Guessing how many times Smart has scored 15

[Csfan1984]

I'm more worried about his efg. If he was 2 for 4 every night and averaging 10pts I would be good with that from the 22 yearold.

10 points on 4 FG would be all-NBA efficient.  If be good with that from any player in a nightly basis, regardless of age.

Curry is scoring 1.5 points per FG attempt and you want Smart to score 2.5 points per FG attempt?  Talk about lofty expectations.

It's not about the points is the the point. Its rather have him hold off for the best shots possible to get better efficiency. Even if it means he only gets off 4 shots a game. Curry would also do better with better shot selection and Curry is being asked to score way more. Smart has to do better to get easier baskets as he is not being asked to take a lot of shots.

[guava_wrench]

The Celtics are 7-4 in games where Smart scores 15 or more points.

Sure, because he is a millstone around our necks in all the other games.

 

[guava_wrench]

I'm more worried about his efg. If he was 2 for 4 every night and averaging 10pts I would be good with that from the 22 yearold.

10 points on 4 FG would be all-NBA efficient.  If be good with that from any player in a nightly basis, regardless of age.

Curry is scoring 1.5 points per FG attempt and you want Smart to score 2.5 points per FG attempt?  Talk about lofty expectations.

It's not about the points is the the point. Its rather have him hold off for the best shots possible to get better efficiency. Even if it means he only gets off 4 shots a game. Curry would also do better with better shot selection and Curry is being asked to score way more. Smart has to do better to get easier baskets as he is not being asked to take a lot of shots.

Instead of defending the 2-4 for 10 points, just admit that the numbers were a mistake.

10 points on 2 made FG? That is hard to do.

10 pt on 4 FGA is also insanely hard to on a regular basis. If you go 4-4 with 2 3s, that is 10 points. The numbers are off.

2-4 is already 50%. That is very high for a guard. You need a lower minimum requirements for him to not worry you.

[The Oracle]

2-5 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

That gets you 10 points on 8 attempts.

37.5-33-75 shooting percentages.


If Smart could average that for a whole season he'd be in OK shape.  I'd be plenty pleased with that.


Next step up from there


3-7 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

Now we're at 12 points on 10 attempts. 

40-33-75.

Hallelujah.

As a rookie Smart shot.
41% on 2 point FG
33.5% on 3's
64.6% FT

This year.
42.1% on 2 point FG
25.1% on 3's
76% FT

  It is pretty easy to project him shooting even better than the numbers you posted next year.  He just needs to learn where his shots are and to quit forcing action so much.  I think Brad probably instructed him with Crowder out to attack more and he just isn't there yet.  He doesn't need to be a scorer, he just needs to be opportunistic and take what comes, especially if he is being played off ball like he has been.

[guava_wrench]

2-5 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

That gets you 10 points on 8 attempts.

37.5-33-75 shooting percentages.


If Smart could average that for a whole season he'd be in OK shape.  I'd be plenty pleased with that.


Next step up from there


3-7 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

Now we're at 12 points on 10 attempts. 

40-33-75.

Hallelujah.

As a rookie Smart shot.
41% on 2 point FG
33.5% on 3's
64.6% FT

This year.
42.1% on 2 point FG
25.1% on 3's
76% FT

  It is pretty easy to project him shooting even better than the numbers you posted next year.  He just needs to learn where his shots are and to quit forcing action so much.  I think Brad probably instructed him with Crowder out to attack more and he just isn't there yet.  He doesn't need to be a scorer, he just needs to be opportunistic and take what comes, especially if he is being played off ball like he has been.

40% from 2 is bad. Very bad.

[greece66]

2-5 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

That gets you 10 points on 8 attempts.

37.5-33-75 shooting percentages.


If Smart could average that for a whole season he'd be in OK shape.  I'd be plenty pleased with that.


Next step up from there


3-7 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

Now we're at 12 points on 10 attempts. 

40-33-75.

Hallelujah.

As a rookie Smart shot.
41% on 2 point FG
33.5% on 3's
64.6% FT

This year.
42.1% on 2 point FG
25.1% on 3's
76% FT

  It is pretty easy to project him shooting even better than the numbers you posted next year.  He just needs to learn where his shots are and to quit forcing action so much.  I think Brad probably instructed him with Crowder out to attack more and he just isn't there yet.  He doesn't need to be a scorer, he just needs to be opportunistic and take what comes, especially if he is being played off ball like he has been.

40% from 2 is bad. Very bad.

Guess who averaged .396 in 2003-4

[Dino Pitino]

2-5 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

That gets you 10 points on 8 attempts.

37.5-33-75 shooting percentages.


If Smart could average that for a whole season he'd be in OK shape.  I'd be plenty pleased with that.


Next step up from there


3-7 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

Now we're at 12 points on 10 attempts. 

40-33-75.

Hallelujah.

As a rookie Smart shot.
41% on 2 point FG
33.5% on 3's
64.6% FT

This year.
42.1% on 2 point FG
25.1% on 3's
76% FT

  It is pretty easy to project him shooting even better than the numbers you posted next year.  He just needs to learn where his shots are and to quit forcing action so much.  I think Brad probably instructed him with Crowder out to attack more and he just isn't there yet.  He doesn't need to be a scorer, he just needs to be opportunistic and take what comes, especially if he is being played off ball like he has been.

40% from 2 is bad. Very bad.

Guess who averaged .396 in 2003-4

...Tony Battie, lol?

I think you mean Billups...or maybe you mean Wesley...both of them were #4-wearing dodgy combo guard prospects for the Celtics whose shooting percentage on twos dipped below 40 and who were then let go and who then became very good for other teams. I doubt Ainge will reenact those mistakes with Smart.

EDIT: Wow, I had no idea that Billups's percentages were that bad in '04. I thought you were making a mistake. Hahaha, nope! Good find, man. Makes all the fretting over Smart's FG% percentage look dumb.

[crimson_stallion]

2-5 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

That gets you 10 points on 8 attempts.

37.5-33-75 shooting percentages.


If Smart could average that for a whole season he'd be in OK shape.  I'd be plenty pleased with that.


Next step up from there


3-7 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

Now we're at 12 points on 10 attempts. 

40-33-75.

Hallelujah.

As a rookie Smart shot.
41% on 2 point FG
33.5% on 3's
64.6% FT

This year.
42.1% on 2 point FG
25.1% on 3's
76% FT

  It is pretty easy to project him shooting even better than the numbers you posted next year.  He just needs to learn where his shots are and to quit forcing action so much.  I think Brad probably instructed him with Crowder out to attack more and he just isn't there yet.  He doesn't need to be a scorer, he just needs to be opportunistic and take what comes, especially if he is being played off ball like he has been.

40% from 2 is bad. Very bad.

Guess who averaged .396 in 2003-4

Who is that?

I must admit, I am extremely confused.

Tony Battie wore jersey #4 in 2013/14 and he shot 47.9% from the field and 47.4% from two.

I did consider that maybe you got the year mixed up and meant 2013/14 (a reference to Isaiah Thomas) but that also doesn't make sense since Thomas shot 45.3% from the field, 50.4% from two and 34.9% from three in 2013/14.

So this leaves me completely bewildered as to what exactly you are referring to there.

[Dino Pitino]

What he means is: Chauncey Billups is someone who shot under 40% overall and on twos specifically. Not only in his unfortunately brief Celtic career, but also in the year his team won the NBA Finals.

[crimson_stallion]

2-5 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

That gets you 10 points on 8 attempts.

37.5-33-75 shooting percentages.


If Smart could average that for a whole season he'd be in OK shape.  I'd be plenty pleased with that.


Next step up from there


3-7 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

Now we're at 12 points on 10 attempts. 

40-33-75.

Hallelujah.

As a rookie Smart shot.
41% on 2 point FG
33.5% on 3's
64.6% FT

This year.
42.1% on 2 point FG
25.1% on 3's
76% FT

  It is pretty easy to project him shooting even better than the numbers you posted next year.  He just needs to learn where his shots are and to quit forcing action so much.  I think Brad probably instructed him with Crowder out to attack more and he just isn't there yet.  He doesn't need to be a scorer, he just needs to be opportunistic and take what comes, especially if he is being played off ball like he has been.

40% from 2 is bad. Very bad.

Guess who averaged .396 in 2003-4

...Tony Battie, lol?

I think you mean Billups...or maybe you mean Wesley...both of them were #4-wearing dodgy combo guard prospects for the Celtics whose shooting percentage on twos dipped below 40 and who were then let go and who then became very good for other teams. I doubt Ainge will reenact those mistakes with Smart.

EDIT: Wow, I had no idea that Billups's percentages were that bad in '04. I thought you were making a mistake. Hahaha, nope! Good find, man. Makes all the fretting over Smart's FG% percentage look dumb.

Except for the fact that prior to 2003/04 Billups had:

1) Never shot below 40% from two for a season
2) Shot above 36% from three 4 times
3) Never shot below 80% from the line

In his rookie year Billups shot 37.4% / 32.9% / 85% and in his second year he shot 38.6%, 36.2% and 91.3%.

It was very obvious by looking at his 3PT% and FT% that Billups was a capable shooter from day one and that he had potential in that aspect of his game.

Smart so far has shot 36.7% / 33.5% / 64.6% and 34.2% / 25.1% / 76.0%.

In terms of midrange jumpers Billups shot 36.5% from 10-16 feet and 50% from >16 feet his rookie year, and 46.3% / 40% his sophomore year.  Smart has shot 38.2%/29.5% and 44%/30.8%, which means he struggles just as badly on long twos as he does on threes.

Billups also averaged 14.5 Points Per 36 in his rookie year and 15.1 Points Per 36 in his sophomore year (versus Smart averaging 10.4 PTS/36 and 12.3 PTS/36).

Billups from the start was a competent three point shooter, a good midrange shooter and an excellent free throw shooter.  His potential as a shooter was clear from the get go.  That is definitely not the case for Smart, who has so far given zero indication that he is capable of becoming a quality shooter.

Not say it can't / won't happen, just saying there is no evidence to suggest it's likely to.

[crimson_stallion]

The Celtics are 7-4 in games where Smart scores 15 or more points.

Of greater concern is the fact that Smart has played in 52 games this year @ 27 MPG and has scored 15+ points only 11 times.

Anyhoot, to play devil's advocate we are also:

*  3-0 when Terry Rozier has at least one steal
* 3-1 in games where Mickey has scored at least one point
* 5-0 when Tyler Zeller has played 20+ minutes (no word of a lie)
* 11-5 when Bradley scores 20+ points

[Dino Pitino]

2-5 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

That gets you 10 points on 8 attempts.

37.5-33-75 shooting percentages.


If Smart could average that for a whole season he'd be in OK shape.  I'd be plenty pleased with that.


Next step up from there


3-7 from 2
1-3 from 3
3-4 free throws

Now we're at 12 points on 10 attempts. 

40-33-75.

Hallelujah.

As a rookie Smart shot.
41% on 2 point FG
33.5% on 3's
64.6% FT

This year.
42.1% on 2 point FG
25.1% on 3's
76% FT

  It is pretty easy to project him shooting even better than the numbers you posted next year.  He just needs to learn where his shots are and to quit forcing action so much.  I think Brad probably instructed him with Crowder out to attack more and he just isn't there yet.  He doesn't need to be a scorer, he just needs to be opportunistic and take what comes, especially if he is being played off ball like he has been.

40% from 2 is bad. Very bad.

Guess who averaged .396 in 2003-4

...Tony Battie, lol?

I think you mean Billups...or maybe you mean Wesley...both of them were #4-wearing dodgy combo guard prospects for the Celtics whose shooting percentage on twos dipped below 40 and who were then let go and who then became very good for other teams. I doubt Ainge will reenact those mistakes with Smart.

EDIT: Wow, I had no idea that Billups's percentages were that bad in '04. I thought you were making a mistake. Hahaha, nope! Good find, man. Makes all the fretting over Smart's FG% percentage look dumb.

Except for the fact that prior to 2003/04 Billups had:

1) Never shot below 40% from two for a season
2) Shot above 36% from three 4 times
3) Never shot below 80% from the line

In his rookie year Billups shot 37.4% / 32.9% / 85% and in his second year he shot 38.6%, 36.2% and 91.3%.

It was very obvious by looking at his 3PT% and FT% that Billups was a capable shooter from day one and that he had potential in that aspect of his game.

Smart so far has shot 36.7% / 33.5% / 64.6% and 34.2% / 25.1% / 76.0%.

In terms of midrange jumpers Billups shot 36.5% from 10-16 feet and 50% from >16 feet his rookie year, and 46.3% / 40% his sophomore year.  Smart has shot 38.2%/29.5% and 44%/30.8%, which means he struggles just as badly on long twos as he does on threes.

Billups also averaged 14.5 Points Per 36 in his rookie year and 15.1 Points Per 36 in his sophomore year (versus Smart averaging 10.4 PTS/36 and 12.3 PTS/36).

Billups from the start was a competent three point shooter, a good midrange shooter and an excellent free throw shooter.  His potential as a shooter was clear from the get go.  That is definitely not the case for Smart, who has so far given zero indication that he is capable of becoming a quality shooter.

Not say it can't / won't happen, just saying there is no evidence to suggest it's likely to.

#1 - The impetus was this:

40% from 2 is bad. Very bad.

It doesn't matter how many years Billups did or did not shoot over 40% on twos, the point is that he happened to shoot under 40% on twos in the year he led his team to a championship. That punctures the idea that 40% on twos is necessarily "very bad" since, depending on what else the player does, under 40% on twos from your starting PG can win you a title. It wasn't an in-depth career comparison that equated Billups and Smart's shooting. That said...

#2 - You should look at Basketball Reference more closely when you're building a longwinded case to dump on Smart. The FG by distance stats for Billups begin in 2001, what you cited was not from his rookie season. Regardless, it was not "clear from the get go" or "from day one" that Billups would become a good shooter, that's revisionist nonsense. But hey, if you think good free throw shooting is a harbinger of good shooting overall, then Smart's improvement from bad to good at the line in a single year should impress you more.

[greece66]

Here's a list of the players who have achieved a PER of at least 15 while having an 2p% of 40 or less.

http://tinyurl.com/gs9n3hd

(I have applied some restrictions on MP/G and GP to exclude outliers from the list)

You have some pretty good players here.

The good news for Smart is that all these players could make up for their low 2p% in other areas of their game. The bad news is that these players have skills he does not have (3p shooting; passing; dribbling).

The obvious question is what areas of his level can Smart improve to make up for his deficiencies. Smart's dribbling and passing are OK, but it will be hard to bring them to Jason Kidd or Rubio levels. On the other hand, if Smart could take his 3p% to 35, then he would immediately balance his low 2p%.

IMO this explains why Stevens had Smart play SF and brick 3s against Indy. It might seem crazy at first, but it is necessary to take Smart's offensive game to the next level. If the brick throwing continues into the next season, then it might be time to start worrying about Smart's future- at least if the expectation for him to become a fringe All-Star/top-50 player.

[alldaboston]

The Celtics are 7-4 in games where Smart scores 15 or more points.

Of greater concern is the fact that Smart has played in 52 games this year @ 27 MPG and has scored 15+ points only 11 times.

Anyhoot, to play devil's advocate we are also:

*  3-0 when Terry Rozier has at least one steal
* 3-1 in games where Mickey has scored at least one point
* 5-0 when Tyler Zeller has played 20+ minutes (no word of a lie)
* 11-5 when Bradley scores 20+ points

WHAT??? They must be blowouts where he's getting garbage time lol.

[jambr380]

The Celtics are 7-4 in games where Smart scores 15 or more points.

Of greater concern is the fact that Smart has played in 52 games this year @ 27 MPG and has scored 15+ points only 11 times.

Anyhoot, to play devil's advocate we are also:

*  3-0 when Terry Rozier has at least one steal
* 3-1 in games where Mickey has scored at least one point
* 5-0 when Tyler Zeller has played 20+ minutes (no word of a lie)
* 11-5 when Bradley scores 20+ points

WHAT??? They must be blowouts where he's getting garbage time lol.

Yeah, that stat is front page article material - most mind-blowing news all year!