Point Guard Play

We've been seeing the emergence of Smart as a talented point guard this year.  He's been saying that that's what he should have been all along, that's what he did in college.  I had my doubts at the beginning of the year.  What I don't hear anybody mentioning is the contribution of Damon Stoudamire.  He came in as a rookie in 1995 and got a huge number of assists off of heavy play on a bad team.  I don't remember watching him, but he must have had a good feel for passing,  Has he made a real contribution to how Smart sees the game?  Has he advised Smart on reducing his turn-overs?  Certainly I've seen how the offense develops better when he's running it instead of Tatum.  What say ye basketball minds?

matthehat wrote:We've been seeing the emergence of Smart as a talented point guard this year.  He's been saying that that's what he should have been all along, that's what he did in college.  I had my doubts at the beginning of the year.  What I don't hear anybody mentioning is the contribution of Damon Stoudamire.  He came in as a rookie in 1995 and got a huge number of assists off of heavy play on a bad team.  I don't remember watching him, but he must have had a good feel for passing,  Has he made a real contribution to how Smart sees the game?  Has he advised Smart on reducing his turn-overs?  Certainly I've seen how the offense develops better when he's running it instead of Tatum.  What say ye basketball minds?

hat

We have an impressive coaching staff and Damon has been great.  Marcus just needed a chance to be our full time PG.  He continues to get better and better.  I too had questions about his value running an offense.  Under Danny, the Celtics were always leaning toward having that high scoring PG and that factor impacted his development.

There are so many things that he does that are not things that can be taught.  He has always been a defensive force and now he can pick apart any team with his play making skills.  Great coaching has helped him to read the defense and make decisions.  I think that Marcus reached a point in this season when he really embraced the PG position and really wanted to be that guy.

On offense, Marcus has become a PG that does more than keep the defense honest with his shot making abilities.

I do remember that when introduced as a new coach, Stoudemire made the comment that he was going to work on making Marcus a good, if not great, point guard. Looks like he succeeded

Matt,

I agree.  I think Stoudemire has done a very good job of slowing the game down a bit for Marcus, but his assist-to-turnover ratio, a key metric for a floor general, was about the same this season as last season under Brad.  Where Smart has really taken a step up is in these playoffs.  His assist-to-turnover ratio for the season was 2.68:1.  His assist-to-turnover ratio through these playoffs-to-date (Brooklyn, Milwaukee and 1 game in Miami) is 2.96:1.  He has really upped his game.

He has also upped his scoring from 12ppg to 17ppg.  So, better floor generaling and more individual contributions.


Bob


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