Yes or No? Marcus Smart Our Next Superstar?

[max215]

star yes
superstar ehhhh, superstar is bird, mchale type player

but i will gladly watch him play dominating superstar defense, smart is the best defender i've seen since gary payton came into league but more physical

He may be the best defensive PG in the NBA already. Once he gets his offensive numbers up high enough to get some recognition outside of Celtics Nation I think he'll get the praise he deserves for his defensive play.

I feel he is the best defensive PG now and was one of the better defensive PLAYERS last year

He definitely has the most defensive presence of anyone I saw this year. He seems to really alter the game with his tenacity, something that is truly rare to see.

[manl_lui]

star yes
superstar ehhhh, superstar is bird, mchale type player

but i will gladly watch him play dominating superstar defense, smart is the best defender i've seen since gary payton came into league but more physical

He may be the best defensive PG in the NBA already. Once he gets his offensive numbers up high enough to get some recognition outside of Celtics Nation I think he'll get the praise he deserves for his defensive play.

I feel he is the best defensive PG now and was one of the better defensive PLAYERS last year

He definitely has the most defensive presence of anyone I saw this year. He seems to really alter the game with his tenacity, something that is truly rare to see.

mini KG on defense

I hope he will be mini LeBron on offense

 

[JBcat]

He has to leapfrog many good point guards (Irving, Rose, Teague, Lowry, ect) to become an star but he may get there 1 day.

[Big333223]

He's definitely got star potential. I can easily see him as a Chauncey Billups caliber player. A guy who makes 4-5 all star games, averages 16-17 ppg during him prime and plays on successful teams.

He seems like a natural leader, which is something the Celtics haven't had in a long time. Pierce had to learn how to be a leader and as great as Garnett is, his balance of heart and head meant he could only lead so far. Smart seems to have that thing that leaders need, innately. I hope it pays off.

[LarBrd33]

I wouldn't even bet on Smart becoming an all-star let alone a superstar.  He looks like he's made some progress in summer league, though.  I still don't think he's a good offensive player yet.

Bro, first you said he was going to be like Tony Allen before even giving him the chance to have a whole offseason to work on his game. We've talked about this before and you decided to judge him before letting his second season play out, haha. At least I admit when I'm wrong. Have you ever admitted you are wrong?

Now you're saying he made some progress? That makes no sense at all since you said he wouldn't make progress after his rookie year and called him Tony Allen.  Did you see how timid he was last year? IMO, he has made great progress, as much as I would expect after one season under his belt.

Anyways, we'll see how good Marcus Smart will be when the season starts. But I'll be laughing my butt off if he's an all star.

huh?

I've never discounted the possibility that Smart will eventually develop into a star.  I wanted us to tank all that year and land a Top 8 pick.  I had Smart 8th on my list.  He was a solid consolation prize and I've repeatedly said he's easily our best asset.  I just don't think he's going to be an allstar.  Too offensively challenged.   If he ever makes an all-star team, I'll be very happy... unless of course it's after we've traded him away.

Smart looks like he's made some progress.  This is summer league, though.  We'll see what happens in the NBA.  He's still got a ways to go until he's as good as Tony Allen was in his prime.  Here's hoping he gets there, and then surpasses it.

[mctyson]

If he can be anything close to what Gary Payton was, we all would be ecstatic.

[D.o.s.]

If he can be anything close to what Gary Payton was, we all would be ecstatic.

This should go without saying but I fear it needs to be said.

[droopdog7]

I'm still just hoping he'll be a long-term starter.  Obviously he is a good defender but that's a role player to me.  Still needs to find a niche offensively.  And quite frankly, I am shocked at how un-explosive he is. 

So my projection is still that he'll be a role player-defensive specialist type.

I felt that way (about his lack of explosiveness) too until I watched him play last night. Did you?  He was very explosive.  could very well have been a bad ankle holding him back.

I watched both games and to be honest, did not come away nearly as impressed as many others did.  Smart is definitely showing more quickness than last year.  But he seems to lack very much lift at all.  I mean, barely gets off the ground.  Offensively, he has a lot to work on  IMO.

[Big333223]

I'm still just hoping he'll be a long-term starter.  Obviously he is a good defender but that's a role player to me.  Still needs to find a niche offensively.  And quite frankly, I am shocked at how un-explosive he is. 

So my projection is still that he'll be a role player-defensive specialist type.

I felt that way (about his lack of explosiveness) too until I watched him play last night. Did you?  He was very explosive.  could very well have been a bad ankle holding him back.

I watched both games and to be honest, did not come away nearly as impressed as many others did.  Smart is definitely showing more quickness than last year.  But he seems to lack very much lift at all.  I mean, barely gets off the ground.  Offensively, he has a lot to work on  IMO.

Smart's jumping ability is so far down the list of things important for his game, it is almost completely meaningless.

[droopdog7]

I'm still just hoping he'll be a long-term starter.  Obviously he is a good defender but that's a role player to me.  Still needs to find a niche offensively.  And quite frankly, I am shocked at how un-explosive he is. 

So my projection is still that he'll be a role player-defensive specialist type.

I felt that way (about his lack of explosiveness) too until I watched him play last night. Did you?  He was very explosive.  could very well have been a bad ankle holding him back.

I watched both games and to be honest, did not come away nearly as impressed as many others did.  Smart is definitely showing more quickness than last year.  But he seems to lack very much lift at all.  I mean, barely gets off the ground.  Offensively, he has a lot to work on  IMO.

Smart's jumping ability is so far down the list of things important for his game, it is almost completely meaningless.

That's fine to say but being an explosive leaper would help anyone's game.  And not necessarily explosive explosive, just above average. From what I can see, Smart has difficulties getting off the ground on one foot.  Needs to set himself on two feet to get up and dunk comfortably. 

And while you might say that being a great athlete is not a prerequisite to being a star (which is true) we also probably underestimate just what kind of athletes some stars actually are.  Someone like Chris Paul, who hardly ever dunks is a much better athlete than people give him credit for (example).  Ray Allen was a better athlete than people give him credit for.

So my point is, with some exceptions, there is a minimum level of athleticism necessary and anything below that means you have to make it up in other ways.  For instance, you can be very very good as an average to below average athlete if you are a great shooter, have great size, etc. 
Otherwise, you're going to struggle to be a consistent threat offensively. 

So my opinion has not changed all that much about smart.  I think he'll always have to make up for his lack of athleticism and that his strength and grit will only take him so far.  And that is somewhere between a specialist role player to a solid starter.  I do not see star, much less superstar, anywhere in his future.

[Big333223]

That's fine to say but being an explosive leaper would help anyone's game.  And not necessarily explosive explosive, just above average. From what I can see, Smart has difficulties getting off the ground on one foot.  Needs to set himself on two feet to get up and dunk comfortably. 

And while you might say that being a great athlete is not a prerequisite to being a star (which is true) we also probably underestimate just what kind of athletes some stars actually are.  Someone like Chris Paul, who hardly ever dunks is a much better athlete than people give him credit for (example).  Ray Allen was a better athlete than people give him credit for.

So my point is, with some exceptions, there is a minimum level of athleticism necessary and anything below that means you have to make it up in other ways.  For instance, you can be very very good as an average to below average athlete if you are a great shooter, have great size, etc. 
Otherwise, you're going to struggle to be a consistent threat offensively. 

So my opinion has not changed all that much about smart.  I think he'll always have to make up for his lack of athleticism and that his strength and grit will only take him so far.  And that is somewhere between a specialist role player to a solid starter.  I do not see star, much less superstar, anywhere in his future.

Unless there's a player who just isn't athletic enough to compete at the NBA level, athleticism isn't a big deal and Smart is a lot more athletic than you're giving him credit for. His block last night was an incredibly athletic play. He had a few highlight dunks last season. Like I said, his jumping ability is the last thing on my mind.

[Rosco917]

No matter how effective Marcus becomes, there will be doubters on this forum, that simply will not like the taste of crow. He will simply never be a star to them, because his scoring average will never be "insane" enough.

If your the type of fan that enjoys the work of Draymond, or Kawhi you will appreciate Smart. Notice how quickly their respective teams signed them, know one got a chance to even think of making an offer to them. 

[JoeyAinge]

So...

He was possibly a Top 3 pick the year before he was drafted, went back to school had a couple altercations and then was sought as a top 5 pick the year that he had altercations and everyone looked at that draft class as the best since Lebrons. Add in

 Over the final eight games of his college career, Smart averaged 19.3 points, 6.2 assists, 6.6 rebounds and 4.5 steals.

Add in he had one of the best bench press performances of all time historically for a PG putting up 189 19 times.

Had a faster lane agility than John Wall, Russel Westbrook and Chris Paul.

Add in his one knock that year was he is not a good shooter... But yet worked his buttocks off and became a consistent shooter last year.

Add in the only glimpses we've seen this year is him looking like a superstar out there in summer league, draining threes, ball handling looks improved, defense great as usual and getting into the lane off of PnR with ease... Playing with two undersized big men who o bet aren't setting fantastic screens...

Put all of this together and you get Marcus Banks 2.0 to Celtics blog.
Give me a break. Trade him for Omer Asik.

[dysgenic]

Paul Pierce was absolutely a superstar. He was absolutely one of the 5 best players in the nba more than once, although I'll admit he was probably never the best player.

Think about the era he played in- the only players off the top of my head that were clearly better are ALL TIME greats like shaq, Kobe, Duncan, lebron, (I'm sure I'm missing a couple), the next tier down which includes guys like dirk, kg, Ray Allen, etc....pierce is right there with those guys. Maybe he isn't better than all or most of them, but an argument can certainly be made that he was every bit as good as most of them.

Pierce was certainly one of the best players of his era. That's superstar status. Let's show some respect to the 2nd best Celtic I've ever seen (I'm 41yrs old).

[PhoSita]

If he can be anything close to what Gary Payton was, we all would be ecstatic.

This should go without saying but I fear it needs to be said.

How about Alvin Robertson?