marcus has some motor-prince sublime

[rollie mass]

on one play this rookie played more d in one set than most do a game-he wove and powerd through or around series of screens and then a back cut that left me awed- and prince  what a class act,  - -i wish prince could have taught james young the art of basketball-so silently smooth and running his routes and becoming invisible then bang and those desceptive telescoping arms,no wonder he was p---ed he didn't get traded to a contender-brad must of really enjoyed his game,i did

[manl_lui]

Marcus played amazing defense yesterday but was practically invisible on offense. There was one play that I got annoyed though when he chucked that long 3 with 14 seconds left on the clock.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Yep.

He'd going to be an elite defender in the next couple of years. He has the mindset and the attitude for it. It helps that he's also athletic and strong for his position.

[MBunge]

Marcus played amazing defense yesterday but was practically invisible on offense. There was one play that I got annoyed though when he chucked that long 3 with 14 seconds left on the clock.

I could wrong but I think he saw Turner was coming in for him and decided to chuck it.  I'm not sure if Stevens was irritated or not but he didn't put Smart back in when he made defensive substitutions at the end.

Mike

[Rosco917]

Marcus Smart someday will be first team all NBA on defense, but he must find a way to become a steady offensive contributor, or he will be relegated to being a 6th or 7th. guy off the bench.

So many do not realize the value of players that can really defend. Every NBA team that's won a championship has had several hard nose defenders in their rotations. Every team position on the court, center, forward, guard, should have a strong defender either as the starter or as a backup. The goal is to gather as many starters as possible that are strong two way players. That is why the Spurs are so successful.

Offense is cool for the fantasy basketball league , but defense wins championships.

[dwoumn]

Marcus played amazing defense yesterday but was practically invisible on offense. There was one play that I got annoyed though when he chucked that long 3 with 14 seconds left on the clock.

Get use to it because the way the C's use him, he's going to be another Tony Allen. His defense will always be reliable but his offensive game will be up and down.

He has to figure out what his own offensive identity is. I have to say that I think BS is encouraging him to shoot more threes because we have seen BS encourage this C's team to hoist them up. But with Smart he has to figure it out for himself with trial and error.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Marcus Smart someday will be first team all NBA on defense, but he must find a way to become a steady offensive contributor, or he will be relegated to being a 6th or 7th. guy off the bench.

So many do not realize the value of players that can really defend. Every NBA team that's won a championship has had several hard nose defenders in their rotations. Every team position on the court, center, forward, guard, should have a strong defender either as the starter or as a backup. The goal is to gather as many starters as possible that are strong two way players. That is why the Spurs are so successful.

Offense is cool for the fantasy basketball league , but defense wins championships.

I agree that championship teams usually play very good or great defense, buy guys like Smart can also become a big liability. If he doesn't improve soon, teams will start backing off him, and it'll be like we're playing 4 on 5.

In a way, it's a miracle the Celtics won the title in 2008, because it was like 3.5 against 5 whenever Boston had the ball—Rondo couldn't shoot, and Perk was virtually useless on offense. Winning the title showed how great their defense was—which kinda proves your point, but at the same time, a team probably shouldn't have to rely that much on its defense.

[D.o.s.]

Marcus Smart someday will be first team all NBA on defense, but he must find a way to become a steady offensive contributor, or he will be relegated to being a 6th or 7th. guy off the bench.

So many do not realize the value of players that can really defend. Every NBA team that's won a championship has had several hard nose defenders in their rotations. Every team position on the court, center, forward, guard, should have a strong defender either as the starter or as a backup. The goal is to gather as many starters as possible that are strong two way players. That is why the Spurs are so successful.

Offense is cool for the fantasy basketball league , but defense wins championships.

I agree that championship teams usually play very good or great defense, buy guys like Smart can also become a big liability. If he doesn't improve soon, teams will start backing off him, and it'll be like we're playing 4 on 5.

In a way, it's a miracle the Celtics won the title in 2008, because it was like 3.5 against 5 whenever Boston had the ball—Rondo couldn't shoot, and Perk was virtually useless on offense. Winning the title showed how great their defense was—which kinda proves your point, but at the same time, a team probably shouldn't have to rely that much on its defense.

That's also the reason Ainge explored swapping Rondo for Chris Paul back in 2010 (? might've been 2011)

[rollie mass]

smart is a rookie on a team that had 40 roster changes,he had an injury that took awhile but the game has got much slower now for him-this is a 20yr old kid that fights for everything and does not back down-he played all summer and  now has travelled and played many more games than any university season,  dave cowens was a guy who would dive for anyhting and smart is like that a force-avery crowder and smart are one tough trio-

[BDeCosta26]

Smart is already an elite back-court defender. He will be All-NBA 1st team defense multiple times in the future. He could be an absolute 0 on offense, and still find 20-30 mpg of playing time with his defense.

And all the talk around here about his offensive game is overblown. In the past 10 games, he's shot 6 shots or less six times, and never more than ten. In the three of the four games he's had more than 6 shots, he scored in double digits. We don't run plays for him, and we don't put the ball in his hands much. CBS wants him to spend his rookie year playing elite defense and shooting open 3s. He's bringing him along slowly, allowing him to gain valuable experience on a playoff level team and gradually letting him do a little more on offense. He's improved his jump shot considerably (28% from 3 in college, 33% this year for us). He will continue taking on more offensive responsibility in the next two seasons. We'll talk then about his offensive game.

All these people trashing on Smart are far too obsessed with box score totals. But man,that sure was a horrible shot he put up last night with all that time left. CBS was right to yank him .

[rollie mass]

where does smart stand at moment,who are the best in nba and how does he stack up--tp for you decosta

[BDeCosta26]

where does smart stand at moment,who are the best in nba and how does he stack up--tp for you decosta

where does smart stand at moment,who are the best in nba and how does he stack up--tp for you decosta

Thanks Rollie, always enjoy your posts. TP to you for being you.

As far as the best defending guards, to me in no particular order it's....

Elite: Tony Allen, Paul George, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Mike Conley Jr.

Near elite: John Wall, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Khris Middleton, George Hill

Other guys I like and I think are above average: Elfrid Peyton, KJ McDaniels, Tony Parker, Giannis Antetekumpo, Danny Green

If I wasn't at work and could look at some decent stats I'd realize I prob forgot some guys and would move some guys around.

And I called Marcus elite because he has been for the majority of the year and for most of the recent stretch run. But because of the injury, the pre-rondo trade days , and being a rookie I didn't put him quite there yet, but He'll be fully elite by next season.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Smart is already an elite back-court defender. He will be All-NBA 1st team defense multiple times in the future. He could be an absolute 0 on offense, and still find 20-30 mpg of playing time with his defense.

And all the talk around here about his offensive game is overblown. In the past 10 games, he's shot 6 shots or less six times, and never more than ten. In the three of the four games he's had more than 6 shots, he scored in double digits. We don't run plays for him, and we don't put the ball in his hands much. CBS wants him to spend his rookie year playing elite defense and shooting open 3s. He's bringing him along slowly, allowing him to gain valuable experience on a playoff level team and gradually letting him do a little more on offense. He's improved his jump shot considerably (28% from 3 in college, 33% this year for us). He will continue taking on more offensive responsibility in the next two seasons. We'll talk then about his offensive game.

All these people trashing on Smart are far too obsessed with box score totals. But man,that sure was a horrible shot he put up last night with all that time left. CBS was right to yank him .

Maybe he doesn't have many (if any) plays called for him, and that would certainly hurt his shot totals and thus his point totals, but I've been under the impression that the C's read-and-react offense is designed to empower anyone to shoot whenever they have an open look; if that's the case, it means Smart's either not finding himself open much (in which case, why not?) or he's turning down open looks (in which case, why?).

[CelticGuardian]

Marcus played amazing defense yesterday but was practically invisible on offense. There was one play that I got annoyed though when he chucked that long 3 with 14 seconds left on the clock.

Marcus Dumb!

I'm telling you guys, this kid shouldn't be starting until he develops his offensive game.

If we don't start Isaiah in the playoffs, I will lose all ounce of confidence in Stevens. It's great that the kid can play D and all but we need to score some too.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Marcus played amazing defense yesterday but was practically invisible on offense. There was one play that I got annoyed though when he chucked that long 3 with 14 seconds left on the clock.

Marcus Dumb!

I'm telling you guys, this kid shouldn't be starting until he develops his offensive game.

If we don't start Isaiah in the playoffs, I will lose all ounce of confidence in Stevens. It's great that the kid can play D and all but we need to score some too.

What's your perceived advantage of starting Thomas over Smart?