Marcus Smart Fined 15K

[KeepRondo]

I'm starting to feel like we should trade him and get him out of here.

It was a total foul on him. He pretty much tried to run through the guy. His lack of offensive game causes him to have these frustration fits. The only way to fix this is for him to actually learn how to score and be more efficient. Not sure that is going to happen any time soon.

You wanted to Keep Rondo but you're already trying to move on from Marcus? Cmon now...

Rondo had offensive game.

Smart is a 36 percent shooter and his frustration fits is due to him sucking.

Yes, Rondo is definitely known for his "offensive" game:-)))  Are you serious???  NBA defenders literally lay off of RR MORE than they do Smart!!!!

Smitty77

How is Rondo not known for his offensive game? Great assist maker. Has been called a second coach out there for how well he knows which plays to run.

[KeepRondo]

At what point are people going to say that it's not ok for Smart to be shooting 36 percent?

Probably when he stops getting, at least, honorable mention votes for All NBA defensive team.

For a while he was making a difference on D. The refs have kind of put a stop to him there. He's not being allowed to use his body on D. Hopefully he makes an adjustment.

[KeepRondo]

Im starting to think KeepRondo is the fan Marcus pushed when he was back in college. He jumps on anything to hate smart.

Smart punching someone in the nuts and then later grabbing his nuts is not exactly jumping on him for nothing.

Him shooting 36 percent is not jumping on him for nothing.

Him not being able to score at the rim is guess what.

[mahcus smaht]

Im not worried about the nuts. I am very worried about the offense and fouling.

He is my favorite player and I am very concerned.

[Donoghus]

Stevens & Ainge just need to sit down with the kid & talk with him.  Nothing more drastic needs to be done at this point.  He's a 2nd year player who shows some immaturity at times.  You could say the same thing about young Pierce. 

Some guys get the message and grow up, others don't.  Its as simple as that.  But I don't think this incident deserves anything more than a talking to.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Mark Davis was clearly targeting the Celtics in this game...it was awful.....Rondo would have thrown the ball at him.

[positivitize]

Mark Davis was clearly targeting the Celtics in this game...it was awful.....Rondo would have thrown the ball at him.

Rondo would have thrown a homosexual slur at him

[tankcity!]

Love Marcus's fire. This is the price to pay for it.

[jpotter33]

Im starting to think KeepRondo is the fan Marcus pushed when he was back in college. He jumps on anything to hate smart.

Oh man, this would make so much sense.

[jpotter33]

Ehh, it's not that big of a deal. That was an absolutely terrible call, and Marc Davis is one of the worst/least-liked refs in the league. I can't really blame him, but it's a learning experience for him. 9 out of the top 10 players leading in technical fouls this season are All-Star level players, so it happens. As long as it doesn't affect the way he plays the game, I want him to continue to thrive on his emotions and learn when to control that emotion and subdue it.

That's called "when you're one of the team's best players, you do a lot of talking to the officials". If techs could make you an allstar...

Or when you're a leader on the team, even though I think Marcus is one of the best players on the team. Are you going to try and argue Marcus isn't a leader on this team? Because that would be a hard argument to make when he's essentially the "quarterback" of the defense.

This just seems like confirmation bias by the same people who regularly hate on Smart incessantly.

[SCeltic34]

At what point are people going to say that it's not ok for Smart to be shooting 36 percent?

Probably when he stops getting, at least, honorable mention votes for All NBA defensive team.

For a while he was making a difference on D. The refs have kind of put a stop to him there. He's not being allowed to use his body on D. Hopefully he makes an adjustment.

He always makes a difference on D.  A few days ago, there was an article about Smart's stats from Chris Forsberg.  He's 2nd among all point guards in defensive RPM, and over the past games holds his opponent to 41.4% shooting, which is well below the average.  His impact is undeniable, both via the eye test and statistics.

Here's an excerpt:

Smart is unlikely to land on many Sixth Man of the Year ballots, but his impact on Boston's recent success is tangible. Zoom in on just the seven games since the All-Star break -- a 5-2 span for the Celtics -- and Smart leads the team in net rating at plus-10.1 points per 100 possessions. Boston's offensive rating is a crisp 108 with Smart on the court during that span, and that's balanced by a defensive rating of 97.9. What's more, Boston's pace cranks to 104.74 with Smart on the floor, the second-highest on the team in that span behind only Jae Crowder (105.7).

Further, to suggest that he should alter the way he plays defense because of poor officiating is silly.  It's the other way around.  Make officials adjust to YOUR game, which they eventually do as you progress beyond your rookie and sophomore years, particularly if you are an impact player and play a lot of minutes, both of which Smart is.  Think KG for example, who sets a lot of illegal screens and often travels on spot-up shots (shuffles his feet to get his feet set in preparation to shoot).

Smart should continue to play extremely physical.  If he gets called for fouls, so be it.  Players have 6 fouls and shouldn't be afraid to use them.  I don't mind him showing up an official for a bad call either.  He's a fierce competitor and shouldn't be happy when he's on the receiving end of a bad call.   It's when the complaining becomes constant (e.g. LeBron) that it is a problem.

[KeepRondo]

At what point are people going to say that it's not ok for Smart to be shooting 36 percent?

Probably when he stops getting, at least, honorable mention votes for All NBA defensive team.

For a while he was making a difference on D. The refs have kind of put a stop to him there. He's not being allowed to use his body on D. Hopefully he makes an adjustment.

He always makes a difference on D.  A few days ago, there was an article about Smart's stats from Chris Forsberg.  He's 2nd among all point guards in defensive RPM, and over the past games holds his opponent to 41.4% shooting, which is well below the average.  His impact is undeniable, both via the eye test and statistics.

Here's an excerpt:

Smart is unlikely to land on many Sixth Man of the Year ballots, but his impact on Boston's recent success is tangible. Zoom in on just the seven games since the All-Star break -- a 5-2 span for the Celtics -- and Smart leads the team in net rating at plus-10.1 points per 100 possessions. Boston's offensive rating is a crisp 108 with Smart on the court during that span, and that's balanced by a defensive rating of 97.9. What's more, Boston's pace cranks to 104.74 with Smart on the floor, the second-highest on the team in that span behind only Jae Crowder (105.7).

Further, to suggest that he should alter the way he plays defense because of poor officiating is silly.  It's the other way around.  Make officials adjust to YOUR game, which they eventually do as you progress beyond your rookie and sophomore years, particularly if you are an impact player and play a lot of minutes, both of which Smart is.  Think KG for example, who sets a lot of illegal screens and often travels on spot-up shots (shuffles his feet to get his feet set in preparation to shoot).

Smart should continue to play extremely physical.  If he gets called for fouls, so be it.  Players have 6 fouls and shouldn't be afraid to use them.  I don't mind him showing up an official for a bad call either.  He's a fierce competitor and shouldn't be happy when he's on the receiving end of a bad call.   It's when the complaining becomes constant (e.g. LeBron) that it is a problem.

But he's shooting 36 percent. So he's turning every defender into the greatest defender in the league when they play against him.

Smart shoots 36 percent
Players shoot 42 percent against him.

His defensive play is great but at some point he needs to improve his shooting. If he can he can be a big difference maker but right now his lack of offense is hurting the team.

[KeepRondo]

Ehh, it's not that big of a deal. That was an absolutely terrible call, and Marc Davis is one of the worst/least-liked refs in the league. I can't really blame him, but it's a learning experience for him. 9 out of the top 10 players leading in technical fouls this season are All-Star level players, so it happens. As long as it doesn't affect the way he plays the game, I want him to continue to thrive on his emotions and learn when to control that emotion and subdue it.

That's called "when you're one of the team's best players, you do a lot of talking to the officials". If techs could make you an allstar...

Or when you're a leader on the team, even though I think Marcus is one of the best players on the team. Are you going to try and argue Marcus isn't a leader on this team? Because that would be a hard argument to make when he's essentially the "quarterback" of the defense.

This just seems like confirmation bias by the same people who regularly hate on Smart incessantly.

Smart has the potential to be up there with Crowder and IT but he's not right now. There's no way that IT, Crowder and AB are not the leaders of this team currently. Smart has a ways to go still.