Author Topic: How Many (Currently Healthy) Backcourt Duos Would You Take Over Kemba - Smart?  (Read 8728 times)

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Offline PhoSita

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Title of the thread is the question.  I was thinking about this in view of how Marcus has been playing so far this year.  Marcus is being Marcus, but it feels like he's even better this year. 

In many respects I think Marcus is actually the Celts' franchise player.  He's not a high volume scorer, he'll probably never be an All-Star.  But he's been the constant over the time he's been on the team.  He's the defensive leader and the emotional center of the team.  He's the one player on the roster who I think is truly essential to what this team is and wants to become.  Marcus and Brad are the core of this team.


Kemba's great too.  Like him a lot.  His affable heroics bring me back to the peak of the IT years.  Thankfully he's not asked to carry quite that heavy a load.


So what do you think?  Look around the league, how many backcourts would you take over Kemba - Smart?

I know that Smart is technically the Celts' 6th man, and that Jaylen starts at the 2 when everybody is healthy.  Even so, I think most would agree the Celtics are at their best with Kemba and Smart on the floor together.

The caveat of "currently healthy" is mainly intended to rule out Curry and Klay.  I expect most people would agree that's the gold standard.
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Online Who

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Golden State - Steph Curry & Klay Thompson

Probably Houston - Russell Westbrook & James Harden - Not an ideal fit like GSW but a lot of individual talent and I believe their backcourt would be even better away from Mike D'Antoni.

Maybe Portland - Damian Lillard & CJ McCollum
Maybe Philly - Ben Simmons & Josh Richardson

... still thinking

Not ATL. Not BRK. Not CHA. Not CHI. Not CLE.

I would take Dallas - Luka Doncic and whoever (Seth Curry, D.Wright, Hardaway Jr)

Not DEN. Not DET.

Maybe Indiana - Victor Oladipo and Malcolm Brogdon.

Not counting LeBron as a guard otherwise the Lakers would be a pick. LeBron and whoever. Danny Green, he's their best guard.

Not MIA. Not MIL. Not MIN. Not MEM. Not NYK. Not ORL. Oklahoma is pretty strong (CP3, SGA) but doesn't make the cut. Not PHO (show me more, that they can maintain this). Not TOR.

Maybe Sacramento - Buddy Hield & De'Aron Fox - I love that duo. I especially love Hield's outside shot-making. Fox is a terrific talent. That one might be a probable and not a maybe.

Not SAS.

Maybe Utah - Donovan Mitchell & Mike Conley - but I don't think so. Not wild about Mitchell.

Not WAS.

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So that leaves me where:

3 definite yes - Golden State, Dallas, Houston (actually, Houston is a definite, so I'll add them).

3 Maybes - Philly, Portland, Indiana

3 Honorable Mentions - Utah, Oklahoma City, Phoenix

Add LeBron's Lakers to the yes if he counts as a guard.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2019, 02:54:15 PM by Who »

Offline arctic 3.0

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Well I’m a homer but I’d take kemba/Smart over every currently starting backcourt  in the league.
And I’d take Kemba/Brown/Smart over every guard rotation in the league

Offline Jvalin

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definitely Mavs: Luka-Seth Curry (solely because of Luka)

most likely Philly: Simmons-Josh Richardson

probably Portland: Lillard-McCollum

Assuming they return 100% healthy
definitely Golden State: Steph-Klay
possibly Indy: Brogdon-Oladipo

admittedly worth it, but I would stop watching the games cause I can't stand either of them
Houston: Westbrook-Harden

worth considering but probably wouldn't do it
Nets: Kyrie-Harris (ESPN has Harris starting at SG, is this accurate?)
Kings: Fox-Hield
Jazz: Conley-Mitchell
Suns: Rubio-Booker

honorable mention
OKC: CP3-SGA (CP3's contract sucks, but I'm super high on SGA)
« Last Edit: November 13, 2019, 07:19:24 PM by Jvalin »

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3 definite yes - Golden State, Dallas, Houston (actually, Houston is a definite, so I'll add them).

3 Maybes - Philly, Portland, Indiana

3 Honorable Mentions - Utah, Oklahoma City, Phoenix

Add LeBron's Lakers to the yes if he counts as a guard.

Just to see who Boston's duo are up against ....

Boston - Kemba Walker & Marcus Smart

Yes
Golden State - Steph Curry & Klay Thompson
Dallas - Luka Doncic & Delon Wright
LA Lakers - LeBron James & Danny Green
Houston - Russell Westbrook & James Harden

Maybe
Philly - Ben Simmons & Josh Richardson
Portland - Damian Lillard & CJ McCollum
Indiana - Malcolm Brogdon & Victor Oladipo

No but Honorable Mention
Utah - Mike Conley & Donovan Mitchell
OKC - Chris Paul & Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

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On Indiana's backcourt ...

I love Brogdon (that guy will play brilliantly next to anyone) but I am unsure about Oladipo. I want to see him on a team with more offense around him. To see how well he can play when he has to share the ball. I thought he benefited from having a monopoly on the ball last year. I wonder how effective he can be offensively alongside other scorers.

Offline nickagneta

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Boston: Kemba Brown.

I do not agree with Pho's opinion that a Kemba Smart backcourt is better than a Kemba Brown backcourt.

Offline johnnygreen

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If Kemba and Smart were the Celtics best back court combo, then I’m sure Danny wouldn’t have just extended Brown and Stevens wouldn’t be starting Brown ahead of Smart. If it’s a question of who has the best backcourt, the Celtics should be using Kemba and Brown.

You could switch the question up by asking, who has the best starting and backup point guards in the league, with the Celtics having Kemba and Smart. I think the Celtics would clearly take the top spot here.

Offline keevsnick

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Boston: Kemba Brown.

I do not agree with Pho's opinion that a Kemba Smart backcourt is better than a Kemba Brown backcourt.

I agree, thats going to be the C's starting back court when Hayward comes back and assuming heath for about 75% of this year and I think its better than Kemba/Smart. Although that one is good too.

Now if you have Kemba-Brown-Smart playing 96 minutes at the guard spot that might be the best 96 minutes of guard play in the league.

Offline PhoSita

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Boston: Kemba Brown.

I do not agree with Pho's opinion that a Kemba Smart backcourt is better than a Kemba Brown backcourt.


My point was that the team is better with both Smart and Kemba on the floor, and if that's the case, they're the backcourt.  Doesn't mean Jaylen isn't also on the floor.
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Offline PhoSita

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Golden State - Steph Curry & Klay Thompson

Probably Houston - Russell Westbrook & James Harden - Not an ideal fit like GSW but a lot of individual talent and I believe their backcourt would be even better away from Mike D'Antoni.

Maybe Portland - Damian Lillard & CJ McCollum
Maybe Philly - Ben Simmons & Josh Richardson

... still thinking

Not ATL. Not BRK. Not CHA. Not CHI. Not CLE.

I would take Dallas - Luka Doncic and whoever (Seth Curry, D.Wright, Hardaway Jr)

Not DEN. Not DET.

Maybe Indiana - Victor Oladipo and Malcolm Brogdon.

Not counting LeBron as a guard otherwise the Lakers would be a pick. LeBron and whoever. Danny Green, he's their best guard.

Not MIA. Not MIL. Not MIN. Not MEM. Not NYK. Not ORL. Oklahoma is pretty strong (CP3, SGA) but doesn't make the cut. Not PHO (show me more, that they can maintain this). Not TOR.

Maybe Sacramento - Buddy Hield & De'Aron Fox - I love that duo. I especially love Hield's outside shot-making. Fox is a terrific talent. That one might be a probable and not a maybe.

Not SAS.

Maybe Utah - Donovan Mitchell & Mike Conley - but I don't think so. Not wild about Mitchell.

Not WAS.

----------------------------

So that leaves me where:

3 definite yes - Golden State, Dallas, Houston (actually, Houston is a definite, so I'll add them).

3 Maybes - Philly, Portland, Indiana

3 Honorable Mentions - Utah, Oklahoma City, Phoenix

Add LeBron's Lakers to the yes if he counts as a guard.


Isn't Luka a SF?  I guess this does get tricky depending on how we're defining position.



I agree that I'd take Houston, Golden State, and Portland over Boston's duo.


I disagree about Indiana.


I actually would rather have Smart and Kemba than Simmons - Richardson.  The Philly combo has more talent and size but I think in terms of game impact, I think Kemba and Smart are better.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
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Offline nickagneta

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Boston: Kemba Brown.

I do not agree with Pho's opinion that a Kemba Smart backcourt is better than a Kemba Brown backcourt.


My point was that the team is better with both Smart and Kemba on the floor, and if that's the case, they're the backcourt.  Doesn't mean Jaylen isn't also on the floor.
You asked a question in your thread title. The first line in the thread is "Title of the thread is the question."

My answer: Boston with Kemba Brown is better than Boston Kemba Smart as a backcourt duo.


Offline johnnygreen

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Boston: Kemba Brown.

I do not agree with Pho's opinion that a Kemba Smart backcourt is better than a Kemba Brown backcourt.


My point was that the team is better with both Smart and Kemba on the floor, and if that's the case, they're the backcourt.  Doesn't mean Jaylen isn't also on the floor.

We understand the value of Smart, since we see him play every game. However, it would be extremely difficult to apply that same sort of thinking to every team, since we don’t have that same access on a nightly basis. I assume there are other teams, who have their own Marcus Smart type of player. I think it’s easier to just apply the question to the starting backcourts.

Offline PhoSita

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Boston: Kemba Brown.

I do not agree with Pho's opinion that a Kemba Smart backcourt is better than a Kemba Brown backcourt.


My point was that the team is better with both Smart and Kemba on the floor, and if that's the case, they're the backcourt.  Doesn't mean Jaylen isn't also on the floor.
You asked a question in your thread title. The first line in the thread is "Title of the thread is the question."

My answer: Boston with Kemba Brown is better than Boston Kemba Smart as a backcourt duo.


So should I understand your point to be that, all things being equal, if you had to choose you'd rather have Brown out there than Smart?


My basic point is simply that I think the Celts are at their best with both Smart and Kemba on the floor, irrespective of who else is playing.


Brown is obviously a key piece for the team, but if both Tatum and Hayward are healthy, I think the wing guys are a little bit interchangeable, i.e. the best lineups we've seen probably have two of the wings on the floor with Kemba and Smart plus a big man like Timelord or Theis.


We've barely seen the super-small Kemba + Smart and three wings lineup.  That's the best lineup in terms of talent.  Hopefully we'll get to see that more to see if it can compete with better opponents (that lineup has only been on the floor for 5 min this season according to NBA.com).
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Offline PhoSita

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Boston: Kemba Brown.

I do not agree with Pho's opinion that a Kemba Smart backcourt is better than a Kemba Brown backcourt.


My point was that the team is better with both Smart and Kemba on the floor, and if that's the case, they're the backcourt.  Doesn't mean Jaylen isn't also on the floor.

We understand the value of Smart, since we see him play every game. However, it would be extremely difficult to apply that same sort of thinking to every team, since we don’t have that same access on a nightly basis. I assume there are other teams, who have their own Marcus Smart type of player. I think it’s easier to just apply the question to the starting backcourts.


You raise a fair point.  With that said, I don't think it's too hard to think about the best 5 man lineup that a given team can put on the floor. 

It's like when you think about the 2015 / 2016 Warriors -- the best version of that team had Draymond at C, even if he was the team's starting PF. 


The best version of the Celts, IMO, have Smart at SG and Kemba at PG.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain