He can shoot!!!

[Rondo9]

He can shoot, but he will not be a big time scorer in the NBA. I do feel he will be a reliable 3 point threat from here on in. He still needs a game in the paint, like a floater off the dribble, a fall away in the paint, and just flat out getting to the rim. etc.

Marcus Smart should be able to average 15 points a game, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steels for years to come. That, along with his already smothering defense, a defense that is still developing mind you, will be a lot of fun to watch.

He's a rookie. I love when I hear all these declarative statements of "he will be...", "he wont be..." with rookie players. Everybody makes it sound like every great player in the history of the NBA stepped on the court day 1 and had every weapon in the book, and never developed a single thing the rest of their career.

Smart is going to be a great player, I fully believe that, because he has a strong foundation, and the right personality. He wont accept failure, it's not in his makeup.

So I am guessing declarative statements about what a player will be are only wrong if they are negative?

It's wrong, if you don't have good evidence to back it up.

[wayupnorth]

He's not even in the top 400 in field goal percentage.  This would be like calling Isaiah Thomas a rim protector after he got a single block. 

Marcus Smart is an exceptional defender. His offensive game is garbage slow-cooked in a crock pot for 24 hours until the garbage is literally falling off the bone.  Maybe it improves.

What is your issue?

Or, as I suspect, do you feel the need to troll all the time. It gets very old reading garbage posts like this, from someone who is clearly more intelligent than what he wrote.

No Smart is not Kobe Bryant on offense, but he certainly isn't "garbage".

What a complete joke.

[soulman]

If I was the Celtics coach, I would have everyone shooting threes at the end of practice.

The NBA is all about the three point shot now.

I wish we had signed Korver.

You make a good point.

[Asher77]

He can shoot, but he will not be a big time scorer in the NBA. I do feel he will be a reliable 3 point threatfrom here on in. He still needs a game in the paint, like a floater off the dribble, a fall away in the paint, and just flat out getting to the rim. etc.

Marcus Smart should be able to average 15 points a game, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steels for years to come. That, along with his already smothering defense, a defense that is still developing mind you, will be a lot of fun to watch.

Smart is at 9.3 Pts, 4.7 Rbs, 3.4 Ast, and almost 2 Steals per game as a starter. This is 24 games. His shooting percentage is bad and free throw per is also bad.

If his game develops only enough to raise those percentages and he assumes full PG duties ( not sharing like now ) he will be near those averages.

I say he develops further than that in the next 5 years.

[D.o.s.]

If I was the Celtics coach, I would have everyone shooting threes at the end of practice.

The NBA is all about the three point shot now.

I wish we had signed Korver.

The reason Korver is doing so well in Atlanta is that Budenholzer recognizes that he can do so many things well aside from shooting threes.

[Evantime34]

Right now Marcus Smart is a streaky shooter. He has times when he looks really good and times when he doesn't. 34% from 3 in his rookie season for a guy whose biggest weakness coming into the draft was shooting.

The hot shooting stretches are encouraging because he is so young and will surely improve as a shooter with more repetitions.

What will make the difference with him is if he can get in the paint and finish at the rim as he develops further. If he can do that I think he ends up being a star player, if he can't he's just a great 3 and d guy

[sed522002]

He can shoot, but he will not be a big time scorer in the NBA. I do feel he will be a reliable 3 point threat from here on in. He still needs a game in the paint, like a floater off the dribble, a fall away in the paint, and just flat out getting to the rim. etc.

Marcus Smart should be able to average 15 points a game, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steels for years to come. That, along with his already smothering defense, a defense that is still developing mind you, will be a lot of fun to watch.

He's a rookie. I love when I hear all these declarative statements of "he will be...", "he wont be..." with rookie players. Everybody makes it sound like every great player in the history of the NBA stepped on the court day 1 and had every weapon in the book, and never developed a single thing the rest of their career.

Smart is going to be a great player, I fully believe that, because he has a strong foundation, and the right personality. He wont accept failure, it's not in his makeup.

Kinda just did the same thing you hate  NONE of us can definitely say what the trajectory of his career will be. I just want to watch his development and go from there.

[guava_wrench]

He can shoot, but he will not be a big time scorer in the NBA. I do feel he will be a reliable 3 point threat from here on in. He still needs a game in the paint, like a floater off the dribble, a fall away in the paint, and just flat out getting to the rim. etc.

Marcus Smart should be able to average 15 points a game, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steels for years to come. That, along with his already smothering defense, a defense that is still developing mind you, will be a lot of fun to watch.

He's a rookie. I love when I hear all these declarative statements of "he will be...", "he wont be..." with rookie players. Everybody makes it sound like every great player in the history of the NBA stepped on the court day 1 and had every weapon in the book, and never developed a single thing the rest of their career.

Smart is going to be a great player, I fully believe that, because he has a strong foundation, and the right personality. He wont accept failure, it's not in his makeup.

Kinda just did the same thing you hate  NONE of us can definitely say what the trajectory of his career will be. I just want to watch his development and go from there.

He was being literal with the "love".

Anyway, posting about a player based on a single game is always pointless.

[Asher77]

He can shoot, but he will not be a big time scorer in the NBA. I do feel he will be a reliable 3 point threatfrom here on in. He still needs a game in the paint, like a floater off the dribble, a fall away in the paint, and just flat out getting to the rim. etc.

Marcus Smart should be able to average 15 points a game, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steels for years to come. That, along with his already smothering defense, a defense that is still developing mind you, will be a lot of fun to watch.

Smart is at 9.3 Pts, 4.7 Rbs, 3.4 Ast, and almost 2 Steals per game as a starter. This is 24 games. His shooting percentage is bad and free throw per is also bad.

If his game develops only enough to raise those percentages and he assumes full PG duties ( not sharing like now ) he will be near those averages.

I say he develops further than that in the next 5 years.

I actually decided to do some math ( even tho I am an accountant this is an amazing feet )

getting to 15 pts per in the same 31.4 min per game is not that easy but still reachable.

Smart will average 15.08 pts per if he does these things,

If Smart ups his 3P% to .362 from .310

........... ups his 2P% to .458 from .396

Gets to the foul line 1 more time per game and ups his FT% to .757 from .619

Ups his overall shots per game ( 2P shots only increase, 3's stay the same ) to 11.83 from 8.83

He will then be at 15.08 Pts per game in 31.4 min played


If the talk is about being a superstar let's keep in mind Russell Westbrook averages 21.4 shots per game.

At just a 3 shot per game increase and 1 trip extra to the line ( still not a star qualified focal point in offense ) Smart will hit 15 pts per with some development to increase efficiency.

[Asher77]

My opinion would be that Smart falls a bit below those shooting percentages but increases his shots per game and free throws made per game to a much greater extent. I think he will develop a lot more into the slasher type who absorbs contact and gets to the line.

This in my mind will bring him much closer to a 20 pt per game player.

[kozlodoev]

33% from the field this month. Can we stop over reacting to one game?

Thanks.

Agreed, but Smart is a far better shooter than I expected.

You must have expected god-awful, since so far he's proven himself average. Streaky, but not better than average on the balance.

[droopdog7]

He can shoot, but he will not be a big time scorer in the NBA. I do feel he will be a reliable 3 point threat from here on in. He still needs a game in the paint, like a floater off the dribble, a fall away in the paint, and just flat out getting to the rim. etc.

Marcus Smart should be able to average 15 points a game, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steels for years to come. That, along with his already smothering defense, a defense that is still developing mind you, will be a lot of fun to watch.

He's a rookie. I love when I hear all these declarative statements of "he will be...", "he wont be..." with rookie players. Everybody makes it sound like every great player in the history of the NBA stepped on the court day 1 and had every weapon in the book, and never developed a single thing the rest of their career.

Smart is going to be a great player, I fully believe that, because he has a strong foundation, and the right personality. He wont accept failure, it's not in his makeup.

So I am guessing declarative statements about what a player will be are only wrong if they are negative?

It's wrong, if you don't have good evidence to back it up.

So is anyone using "good" evidence?  I comment on what I see.  And while Smart had a good game, and could eventually become a good shooter with hard work and repetition, I see that game more as an aberration at the moment.  Smart will never become the second coming of Ray Allen.

I would have been a lot more impressed if Smart had gotten those points with hard drives to the basketball and 10 free throws.  That is what he needs to be if he is to be successful.  Let's see if he can get there.

[Monkhouse]

33% from the field this month. Can we stop over reacting to one game?

Thanks.

Agreed, but Smart is a far better shooter than I expected.

You must have expected god-awful, since so far he's proven himself average. Streaky, but not better than average on the balance.

For a rookie, yes I expected 28-30%.

[Greyman]

Games like this show improvement, not just in straight stats but in being able to find space, set and all the other details involved in getting off a good shot. I expect we will see more games like this as Smart has adapted to the speed of the NBA game, the improved skills of opponents and being on a bigger stage.

It remains to be seen how often those games will occur, especially since Thomas will be the go to player a lot of the time and Smart's role isn't defined by high scoring. It is great to see he can score like that.

[csfansince60s]

If I was the Celtics coach, I would have everyone shooting threes at the end of practice.

The NBA is all about the three point shot now.

I wish we had signed Korver.

Which I guess begs the question, "if we had signed Korver, keeping Rondo and Green would have been likely. Cool with that?"

Not me, I like our current position better with those guys gone.