What you just said was deception... you're either just trying to be **** or hoping I wouldn't catch you.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2017_start.html
Once Bradley went down, they started experimenting with lineups:
First 2 Brown Started
Next 3 Smart Started
Next 2 Both Started
Next 6 Brown Started
By Jan 24th, Smart started over Brown every game until Bradley was back.
I've got no idea what you're talking about. Were you reading the schedule upside down?
Here is what actually happened (harvested from the link you provided):
Bradley is out from Jan 7, his one-game return attempt notwithstanding.
Smart starts the next 4 games.
Bradley returns for 1 game.
Smart starts 3 more games.
Jaylen Brown starts 10 games in a row (Smart also starts 2 during this stretch -- for the injured Crowder).
Smart starts 3 games then is bumped in favor of Brown (2 games) at which point Bradley returns.
It is now February 27th. Bradley will miss 4 more odd games over the remainder of the season, and Brown will start every single one of them.
The final tally: Brown, 16 starts. Smart, 12 starts. Brown started 16 of the last 19 games in which Bradley wasn't on the court. It's clear that despite the fact the team was willing to give Smart multiple chances at SG, they concluded Brown is the better option.
Game 1 of the season (barring injury), the starting lineup will be IT, Smart, Hayward, Crowder, Horford.
Yes, 3 to 4 players from this list may be in the starting lineup. That's about it.
Yes, I read it backwards. Early morning, coffee, insert whatever excuse.
The point still stands:
It is "hard to understand" because it didn't happen last year, when the Celtics missed Bradley for long stretches. The team chose to start Brown, even though he was less experienced and possibly not as great a defender.
This is a lie. Mine is a mistake, yours is a lie.
The numbers are
Smart Solo: 11
Brown Solo: 14
Smart+Brown: 2
Minutes Per Game:
Thomas 33.8
Bradley 33.4
Crowder 32.4
Horford 32.3
Smart 30.4
Olynik: 20.5
Johnson 20.1
Brown 17.2
Rozier 17.1
Jerebko 15.8
Here are the lineups in terms of total minutes played together (without bradley)
Lineup // GP // MIN
J.Crowder, A.Horford, A.Johnson, M.Smart, I.Thomas BOS 27 192J.Crowder, A.Horford, K.Olynyk, M.Smart, I.Thomas BOS 25 103J.Brown, J.Jerebko, K.Olynyk, T.Rozier, M.Smart BOS 30 99
J.Brown, J.Crowder, A.Horford, A.Johnson, I.Thomas BOS 12 98 J.Crowder, A.Horford, J.Jerebko, M.Smart, I.Thomas BOS 17 56 J.Brown, J.Crowder, A.Horford, M.Smart, I.Thomas BOS 12 44 J.Brown, A.Horford, K.Olynyk, T.Rozier, M.Smart BOS 14 43
J.Brown, J.Jerebko, K.Olynyk, M.Smart, I.Thomas BOS 19 42 J.Brown, J.Crowder, J.Jerebko, A.Johnson, I.Thomas BOS 5 40 J.Brown, A.Horford, J.Jerebko, T.Rozier, M.Smart BOS 8 38
J.Brown, J.Crowder, A.Horford, J.Jerebko, I.Thomas BOS 7 30 G.Green, J.Jerebko, K.Olynyk, T.Rozier, M.Smart BOS 8 29
J.Brown, A.Horford, A.Johnson, M.Smart, I.Thomas BOS 5 23I bolded the sections with IT in the game and Bradley out. As you can see, not only did Smart play by far the bulk of Bradley's minutes, All but 168 minutes (bold+italics) in the entire season that Bradley wasn't in the game, Smart was out and Brown was in.
(source:
http://stats.nba.com/lineups/advanced/#!?Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&TeamID=1610612738)
We will see more of the same this season. The celtics have correctly identified that the worst defender in the league (IT) has to be paired with their best defender at the same time on the court (Bradley/Smart).
You three are correct. I cannot 100% say for certainty that the lineup will be Thomas, Smart, Hayward, Crowder, Horford, but these 5 players are the most important for the team this season and will get the most minutes. Smart is there because he is needed for the switches, as I mentioned in the first post. If I miss, I think it will be because of Marcus Morris. But I don't believe that will be a long term mistake that Stevens will make.
Brown will be playing the bulk of his minutes on the 2nd team with Rozier, and will be doing a great job.