hardwood houdini just did hatchet job on marcus

[Eddie20]

It's fair.  Marcus is deserving of criticism at this point.  I still have hope he will make improvements but just yesterday I was a little annoyed by ESPN dumping on "disappointing" prospects like Wiggins while ignoring how disappointing smart has been.  He's been bad.  We have a losing record this season with him on the court.  Shades of rondo without the passing ability.

Annoyed? You're so biased, it's ridiculous.

[CelticPride2016]

Smart is bad at shooting. He has to figure it out or is a defensive specialist. He could get it done if he can drive to the hoop and hit free throws. He is also not very impressive with ft shooting.

He is a top four rotation guard on any team. He is not the problem. He is not a transcendent savior like Bird or Magic, but he is certainly a savior on defense. He is young and has had some injuries. I think people should be patient and not throw him under the bus just yet for his dismal shooting.

He probably won't get much better for jump shots, but he could adapt and the team could still excel with him as a starter. He may not play pretty, but he is a winner. Dennis Rodman wasn't known for offense, but he was one of the all-time greats. All players have holes in their games. I would not trade Marcus Smart. He's a great player to have for the next ten+ years.

[walker834]

He isn't tom brady.  He's Dont'a Hightower lol.

Sully and KO are more like offensive lineman.  People think Sully is fat but I think we should resign him.

[LarBrd33]

It's fair.  Marcus is deserving of criticism at this point.  I still have hope he will make improvements but just yesterday I was a little annoyed by ESPN dumping on "disappointing" prospects like Wiggins while ignoring how disappointing smart has been.  He's been bad.  We have a losing record this season with him on the court.  Shades of rondo without the passing ability.

Annoyed?

Yes, Annoyed... It's good to see someone shooting straight on Smart.  He's been a disappointment.

[Ogaju]

First, I doubt that is our very own Jeff Clark.

Second, the article has to be put in context. It seems that the article set up its own bogey man. It asserts that the Celtics have pronounced Smart as the club's savior, then proceeds to call the organization out as selling the fans a bill of goods on this account.  Well, if the organization issued a memo that Smart is the savior I missed that memo. If the organization has truly sold Smart as the savior then they did lie, because he is not.

[Eddie20]

It's fair.  Marcus is deserving of criticism at this point.  I still have hope he will make improvements but just yesterday I was a little annoyed by ESPN dumping on "disappointing" prospects like Wiggins while ignoring how disappointing smart has been.  He's been bad.  We have a losing record this season with him on the court.  Shades of rondo without the passing ability.

Annoyed?

Yes, Annoyed... It's good to see someone shooting straight on Smart.  He's been a disappointment.

The way you worded it is sounds like you're more annoyed that they were critical of guys you salivate over (Noel, Okafor, Stauskas, and Randle) rather than it's exclusion of Smart. I'm not sure if I'm ever seen a Celtic fan (cough cough) be "annoyed" that a player on his favorite team (cough cough) isn't ripped in an article.

Step back and analyze your posts with an open mind so you can see why many people have such an issue with your opinions that are critical of all things Celtics. There is no consistency from you either. As your pessimistic views simply don't exist for the rest of the league.

[chambers]

56 games for god's sake. Give him at least 82 games before dumping on him.
Shooting and shot selection is a problem- needs to have more sets run for him and be allowed to take it to the hole more. Everything else is A+ for me.

[LarBrd33]

It's fair.  Marcus is deserving of criticism at this point.  I still have hope he will make improvements but just yesterday I was a little annoyed by ESPN dumping on "disappointing" prospects like Wiggins while ignoring how disappointing smart has been.  He's been bad.  We have a losing record this season with him on the court.  Shades of rondo without the passing ability.

Annoyed?

Yes, Annoyed... It's good to see someone shooting straight on Smart.  He's been a disappointment.

The way you worded it is sounds like you're more annoyed that they were critical of guys you salivate over

I mean... it was critical of guys like Noel, who I'd definitely trade Smart for... and Andrew Wiggins... who you'd obviously trade Smart for.    And the article was paraded around like, "Haha these rookies/sophomores stink" which seemed incredibly hypocritical to me considering that smart has been supremely disappointing.  That's what I felt was annoying... 

It's nice to see this article point out what that ESPN insider article neglected to include... we expected more than this out of Smart.  It's a bummer.

I have faith he'll make progress, though.

[kozlodoev]

He isn't tom brady.  He's Dont'a Hightower lol.

Except you can't play him just on the defensive snaps, so tough luck.

[oldtype]

Smart is otherworldly good on defense and otherworldly bad on offense.

He is a useful player as is and given his age, it is not unreasonable to hope/expect he becomes a bit more.

He's a actually a really easy player to evaluate. Trouble comes when people decide they need to have conclusive opinions not just on what he is but also on what he will be

[Ilikesports17]

It's fair.  Marcus is deserving of criticism at this point.  I still have hope he will make improvements but just yesterday I was a little annoyed by ESPN dumping on "disappointing" prospects like Wiggins while ignoring how disappointing smart has been.  He's been bad.  We have a losing record this season with him on the court.  Shades of rondo without the passing ability.

Annoyed?

Yes, Annoyed... It's good to see someone shooting straight on Smart.  He's been a disappointment.

The way you worded it is sounds like you're more annoyed that they were critical of guys you salivate over

I mean... it was critical of guys like Noel, who I'd definitely trade Smart for... and Andrew Wiggins... who you'd obviously trade Smart for.    And the article was paraded around like, "Haha these rookies/sophomores stink" which seemed incredibly hypocritical to me considering that smart has been supremely disappointing.  That's what I felt was annoying...

I still don't get how a c's fan would be annoyed by this unless he wanted Marcus to be a failure.

I mean these experts have questionable opinions but if a guy who gets payed to analyze basketball says a player on your team is dissapointing it kinda sucks because it means a man knowledgeable about basketball doesn't think he's doing well.

As an admitted pessimist and Cs fan(supposedly) I would think you would be excited to find that experts don't see him as disappointing and think to yourself "maybe my pessimism is clouding my judgement of smart? Maybe these guys see something I don't see?"

 i expected Marcus to be on the list but I sure as hell wasn't disappointed win I found he wasn't.

[KeepRondo]

Smart would make a better volleyball player. Did you guys see that nice set he had on his last drive?

Still SMH at that Spike.

[LarBrd33]

Smart is otherworldly good on defense and otherworldly bad on offense.

He is a useful player as is and given his age, it is not unreasonable to hope/expect he becomes a bit more.

He's a actually a really easy player to evaluate. Trouble comes when people decide they need to have conclusive opinions not just on what he is but also on what he will be

If he was a big man who was otherworldly good on defense and otherworldly bad on offense, I'd be ok with it.  But this is a guard-centric league.  You need offense from that position.   

I think there's a reason we are 7-9 in games he's played and 12-9 in games he's sat...  I hate to say it, but it's the same [dang] problem we had with Rajon Rondo.  In the modern NBA you can't have a complete offensive liability as one of your two main guards.  That's a problem.  At least Rondo could create for other players.  Smart is a one dimensional player at the wrong position... and you can't build a defense around a really good defensive guard. 

Hence why I'd gladly trade Smart for Nerlens Noel if Philly was willing to do it.  But I don't think Philly would make that move. 

And again... Smart's just 21 years old... he can turn it around.  But this article isn't really saying anything that isn't true.

[indeedproceed]

Just read it.  A little hard to believe Jeff wrote that.  Is there another Jeff Clark out there?

I completely understand being disappointed by Marcus, but focusing only on what his shooting numbers have been so far this year blatantly disregards some very important context.

Could be worthwhile to, you know, look at his full body of work so far, first of all, and second of all, compare him to similarly situated players.  First and second year players with a similar role on their team and a somewhat comparable skillset.

Yes, Smart has been sold to us as the next big thing for the Celts.  I agree with the sentiment of the article which is that Smart is probably not that.  I'm pretty confident, still, that he'll eventually be a very valuable role player, if not for the Celts then for somebody else.

80% sure that's another Jeff Clark.

I am 100% sure its not our Jeff Clark.

[LarBrd33]

It's fair.  Marcus is deserving of criticism at this point.  I still have hope he will make improvements but just yesterday I was a little annoyed by ESPN dumping on "disappointing" prospects like Wiggins while ignoring how disappointing smart has been.  He's been bad.  We have a losing record this season with him on the court.  Shades of rondo without the passing ability.

Annoyed?

Yes, Annoyed... It's good to see someone shooting straight on Smart.  He's been a disappointment.

The way you worded it is sounds like you're more annoyed that they were critical of guys you salivate over

I mean... it was critical of guys like Noel, who I'd definitely trade Smart for... and Andrew Wiggins... who you'd obviously trade Smart for.    And the article was paraded around like, "Haha these rookies/sophomores stink" which seemed incredibly hypocritical to me considering that smart has been supremely disappointing.  That's what I felt was annoying...

I still don't get how a c's fan would be annoyed by this unless he wanted Marcus to be a failure.

I mean these experts have questionable opinions but if a guy who gets payed to analyze basketball says a player on your team is dissapointing it kinda sucks because it means a man knowledgeable about basketball doesn't think he's doing well.

As an admitted pessimist and Cs fan(supposedly) I would think you would be excited to find that experts don't see him as disappointing and think to yourself "maybe my pessimism is clouding my judgement of smart? Maybe these guys see something I don't see?"

 i expected Marcus to be on the list but I sure as hell wasn't disappointed win I found he wasn't.

I think Smart was left off the ESPN list, because Marcus Smart is irrelevant to that writer.  He probably wrote him off before he even entered the league and can't be disappointed in failing to achieve success.  It's the same reason I wouldn't include Terry Rozier or RJ Hunter in a "most disappointing rookie" list... they are doing exactly what I expected them to do... spending their time in D-League.  With Smart, I thought he'd be running the team at this point... not shooting like a poor man's Rajon Rondo.