Does last years team without Smart and with Holiday win last two years?

[Yuckabuck33]

I don't think they were quite ready last season, even had we added Jrue and KP...they needed that extra year of seasoning. As did Joe. Coming short in 2022 and 2023 helped impress upon them the need for shared sacrifice that has been evident this season, especially with the Jays. Much less focused on individual point totals and achievements and more on making their teammates better.

I think the biggest change over last year is growth of the Jays. Jaylen especially has grown into that consistent player we wish Jason would be. And Joe also is better. KP and Jrue are just icing on the cake making it unfair to the rest of the league.

[Moranis]

Boston was winning game 4 against the Warriors with like 6 minutes left. I'd like to believe we win that game with Jrue instead of Smart who missed back to back 3's at one point towards the end of that game.

[SparzWizard]

We win 2022 if we didn't choke so bad. Turnovers killed us that series.

We also go to NBA Finals in 2023 had we taken care of business. But lose to the Nuggets in the process

[Roy H.]

It's hard to say.  We would have been better and steadier, but I'm not sure the Jays played consistently enough to win. 

[tonydelk]

I love Marcus but I think if we had Jrue last year we'd have gone to the finals.  I'm not sure they beat Denver but I definitely think they get there over Miami.

[Goldstar88]

I think so. Jrue also has the championship pedigree. He’s already done it. Smarts decision making was an issue more often than not when the game was on the line.

[kraidstar]

In the past teams would leave Marcus open and collapse on the Jays. That was a big part of the team's problem.

IMO it's part of why Miami's zone didn't work against us this year.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Boston was winning game 4 against the Warriors with like 6 minutes left. I'd like to believe we win that game with Jrue instead of Smart who missed back to back 3's at one point towards the end of that game.

yup. and that game we shoulda won guarantees that series goes the distance aka 7 games. instead we imploded after that choke.

20 TO a game killed us also

[Phantom255x]

I also want to add, Jrue Holiday basically stole Game 5 from Boston in the 2022 2nd round Game 5 as well. And late in that game, Smart made some poor decisions too. Big reason the series went 7 when it probably didn't need to.

I like that Jrue actually plays basketball. Sometimes it felt like Smart would either try too much, or search for fouls (by flopping) and it would affect the operation. Jrue is a much smarter player (no pun intended) and unselfish IMO.

Idk for sure if we would have Banner 18 right now if we had Jrue any of the last two years, but I think the odds would be better.

And I loved Smart btw. But it was probably time. Smart also acted like he was up there with the Jays whereas Jrue seems to have fully accepted his role even as like the 5th guy here.

[jambr380]

Boston was winning game 4 against the Warriors with like 6 minutes left. I'd like to believe we win that game with Jrue instead of Smart who missed back to back 3's at one point towards the end of that game.

Derrick White shot 4 for 12 and was a -19 in that game. He also had 3 TOs, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 0 blocks in 36 minutes.

The team had opportunities to win that game before Steph went off. It happens. No need to try and cherry pick two missed 3s by Smart. Even Jrue was 1 for 6 from 3 last night.

[Moranis]

Boston was winning game 4 against the Warriors with like 6 minutes left. I'd like to believe we win that game with Jrue instead of Smart who missed back to back 3's at one point towards the end of that game.

Derrick White shot 4 for 12 and was a -19 in that game. He also had 3 TOs, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 0 blocks in 36 minutes.

The team had opportunities to win that game before Steph went off. It happens. No need to try and cherry pick two missed 3s by Smart. Even Jrue was 1 for 6 from 3 last night.

Edit: man, you guys are really on one in this thread. A bunch of ungrateful folks. Only person I'll give a pass to is Roy who has been obsessed with Jrue for years. And he's pretty much the only one who isn't selling Smart down the river.

Smart is a terrible shooter that doesn't act like he is a terrible a shooter. He drove me crazy with that his entire tenure and that sequence stood out to me, given the brevity of the situation.  I don't care how wide open Smart is, he shouldn't be shooting 3's like that. Known your strengths and weaknesses and playbto your strengths. Smart never did that.

[tonydelk]

Boston was winning game 4 against the Warriors with like 6 minutes left. I'd like to believe we win that game with Jrue instead of Smart who missed back to back 3's at one point towards the end of that game.

Derrick White shot 4 for 12 and was a -19 in that game. He also had 3 TOs, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 0 blocks in 36 minutes.

The team had opportunities to win that game before Steph went off. It happens. No need to try and cherry pick two missed 3s by Smart. Even Jrue was 1 for 6 from 3 last night.

Edit: man, you guys are really on one in this thread. A bunch of ungrateful folks. Only person I'll give a pass to is Roy who has been obsessed with Jrue for years. And he's pretty much the only one who isn't selling Smart down the river.

Smart is a terrible shooter that doesn't act like he is a terrible a shooter. He drove me crazy with that his entire tenure and that sequence stood out to me, given the brevity of the situation.  I don't care how wide open Smart is, he shouldn't be shooting 3's like that. Known your strengths and weaknesses and playbto your strengths. Smart never did that.

I have to unfortunately agree with this.  Smart was a beast in the post.  Everytime he posted up good things would happen.  He never did it enough.  SMART would be ab even better player if he knew he wasn't a great jump shooter and played like it.  I never minded when smart took a wide open 3.  It's the contested, sidestep, terrible 3s he's take thinking he was Bird. 

[jambr380]

The funny part about the Smart/Jrue shooting discussion is they have essentially the exact same career playoff 3pt% (.341 for Jrue to .334 for Smart). And he shot .304 on fairly high volume in 3 years with the Bucks. We are lucky to be experiencing Jrue's best ever playoff 3pt shooting.

And I loved Smart btw. But it was probably time. Smart also acted like he was up there with the Jays whereas Jrue seems to have fully accepted his role even as like the 5th guy here.

And just to prevent creating another post, Smart didn't have the opportunity to accept being the 5th option because he was the [deserved] 3rd option while he was here. White hadn't come into his own and we of course didn't have KP. But, man, I would have loved to see Smart working with KP - that would have been awesome.

[LilRip]

Idk about last year but Jrue has been the difference maker this year, imo. And the biggest difference is how much less panic there is in the team. Maybe we would’ve won. Maybe we would’ve lost but looked like we had a better chance. Nonetheless, as much as I loved rooting for Smart, Jrue is just the better overall player and the better point guard.

Same with this year. I think C’s have enough talent that if we had Smart, we would still make it to the Finals given how the Jays have improved, the opposition we faced, etc. Would we be up 3-0? Idk. Maybe we would be down 2-1 but likely to still win in 7.