Smart is the key

[feckless]

I hope I am wrong but I have seen nothing that indicates to me that Marcus is anything other than Tony Allen the 2nd.  Evan Turner and then Terry Rozier were our backup points because Marcus did not show Brad that he could handle the role. Terry as a rookie earned the trust from the coach, Brad tried  Marcus and Marcus could not handle the time running the team.  If Marcus Smart is the key he better of had one huge brain growth summer.

[jpotter33]

For those wondering, the Celtics summer forecast panel suggested Smart was the most likely on our team to take home postseason hardware, either as Most Improved Player or Sixth Man of the Year, after Avery Bradley repeating on the All-Defensive team. Many, like me, are expecting a sizable jump from him this year with a more defined and larger role with Turner gone.

http://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4723869/celtics-summer-forecast-handing-out-hardware

[PhoSita]

This upcoming season is the time for Smart to show he can produce at a respectable offensive level in the NBA.

I like him as a defensive role player off the bench with great intangibles and versatility.  Unless he really shows some major improvement on the other end, though, I don't see him as more than a Kirk Hinrich / Tony Allen type role player without a reliable jumpshot or interior finishing, which would make him a decent but expendable piece.

[jpotter33]

I hope I am wrong but I have seen nothing that indicates to me that Marcus is anything other than Tony Allen the 2nd.  Evan Turner and then Terry Rozier were our backup points because Marcus did not show Brad that he could handle the role. Terry as a rookie earned the trust from the coach, Brad tried  Marcus and Marcus could not handle the time running the team.  If Marcus Smart is the key he better of had one huge brain growth summer.

I've never got this line of argument. Rozier only played in like half of our games, and he only played 8 minutes per game at that. Compare that to 27+ minutes per game in both years for Smart. This whole narrative that Rozier became our backup point guard alongside Turner is just false. He wasn't on the floor long enough to be designated anything like that, and he and Smart shared the playmaking duties pretty equitably when they were out there together. This whole notion that Rozier garnered Stevens' trust handling the ball over Smart is just non-sense, and the only thing that you can legitimately say is that the coach trusts and relies on one of these players much more than the other, as evidenced by the playing time each received.

[feckless]

I hope I am wrong but I have seen nothing that indicates to me that Marcus is anything other than Tony Allen the 2nd.  Evan Turner and then Terry Rozier were our backup points because Marcus did not show Brad that he could handle the role. Terry as a rookie earned the trust from the coach, Brad tried  Marcus and Marcus could not handle the time running the team.  If Marcus Smart is the key he better of had one huge brain growth summer.

I've never got this line of argument. Rozier only played in like half of our games, and he only played 8 minutes per game at that. Compare that to 27+ minutes per game in both years for Smart. This whole narrative that Rozier became our backup point guard alongside Turner is just false. He wasn't on the floor long enough to be designated anything like that, and he and Smart shared the playmaking duties pretty equitably when they were out there together. This whole notion that Rozier garnered Stevens' trust handling the ball over Smart is just non-sense, and the only thing that you can legitimately say is that the coach trusts and relies on one of these players much more than the other, as evidenced by the playing time each received.

Not what I saw.  While Rozier played significantly less minutes, not sure what his numbers would be if you counted only the end of the season and playoffs, but at the end of the season when injuries required an additional "set up the offense guard",  Brad inserted Terry and the ball handling duties were nearly always Rozier's when he was on the floor with Marcus.  Marcus seldom brought the ball up and started the offense when he and Terry were on the floor together.  This to me said that Brad trusted Terry more than Marcus to facilitate the offense--Rozier seemed to me to be deliberately trying to run the offense, at times to the point of predictability--whereas Marcus continued to make questionable choices in his shots and ball movement.  I saw very little use of Marcus as a Point guard throughout the season, never saw him share playmaking duties with anyone.  I wonder what others saw?

[CelticPride2016]

Marcus Smart is a quality player. He has power driving to the hoop.

The trouble is he can rarely blow by his man, when he drives.  I like him, he is gutsy but lets not get carried away here.   He has trouble because his first step is not the best.

I think everyone is guessing and maybe it's a crap shoot. I could be overrating his ability to drive to the hoop, but it seems to be in his arsenal. I wish he wouldn't be so predictable shooting three pointers. I think these guys will improve on shooting percentage if they take smarter shots and easy shots.

The thing helping him are the free throws. Rondo figured out medium open shots, perhaps okay at threes. He usually had a good percentage because he was fast and got layups.

But the Rondo hall of fame story ended when he never improved on free throws. Marcus doesn't have to worry about that.

All players have flaws.

We definitely need a backup pg if Isaiah is hurt or not getting it done. You need backup quarterbacks.

I hope Smart can become serviceable at least for pg because otherwise we'll have two shooting guards too good to keep both of them, like Philly having to trade a center.

Bradley can't do it. Now with Turner out of the way, we'll see. I'm sure Marcus Smart will be yanked for Rozier if he can't handle it.

[CelticPride2016]

Marcus Smart is much better than Avery who can't play point guard.

I think you're really pushing it there, to be honest.

tl;dr

I think you made the same kind of reading comprehension mistake on another thread.

Avery Bradley can't play point guard. Smart might be able to. Then I saw a lot of stats and I guessed what you wrote as I think you did the same thing on the Demarcus Cousins thread.

Cousins is not the best of the best, like a Larry Bird. That's all I said.

He's a good player but a total headcase. He is not worth the risk of trading for. Maybe you consider him if he's a free agent.

You compared DeMarcus Cousins to Larry Bird, but someone posted a great response to that, so I didn't have to.

[alldaboston]

I hope I am wrong but I have seen nothing that indicates to me that Marcus is anything other than Tony Allen the 2nd.  Evan Turner and then Terry Rozier were our backup points because Marcus did not show Brad that he could handle the role. Terry as a rookie earned the trust from the coach, Brad tried  Marcus and Marcus could not handle the time running the team.  If Marcus Smart is the key he better of had one huge brain growth summer.

I've never got this line of argument. Rozier only played in like half of our games, and he only played 8 minutes per game at that. Compare that to 27+ minutes per game in both years for Smart. This whole narrative that Rozier became our backup point guard alongside Turner is just false. He wasn't on the floor long enough to be designated anything like that, and he and Smart shared the playmaking duties pretty equitably when they were out there together. This whole notion that Rozier garnered Stevens' trust handling the ball over Smart is just non-sense, and the only thing that you can legitimately say is that the coach trusts and relies on one of these players much more than the other, as evidenced by the playing time each received.

Look at the playoffs. Believe it or not, but when Marcus and Terry were both on the court, it was Terry handling the ball. Not Marcus. Might not say much about Terry immediately, but it says a ton about Marcus. That Brad isn't comfortable having him handle the offense, and that he would rather have a rookie (who, as you said, played in 1/2 of our games, at 8 minutes per game) handle the offense in a playoff series. 

[konkmv]

Celtics have 4 guards...  only smart can play both guard positions..  Rozier Thomas Bradley cannot... That's why he is not our prime playmaker.. So that others can play

[otherdave]

Also we need to shift our thinking away from the old 1 thru 5 position paradigm. Now it is less important who dribbles the ball up the court (hopefully the ball is quickly progressing up the court thru a series of passes).  In many cases, once the ball is over the line the ball handler is quickly making a first pass anyway.  I don't think we need a second unit "point guard".  Hopefully we will have a second unit that meshes well over time and I expect Smart and Terry to play a lot of minutes together.  I expect them both to improve this year (as I do everyone else).

[Surferdad]

Also we need to shift our thinking away from the old 1 thru 5 position paradigm. Now it is less important who dribbles the ball up the court (hopefully the ball is quickly progressing up the court thru a series of passes).  In many cases, once the ball is over the line the ball handler is quickly making a first pass anyway.  I don't think we have a second unit "point guard".  Hopefully we will have a second unit that meshes well over time and I expect Smart and Terry to play a lot of minutes together.  I expect them both to improve this year (as I do everyone else).

Yeah, I'm trying to make this point in multiple threads this morning.  The NBA is changing, not just with a bigger emphasis on 3-point shooting but also traditional roles on all positions, and Brad Stevens is a leader in this.  I think is Marcus is a "good enough" dribbler and ball handler (though he should continue to work on improving those skills).  IMO, an improvement in his outside shooting is more important.  Once he becomes a real threat from the outside, that will improve his ability to drive to the basket, even without a fantastic 1st step. He already has the strength to drive into traffic.