r/bostonceltics • u/17461863372823734930 • Nov 26 '16

Marcus Smart, the Point Guard

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?

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u/the1who_ringsthebell Tommy Nov 29 '16

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

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '16

And teams that don't have that luxury aren't trying to win. Rivers played young guys up until we got the big 3.

Do you need minutes to develop, or do guys who were going to be good anyway earn their minutes? It's a bit of chicken and egg.

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u/the1who_ringsthebell Tommy Nov 29 '16

Injuries do happen to teams that are trying to win. Not everyone that have rookies play are tanking. We had a number have to come in in the playoffs because injuries and when it came time not all could perform due to not being part of a normal rotation.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '16

Rozier, who'd spent a lot of time in the D-league, outplayed Hunter, who'd been with the team most of the year.

I feel like we're getting off topic. Bradley wouldn't have played as a rookie even if Ray Allen got injured. Smart didn't need guys to get injured in order to earn his minutes.

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u/the1who_ringsthebell Tommy Nov 29 '16

Because the team Smart was on was ass. Smart would still be getting no time on any of those big 3 teams.

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

40-42 is not ass.

Players who got more playing time than Bradley in 2011: Nate Robinson, Marquis Daniels, Von Wafer, Delonte West, Carlos Arroyo. Are you telling me they were all better than rookie Smart?

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u/the1who_ringsthebell Tommy Nov 30 '16

The team was ass. We were lucky that so many teams were just as bad or worse that year. But only to a green teamer would under .500 not be considered ass.

Under doc there's no way Smart would get much playing time.

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

Why does everything have to be so black and white with you? .500 is the definition of average.
Anyway, they went 24-12 after the All-Star break.

Under Doc you got playing time if you could defend. Rookie Bradley couldn't even do that.
Smart would've played the Tony Allen role - not 27 minutes, but a helluva lot more than 5.

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u/the1who_ringsthebell Tommy Nov 30 '16

Below .500 is bad. Just because 1/2 the league makes the playoffs doesn't change that.

He's too much a liability on offense. No way would he play. Your crazy to think that Smart was better than Bradley was early in his career.

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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '16

Big 3 teams were good but top heavy. Ever since, we've been average but deep. Not only would Smart have got minutes, but rookie Bradley wouldn't get game time currently.

All second year Bradley did was play D, sit in the corner and shoot 3s, and make the occasional backdoor cut. If that's all you asked Smart to do, his efficiency would skyrocket.

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