 20 year olds usually can't defend like him, nor can they run a team at the point like he's been doing in the preseason. He really is a pass first, pass second point guard. He has the ability to give you 4-6 assists per night in his 20-25 minutes per game, to go along with solid D and a couple of steals. You can call that garbage if you want, but that's great ball from a 20 year old whose just starting out. The ability to defend the 1 or 2 will allow him to play either, despite his scoring. When you defend like him, scoring isn't the tell-all on the stat sheet with him.

[BannersOnly]

I can't believe people in here are actually passing judgement on Smart's NBA career in the middle of preseason of his rookie year. The kid hasn't even played an actual NBA game yet. Some of you guys are ridiculous.

I analyze what I see. No different than any GM analyzing what they see from college tapes and pre-draft workouts before they decide who they want to draft. Nobody is saying the kid will be a BUST over his entire career, however I personally believe the kid is much likelier to be a role player over his NBA career than be a legit all star. In other words, he's far more likelier to be an Avery Bradley role player type than he is a Rondo all star type. I said this last year when he was at Oklahoma State too on these boards so it's not like I'm only ragging on the guy this preseason.......he's always been overrated to me.

On the flipside, I am BUYING STOCK big time in James Young's potential. That kid just oozes talent and if he ever fulfills his potential, than now we have a PLAYER. That is the kid I would be keeping out of future trade talks if I was Ainge before Smart. Young has the potential to be lethal offensively.

[KamikazeK]

I can't believe people in here are actually passing judgement on Smart's NBA career in the middle of preseason of his rookie year. The kid hasn't even played an actual NBA game yet. Some of you guys are ridiculous.

I analyze what I see. No different than any GM analyzing what they see from college tapes and pre-draft workouts before they decide who they want to draft. Nobody is saying the kid will be a BUST over his entire career, however I personally believe the kid is much likelier to be a role player over his NBA career than be a legit all star. In other words, he's far more likelier to be an Avery Bradley role player type than he is a Rondo all star type. I said this last year when he was at Oklahoma State too on these boards so it's not like I'm only ragging on the guy this preseason.......he's always been overrated to me.

On the flipside, I am BUYING STOCK big time in James Young's potential. That kid just oozes talent and if he ever fulfills his potential, than now we have a PLAYER. That is the kid I would be keeping out of future trade talks if I was Ainge before Smart. Young has the potential to be lethal offensively.

Didn't young play just 1 preseason game and then get injured? On what basis do you proclaim Young the future and Smart a bust? What if Smart had gotten injured after the first preseason game. Would he be the future star and Young be the bust?

[humblebum]

I'm sorry but I have to still call BS on these lame excuses. If you can get to the rim and dunk with authority - no coach can stop you. If you are shooting 19% from the field you don't pass on a chance to explode to the basket. Pressey is a terrible shooter and jacks up a lot of 3s too - but he gets to the rim a lot. Smart has played a dozen games in a Celtics uniform and he is strictly a jump shooter at NBA level right now. Unfortunately, the Derrick Rose and Westbrook comparisons before the draft simply have no merit. He just doesn't have that game.

Im not saying he never will - I mean the guy is 20, has a lot of heart and drive and is a heck of a talent. Looking at Avery Bradley as a rookie and seeing what he can do now is proof that guys with great character and talent can develop. Billups is a guy who showed more ability as a rookie but many teams gave up on him before he became a stud. Sometimes players don't develop - ie. Marcus Banks. So I suggest we hold off on plans of trading Rondo so we can hand the franchise over to a 19% jump shooter.

You realize he hasn't played a game that counts yet right?

Preseason is a time to work on specific aspects of the game. Have you ever heard of pitchers working on a curveball in spring training?

Look I think people just got caught up in the idea that Smart is this all world scorer, that he was going to slide seemlessly into the SG spot and that he would dominate from the jump. The reality is that this kid is a PG thru and thru and his weak pitch right now is his long ball. So he's working on that and he's focusing on facilitating ball movement.

Does that mean that he'll come out in game 1 of the reg season and be Tony Parker? Of course not. But this idea that we have enough of a sample to compare him to other great point guards is asinine. He didn't forget how to drive the lane or how to jump. Just a little hesitant right now but let's at least give him half a season before we declare he's a glorified spot up shooter who can't drive or finish FFS.

I think the Ron Artest comp is good to keep in mind, especially if people were thinking this guy was going to be Derrick Rose. Basically a guy that will have some high points on offense but mainly scores 15 modestly efficient points/game and plays awesome physical defense. Frankly at this point I hope they can pull off the Gasol/Gay scenario or something else similar, and then draft one of Stanley Johnson/Justise Winslow this summer. A good team with KO and two Ron Artest-type guys coming off the bench and a bunch of extra first round picks isn't something anybody wants to deal with.

Yeah Ron Artest is the guy I see in him the most in terms of his body and athleticism.

But I also think he's smarter and a better passer which will allow him to be a better pick and roll player. Ultimately I believe the pick and roll/pop game is what will allow him to get in the paint despite lacking that ultra quickness or superb dribbling skills of some of the other elite points.

I do think that he can be a dominant post player at the 1. That's where I want to see him get reps. Let Kelly post entry and draw the big outside then let Smart go to work inside.

[GuyClinch]

That's what I'm trying to get at. They're murdering this kid and his shot during his 1st preseason !

It's not logical.

They don't like the idea that anyone could replace Rondo. So Pressey is the guy for them - a **** Rondo.

[bucknersrevenge]

I'm sorry but I have to still call BS on these lame excuses. If you can get to the rim and dunk with authority - no coach can stop you. If you are shooting 19% from the field you don't pass on a chance to explode to the basket. Pressey is a terrible shooter and jacks up a lot of 3s too - but he gets to the rim a lot. Smart has played a dozen games in a Celtics uniform and he is strictly a jump shooter at NBA level right now. Unfortunately, the Derrick Rose and Westbrook comparisons before the draft simply have no merit. He just doesn't have that game.

Im not saying he never will - I mean the guy is 20, has a lot of heart and drive and is a heck of a talent. Looking at Avery Bradley as a rookie and seeing what he can do now is proof that guys with great character and talent can develop. Billups is a guy who showed more ability as a rookie but many teams gave up on him before he became a stud. Sometimes players don't develop - ie. Marcus Banks. So I suggest we hold off on plans of trading Rondo so we can hand the franchise over to a 19% jump shooter.

This is probably more spot on than the people on this board are willing to admit. I'm sure Brad and the staff want Smart working on his shooting, but I doubt they'd tell him to completely abandon every other aspect of his game at the same time. That's just dumb. Until I see otherwise, I'll have to assume that he just can't drive to the rim and score yet.

Well if you believe the report LarryBird'sFinger came back with over the weekend yeah I do. He was driving and scoring at will with the USA Select Team against the best in the World. Are we suggesting that somehow in the last 3 months he's forgotten how to do that. Where Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul couldn't keep this kid from going right at them in practices, from getting to the rim against them, that somehow Tony Wroten and Deron Williams figured out the proper defense to keep him on the perimeter?? Does THAT make any sense? No. It doesn't. Smart is not an idiot. He knows how to get to the rim. LBF's report said that Stevens was having Smart specifically work on his 3 because he needed to become more comfortable with that shot if he wanted to be effective with the rest of his drive game. So they told him to pull every single time an opponent goes under the pick. This is PRESEASON. I cannot stress this fact enough. In baseball, when a pitcher throws 10 fastballs in a row during a Spring Training game and gets whacked because he's "trying to get the feel" do you say he can't pitch??

And BTW, Smart hasn't abandoned every other aspect of his game. He's shown to be more than solid running the offense, penetrating and finding the open man. His defense has been nothing short of a revelation. All those things are parts of his game. It's clear Stevens is not really all that concerned with winning these games. Sully has spent most of his time out on the perimeter. So has KO. AB has been gunning like crazy. Stevens wants the WHOLE team getting comfortable with the 3 point shot, even if they may not take 30+ 3's a game because right now you work on things that you're not good at, not so much on stuff you already know how to do. Anyone making aalysis "based on what they see out there" from this team during preseason is not seeing thewhole picture at all.