« Reply #53 on: March 03, 2015, 11:37:18 AM »
I like Smart, Bradley, and Turner starting. The identity of this team should be defense. The first unit sets the tone with defense and ball movement. Then Stevens has the flexibility to sub in IT for any spot 1-3 depending on matchups and who has the hot hand.
Notice how the team's offensive identity completely changes when IT comes in, for better or worse? The ball doesn't move as much. The team looks for IT on almost every possession. He's becoming a crutch. Of course, he's a very good offensive player and we might improve if we just ran IT pnr's on every play, but that's not the identity we're trying to establish. We have to build something more sustainable. Isaiah is better as a spark plug than a floor general. If we're ever going to be serious, Smart or some player not yet on the roster needs to grow as a floor general.
Granted, our team is 2 legitimate frontcourt players away from realizing any defensive identity.
And what does being a "floor general" really mean? Did the Golden State Warriors have one the other day? Or was the team just looking for Curry and Thompson on every possession?
Curry is definitely a floor general. He's the de facto ball handler. He can break pressure. He advances it quickly and finds transition baskets. He gets the team into their sets early. He penetrates and creates for others (8apg). He scores 24 a game without being selfish. He's not a ball stopper. He's a gunner but he rarely shoots his team out of their rhythm. He shows good awareness, knows when to defer. And so on.
Of course, you can freelance a lot when you have 2 of the greatest shooters of the last 20 years.
So no love for Thomas's 22 ppg (on about the same number of shots as Curry) and 7.5 assists per 36 minutes?
Of course the identity changes. When Isaiah Thomas steps on the court, he's automatically the best scoring option by a HUGE margin.
Thomas is great, but he's dominating the ball like 86' MJ. His usage rate is astronomical, 33.8%. Higher than Curry (28.3) and even higher than James Harden (31%).
I doubt his efficiency is sustainable at that rate, especially if he were a starter. I don't think it's healthy for any starter to dominate the ball like that. I think if you want to win with a hodgepodge group like the Celtics have, you better be sharing the ball and executing in the half court, like Atlanta. Nobody over 25% and hyper-efficient guys like Korver at 14%.
Now, if IT can come off the bench and score in bursts like Jamal Crawford (another high usg% guy) then I'm fine with it. Do they both deserve to start? Yeah, probably.
His size issues are also less likely to be an issue on both ends vs second units.
you are 100% spot TP.
His size issues weren't an issue at all in Sacramento. It is a silly argument.
I know that he wasn't the only reason the Kings were awful on defense when he was on the team, but his size issues certainly didn't help.
Had his size issues not been present do you think a guy averaging 20/6 would get a contract that is closer to Brandon Bass than other 20 point scorers.
He plays the deepest position in basketball and he isn't the only guy with that sort of contract. For example, Monta Ellis didn't sign for much more than that he has a much longer history with that sort of play than Thomas does.
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