Author Topic: Marcus Smart - that important to the team  (Read 5658 times)

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Re: Marcus Smart - that important to the team
« Reply #45 on: November 26, 2015, 04:54:53 PM »

Offline Vox_Populi

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For those who are interested in a larger sample, from Statmuse.com, the Celtics are 40-36 with Smart since he got drafted and 8-13 without.

If recent evidence is to go by, the Celtics will clearly lose even more without him and make the difference even larger.

Re: Marcus Smart - that important to the team
« Reply #46 on: November 26, 2015, 05:56:44 PM »

Offline crimson_stallion

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I'm not sure that the drop off in play is from losing Smart, so much as it is from simply losing depth.

When Smart is starting we always have a strong scorer starting alongside him, with another coming off the bench (Thomas / Bradley).  That's critical for us.

With Smart out we're starting Thomas and Bradley, and we have no scorer off the bench.

Our bench scored 21 points against Philly, and 16 of those were from Evan Turner.  This is from a team who has (up to now) had one of the strongest benches in the NBA, which also happens to be one of out biggest strengths.

Taking that away has a big impact.

Re: Marcus Smart - that important to the team
« Reply #47 on: November 26, 2015, 08:21:41 PM »

Offline guava_wrench

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I'm not sure that the drop off in play is from losing Smart, so much as it is from simply losing depth.

When Smart is starting we always have a strong scorer starting alongside him, with another coming off the bench (Thomas / Bradley).  That's critical for us.

With Smart out we're starting Thomas and Bradley, and we have no scorer off the bench.

Our bench scored 21 points against Philly, and 16 of those were from Evan Turner.  This is from a team who has (up to now) had one of the strongest benches in the NBA, which also happens to be one of out biggest strengths.

Taking that away has a big impact.
It is both Smart and depth.

We still have depth. We have Rozier and even Young who can take minutes. But they can't replace what Smart brought to the team. Our defense misses Smart and the people picking up the extra minutes aren't bringing that.

If we avoid playing Rozier more so that he can make up the difference, we have a drop in ability. If we shorten rotation, we have to let guys slow down a little to not run out of gas.

Re: Marcus Smart - that important to the team
« Reply #48 on: November 26, 2015, 08:35:43 PM »

Offline crimson_stallion

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I'm not sure that the drop off in play is from losing Smart, so much as it is from simply losing depth.

When Smart is starting we always have a strong scorer starting alongside him, with another coming off the bench (Thomas / Bradley).  That's critical for us.

With Smart out we're starting Thomas and Bradley, and we have no scorer off the bench.

Our bench scored 21 points against Philly, and 16 of those were from Evan Turner.  This is from a team who has (up to now) had one of the strongest benches in the NBA, which also happens to be one of out biggest strengths.

Taking that away has a big impact.
It is both Smart and depth.

We still have depth. We have Rozier and even Young who can take minutes. But they can't replace what Smart brought to the team. Our defense misses Smart and the people picking up the extra minutes aren't bringing that.

If we avoid playing Rozier more so that he can make up the difference, we have a drop in ability. If we shorten rotation, we have to let guys slow down a little to not run out of gas.

When I say depth, I don't just mean having living, breathing human beings who are capable of playing.

I mean having players who can make a quality contribution on offense. 

With Smart in the starting lineup, we always have a starting caliber guard leading the second unit - be it Thomas or Bradley.  With Smart out both those guys have to start, and hence we have to resort to backup quality guys and/or raw prospects to take on those minutes.

I think that is more the issue than Smart himself, although I do believe we miss his presence as well. 

Re: Marcus Smart - that important to the team
« Reply #49 on: November 26, 2015, 10:53:06 PM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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Quote
Marcus Smart returning to the court in two weeks is “very optimistic” I’m told. He’s on crutches now along with wearing a leg brace.
21 hours ago – via Twitter SherrodbCSN

Not the best of news. May be a while till he's back, especially if its a chronic issue.
Well this certainly sucks in a suckily sucky fashion.  >:(
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Re: Marcus Smart - that important to the team
« Reply #50 on: November 27, 2015, 08:12:19 AM »

Offline Sketch5

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Quote
Marcus Smart returning to the court in two weeks is “very optimistic” I’m told. He’s on crutches now along with wearing a leg brace.
21 hours ago – via Twitter SherrodbCSN

Not the best of news. May be a while till he's back, especially if its a chronic issue.
Well this certainly sucks in a suckily sucky fashion.  >:(


I told my wife, who is a physical therapist what happened, and the look she gave me made me think he's out at least a month. Especially when I said the two week window, she raised her eyebrow questioning it.

 So this should make the pro tankers a bit happy, but make the trade Banks 2.0 guys made. :P

I don't know how much the bad play the last few games is connected to Smart. But there has been times when they had leads at the end of games and he's on the bench, the other team starts to make a run and Stevens throws him back in for a couple minutes and he settles them down.

It also could be exposing our lack of BIG's defense. When Smart is defending the ball most guys are slower and more hesitant with their offense taking time off the clock, only to have to rush the play. Those things don't show up in STATS.  When he and AB are on top of their defensive game the ball rarely gets below the free throw line.

People can say what they want about him, how he can score, or he's not a trure PG. But I'd rather go after a scoring wing and big and surround him with talent than trade him for it. He does the little things, and his attitude and approach to the game cant be taught.