imagine smart playing d -when you could hand check

[rollie mass]

there are two areas of game most players don't do
offensive rebounding it hurts and there is skill in putting yourself in position and a serious pounding of elbows to chest
 then clawing your way over the top of screens takes lower body strength as well as upper body and a combination of lateral speed,use of leverage and ability to absorb and give pain
then there is bradley, able to shift and slide on contact
boston has been spoiled by a feast of defensive effort culminating with a run of just incredible come from behind victories with little time on clock-
and the amount of turnovers and unforced turnovers have destroyed opposing teams and embarrased their coaches-
marcus is relentless in his attempt to rebound offensively,just remember his putback and fall flat on his back,all the moving screens he forces drawing attention to from those  hip checks by sacrficing his body
-i think players misjudge the length marcus has because of his bulk-marcus is a force rarely seen and i think the critics don't appreciate this kid is 22 guarding multiple positions and revels in guarding the best players in the world-without being able to hand check with teams designed with multiple screens--only 22 so he misses some threes early in clock,so he gets challenged at rim and people question his selections-offense is easy and can be learned

[greece66]

nice post

i agree smart is sacrificing his body every night

and much of what he does is intangibles which do not show in his statistics

[GreenWarrior]

better yet, imagine if they actually called an offensive foul on the guy with the ball when they extend their arm while they're dribbling...

[Celtics17]

It would be interesting to see Smart guard MJ with no hand checking rules. I think he might do as good of a job as anyone ever did with his strength and reach.