Saric already better than Smart and has a higher ceiling. What pick was he by Philly?
No, he isn't. He's having a hot game, but Smart is far superior on D, and they're both below average on O.
He was #12 overall
I think for this system Saric is a better fit. Call me crazy, but it's true
Another over reaction to a player who has a good game against us but is having a below average season.
This is his first season n the NBA right? You don't see his skills for a player his size?
He's played professionally for years over in Europe... He's not getting any better - this is what you get with him.
What?!?? How does this make sense? So European players don't improve?
No, not when they have that type of background. Look at Mirotic who had a pretty similar context to Saric with his background and age coming into the NBA - he's not getting any better either.
American college players develop for years after coming in because they get older/stronger and they learn the professional game, which is much, much different than college ball. The same can't be said for European players who come here at age 22 and have already been playing professional ball for years.
Mirotic was picked in the same draft as Lamarcus Aldridge. He came into the league at like 25/26 there is no comparison between the two besides that they are both European and they shoot 3s. Saric is a better playmaker, shooter, and for now a better rebounder. He fits today's NBA a lot better as a playmaking 4. Saric is 22. To say that is ridiculous. Yeah Giannis never improved even though he's been playing basketball since he was like 8 at least. Dirk never improved. Europeans don't improve once they get into the NBA.
?
LMA was drafted in 2006 draft. 5 years before even Mirotic got drafted.
Saric can still improve at 23 yet, Smart, a year younger than him already reached his ceiling?
I never said that, but players that have reached the league and have had 3 years to just slightly improve over time show it or max out at the player they are. Smart will improve, but I don't believe he has the same ceiling as Saric based on the fact that Smart has shown minimal improvement at all thus far in his career. People were making this same argument for James Young by the way
Some people are late bloomers. You can't really judge young players until they reach the age of 25-27. Just look at Bradley. Does anyone really expected him to average 17PPG this season? No, and he was way worse than Smart when he first came in the league. Took him 6 years to develop his game.
Star players that bloomed later in their careers:
Kyle Lowry
Hassan Whiteside
Chauncey Billups
Jermaine O'neal
Paul Millsap
Im not saying Smart will be a star, but never count that out as a possibility. Whether he reach it or not, as long as he makes All-Defensive team on regular basis, I think the pick is well used. Hell, we may even see Bradley as an All-Star this year if he keep up his stats up to February. Even guys like Jamaal Magloire and Kyle Korver managed to get a nod for an All-Star appearance.
There are also players who became stars without a shooting like Rondo or John Wall.
See I comletely agree with this!! I'm not disputing this. I'm disputing the fact that European player can't ever improve on what he is after coming over at the ripe age of 22. I'll paint it this way. Saric has played top tier level European Basketball for about 2 years with Anadolu Efes in Israel which by far is not even close to as good as NBA basketball. Smart has played 3 years in the NBA and hasn't had any massive improvements in his game. So according to your boy experience in lesser competition, in his example college, doesn't mean as much as experience in Europe. Wouldn't that mean experience in even the best European leagues doesn't mean as much as Smart's experience in the pros because it's a worse league. And therefore according to his logic that means Saric can improve because he was playing in a lesser league and has plenty to learn in the NBA and plenty of skills to build off of. And also by his logic that means Smart is maxed out because he's played more years with better competition.
I don't really deny that Saric can still improve. Ginobili entered the league at the age 23 (I think?) and he also came from Euroleague.
I don't really support his logic, but if people already count Smart as a bust and Saric as a future star, then all I see are double-standards.
Go check out basketball reference he definitely came in at 25. I'll I'm trying to say is by that logic that's how it is then. He's pretty much arguing the same argument for Saric for Smart. Smart will improve and Saric will improve. Thats what players do at 22/23 and are young players that haven't even grown into their roles on their teams let alone achieved their maximum potenial skill-wise.
No, no, no - once again you're just trying to twist the argument to fit your narrative. Smart and Saric have totally different backgrounds, because college ball is not equivalent to professional ball, even overseas. They're two totally different games.
Further, the only thing that people really expect Smart to develop from here on out is his shooting, which is well documented throughout NBA history that players can improve upon. We've already seen that his passing, playmaking, and ballhandling have all bettered since coming into the league, and he's really just lacking a reliable jumpshot to be a well-rounded two-way player. What's more, most of the development talk with Smart is just actually being able to run the point, which Brad has largely not had him do in his tenure here.
So, no, once again these are completely different contexts and examples, like I've said all along.
Topic: Celtics (11-8) at Sixers (4-15) Game #20 12/3/16 (Read 58270 times)