Celtics Regular Season thread
- Thread starter Cesar Crespo
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And his playmaking has gotten much better over the last few games -- 10 assists against the Spurs is nothing to sneeze at, even if he's not hitting his 3s off the dribble. I'm feeling much better at having a passer to run the offense through when Thomas is resting. Rozier and Bradley are getting better all the time at finding and making their own shots, but they still can't make plays for others.
He's certainly not without his strong points. But 35 percent shooting for a guard, is there any precedent for that? Had he enough shots to qualify, he would have been dead last in FG% each of the past two years. How good do you have to be at everything else to compensate for that?
For the Celtics purposes, he already is good enough at what he does well to compensate for it. The backcourt would be lost without him on the defensive end.
The one example that comes readily to mind is Ricky Rubio - clearly a worse shooter than Smart has been.
On shooting alone, which is what I thought the subject was, Rubio has been clearly worse. By "worse", I mean "has yet to shoot .400 from inside the arc for any full season."
Thanks for pointing out that it was an exaggeration. Point is, Smart missed a shot no NBA guard should ever miss, and there is ample evidence it wasn't a fluke. He's a liability on offense and I don't see it getting better.
Hes not a liability on offense. Hes not a good shooter. The two arent tied at the hip. His playmaking out of the PnR this year is drastically improved and his mechanics look better esp w the catch and shoot.
He paniced and short armed that shot instead of going up strong into the oncoming defenders. A mistake yes. Not.every nba guard finishes that shot every time.
He's more than "not good". He is the either the worst shooter amongst NBA guards, or very close to that. Not every NBA guard finishes that shot every time, but just about all of them do more often than Smart.
I thought the same thing when they drafted him He can probably never start with such bad shooting. My bias is against guys that can't shoot. I didn't like the pick, but water is under the bridge. Talking about Smart being a bad shooter is like complaining Blount doesn't catch screen passes, or Nomar swinging at the first pitch, or Olynyk not blocking shots. Look at what they can do, quit tearing hair over what won't change.
This is so true and we all fall into this trap at one time or another.
Smart was a solid pick without there being high upside guys in the mix at that pick (like say Greek Freak over Olynyk). I wasn't crazy about him coming out of college as his ceiling to me was always limited but who were we passing on at 6 that year......Vonleh? Staukas? We weren't going to take LaVine that high. Smart was never going to be a starting PG in this league, was never going to be a core "Big 3" piece, but was unlikely to "never not" be a solid rotation player with his toughness, competitiveness and overall versatile game......and that is good value for the #6 pick who over the past dozen years had guys like Josh Childress, Jan Vesely, Ekpe Udoh, Jonny Flynn, Yi Jianlian, and Martell Webster picked there.
I agree, it was gutsy move to go for the sure rotation guy, rather than the defensible upside guy that is a bust.
As a coach I am also irrational. I don't like guys that can't defend, and guys that can't shoot. But how many can do both? You mentioned Oynyk who is the other side of the coin, and at times even harder to get on the floor.
As a coach I am also irrational. I don't like guys that can't defend, and guys that can't shoot. But how many can do both? You mentioned Oynyk who is the other side of the coin, and at times even harder to get on the floor.
Olynyk over Greek Freak will forever bother me. If there was ever a time for this franchise to gamble on a raw talent, it was the 2013 draft. Fortunately, Ainge redeemed himself with the Nets trade later that summer, which already appears to have netted (ha ha) the team an impact player in Brown with 2 more potential impact players coming these next 2 drafts.
I think there's still some maturation potential that could improve the overall package. Obviously, start with removing any long-range shot that isn't a wide open look in the rhythm of the offense. Nothing off the dribble, fade-aways, etc. His playmaking has been good this year. Need more of that, and fewer heat-checks after a single make. I think if he sticks with open, set shot threes he can shoot a credible percentage. The pull-up three on the fast break last night was one of the worst shot decisions ever made.
Actually, speaking of Olynyk, they should just swap shooting tendencies. Both would be much better off.
Love everything else about Marcus though. Team needs the fire he brings.
Actually, speaking of Olynyk, they should just swap shooting tendencies. Both would be much better off.
Love everything else about Marcus though. Team needs the fire he brings.
Miami took to hack-a-Smart last night and while it didn't turn the game around it didn't exactly hurt them either. His current FT% is simply unacceptable. It's early and the sample size is small but he can't shoot in the 50-60% range all season. He ended up around 78% last season so there's plenty of room for hope but he didn't step up and drain the FTs last night either. If teams continue to do it and he continues to struggle there it could become a mental issue.
After hitting 2 of 3 with 8:19 left, he went to the line 3 times in the last 3 minutes and hit 1 of 2 each time. I do expect his FT to improve because he's historically been simply below average as opposed to terrible, but then Antoine took a similar turn with his FT so it's not unprecedented.
Even if his poor shooting this season continues, the rate he makes free throws would make the C's offense more efficient. A 55% free throw shooter generates more points per 100 possessions than the Celtics currently do, and would rank as a top 7 offense. On top of that, most analysis shows that hack-a-whoever strategies actually hurt the fouling team on offense, because it eliminates transition baskets and allows their opponent to set their defense. There's basically 2 or 3 free throw shooters in the league that are bad enough for hack-a to be a viable strategy. Smart isn't one of them.
The best part of the Hack A Smart was on the other end the C's were fouling Whiteside unintentionally and he kept missing his freebies.
The bummer was in getting the 6th pick to begin with. Smart (or whomever) was just a fait accompli at that point.
I mean, Vonleh can't even really play. And the best player out of the top three is who, Jokic? Celtics werent the only team that missed on him.
Well to be fair nobody was taking Jokic with the 6th pick as he went 41st and this was always thought of as a very weak draft outside of the Top-3 with Exum being that wildcard who also had big time upside. I hated Aaron Gordon then and I still hate him today.
This team makes me crazy with their inconsistency.
Please return to your discussion of the 2014 draft.
Please return to your discussion of the 2014 draft.
Last night was tough. Detroit was shooting lights out all game. The C's were awful at defending the pick and roll last night, but every single time Detroit needed a big shot down the stretch they were able to get one. Very frustrating.
Around the 5 minute mark last night the refs hosed the Celts with three bad calls within a minute's time. That combined with Brad throwing in the towel by deciding not to foul when down 8 or so with two minutes left made that one of the most frustrating losses of the year.
I haven't read or listened to anything, but has it been brought up anywhere that Brad seems to throw it away too early last night?
I haven't read or listened to anything, but has it been brought up anywhere that Brad seems to throw it away too early last night?
I don't think he was throwing the game away. They were playing for the stop. They didn't get it and failed to score. If the opposite happened it could have been cut to one possession after two more stops.
Some raw meat for fellow Bird fanatics on his 60th Birthday. For a guy with a rep for being media shy and reserved, Larry has always been a solid interview. The contrast between modern training techniques vs. 30-35 years ago is pretty interesting.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18197737/larry-bird-reveals-secrets-13-year-career
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18197737/larry-bird-reveals-secrets-13-year-career
I loved loved loved growing up in the Bird era as my favorite player of all time!
I still wonder however what his daughter got him for a birthday gift.
I know it's one game, but the offense looked a lot better without Thomas throwing up 20 shots. It might be heresy, but perhaps he's better suited to that 6th man, instant offense role he served when he first came over?
But yeah, probably small sample size...
But yeah, probably small sample size...
Its not heresay. That's his role on a legit contender. I just dont see it happening here as I dont think Dannys forking over $20 mil to that guy next offseason.
I'm more interested to see how an IT-less team does against the Raptors tomorrow. The Magic have been hot lately but they aren't good and the C's should have rolled them with or without IT. I think the offense is fine with him as the starting 1 but I wonder how much his bad defense negates his scoring especially against good point guards. I'm not sure how to quantitatively measure that but I'd imagine it's pretty significant.
Teams have been stepping up and playing over their heads when star player is out for decades now in this league. It's also a letdown for the opponent. It's one of the more predictive models year over year in this league.
We are not a better team without Isaiah in the lineup and the days of him being a backup for anyone are long gone until he loses a step in 3-4 years when sub-6 foot guards have historically fallen off a cliff.
We are not a better team without Isaiah in the lineup and the days of him being a backup for anyone are long gone until he loses a step in 3-4 years when sub-6 foot guards have historically fallen off a cliff.
Agree completely, I see his ideal role on this team to be a rich mans' Jamal Crawford, instant offense 6th man and a closer down 4th quarter stretch. Until we land an alpha who can initiate and sustain a half court offense he is going to be overburdened with being our primary scorer by default. He handles the role well, but the Atlanta series exposed the team ceiling when a good defensive team can afford to double and triple team him all game. That said, last night notwithstanding I see no Ewing Theory potential with him, he single handedly can sustain an offense for quarters at a time when the rest of the team doesn't have their jumper falling.
Boston has already emerged as a team interested in trading for Dallas center Andrew Bogut,
http://www.espn.com/blog/marc-stein/post/_/id/4740/kings-cousins-for-one-doesnt-expect-to-be-dealt
http://www.espn.com/blog/marc-stein/post/_/id/4740/kings-cousins-for-one-doesnt-expect-to-be-dealt
The Thomas thing is not complicated. Good teams need guys who can get their own (reasonable) shot off at any time. The Celtics have exactly one of those guys at this point.
How does a deal for Bogut work, though? He's making $11M this year so matching salaries is going to be tough. Jerebko, Young, Jackson with a 2nd rounder? Do we want to deal Jerebko and his 3pt shooting?
Think Amir and couple of seconds or a future first could get it done. Don't think this will be a huge lift even if Portland or another team jumps in the fray.
This would be a great get for the C's if they can pull this off. Getting a rim protector who can board a little bit is a big upgrade to the Center position - currently their weakest link.
Love the Larry stories.
On a more pertinent note, one of the reasons for the C's struggles is that the "IT&D" lineup - IT, AB, Smart, Jae, and Al - are getting shredded this year. See: http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/12/it-and-d_problem_boston_celtic.html. One stat: among all lineups with at least 35 minutes together, only one other has a worse defensive rating. (Article doesn't mention which lineup is worse).
In fact, any time IT, Marcus, and AB are playing together, they are having defensive problems: "So far, the Thomas-Bradley-Smart combination has played 252 minutes together, which equates to more than one-fourth of Boston's season overall. During that time, the Celtics have been outscored by 6.3 points per 100 possessions. Essentially that means when three of their best players share the court, they have played basketball like the 4-15 Dallas Mavericks, with a downright appalling 112.0 defensive rating."
Haven't seen a lot of games lately but it seems like Brad likes to play IT, AB, and Marcus down the stretch, which could explain why the Cs can't close out games.
On a more pertinent note, one of the reasons for the C's struggles is that the "IT&D" lineup - IT, AB, Smart, Jae, and Al - are getting shredded this year. See: http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/12/it-and-d_problem_boston_celtic.html. One stat: among all lineups with at least 35 minutes together, only one other has a worse defensive rating. (Article doesn't mention which lineup is worse).
In fact, any time IT, Marcus, and AB are playing together, they are having defensive problems: "So far, the Thomas-Bradley-Smart combination has played 252 minutes together, which equates to more than one-fourth of Boston's season overall. During that time, the Celtics have been outscored by 6.3 points per 100 possessions. Essentially that means when three of their best players share the court, they have played basketball like the 4-15 Dallas Mavericks, with a downright appalling 112.0 defensive rating."
Haven't seen a lot of games lately but it seems like Brad likes to play IT, AB, and Marcus down the stretch, which could explain why the Cs can't close out games.
