this game put marcus in perspective

[rollie mass]

 and puts that bust posting in the bin till next time  and it wasn't just the three ball but ripping defensive rebounds,stealing and going the length,taking it to hoop and drawing contact,a back cut,a drive and kick-smart looked tonight like he did in college tough,confident and looking to go to hoop and draw contact-what is he 21-didn't look 2nd year to me

[straightouttabahstun]

He's getting comfortable with playing at the level of the NBA and he is healthy. I'm actually quite excited for him in the offseason. Since he probably won't do summer league, that gives him the chance to tweak his offensive game without possibly hurting himself. His post ups and 3 pt shooting are starting to come along nicely. While he still has a bit of a ways to go, I think he's progressing better than most people on this blog think.

[Evantime34]

He's always been a streaky shooter, he showed it last year and he showed it so far this year. In his last 8 games he's shooting 39.5% from 3.

What you have to love about him is that regardless of if his shot is falling, he's defending at a high level and doing all the little things to win games.

It's been really encouraging that he is attacking the hoop more, and getting more quality shots closer to the hoop than he was last year will decreasing the number of 3's he's taking.

TP for this

[kozlodoev]

He's always been a streaky shooter, he showed it last year and he showed it so far this year. In his last 8 games he's shooting 39.5% from 3.

What you have to love about him is that regardless of if his shot is falling, he's defending at a high level and doing all the little things to win games.

It's been really encouraging that he is attacking the hoop more, and getting more quality shots closer to the hoop than he was last year will decreasing the number of 3's he's taking.

He was 3 for 7 on those "quality" looks (most of them looked like pretty ugly out of control layups to me, but I digress). I'm not sure I like the new "heat-check" Marcus and his 0 assists any better. The three point shooting isn't sustainable, and our team lost the game yesterday because they stopped moving the ball.

[BDeCosta26]

TP, Rollie.

Since returning from injury, Smart has really taken a step forward on the offensive end. His raw stats look better, but more importantly he's being featured as a primary ball-handler, making excellent passes/reads, driving to the rim with authority, running the P&R well and recently even his shot has been starting to fall. All those things are great for his future, and like you said he's only 21! This isn't even the start of what he can be if all goes right for him.

The "bust" idea was ridiculous anyway. A guy who's a future-DPOY candidate and isn't a total zero on offense is a very valuable player, especially with the game moving towards the perimeter. Last season, Stevens purposely put Smart out there with Rondo, Thomas or ET and pretty much never let him run the offense, keeping him out at the 3 and leaving him as the 5th option. The fans may not have liked it, but Smart's defense made him deserving of major PT but his offense just wasn't there yet. Were starting to see the fruits of the gradual learning curve CBS has given Marcus.

It's amazing how good a coach CBS is. Just this year alone, Thomas, Crowder, Bradley, Olynyk, Smart and Turner (even Sully to some extent) have really improved their games. Every single one of those guys is more valuable right now than they were a year ago. Crowder went from a throw-in on the Rondo deal to being discussed as the headliner for a potential Blake Griffin or Kevin Love trade. In just one year! Amazing. Can't wait to see what he can do with this team as it grows and adds for talent.

[BDeCosta26]

He's always been a streaky shooter, he showed it last year and he showed it so far this year. In his last 8 games he's shooting 39.5% from 3.

What you have to love about him is that regardless of if his shot is falling, he's defending at a high level and doing all the little things to win games.

It's been really encouraging that he is attacking the hoop more, and getting more quality shots closer to the hoop than he was last year will decreasing the number of 3's he's taking.

He was 3 for 7 on those "quality" looks (most of them looked like pretty ugly out of control layups to me, but I digress). I'm not sure I like the new "heat-check" Marcus and his 0 assists any better. The three point shooting isn't sustainable, and our team lost the game yesterday because they stopped moving the ball.

Part of being a young player in the league is learning how to finish drives consistently, especially if your game isn't based in pure athleticism. Marcus was a great scorer in college by using brut strength to bull his way to a bucket. Lot harder to do that in the NBA, but he's a guy who certainly can as he's showing this season. He's gotten to the point where he's making multiple really good drives almost every game, and as his shot improves (which it will, he's not a 20% 3pt shooter, he shot 33% last year) that will become even easier for him. He's shown a good ability to pass off the drive too. The next step is to perfect some good finishing moves to generate better shots at the rim. He's only 21.


 I mean, the team was really struggling to score from all angles in the 2nd half. He stepped up and got buckets when we needed them, keeping the game within reach, we just didn't have enough overall.

[Evantime34]

He's always been a streaky shooter, he showed it last year and he showed it so far this year. In his last 8 games he's shooting 39.5% from 3.

What you have to love about him is that regardless of if his shot is falling, he's defending at a high level and doing all the little things to win games.

It's been really encouraging that he is attacking the hoop more, and getting more quality shots closer to the hoop than he was last year will decreasing the number of 3's he's taking.

He was 3 for 7 on those "quality" looks (most of them looked like pretty ugly out of control layups to me, but I digress). I'm not sure I like the new "heat-check" Marcus and his 0 assists any better. The three point shooting isn't sustainable, and our team lost the game yesterday because they stopped moving the ball.

I love how people use "isn't sustainable" as a an argument for why positive things won't continue but never as an explanation for why negative things will turn around.

His initial 3 point shooting percentage in the teens wasn't sustainable but no one used that argument while it was happening. Of course he isn't going to shoot near 40% on the season but his shooting splits this year and last year indicate that he is capable of hot shooting for stretches as well as poor shooting for other stretches.

Regardless of this variation when Smart shoots poorly people hit the boards to say "see he can't shoot!" then when he shoots well they say "of course it won't last".

I expect him to finish the season with a similar 3 point percentage than he did last year and would be willing to wager TPs on this. He's going to do this while shooting more shots close to the hoop and a higher percentage from 2.

While he didn't shoot a great percentage on the drives to the hoop last night he is shooting a higher percentage on 2 point shots while taking more of them per game than he did last year.

The lack of ball movement didn't help last night but we lost the game because of our defense not our offense. We gave up 119 (even if some of those points were foul shots at the end the Magic were at about 110 when we started fouling), it's not fair to blame the offense for a loss when you give up that many points.

[LarBrd33]

The game also put Aaron Gordon in perspective. 

[alldaboston]

He's always been a streaky shooter, he showed it last year and he showed it so far this year. In his last 8 games he's shooting 39.5% from 3.

What you have to love about him is that regardless of if his shot is falling, he's defending at a high level and doing all the little things to win games.

It's been really encouraging that he is attacking the hoop more, and getting more quality shots closer to the hoop than he was last year will decreasing the number of 3's he's taking.

He was 3 for 7 on those "quality" looks (most of them looked like pretty ugly out of control layups to me, but I digress). I'm not sure I like the new "heat-check" Marcus and his 0 assists any better. The three point shooting isn't sustainable, and our team lost the game yesterday because they stopped moving the ball.

He'd probably get more if ET wasn't the one bringing the ball up every possession.

[Chris22]

We lost because Bradley and Olynyk missed open shots, and Orlando was lights out.

[rollie mass]

marcus low shooting % has been result of coming back from injuries,he was just out of pain during off season-then the fingers,tell me that wouldn't mess up your shooting percentage and just getting comfortable  then his knee injury
 last night obviously he hit some hail mary's but when he doesn't rush his shot,
his shooting form is nice
he tried a floater in lane,he has been using fall away post ups all a work in progress
-i don't think anybody can guage his 3 point % because of injuries
 a previous poster wrote about an off season to work on it and the balance of this years experience
-remember marcus vs oklahoma right before he got hurt another stunning game-
marcus is just a force-reminds me of tyson when he was young-tyson was actually well schooled and in his own way brilliant in his bobbing and weaving tactics-
so marcus is anything but a bust

[Denis998]

The game also put Aaron Gordon in perspective.

Quite a coincidence he became a starter so quickly.

[PhoSita]

Seems like Marcus is on a hot streak now after coming back cold from injury.


What I'd love to see from Marcus is a month or two shooting 33-35% from deep, along with a healthy percentage from the rest of the floor.  Not 38% one month, 27% the next month.


I have a feeling that Marcus might just be a streaky shooter.  But a streaky shooter who has stretches where he's lethal and stretches where he's a total bricklayer is better than a non-shooter, so I'll take it.

[kozlodoev]

He's always been a streaky shooter, he showed it last year and he showed it so far this year. In his last 8 games he's shooting 39.5% from 3.

What you have to love about him is that regardless of if his shot is falling, he's defending at a high level and doing all the little things to win games.

It's been really encouraging that he is attacking the hoop more, and getting more quality shots closer to the hoop than he was last year will decreasing the number of 3's he's taking.

He was 3 for 7 on those "quality" looks (most of them looked like pretty ugly out of control layups to me, but I digress). I'm not sure I like the new "heat-check" Marcus and his 0 assists any better. The three point shooting isn't sustainable, and our team lost the game yesterday because they stopped moving the ball.

He'd probably get more if ET wasn't the one bringing the ball up every possession.

He managed 16 shots, so I'm thinking he had the ball in his hands enough.

[alldaboston]

He's always been a streaky shooter, he showed it last year and he showed it so far this year. In his last 8 games he's shooting 39.5% from 3.

What you have to love about him is that regardless of if his shot is falling, he's defending at a high level and doing all the little things to win games.

It's been really encouraging that he is attacking the hoop more, and getting more quality shots closer to the hoop than he was last year will decreasing the number of 3's he's taking.

He was 3 for 7 on those "quality" looks (most of them looked like pretty ugly out of control layups to me, but I digress). I'm not sure I like the new "heat-check" Marcus and his 0 assists any better. The three point shooting isn't sustainable, and our team lost the game yesterday because they stopped moving the ball.

He'd probably get more if ET wasn't the one bringing the ball up every possession.

He managed 16 shots, so I'm thinking he had the ball in his hands enough.

So when he doesnt take shots people get mad, but when he takes shots people still get mad? smh