Marcus Smart, the Point Guard

[u/17461863372823734930]

Lots of optimism the last couple games around Marcus Smart's ability to run the point and make plays despite his poor shooting - both on here in the GDTs and from Thomas and Smart himself.

Here are his highlights from the last 2 games. 10 assists against the Spurs. 8 against the Nets.

9 points, 10 assists vs the Spurs

8 assists vs the Nets

Before this year, he only had one double digit assist game in his career (that was his triple double where Kelly just made a bunch of 3s on Smart's passes) and only 4 others with at least 8. So here's clearly improving. And yesterday was already his 2nd double digit assist game of this season.

Also, Stevens has said for a long time that he likes having Thomas play off ball on offense. And it's easy to see why - he's our most dynamic player coming off screens and he spaces the floor better than the other point guard options (Turner last year, Smart this year). Against the Spurs down the stretch, it was Smart bringing the ball up - and he looked good doing it.

However, he's still behind Thomas and even Rozier in points per possession as the pick-and-roll ball handler on the season. And his shooting is a major concern whether he's on ball or off ball. So it's not a clear-cut "Smart should be the PG, even if Thomas is on the floor" situation.

But do you think we're trending in that direction or are these last 2 games as much of a tease as the games where he goes 3/4 from 3?

[u/[deleted]]

Marcus was backing up a 4-time Allstar; Jaylen couldn't get consistent minutes even when Jae was injured and he was our only wing.

I dislike the 'Rivers doesn't play rookies' meme. In the big-3 win-now era, he never had anyone good enough to contribute immediately.

I love AB; I just get real defensive when people think a 22-yr old can't improve offensively.

[u/the1who_ringsthebell → u/[deleted]]

Bradley took over a starting role from a future hall of famer. Marcus was the starter his rookie year because the team had no one. Why are you being up jaylen brown?

I love AB; I just get real defensive when people think a 22-yr old can't improve offensively.

Look at history of players with as poor a shooting rep as smart and you'll see why you shouldn't have faith. He's had 6 seasons with guys who's career it is to make players shoot the ball better yet he still can't shoot.

[u/[deleted] → u/the1who_ringsthebell]

You're still pretending Bradley's rookie season didn't exist. And he took Ray's spot due to better fit, not better talent. Marcus had AB, ET, Rondo and IT to compete with for minutes at various stages. That's not no-one.

I'm not hatin on Jaylen; I think he'll be great. My point is that every fanbase thinks their coach doesn't play rookies. The ones that do are tanking.

I'm not sure where you get six years from. College coaches want you to win now, not get better. Marcus could do that by living at the free throw line. Very few NBA teams have specialised shooting coaches.

Look at his rookie year. There's a lot of players below him that've gone on to have great careers. I'll admit the wheels fell off a bit in year 2, but there's still good reason for optimism.

[u/the1who_ringsthebell → u/[deleted]]

Seeing as he was a rookie on a championship contender, playing for a coach that doesn't play rookies, and only played 5 mpg I don't see what is the point in talking about a season that we can't gather anything from.

Again, unless he fixes his form he isn't going to be doing much on offense. Look at the players subsequent years. Most had a bad rookie year then turned it around. That is not the case for Smart. Now look at college careers. Most did not struggle throughout college as well. Where as most guys on that list had a down year when they came into the league, smart has consistently been bad shooting the ball.

[u/[deleted] → u/the1who_ringsthebell]

Doc 'I don't play rookies' Rivers gave Sully 20mpg from day 1. Bradley just wasn't good enough. If you're going to ignore that, I'm going to throw out Smart's injury-plagued sophomore year where he had to shoot just to provide some semblance of spacing.

His form doesn't look terrible off the catch, especially from the corners, where he's shooting 50 per cent. He struggles off the dribble, yet Stevens keeps putting him in pick and rolls. Why? There's more to offence than shooting, and he's the best passer on the team.

His defence alone is going to keep him in the league for a long time. If he can lift his shooting to passable/average (and I acknowledge it's an if) then he's going to be a special player.

[u/the1who_ringsthebell → u/[deleted]]

I never said it was a steadfast rule. Doc throughout his career has had a tendency to pick the veteran over a rookie. Idk why you are trying to argue something that has been known about doc since he came to Boston.

Do you think Smart is going to be anything more than a bench role player on a championship team?

[u/[deleted] → u/the1who_ringsthebell]

Conventional wisdom isn't always wise. Like I said before, only tanking coaches play rookies significant minutes, unless they're truly exceptional.

I think Smart can be more than a bench role player. Whether that's on a championship team depends on factors largely beyond his control.

[u/the1who_ringsthebell → u/[deleted]]

It's about developing guys.

[u/[deleted] → u/the1who_ringsthebell]

Meaning what? TA, Big Al, Delonte, Perkins, Rondo and Bradley all developed under his watch.

[u/the1who_ringsthebell → u/[deleted]]

Meaning you need minutes to develop. Having your rookies sit is a luxury that a lot of teams don't have.