FanPost

What is the fascination with Marcus Smart?

I'm curious as to what is the fascination with Marcus Smart? I get that he's a big strong Point Guard and that he plays defense but couldn't you just draft a defensive specialist guard in the 2nd round for that? He acts more like a shooting guard that puts pressure on the defense by getting to the foul line a lot. However, he doesn't shoot the ball well (29% from College 3 Point line), he doesn't pass the ball well (4.7 Assists per game), has a low A/T ratio (1.8 Assists per Turnover) and has a Hero ball mentality at times.

I understand that he's intense and that people say he has leadership qualities. However, his intensity got him into trouble with a chair and a fan (Ron Artest like). His leadership got him bounced in the first round of the NCAA tournament in both his freshman (5 seed lost to 12 seed Oregon) and sophomore (9 seed lost to 8 seed Gonzaga) years.

Supposedly Marcus Smart has great intangibles and is a great interview but I don't see that translating onto the court in terms of production and winning.

For comparison's sake, I included his Sophomore numbers along with the Sophomore numbers of some other noted Point Guards along with Trey Burke's.


xTrey
Burke

Career2012-13 (So)2011-12 (Fr)
xMarcus
Smart

Career2013-14 (So)2012-13 (Fr)
xDeron
Williams

Career2004-05 (Jr)2003-04 (So)2002-03 (Fr)
xChris
Paul

Career2004-05 (So)2003-04 (Fr)
xRussell
Westbrook

Career2007-08 (So)2006-07 (Fr)



Bio Bullet_delete
Height 6-0 6-4 6-3 6-0 6-3
Weight 190.0 220.0 210.0 175.0 189.0
Position Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard
Home State Texas North Carolina California
Current Age N/A N/A 29 29 25
Playing Time Bullet_delete
Team Games 39
34
33
33
39
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Scoring Bullet_delete
Games Played 39
31
30
32
39
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Games Started 39
31
29
31
34
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Minutes 1378 (3)
1014 (442)
1017 (160)
1069 (106)
1318 (4)
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Min Per Game 35.333 (87)
32.71 (293)
33.9 (167)
33.406 (416)
33.795 (335)
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Minute Pct 87.4 (74)
72.9 (643)
76.4 (425)
79.7 (589)
84.2 (294)
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Possessions 640.0 (5)
532.0 (51)
404.212 (208)
445.0 (114)
484.0 (109)
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Possession Pct 28.9 (151)
30.1 (42)
24.4 (353)
23.1 (879)
22.5
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Scoring Bullet_delete
Points 727 (10)
557 (130)
420 (278)
488 (143)
497 (189)
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Pts Per Game 18.641 (40)
17.968 (89)
14.0 (304)
15.25 (346)
12.744 (717)
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Points Per 40 21.1 (93)
22.0 (87)
16.5192 (606)
18.3 (612)
15.1
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Offensive Rating 121.2 (93)
110.3 (698)
111.3 (332)
122.9 (222)
110.2 (748)
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Shooting Bullet_delete
FG Made 259 (4)
163 (279)
147 (274)
143 (324)
182 (149)
Chart It
FG Att 560 (5)
386 (200)
360 (185)
317 (324)
391 (160)
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FG Pct 46.3 (438)
42.2 (820)
40.8 (523)
45.1 (901)
46.5 (759)
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FT Made 133 (108)
182 (37)
59 (777)
156 (27)
107 (222)
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FT Att 166 (153)
250 (29)
75 (937)
187 (61)
150 (206)
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FT Pct 80.1 (193)
72.8 (576)
78.7
83.4 (288)
71.3 (861)
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Free Throw Rate 29.6 (770)
64.7 (95)
20.8 (964)
58.9 (204)
38.3 (643)
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3pt FG 76 (101)
49 (434)
67 (143)
46 (425)
26 (971)
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3pt FG Att 198 (109)
164 (266)
170 (180)
97 (678)
77 (979)
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3pt FG Pct 38.4
29.9
39.4 (132)
47.4
33.8
Chart It
Effective FG Pct 53.0 (367)
48.5 (844)
50.1 (644)
52.3 (798)
49.8
Chart It
Floor Pct 55.5 (277)
53.6 (644)
48.7 (895)
57.3 (308)
54.1 (535)
Chart It
Shot Pct 28.3 (162)
27.2 (237)
24.7 (439)
20.2
21.4
Chart It
True Shooting Pct 56.8 (335)
55.1 (613)
53.0 (722)
60.1 (366)
53.7
Chart It
Rebounds Bullet_delete
Rebounds 124 (994)
183 (414)
97
144 (571)
153 (597)
Chart It
RPG 3.179
5.903 (373)
3.2
4.5
3.923
Chart It
Off Rebs 21
44 (781)
14
22
61 (393)
Chart It
Off Reb Pct 1.8
5.0
1.6
2.3
5.8
Chart It
Off Rebs Per Game 0.538
1.419 (751)
0.5
0.688
1.564
Chart It
Def Reb Pct 8.7
14.8 (793)
9.6
12.3
8.4
Chart It
Def Rebs 103 (695)
139 (292)
83 (818)
122 (279)
92 (801)
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Def Rebs Per Game 2.641
4.484 (257)
2.8 (827)
3.812 (684)
2.359
Chart It
Assists, Steals, & Blocks Bullet_delete
Assists 260 (3)
148 (82)
185 (14)
212 (10)
167 (48)
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Assists Per Game 6.667 (12)
4.774 (64)
6.2 (12)
6.625 (22)
4.282 (172)
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A/T Ratio 3.0 (11)
1.8 (282)
2.5 (22)
2.4 (89)
1.7 (318)
Chart It
Assist Pct 37.2 (22)
30.0 (77)
34.8 (30)
33.8 (117)
24.3 (460)
Chart It
Steals 62 (64)
89 (5)
31 (672)
76 (20)
63 (46)
Chart It
Steals Per Game 1.59 (168)
2.871 (3)
1.0 (717)
2.375 (128)
1.615 (441)
Chart It
Steal Pct 2.8 (456)
5.0 (7)
1.8
3.9 (287)
2.9 (657)
Chart It
Blocks 20 (515)
18 (645)
9 (958)
1
7
Chart It
Blocks Per Game 0.513 (676)
0.581 (630)
0.3
0.031
0.179
Chart It
Block Pct 1.5 (992)
1.8 (879)
0.9 (986)
0.0
0.5
Chart It
Turnovers & Fouls Bullet_delete
Turnovers 86 (197)
82 (184)
75 (322)
89 (123)
96 (125)
Chart It
TOPG 2.205 (471)
2.645 (161)
2.5 (365)
2.781 (758)
2.462 (981)
Chart It
Turnover Pct 13.4
15.4
18.5
20.0
19.8
Chart It
Fouls 73 (855)
91 (402)
68 (937)
82 (370)
93 (238)
Chart It
Fouls Per Game 1.872
2.935 (324)
2.3 (970)
2.562
2.385
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Plus/Minus Bullet_delete
Plus Minus Games 34 (25)
23



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Plus Minus 415 (9)
290 (67)



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+/- Avg 12.2 (69)
12.6 (14)



Chart It
Roland 375 (17)
238 (113)



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Roland Avg 11.0 (97)
10.3 (55)



Chart It
Plus Minus Win Pct 85.3 (120)
71.7 (262)



Chart It
Clutch Games 10 (502)
9



Chart It
Clutch Seconds 2808.0 (228)
2055.0 (840)



Chart It
Clutch Plus Minus -2
-15



Chart It
Clutch Roland 10 (449)
-14



Chart It
Clutch Win Pct 45.0
38.9



Chart It

xTrey
Burke

Career2012-13 (So)2011-12 (Fr)
xMarcus
Smart

Career2013-14 (So)2012-13 (Fr)
xDeron
Williams

Career2004-05 (Jr)2003-04 (So)2002-03 (Fr)
xChris
Paul

Career2004-05 (So)2003-04 (Fr)
xRussell
Westbrook

Career2007-08 (So)2006-07 (Fr)

All comments are the opinion of the commenter and not necessarily that of SLC Dunk or SB Nation.