Game 5: The most “Marcus Smart” game ever

[feckless]

I think game 6 was a more typical Marcus Smart game!  And we scored 86 points partly because all night long he slowed the ball movement with his standing still and pounding the ball.

Marcus hurts us on offense.  Very poor shot selection, always.  But worst of all he kills the ball movement on offense.  He doesn't probe, he never moves the ball quickly, eating up shot clock time with just meaningless pounding the ball nearly every time the ball comes to him.  He forces passes frequently.  Of all people why, last night, did he have the ball to finish time periods?  It's not like he is good at creating his own shot or penetrate and kick, or running the pick and roll.  If we need him on the defensive end have him stand in the corner on offense! Keep the ball out of his hands.

Game 5 he brought some energy and didn't hurt us too much on offense, there was his 5 turnovers.  Game 6 I cringed every time he touched the ball.

Very good game by Smart! We desperately needed to get him back to add to depth and toughness. Now Brad needs to tell him when there is under 6 seconds left in the shot clock to move the ****ing ball! Don't think it's your shot because we wont win many games if Smart is our go to guy!!

[Sophomore]

Marcus hurts us on offense.  Very poor shot selection, always.  But worst of all he kills the ball movement on offense.  He doesn't probe, he never moves the ball quickly, eating up shot clock time with just meaningless pounding the ball nearly every time the ball comes to him.  He forces passes frequently.  Of all people why, last night, did he have the ball to finish time periods?  It's not like he is good at creating his own shot or penetrate and kick, or running the pick and roll.  If we need him on the defensive end have him stand in the corner on offense! Keep the ball out of his hands.

Game 5 he brought some energy and didn't hurt us too much on offense, there was his 5 turnovers.  Game 6 I cringed every time he touched the ball.

There is some truth here, but it's overstated. Marcus is by no means the prime offender when it comes to dribbling to nowhere. Terry also holds onto the ball. Last night, Terry's average length of possession was 4.78 seconds while Marcus was 3.73 - more than a second less. Average dribbles per touch: 4.0 for Terry, 3.16 for Marcus.

https://stats.nba.com/players/touches/?Season=2017-18&SeasonType=Playoffs&LastNGames=1&sort=TEAM_ABBREVIATION&dir=-1

Marcus does, sometimes, seem to get static, while Terry is at least moving around looking for a shot. But some of that is an illusion. A lot of the time Terry dribbles to nowhere, seemingly forgetting who else is on the court with him. When Marcus holds the ball, he is usually looking for another player to establish position or to get himself into position to make a pass. And  Marcus is definitely more likely to make a quick, hockey-style pass - moving the ball around the perimeter to an open man. As a scorer and shooter, I'll take Terry every time. As a passer, Marcus.

But this goes way beyond the guards. We had a number of failed possessions last night in which everybody was standing around. The ball moved between static players, without any obvious purpose or plan. Or, Mook, Jayson, or Jaylen stopped the ball after getting a pass, let the defense set, then tried to dribble past with a crossover or spin. It works once in a while, but it's not a recipe for success.  We do best, especially against the Bucks, when the ball is moving. Players get the ball on a handoff, already moving, and put pressure on the defenders to switch or hedge and react. We drive and kick, then if the closeout arrives, drive again. Or we have Al pass out of a double-team.

[nickagneta]

I think game 6 was a more typical Marcus Smart game!  And we scored 86 points partly because all night long he slowed the ball movement with his standing still and pounding the ball.

Marcus hurts us on offense.  Very poor shot selection, always.  But worst of all he kills the ball movement on offense.  He doesn't probe, he never moves the ball quickly, eating up shot clock time with just meaningless pounding the ball nearly every time the ball comes to him.  He forces passes frequently.  Of all people why, last night, did he have the ball to finish time periods?  It's not like he is good at creating his own shot or penetrate and kick, or running the pick and roll.  If we need him on the defensive end have him stand in the corner on offense! Keep the ball out of his hands.

Game 5 he brought some energy and didn't hurt us too much on offense, there was his 5 turnovers.  Game 6 I cringed every time he touched the ball.

I think Smart was what this team needed defensively but at whst cost? His offense has killed the Celtics offense. Brown and Tatum should have the ball in their hands but Smart waves them off to corners and plays 3 man ball with Rozier and Horford.

Smart's stats through 2 games for these playoffs are atrocious.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smartma01.html

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think game 6 was a more typical Marcus Smart game!  And we scored 86 points partly because all night long he slowed the ball movement with his standing still and pounding the ball.

Marcus hurts us on offense.  Very poor shot selection, always.  But worst of all he kills the ball movement on offense.  He doesn't probe, he never moves the ball quickly, eating up shot clock time with just meaningless pounding the ball nearly every time the ball comes to him.  He forces passes frequently.  Of all people why, last night, did he have the ball to finish time periods?  It's not like he is good at creating his own shot or penetrate and kick, or running the pick and roll.  If we need him on the defensive end have him stand in the corner on offense! Keep the ball out of his hands.

Game 5 he brought some energy and didn't hurt us too much on offense, there was his 5 turnovers.  Game 6 I cringed every time he touched the ball.

I think Smart was what this team needed defensively but at whst cost? His offense has killed the Celtics offense. Brown and Tatum should have the ball in their hands but Smart waves them off to corners and plays 3 man ball with Rozier and Horford.

Smart's stats through 2 games for these playoffs are atrocious.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smartma01.html

You're overstating Smart's impact in the playoffs on the offensive side of things.

I mean, Rozier shot 17 times in the last game, only hitting 5 shots. Morris is taking a ton of shots as well.

Whether Smart is on the floor or not hasn't really affected how much Brown/Tatum are getting involved. There are other numerous other factors that have more weight to this disparity, particularly when you consider that Brown and Tatum are historically (because they're still young and developing) inconsistent.

Now, I agree with the criticisms about Smart's role on offense and how it should be limited, but I think you're awarding him too much of the blame for our offensive ills.

[Sophomore]

I think game 6 was a more typical Marcus Smart game!  And we scored 86 points partly because all night long he slowed the ball movement with his standing still and pounding the ball.

Marcus hurts us on offense.  Very poor shot selection, always.  But worst of all he kills the ball movement on offense.  He doesn't probe, he never moves the ball quickly, eating up shot clock time with just meaningless pounding the ball nearly every time the ball comes to him.  He forces passes frequently.  Of all people why, last night, did he have the ball to finish time periods?  It's not like he is good at creating his own shot or penetrate and kick, or running the pick and roll.  If we need him on the defensive end have him stand in the corner on offense! Keep the ball out of his hands.

Game 5 he brought some energy and didn't hurt us too much on offense, there was his 5 turnovers.  Game 6 I cringed every time he touched the ball.

I think Smart was what this team needed defensively but at whst cost? His offense has killed the Celtics offense. Brown and Tatum should have the ball in their hands but Smart waves them off to corners and plays 3 man ball with Rozier and Horford.

Smart's stats through 2 games for these playoffs are atrocious.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smartma01.html

You're overstating Smart's impact in the playoffs on the offensive side of things.

I mean, Rozier shot 17 times in the last game, only hitting 5 shots. Morris is taking a ton of shots as well.

Whether Smart is on the floor or not hasn't really affected how much Brown/Tatum are getting involved. There are other numerous other factors that have more weight to this disparity, particularly when you consider that Brown and Tatum are historically (because they're still young and developing) inconsistent.

Now, I agree with the criticisms about Smart's role on offense and how it should be limited, but I think you're awarding him too much of the blame for our offensive ills.

Agree with Budweiser Celtic. And also: would the offense be better with Shane Larkin taking Smart's minutes?

Tatum had more shots last game than average for the series, and more touches. Brown was 2 shots below his average for the series, but had a few more touches than average.

Everybody - everybody - contributed to that stagnant offense. It was a team loss.

[Celtics4ever]

And also: would the offense be better with Shane Larkin taking Smart's minutes?

It might be but we would have lost game 5 without Smart and our D would be worse.

[dreamgreen]

Well game 6 was not very good for him. Defense dropped down to average and he pounded the ball taking bad shots as usual. Smart is an energy guy off the bench not someone that should be on the court in crunch time. His offense is so painful, the fact he insists on being the go to guy drives me crazy!!!