I know how infuriating Smart can be with his shot selection and poor passing choices, but I think we are being too hard on him.
Marcus is a ferocious swiss army knife player, who isn't really dominate at one thing on offence. Almost his entire tenure with the Celtics, he HAD to over assert his game because of a lack of a true point guard. Honestly think about it, Smart's history of guard partners are all shoot first players; Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Terry Rozier, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker.
I believe the long term goal for Ainge was to have a team who shared passing duties because they were all adequate or adept passers (Horford, Davis, Hayward, Smart, Irving). But because of poor luck, Smart hasn't had the opportunity to play within the confines of his game and essentially why Stevens hasn't tried to stop him because the Celtics staff know Smart needs to play that way.
For me Smart would excel next to a pass first elite playmaker eg. CP3, Harden, Doncic, LeBron but unfortunately they aren't usually available or if they are don't want to play in Boston.
My thoughts on this.
1. I don't see Smart as a "swiss army knife" player. He's an elite defender and a pretty decent passer and that's about the only two things he does on an average or above average level. He doesn't rebound great, he's a horrible shooter, an offensive liability most nights, a prone to making terrible decisions at crucial points in games. He's a one dimensional (maybe 1.5 dimensional) role player and a strong glue guy, but that's about all.
2. I wouldn't consider Avery Bradley a shoot first player. He wasn't a playmaker by any means, but he wasn't really a PG either so that's somewhat of a moot point. He was pretty much THE prototypical a 3-and-D guy, who made multiple all-defensive teams and shot a very respectable 37% from three for his career. I don't think Avery every really had a shot-first mentality as a player. Only time he ever really played that way was during the rebuild when there was no talent on the roster and he was pretty much forced to be more aggressive on offense. Prior to that he was pretty shy on the offensive end. The other guys though sure, I'll agree that they were shoot first guys.
I also disagree that Smart would excel next to an elite pass-first play-maker. Reason I disagree with this is because Marcus Smart is at his absolute worst when any time he starts to convince himself that his offensive role in any way revolves around scoring, because he's absolutely horrible at it. When Smart plays off-guard (next to a more pure PG) he stands around the three point line all day chucking up (i.e. bricking) horrendously bad looking threes and hoping they go in.
I feel Smart is at his absolute best when he's playing the PG spot and is focused on being the ball handler and playmaker, because although he isn't a great ball handler, passing/play-making is BY FAR his best and most useful offensive skill set. When he's out there making plays for other guys on offence and being a pest on defence, that's when his value is at it's absolute highest.
So I think the best way to use Smart is to have him as your starting (or backup) PG, with 3 or 4 other guys round him who can all shoot / score so he doesn't feel the need to try to so himself.
The Celtics as they are currently assembled really don't fit that scheme though, and haven't done for years because you always had guys like IT4, Kyrie and Kemba who are the clear PG on the court...hence forcing Smart in to the off-guard spot where he is at his worst.
Funnily enough I actually think one of the best recent applications for Smart was when we had him playing alongside Rozier, with Smart at PG and Rozier playing off the ball. Both guys were able to pressure the ball on defence and Rozier was able to be the shooter/scorer so Smart could focus more on playmaking and defence. I actually felt they worked really well together.
With Smart he's always making high risk plays, he's a gambler. Hi risk passes and shots that make Sportscenter if they come off but earn the fans' vitriol when they don't, because they're not the high percentage lower return plays. In his case you just hope the good outweighs the bad over the course of the season. He will win you games but also lose you games, he's just that type of player. But for $14m he's probably outperforming his contract. It's when he tries to fill a role he's not suited to that his deficiencies become apparent.
I couldn't agree more.
The best word I can use to describe Smart's play style is "volatile". There is no steady medium - it's either extreme highs or extreme lows. People always talk about how many games he wins with his hustle, and rightly so. But so many people seem to conveniently go blind whenever he makes crucial unforced turnovers or forces horrible contested bricks at the end of games that directly cost Boston the game.
When you have a deep roster full of stable, consistent, high effort guys (as we did in the big 3 era) then you love to have a wild card like Smart on your team who can make those game winning plays - and you can afford to accept the bad with the good when he does bonehead things. But on a team as young, inconsistent and (frankly) disinterested as this one seems to be you really want to add as much stability and steady production as you can.
I'm just not sure Smart is the hero this team needs right now.
Topic: Fair Marcus Smart discussion (Read 17383 times)