Marcus Smart continues to shoot down those doubters

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/24/marcus-smart-continues-to-shoot-down-those-doubters/




Marcus Smart continues to shoot down those doubters




BOSTON, MA – JANUARY 4: Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics pauses like a statue after hitting a three point basket against the Dallas Mavericks aduring the second half of an NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 4, 2019. (Staff Photo By Christopher Evans/Boston Herald)



By MARK MURPHY | markr.murphy@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: January 24, 2019 at 9:56 pm | UPDATED: January 25, 2019 at 5:17 am



Marcus Smart will probably hear the chirps from opponents for the rest of his career. These attempts at distraction explain why the most pleasing spot on the floor for the Celtics guard is that corner in front of the opposing bench.


He catches and releases the ball as the cackles hit a crescendo.

“Yeah, oh yeah,” Smart said, recounting the doubting taunts. “Continue to shoot that, we want you to shoot that, and I’m like, I want to shoot it too, so give it to me.”

When the shot falls, Smart turns to his hecklers for a split second of joy. And he’s making that turn a lot more this month.

“Every time. Every single time. That’s the beauty of it,” he said. “Teams want me to shoot the ball, and I’m making them pay for it every single time.”

As much as Smart has confounded the law of his own shooting averages since the start of the new year, he was bound to cool off from 3-point range.

After shooting 54 percent (22-for-41) from downtown over the first eight games of January, including an out-of-body 6-for-8 performance against Memphis on Jan. 18, he’s drifted a tad closer to earth with 4-for-15 shooting over his last three games. Smart’s latest was a 2-for-6 output on Wednesday night against Cleveland.

But even with this latest cool-down, Smart is still shooting 46.4 percent from 3-point range through 11 games this month. Rest assured that percentage has a particularly special meaning for Smart, who has historically been known, at best, as a streaky shooter.

“Oh yeah, now that’s unique, that’s something right there,” he said of shooting north of 40 percent from beyond the arc this month. “That’s a percentage. I’m just trying to take the great shots, not forcing shots or taking the bad ones. Just let the games come to me.”


And that may be where the greatest difference lies in Smart’s shooting. His willingness to shoot has never wavered, but his selection has improved.

“I don’t remember the last time I hesitated on a shot, to be honest,” he said. “I make my mind up to shoot it, I shoot it, I’m not thinking about it. You can’t think like that. That last time I hesitated was probably pre-NBA, and even then I wasn’t hesitating on a shot, they just weren’t going in.”

Smart’s greatest handicap at Oklahoma State didn’t scare off Brad Stevens, who was firm in the belief that bad shooters could at least be coached into becoming good, if not great, shooters.

Though the Celtics coach’s faith in Smart took perhaps more time than expected to bear fruit, the latter has finally presented something tangible. In a season when another Celtic, Marcus Morris, has transformed his wild perimeter past into the most efficient shooting numbers on the team, Smart has raised his own 3-point shooting to fourth highest (36.6 percent) on the team.

“It’s a big part of development generally of anybody, right, is making sure that you’re learning where the best spots are — not just where there are spots,” said Stevens. “And he’s done a good job with that. I think those strides have helped him.”

Stevens has talked often this month of last season, when hand injuries got in the way of what he thought would be a shooting breakthrough by his defensive leader.

Instead, the improvement was delayed by a season.

“My breakthrough was my shooting, just more consistent” Smart said. “My hard work is paying off. But I still have work to do. Have to continue to keep at it.

“Keep shooting, gotta keep shooting. That’s the only way. Gotta feel comfortable. You can’t expect to shoot the ball well if you don’t shoot the ball at all. When you do shoot it and the shots don’t go in, you have to continue to shoot it.”

Smart loves that he can now laugh back at the chorus on the opposing bench. The most amusing part is that when any of them are on the floor, they’re still giving him room. But if Smart continues to shoot at his current clip, the close-outs will arrive soon enough.

“I still hear it now, when I go up I always tell people, It’s fine, but you’re still going to leave me open,” he said. “They decide to leave me open, and my shots are finally falling.

“This is probably the most consistent I’ve shot, and people probably think it’s a fluke. Eventually I’ll come back down to earth. But I’m here. I don’t plan on coming down nowhere.”



bob
MY NOTE:  His fg% is "up" to 40.7%, the highest of his career-to-date, and his 3pt fg% is up to 36.6%.  Not awesome, but not cringeworthy anymore neither.  A legit threat from 3 that must be respected, and that's all he needs to be.  He doesn't need to carry us offensively, he just needs to be a shooter that cannot be left unguarded.


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His shot selection this year has been a bit different from years past. He is taking mostly 3s so the FG% looks lower than his actual improvement. He’s shooting 47.7% on 2s. These represent about a 6.5% improvement in 3s and 4.8% on 2s while just a 4.0 FG% improvement.

In the past when Marcus made a shot it was like gravy on top of great defense.

That has changed. He is making his shots and it changes the way teams have to defend Boston. As long as Boston moves the ball to search out the best shot they become a dangerous offensive team to defend. And if Smart is the last guy to get the pass he will take and make the shot. That is huge.

I believe that Smart said it all relating to his improved shooting when he mentioned his hard work to develop his shooting skills.

He may be the longest tenured Boston player, but he is still a young veteran who is still very capable of further improvements.

I am very happy with his improvements and expect him to get even better.