When will Smart start to take over?

[walker834]

Tough when you are playing limited minutes and he's been as up and down with injuries.  But take a guy like Michael Carter Williams.  He's a 15, 5 and 5 guy with high steals and a field goal percentage and turnover killer.  No 3 pt shot.  Probably playing more minutes than he should be. Smart so far has been a sub 10,  4 and 4 guy with steals and 3's and poor field goal percentage. I'd like to see more though.  Talent wise he's still one of our most  talented players and really should be able to establish himself more than what he's shown.  He's playing behind Isaiah and Bradley now so going to be tough. He's also a pg and it takes time but he really should start to impact our rotation later this year and into next season.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I don't see Smart starting again this season.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

SMAHT WILL BEAST ONE DAY!

[wiley]

I don't see Smart starting again this season.

I think if he's healthy he'll definitely go back to starting..
I'm guessing in place of Bradley who was great off the bench..

Even more so if Danny wants to keep pushing Smart on the Kings
In his boogie pursuit...or for someone else.

[jpotter33]

I don't think our current team is conducive to him ever reaching his potential. We're a good team as a whole, but we're so system- and team-oriented that it's not the best place for potential stars to develop and hone their skills. A wasteland like Philly is probably better for him to become a better offensive player overall, because he'll get many more reps and a lot more freedom to do what he wants.

Now that I think about it, having him run the second unit might be the best for all parties involved. If we give him the reins to the second unit and tell him to go out there and dominate (similar to IT last year), it's probably best for our team as a whole and his development. That actually makes a ton of sense, and it would have the extra benefit of getting the ball out of Turner's hands!

[wiley]

I wonder why people worry so much about smart.  He's doing fantastically.  Do people forget how bummed out they were when he got injured?

[walker834]

I'm not worried about him. He's my favorite player and it's more a matter of time.  It's more a matter of when than if with me.  He's doing fine like you say just growing and fitting in. Players pick up bad habits playing major minutes early anyways.  See MCW.   I could see him being a catalyst with the 2nd unit.  I'd like to see him as our starting pg though. It doesn't mater overly and having Thomas and Smart is a good problem to have but I'd like to see Smart, Bradley and Thomas all producing and Turner become expendable.

I think the future and core of our team is that.  Smart isn't there yet that's the thing.  But ideally Smart, Thomas and Bradley all producing would be pretty good.

Right now Smart is more a sparkplug , plug and play defensive guy with some offense and a guy who can play all over the place and his consistency needs work.

[walker834]

Having Smart and another consistant scorer or 2 is really the difference between us being a good team and unstoppable team. If Smart is out there every night putting up good offensive stats within the offense it's only going to make us a better team.

He has room to grow too without affecting other players so much. His percentages go up as well as his rebounds and assists where he's shooting a good percentage and putting up 15-5-5 lines most nights thats going to be good for everyone.

[Eja117]

He has to stay on the court first

[Rosco917]

I actually think if Smart could take the next step with his scoring, and with the type of ball movement system we have, he and IT make a nice 1-2 punch at point guard.

IT presents a completely different look from Smart. It's an adjustment if you're the opposing team to deal with both coming in and out, and playing together.

[LarBrd33]

If he makes it back this season and looks as awful offensively as he did earlier this year, his trade value is going to plummet pretty rapidly.  The thing about "potential" is that you need to show progress.  Smart hasn't really shown any. 

Still think he could peak out as tony Allen on defense and Rodney stuckey on offense, but he might just be a long-term defensive role player.

[alldaboston]

I think the biggest thing for smart is his shot selection. he takes wayy too many contested threes and he's off balance on a lot of them too. its one of the main reasons why i wasnt pleased with his summer league this year, despite the high scoring average. he takes bad three pointers, and when he happens to make them, he heaves them up even more. he really needs to learn to use that big body of his, whether it's driving to the rim or posting up smaller guards. i hope he starts doing that more when he returns.

[hwangjini_1]

I don't see Smart starting again this season.

I think if he's healthy he'll definitely go back to starting..
I'm guessing in place of Bradley who was great off the bench..

Even more so if Danny wants to keep pushing Smart on the Kings
In his boogie pursuit...or for someone else.

i missed this. any links?

[kozlodoev]

Still think he could peak out as tony Allen on defense and Rodney stuckey on offense, but he might just be a long-term defensive role player.

I'm not really sure what else people expect of him. He's not going to magically acquire a better first step or a quicker release.

Even if you use Bradley as a blueprint of a player who has improved reasonably well, you can't talk about him 'taking over' anything.

[alldaboston]

Still think he could peak out as tony Allen on defense and Rodney stuckey on offense, but he might just be a long-term defensive role player.

I'm not really sure what else people expect of him. He's not going to magically acquire a better first step or a quicker release.

Even if you use Bradley as a blueprint of a player who has improved reasonably well, you can't talk about him 'taking over' anything.

well, we have seen him take over before. there was that wizards game last year that (i think) went to overtime, and smart was a key offensive cog. this year, the first spurs game and the OKC game immediately come to mind as games where he took over. I still think he has the talent and potential to take over games as he gets older and sees the game better.