Marcus Smart-Slowly But Surely Growing

[PickNRoll]

I checked out the box +/- for every game to see if the numbers actually match what I said. Pretty close.  Streaky to start, then strong for a stretch, then a horrible funk.  Here's a view of it:



https://www.screencast.com/t/87ikMCc3C

Tidbits
He's been positive 43 games
negative 29 games
even 5 games
when he's positive, the Celtics are 36-7
when he's negative or even, the Celtics are 15-19
He outperformed the team +/- 37 times by an average of 6.6pts

[Dino Pitino]

And his shot hasn't improved one iota in three years.

That may be true number-wise, but his misses are closer and softer now, his form has definitely improved, way fewer bricks and airballs.

[td450]

I think he's headed in the other direction. He lucked out that AB missed a third of the season and Terry Rozier had a disappointing year. It's hard to believe, but Rozier somehow turned out to be almost as bad a shooter as Marcus.

I would say his best chance its to hope that we make a major trade. If we draft Fultz or Ball, and don't trade Jaylen, he's going to have to live with playing at most 15-20 minutes per night.

Smart is more than  a 15-20 minute player. His shot is coming around. He needs to post up more is the big issue for him. He needs to Lead to instead of letting IT do it. His will is bigger than most players and that means something. He will work on his shot to improve his game to the next level.

How many minutes he gets is dependent on who else is he competing against. He might get the minutes on 25 teams in the league, but not on the C's next year. There will be a lot of talent competing for time unless a deal is made. This year he is clearly a strong third guy.

I'm sorry, but Jaylen Brown will be a better player by next year. If we get Fultz too...

[mctyson]

Tidbits
He's been positive 43 games
negative 29 games
even 5 games
when he's positive, the Celtics are 36-7
when he's negative or even, the Celtics are 15-19
He outperformed the team +/- 37 times by an average of 6.6pts

No doubt in my mind that if Marcus plays well (ie positive) this team is good enough to make the Finals.

[celtics2030]

This may just be me but I used to worry Smart would warrant some sort of huge contract and it would be tough to keep this team together. I don't worry about Smart any more. To me he is clearly not an NBA all star any time soon, and may max out in a sort of Avery Bradley type territory. To me at most you look at how much money the best 6th man is making and pay him less than that. Smart has just not taken that step towards greatness. He's taken it towards goodness.

This MUST be a record for a first reply bump to a thread. Over one year from the OP. How did Eja even find the post? What made it memorable?

I used the search function and looked for "Marcus Smart"

Did you find my Marcus Smart vs Elfrid Payton one? I doubt anyone would want to bump that one up

[celtics2030]

I think he's headed in the other direction. He lucked out that AB missed a third of the season and Terry Rozier had a disappointing year. It's hard to believe, but Rozier somehow turned out to be almost as bad a shooter as Marcus.

I would say his best chance its to hope that we make a major trade. If we draft Fultz or Ball, and don't trade Jaylen, he's going to have to live with playing at most 15-20 minutes per night.

Rozier is shooting 32% from 3 , not good, and only 36.7 from the field

but he does not get opportunities. He is not worse than Smart in that department.

[celtics2030]

I love Marcus Smart . I really do, I want him to be good, when I talk about him , it is more of what I think his skillset and what ability he has to be successful.

I don't know If he can become a player on offense that I would want him to. He has the passion, the heart and the competiveness for sure, but I don't think his frame and athletic ability will allow him to do that.

With this said, he is a big X factor on this team, and man if he plays well , we will be insanely tough to beat.