Van Gundy made a great point about Smart

[oldtype]

It's complicated. Do you want him to play within himself and only takes the shots he knows he can make - thus raising his FG% - or taking chances and trying to expand his game?

He'll be better now if he does the former, but I think he's still young enough that it's worth giving the latter a try.

[chambers]

TP to KGlivingLegend for a great topic..

Van Gundy made some great points about Smart's overall shot selection and how he has to find his spots.

To me, what Smart needs to do (and is already working and shown improving in).... is driving hard into the lane. He's so strong and agile enough to be effective around the basket.

The major benefit this will have is getting him easy free throws and efficient points via free throws.

It's the one thing he did in college that hasn't translated to the NBA yet, BUT...He's in his second season for cryin' out loud.

He's only going to get better as the game slows down for him on the offensive end.

We've seen how explosive he is with put back dunks and crazy blocks/ plays that require brute strength and athleticism.

I honestly believe he's going to be an 16-18ppg player one day because of his power and anticipation.

Think about how one dimensional Avery Bradley was coming into the NBA. 5 years later and he's competing for an All Star bench spot and All defensive team.
How has he gotten so much better?
Mainly because of his incredible work ethic-something that Marcus Smart has arguably even more than anyone on our team.
When you're that strong and explosive, with a work ethic to get better like he does, you're only going to get better. I think of Smart as a guard version of Kwahi Leonard.  Just a hard working gym rat that is ALREADY in consideration for the All NBA defensive first team. Hangs his hat on his defense and slowly works on his offensive arsenal.

Leonard is a great attitude/toughness comparison but I think the best player comparison for Smart is Chauncey Billups. Think about that and watch Chauncey playing for the Pistons.

In my opinion the only thing to 'worry' about  with Smart are his injury concerns. He plays so hard that he's going to miss a lot of time to niggling injuries over his career.

[The_Truth]

I love Smart and the way that kid plays. But I'm not gonna say he is not expendable for the Celtics at this point. Sorry kid!

[guava_wrench]

I think Smart is smart enough to figure out a way to mitigate his shooting. He'll learn to adopt a set shot or something.

(whispers to himself over and over, "he's not rondo...he's not rondo...he's not rondo...or Elfrid Payton, or Rondo...")

Well, he isn't stubborn like Rondo.

[ManUp]

It's simple he has to stop shooting so many threes. I think he shoots nearly 5 a game. I think Stevens has to rein him in a bit on that end. BS seems to like to give his players the ability to take shots they like as long as they play tough defense and unselfishly on offense. Marcus isn't playing to his strengths.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I think Eddie20 hit it. He needs to play out of the post more often. It's not detrimental to the offense, either - we were doing it effectively against GSW with Olynyk. That's where his advantage is. Not at the 3 pt line (probably never, considering his form), and apparently not off the dribble (lacks the necessary length and/or craftiness to finish--gotta have one or the other).

He's a bull in a china shop, but not to the extent that he can't make plays to the basket. He has shown a euro-type move and a nice floater, he just doesn't use them. I'm sure he's still figuring it out and has a ways to go, it's early. But Brad could help facilitate progress here by getting him in the post a few possessions here and there.

[KG Living Legend]

 Chambers I agree with you about his athleticism, I think it's his first step quickness where his 230 pounds shows up, meaning his kinda slow for a point guard.

 And like Tarheels was saying let him work on his eurosteps and floaters. He does work hard, pulling for the kid.

[Smartacus]

The one thing I always go back to with Smart is that he often takes his defensive assignment out of the game.

Seems like every time I see him, a guard will hit an open shot and you look down to see that he's shooting 1-6 and you realize that was when Smart was on the bench. Think I recall it with John Wall where as soon as Smart came out that's when he started going off.

He's just stronger than most guards. If he can start taking his time, know that Isaiah and Avery are capable of acting as volume scorers instead focus on shooting less from better spots and have an Igudola like effect (to use the Warriors model) on the team.

[Csfan1984]

He doesn't choose 1/3 of his shots. A lot of the time he takes end of clock rushed shots. We don't see him get plays called for him enough to tell if he can "score". We also never see him allowed to take the offense over. IT in contrast doesnt help run enough offense for others. Would be great if IT and Smart move closer to the middle. Someone needs to also put together the teams offense % when Smart is on the court. Seems he really is effective with passing and setting picks/screens. Smart's role in the offense is very strange for a non triangle PG. If C's ran the triangle then Smart's play style would make sense.  BS' offense is like his rotations very choatic player to player.
 Speaking of triangle maybe that is the key to Melo this season or next offseason. Smart, Lee, JJ, 2016 Cs pick and 2018 Nets pick for Melo? Melo not so good for the triangle, Smart very good for it. Smart would be a great duo with Porzingis.

[LilRip]

i hate when Smart chucks 3's (which he seems to do so often), I like it when he drives in the lane, and I love it when he posts up.

For all the flak we give KO about his tentativeness, I think the same can also be said of Smart (at least on offense. dude plays all out on D). That OKC game is still probably his lone good offensive game of the season and one of the things that stood out to me was how much he wanted to make an offensive impact in that game. It seemed like he really wanted to outplay Russell Westbrook in OKC. I think he needs to bring that mindset more consistently (the way IT4 does, actually).

[loco_91]

I don't think the situation is too dire.
-He's relying too hard on his 3, but at least opposing guards are defending it. It doesn't start to become a liability until opponents start sagging aggressively; people aren't guarding him like he's Curry, but they aren't giving him wide open looks (like they do against Rondo), either.
-I'm not sure why people think he isn't a PG. Stevens did start the year with him at PG next to AB and Crowder, so clearly he thinks that Smart is capable. He's no Rondo, and he isn't a good playmaker at this stage, but he has very good instincts + court vision + passing.

Smart is below average but not a liability on offense, and his defense is so good that he's a very good player despite his offensive shortcomings. If he can raise his offense to the level of an average starter, he'll be an allstar-level contributor, even if he will never actually make an all star game due to bias against defensive-minded players.

[Rosco917]

I'd like to see a bit more potential from him on the offensive side of the ball. Just to give me hope that he will eventually score enough to substantiate his minutes.

His 3 point shooting hasn't been consistent, he gets into the paint, but struggles to finish. He hasn't figured a way to post up the man covering him either. Maybe a fall away would help.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Shot selection... that's all. Been his problem from the get go since he arrived in the league. Hope he improves on that regard. His shot is not as bad as the results have been.

Though I liked much of what he showed in Summer League, I was still worried about his putrid shot selection. Of course people had no problem with it because it didn't matter, he needed to put some reps up. It continued into this season, even worse I'd say.

Was hoping to see him getting to the basket a bit more this season.

[TheTruthFot18]

Unlike Elfrid and Mudiay, Smart has never been given the keys to run the team as its primarily ball handler and point guard.

We got to see in Summer League what he can do. He needs reps at point and needs to be playing D on the other teams point in order to force more to's and dominate defensively.

With Turner and IT4 on the roster, it will be near impossible for him to  get real minutes at the point. At least in terms of actually running the offense. Turner and IT4 are better ball handlers and playmakers at the moment anyway.

[Tr1boy]

Smart = bigger Derek Fisher

He needs to fine tune his shooting. Anything else is gravy.

3 pt shooting, correct passes, limit turnovers. He is already an incredible defender. His bread and butter