Marcus Smart improvements from last season

[Tr1boy]

1. Physically has bulked up. Bigger shoulders and arms. Its noticable

2. He is stronger dribbling with his left hand.  Going left alot more. Seen him do the "inside/outside"  dribble with his left

3.  Bad game 1 SL shooting game, but a very good shooting gane last night. Even in game 1 more than half the ball launched, looked like it was going to fall. 

4. Decision making. For example he was able to dissect the defense yesterday and lob it for not one but 2 alley hoops in a row. Pnr worked nicely with Mickey, Holmes. Good job locating Hunter for open shots.


Smart is looking like a sweet pick at 6. 

[Silent Storm]

Agree on all counts. He is built like a bowling ball and fearless, it looks like he has completely overcome the hesitation caused by the ankle injury last season. The key is whether he will be able to sustain that level of play against the highest level of competition.

[Tr1boy]

Agree on all counts. He is built like a bowling ball and fearless, it looks like he has completely overcome the hesitation caused by the ankle injury last season. The key is whether he will be able to sustain that level of play against the highest level of competition.

He will , but he will be banged up and will require some down time

[Boris Badenov]

Agreed especially on shooting and playmaking. His shooting motion seems quicker, more straight up and down and more compact. And I like the way he's running the offense.

It's just summer league but he's doing what you hope to see from a top pick.

[PhoSita]

His catch and shoot form looks better.  Still likes to fall down after taking pull-up threes, but I guess that's just a quirk of his.  I think he'll always be streaky when he's creating his own shot, but I'm confident he'll become a solid off-ball shooter.

At least against the competition in summer league, he looks a lot more confident and composed dribbling through pressure and making passes out of the pick and roll.  Seems to be finding a good balance between taking shots and creating for teammates.

The interesting thing to see will be whether he continues to diversify his shot selection, as he has done in summer league, when he's playing with the starters in games that matter.  Last year he seemed content to mostly defer and just try to operate off the ball.

[Tr1boy]

Agreed especially on shooting and playmaking. His shooting motion seems quicker, more straight up and down and more compact. And I like the way he's running the offense.

It's just summer league but he's doing what you hope to see from a top pick.

Good eye on the shooting mechanics.  Pulling the ball back less before shooting

[slamtheking]

shooting, ballhandling and passing all look a lot better than last season.  like the improvements I've seen so far.

[Forza Juventus]

Smart was a great pick at 6. He was the best player available. At the time I had him 5th best in the draft. It's early but he has been good and seems to be improving and that's all you can ask for. I like him a lot 

[Hardwood Harry]

The fact that I now believe he can be a true point guard is the biggest improvement I've noticed. His confidence in running a team has taken a huge leap forward.....Now we'll trade him..........

[Sketch5]

I love that floater he used last night. Much better than trying to get to the rim every time. Plus it made the Spurs bigs step up at the end and he got those alley oops off. It's a nice weapon to have.

[Snakehead]

Virtually everything.  That's why I'm so excited right now.  He really has attacked his weaknesses but even his defense looks even better.  He just looks like a much more confident player.

[footey]

I was most impressed with his play-making/ball-handling, and the confidence in his 3 point shooting, especially under pressure.  I was quite blown away with his total skill set last night. I know it is only summer league, but man, all the negative limitations I thought about him are being re-evaluated.

 The kid just looks hungry to be great.  That is his most important quality. 

[tankcity!]

I couldn't have asked him to improve any better. Looks like he will reach his potential with his work ethic, no idea what that is yet though.

[tarheelsxxiii]

His catch and shoot form looks better.  Still likes to fall down after taking pull-up threes, but I guess that's just a quirk of his.  I think he'll always be streaky when he's creating his own shot, but I'm confident he'll become a solid off-ball shooter.

At least against the competition in summer league, he looks a lot more confident and composed dribbling through pressure and making passes out of the pick and roll.  Seems to be finding a good balance between taking shots and creating for teammates.

The interesting thing to see will be whether he continues to diversify his shot selection, as he has done in summer league, when he's playing with the starters in games that matter.  Last year he seemed content to mostly defer and just try to operate off the ball.

Nice post

[sofutomygaha]

1. Physically has bulked up. Bigger shoulders and arms. Its noticable

I was thinking the same, actually. I tuned in to D-league to see the newer, bigger James Young and the only thing that really struck me was how Smart looks even beefier than before.