Author Topic: Better offense without Thomas?  (Read 9397 times)

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Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #30 on: May 22, 2017, 08:11:45 PM »

Offline mctyson

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Marcus Smart shot 7/10 from three and drew two additional 3-shot fouls. Please, please do not draw conclusions from this game.

Correct.  The team will look and play different without IT on the court because it has to. 

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #31 on: May 22, 2017, 08:44:35 PM »

Offline Tr1boy

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Marcus Smart shot 7/10 from three and drew two additional 3-shot fouls. Please, please do not draw conclusions from this game.

can you also give him some credit?

what most fans don't know about Smart (ever since his days in college)  ... is that he is a slow starter

he might go 0-7 before ending up the night with 6-14

He is a rhythm shooter....  to expect him to pull a Ginobilli or Korver and start hitting shots from right away.... Not likely

Also from what i have seen...him having a chance to dribble/bring up the ball helps "warm up" his game

I like IT4 and glad we got him (or else celts wouldn't be in this position)....but from the day he started to complain about not starting.... I didn't have a good feeling....because that was going to eat into Smarts development

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #32 on: May 22, 2017, 08:58:25 PM »

Offline Rosco917

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I don't think anyone is suggesting Marcus Smart is the permanent replacement for IT. The replacement for IT is a PG that can facilitate, score, and defend. He may not be a super star, but he is a suitable two way player.

And there is no way the offense is better without IT, no offense in professional basketball couldn't use an IT
on their roster. He's that effective of a scorer.

I think we all want IT on the Celtics.

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #33 on: May 22, 2017, 09:00:56 PM »

Offline kozlodoev

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I don't think anyone is suggesting Marcus Smart is the permanent replacement for IT. The replacement for IT is a PG that can facilitate, score, and defend. He may not be a super star, but he is a suitable two way player.

And there is no way the offense is better without IT, no offense in professional basketball couldn't use an IT
on their roster. He's that effective of a scorer.

I think we all want IT on the Celtics.
Smart plays 30 minutes per game and spends a lot of time bringing up the ball even with Thomas on the floor. If he can't deal with this minimal level of adversity, I'm not sure I want to be heavily invested in him (literally and figuratively).

Either way, I think Smart's problems come from overthinking his game. It's no coincidence that he's better in the clutch (no time to lollygag one way or the other). Also note his own definition of Game 3 with Cle: "I had nothing to lose".
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #34 on: May 22, 2017, 09:12:07 PM »

Offline Chris22

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Better defense without Thomas, but he was injured.
But that is the problem when your best player is small. They always get injured in the playoffs.

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #35 on: May 22, 2017, 09:13:15 PM »

Offline Chris22

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I don't think anyone is suggesting Marcus Smart is the permanent replacement for IT. The replacement for IT is a PG that can facilitate, score, and defend. He may not be a super star, but he is a suitable two way player.

And there is no way the offense is better without IT, no offense in professional basketball couldn't use an IT
on their roster. He's that effective of a scorer.

I think we all want IT on the Celtics.

The replacement for IT is Fultz.
Which is why we should not sign IT to a max contract.

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #36 on: May 22, 2017, 09:55:39 PM »

Offline sirnastee

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I love IT and he really had an inspiring season.  With that said and his free agency coming up, I think if celtics win one more game this series, IT may be gone.  As much as he is good offensively, his defense during the playoffs literally gives up 2 points every time down.  In order to make up for his defense, IT has to score every time down the other end.  But, in the playoffs, teams double and triple team him and his height makes it hard for him to pass out of the smothering defenses, leading to turnovers and transition.  It also hurts our rebounding somewhat, as our point guard can't crash for any rebounds. 

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #37 on: May 22, 2017, 10:18:58 PM »

Offline Bobshot

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Was IT really playing hurt the first two games? I don't know. They certainly are better defensively without him, and probably share the ball more.

This would be a solid team with a top defensive big up front. The guy they're missing against teams like the Cavs. To me, they're just not a whole team yet.

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #38 on: May 22, 2017, 10:50:04 PM »

Offline inverselock

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Anybody do an analysis of shot quality vs the other games?   Or is this just a feeling........

Where does Boston rank in assist totals for these playoffs?

18 x 3's last game.   How many contested/uncontested?   How does that compare to the previous 2 games?

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #39 on: May 23, 2017, 08:12:41 PM »

Offline Tr1boy

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Adam Himmelsbach: Lue: “With Isaiah going down, offensively they take shots they don’t normally take or you wouldn’t expect them to take.”

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #40 on: May 23, 2017, 08:22:48 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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Way better.  IT sucks.  Trade for Canaan.   /thread
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Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #41 on: May 23, 2017, 08:28:57 PM »

Offline Tr1boy

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Way better.  IT sucks.  Trade for Canaan.   /thread

you must be jokin

decent idea so far is IT4 for Saric

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #42 on: May 23, 2017, 08:52:27 PM »

Offline NHCelticsFan

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I like the team better without Thomas, though I admit his ability to create his own shot is best on the team.

Better ball movement, MUCH better team defense.

When I see this kind of ball movement I think it's what Stevens wants.

Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #43 on: May 23, 2017, 09:01:12 PM »

Offline Tr1boy

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I like the team better without Thomas, though I admit his ability to create his own shot is best on the team.

Better ball movement, MUCH better team defense.

When I see this kind of ball movement I think it's what Stevens wants.

and imagine if IT4 was a good sport and came off the bench to add extra scoring power

Its too bad he doesn't see the benefit of this (for the team)


Re: Better offense without Thomas?
« Reply #44 on: May 23, 2017, 09:02:20 PM »

Offline Ilikesports17

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I like the team better without Thomas, though I admit his ability to create his own shot is best on the team.

Better ball movement, MUCH better team defense.

When I see this kind of ball movement I think it's what Stevens wants.

and imagine if IT4 was a good sport and came off the bench to add extra scoring power

Its too bad he doesn't see the benefit of this (for the team)
Hard to blame a guy who averages 30 and made second team all-NBA
Quote from: George W. Bush
Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions.