Marcus Smart and not attacking the hoop

[DemCelticsTho]

Worry about nothing.

He is a rookie , learning , recovering from a very bad sprang .....which he may be trying to nurse and not mess up again .....which most likely caused the other stress on the Achilles in the same leg.

Plus nobody here knows what is exactly being asked of him every night......I suspect they are working on specific areas with each player ....according to HOW they see his development .....not what the Celtic blog thinks 

They wanted Sully on the court shooting threes , so I imagine it's the same for Marcus , they want him to be a decent THREE point threat ...to do that he needs to take them in a REAL game.

Driving to the bucket may be easier for him to learn or ajust      I think they want him to practice the three and get confidence ...like KO and Sully too.

It seems the powers at be want to develop the players first and win second .

I think in years ahead we'll get to see plenty of Marcus driving the lane.

I never seen such a panic as people have .    He isn't Fab Melo .

Give the man a chance to learn and grow up ......of course if your only 14 teen yourself then you wouldn't understand

great points made I just think they should evenly distribute training between shooting and slashing for someone like Marcus

[TheTruthFot18]

Tommy said last night that Smart has to improve his ball handling to be able to put the ball on the floor going to the hoop without getting stripped--but he thought he could and would make that improvement in his game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMrDjJz6ugU

Check out this pre-draft video.  It seems like his handle is just fine.  I think it's just a confidence and adjustment issue.

So this is how he should play against Philly 

Glad this thread came up, was thinking I was the only one who thought this. His shot has been falling so let him build his confidence.

[inverselock]

In the beginning, I thought it was just a confidence issue. But I'm thinking he just doesn't have the speed, and can't bully his way to the bucket like he did in college.

This is exactly what I fear. Doesn't seem to have a quick enough first step.

Maybe.  I would like to see him try a drive.  At least once in his career.

he did drive a bit this season but rare. I remember there were a couple of plays where he was driving and got fouled.

I agree with all of you guys though, his speed is definitely an issue. He is strong and bulky so that's not a problem when bullying his way through even against SG. Hopefully he can get a bit quicker

I don't think explosive speed is necessary.   No knees Wade is still very good at driving.

He'll need to improve handles/IQ.

Edit: D Williams/Smart had almost identical sprint, agility and vertical results in the draft combine.   Athleticism shouldn't stop Smart from being good at driving.

[rondohondo]

Smart needs to watch this video and get in touch with Sam Cassell. I see Marcus as having Similar athleticism and lack of explosion . He needs to learn to play like Cassell, Andre Miller, Chauncey Billups style .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PLWvSqkDAU

[Celtics4ever]

Right now he worries more about flopping then finishing.

[RJ87]

I'm not as confident as some others. Yes, he's a rookie but there should be some flashes that get me excited. He lacks an explosive first step and he doesn't seem to recognize when he has an advantage. The perfect example is the Dallas game - he had Barea on him for a stretch and jacked up 3's. That's a smaller, weaker guy guarding you, take him to the post. You don't have to be Hakeem but force him to foul you.

I know a lot of fans love how be plays all out all the time, but I worry if that hampers his ability to slow down and really see the game as its happening.

[Beat LA]

I'm not as confident as some others. Yes, he's a rookie but there should be some flashes that get me excited. He lacks an explosive first step and he doesn't seem to recognize when he has an advantage. The perfect example is the Dallas game - he had Barea on him for a stretch and jacked up 3's. That's a smaller, weaker guy guarding you, take him to the post. You don't have to be Hakeem but force him to foul you.

I know a lot of fans love how be plays all out all the time, but I worry if that hampers his ability to slow down and really see the game as its happening.

I'm going to have to stop you right there, lol , because no one plays like that anymore, smh.  Ugh.  Actually, Kobe does, but that's it.  How pathetic.  I don't get it - basketball isn't rocket science, lol.

[oldtype]

I can't even assess whether he is capable of driving to the basket or not because he never tries.  Very curious.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I'm not as confident as some others. Yes, he's a rookie but there should be some flashes that get me excited. He lacks an explosive first step and he doesn't seem to recognize when he has an advantage. The perfect example is the Dallas game - he had Barea on him for a stretch and jacked up 3's. That's a smaller, weaker guy guarding you, take him to the post. You don't have to be Hakeem but force him to foul you.

I know a lot of fans love how be plays all out all the time, but I worry if that hampers his ability to slow down and really see the game as its happening.

Agreed. I don't think he has that first step to get by opposing guards. And with re: to Barrea (and similar guards), I place the blame, if not more so, on coaching.

[littleteapot]

I'm not as confident as some others. Yes, he's a rookie but there should be some flashes that get me excited. He lacks an explosive first step and he doesn't seem to recognize when he has an advantage. The perfect example is the Dallas game - he had Barea on him for a stretch and jacked up 3's. That's a smaller, weaker guy guarding you, take him to the post. You don't have to be Hakeem but force him to foul you.

I know a lot of fans love how be plays all out all the time, but I worry if that hampers his ability to slow down and really see the game as its happening.

I'm going to have to stop you right there, lol , because no one plays like that anymore, smh.  Ugh.  Actually, Kobe does, but that's it.  How pathetic.  I don't get it - basketball isn't rocket science, lol.

He did in college. Something happened going into the nba where it doesn't even look like an area he's working on.

If Stevens is actually telling him to just sit around jacking up 3's and waiting on learning driving, posting up and finishing at the rim, that is asinine to me. Smart can take a million jump shots in the gym alone in the offseason. When is he going to get the chance to punish real nba point guards and react to what defenses throw at him in the paint?

[MetroGlobe]

Stevens is actually not telling him to sit back and jack up threes.  Quite the opposite actually:

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/01/behind_scenes_boston_celtics_r.html

Sounds to me like Marcus' basketball instincts just need some work.  I surmise that he's a "Smart" enough kid to eventually get it.  And probably sooner rather than later.  Let's just hope we don't end up with another Marcus Banks, or worse - Risky Davis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3lwssbS3Io

[droopdog7]

Tommy said last night that Smart has to improve his ball handling to be able to put the ball on the floor going to the hoop without getting stripped--but he thought he could and would make that improvement in his game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMrDjJz6ugU

Check out this pre-draft video.  It seems like his handle is just fine.  I think it's just a confidence and adjustment issue.

I agree with your message but not your evidence. I know a fifteeen-year-old boy that can do those drills in his sleep. I think you're right that Smart has the handle, but that's not the problem. The best ball handlers use change of speed, body positioning, etc. to create space and do what they want to do. The skills are there as you pointed out; he just needs to learn to translate them to games. The problem is that Smart is not hyper-fast like a Rose or Westbrook, so he has less of a margin for error technique-wise. This is why I find the notion that "he's practicing threes and he'll drive to the hoop at will when he wants." as shortsighted I would argue that it takes just as much, if not more, time to become a good rim-attacker instead of a good three-point shooter. I hoped for Smart to be another Dwyane Wade, and Wade took years to perfect his go-to scoring moves on drives. You don't get a deadly stepback/runner without practice.

Yeah, not trying to brag but my 11-year-old son can do those things as well.  I think that the lay person really has no idea of the skills NBA player possess.  That video is none too impressive. 

And frankly, one does not need handles to avoid getting stripped.  It is the handles themselves that give a guy the ability to get by a man in the first place.  Obviously there are many other factors in play but even the most athletic, fast, quick, guys in the world are going to struggle getting to the rim without handles.  And going back to the post about avery on the first page, handles is also why he struggles to get to the basket.

But I agree with Tommy in that Marcus' handles are not what they need to be and in the bottom line; Marcus is not driving to the hoop because he CAN'T, not because he chooses not to.

[Celtics4ever]

Yeah, not trying to brag but my 11-year-old son can do those things as well.  I think that the lay person really has no idea of the skills NBA player possess.  That video is none too impressive. 

He can dunk and jump above the rim?  Somehow I doubt that.

[hwangjini_1]

Tommy said last night that Smart has to improve his ball handling to be able to put the ball on the floor going to the hoop without getting stripped--but he thought he could and would make that improvement in his game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMrDjJz6ugU

Check out this pre-draft video.  It seems like his handle is just fine.  I think it's just a confidence and adjustment issue.

So this is how he should play against Philly 

Glad this thread came up, was thinking I was the only one who thought this. His shot has been falling so let him build his confidence.

looking at the defenders, i thought he was playing against phil ;Dly.

[Snakehead]

I am not worried about it.  It'd be good to see more of but right now I am pretty happy with his play.

His shot selection was an issue early but lately he is hitting threes at a pretty good clip and taking good ones with good form.  I'm willing to let not the best percentage slide as he seems very willing to improve and he certainly will as he goes along.  It's in the best interest of the team if he can shoot and space the floor.

I've talked with a friend about this but with how he plays he actually reminds me a lot of Billups so far, in part because of his tendency to fire from deep.  Add in the defense, physical nature.