Smart Takes Too Many Bad Shots

[Spicoli]

2:46      Marcus Smart misses driving layup   94 - 101

Celts trailing by 7 points with 2:46 remaining and that's the best the Celts can do?

Smart thinks he is as good as Tatum and Brown. He has the highest level of irrational confidence i've ever seen.

[PhoSita]

Nobody thinks Smart is a good shooter though.  One of the reasons he has so many open looks is he is a terrible shooter. 

I disagree.  I think opponents generally defend Smart like he's a competent shooter.  They don't treat him like he's Steph Curry, but he doesn't get the Tony Allen treatment, either.


The fact is that to be an effective role player a wing or guard in today's league needs to be at least a theoretical outside threat. 

My position on this is that it's better for a 33% three point shooter to act like he's a 40% three point shooter than visa versa.  I think opponents often defend shooters based on an idea of how good those shooters are rather than what the stats say, and that idea is formed in large part by "hot" shooting games rather than shooting percentages over a large sample.


Smart's not perfect but he's not the problem and I love him the way he is.  For me that's period, end of story.

[Sophomore]

2:46      Marcus Smart misses driving layup   94 - 101

Celts trailing by 7 points with 2:46 remaining and that's the best the Celts can do?

Smart thinks he is as good as Tatum and Brown. He has the highest level of irrational confidence i've ever seen.

Last night he was, in fact, better.

[jambr380]

It doesn't necessarily mean Smart must take less shots.

What I'm saying is Smart should know when to shoot or when not to shoot.

It probably means he should take a couple less shots, but yeah, I agree with this. Smart is not the type of player who should ever be looking for his shot. He is essentially the PG (or a PG) when he is on the floor; he needs to be looking to set people up as much as possible.

I understand that he sometimes has solid shooting nights like last night, but his role should be more in the Theis/Ojeleye mold of offense rather than than Kemba/Tatum (who has absolutely been driving me crazy lately with his isos).

[Fierce1]

It doesn't necessarily mean Smart must take less shots.

What I'm saying is Smart should know when to shoot or when not to shoot.

It probably means he should take a couple less shots, but yeah, I agree with this. Smart is not the type of player who should ever be looking for his shot. He is essentially the PG (or a PG) when he is on the floor; he needs to be looking to set people up as much as possible.

I understand that he sometimes has solid shooting nights like last night, but his role should be more in the Theis/Ojeleye mold of offense rather than than Kemba/Tatum (who has absolutely been driving me crazy lately with his isos).

Totally agree!

[Moranis]

Nobody thinks Smart is a good shooter though.  One of the reasons he has so many open looks is he is a terrible shooter. 

I disagree.  I think opponents generally defend Smart like he's a competent shooter.  They don't treat him like he's Steph Curry, but he doesn't get the Tony Allen treatment, either.


The fact is that to be an effective role player a wing or guard in today's league needs to be at least a theoretical outside threat. 

My position on this is that it's better for a 33% three point shooter to act like he's a 40% three point shooter than visa versa.  I think opponents often defend shooters based on an idea of how good those shooters are rather than what the stats say, and that idea is formed in large part by "hot" shooting games rather than shooting percentages over a large sample.


Smart's not perfect but he's not the problem and I love him the way he is.  For me that's period, end of story.

For his career Tony Allen shot 0.5 3's a game (only 444 career attempts, that is a bit more than a year for Smart).  In other words he barely shot he ball from the deep, which is why he wasn't defended much out that far.  If Smart was shooting that rate, no one would complain about his terrible shooting percentage.  Heck, I don't think anyone would really complain if he was shooting like 2 a game.  That is enough to keep defenses honest, but doesn't kill you.  Smart shouldn't be shooting over 4 a game every single season in his career (and certainly not the 6+ he is bombing this year).  He just isn't a good enough shooter to shoot that much.  And the fact that he has never been reigned in is a pretty big coaching fail. 

[Fierce1]

Nobody thinks Smart is a good shooter though.  One of the reasons he has so many open looks is he is a terrible shooter. 

I disagree.  I think opponents generally defend Smart like he's a competent shooter.  They don't treat him like he's Steph Curry, but he doesn't get the Tony Allen treatment, either.


The fact is that to be an effective role player a wing or guard in today's league needs to be at least a theoretical outside threat. 

My position on this is that it's better for a 33% three point shooter to act like he's a 40% three point shooter than visa versa.  I think opponents often defend shooters based on an idea of how good those shooters are rather than what the stats say, and that idea is formed in large part by "hot" shooting games rather than shooting percentages over a large sample.


Smart's not perfect but he's not the problem and I love him the way he is.  For me that's period, end of story.

For his career Tony Allen shot 0.5 3's a game (only 444 career attempts, that is a bit more than a year for Smart).  In other words he barely shot he ball from the deep, which is why he wasn't defended much out that far.  If Smart was shooting that rate, no one would complain about his terrible shooting percentage.  Heck, I don't think anyone would really complain if he was shooting like 2 a game.  That is enough to keep defenses honest, but doesn't kill you.  Smart shouldn't be shooting over 4 a game every single season in his career (and certainly not the 6+ he is bombing this year).  He just isn't a good enough shooter to shoot that much.  And the fact that he has never been reigned in is a pretty big coaching fail.

Totally agree with you on that.

It should be Brad reigning in Smart.

[Fierce1]

Another Celtic loss where Smart was bad on offense, 1-9 FGs.

With the current Celtics roster, Smart is more of a luxury than a need.

If Ainge won't trade Hayward then maybe he should revisit that Capela for Smart trade.

[Birdman]

I like Smart but he just isn’t a scorer..if u can trade him for someone better in a package, I would

[NKY fan]

I like Smart but he just isn’t a scorer..if u can trade him for someone better in a package, I would

Beal! Get it done in the off-season Danny !! Sacrifice those [dang] picks ! Lol

[Spicoli]

I would trade Smart for other role players. Smart is bad on offense and he's "average" on defense this season. Would trade him for a guy like Ish Smith without hesitation.

[Fafnir]

I would trade Smart for other role players. Smart is bad on offense and he's "average" on defense this season. Would trade him for a guy like Ish Smith without hesitation.

What would you say if I told you that Ish Smith is only a little more efficient of a scorer than Marcus lol. 

(not joking go look it up)

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Would you trade him for Robert Covington? Same versatility on defense, but a bit more of a threat as a shooter without taking bad shots.

He's also a pretty low usage offensive player. He's a guy who you can just stick in the corner.

[gouki88]

I would trade Smart for other role players. Smart is bad on offense and he's "average" on defense this season. Would trade him for a guy like Ish Smith without hesitation.

Lol. There’s a reason Smart is a one club player, and Ish was the biggest journeyman of the 2010s.

I’m sure Ainge is open to the idea... but only for legitimate upgrades. Like a big

[Fafnir]

Would you trade him for Robert Covington? Same versatility on defense, but a bit more of a threat as a shooter without taking bad shots.

He's also a pretty low usage offensive player. He's a guy who you can just stick in the corner.

Covington is at least as valuable as Smart around the league, age and future value might complicate that though.

Probably more on the in season market because 3 & D big wings are more plug and play than combo guard defender who needs to handle the ball some to be playable.