How about some love for Marcus Smart? He's been getting plenty in the game threads: the guy is now up to 13th in the league in Wins by RPM, bookended by Kyrie Irving and Jrue Holiday.
His shooting has seen a substantial uptick in February. A FG% of .456 (though the 3pt% remains abysmal) is his best this year for a month -- in fact, these are the first months since December/January of his rookie year that he's been over 40% on FG's. Since he's been so bad from 3 point land, the uptick has to be accounted for on his 2 pointers: anecdotally, he's shown an increased ability to get himself shots in/near the restricted area through an improved first step. When he can't get to the cup, he's opting for a range of floaters and leaners.
A quick look at the NBA shooting splits shows he's benefiting from some good luck in the midrange (50% from 10-19 feet on 12 FGA), but that's he's also been very good around the hoop: (58% from less than 5 feet on 29 FGA, and 75% from 5-9 feet on 8 FGA). All of these are small sample sizes, of course, but he's also seemed a lot less out of control around the hoop.
We'll see if it lasts. It didn't last time. But a Marcus Smart who can shoot at a league average clip, given his extraordinary defense and his good passing, remains a player you can dream on.
His shooting has seen a substantial uptick in February. A FG% of .456 (though the 3pt% remains abysmal) is his best this year for a month -- in fact, these are the first months since December/January of his rookie year that he's been over 40% on FG's. Since he's been so bad from 3 point land, the uptick has to be accounted for on his 2 pointers: anecdotally, he's shown an increased ability to get himself shots in/near the restricted area through an improved first step. When he can't get to the cup, he's opting for a range of floaters and leaners.
A quick look at the NBA shooting splits shows he's benefiting from some good luck in the midrange (50% from 10-19 feet on 12 FGA), but that's he's also been very good around the hoop: (58% from less than 5 feet on 29 FGA, and 75% from 5-9 feet on 8 FGA). All of these are small sample sizes, of course, but he's also seemed a lot less out of control around the hoop.
We'll see if it lasts. It didn't last time. But a Marcus Smart who can shoot at a league average clip, given his extraordinary defense and his good passing, remains a player you can dream on.