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.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smartma01/on-off/2016/
Too bad there's such a thing as context and you can't just ignore evidence that doesn't fit your narrative! Seriously, you're getting pretty ridiculous in your bias. His on/off stats suggest the opposite of what you're implying...
I think it's hilarious when people call me ridiculously bias when they are being ridiculously bias. Marcus Smart has been bad. If he wasn't playing for the Celtics, you wouldn't be defending him. This article really summed it up.
Is Marcus Smart talented enough to become that franchise cornerstone, that star — what the team and its media have already sold him to you as being?
I’m sorry, Celtics fans, but the answer is no. He’s not talented enough to become your team’s cornerstone. And he may not even be talented enough to remain in the league longer than a few more years, based on how he’s played this season. I mean, there might be a roster spot somewhere in the NBA for a power forward or center who is as offensively inept as Smart, but who excels on the defensive end of the floor. But a point guard? I doubt it.
I know what you’re going to say: Smart’s fingers were hurt earlier on in the year! Couldn’t you see they were taped? Yes, I could. I can also see that plenty of other players around the league have to tape their fingers up on occasion, too. But what I don’t see are any players with offensive numbers as terrible as Marcus’ have been.
And if taped fingers were such an obstacle for Marcus, why was he playing? If Brad and Danny, both of whom seem to be of sound basketball mind, knew Smart’s taped fingers were preventing him from being able to perform, why would he have been allowed on the court? A quick google images search of Reggie Miller, one of the great shooters in NBA history, shows that he either preferred having his fingers taped or simply played at a hall of fame level throughout his career in spite of this. At the least, taped fingers and shooting success aren’t mutually exclusive.
And, please, don’t bring up Marcus’ recent knee injury as an excuse — or anything else, for that matter. You know why, Celtics fans? Because there is no excuse for what I’m about to tell you….
Marcus Smart doesn’t qualify for ESPN’s rankings of the top 32 points guard in the NBA by overall field goal percentage because he’s not on pace to convert at least 300 field goals this season. What if he were, though? Where would he rank? That would be dead last, Celtics fans. The worst qualifying player is currently the Brooklyn Nets’ Jarret Jack, who was shooting a putrid .391% from the field before suffering a season ending knee injury. But what Smart is shooting makes Jarrett Jack look like the deadliest of snipers — an utterly shameful .321%, which is .070% points worse than Jack. Now, if you added .070% points to Jack’s field goal percentage, his current ranking would vault all the way from last to 5th, placing him ahead of the likes of superstars Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.
You know what, we really shouldn’t say that Marcus is “shooting” .321% from the field. Saying that Marcus is “chucking” .321% would be more appropos.
But wait, Celtics fans, there’s more! Let’s take a look a Smart’s three point shooting, all by itself. Marcus Smart doesn’t qualify for ESPN’s rankings of the top 31 points guards by three point shooting, either, because he’s not on pace to make at least 82 threes. But if he were, his .217% would rank him last once again, this time .077% points worse than the next most awful shooter. Hold on, Jeff, if Smart can’t shoot, can he at least put his teammates in a position to score? Unfortunately, Celtics fans, he can’t. If Marcus qualified for ESPN’s point guard assist rankings, he would be averaging the 3rd fewest assists per game of any of the 79 qualifying players who have played as many minutes per game as he has.
I understand that the Celtics’ organization and media have a vested interest in growing the support of and belief in their team’s players, particularly one whom the team is as deeply invested in as Marcus Smart. After all, the Celtics took Smart with the 6th overall pick in the highly touted 2014 NBA draft. So, the organization and media really can’t be expected to do anything other than package him to us with the biggest, prettiest green bow on top they can come up with. The league is a business. Fans must tune into games and buy tickets and jerseys in order for it to survive. Thus, marketing has a natural place.
Jeff nailed it here.
Yeah, it's cool. Deny the evidence that again shows that you're wrong and that Marcus is still a big all-around plus on the floor, despite your insistence due to the record that he's hurting the team. That's pretty much your MO anymore, right?
And I'll interpret your statement for others that aren't used to your biased philosophy. "This article really summed it up" equals "this article confirms my previous biases."
Oh, and, no, I like Smart because of the way he plays the game and the fire that he plays with. It has nothing to do with him being on the Celtics.
Topic: hardwood houdini just did hatchet job on marcus (Read 7873 times)