36.7 % , 29.0 % , 62.5 %

[celtics2030]

This is amazing. Such a terrible offensive player but still can play big minutes and make a positive difference in the game.

He is like an old washed up Jason Kidd, actually a washed up Jason Kidd without the 3 point ability that Kidd had.

Whoever wants Smart to start and play big minutes does not know basketball. You will not win hardware with a guy who has these types of incapabilities as a player on offense.

He has not improved on anything in the shooting department, I havent seen much improvement in terms of around the basket play. HE is just a guy who is going to go all out and get some buckets from energy and hustle.

His passing has always been a bit underrated. So his combination of defensive skill and decent playmaking ability can keep him playing for now.

Nobody can suck this bad on offense and make such a difference that Smart can. Arguably the best player in the NBA with these type of smelly stats to be a contributor on what  should be a pretty good team.

No way he will ever become an All Star player. The sad thing is unless he improves any of his offensive stats he will just continue to lose value.

Marcus is a huge trade chip imo at this point. No question he will be included in a package deal. No matter what any Celtic fan feels, no matter how much you love his effort and his amazing hustle plays. He cannot have those types of stats and expect the Celtics not to find something better.

[SuddenFame]

Agreed.
I wrote him off completely after watching him get broken down by the Denver pgs (and looking slow as heck!!) six weeks ago.
Besides, he looks really swollen and puffy these days . . . what's up with that?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Agree to disagree.

But I think there are two things that we can agree on about Smart:
1) The french fry hair needs to be completed with a spot of red dye on the top of his head for ketchup.
2) He is the most polarizing player on our team. 

[chambers]

He's in his 3rd year and he's an All NBA first team caliber defender. This is not an exaggeration-he's that good at dominating like TonyAllen or Gary Payton..and of course Avery.
He is literally one of the best 5 defenders in the NBA right now. He guards multiple positions, he forces turnovers, creates havoc for opposing teams star wings and is slowly developing his offensive game.

Marcus Smart is still improving and the guy works harder than 90% of the NBA player pool. Its the guys like Marcus that develop shooting ability and win championships.
I agree his shooting is awful, but he's working on it and his dribble control and pick and roll offense is becoming VERY good overall.

You're also sadly not giving enough credit to the importance of defense if his shooting has you ready to give up on him in his 3rd year.

Patience much?

[celtics2030]

He's in his 3rd year and he's an All NBA first team defender.
He is literally one of the best 5 defenders in the NBA right now. He guards multiple positions, he forces turnovers, creates havoc for opposing teams star wings and is slowly developing his offensive game.

Marcus Smart is still improving and the guy works harder than 90% of the NBA player pool. Its the guys like Marcus that develop shooting ability and win championships.
I agree his shooting is awful, but he's working on it and bisndribble control and pick and roll offense is becoming VERY good overall.

You're also sadly not giving enough credit to the importance of defense if his shooting has younready to give up on him innhis 3rd year.

Patience much?

Are you kidding me, I gave him a lot of credit for his defense and I give him a lot of credit for his hard work.

It is you who is not criticizing or giving the realistic outlook on his abilities. Which is what most Celtics fans do on here, when they can't justify a player, they use words like, hustle, heart, and hard work.

As a guy who loves players that want to win, i love marcus, the guy is not lazy and hes not a punk. Who doesn't love a guy like that? If im a guy at the gym , im picking Marcus as my first pick over any hyped up baller because I know hes gong to get the job done.

I really want Smart to be a star. He is an intelligent player , he has IQ, I just think he sometimes ends up looking dumb and stupid because hes trying hard to do things that can bring him to that next level and the team to the next level, but it's not in his makeup to be able to do those things.

He is not only shooting 36.7 percent because he can't shoot. He is shooting that percentage because he cannot do the other things on offense.

[MBunge]

Avery Bradley at 22 in his third year was shooting 40% from the field, 32% from three and playing a much less significant role in the offense.  Marcus is also shooting almost twice as many threes as Avery was at the same age.

Marcus has shot the ball badly, especially from three, but that's being exaggerated by how Stevens is using him.  Part of it is that Stevens has a lot of confidence in Marcus and is playing him a lot but part of it is also Stevens' stubborn insistence on putting Marcus off the ball and telling him to jack up threes.

Chauncey Billups at 22 in his second year in the league shot 39% from the field and 36% from three, by the way.

Mike

[Moranis]

Avery Bradley at 22 in his third year was shooting 40% from the field, 32% from three and playing a much less significant role in the offense.  Marcus is also shooting almost twice as many threes as Avery was at the same age.

Marcus has shot the ball badly, especially from three, but that's being exaggerated by how Stevens is using him.  Part of it is that Stevens has a lot of confidence in Marcus and is playing him a lot but part of it is also Stevens' stubborn insistence on putting Marcus off the ball and telling him to jack up threes.

Chauncey Billups at 22 in his second year in the league shot 39% from the field and 36% from three, by the way.

Mike

Bradley also shot over 40% from three his second year and was a  37.5% shooter from three in college and was to that point a career FT shooter of well over 75%.

Smart was below 30% from three in both his years in college and is coming off the worst first 2 years of shooting in NBA history.  He isn't a guy that has shown the ability to shoot the ball well at any point in his recorded history. 

It is nice to think that Smart could become Bradley, there is just no evidence that can realistically lead anyone to that conclusion.  Unfortunately we can't just wish it so.

[Bobshot]

Smart's main negative is he throws up too many bricks from the 3P line. But his coach likes perimeter play. Ainge was a perimeter guy, too. But a much better shooter. Smart's forte is going to the basket. Unlike IT, he has the muscle to survive going inside.

In my view, not enough Celtics go to the basket. Too many think they are Larry Bird. Or Danny Ainge, for that matter. I'm not sure if Stevens ever took a 3P shot in his college days. If they had one. Maybe he's just a frustrated 3P shooter.  Pitino was, too. He loved to turn 7 footers into 3P shooters. 

In contrast, Auerbach's take on shooting: get easy baskets. high percentage shots.  Beat your opponent down the floor in the transition game. 

[wayupnorth]

This is amazing. Such a terrible offensive player but still can play big minutes and make a positive difference in the game.

He is like an old washed up Jason Kidd, actually a washed up Jason Kidd without the 3 point ability that Kidd had.

Whoever wants Smart to start and play big minutes does not know basketball. You will not win hardware with a guy who has these types of incapabilities as a player on offense.

He has not improved on anything in the shooting department, I havent seen much improvement in terms of around the basket play. HE is just a guy who is going to go all out and get some buckets from energy and hustle.

His passing has always been a bit underrated. So his combination of defensive skill and decent playmaking ability can keep him playing for now.

Nobody can suck this bad on offense and make such a difference that Smart can. Arguably the best player in the NBA with these type of smelly stats to be a contributor on what  should be a pretty good team.

No way he will ever become an All Star player. The sad thing is unless he improves any of his offensive stats he will just continue to lose value.

Marcus is a huge trade chip imo at this point. No question he will be included in a package deal. No matter what any Celtic fan feels, no matter how much you love his effort and his amazing hustle plays. He cannot have those types of stats and expect the Celtics not to find something better.

Your post implies Brad doesn't know anything about basketball.

Can't take the rest of the post seriously when you say stuff like that.

Do you honestly think you know basketball better than Brad?

[CelticGuardian]

that improvement tho... CB wants to wait another 4 years, or Marcus to be 26 until they pull the plug. Because you know Chauncey shot 36% from 3 to start off his career, so that automatically means Smart will get it together.

P.S.  please ignore that Marcus never even shot as good as Billups to begin with.

[tazzmaniac]

I don't see Smart as a huge trade chip because of the issues you refer to we're not going to get a big return for him.  He also has missed 15 and 21 games with injuries in his 1st two seasons.  Teams aren't going to see much upside in Smart nor is he going to move the needle much for them.  Smart was a #6 pick but I don't see a team giving up a top 10 pick for him now and probably not even a late lottery pick in this upcoming draft. 

[MBunge]

Avery Bradley at 22 in his third year was shooting 40% from the field, 32% from three and playing a much less significant role in the offense.  Marcus is also shooting almost twice as many threes as Avery was at the same age.

Marcus has shot the ball badly, especially from three, but that's being exaggerated by how Stevens is using him.  Part of it is that Stevens has a lot of confidence in Marcus and is playing him a lot but part of it is also Stevens' stubborn insistence on putting Marcus off the ball and telling him to jack up threes.

Chauncey Billups at 22 in his second year in the league shot 39% from the field and 36% from three, by the way.

Mike

Bradley also shot over 40% from three his second year and was a  37.5% shooter from three in college and was to that point a career FT shooter of well over 75%.

Smart was below 30% from three in both his years in college and is coming off the worst first 2 years of shooting in NBA history.  He isn't a guy that has shown the ability to shoot the ball well at any point in his recorded history. 

It is nice to think that Smart could become Bradley, there is just no evidence that can realistically lead anyone to that conclusion.  Unfortunately we can't just wish it so.

The point isn't that he will become Bradley or Billups or that Smart will ever become a great shooter.  The point is that just as those players improved, Smart still can improve.  The point is also that Smart's biggest problem is that he's a terrible three point shooter AND HIS COACH IS TELLING TO KEEP JACKING UP THREES.  What would Tony Allen have looked like if Doc told him to park behind the arcs and let him repeatedly go 1-8 and 0-5?

There's no denying that if Smart doesn't improve on offense, he'll never be better than a role player.  But he's 22, at least 2 or 3 years away from even entering his prime and is right now a better overall player than Avery Bradley was at the same age.

If this team becomes a legit contender and Marcus still sucks this bad offensively, that's when we'll need to be concerned.

Mike

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Agree to disagree.

But I think there are two things that we can agree on about Smart:
1) The french fry hair needs to be completed with a spot of red dye on the top of his head for ketchup.
2) He is the most polarizing player on our team.

Without a doubt.

[MBunge]

Here's the problem.  Smart is tied for 10th most three point shots per game with Patty Mills.  That's entirely on Stevens.

Mike

[Moranis]

Avery Bradley at 22 in his third year was shooting 40% from the field, 32% from three and playing a much less significant role in the offense.  Marcus is also shooting almost twice as many threes as Avery was at the same age.

Marcus has shot the ball badly, especially from three, but that's being exaggerated by how Stevens is using him.  Part of it is that Stevens has a lot of confidence in Marcus and is playing him a lot but part of it is also Stevens' stubborn insistence on putting Marcus off the ball and telling him to jack up threes.

Chauncey Billups at 22 in his second year in the league shot 39% from the field and 36% from three, by the way.

Mike

Bradley also shot over 40% from three his second year and was a  37.5% shooter from three in college and was to that point a career FT shooter of well over 75%.

Smart was below 30% from three in both his years in college and is coming off the worst first 2 years of shooting in NBA history.  He isn't a guy that has shown the ability to shoot the ball well at any point in his recorded history. 

It is nice to think that Smart could become Bradley, there is just no evidence that can realistically lead anyone to that conclusion.  Unfortunately we can't just wish it so.

The point isn't that he will become Bradley or Billups or that Smart will ever become a great shooter.  The point is that just as those players improved, Smart still can improve.  The point is also that Smart's biggest problem is that he's a terrible three point shooter AND HIS COACH IS TELLING TO KEEP JACKING UP THREES.  What would Tony Allen have looked like if Doc told him to park behind the arcs and let him repeatedly go 1-8 and 0-5?

There's no denying that if Smart doesn't improve on offense, he'll never be better than a role player.  But he's 22, at least 2 or 3 years away from even entering his prime and is right now a better overall player than Avery Bradley was at the same age.

If this team becomes a legit contender and Marcus still sucks this bad offensively, that's when we'll need to be concerned.

Mike

But Smart wasn't a great shooter in college and has just continued that trend in the NBA.  Will he get better, probably, I mean he can't really get worse, but he will never be even a good shooter unless his entire history to this point has been a lie. 

and I'm not sure why keep mentioning Billups.  He shot 33% as a rookie and 36% in year two.  In his 13 games in year 3 he was terrible, but went up to 38% in year 4 in a full season.  Billups was never a terrible shooter and wasn't killing his team when he was shooting the 3 ball.