Draft Match Up: Marcus Smart vs. Elfrid Payton
By Mike Garcia
Skill Level – Attacking the Basket
Both players like to attack the basket, but they do so in different ways.
Marcus Smart is more of a direct-line driver. He has a change of direction at the beginning of the drive. There, he’ll use his quickness and strength to bump defenders and carry them with him to the hoop. He is often met by help defense at the rim level, and uses his hands, wingspan, and strength to finish over them. If he can’t get by the defender, he’ll pull up for a jumpshot, which is streaky at best.
Elfrid Payton, on the other hand, is more crafty. He uses NBA-level changes of direction to completely evade defenders and leave them in the dust. Payton’s quickness, speed, and ball-handling combination is much more deadly than Smart. He doesn’t have the strength like Smart does, so he struggles to finish in the paint a bit more, but the way he breaks down a defense is NBA quality. Since he is able to shake defenders, he is more likely to finish with authority at the hoop. Smart absorbs the contact. Payton draws away from it. Both Payton and Smart draw similar free throw attempts per-40 minutes per game; both at the top of their position with 9 – 9.4 free throw attempts.