Anyone want to bet Marcus Smart wont shoot over 40% this year?

[celtics2030]

im not even confident he will shoot over 30 percent

[pokeKingCurtis]

"Avery Bradley Redux: He can handle it (the basketball...and pass the ball, too)!"

Celticsblog is gonna continue to crap on this guy as he tries to find himself.

[twistedrico]

Who cares if he shoots over 40%, won't matter, he does so many other things.

[celtics2030]

18% now this month...last 10 21% 

he is shooting 36.6 % now on the season.

Can Brad tell him to stop shooting 3's.

[celtics2030]

Who cares if he shoots over 40%, won't matter, he does so many other things.

This is the thing.....

I am a huge huge fan of the guys who do the things that help the team win, they dont have to score, they do little things like get back even if a guy like bradley takes 5 consecutive shots and misses all of them...

The hard worker like Smart can care less and gets back on defense anyway to make a play. Others do not do that at all!

But the truth is if he continues to shoot 36% from the field , all while not doing much inside the 3 point line, he will never be able to start, or start on a good team.

This means nothing right now, hes learning the game, but for future purposes , it is something discuss if anyone thinks he can become a better efficient scorer.

[Who]

Smart shoots so many 3s that it will be hard for him to break 40% FG%.

63% of his total shots are three pointers.

Smart would need to shoot 51% on his 2 pointers just to make 40% FG%.

[Rosco917]

no bet

Smart is obviously having a problem getting to the paint, never mind the rim. Problem is he's not a good enough ball handler, but also not quick enough, and not athletic enough. he needs to weave his way in there some how. I's a work in progress.

"Houston we have a problem"

[guava_wrench]

Sure, I'll bet he won't shoot over 40%. Most would.

Regardless of percentages, he needs to be more aggressive to see what he can do. Not every play, but there should be more plays than currently where he forces the issue to put pressure on the defense. We let Turner do it, and he is regularly out of control and generally inefficient. Perhaps Smart is deferring out of respect for veterans. Or perhaps this is what Stevens wants for now.

Smart has done a good job of becoming respectable from 3. If he can maintain 35% from 3 for a career while playing his defense and being able to take care of the ball, he will have a long career. He might be a journeyman, but he will stick in the league. Maybe next season will be more aggressive for him. Sadly, he is shooting 25% from 3 for February and is down to 34% for the year. 34% from 3 is still just barely over one point per shot, and I believe is just slightly below league average PPS (ignoring his shooting from 2).

One thing that scares me -- he is averaging 5.1 attempts from 3 per game and only 3.8 from 2. Ray Allen shot this many 3s per game as a C (by season): 6.2, 6.2, 5.0, 4.7, 5.1. Also, only with Miami did Ray ever shoot more 3s than 2s, and it was closer than with Smart.

Perhaps Stevens wants to simplify for Smart. Maybe it is system. Or maybe it is just due to the fact that Smart starting having success so he decided to keep doing what seemed to be working (until regression to the mean happened).

[Ed Hollison]

The criticism of Smart on this forum is mind boggling. The kid is 20 years old and in his first year in the league.

Anyone remember Chauncey Billups and how bad he looked over the first 50 games of his career in Green? Anyone check out Dirk Nowitski's rookie year stats? He shot 41% from the field and 20% from 3.

The kid, at the very least, is going to be one of the best defenders in the league for years. That's your floor on this kid. He's corrected some fundamental flaws in his shooting form and his stats reflect that, even though he's going through a slump right now. His trajectory thus far in his career is extremely encouraging. Give it time.

[cman88]

what he needs to develop is an ability to get to the hoop and I hope that is something he develops this summer. he shoots too many perimeter jump shots.

[TwinTower14]

Not sure the issue people have with Smart??  He has gotten better as the season has gone by and is having his best month of his career right now.  For February he is averaging 9/5/5 and that's with not shooting that well...He is also starting to get to the free throw line.  His last 3 games he has shot 20 free throws.  We don't need to talk about his defense because he is that good...

I think it's been a nice rookie season for him.  He is going to end the season around 8/4/4 while playing elite defense at the age of 20...what were people expecting...

[celtics2030]

The criticism of Smart on this forum is mind boggling. The kid is 20 years old and in his first year in the league.

Anyone remember Chauncey Billups and how bad he looked over the first 50 games of his career in Green? Anyone check out Dirk Nowitski's rookie year stats? He shot 41% from the field and 20% from 3.

The kid, at the very least, is going to be one of the best defenders in the league for years. That's your floor on this kid. He's corrected some fundamental flaws in his shooting form and his stats reflect that, even though he's going through a slump right now. His trajectory thus far in his career is extremely encouraging. Give it time.

So people are supposed to praise him no matter what he does?

Nobody should be given a pass for eratic play.

[celtics2030]

Not sure the issue people have with Smart??  He has gotten better as the season has gone by and is having his best month of his career right now.  For February he is averaging 9/5/5 and that's with not shooting that well...He is also starting to get to the free throw line.  His last 3 games he has shot 20 free throws.  We don't need to talk about his defense because he is that good...

I think it's been a nice rookie season for him.  He is going to end the season around 8/4/4 while playing elite defense at the age of 20...what were people expecting...

its not what people are expecting

it just sounds like butthurt posts you and your fellow com padres are posting...

the soon as somebody makes a critique about him , you guys are up in arms going crazy becoming defenders of him....


Can anyone not make a comment on the kid?

Who care's if he is 20 years old...you could be wrong i could be wrong.

Can anyone not speak on his 3 point shooting ?

You just said hes having the best month of his career so far.....

You must be crazy. He is shooting barely above 30% from the field this month

22% from behind the 3 point line.......hes gotten to the line 20 times, of those 20 times, 5 have been shooting fouls , 2 from beyond the 3 point line...not exactly attacking the basket..

He also went 4 for 9 from the line one of those games which is abysmal , and very rondo like...

If you want to praise him for being trash stats wise, i can trash him the other way as well.

[TheTruthFot18]

The criticism of Smart on this forum is mind boggling. The kid is 20 years old and in his first year in the league.

Anyone remember Chauncey Billups and how bad he looked over the first 50 games of his career in Green? Anyone check out Dirk Nowitski's rookie year stats? He shot 41% from the field and 20% from 3.

The kid, at the very least, is going to be one of the best defenders in the league for years. That's your floor on this kid. He's corrected some fundamental flaws in his shooting form and his stats reflect that, even though he's going through a slump right now. His trajectory thus far in his career is extremely encouraging. Give it time.

You know who's not criticizing him? Everyone who wanted to draft Gordon, Exum, Randle, Stauskas.

He got to the line plenty in college while playing 30-35 mpg and still putting up similar assist numbers to this year. He is developing his shot (that was supposedly not existent coming into the draft) while getting teammates involved.

[manl_lui]

he may not be "electrifying" for some or even explosive. I like what I am seeing so far this season from him. I do see gradual improvement. For a 20 year old, he has the confidence of a veteran, and you do see him attacking the rim a bit more now, maybe not a lot, but I do see a bit more every game. Sure he has flaws, but every rookie does. I think expectations, trusts and minutes plays also plays a part. Compare to Wiggins or even Parker, they were kind of expected to be there best player, or expectations of them to be superstars in the future. Smart on the other hand, had Rondo in the beginning of the season and with Bradley starting. With each game, you can definitely see his confidence get better. With that said

from the start, like Bradley, Smart is winning fans over with his defense. I would love to see him more aggressive in the future, driving more like he did in college, and I am confident he will do that next season. Give him time, I have confidence in Smart that he will continue to do fine and get better every year. He'll probably won't shoot over 40% this season, but the way he's playing, I think he can get near it at least by the end of this season. As for his free throws, I'm sure he'll improve on that as well. I don't think he'll turn into another Rondo-type shooter.