Marcus Smart thinks he’s a great shooter....

[Moranis]

The funny thing about Marcus, seems like he is older than he really is.  He's only 26 right now, but already with the C's for 6 years.  I'd like to see him take the next steps and become an Andre Iguodala type.  He needs to know his role on this team.  It's JT, JB first.

Players don't generally make massive leaps after their 5th year.  They are who they are at that point.  That doesn't mean they won't improve, they will, but not significantly. 

[ChillyWilly]

The funny thing about Marcus, seems like he is older than he really is.  He's only 26 right now, but already with the C's for 6 years.  I'd like to see him take the next steps and become an Andre Iguodala type.  He needs to know his role on this team.  It's JT, JB first.

Players don't generally make massive leaps after their 5th year.  They are who they are at that point.  That doesn't mean they won't improve, they will, but not significantly.

While I generally agree with this statement I think Marcus can make that leap just by cutting down on his poor shot selection. Instead of using those 2 extra heat checks turn those into drives opening up easy opportunities for the team.

He's not a dumb player it's just his ego in the way of his last major NBA leap. He's not going to magically turn into a good 3p shooter that justifies his chucking.

[Goldstar88]

The funny thing about Marcus, seems like he is older than he really is.  He's only 26 right now, but already with the C's for 6 years.  I'd like to see him take the next steps and become an Andre Iguodala type.  He needs to know his role on this team.  It's JT, JB first.

Players don't generally make massive leaps after their 5th year.  They are who they are at that point.  That doesn't mean they won't improve, they will, but not significantly.

While I generally agree with this statement I think Marcus can make that leap just by cutting down on his poor shot selection. Instead of using those 2 extra heat checks turn those into drives opening up easy opportunities for the team.

He's not a dumb player it's just his ego in the way of his last major NBA leap. He's not going to magically turn into a good 3p shooter that justifies his chucking.

He generally gets wide open shots. I rarely see him force a shot with tight coverage. The problem is he just can’t hit them  consistently. He should be capped at 6-8 shots a game total. JT and JB need to be taking twice as many shots as Smart each game.

[SHAQATTACK]

i would have him posting smaller guards alot , which draws help off Brown or Tatum   and kick it out .let them shoot ,  but what do i know ? 

[michigan adam]

Anything that can cause mismatches, switches, and motion by the defense can and should be used to get those mismatches and open looks.    Smart is capable of helping to create that.  He needs to do so.

[michigan adam]

Anything that can cause mismatches, switches, and motion by the defense can and should be used to get those mismatches and open looks.    Smart is capable of helping to create that.  He needs to do so.

[lrybrd]

Although I do love what Marcus brings to this team in terms of intangibles, his unwillingness to understand his weaknesses and for lack of a better term "stay in his lane" is why I sometimes wonder if we would be better off moving him.  He should not be jacking up threes at the expense of other shooters on this team.  My biggest concern from the 2 preseason games was Marcus' unwavering willingness to jack up 3s.  It is almost like he sees this opportunity to increase his shot attempts as a result of Hayward's departure which, if it holds to form in the regular season, will be a disaster for us!  If he would just take wide open 3s and focus on defense and other intangibles, the team as a whole would benefit from it.  We'll see what happens but my guess is I will be pulling my hair out tonight when he starts jacking up 3s like he is JJ Redick tonight.

[ChillyWilly]

Although I do love what Marcus brings to this team in terms of intangibles, his unwillingness to understand his weaknesses and for lack of a better term "stay in his lane" is why I sometimes wonder if we would be better off moving him.  He should not be jacking up threes at the expense of other shooters on this team.  My biggest concern from the 2 preseason games was Marcus' unwavering willingness to jack up 3s.  It is almost like he sees this opportunity to increase his shot attempts as a result of Hayward's departure which, if it holds to form in the regular season, will be a disaster for us!  If he would just take wide open 3s and focus on defense and other intangibles, the team as a whole would benefit from it.  We'll see what happens but my guess is I will be pulling my hair out tonight when he starts jacking up 3s like he is JJ Redick tonight.

TP my BP will definitely be boiling over at some point in this game over his chucking.

[mmmmm]

I don't mind him shooting them if they're open and as a product of good offence.

It's when he takes 3s off the dribble, or takes them instantly after an offensive rebound, that annoys me. He can't be a guy taking 6+ threes a game

They are open 3’s and he just keeps missing. Teams are going to treat him like Rondo and intentionally leave him open to fire away.

If they want to leave a league average 3PT shooter open they're welcome to

League average is 36%. That would be terrific if he was average. I just don’t think he ever will be.

Over his last two seasons he has been a 35.5% shooter. Ie, a 36% 3PT shooter.

That's not league-average for a wide-open threes, though.  League-average for wide-open threes is just a hair under 40%.

Most good shooters hit contested shots at a lower rate and hit wide-open shots at 40% or higher.   Nine different Celtics shot over 40% on wide-open threes.  Kemba, Jaylen & Jasyon all shot over 45% on wide-open threes.   Those guys can NOT be left un-guarded outside the arc.

And this is the basic problem.  Smart is, overall, a league-average 3PT shooter, but he's doing that on an overwhelming share of wide-open shots ... which he is hitting at his overall rate of ... just under 36%.

Smart, to his credit when it comes to shot selection, is indeed shooting mainly open shots.  His shots overwhelmingly were with no defender within 4 feet and over half had no defender within 6 feet.  So from his perspective, those are good shots to take.

But he's just not really very good at them.  He's not terrible.  But he's not good enough to make the defense overly concerned with him taking those.    Now, to his credit, Smart has improved his ability on contested threes such that there isn't much difference between his wide-open shots (just under 36%) and his contested shots (36.5%).

But the fact that an overwhelmingly large share of Smart's are not contested reveals that defenses are completely aware of this.  They are are choosing to NOT defend him on catch-and-shoot threes because he simply isn't making them pay for that choice.   Because there is no real benefit to be gained.

If I am an opposing coach, I am telling my guys to sag off of Smart, keep a foot in the paint and/or help on others.  Let the ball find Smart and let him shoot.   And that is exactly what we see happen.

If I am Brad Stevens, I need to change this up.   I can't have Smart standing outside the arc because when that happens, teams cover everyone else and want the ball to find him and for him to shoot.    When Smart is on the floor, he's not a space-maker.  Therefore, he needs to be moving.  Either with the ball (his pull-up threes are SO much better), forcing a defender to attend him or if off-the ball, making cuts or setting screens for others.    Being in motion will force the defense to pay attention to him.

I also would prefer if Smart would choose to attack inside more often.  At his size and strength, there is no reason he shouldn't be able to get to the FT line more often.

[RodyTur10]

i would have him posting smaller guards alot , which draws help off Brown or Tatum   and kick it out .let them shoot ,  but what do i know ? 

It's something that worked pretty wel at times, but I haven't seen them do post-up plays at all. I like Brown's midrange game, but we don't see him posting up either. Grant Williams is also very good at post-ups, but unfortunately he seldom gets a match-up that's favorable size-wise.

[nickagneta]

I could live with Smart shooting 35-36% from three if he shot his twos at a rate of 51% or more. But when he is shooting twos only slightly better than threes, then he needs to be reined in. I wish Smart would focus one entire off season to getting better at finishing. I mean the guy is shooting 53-55% from 0-3 feet!!!! One year he shot less than 50% from within 3 feet!!! THAT IS PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!

[gouki88]

I could live with Smart shooting 35-36% from three if he shot his twos at a rate of 51% or more. But when he is shooting twos only slightly better than threes, then he needs to be reined in. I wish Smart would focus one entire off season to getting better at finishing. I mean the guy is shooting 53-55% from 0-3 feet!!!! One year he shot less than 50% from within 3 feet!!! THAT IS PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!

I wonder how many shots he compromises flopping for phantom foul calls

[nickagneta]

I could live with Smart shooting 35-36% from three if he shot his twos at a rate of 51% or more. But when he is shooting twos only slightly better than threes, then he needs to be reined in. I wish Smart would focus one entire off season to getting better at finishing. I mean the guy is shooting 53-55% from 0-3 feet!!!! One year he shot less than 50% from within 3 feet!!! THAT IS PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!

I wonder how many shots he compromises flopping for phantom foul calls

That's a good question.

[Moranis]

I can live with 0-3.  Sure I'd prefer 3-3, but if Smart is taking more FT's than FG's, it is a good game.

[Goldstar88]

I can live with 0-3.  Sure I'd prefer 3-3, but if Smart is taking more FT's than FG's, it is a good game.

Agreed. 7 assist and only 2 TO. 2 Blks....Thats exactly what he needs to do. Good game and a W.