I thought Smart had a nice game last night. Only 2 three-point attempts (he was 1/2) and he was doing a lot of his offensive work closer to the basket. Brad should put the clip of John Collins hurting himself jumping so hard at Smart's pump fake on a loop and project it inside Smart's locker.
Get to the rim, pump fake, get to the line. That should be were Smart makes his living.
So you would tell Brad to ask Marcus to take fewer threes? And what do you think Brad would say in return? He's the guy who lets Smart take five threes a game. He's the head coach. What do you think his reasons are?
Not at all. I think Marcus should be focusing more on that part of his game because that's where I think he can be most effective. For Brad, it's not about telling a player what not to do, it's about positive reinforcement. You don't have to say "take fewer three's" if you say "you were getting really good stuff around the basket," and if Marcus is inclined to listen to his coach, that will probably result in a more judicious allotment of 3's.
I think you missed the point. Brad isn't telling Marcus to shoot fewer threes. He isn't doing it directly, and he isn't doing it indirectly. He wants Marcus shooting those threes. Why?
TP! That's a great question. Not to mention, his 2FG% is 36.4 (the worst in the team alongside Larkin), yet he is taking 5.2 two-pointers per game. It's not like he is showing improvement either. By all accounts he is having the worst shooting year of his career (29.1% FG, 25% 3P).
https://stats.nba.com/players/shots-general/?Season=2017-18&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&TeamID=1610612738&sort=FG2_PCT&dir=1
I would be really interested to read what everybody thinks on this one. Why do you guys think CBS lets Smart take that many shots? Any ideas?
The rest of the offense is better with him on the court - we average about 5 pts better per 100 possessions with him out there. Our overall scoring is higher. Overall shooting percentages are higher.
And when you factor in his terrible percentages, it means everyone else is shooting *much* better with him out there. (Especially the starters, who shoot much better overall from the field and from 3 with him out there, and boast a +21pt net rating with him in there with Irving/Tatum/Brown/Horford).
I think there are two possibilities:
1. He does lots of little things to make his teammates better;
2. Other teams are not game-planning his poor shooting the right way.
I've seen evidence for both, honestly. It was clear to me that Dallas was funneling the Cs offense into Smart taking 3s. But it also seems like the ball moves really well when he's in there, overall.
What we don't know is how any of this would change if he stopped shooting as much. That's the million-dollar question, right? But it seems like Stevens thinks we would be worse. Why, I don't know.
Honestly this is one of the most puzzling phenomena I've ever seen in about 40 years of watching NBA ball.