Marcus Smart-Slowly But Surely Growing

[straightouttabahstun]

There's always a mixed crowd when it comes to the guy. Being at the game tonight, I saw something different about him than last year. Between his body language and the way he communicates,  he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the game. Remember that article a while back that compared him to James Harden? His ball handling tonight was beginning to remind me of him a little bit. And he's changing his speed a little bit more now. More hesitation. Little more start and stop rather than full on chugging along at 100 mph. Sure, he won't be a 15-20 ppg guy this year, maybe not even next year. But look at that passing, that rebounding, and tenacious defense. I think with how he's improving, he'll be in Boston for a while.

[Eja117]

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.

[KG Living Legend]

 He's slowly growing. Nice. You think he will end up being around 6'6" that would be perfect.

[celtics2030]

There's always a mixed crowd when it comes to the guy. Being at the game tonight, I saw something different about him than last year. Between his body language and the way he communicates,  he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the game. Remember that article a while back that compared him to James Harden? His ball handling tonight was beginning to remind me of him a little bit. And he's changing his speed a little bit more now. More hesitation. Little more start and stop rather than full on chugging along at 100 mph. Sure, he won't be a 15-20 ppg guy this year, maybe not even next year. But look at that passing, that rebounding, and tenacious defense. I think with how he's improving, he'll be in Boston for a while.

Marcus Smart ball handling like James Harden ? Are you kidding me?

I am losing faith.

You Smart fans are incredible lol. I love you guys.

[Csfan1984]

I think his handling and passing has improved but it's not at a high level yet. I'd slightly above average.

Rebounding and defense is good

Shooting is horrible

[Somebody]

There's always a mixed crowd when it comes to the guy. Being at the game tonight, I saw something different about him than last year. Between his body language and the way he communicates,  he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the game. Remember that article a while back that compared him to James Harden? His ball handling tonight was beginning to remind me of him a little bit. And he's changing his speed a little bit more now. More hesitation. Little more start and stop rather than full on chugging along at 100 mph. Sure, he won't be a 15-20 ppg guy this year, maybe not even next year. But look at that passing, that rebounding, and tenacious defense. I think with how he's improving, he'll be in Boston for a while.

Marcus Smart ball handling like James Harden ? Are you kidding me?

I am losing faith.

You Smart fans are incredible lol. I love you guys.

Ithink he wants to say that Smart is handling the ball with some of Harden's tendencies (which is good for him) rather than handling like Harden.

[hpantazo]

I think his handling and passing has improved but it's not at a high level yet. I'd slightly above average.

Rebounding and defense is good exceptional

Shooting is horrible

[Smartacus]

There's always a mixed crowd when it comes to the guy. Being at the game tonight, I saw something different about him than last year. Between his body language and the way he communicates,  he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the game. Remember that article a while back that compared him to James Harden? His ball handling tonight was beginning to remind me of him a little bit. And he's changing his speed a little bit more now. More hesitation. Little more start and stop rather than full on chugging along at 100 mph. Sure, he won't be a 15-20 ppg guy this year, maybe not even next year. But look at that passing, that rebounding, and tenacious defense. I think with how he's improving, he'll be in Boston for a while.

Marcus Smart ball handling like James Harden ? Are you kidding me?

I am losing faith.

You Smart fans are incredible lol. I love you guys.

Ithink he wants to say that Smart is handling the ball with some of Harden's tendencies (which is good for him) rather than handling like Harden.

That's how I read it. Lets not forget that Harden just broke the record for most turnovers in a season, he's not known for having the tightest handle. He's just decisive and elusive and has a knack for changing speeds which are traits Smart also shows.

The comparison isn't talking about shooting or finishing at the rim, it's talking about how he operates with the ball in his hand which isn't too far from how Harden dribbles.

[Ogaju]

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?

[Tr1boy]

There's always a mixed crowd when it comes to the guy. Being at the game tonight, I saw something different about him than last year. Between his body language and the way he communicates,  he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the game. Remember that article a while back that compared him to James Harden? His ball handling tonight was beginning to remind me of him a little bit. And he's changing his speed a little bit more now. More hesitation. Little more start and stop rather than full on chugging along at 100 mph. Sure, he won't be a 15-20 ppg guy this year, maybe not even next year. But look at that passing, that rebounding, and tenacious defense. I think with how he's improving, he'll be in Boston for a while.

When will his fg percentage grow??

Even at 40 percent it would be amazing

[incoherent]

So with a 100 million salary cap how much of that is Smart worth each year?

12-15?

[celtics2030]

There's always a mixed crowd when it comes to the guy. Being at the game tonight, I saw something different about him than last year. Between his body language and the way he communicates,  he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the game. Remember that article a while back that compared him to James Harden? His ball handling tonight was beginning to remind me of him a little bit. And he's changing his speed a little bit more now. More hesitation. Little more start and stop rather than full on chugging along at 100 mph. Sure, he won't be a 15-20 ppg guy this year, maybe not even next year. But look at that passing, that rebounding, and tenacious defense. I think with how he's improving, he'll be in Boston for a while.

Marcus Smart ball handling like James Harden ? Are you kidding me?

I am losing faith.

You Smart fans are incredible lol. I love you guys.

Ithink he wants to say that Smart is handling the ball with some of Harden's tendencies (which is good for him) rather than handling like Harden.

What!? What does that mean? That he can dribble

Harden's handle allows him to create, get past people at will, and get fouled.

Smart can barely get by a power forward with his handle.

What Smart does well....is play smart, and he has poise in running the team and getting the guys ball on the plays

The thing he lacks is being able to do anything on the attack of his own offensive game.

That is his main problem.

That's how I read it. Lets not forget that Harden just broke the record for most turnovers in a season, he's not know for having the tightest handle, he's just decisive and elusive and has a knack for changing speeds which are capabilities Smart also shows.

The comparison isn't talking about shooting or finishing at the rim, it's talking about how he operates with the ball in his hand which isn't too far from how Harden dribbles.

[Smartacus]

There's always a mixed crowd when it comes to the guy. Being at the game tonight, I saw something different about him than last year. Between his body language and the way he communicates,  he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the game. Remember that article a while back that compared him to James Harden? His ball handling tonight was beginning to remind me of him a little bit. And he's changing his speed a little bit more now. More hesitation. Little more start and stop rather than full on chugging along at 100 mph. Sure, he won't be a 15-20 ppg guy this year, maybe not even next year. But look at that passing, that rebounding, and tenacious defense. I think with how he's improving, he'll be in Boston for a while.

Marcus Smart ball handling like James Harden ? Are you kidding me?

I am losing faith.

You Smart fans are incredible lol. I love you guys.

Ithink he wants to say that Smart is handling the ball with some of Harden's tendencies (which is good for him) rather than handling like Harden.

What!? What does that mean? That he can dribble

Harden's handle allows him to create, get past people at will, and get fouled.

Smart can barely get by a power forward with his handle.

What Smart does well....is play smart, and he has poise in running the team and getting the guys ball on the plays

The thing he lacks is being able to do anything on the attack of his own offensive game.

That is his main problem.

That's how I read it. Lets not forget that Harden just broke the record for most turnovers in a season, he's not know for having the tightest handle, he's just decisive and elusive and has a knack for changing speeds which are capabilities Smart also shows.

The comparison isn't talking about shooting or finishing at the rim, it's talking about how he operates with the ball in his hand which isn't too far from how Harden dribbles.

Disagree friend, getting by people isn't really one of Smart's biggest faults. He routinely gets in the lane by beating his man it's just that when he gets there he can't finish to save his life this season since he's lost all confidence in his scoring ability.

I can recall dozens of times this year that gets by his man only to go off the wrong foot or try to finish with the wrong hand and blow the layup. To take the next step he needs to fix his layup only I'm not sure that's something you can just pick up. Natural scorers just seem to have a knack for it.

[Csfan1984]

So with a 100 million salary cap how much of that is Smart worth each year?

12-15?

That's my guess as well.

[mgent]

I love the slow growth of Smart and Kelly.  Now we can lock them up long term for not a lot of money, and then wait for them to blow up, making their contracts huge bargains (just like IT, Jae, and AB)