Smart comparison

[Ed Monix]

My apologies if this has been referenced on here before but I think the best reference for comparing Marcus' game is a defensive version of Russell Westbrook.

Smart has almost identical levels of plus and minuses:

- They can be reckless and out of control yet pull off game changing play.

- Teammates love them and so do most team fans.

- Both can emotionally charge up their team and the crowd with their 110% attitude.

- By being so psyched up, they can over react in a play which is to the detriment of their team.

- Both have massive us vs them mentalities.

- They can pull off great heads up passes... then throw stupid momentum killing turnovers when the pass was never on.

- Both are very good rebounders for their size.

- Neither are great shooters yet both will pull up from deep 2 or from 3 over and over.

- I assume both believe they are always the best player on the court.

I think the both will help a bad or average team over perform, but I fear both have too many stubborn tendencies to elevate a team to elite status.

[footey]

Westbrook is a million times more athletic. Pretty lazy comparison

How many triple doubles does Marcus have for his career? About the same as Westbrook gets in a week.

[liam]

The problem is that Smart probably thinks this too. Smart is a role player that thinks he's a star. Westbrook is a 2nd star that thinks he's a number one star. He's scary with Beal and that Washington team is going to scare some top team this year.

[Ed Monix]

Westbrook is a million times more athletic. Pretty lazy comparison

How many triple doubles does Marcus have for his career? About the same as Westbrook gets in a week.

I don't mean they are identical players, I am merely pointing out similar tendencies.

Plus I did say Marcus is a defensive minded version.

I'm sorry if you think it was lazy, maybe I should think harder.

[PhoSita]

Smart is more like a guard version of Detroit-era Rasheed Wallace.

[Vermont Green]

I see more Chauncey Billup in Smart than Westbrook, or at least the Chauncey Billup prior to ending up in Detroit.  Check the stats for Billups first 5 or 6 seasons.  Very similar to Smart.  Of course Billups kept getting better and finally broke through in Detroit as a true top player.  But up to that point, he was not much better than Smart has been so far in his career.

I would say that Billups always showed more promise than Smart so I do not expect Smart will top out as high as Billups did, but to this point, it is a reasonable comparable.