1/15/15: The Education of Marcus Smart
All Marcus Smart really needs to know about being an NBA point guard, he can learn from…Marcus Banks?
You remember Banks. You might not want to, but you do. The 6-foot-2, 220 pound UNLV product functioned as Danny Ainge’s first draft pick as Celtics Director of Basketball Operations. The new boss flipped Duke swingman Dahntay Jones and BC’s Troy Bell to Memphis for #13 pick Banks and the #27 selection, teenage Texan behemoth Kendrick Perkins, on draft night back in 2003.
And while the Celtics “won” the deal in the end, it wasn’t because of Banks.
Like Smart, Banks was a stocky point guard and excellent on-ball defender, a bulldog who wreaked havoc in college on Mountain West backcourts (2.8 steals per game) and succeeded offensively with his runaway train speed and by bullying his way to the basket (6.7 FTA over 36 minutes per game).
But the physical specimen had a suspect jumper. Sound familiar? Banks had a knack for kicking out his leg, which created inconsistencies in his release. The book on Banks going into his rookie season also said he wasn’t a natural distributor, couldn’t create off the bounce, and often got himself into trouble with his gung-ho drives to the hoop. And the point guard did little to dispel the rumors.
The Celtics nearly cut the cord on the Banks experiment after just one season, as Ainge shipped him to the Lakers in exchange for veteran Gary Payton. When the Glove failed to report in time for a physical, the deal was restructured and Jumaine Jones was swapped instead, leaving Banks with the opportunity to learn from one of the all-time greats.
Payton was interviewed on his understudy during training camp:
“I think leadership is going to be one of his biggest qualities — it’s nothing about his physical talents or nothing like that — he’s just got to learn how to be more mature and learn how to run a basketball team.”
But despite his considerable gifts, Banks never got it. From an analytical standpoint, his stint as Payton’s understudy was subtly Banks’ most productive as a Celtic. He eschewed the three, got to the line more, and lifted his assist to turnover ratio.
But following Payton’s departure for Miami the following year, Banks went right back to his old ways. Eventually, it was off to Basketball Siberia in Minnesota as trade fodder in the Wally Szczerbiak deal. In all, he logged 180 games in Boston, just five of them starts.
He grew up admiring Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury. Wanted to be a scorer. The transition to distributor in a Celtics offense that featured Paul Pierce was a painful one. And former All-Star point guard Doc Rivers’ message was lost when he took over as Celtics coach for Banks’ sophomore campaign.
“The problem is that he is still trying to make the play for himself,” Rivers told the Herald’s Mark Murphy at the time. “The easiest play would be for him to take the ball and get it ahead to someone. I told the guys that I averaged 10 assists one year, but I could have averaged 15. The reason I didn’t is because so often I just got the ball ahead to Dominique (Wilkins) and the other guys, and they created off of it for easy baskets.”
And though our protagonist, Marcus Smart has jacked north of four three-point attempts per game over his last nine contests, the rest of the package indicates the rookie is putting Banks in his rearview mirror. Sure, there are a stunning number of similarities between the two: physical stature, defensive acumen and that affinity for long jumpers when he should be going to the cup.
But Smart’s rapport with the Celtics’ young bigs has been impressive; finding angles to reach them in the post and hitting them on cuts to the hole. He has already demonstrated an ability to change the game with his defense, just as Payton did as a rookie point guard out of Oregon State in a crowded Seattle backcourt with veterans Sedale Threatt and Nate McMillan. And he’s made an impressive 16 of his last 38 attempts from deep (42.1%) after working through an early ankle injury.
And then, there’s the head game, which separates players with “upside” from those who can expect long, productive NBA careers. Many questioned Smart’s mental makeup coming into his rookie campaign. But unlike Banks, who loved playing video games and wanted to be a fashion model, there’s no questioning Smart’s focus or his leadership qualities.
There’s still work to be done. Payton’s 10-year old advice for Banks very much applies to the future Celtics floor general:
“As a point guard, I think you always gotta…pass first, play defense and then score. Then, you get into a situation where you can break a person down, get to the basket, get some easy layups, get some easy buckets in the paint and then knock down the jumper.”
If Marcus Smart can be a little more Gary Payton and a little less Marcus Banks, he’ll be just fine.
This post was originally published to TheDropStep.com on January 15, 2015.
