M. Smart registered 2nd worst body fat% ever for a pg(It's a good thing too)

[Future Celtics Owner]

Before anyone freaks out I want to say that I truly think this is a good thing because will  increase his agility, speed, and explosiveness just by getting rid of that extra dead weight. Have to admit that by looking into this more I've become an even bigger Marcus Smart fan.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Marcus-Smart-6284/

Today a forum topic "the next progression for Smart and Young?" got me thinking what is holding Smart back from being an ALL STAR because I know he can be.
We all love his work ethic, his physical strength, leadership, defense, improved 3 point jumper, and just from his rookie year.

But there are things we do not like about him/ are concerned with for his future which is linked to our future, these are comments I have seen repeated a million times: "he's not explosive, he never penetrates, he's suppose to be this big athlete?, can he play point guard for us, why doesn't he attack the rim, why does he not use his power to manhandle other guards (point guards) with his huge body, create some space and take it to the rim!, Can Smart even get by his defender?, is he afraid of getting his layup/dunk attempt/interior shot blocked??"

(I copied the list and wanted to show it on this thread but it was too big and I couldn't figure out how to minimize it on my mac, anyone who can get it up on here I'll give u a few tp's)
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements.php?page=&year=All&source=All&sort2=DESC&draft=30&pos=1&sort=7

The list above should be shocking. I had no idea that his body fat % was historically high, like #2 overall(for pg's). Given not everyone participates and it only goes back till 2000, but look at the list yourself and see which players have a better bf%. We get it our point guard is jacked, and he really is( I will show you later), but he is not cut. Being the point means you have to be quick and agile, which Marcus is(I will show you later). I feel bad for him because there is such a huge difference in dead weight that it slows him down.

I set the search parameters for players that were drafted top 30, pg's ONLY(but a lot of shooting guards on the list, and Marcus would have still been top 4 for sg's). Then I selected all draft classes(this includes all the classes accurately from 2000 till now). Finally I selected "all sources" so for instance NBA draft Combine, NBA pre draft Combine, Nike skills camp, LBJ camp, Nike elite, Top 100 camp, newspapers, Eurocamp, and etc.
Well I basically did the widest search possible and it came up with Marcus being #2 worst body fat(please see list for yourself)

Smart: "Me with a bigger body set, it makes it harder for guys. I don’t have to shake and bake as much. I can make one move and get my shoulder by you cause I’m so strong and it doesn’t take a lot for me to get by you, so that helps me on the offensive end. On the defensive end, I can get into you and guide you where I want you to go".

[/b]

Well now we know that statement is not completely true. Being in the NBA Marcus was not able to get by defenders with the ease we thought he would. Actually his first step and his ability to create space was pretty bad. One athletic test that helps confirm Marcus has a hard time creating space is a new test since 2010 called the SHUTTLE TEST. This test is not in draftxpress but it is important because when you time someone in the lane agility test, 3/4 sprint, shuttle test, bench press,and verticals; you get a more clear idea of their overall AGILITY.
Marcus finished 13th among guards in his draft class and 20th overall in the shuttle test.http://www.nbadraft.net/nba-draft-combine-athleticism-test-results-1
His scores in other areas seamed extremely promising and some were historically good.

Marcus Smart's lane agility time of 10.82 is faster than John Wall (10.84), Russell Westbrook (10.98) and Chris Paul (11.09)
http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/14draftprofile_smart

Marcus Smart also bench pressed 185 pounds 19 times, tied for 3rd best at the NBA Combine this year. One of best ever among PGs historically

Someone said today in the thread that I referred to at top, that Marcus is not an athlete and then another chimed in and said he's not what we were expecting athletically. Well they have cause to say that but they are wrong. Marcus may be one of the best athletes in the NBA. When you look at Smarts agility times and how they stack up to the best guards in the League that shows us something about him.
But  when you add his strength: Since 2000 no point guard drafted in top 30 has surpassed his 19 reps of 185 and there is only one other pg that ever got 19 reps! And don't forget he has long arms, some of the other guys that came close had shorter arms. Basically he is the strongest point guard drafted in at least 15 years.http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements.php?year=All&sort2=DESC&draft=30&pos=1&source=All&sort=14

The biggest 2 things Marcus needs for his progression:
1.So Marcus will have to lose body fat if he wants to get by people/ penetrate/ get to the rim like he did in college and hs. Theres no way around it and since Marcus is a gym rat , prides himself on his work, and is a natural leader by example IMO he can and will turn into this player we all know he can be, honestly the potential physically for him reminds me of a Lebron. Since he is over a year stronger since the NBA draft combine cutting the weight won't make him any weaker than when he was playing last year. But most importantly the kid just has great genetic and a great NBA body.

2. Ball Handling: everyone can always use better ball handling but Marcus and his issues offensively stem from a lack of expert/pro skill in this area. It makes sense, he was carrying weight that was slowing him down and his ball handling was not yet at the level for him to shake his defender, penetrate and kick, or even create space.

So if Marcus does these 2 things I believe his speeds will dramatically increase, his verticals will increase, his stamina will increase and his production in all aspects of the game will increase.....probably dramatically!

[Denis998]

TP for the thread/info. It is quite interesting that Marcus has such a high BF%, maybe he just needs to change his diet around a bit. Who knows, maybe by this time in the summer he has already dropped his BF%, maybe we will see a new Marcus come summer league. One other thing that I found interesting is that Kyrie was right there with him at #3, and look at what he turned out to be.

[TheFlex]

Cool stuff. TP.

[Future Celtics Owner]

TP for the thread/info. It is quite interesting that Marcus has such a high BF%, maybe he just needs to change his diet around a bit. Who knows, maybe by this time in the summer he has already dropped his BF%, maybe we will see a new Marcus come summer league. One other thing that I found interesting is that Kyrie was right there with him at #3, and look at what he turned out to be.

Yea I noticed that too. Someone on one of the sites I looked at said Kyrie got away with it because his ball handling was out of everyones league. Also, I think he was injured around this time from something big like an acl or something.

[knuckleballer]

TP for putting this together.  I think we'll see him getting to the rim next season. 

One weird anomaly I noticed on the measurements list you linked is that Corey Joseph has by far the fastest agility and by far the slowest sprint.  Huh?  Was the guy with the stop watch drunk that day?

[tarheelsxxiii]

TP for putting this together.  I think we'll see him getting to the rim next season. 

One weird anomaly I noticed on the measurements list you linked is that Corey Joseph has by far the fastest agility and by far the slowest sprint.  Huh?  Was the guy with the stop watch drunk that day?

Yes, and I publicly apologize.

I am super interested to know what others think with regard to Smart's ceiling. I see really mixed opinions here about him, from perennial all-star to role-player. Specifically, what do you think is the percent chance that he becomes an all-star? Or an all-star for more than one season? I'm going 33% (more than one season) - may not be favorable here, but my opinion would likely change if he does make the strides that the OP proposed. I love the kid, I'm just not sure if his offensive abilities translate to the NBA.

[Future Celtics Owner]

TP for putting this together.  I think we'll see him getting to the rim next season. 

One weird anomaly I noticed on the measurements list you linked is that Corey Joseph has by far the fastest agility and by far the slowest sprint.  Huh?  Was the guy with the stop watch drunk that day?

Draft express sometimes makes mistakes filling in data, not a lot but I have seen it change peoples wingspans a few times...lol

I think we agree that Smart is a bull and he has great genetics. He probably is the strongest point guard in the league and only going into his sophomore year....thats scary.
If he could get down to 5-6% he would be the strongest point in the league and one of the fastest and most agile. Ball handling is super important but I'm sure he's working on that all the time.

[Greyman]

TP for the stats.

Smart is, for me, one of the pieces we are relying on to keep improving. Liked a lot of what we saw last season, expect the experience - especially working with CBS - will make him better next season.

I am not 100% convinced he is a part of the DA and CBS plan, about 85% convinced. He has a lot resting on next season. Especially if this off season sees the rebuild advance significantly and he is expected to play a role on a 'contending' team.

All of that is speculation though. Like Smart in green and if a little less body fat helps - great.

[rollie mass]

tp for your work,i think turner would benefit from this analysis>there is a part of me that thinks he got by in the past in other programs and never worked on drills and increasing his speed,agility and vertical.Turner should look at bass work ethic Turner has the opportunity with boston to redefine himself-he should be in boston taking advantage of coaching,trainers and shooting coaches

[cb8883]

He's going to make a living being the 9th or 10th guy in a rotation in his prime. He is essentially a slightly better version of Marcus Banks. I don't like that he doesn't have a jump shot and plus now you find out that he's not in shape?  Get him and Sully to a gym.

[Celtics4ever]

I think these tests are not very well understood by the comments.  It really depends on the type of body fat test they use.   If it is the old tape and measure neck and waist then that test is a very poor predictor of athletic ability.   Caliper would be more accurate and DXA scan and Bioelectric are even better.

A lot of those tests punish well developed muscular guys like Marcus by classifying them as obese.  The tables were made up by a mathematician and were developed in the 1800s.  Muscle weights more than fat.

Belgian statistician named Adolphe Quetelet came up with the Quetelet Index of Obesity

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/weight-loss/bmi4.htm

A guy like Arnold in his prime is obese by these standards.  In his prime his BMI was a 33.

The Bad
What many have neglected to realize is that BMI is just a simple ratio of weight divided by the height squared – weight (kg)/height (meters2). Because of this simplistic formula, there is no accounting for differences in body frames, or even more importantly, body composition.

My favorite example of this is a quiz I have given many times, including to physicians at medical grand rounds at some of the top teaching hospitals in the country. I like to give it in the form of a “Jeopardy Challenge,” with the category being “Obese, or Not Obese.” So with all due respect to Alex Trebek, the answer is:

“This famous ex-politician and former actor recently measured in at 6’ 2” tall and 257 pounds, with a calculated BMI of 33.0.”

When asked to respond, 100 percent of doctors answered “Obese!” Yet, when the next slide showed former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his prime body building days, playing his role as Conan the Barbarian, the problem becomes clear. How could someone in that kind of shape have a BMI well above 30?

The real answer: muscle is heavier than fat!

BMI tells you nothing about what that individual’s body is made up of. Someone that is in superb condition, with lots of lean muscle, could be the same weight or even heavier than someone else at the same height, but in terrible shape. Our friend Arnold might have had a BMI of 33, but his body fat percentage was around 7 percent. For comparison, an average male would expect to have between 12 percent and 22 percent body fat.

So, now the problem begins to come into focus. BMI, while being a reasonable estimator of obesity in someone of average conditioning, becomes a terrible predictor in people with either lots of lean muscle (trained athletes) or very little lean muscle (severely de-conditioned individuals). BMI does not tell you anything about what is going on inside someone’s body, which is what we ALL should really be interested in.

http://www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/general-articles/bmi-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

Do they not have health classes in school anymore?

[Future Celtics Owner]

He's going to make a living being the 9th or 10th guy in a rotation in his prime. He is essentially a slightly better version of Marcus Banks. I don't like that he doesn't have a jump shot and plus now you find out that he's not in shape?  Get him and Sully to a gym.

I'm sorry if you misunderstood or I worded something incorrectly in the OP, but the main point was that Marcus Smart somehow(great genetics probably) carries that extra weight and still beat many great point guards with his agility test results http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements.php?page=&year=All&source=All&sort2=DESC&draft=15&pos=1&sort=. Just to save you time in that link above it only has  point guards that have been selected top 15 since 2000.

As far as Marcus never going to the gym ala Sully I am not worried about that because he is a gym rat, leads by example, and loves to compete.
Marcus not only beat out great point guards in the agility testing but he also set a combine record, for pg's selected top 30 since at least 2000, of 19 reps at 185lbs in the bench press test which is part of the strength evaluation. But don't forget they're many players that couldn't even lift the bar and they went on to have successful careers:

Your zero-rep All-Stars: Kevin Durant, Jamal Crawford, Monta Ellis, T.J. Ford, Luke Ridnour.

You can contrast that with the all-time best bench rep numbers, where you have to go to the No. 19 player—Blake Griffin, 22 reps—to find the first big star.

[Vermont Green]

I admit to not understanding how Body Fat tests are done and what the results really mean but I think speed, agility, and leaping measurements are far more relevant.  Strength is close behind although bench press reps are not a very good measure of overall strength (Didn't Durant fail to do even 1 bench press?).

These measurements are only important because draftees have never competed against NBA players so you need something to normalize what you do know about them.  A guy from a small school can look really fast against lesser competition so these measurements allow you to do a reality check on what your eyes are seeing.

Smart has played in the NBA already though.  You can see that he is a good athlete relative to NBA talent, just by watching him.  If body fat was a problem, you would see endurance or conditioning issues.  I appreciated the effort by the OP and I did read the information.  It is interesting, but at this point, I am judging Smart based on what I see and I like what I see.

He needs to improve his "handle" and his shooting "touch" which are not easy things to improve but it can be done.  He already is good, very likely will be very good, and has a chance to be great.

[BudweiserCeltic]

He's going to make a living being the 9th or 10th guy in a rotation in his prime. He is essentially a slightly better version of Marcus Banks. I don't like that he doesn't have a jump shot and plus now you find out that he's not in shape?  Get him and Sully to a gym.

I'm sorry if you misunderstood or I worded something incorrectly in the OP, but the main point was that Marcus Smart somehow(great genetics probably) carries that extra weight and still beat many great point guards with his agility test results http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements.php?page=&year=All&source=All&sort2=DESC&draft=15&pos=1&sort=. Just to save you time in that link above it only has  point guards that have been selected top 15 since 2000.

As far as Marcus never going to the gym ala Sully I am not worried about that because he is a gym rat, leads by example, and loves to compete.
Marcus not only beat out great point guards in the agility testing but he also set a combine record, for pg's selected top 30 since at least 2000, of 19 reps at 185lbs in the bench press test which is part of the strength evaluation. But don't forget they're many players that couldn't even lift the bar and they went on to have successful careers:

Your zero-rep All-Stars: Kevin Durant, Jamal Crawford, Monta Ellis, T.J. Ford, Luke Ridnour.

You can contrast that with the all-time best bench rep numbers, where you have to go to the No. 19 player—Blake Griffin, 22 reps—to find the first big star.

Don't waste your time, he only came into this thread to name drop Marcus Banks.

[manl_lui]

I think the first half of the season, Marcus was having trouble scoring for a number of reasons.

1. He wasn't used as much as he was behind Rondo, Green, Bradley, Sully, Kelly (to name a few).
2. That nasty ankle injury against the Magics which he said he still felt in the 2nd half of the season (which I want to believe)
3. His confidence

I do believe his size will help him later on as he gains more confidence and having a full summer to rest that ankle, but I agree with you and the articles in the OP, he can afford to lose 10 lbs. It probably won't be much for him to lose. Get a little more cut, maybe a tad bit faster. I mean he is about 220 now, being 210 he's probably still bigger than most pg.

You're right about his work ethic and attitude, it's hard to not like the guy. Cannot wait to see what he has to offer next season.