Kyle Lowry Schools Marcus Smart

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Kyle Lowry schools Marcus Smart
Rookie guard has lots to learn





Photo by: AP photo
FALLING BEHIND: Marcus Smart can’t slow down the Raptors’ Kyle Lowry during last night’s preseason game in Toronto.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
By:  Mark Murphy



TORONTO — There’s a cardinal rule for someone with Marcus Smart’s tough reputation, and he broke it the moment Toronto’s Kyle Lowry stepped on the floor last night.

“I gave Lowry the respect he deserved instead of just going out and playing,” said the Celtics rookie. “It made me take a step back a little bit and not play the way I’m used to playing. Lesson learned.”

He learned it the hard way, too. After scoring only eight points over the first three quarters, Lowry blew the Celtics off the board with a 10-point, three-steal, two-assist fourth in the Celtics’ 116-109 loss to Toronto. Smart was on hand, and out of position, for many of those plays.

Now Smart understands how all of those Division 1 point guards felt over the last two years.

“It’s like guarding me,” Smart said, breaking into a smile. “He’s a bigger guard just like me who uses his body very well. He imposes his strength on other guards and that’s what he did tonight.”

Smart had been good enough — naturally agile enough — to get away with mistakes. His most transferable talent is his ability to guard, and over the first two preseason games he was rarely beat to a spot.

But he plays for a coach who is detail-driven even by NBA standards. Brad Stevens knows that Smart has been beat a good number of times, but has been able to recover quickly.

So quickly, in fact, that prior to last night Smart escaped relatively burn-free.

“Technically he still has a ways to go,” Stevens said. “He made a lot of mistakes defensively Wednesday night (against the Knicks), but because he’s so physical, aggressive and athletic, he got back into the play and it didn’t hurt us. If he can get more technically sound, he can be as good as anyone defensively on the perimeter. He’s every bit of 220-plus pounds. He’s got all of the tools.”

Smart understands a little better today. Great athleticism and strength ultimately won’t cover up mistakes in a league where everyone has those gifts.

“Lowry is very fundamental. He makes you pay when you make a mistake,” Smart said. “You just have to play him solid and don’t gamble. I gambled in this game a little too much and he made us pay. That’s what a great guard does.”

Right now those great guards are also here for Smart’s benefit. Last night marked the first of two times Smart will face Lowry this preseason. Tonight at Mohegan Sun casino, he will square up against the Knicks’ Jose Calderon for the second time in four days.

The speed of the game has certainly added a gear, though Smart benefited from playing an NBA-friendly style at Oklahoma State.

“There is definitely a difference, coming from college to this level,” said Smart. “But the speed of the game has been fine for me. I’ve been playing at that pace since high school, so I’m used to it. I’m stronger, a little bit faster than in high school and college.”

As perhaps the best defensive player in Division 1 last season, Smart generally shredded opposing point guards — picked them up early and forced them late into the shot clock.

He now plays next to one of the best in the NBA at applying this kind of pressure. But in Stevens’ mind, there’s also a lot Avery Bradley can do better.

“It can get a lot better,” Stevens said of the Bradley/Smart dynamic. “They’re still learning how to play. Chemistry is something you really play with offensively. You have to learn each other’s strengths.

“Defensively you have to do the system to the best of your ability and trust that everybody else will be on the same page,” he said. “Offensively sometimes it’s a two-man proposition. Defensively it’s a five-man proposition all the time. It’s about much more than just those two.”

But first the individual parts have to mature, and Smart in particular.

“I have to work on keeping my energy up,” Smart said. “I have to know that I’m standing to the ball, and I have to keep making guys uncomfortable.

“When you pick up an NBA player you have to keep in mind that every player you go up against is a threat,” he said. “In college there are some players you can take plays off on, but not at this level. Everyone is here for a reason. You have to be ready and on your toes all the time.”

And sometimes, even then, it won’t be enough.






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