Marcus Smart's role

[td450]

One of my main concerns about this team was whether Marcus Smart would overreach this year. His aggressiveness is usually an asset, but it is starting to cause problems. He's becoming more belligerent, shooting way to much and his defense has badly deteriorated in the last few weeks.

He has one month to pull it together.

[CelticsPoetry]

What happens after one month?

[Rondo9]

What happens after one month?

He starts going into trade talks for KAT of course! On a serious note, when a team is missing two or three of their main scorers the shots will have to go to someone. This was clear last night when Tatum and Walker were struggling badly from the field. Also I think Marcus' defense has been fine, the "every guard has a good game against the Celtics" is just overblown since the Celtics boast one of the top defenses in the NBA. It's top 5 last I checked.

[td450]

What happens after one month?

The last game of the regular season is April 15, so that's when the playoffs start.

[ozgod]

One of my main concerns about this team was whether Marcus Smart would overreach this year. His aggressiveness is usually an asset, but it is starting to cause problems. He's becoming more belligerent, shooting way to much and his defense has badly deteriorated in the last few weeks.

He has one month to pull it together.

Here are his splits for the year.




His TS% is about the same as it has been all year. I calculated his FGA and 3PFGA:

Code: [Select]

G GS FGA/g 3PFGA/g
Oct 4 1 10.8 7.5
Nov 14 12 11.3 6.6
Dec 4 3 8.0 4.0
Jan 16 10 11.8 7.1
Feb 10 8 12.6 7.0
Mar 3 3 17.7 11.3
It's only been the last 3 games, which have been against Brooklyn, Cleveland and Utah. Obviously with Brooklyn we were missing Tatum and lost Hayward and had Kemba on a minutes restriction, Marcus attempted 15 shots of which 14 were 3s. Against Cleveland where we were missing Hayward, Kemba and Brown he attempted 15 shots of which 5 were 3s. Against Utah where we were missing Hayward, Brown and had Kemba on a minutes restriction and Tatum was getting doubled where he attempted 23 shots of which 15 were 3s.

So we're talking about a period of 3 games where we're missing at least two key players, and of those 3 games it's really been just the last game vs Utah where he has shot significantly over his average. Tatum has been getting doubled since the Lakers game. I'm not too worried about any change in behavior on his part.

[jambr380]

When Smart is playing the way we all want him to, he is an absolute joy to watch and a one of a kind player in this league. But I have also noticed that he seems to be reaching lately - taking way too many 3s/shots and being a little careless with the ball. Injuries have obviously played a part in his increased role, but I think I would prefer the shots to be more evenly distributed when he is out there - even to guys like Langford or Semi. Smart isn't exactly Lou Williams or even Jordan Clarkson.

I imagine he has just had a couple of bad match-ups lately as he has been getting lit up by opposing teams guards - I don't expect that to continue. As to Smart's role on this particular Cs team - it should fall more in line with Draymond's, and we have all seen how that has gone in GSW this season without Steph/Klay.

As for Smart this offseason - it's entirely possible he does go on the trade block. The Cs will need to stay under the luxury tax one more season for the clock to start over. It will really come down to what we do with Gordon Hayward. Personally, I think Smart may have fallen behind Theis (a player who really knows his role) in terms of importance to the team. Our starting 5 may actually be our best/core 5.

[penwasser]

Someone asked, in the game recap thread, about the C’s record with Smart taking a lot of shots, and that got me curious.  Took a quick look and here is how it shakes out.  I used 13 shots as the gauge because that is about what he averaged for February.

- Record when Smart takes 13 or more shots is 7-11.
- Record when Smart takes 12 or fewer shots is 26-7.
- Record when Smart scores 20 or more points is 2-5.

[CelticsPoetry]

Someone asked, in the game recap thread, about the C’s record with Smart taking a lot of shots, and that got me curious.  Took a quick look and here is how it shakes out.  I used 13 shots as the gauge because that is about what he averaged for February.

- Record when Smart takes 13 or more shots is 7-11.
- Record when Smart takes 12 or fewer shots is 26-7.
- Record when Smart scores 20 or more points is 2-5.

TP for the effort. I think this is a symptom and not the actual problem. Smart shoots more when key players are out and if key players are out the chances of winning are lower.

[penwasser]

CelticsPoetry I agree with your statement.  That stats alone do not show the whole picture.  There are however many times I find myself yelling at Smart to “stop shooting” regardless of who is on the floor with him.

[penwasser]

There was one sequence in the Cavs game the other night that I wish he would do more often.  He was left alone in the corner, but instead of jacking up a 3 pointer he drove to the basket. This forced the defense to react, and he was able to hit a wide open Theis for an easy 2.

[obnoxiousmime]

We need offense from somewhere, and unlike other guys he's not afraid to let it fly. There just isn't much offensive bench depth on the team and it's really showing now that they're so depleted. I would love for him to not have to take so many shots but I'm struggling to think of who else not named Tatum or Walker would be a more efficient option.

[Rondo9]

We need offense from somewhere, and unlike other guys he's not afraid to let it fly. There just isn't much offensive bench depth on the team and it's really showing now that they're so depleted. I would love for him to not have to take so many shots but I'm struggling to think of who else not named Tatum or Walker would be a more efficient option.

Jaylen Brown?

[ozgod]

We need offense from somewhere, and unlike other guys he's not afraid to let it fly. There just isn't much offensive bench depth on the team and it's really showing now that they're so depleted. I would love for him to not have to take so many shots but I'm struggling to think of who else not named Tatum or Walker would be a more efficient option.

Jaylen Brown?

Injured is probably the only reason he was left off the list. Marcus's increased shooting has coincided with Hayward and Brown both being out.

[ihatelakers]

he has a specific role that he needs to play on this team,when he doesn't play that role and tries to be something hes not ,we lose.

[jambr380]

We need offense from somewhere, and unlike other guys he's not afraid to let it fly. There just isn't much offensive bench depth on the team and it's really showing now that they're so depleted. I would love for him to not have to take so many shots but I'm struggling to think of who else not named Tatum or Walker would be a more efficient option.

Assuming Brown and Hayward are left off because of injury, it's not that Smart should never shoot; it's that he shouldn't lead the team in shots taken. Last night is a rough example, but he had 23 shots to Tatums 19 and Kemba's 17 (and all 3 were generally bad). It would be nice if a few of those 23 shots went to guys like Langford (1 shot), Theis (7 shots), TL (2 shots), Kanter (4 shots). As one of the lead playmakers, it is up to him to get others involved.

he has a specific role that he needs to play on this team,when he doesn't play that role and tries to be something hes not ,we lose.

This is a succinct way of putting it. Smart is awesome when he is playing his role, but usually not when he is trying to do too much. His off balance, desperation drives to the basket are just the worst. He needs to play more in control.