Can Jrue get the C's an NBA Title

[Vermont Green]

A lot is really gonna come down to health, especially with our frontcourt. That said, Holiday is a very underrated player and I think his championship/playoff experience will help a lot too, especially as we get deeper into the playoffs.

I love Smart and will miss him, but Holiday is a better player and much better scorer. And truth be told, there were a lot of issues last year but I also felt one issue was Smart definitely didn't seem to be playing DPOY-caliber like he usually does. Opposing guards had no problem scoring on him. It made him pretty meh out there since he's not usually scoring 14+ PPG either, and he wasn't as impactful as he was during the 2022 run.

Now in fairness, Holiday also didn't look as good during the Heat series defensively. But I'd also argue that during the regular season while Giannis was out, and Middleton too, he stepped up and carried that whole team and had a ton of clutch moments and big wins. Smart doesn't have that kinda impact.

smart as much as i love him also was the longest tenured celtic and viewed himself as much on offense. There were games he's taking more shots than tatum/brown and id bang my head against the wall.

Holiday is coming into a team where hes the "new guy" he might be more apt to buy into his "role"

the biggest question on the season is our bench and are they ready to contribute more? pritchard/hauser/brisett/kornet. we need these guys to elevate their games and prove they can pick up for what we lost with brogdon/grant/timelord etc.

I am not going to pile on Marcus Smart.  Holiday is a better player, full stop.  But Smart was a very good player.  People say that his defense dropped off some but that is what you get when you take RWill out of the line up.  We played most of last season with 3 guards on the floor, that affects how you can play team defense.  Smart is still a top defender in the league.  Holiday is good too.

On offense, Smart was the guy the other team would designate as the "you beat me" guy.  By that I mean they focus on stopping Brown and Tatum and if Smart beats you, so be it.  That is the primary area where Holiday is better.  They will not be able to play that way with Holiday or he will destroy them.  But I don't see this as Smart being shot happy or whatever.  Sure, at times I cringed with some of Smart's shot selection, but I suspect in general, he was taking the shots that the coaches wanted him to take, that the defense was giving him.

[tenn_smoothie]

Think of the star but not superstar Celtic acquisitions in the past that did get us over the hump to win titles,
Paul Silas, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, Bill Walton. It's very possible. Red was genius at getting just the right player to fill a weakness.
Having said that, I fear Mazzulla is the bigger obstacle.

[scaryjerry]

He’s going to help for sure. Porzingis staying healthy will help as well. It’s all about what Tatum does this year though

[scaryjerry]

I think Porzingis & Holiday are excellent additions, in that we now have the most talented group in the NBA. We are less reliant on unreliable players

I like that comparison and if porzingis can be Gasol like hang banner 18 now

 Well said. Holiday and Whit are the best defensive backcourt in the leauge with solid offense. Then add Tatum top 5 player in the league,  Brown top 25, and Porzingis who I equate to a Pau Gasol in his prime type addition.