Crowder offensively efficient now.. Can Smart do the same?

[Tr1boy]

What do you guys think. 

Smart may have to revamp his shooting stroke imo. He usually brings the ball down first before shooting.  Too many things going on before the release of the ball

[Csfan1984]

I believe Smart can be efficient but it will be another 2 years or a change in offensive philosophy (less 3s).

[Tr1boy]

I believe Smart can be efficient but it will be another 2 years or a change in offensive philosophy (less 3s).

I agree.  Too much emphasis on shooting the 3s . some players are not be 3 pt shooters now or ever. 

Sullinger and possibly smart fall into this

[manl_lui]

I think Smart can continue to improve. If he can stay relatively healthy to finish the season, then next season. I believe it won't be a surprise to see him improve his ppg to 2-4 points. We are starting to see him drive to the basket a bit more, and post a bit more compare to last year. His 3 point has improve significantly since the snow storm.

[Donoghus]

It'll get better with age & experience. 

[TheTruthFot18]

If I remember correctly, AB came into the league (like Smart) as a hard nosed on ball defender with a less than desirable offensive game, specifically shooting. While he's now Curry or Ray Allen, I don't cringe when he shoots now. Him and Turner deserve some award for what look like the most difficult shots (shooting quick after screens, spinning fade aways) that manage to go in so often.

I have faith Smart can get there with time and practice just like AB and Crowder have.   

[Snakehead]

I think Smart has had some good games recently and pretty complete ones, as far as him going to the rim, passing, hitting some shots.  He is going to keep getting better.

Also, he takes a lot of threes and I think that will balance out but again he's him making the threes away from criticism.  May seem like a dumb thing to say, but I would point to Bradley as an example of a guy that used to get burned a lot but this year is appreciated in many ways because his shots fall well now.  Where Bradley needed to take more threes before and less 2's, Smart is taking more 3's to start.  I think Smart's shot will keep getting better.  I think it's in many player's incentive to shoot a lot of threes now and hopefully he keeps working at it.

I have seen improvement in him lately going to the rim, posting guys up, and also hitting the boards.  He has been passing well.  He has drawn some fouls in a confident way.

I do think Crowder is a fair comparison because he is a guy that works how Smart does.  They have potential to keep getting better.  Crowder has really impressed me the last few games, showing a lot of skill that is clearly him improving and working at his game.  I give him a lot of credit.

[KeepRondo]

Triboy,

That's the hope. If he can improve his offensive game to Crowder's level, he could be an all star because of his defensive abilities.

Also, anyone else think that last night's game was a real odd ball of a game for Smart? He looked like he had mentally checked out of the game for whatever reason. He looked very disinterested the entire game.

[alldaboston]

Triboy,

That's the hope. If he can improve his offensive game to Crowder's level, he could be an all star because of his defensive abilities.

Also, anyone else think that last night's game was a real odd ball of a game for Smart? He looked like he had mentally checked out of the game for whatever reason. He looked very disinterested the entire game.

I think the missed game winner is having a mental effect. Also, the fouls really limited him. Tbh, they were pretty bad calls all around and they took it out of his game I feel.

[The One]

Yes definitely.

He will need "grit" - passion and perseverance over a long period of time.

[Tr1boy]

Smart's confidence is not there.  When he played with Rozier in the SL he "got it".  Even thought it was only SL

Right now team is over relying on IT. And IT is trying to do everything at times. Smart is just a bystander

Not sure if this is good for smarts progression or he needs to perfect his side role 1st then be able to demand the ball more /more trust in him in crucial moments.

[LarBrd33]

Smart's confidence is not there.  When he played with Rozier in the SL he "got it".  Even thought it was only SL

Right now team is over relying on IT. And IT is trying to do everything at times. Smart is just a bystander

Not sure if this is good for smarts progression or he needs to perfect his side role 1st then be able to demand the ball more /more trust in him in crucial moments.

Even in summer league he shot like 35%

[Evantime34]

I believe Smart can be efficient but it will be another 2 years or a change in offensive philosophy (less 3s).

I agree but it's good to note that Smart is taking a much lower percentage of shots from 3, than he did the year before.

Last year 57% of Smart's shots came from 3, this year it's down to 46% of his shots. I'd still like it to go down even more but at least it's trending in the right direction.

[straightouttabahstun]

Triboy,

That's the hope. If he can improve his offensive game to Crowder's level, he could be an all star because of his defensive abilities.

Also, anyone else think that last night's game was a real odd ball of a game for Smart? He looked like he had mentally checked out of the game for whatever reason. He looked very disinterested the entire game.

He may have just been having a bad day. He's human after all. It may be worth being concerned about if he decides to be like this for Miami and the game afterwards.

As far as offensive involvement goes, there's no question that Smart is an Alpha dog and needs to be the primary facilitator. We saw that in Summer League. Unfortunately when he plays regular professional ball, there is also Isaiah Thomas and Evan Turner who do a lot of it too. I know that Marcus is a team player and plays very unselfishly for the most part, I think him knowing whether or not he's "the man" to control the game affects the way he plays just a little bit.

[myselfonline]

If I remember correctly, AB came into the league (like Smart) as a hard nosed on ball defender with a less than desirable offensive game, specifically shooting. While he's now Curry or Ray Allen, I don't cringe when he shoots now. Him and Turner deserve some award for what look like the most difficult shots (shooting quick after screens, spinning fade aways) that manage to go in so often.

I have faith Smart can get there with time and practice just like AB and Crowder have.   

The difference between Bradley and Smart was that according to the people around the team, Bradley did have the shooting ability, it just didn't translate to the games. It wasn't until last season where he was confident in his shot. Smart is already confident in his shot, he's just not hitting them at an efficient rate.