Time to think about starting Smart

[Tr1boy]

Starting lineup

KO
Green
Smart
AB
Rondo

Then bring in

Zeller
Sully
Young
Thornton
Turner


The Sully and KO starting experiment is not working.   I prefer that KO starts but it doesn't matter. Then whoever is playing better can end the game.   Marcus Smart is one impressive little beast of a defender.  He can guard SF's and cause hell out on the perimeter. We need him to start to prevent us getting scorched in the 1st

thoughts

[Bankshot]

Agreed.  Except I'm not sure Kelly should be starting.  I think Zeller should get a chance.

[beklog]

that's a hell of a small ball...
I think Zeller should still be the starting C and Sully for PF

[Tr1boy]

KO or Sully are better players than Zeller. Not as good rim protectors (though zeller is not much better) but yes to almostbeverything else.  The guy that should not be playing and coming off the bench at certain situations is bass

[Tr1boy]

that's a hell of a small ball...
I think Zeller should still be the starting C and Sully for PF

Sully is slow for a pf. He has got burnt on the defensive end. He lacks length for a center but does a better job as a defender. Green has done very well as a pf so far. His added bulk is really helping

The quicker  green guarding pf, sfs and helping KO, Sully double team centers plus smart buzzing around defending three positions would help our defense out (as we witnessed in the 4th)

[zimbo]

I thought you were talking about swapping out Rondo/Bradley. But I see you want to start all 3 guards. Wow, talk about small.

[Celtics4ever]

KO has had one good game and two not so good.   He still finds ways to contribute but not as much as Sully.   I think replace KO with Sully in the first lineup and role with it.

Sully is slow for a pf. He has got burnt on the defensive end. He lacks length for a center but does a better job as a defender. Green has done very well as a pf so far. His added bulk is really helping

KO is slow for every position, ditto for Sully these guys got exploited in the first half last night.  Sully's rebounding alone make him the better option at C in small lineup.   Green is a quick PF and had some of his best games there.   

[sofutomygaha]

I thought you were talking about swapping out Rondo/Bradley. But I see you want to start all 3 guards. Wow, talk about small.

They played Smart at 3 and Green at 4 a bit in the second half last night. It was very interesting. You would think that the Mavs would have pounded them with Dirk and Chandler, but they got cold, the Mavs back court started buckling under all the ball pressure, and the lame defensive hounding whistles Smart and Bradley were drawing in the first half somehow went away.

I'm still not really sure how it worked so well. If they were killing us inside in the first half, they should have absolutely butchered us in this configuration. I've seen the studies claiming momentum is a myth, and stretches of game like this make me think those studies can't be asking the right question.

[Snakehead]

I thought you were talking about swapping out Rondo/Bradley. But I see you want to start all 3 guards. Wow, talk about small.

They played Smart at 3 and Green at 4 a bit in the second half last night. It was very interesting. You would think that the Mavs would have pounded them with Dirk and Chandler, but they got cold, the Mavs back court started buckling under all the ball pressure, and the lame defensive hounding whistles Smart and Bradley were drawing in the first half somehow went away.

I'm still not really sure how it worked so well. If they were killing us inside in the first half, they should have absolutely butchered us in this configuration. I've seen the studies claiming momentum is a myth, and stretches of game like this make me think those studies can't be asking the right question.

Dallas kills you inside because they space you with shooting.  And they run good pick and rolls.  I think we covered their shooting a lot better and we covered pick and roll a lot better.

Smart plays great defense and he made it tough.  We were undersized all game.  I am a fan of Olynyk but he hasn't shown a willingness to be aggressive on defense yet.  Sullinger fades in and out and wasn't early in this game, but got better later.


Personally I think you start a more traditional lineup.  You run a three guard lineup at a time to try it out and see what happens.  Smart has handled it pretty well.  He is undersized but at least strength wise, last night saw him turn Chandler Parsons totally away from a drive just by physically checking him.  He can get shot over though.

[sofutomygaha]

Agreed.  Except I'm not sure Kelly should be starting.  I think Zeller should get a chance.

So- can we talk about this for a second? Because I, like you, was watching KO look like the most feeble basketball player on planet Earth last night. He couldn't shoot, he was playing so far off of everyone that he could barely contest a shot, scorers were driving right by or into him. And yet… after the first half bloodbath I looked at the box score and, like so many times, KO was our +/- leader.

This happens constantly. KO is terrible and embarrassing and I want to snip his Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.n flowing locks with every bounce and every loping stride of his lead feet… and yet the Celtics are almost always better with him on the court.

How is this possible?

[sofutomygaha]

I thought you were talking about swapping out Rondo/Bradley. But I see you want to start all 3 guards. Wow, talk about small.

They played Smart at 3 and Green at 4 a bit in the second half last night. It was very interesting. You would think that the Mavs would have pounded them with Dirk and Chandler, but they got cold, the Mavs back court started buckling under all the ball pressure, and the lame defensive hounding whistles Smart and Bradley were drawing in the first half somehow went away.

I'm still not really sure how it worked so well. If they were killing us inside in the first half, they should have absolutely butchered us in this configuration. I've seen the studies claiming momentum is a myth, and stretches of game like this make me think those studies can't be asking the right question.

Dallas kills you inside because they space you with shooting.  And they run good pick and rolls.  I think we covered their shooting a lot better and we covered pick and roll a lot better.

Smart plays great defense and he made it tough.  We were undersized all game.  I am a fan of Olynyk but he hasn't shown a willingness to be aggressive on defense yet.  Sullinger fades in and out and wasn't early in this game, but got better later.


Personally I think you start a more traditional lineup.  You run a three guard lineup at a time to try it out and see what happens.  Smart has handled it pretty well.  He is undersized but at least strength wise, last night saw him turn Chandler Parsons totally away from a drive just by physically checking him.  He can get shot over though.

Good points, I think that you're bang on. When we choked their shooters (and when they missed a few and started to hesitate), it broke their inside game too.

Someone pointed out in the game thread that Sullinger was getting offensive boards, but hardly any defensive. In this game, we out-rebounded the Mavericks convincingly. Part of this was the fact that the Mavs weren't missing any shots, but if you have a quick look at the box scores for AB and Green (two notorious non-rebounders), I think you see an underrated and consistent contribution from Sullinger. He did a tremendous job keeping Chandler and Wright away from second chance points, and cleared a lot of rebounds for our guards to go get.

[2short]

I think a tweak to starting lineup might be coming but I don't think its in the form of smart.  I love what the young rookie brings.  His defense is all nba already.  BUT I don't think he's ready to go yet.  KO adds so much to the offensive end but Zeller might be better as starter at center.  KO can play high post offense with second unit.  Or rondo, bradley, turner, green and center (KO or zeller)

[Tr1boy]

Agreed.  Except I'm not sure Kelly should be starting.  I think Zeller should get a chance.

So- can we talk about this for a second? Because I, like you, was watching KO look like the most feeble basketball player on planet Earth last night. He couldn't shoot, he was playing so far off of everyone that he could barely contest a shot, scorers were driving right by or into him. And yet… after the first half bloodbath I looked at the box score and, like so many times, KO was our +/- leader.

This happens constantly. KO is terrible and embarrassing and I want to snip his ****n flowing locks with every bounce and every loping stride of his lead feet… and yet the Celtics are almost always better with him on the court.

How is this possible?

Kelly is good at "preventive" , and team defense.  When another team is missing shots, alot of the times its not bc they are cold.   Its behind the scene guys like KO taking away space to drive in etc. Things most ppl overlook and dont give him credit for

Its when a pg gets past rondo or ab , or we get killed in pnr, and you see KO getting beat, thats where ppl start bashing him.   He is not a "bail" you out type of guy

In the 2nd half last night,  BS and staff figured something out and KO was key to help the team jumpstart a comeback.

Both KO and sully r good players but are not good on the court at the same time.  If we had an ibaka, anthony davis, bosh or similar player , playing alongside sully or KO, that would be an excellent frontcourt duo

Danny needs to get rid of bass and maybe even thornton to get us a guy like patrick patterson, thomas robinson,  terrence jones that would really help us out. Or go with my idea to start smart and start green at the pf spot

[kozlodoev]

Kelly is good at "preventive" , and team defense.  When another team is missing shots, alot of the times its not bc they are cold.   Its behind the scene guys like KO taking away space to drive in etc. Things most ppl overlook and dont give him credit for

This is some sort of inventive fiction. Olynyk is not "taking away" anything. I can probably hop to the kitchen and make a sandwich for the time it takes him to move across the paint -- which is a little disappointing, since I was hoping for some improvement this season.

[Fafnir]

I don't like starting with 3 guards. Better to use it as a substitution lineup, definitely should be something put out there for stretches most games.