hardwood houdini just did hatchet job on marcus

[hwangjini_1]

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.

my god. such obvious trolling. you seem to delight in stirring up people here.

[Beat LA]

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.  I think the defensiveness is mostly about securing Smart's trade value.  The hope here is to package him with the Brooklyn pick and expiring contracts and land a real star.   But let's be straight... he's been pretty bad. 

I still think he can find a rhythm and get it together... but he isn't really coming from a history of success offensively.  At least with scrubs like Stauskas (who I don't rank nearly as high as Smart), they have a track record of shooting to lean on and build optimism for.   Smart wasn't a good offensive player in College.  He was inefficient even then.   It's been discouraging watching him this season.   I'm still trying to have faith.

It's been discouraging to watch him pretty much since day one, lol.  As much as I'd like to believe that losing 20 pounds would help his ability even just to elevate near the hoop, I doubt it will.  At this point, I think it could argued that that draft is one of the rare occasions in NBA history in which it would have been better for us to have traded down, for, say, Chicago's picks at 16 and 19, leaving us with 16, 17, and 19, so even if we still whiffed on Young, we still could have wound up with Hood and McGary .  Then again, perhaps it would just be better to just invent a time machine and then go back and take Hood, McGary, and Clarkson, lol .

[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.

my god. such obvious trolling. you seem to delight in stirring up people here.

Nobody is doubting Smart's hustle and ability to read passes on the defensive end.  He's seems like a good kid and seems hungry... and we can only hope that pays dividends long-term.  Chad Ford ranked him pretty high in future rankings based on the concept that while Smart might be bad right now, he's got a mentality that you can bet on... the idea that eventually Smart is going to will himself into being a good player.  Here's hoping.   But right now he's 11th on the team in PER (10.6)... he's 8th on the team in defensive rating.  He's 8th on the team in Box Plus/Minus.  He's 7th on the team in VORP.   He's 8th on the team in Defensive box plus/minus.  He's 9th on the team in Win shares per 48 minutes.  He's 9th on the team in defensive win shares.   13th on the team in true shooting percentage.   The team has a losing record with him and a winning record without him.

Where exactly are these mystery statistics that prove Smart's value this year?  Point them out to me.  Pretty much every stat I find seems to suggest he's struggling.   I created a thread asking if Smart was a candidate for All-Defense team... asked for some insight from some fans who could point to some statistics that back up his claim... legitimately was curious if he had one and how he stacked up against his peers.  The most I got was some cryptic response about how Smart makes the team better and some out of context stats that didn't compare him to anyone else in the league. 

I'm not trolling anyone... he's been awful.  He's the most disappointing thing about this season for me.   I expected far far more than this.   If anything, I'm being group trolled by fans who are choosing to ignore how bad Smart has been and would rather gloat about how some hack ESPN insider article said Andrew Wiggins is a disappointment.  That's annoying. 

And again, all of this might be old news a month from now.  Here's hoping Smart goes on an unprecedented run of offensive competence.  HIs trade value is plummeting.  We need a string of good games from him.  My enthusiasm for the Marcus Banks era is at an all time low.

[Beat LA]

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.

my god. such obvious trolling. you seem to delight in stirring up people here.

Nobody is doubting Smart's hustle and ability to read passes on the defensive end.  He's seems like a good kid and seems hungry... and we can only hope that pays dividends long-term.  Chad Ford ranked him pretty high in future rankings based on the concept that while Smart might be bad right now, he's got a mentality that you can bet on... the idea that eventually Smart is going to will himself into being a good player.  Here's hoping.   But right now he's 11th on the team in PER (10.6)... he's 8th on the team in defensive rating.  He's 8th on the team in Box Plus/Minus.  He's 7th on the team in VORP.   He's 8th on the team in Defensive box plus/minus.  He's 9th on the team in Win shares per 48 minutes.  He's 9th on the team in defensive win shares.   13th on the team in true shooting percentage.   The team has a losing record with him and a winning record without him.

Where exactly are these mystery statistics that prove Smart's value this year?  Point them out to me.  Pretty much every stat I find seems to suggest he's struggling.   I created a thread asking if Smart was a candidate for All-Defense team... asked for some insight from some fans who could point to some statistics that back up his claim... legitimately was curious if he had one and how he stacked up against his peers.  The most I got was some cryptic response about how Smart makes the team better and some out of context stats that didn't compare him to anyone else in the league. 

I'm not trolling anyone... he's been awful.  He's the most disappointing thing about this season for me.   I expected far far more than this.   If anything, I'm being group trolled by fans who are choosing to ignore how bad Smart has been and would rather gloat about how some hack ESPN insider article said Andrew Wiggins is a disappointment.  That's annoying. 

And again, all of this might be old news a month from now.  Here's hoping Smart goes on an unprecedented run of offensive competence.  HIs trade value is plummeting.  We need a string of good games from him.  My enthusiasm for the Marcus Banks era is at an all time low.

While I think analytics are crap, what the hell is VORP?  Is that like the Vulcan version of warp drive, lol?  And hey, who even knew that Smart had a true shooting percentage?  I mean, he might not have been a great scorer in college (I never followed his play) percentage wise, but at least he lived at the line and still averaged 18 ppg in his last season.  Perhaps it's time to start asking -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9LdMPUWV-Q

Lol.

[jpotter33]

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.

my god. such obvious trolling. you seem to delight in stirring up people here.

Nobody is doubting Smart's hustle and ability to read passes on the defensive end.  He's seems like a good kid and seems hungry... and we can only hope that pays dividends long-term.  Chad Ford ranked him pretty high in future rankings based on the concept that while Smart might be bad right now, he's got a mentality that you can bet on... the idea that eventually Smart is going to will himself into being a good player.  Here's hoping.   But right now he's 11th on the team in PER (10.6)... he's 8th on the team in defensive rating.  He's 8th on the team in Box Plus/Minus.  He's 7th on the team in VORP.   He's 8th on the team in Defensive box plus/minus.  He's 9th on the team in Win shares per 48 minutes.  He's 9th on the team in defensive win shares.   13th on the team in true shooting percentage.   The team has a losing record with him and a winning record without him.

Where exactly are these mystery statistics that prove Smart's value this year?  Point them out to me.  Pretty much every stat I find seems to suggest he's struggling.   I created a thread asking if Smart was a candidate for All-Defense team... asked for some insight from some fans who could point to some statistics that back up his claim... legitimately was curious if he had one and how he stacked up against his peers.  The most I got was some cryptic response about how Smart makes the team better and some out of context stats that didn't compare him to anyone else in the league. 

I'm not trolling anyone... he's been awful.  He's the most disappointing thing about this season for me.   I expected far far more than this.   If anything, I'm being group trolled by fans who are choosing to ignore how bad Smart has been and would rather gloat about how some hack ESPN insider article said Andrew Wiggins is a disappointment.  That's annoying. 

And again, all of this might be old news a month from now.  Here's hoping Smart goes on an unprecedented run of offensive competence.  HIs trade value is plummeting.  We need a string of good games from him.  My enthusiasm for the Marcus Banks era is at an all time low.

Even for you, it's astounding that you are so far gone that you can legitimately say something like this, while you simultaneously quote out of context stats...

[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.

my god. such obvious trolling. you seem to delight in stirring up people here.

Nobody is doubting Smart's hustle and ability to read passes on the defensive end.  He's seems like a good kid and seems hungry... and we can only hope that pays dividends long-term.  Chad Ford ranked him pretty high in future rankings based on the concept that while Smart might be bad right now, he's got a mentality that you can bet on... the idea that eventually Smart is going to will himself into being a good player.  Here's hoping.   But right now he's 11th on the team in PER (10.6)... he's 8th on the team in defensive rating.  He's 8th on the team in Box Plus/Minus.  He's 7th on the team in VORP.   He's 8th on the team in Defensive box plus/minus.  He's 9th on the team in Win shares per 48 minutes.  He's 9th on the team in defensive win shares.   13th on the team in true shooting percentage.   The team has a losing record with him and a winning record without him.

Where exactly are these mystery statistics that prove Smart's value this year?  Point them out to me.  Pretty much every stat I find seems to suggest he's struggling.   I created a thread asking if Smart was a candidate for All-Defense team... asked for some insight from some fans who could point to some statistics that back up his claim... legitimately was curious if he had one and how he stacked up against his peers.  The most I got was some cryptic response about how Smart makes the team better and some out of context stats that didn't compare him to anyone else in the league. 

I'm not trolling anyone... he's been awful.  He's the most disappointing thing about this season for me.   I expected far far more than this.   If anything, I'm being group trolled by fans who are choosing to ignore how bad Smart has been and would rather gloat about how some hack ESPN insider article said Andrew Wiggins is a disappointment.  That's annoying. 

And again, all of this might be old news a month from now.  Here's hoping Smart goes on an unprecedented run of offensive competence.  HIs trade value is plummeting.  We need a string of good games from him.  My enthusiasm for the Marcus Banks era is at an all time low.

Even for you, it's astounding that you are so far gone that you can legitimately say something like this, while you simultaneously quote out of context stats...

I gave context... he's 8th, 9th, 13th, 7th, 8th...   Bottom half of his team in almost every statistical category.

What's out of context is when someone says "his true shooting percentage is 40%... that's not that bad!!"... without telling me how that stacks up to players in the league... let alone his own team.

[alldaboston]

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.

my god. such obvious trolling. you seem to delight in stirring up people here.

Nobody is doubting Smart's hustle and ability to read passes on the defensive end.  He's seems like a good kid and seems hungry... and we can only hope that pays dividends long-term.  Chad Ford ranked him pretty high in future rankings based on the concept that while Smart might be bad right now, he's got a mentality that you can bet on... the idea that eventually Smart is going to will himself into being a good player.  Here's hoping.   But right now he's 11th on the team in PER (10.6)... he's 8th on the team in defensive rating.  He's 8th on the team in Box Plus/Minus.  He's 7th on the team in VORP.   He's 8th on the team in Defensive box plus/minus.  He's 9th on the team in Win shares per 48 minutes.  He's 9th on the team in defensive win shares.   13th on the team in true shooting percentage.   The team has a losing record with him and a winning record without him.

Where exactly are these mystery statistics that prove Smart's value this year?  Point them out to me.  Pretty much every stat I find seems to suggest he's struggling.   I created a thread asking if Smart was a candidate for All-Defense team... asked for some insight from some fans who could point to some statistics that back up his claim... legitimately was curious if he had one and how he stacked up against his peers.  The most I got was some cryptic response about how Smart makes the team better and some out of context stats that didn't compare him to anyone else in the league. 

I'm not trolling anyone... he's been awful.  He's the most disappointing thing about this season for me.   I expected far far more than this.   If anything, I'm being group trolled by fans who are choosing to ignore how bad Smart has been and would rather gloat about how some hack ESPN insider article said Andrew Wiggins is a disappointment.  That's annoying. 

And again, all of this might be old news a month from now.  Here's hoping Smart goes on an unprecedented run of offensive competence.  HIs trade value is plummeting.  We need a string of good games from him.  My enthusiasm for the Marcus Banks era is at an all time low.

Even for you, it's astounding that you are so far gone that you can legitimately say something like this, while you simultaneously quote out of context stats...

I gave context... he's 8th, 9th, 13th, 7th, 8th...   Bottom half of his team in almost every statistical category.

What's out of context is when someone says "his true shooting percentage is 40%... that's not that bad!!"... without telling me how that stacks up to players in the league... let alone his own team.

Last year

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smartma01/on-off/2015/

Won't use this years numbers since relatively small sample size, but if you wanna see:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smartma01/on-off/2016/

Regardless of which year, we are better with him ON the court. I'm sure this years numbers will go up as he gets more PT and any remaining minutes restrictions are over. Maybe him starting will be the thing he needs to boost his numbers and also get us going like post-all-star-break of last season.

Quit being such a Debbie downer.