Marcus Smart is nothing special...why are yall so delusional?

[Green89]

Smart certainly has his issues this season, but he is a rookie and is playing much better than a lot of first year guys I've seen in the league. His defense is better than nearly all first year guys, but his bad passes, shot selections and low shooting percentages leave a lot to be desired. One thing you can't measure is the 4th quarter tenacity he plays with, and there aren't many first year players who can produce when the game is on the line. He's proven that he can.

I do feel that there shouldn't be any games where he gets more minutes than Thomas (but he seems to every game). They say no one has scored 30 for us prior to last night since Olynyk in December, however I guarantee if you give Thomas the 35 minutes Smart normally gets, he would be able to notch 30 more than a few times.

[Banks2Pierce]

Smart will have to learn how to play with pace and body/hand positioning science of splitting, gaining a step on an opponent to be successful.

Yeah, I think his quickness in tight spaces is sort of underplayed, but he is already able to succeed in half the battle of getting by cleanly through the initial defending. He's so thick and strong that you can't do much once he's got that half a step. A little bit of a floater or pull up jumper(I lean towards the jumper off of two feet) from 8-10 feet and knowing the timing of help defenders at the rim would be absolutely frightening. Some guys never get that, but most other players have dozens of other things to work on. Smart really doesn't.

[LarryBirdsFingr]

sigh, this thread

[Fidel Sarcasmo]

Troll thread masked as marketing something or other blah blah.

[Patsfan1081]

I agree, pretty weak to start a new account to troll. I have been dissapointment with his offensive game also, but he has finally been taking the ball to the basket more recently. Honestly, I've never seen somone miss so many easy baskets like Smart did last night, I mean even easy tip ins. He will put it together though after some seasoning. I have no doubt he'll be at least giving you fifteen a game by the end of next year. It seems everyone forgets how young these kids are, Payton had almost twice as many college games as Smart, Young should have stayed another year in school also.

[LarryBirdsFingr]

Troll thread masked as marketing something or other blah blah.

I couldn't really tell either, all I read was bla bla marcus bla bla

[Andrew McCeltic]

Payton has more minutes, more reps.. He's better at one thing: driving to the rim. He's a nice player, but it's still too soon to call him better. Smart's been hurt, he's been brought along slowly, he's being asked to play within the system on a well-coached team. I just saw clips from the end of the Grizzlies game, but Smart had a couple of and-1's that were just exceptional- once he learns how to absorb contact and finish at the rim, he's almost there. You can see him on the verge of being a star. It's just so obviously there with him..

The MKG comparison is interesting, because Kidd-Gilchrist remade his shot and is actually a decent offensive player now. Everyone's been sleeping on the last few drafts, 2013 especially- but it takes time for guys to develop. We're back in a phase like the 2001 draft era where it took 4-5 years to see who would be good.

I think the worst case for Smart is a fullback Kirk Hinrich.. Wiggins looks like he has superstar potential, we know Jabari's going to be a Carmelo type; jury's out on Embiid; Gordon and Exum are raw.

Has this fanbase not learned anything about having patience with young players? We traded Billups, we traded Joe Johnson, we traded a lotto pick for Vitaly Potapenko.. Let's not write Smart off too soon because he's being superficially outplayed by a guy on a bottom 5 team who was handed the keys on day 1..

[Goudelock]

Well, I was watching part of the Pacers vs Celtics game, and I can tell you that his defense IS special. From what I saw, he was basically a wall when it came to perimeter defending. His offensive game didn't seem that bad either. Then again, my mother is a Celtic's fan and that can cloud my judgement when it comes to Boston players.

[cl2117]

Well, I was watching part of the Pacers vs Celtics game, and I can tell you that his defense IS special. From what I saw, he was basically a wall when it came to perimeter defending. His offensive game didn't seem that bad either. Then again, my mother is a Celtic's fan and that can cloud my judgement when it comes to Boston players.

I'm a quarter Laker's fan from my Dad's side, my family doesn't like to talk about it though...

[Fidel Sarcasmo]

Troll thread masked as marketing something or other blah blah.

I couldn't really tell either, all I read was bla bla marcus bla bla

I'm not a hot head either and I'm never one to call out a troll anywhere until now, but this guys has one post ever on real gm and he opens up an account just to start a thread to bash our binky. What does that tell you? Clear as day from where I'm sitting. And people are taking this guy seriously. He's a breath waster

[HeartBreakKid]

Anyway I've noticed a lot of people who dislike Smart (not on this forum..other Celtic forums) tend to compare him to Tony Allen. First of all, it wouldn't be the end of the world if Smart was Tony Allen because he is the best defensive wing in the league. Second of all, their games are nothing alike. Like whatsoever. Tony Allen had a great first step with an erratic handle. Smart's first step is so-so but his handle is steady. If he learns/becomes more confident to drive in the NBA, it will be because he bodies people and knows how to pick his spots.

Tony Allen's jumpshot was and is completely broken. All this hubbub about Smart having no shot is very odd. He is shooting 32% from the 3PT line on 4 attempts per game. That's actually respectable for a rookie. He even had a 2 month streak of shooting 40% from the 3PT line on high volume. He clearly has already put a ton of work into his shot so the work ethic is there. I question your evaluation if you see any kind of similarities between these players because of how different they play offensively.

I agree other than being defense guards, I don't think they're that similar. Tony Allen is a much better athlete but his skills are a lot worse than Smarts (especially when you factor in the age difference).

[jirrit]

[HeartBreakKid]

One thing I always thought about Smart is that he has to be an off guard if a team wants a guarantee at having a real impact player. From what I have seen, Smart's lack of size to play the 2 has not been much of a hindrance, and he can guard pretty much any 2 guard. I would argue that he might be able to guard 2 guards even better than 1 guards, since he does not suffer a speed handicap that he would against the smaller PGs in the league. The fact that he can hit a spot up 3 is amplifying this projection.

The only thing that muddles this is that we extended Avery Bradley, who fills up the role that Marcus Smart should be playing. Now that we have IT, this isn't that much of a problem. IT can handle the rock while Bradley and Smart alternate so they can use 100% of their energy on defense and really lock down guys.

[green411sv]

I love when people post stuff like they know for a FACT that they're right. Ya ain't from the future. Chill and enjoy the C's win.

[GuyClinch]

I agree other than being defense guards, I don't think they're that similar. Tony Allen is a much better athlete but his skills are a lot worse than Smarts (especially when you factor in the age difference).

TA isn't as skilled as Smart but he does have a handle on how to use his athleticism out there on the floor. Smart needs to start doing that to improve his offensive game. Smart might not be as quick as a Rondo - but he is quicker then SOME people - he is bigger then some guys that cover him. Basically he needs to learn to better use his body on offense..

Pierce was the master of this - Pierce was always able to out muscle the smaller guys and out quick the bigger guys.

[GuyClinch]

The only thing that muddles this is that we extended Avery Bradley, who fills up the role that Marcus Smart should be playing. Now that we have IT, this isn't that much of a problem. IT can handle the rock while Bradley and Smart alternate so they can use 100% of their energy on defense and really lock down guys.

Alternatively guys like Smart and Bradley can improve their ball handling/decision making skills.. I think Bradley has actually improved his PG skill some - not that we need it now - but he has become less awful back there. Smart OTOH has a much higher starting point in this regard - and has in my mind made some pretty nifty passes now and then.. His dribbling is still sub NBA PG level though.

Here is the real truth of the modern NBA - you need all your guys to be able to shoot/pass and dribble at a pretty decent level. The smaller the player the more this is expected. This idea that you can get ONE ball handler to do all the work is not really accurate. Even if you have a guy that LOVES to handle the ball - the other guys need good skills as well.

Jordan and Pippen handled the ball the most but its not like Ron Harper couldn't dribble. Bird loved to handle the ball but both Ainge and DJ needed to be able to handle the ball - even against some pressure. With IT2 we are in good shape but hopefully our smaller players continue to improve.

I remember when Pierce keyed the championship using pick and roll plays and handling the ball. The color guy was commenting that Pierce couldn't have done that when he was much younger. Not sure that's entirely true but I do think that motivated players can improve other aspects in their game.

Not to sound exactly like BFB but the x factor is how badly does Smart want to be good. Does he want to improve his ball handling? Does he want to improve his shooting? Or is he content to ignore his weaknesses and just try to muddle by with his current skill set.
Coaches love versatile players - people might hate Turner - but I dunno Stevens seems to like him - defense be damned.

[Darth Celtic]

Marcus Smart is already at age 21 a better shooter than Rondo, E. Payton, or T. Allen will ever be at any time in there careers.

We already tried to build a team with a PG who can drive and dish, but can't shoot. He needs 3 hall of fame players/shooter to make it work. As Danny couldn't find any other blockbusters to add to rondo, he's trying a different route. A defensive pitbull who can shoot.

Not sure why i'm even responding, pretty sure some orlando fan just made an account to post 1 troll post and never again.

[LongTimeFan]

We post because we are Celtic's fans. We care. And our players care that we care. It gives them strength when they doubt themselves.

[Gomes3PC]

One thing I know is this - Marcus Smart is an incredibly hard worker. He will be doing everything he can this offseason to improve his game. And nothing in his game is permanently broken, like Payton's jumper. He may never be a 20 PPG scorer, but I could easily see him slowly develop into a truly well-rounded PG like Mike Conley. Remember, this is what Mike Conley looked like his rookie year (per-36:

13 PPG, 6 APG, 4 RPG, 1 SPG, 2 TO/G, 43%/33%/73% shooting

Smart is currently at:
10 PPG, 5 APG, 5 RPG, 2 SPG, 2 TO/G, 35%/32%/65% shooting

He'll get better. Maybe not star material, but he's going to become a quality starter due to his work ethic and inherent defensive abilities.

[ermocrate]

Marketing is a powerful thing. It can make people believe ideas, buy merchandise, become addicts, and waste their time and hard earned money on materialistic wastes.

That being said, the Boston Celtics Business (not going to use the word franchise) is a business. But you see, marketers try separating this reality and would always use words like "franchise", "organization"' and "team".

Like most businesses, marketing plays a factor. In this case, the Celtics will obviously try marketing their products--which mainly are the players.

Marcus Smart is equivalent to a new product model that most businesses are. obviously going to try to market. But unlike a new phone to hit the streets, the development of Smart gives their customer (aka fans) base hope and they will do everything they can to make you believe that he is the "next celtics allstar".

But those who are not the Celtics customers and wouldn't be marketed so easily, will realize that Marcus Smart is just not that good and probably at best will be another Tony Allen. How do I know this? After numerous games of him doing nothing too great. No flashes of star material. Has he even had a 25pt game? Has he even recorded over 8assists? Over 10 rebounds?ì

If the Celts lost last night, a big reason would be because of him. He looked like garbage. Even Pressey looked better and I honestly think Pressey should be in the Dleague. Thats just sad.

Its amazing how so many of you could be so easily brainwashed in to thinking Smart is the future. Even Delonte West showed more potential when he first played with the Celts.

Smart has no shot, but apparently hes a defensive stopper, even though Orlando's Payton took him to school in the last two meetings with us.

With all that said, how many Orlando fans think Payton is there next young star? And how many other NBA fans who watched Smart play would really think hes the Celtics future? Probably not much at all.

So yes, everyone, please stop being brainwashed by marketing and getting your hopes up on this guy. He's nothing great and at best, will be as valuable as another Tony Allen.


And of course, I rather have Payton here than Smart. Would trade in a heart beat. Even if he cant shoot fts.

If you think that the fans of the more important franchise in pro sports and one of the most competent basketball audience of the world is biting on some marketing YOU are the delusional. Go back and enjoy your theme parks dude.