they are letting marcus play

[rollie mass]

the refs are letting marcus play ferocious defense,i love his ability in swiches to use his strength against bigger opponents and his boxing out --this guy plays defense hard-his combination of wingspan and power are just fun to watch-i just shake my head and go wow and this kids a rookie-

[gift]

It was going to happen eventually. Like superstar calls, nba refs tend to let players play to their strengths once they're established and the officials are familiar enough with their games.

I expect within a few years marcus may even get away with things defensively that others don't based on the reputation he will have built up.

[Celtics4ever]

His coming into the league with a fully developed NBA body helped too.

[BigAlTheFuture]

His defense is really fun to watch. I'm just waiting for him to have a breakout game on offense though. I watch him and can't help but think he should be scoring way more than he is. Wasn't he very good at taking the ball to the rim and getting to the free throw line in college? I want to see more of that. It's great that he's trying to be a point guard and has done a very decent job at facilitating the ball, but I'm just waiting for that breakout 25 point game from him. We saw it earlier in the season when he came back from injury @ WAS. Hopefully with time he can be more consistent scoring the ball.

[rollie mass]

i think his going up against bigs in college helped he relished it ,he plays so hard at times its borderline dirty,it is after all the pros-but he understands where to poke and prod and use of leverage and  his lower power base.

[pokeKingCurtis]

His coming into the league with a fully developed NBA body helped too.

Thought you guys were talking about Thornton. His fully developed body does indeed have a certain..."fullness" to it.

But good to hear Smart is doing splendid.

[sed522002]

His reputation for playing hard defense is serving him well. He'll still get some rookie calls, but not as much as AB was getting. Hell it seemed like AB was still getting rookie calls last season.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

His defense is really fun to watch. I'm just waiting for him to have a breakout game on offense though. I watch him and can't help but think he should be scoring way more than he is. Wasn't he very good at taking the ball to the rim and getting to the free throw line in college? I want to see more of that. It's great that he's trying to be a point guard and has done a very decent job at facilitating the ball, but I'm just waiting for that breakout 25 point game from him. We saw it earlier in the season when he came back from injury @ WAS. Hopefully with time he can be more consistent scoring the ball.

This is my chief hope/concern with him as well.

[GratefulCs]

the refs are letting marcus play ferocious defense,i love his ability in swiches to use his strength against bigger opponents and his boxing out --this guy plays defense hard-his combination of wingspan and power are just fun to watch-i just shake my head and go wow and this kids a rookie-

Great point!


Nba refs go off of reputation. Thank goodness marcus has a stellar defensive rep

[jpotter33]

His defense is really fun to watch. I'm just waiting for him to have a breakout game on offense though. I watch him and can't help but think he should be scoring way more than he is. Wasn't he very good at taking the ball to the rim and getting to the free throw line in college? I want to see more of that. It's great that he's trying to be a point guard and has done a very decent job at facilitating the ball, but I'm just waiting for that breakout 25 point game from him. We saw it earlier in the season when he came back from injury @ WAS. Hopefully with time he can be more consistent scoring the ball.

This is my chief hope/concern with him as well.

People on here have speculated that he's just not quick enough to drive past NBA defenders, but I don't buy that.  Last game it was really noticeable that the problem is really just him not even trying to drive.  I mean, he's been doing it more and more, but there seems to be a total lack of trying to drive more than an inability to get past his defender. Hell, Young came in and was looking to drive the ball more than Smart, so I think the more confident he gets playing in the NBA the more we'll see it.

[kozlodoev]

He's shooting .375 and averaging 10 pp36. If these don't improve, he's a bust of a 6th pick, even if he ends up a serviceable player.

Also, it's a fairly small sample... but in the 5 games in which he started, he's averaging 5 ppg, 5 rpg, and 5 apg in 30 minutes. Brrrr.

[Boris Badenov]

He's shooting .375 and averaging 10 pp36. If these don't improve, he's a bust of a 5th pick, even if he ends up a serviceable player.

He's a 20 year old rookie with less than half a season of pro experience. You might as well say "if he breaks his leg, he won't be able to play for a while."

[kozlodoev]

He's shooting .375 and averaging 10 pp36. If these don't improve, he's a bust of a 5th pick, even if he ends up a serviceable player.

He's a 20 year old rookie with less than half a season of pro experience. You might as well say "if he breaks his leg, he won't be able to play for a while."

Because it's a forgone conclusion that he'll improve? Quick, tell that to Melo, Giddens, and Pruitt.

[Boris Badenov]

He's shooting .375 and averaging 10 pp36. If these don't improve, he's a bust of a 5th pick, even if he ends up a serviceable player.

He's a 20 year old rookie with less than half a season of pro experience. You might as well say "if he breaks his leg, he won't be able to play for a while."

Because it's a forgone conclusion that he'll improve? Quick, tell that to Melo, Giddens, and Pruitt.

No, because whether he will improve or not is unknowable.

[kozlodoev]

He's shooting .375 and averaging 10 pp36. If these don't improve, he's a bust of a 5th pick, even if he ends up a serviceable player.

He's a 20 year old rookie with less than half a season of pro experience. You might as well say "if he breaks his leg, he won't be able to play for a while."

Because it's a forgone conclusion that he'll improve? Quick, tell that to Melo, Giddens, and Pruitt.

No, because whether he will improve or not is unknowable.

Obviously. All I'm saying is that this level of offense will be unacceptable, no matter how shutdowny his defense may be.