Celtics @ 7: Limited Progress For Smart On Offensive End
BOSTON (CBS) -- Marcus Smart's offensive game has shown strides of late, but how much progress has the Celtics' guard made in his second NBA season?
There's no questioning his play on the defensive end of the floor, where Smart has shown that he can guard just about anyone (from point guards to 7-foot-4 rookies). But while he's averaged 15 points over his last five games, overall he's been a big disappointment when it comes to his offense.
98.5 The Sports Hub's Adam Jones dug deeper into Smart's progress on the offensive end, and isn't buying into his recent hot streak.
"I would tend to think this is more blip on the radar, a hot streak a player goes through, and he'll go back to being the Marcus Smart we're familiar with over his first two years in the league," said Jones. "Nothing I've seen Smart do in the NBA leads me to believe he's made great strides. He's still shooting 26 percent on threes this year, and that's with his hot stretch.
"He's a great defender, but offensively I haven't seen the growth," said Jones, noting Smart is averaging just 9.8 points per game this season. "I was hoping that in year two maybe he'd be more comfortable with the basketball in his hands, but he's not. He doesn't look like a point guard and he can't shoot."
When looking at other guards taken after him in the 2014 NBA Draft -- Orlando's Elfrid Payton (10th overall, 9.6 ppg on 43 percent shooting over his career), Minnesota's Zach LaVine (13th overall, 11.1 ppg on 43 percent shooting), Utah's Rodney Hood (23rd overall, 11.3 points on 42 percent shooting) and Los Angeles' Jordan Clarkson (2nd round, 46th overall, 13.4 ppg on 44 percent shooting) -- Smart's offensive numbers (8.4 ppg on 36 percent shooting) don't compare.
Rich Keefe pointed out that Smart is on a better team than those other guards and isn't relied upon to provide as much offensive output. Smart was known more for attacking the basket in college than his long-range game, and Keefe is hoping that returns to his repertoire. Not to mention, Smart is worlds better than the other guards on defense.
But Jones wants to see more than just defense out of such a high draft pick.
"When you're drafted at No. 6, you're expected more than just a good defender. I haven't seen that yet in year two. He can defend point guards, but he's not running their plays offensively, and they're not even asking him to," noted Jones. "I was hoping to see what the potential was by now. I understand he's athletic, a bulldog, but I was hoping to see more by now. At a certain point, you start to wonder when the offense will come along for him.
"I'm not closing the book, but I look at other guards who were drafted… you can make the case that all those guys have out-produced him," Jones continued. "All those guys have been better shooters than him, and that's not a minutes-based or a team-based thing. That's, 'Can you knock down shots when you're presented with them?' If you want this team to start chasing Cleveland and Toronto [in the Eastern Conference], he needs to wake up and have the offense catch up with the defense. I'm skeptical at this point."
