Help me get excited about Marcus Smart

[Yoki_IsTheName]

As for the future of the team, i could see a 3 guard rotation of Rondo at the 1, Smart at the 2 and Bradley as the combo guard off the bench.

I like Bradley better when he is playing 24 minutes a night of hard nosed defense. And he doesn't do enough other things well enough to be a starter on a contender.

Take Bradley out, and put James Young in as the 6th man. That should be our 3 guard rotation moving forward.

No thanks.  Young isn't ready.  I'd like to see the minutes go to the players who are ready to play.

A not ready Young can probably provide whatever impact Avery has in the game. Defensively, probably not as much, but shooting, scoring and legitimate length in the position, yes.

You wanna play them anyway to develop them. Avery's experiment has been long enough. He's a pitbull of a defender and a decent midrange shooter with with bad handles. Keeping him would mean paying him atleast $5 million. I'd rather develop and play Young, ready or not.

[jay]

Plenty of minutes to go around. 

144 minutes between PG, SG, SF:

36 Rondo, 30 Smart, 30 Green, 28 Bradley, 20 Young


Young can play SF for a couple of minutes and let the team go small.  He could get a few more minutes of Green slides over to PF a little (or that will make room for Wallace to get on the floor some)

[blink]

my point was more about the inaccuracies of the information that was thrown out, not really who deserved to be drafted where.  obviously, kane didn't even get drafted.  there was a reason for it, but it wasn't his resume from last year, because it was better than smart's. 

It really wasn't.

Worse PER (if that's your thing), worse winscore, worse per40 numbers, worse offensive rating, worse defensive rating, worse "Wins Produced" (if that's your thing), etc, etc.

Everything except raw per game numbers and shooting percentages rank Kane as comfortably worse than Smart, and he's much older and likely not to develop nearly as much.

Edit: Goodness Kane played in HS with DeJaun Blair who's now 5 years into the NBA.....

I wasn't talking about the "advanced" stats you mention, I was commenting on the stats mentioned on draft night.  at least two of those rebounds per game, and assists per game Smart wasn't the top pg in the country.

I am not saying we should have drafted kane, or that we shouldn't have drafted smart, just that the stats listed weren't completely accurate even based on some of the players that I followed (which isn't very many..)

[blink]

Most of their comps were for the ESPN/NBA hype machine.  I mean really really foolish.  Elfrid Payton to Gary Payton.  Just plain silly.

So you mean that the hype machine saying Smart is somewhere between Tony Allen and Eric Bledsoe is too generous?

Should we be lowering our expectations even more?   Rich man's Marcus Banks?

Podcast hype is different from broadcast hype -- albeit mildly.

Smart has struck me as a smaller Tyreke Evans. I don't know how the more knowledgeable college hoops heads feel about that, though.

I think that is the most spot on comparison I have heard based on the OKState games that I watched last season (maybe 10-12).  I know some around here aren't really Tyreke fans, I would say that I am.  Maybe a bit more of a chip on his shoulder, and more of an instigator than Tyreke, but skills and physically that seems realistic.

[blink]

(edited)
And even if Smart ends up the next Tony Allen... Allen is someone who at his peak could be an elite defender on a title contender.   I'd rather have Tony Allen than not have Tony Allen.

I admit to being a bit disappointed the way everything turned out, but I think Smart has an extremely low chance of being a complete bust because of his def skills and athletic ability.  Probably one of the safer top picks.  I agree, if #6 got us a Tony Allen level defender that has a bigger upside on offense, it still has to be considered a good selection.

[Celtics4ever]

I think Smart is a lot more of a competitor than Allen.   Allen has it on defense, I think Smart has more of it and some on other areas of the game.

[D.o.s.]

Most of their comps were for the ESPN/NBA hype machine.  I mean really really foolish.  Elfrid Payton to Gary Payton.  Just plain silly.

So you mean that the hype machine saying Smart is somewhere between Tony Allen and Eric Bledsoe is too generous?

Should we be lowering our expectations even more?   Rich man's Marcus Banks?

Podcast hype is different from broadcast hype -- albeit mildly.

Smart has struck me as a smaller Tyreke Evans. I don't know how the more knowledgeable college hoops heads feel about that, though.

I think that is the most spot on comparison I have heard based on the OKState games that I watched last season (maybe 10-12).  I know some around here aren't really Tyreke fans, I would say that I am.  Maybe a bit more of a chip on his shoulder, and more of an instigator than Tyreke, but skills and physically that seems realistic.

I'm an Evans fan as well, which is why I was stoked when we grabbed Smart, but I'm not sure if I'm just missing something brutally obvious in the comparison -- and why it wouldn't make sense.

[mctyson]

Alright, I'll get on board with Maaahcus Smaht.  I actually just realized part of my hesitance is probably a deep-seeded subconscious thing related to Marcus Banks... another undersized pit bull who couldn't shoot named Marcus that Ainge drafted in the lotto. 

I don't think Marcus Smart is even close to undersized - he 6'3" + and 235 pounds.

If he can be a lockdown defender like AB, absolutely worth the #6 pick in the draft.

[vjcsmoke]

Well for those who are worried about missing out on Exum, that's one of the guys Smart completely locked down and embarrassed in the U19 Australia vs USA matchups.  So I'm not really worried about facing Exum with Smart on the team.

Smart turns defense into offensive opportunities, his steal rate tells me that he has incredible anticipation, court awareness, quickness, and hands.  With Rondo and Smart on the same team the Celtics will most likely average in the top 3 in the NBA for steals from the Guard position.

The Celtics are also protected if either Rondo or AB decide to leave in free agency.

Was I hoping for a Kevin Love trade?  Absolutely.  But I'll definitely settle for Smart considering how the draft fell.

If I may go old-school, what I'd love to see from Smart is Gary Payton-ish performance.  Payton aka the Glove impacted the game starting from his defense.

When you consider the importance of guard defense, consider this article:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1978273-the-mystery-of-point-guard-defense-in-the-nba

Will Smart be the next D-Wade, or Westbrook, or even Gary Payton?  Who knows.  But I remember a guard who completely wowed the C's brass in workouts and was stolen by Ainge at #21.  The C's worked out Smart twice btw.  Can Smart be Rondo's successor or perhaps even play alongside him in a starting role?  If that happens, this pick will be a smashing success.

Draft reaction to Smart and Young:
http://www.nba.com/celtics/draft-night-1-1-marcus-smart

[KG Living Legend]

http://youtu.be/Ul_Nj74WUVg

[pokeKingCurtis]

Alright, I'll get on board with Maaahcus Smaht.  I actually just realized part of my hesitance is probably a deep-seeded subconscious thing related to Marcus Banks... another undersized pit bull who couldn't shoot named Marcus that Ainge drafted in the lotto. 

I don't think Marcus Smart is even close to undersized - he 6'3" + and 235 pounds.

If he can be a lockdown defender like AB, absolutely worth the #6 pick in the draft.

His build still astounds me after having read about it several times since yesterday.

Pierce is considered a big guy and Smart is around the same weight as Pierce is. What is this monstrosity?

Another comparison for Marcus Smart might be Eric Gordon. Gordon is also 6'3 but has a huge wingspan and also very strong.

[JBcat]

Plenty of minutes to go around. 

144 minutes between PG, SG, SF:

36 Rondo, 30 Smart, 30 Green, 28 Bradley, 20 Young


Young can play SF for a couple of minutes and let the team go small.  He could get a few more minutes of Green slides over to PF a little (or that will make room for Wallace to get on the floor some)

I see Young only getting spot minutes here and there his first year.   He is after all only 18, and we still have Wallace on our hands.  But I do like the 3 guard rotation, and keep in mind Smart could be up and down as many rookies are.  I'd rather see if we can re-sign Bradley to a reasonable deal, keep the asset, and you can always trade one of these guys later on if you want.  Heck I wouldn't mind keeping Bayless around as the 4th guard and Pressey the 5th.  We would be very deep there.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

we can use him and he was the bpa at the time. we were overloaded on power forwards already 

[crimson_stallion]

Most of their comps were for the ESPN/NBA hype machine.  I mean really really foolish.  Elfrid Payton to Gary Payton.  Just plain silly.

So you mean that the hype machine saying Smart is somewhere between Tony Allen and Eric Bledsoe is too generous?

Should we be lowering our expectations even more?   Rich man's Marcus Banks?

Podcast hype is different from broadcast hype -- albeit mildly.

Smart has struck me as a smaller Tyreke Evans. I don't know how the more knowledgeable college hoops heads feel about that, though.

I think that is the most spot on comparison I have heard based on the OKState games that I watched last season (maybe 10-12).  I know some around here aren't really Tyreke fans, I would say that I am.  Maybe a bit more of a chip on his shoulder, and more of an instigator than Tyreke, but skills and physically that seems realistic.

I'm an Evans fan as well, which is why I was stoked when we grabbed Smart, but I'm not sure if I'm just missing something brutally obvious in the comparison -- and why it wouldn't make sense.

I think because Smart is just such an elite defensive player.  Tyreke has all the physical gifts to be an elite defender, but from what I've seen he just never became anything more than an average one.

So if you imagine Smart as the lovechild of Tyreke Evans and Avery Bradley, that sounds about right.

[sahara]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcGQpjCztgA

I really like this Marcus Smrt.