Marcus Smart can't develop properly with IT

[jpotter33]

I wonder where this notion Smart going to be a star come from   Very curious.

How much time does IT have with the ball?? I think he was one of the top 3-5 guys in all of NBA last season.  The ball is stuck in his hands

What was Smart doing more than half on the the time on the court?  yes, just staying at the corner waiting for a pass from IT .   

Smart needs the ball in his hands too and we have seen his capabilities once he gets some time to handle the ball.   Instead of just standing at the corner

BTW this "everyone on the team" needs to become a good shooter or can is not as easy as fans nor CBS thinks.    If this was the case guys like Dwade, Derozan would be supreme shooters. Or even make open shots almost every single time. But they can't and Smart might not be able to.

Why force a player to be something he may never be good at?? 

What Smart is better at is handling the ball a little, getting to that mid range area and hitting floaters or step backs.  Getting to the line a little more and getting his shooting rhythm in order.  Just like how IT needs to get to the line to get his shooting stroke in order

Smart has the tools to become a "total" player on both ends and that includes getting his teammates involved, unlike IT.    I understand IT wants to be the "man". But he is not capable to be such a player night in and night out.  When he feels it (like the one playoff game he was on fire) by all means take the shots. But if you are struggling, stop trying to shoot your way out of a slump and pass it/trust others

And if IT can't do this because he sees himself as an offensive weapon 1st and foremost, then he should be coming off the bench.

During the times when Smart and AB started (right after Rondo trade, IT coming off the bench as the 6th man) the team imo functioned very well.  Team passing was good from the start (good habit the rest of the game) , more confidence on the defensive end and our production from the bench was stronger

Injuries and playing out of position is becoming a tiresome excuse for Smart. He played bad and got criticized. Rightful so. KO went through it. AB went through it. What makes Smart any different? Because he works real hard? Please.

1) He's played for two years. For significant portions of both years he's had significant injury issues, and he's largely played out of position the entire time, i.e. the excuses of injuries and playing out of position are justified.

2) KO has never played out of position. He can effectively play the 4 or 5 in differing lineups; however, we've never played him as something like a 3. AB played half a season out of position at the point guard spot when Rondo tore his ACL, and how exactly did he look? He looked absolutely terrible in that role, because he's a pure 2 guard.

Smart played somewhere around 90% of his minutes last year with at least one of IT or ET, who are two of the more ball-dominant players in the league. ET is incapable of playing off the ball, and though IT can play off the ball, we very rarely used that strategy, even though it did work with IT and Smart that way. We're basically playing Smart as a spot-up shooter, which is he is absolutely not. He is somewhere between a primary to co-ballhandler, and that's absolutely where he thrived last year. Anyone who watched him saw that he was much better in his very little time as the primary ballhandler and decision-maker. In fact, his shot selection and decision-making was so, so much better in that role than as the off-guard, too. So if you don't see how playing the vast majority of his minutes with either, or both, IT and ET, then I don't know what to tell you.

EDIT: Actually, I think Bradley started off Brad's first year as the PG, too, but he was ultimately replaced by Turner after he was terrible.

Smart is a combo guard, so that playing out of position excuse is tiresome. You can still develop your game even if you're injured. The reason he played with IT or ET is because ball handling is not up to par and did't know how to run the PnR effectively.

Only person that is hampering Smart development is Smart. He may be a hard worker but can he identify xyz is not effective? That remains be seen.

I agree, he's definitely more of a combo guard than he is a true point guard. But that doesn't make any difference whatsoever. Most combo guards are also just as reliant as having the ball in their hands as point guards. Look at Derozan, Wade, Oladipo, Turner, etc. Virtually every combo guard is much more effective with the ball in their hands than working without the ball. On the other hand, the few true shooting guards, like Bradley, Thompson, Ray Allen, etc., are just as good, if not better, moving without the ball than having the ball in their hands.

Thus, it's silly to think that a combo guard wouldn't be held back by playing something around 90% of his time with one or more of the most ball-dominant players in the league on the floor with him.

Also, you weren't watching close enough if you think his ball-handling, passing, and PnR play are not up to par. He showed in his very little time with the ball this year that he is more than capable of doing those things. He was actually very impressive in that little amount of time with the ball this year, and his decision-making was much improved in that role over being off the ball.

I also think that though Rozier is also ball-dominant, he and Smart are a much better pairing together, because Rozier can still effectively play off the ball. His shot is good enough to make him a threat from the outside, and he's shown that he knows how to move off the ball to take advantage of help defenses and defensive miscues.

I think we'll really see a big jump from those two playing together this year on the second unit.

[mmmmm]

How much time does IT have with the ball?? I think he was one of the top 3-5 guys in all of NBA last season.  The ball is stuck in his hands

Since you asked:

Isaiah possesses the ball, on average, 6.3 minutes per game.  That is 14th in the league.  Considering there are ~30 starting PGs in the league, that puts him smack in the middle among starting point guards.

Further, when Isaiah touches the ball, he tends to get rid of it quickly.  His average time of possession per touch is about 4.25 seconds (before he either passes, shoots or turns it over).  This is on the shorter side of median among starting point guards.    For comparison, Rondo was a little above average holding on to the ball a little over 4.7 seconds per touch.   Russell Westbrook, whom many on this blog want us to trade for, held the ball on average over 5.4 seconds per touch this last season.

Compared to Westbrook, Isaiah barely touched the ball.  He gets rid of it quickly.

Also, fwiw, Isaiah is more likely to pass the ball (per touch) than Westbrook.

(Numbers courtesy of nba.com/playertracking, i.e., synergy)

[Beat LA]

I agree, he's definitely more of a combo guard than he is a true point guard. But that doesn't make any difference whatsoever. Most combo guards are also just as reliant as having the ball in their hands as point guards. Look at Derozan, Wade, Oladipo, Turner, etc. Virtually every combo guard is much more effective with the ball in their hands than working without the ball. On the other hand, the few true shooting guards, like Bradley, Thompson, Ray Allen, etc., are just as good, if not better, moving without the ball than having the ball in their hands.

Since when is Derozan a combo guard?  I thought that he was a 2/3, not a 1/2.

Thus, it's silly to think that a combo guard wouldn't be held back by playing something around 90% of his time with one or more of the most ball-dominant players in the league on the floor with him.

Just for fun, I went back and looked over a portion of his games during his rookie year, and it surprised me that some of his best performances, in addition to his best game of his career to that point, actually came when both he and Turner were starting.  I'm talking about his 25 point, 9 rebound, 5 assist, 2 steal, and 2 block masterpiece against Westbrook, btw, in which Turner had 10 assists, among other contributions.  Check the box score if you don't believe me -

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201503180OKC.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKkU5Z2z8Y0

Or this game -

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201504100CLE.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OZ_9YlX_yE

My favorite part of that broadcast ^ is when Scal says, "when Smart knocks down shots he's tough to guard."



#yearbookquote

There are other examples that I can reference, whether Smart started with Turner or was the primary ball handler for the second unit, but my point is that I'd be interested to know what Smart's splits in those situations were, because they might be quite similar, but we have no way of knowing this, obviously, without the statistical breakdown.  Does anyone know of a way to find these numbers, if they exist?

I also think that though Rozier is also ball-dominant, he and Smart are a much better pairing together, because Rozier can still effectively play off the ball. His shot is good enough to make him a threat from the outside, and he's shown that he knows how to move off the ball to take advantage of help defenses and defensive miscues.

I think we'll really see a big jump from those two playing together this year on the second unit.

Maybe, about Rozier.  He does certainly seem to have a better jumper than Turner, but he's nowhere near the distributor, imo.  Dude's a black hole, lol . In such a situation, then, when paired with Rozier, Smart takes Turner's role, I guess, but the problem with that is that he isn't the passer that Turner is, nor does he have the ability to create off the dribble and get to the basket like ET, unfortunately, imo .

Obviously, we'll see what happens when the guys hit the court, but not replacing Turner with someone who possesses at least a similar skill set could really hurt us, imo.