This team needs shooting more than they need a center

[LilRip]

Where’s all this hype for Edwards coming from? The dudes a shooter who can’t shoot, and otherwise, brings little else to the table.

The team also has plenty of shooting imo. Almost everyone can shoot reliably. I think the reason we go on so many slumps is that outside of Kemba, we don’t have a guy who can consistently get “easy” buckets. I thought Aldridge and the Spurs played off Theis a whole bunch to try and contain penetration from our wings.

Honestly, I would love to see Tatum and Brown post up more, as opposed to having to attack from the outside the 3. It’s not the sexiest or splashiest idea, but hey, hit singles right?

Sidenote: having a strong center you can throw it into or a roll threat would greatly help imo. if RW didn’t look so lost out there, he’d be great for example

[apc]

If you remove Smart, Theis, and G. Williams from the 3 point numbers, Boston goes from 35% to 36.69% or from 20th to 7th in the league.  Goes up even more if you take out Edwards.  That is almost 10 shots a game between those 4 at a very low percentage.  The team doesn't need more shooters it just needs its 3 (or 4) crappiest ones to stop shooting so much and let the better shooters shoot the ball more.

True but you should remove every teams 3-4 worst shooters if u r doing that.

[Moranis]

If you remove Smart, Theis, and G. Williams from the 3 point numbers, Boston goes from 35% to 36.69% or from 20th to 7th in the league.  Goes up even more if you take out Edwards.  That is almost 10 shots a game between those 4 at a very low percentage.  The team doesn't need more shooters it just needs its 3 (or 4) crappiest ones to stop shooting so much and let the better shooters shoot the ball more.

True but you should remove every teams 3-4 worst shooters if u r doing that.

Most teams don't have a terrible shooter like Smart shooting over 6 a game though.  Look at the Jazz.  Of the players with at least 1 attempt a game, Jeff Green is their worst shooter at 32.7%.   Mudiay is next at 35.3%.  Heat are 2nd in the league this year.  They do have 3 poor shooters with at least 1 attempt a game Winslow, Jones, and Butler are all at 27% or below but combined only shoot 7.8 attempts a game and Winslow played in just 11 games.  Also, Butler is historically much better and often just takes shot to keeps teams honest for his driving.  Now the Pistons, like the Celtics have a poor shooter taking a bunch of shots, but Blake Griffin is historically a decent shooter and was the main offensive weapon.  I'm less concerned about the offensive focal point taking some bad shots now and then, then I am when someone like Smart is doing it.  And Rose and Brown are basically the other 2 poor shooters on the Pistons and both are right around 33%. 

The reality is, the best teams don't have role players bombing 3 pointers unless those role players are actually good shooters.  Boston's shooting problem is that Marcus Smart doesn't know when not to shoot.

[Fafnir]

The reality is, the best teams don't have role players bombing 3 pointers unless those role players are actually good shooters.  Boston's shooting problem is that Marcus Smart doesn't know when not to shoot.

Plenty of the best teams in the league have role players who shoot a bunch of 3s and are shooting below average percentages.

http://bkref.com/tiny/8mtIS

Are the Heat, Clippers, Denver, and MIL not among the best teams in the league? You can add the Mavericks/Houston among others to the list if you take out the usage limit and have Beal/Doncic/Jokcic join the brick party.

[nickagneta]

Doncic taking over 9 threes a game at 32% is pretty horrid. Of course, he is just 20 years old and if he was a bunch higher his great efficiency would go off the charts. I can easily see Doncic being a 37-40% three point shooter in the future.

[CelticSooner]

This is the highest rated offensive efficiency team CBS has coached. What this team needs is for Tatum to actually show some consistency and start playing like this future star he’s been labeled as. He’s the biggest key to the playoffs.

[Fafnir]

Doncic taking over 9 threes a game at 32% is pretty horrid. Of course, he is just 20 years old and if he was a bunch higher his great efficiency would go off the charts. I can easily see Doncic being a 37-40% three point shooter in the future.

I think he'll always take too many deep step backs to get that high on 3 point percentage. That's around Harden's percentages and its a tough ask to be as good as Harden as a shooter on that shot.

[wiley]

This is the highest rated offensive efficiency team CBS has coached. What this team needs is for Tatum to actually show some consistency and start playing like this future star he’s been labeled as. He’s the biggest key to the playoffs.

the team was at its best just before Hayward's wrist injury.  Incredible passing/assists.  The national media even noticed the ball movement.
The team needs that more than it needs Tatum to work on being a star.  In fact, until his efficiency numbers are better, I prefer stealth Tatum to one on one Tatum.  Best would be Tatum, Brown, Kemba and Hayward all around 20 points per game..

[Moranis]

Doncic taking over 9 threes a game at 32% is pretty horrid. Of course, he is just 20 years old and if he was a bunch higher his great efficiency would go off the charts. I can easily see Doncic being a 37-40% three point shooter in the future.

He is also the offensive focal point of the team.  That is different than Smart.

[Moranis]

The reality is, the best teams don't have role players bombing 3 pointers unless those role players are actually good shooters.  Boston's shooting problem is that Marcus Smart doesn't know when not to shoot.

Plenty of the best teams in the league have role players who shoot a bunch of 3s and are shooting below average percentages.

http://bkref.com/tiny/8mtIS

Are the Heat, Clippers, Denver, and MIL not among the best teams in the league? You can add the Mavericks/Houston among others to the list if you take out the usage limit and have Beal/Doncic/Jokcic join the brick party.

Nunn is a rookie and a starter and is at 34%, which isn't terrible.  Beverley is a full 2 shots less a game than Smart and like Nunn starts.  Plus Beverley is a career 38% shooter, he is off to a slow start but you should feel ok that he will turn it around based on his prior seasons.  Similarly, Lopez is down pretty significantly on his shooting from prior years and again is a starter.  Murray isn't a role player.  He is in fact the lead offensive player on the Nuggets (at least by shots).  Different when you are the main or even 2nd player.  They have much heavier loads.  He is also well below his career average.  Harris is also a starter and a career solid shooter off to a slower start on the year.

None of those guys fit Smart i.e. a bench player that is a historically bad shooter.  All of those guys on good teams start and are historically much better shooters than they are this year (Nunn being a rookie is excluded from the historical stuff, but he does start and he was an excellent shooter in college).  Of the players on your list, Smart also has the 3rd most attempts per game while having the 4th worst percentage.  Smart is also terrible from 2 point range, which makes him a lot different than most everyone else on that list.  Basically every non-dunk shot that Smart takes is a bad shot.

[Kuberski33]

This is the highest rated offensive efficiency team CBS has coached. What this team needs is for Tatum to actually show some consistency and start playing like this future star he’s been labeled as. He’s the biggest key to the playoffs.

Consistency is a skill - just like shooting or ability to play defense. The lack of it has gotten in the way of a lot of players fulfilling the potential they had when they entered the league.

[Fafnir]

Never stop goal post moving! Starters can't be role players, up is down, this guy is just having a bad start, etc.

Time to get back to ignoring and not responding to you. Broke that pledge on my return and it was a mistake.

[Fafnir]

This is the highest rated offensive efficiency team CBS has coached. What this team needs is for Tatum to actually show some consistency and start playing like this future star he’s been labeled as. He’s the biggest key to the playoffs.

Consistency is a skill - just like shooting or ability to play defense. The lack of it has gotten in the way of a lot of players fulfilling the potential they had when they entered the league.

This is very true. Different players have different variance profiles in their performance both in shooting and other areas of the game.

[Moranis]

Never stop goal post moving! Starters can't be role players, up is down, this guy is just having a bad start, etc.

Time to get back to ignoring and not responding to you. Broke that pledge on my return and it was a mistake.

I didn't move the goal posts at all and I clearly explained why your examples aren't comparable i.e. historically solid shooters have a bad start are not the same thing as historically bad shooters shooting like they have historically.  Smart is a terrible shooter.  The fact that anyone debates this is quite astonishing.

[Monkhouse]

This year's team needs a better bench and a coach that will trust it and use it. Stevens simply isn't about benches and young players....which, by the way is fine, he clearly has a contender this year.

I may be in the minority on this one but i think the bench has the pieces to be good. Stevens just does not utilize these guys correctly. Carsen Edwards is a streaky, rhythm player but he rarely touches the ball when he plays. He gets parked in the corner. Romeo Langford is great coming off picks and going downhill, but he rarely touches the ball when he plays and also gets parked in the corner. What's the point in having these guys if Stevens refuses to use them correctly?

Why does he keep throwing Ojeleye out there who provides absolutely nothing? A lot of this is on Stevens.

Because Semih can be trusted to make the proper defensive rotations and has the necessary size and strength for certain matchups.

As for not using Carsen Edwards properly, look he needs to adjust to being a bench scoring guard. The idea that we should let him run the show like Lou Williams because that's what he did in Purdue is misguided. That's not what the team will be asking from him, nor is it something you can fairly ask of a rookie guard and expect good results.

Exactly. It's not about utilizing a player to be the best they can be, it's about utilizing players to be the best the team can be. Edwards may be at his best by being more involved in the offense and having a bigger role, but if the team is better off having him in a small role and leaning on their stars then that's what Brad should be doing.

Ideally the two line up, but if they don't then the player needs to adjust. The idea of changing our team for a second round rookie to get going instead of the rookie figuring out how to fit (or trading him for someone that would fit immediately) is just weird to me. It's one thing with a stud or an early pick like Langford, but for Carsen it doesn't really make sense

Why wouldn't you adjust your offense to accommodate a guy who can put up 30 points in a hurry? He hasn't done that in a real game yet but i have no doubts he is capable. If the plan is to park him in a corner and not let him touch the ball they may as well trade him to a team that is more willing to utilize him.

It's obvious to me that Stevens does not know offense nor does he know how to utilize players to their strength on offense. I know what the stats may suggest but i have no doubts that good defensive teams can shut this offense down pretty easily. It's too predictable and has been for years.

Your comment literally contradicts itself...