Is Smart the new Dennis Johnson?

[nickagneta]

People here are not remembering the type of player DJ was as a youngster in the 70s and early 80s. DJ was a ridiculous athlete with major ups. Saying DJ wasnt fast, athletic and couldnt jump just does not describe the player DJ was before he became a Celtic.

[2short]

Really have to go back and watch DJ in Seattle if you want to compare them.  I really compare Marcus to wade. 

[feckless]

   Ridiculous-- you must have never seen Dennis Johnson play

In his Seattle years DJ, as a defender, got in guys heads so much that he ruined careers.

[Greyman]

DJ was a good enough defender to mark Magic in playoff games. He also got a lot of free throws awarded and hit most from what I recall. Anybody able to compare their free throw stats?

DJ Career FTs .797

MS Career .720 though improved to .777 this season. So becoming more DJ like.

[mmmmm]

People here are not remembering the type of player DJ was as a youngster in the 70s and early 80s. DJ was a ridiculous athlete with major ups. Saying DJ wasnt fast, athletic and couldnt jump just does not describe the player DJ was before he became a Celtic.

Yeah, I concur with this.  I grew up a fan of the original SuperSonics and DJ was my favorite player.   DJ was unreal athletically as a rookie.  His rookie year was his highest for both shooting and scoring efficiency because he was so gifted at getting to the rim.

If anything, Rozier reminds me more of the way DJ moved athletically and played as a rookie -- though DJ was obviously much, much, much more effective and important as a rookie than Rozier has been.   I just have very vivid memories of DJ diving into the paint and elevating over people to grab rebounds or flip layups at the hoop.   Rosier has been doing that to grab all these rebounds he's gotten of late.  Now, he needs to add the 'layups' part...

Smart, to me, physically resembles more the player DJ became later, when his legs couldn't do those absurd hops any more and he played with strength and guile.   Like Smart, DJ was great at getting in a player's grill and sticking there, bulling his way through screens.

Obviously, comparing Rozier or Smart against a HoF player like DJ is a really tough comp and not fair to either.

[dannyboy35]

Dj had a high iq and Marcus has a low iq. Very different to me.

[Ilikesports17]

If you take out game 2 (which I understand isnt something that you can really do)

Smart had a decent line for the playoffs. Felt he was terrific in games 1, 4 and 6.

13.8 points
5 rebounds
3 assists
3.4 for 4.2 FTs (81%)
4.2 for 9.8 fgs (43%)
2.0 for 5.2 3pt (38%)
1.8 steals
2.6 TOs

[greece66]

People keep searching for modern players to compare Marcus Smart to, but is he really the next Dennis Johnson?

DJ was an All-NBA defender (first or second team) nine times. He had a spotty jump shot -- career 17.2 percent on threes -- but was always willing to take the big shot. Not a true point guard, but he handled the ball most of his Boston career.

Marcus isn't quite the heady player that DJ was in his Celtics years, but seems to have a lot of the same traits. Seems to be a more likely ceiling than Dwayne Wade or James Harden or Chauncey Billups.

Ehm, Smart is not yet a starter on a 48 win C's team and we are comparing to a HoFer? 

Also, 3p% today is much more important for guards today than it was in the eighties.

And in any case, DJ was a reliable scorer (career avg 14.1 pts, this went up to 17.3 in the playoffs); Smart is far from anything close to that offensively, at least for now.

http://bkref.com/tiny/fhBKr