Smart's the only guy who came to play hard tonight. Try blaming everyone else who sleepwalked through game 3.
I’m not talking about one specific game. This is a general theme with him. He’s the piece that needs to be moved.
Every year there is talk that he should be traded then every year he stays. Then every year he repeats his hero ball antics in the playoffs.Once in awhile it works but mostly it doesn't. I would have been ok with him being traded years ago.
Smart has always thought himself better than he actually is - that's why he makes those reckless passes, big stepback threes and goes for big defensive plays that work 20% of the time. So that 20% of the time he can turn a game with a grandstand play. It's how he's manage to win games for us with a critical steal or a charge or even a clutch three.
But the other 80% of the time it doesn't work, and 20% of the 80% it can have a catastrophic result like what happened against Atlanta where they stole a game from us at home when he tried to steal the ball from Trae at halfcourt with us leading by 1. I guess that's the kind of drive and confidence in yourself you need to be successful in the NBA when you're not the most talented guy around.
Without overreacting to the last game, where if we did we would probably want to get rid of the whole team and start over (I know I did immediately during the carnage) I feel it comes down to two things a) what should he be doing to effect winning; and b) is he the doing those things at the right time, which is a judgment thing. When he starts those hero ball actions, particularly offensively, I've noticed it tends to be because there's no output from anyone else and he feels he has to be "the guy". We had 14 points from Tatum and 12 from Brown and zero from Brogdon.
The other question is whether his style is the right one for this team. For years we relied on his tenacity and his defensive mentality to help give us our identity. He's a great defensive guard historically but not the most reliable playmaker and his shooting, while it's improved, is even streakier. What alternatives are out there that would be a bigger net positive for our team? Would the best option already be in the team in Brogdon or White? Assuming we find that person, can Smart coexist with them, either as a combo guard or an impact player off the bench who understands his role?
These are things for Brad to consider. I do feel that Brad has a lot of time for Smart, he thinks that Marcus is the heartbeat of the team, so I'm not expecting him to be shipped out. At least not next year. In fact, unless we end up pooping the bed again on Tuesday I don't expect very many changes on the basis of getting swept. Brad strikes me as a deliberate kind of guy. It would take something like a total chemistry and culture breakdown for some major changes to be made - if he concludes that Joe has lost the locker room there's a case to be made for his dismissal even though they just extended him a few months ago. If there's a break in the relationship between Tatum and Brown (which I doubt) then obviously they would look to move Brown. If the team was sick of Marcus (which I don't think it is) then Smart would be shipped out. Otherwise, I think they would try to forensically analyze what went wrong and see if they can fix it, at least for the next year. Not what most of us want to hear I know
