Had Marcus Smart not been hurt......

[ctrey]

I feel like we would have won both the Oklahoma and Cleveland games. I really feel like he could have been the difference in both contests for us. I am crazy? Or am I on to something?

[Eja117]

I'm not sure he's an upgrade over Avery Bradley just yet so you have to maybe ask if a 2nd Bradley would have helped

[hwangjini_1]

I feel like we would have won both the Oklahoma and Cleveland games. I really feel like he could have been the difference in both contests for us. I am crazy? Or am I on to something?

we will never know since it will never be a reality. smart, whom i like as a player, might have gone 1-8 or committed and untimely foul. for all we know, it was partly his absence that allowed the celtics to be close in those games.

so, nice to speculate, but i dont think we can go very far here.

[gpap]

No offense but I hate the "could've, would've" game.

You roll with the team you have.

The idea is to win.

If you lose, you didn't do your job.

I'd also be a millionaire right now if I had another $999,999 dollars in my wallet.

[hwangjini_1]

No offense but I hate the "could've, would've" game.

You roll with the team you have.

The idea is to win.

If you lose, you didn't do your job.

I'd also be a millionaire right now if I had another $999,999 dollars in my wallet.

i may not be able help you be a dollar millionaire, but i did give you a tp to help make you a tp millioniare....eventually.

[pearljammer10]

Had a conversation earlier saying how great our team is playing that fast uptempo style and that when Turner comes in to take over he is just so......dang......slow......with.....everything. Then I thought, "If we only had a back up point guard who can keep the pace and momentum speedy"..... Then I remembered, oh yeah, we have Marcus Smart and he does that at both ends of the floor.

[scaryjerry]

Lol

[LarBrd33]

I feel like we would have won both the Oklahoma and Cleveland games. I really feel like he could have been the difference in both contests for us. I am crazy? Or am I on to something?

It's tough to say how more defense and less offense would have impacted those games.  Our offense is cruising... our defense is terrible, but it's mostly our interior defense that's the problem.  Smart wouldn't have helped with that.  Thornton scored 12 efficient points last night... Smart probably would have taken his minutes.

[Dedalus]

Having Smart is important during the end of the game. It's not that important that he's the primary creator. Smart, Rondo, Bradley, and Green need to be in during crunch time. Smart & Rondo can both guard 3s. We need Smart's defense to close.

[bleedGREENdon]

Agree 110% with original poster

[Rosco917]

Smart has such a will to compete and win, much like Rondo. Having Smart on the floor at the end of a game will always be a positive thing.

Someday Smart will be the Celtics captain.

[Celtics4ever]

I think our D was better when he played guys played better D.   Big D was still terrible. 

[Surferdad]

Having Smart is important during the end of the game. It's not that important that he's the primary creator. Smart, Rondo, Bradley, and Green need to be in during crunch time. Smart & Rondo can both guard 3s. We need Smart's defense to close.

Tommy Point for your first post, and I pretty much agree. Smart oelud have helped last night with guarding Kryrie. There just no excuse for giving up 12 points to one player in like 3 minutes.

[ViolentGhandi]

the 12 points wouldnt have matterd if the C's didnt fall back into the old mindset of trying to grind down to the final buzzer. Smart wouldnt have prevented that its psyche problem in they team as a whole. It's there because thats how the game is played in the NBA. But the C's have to get that out of their game break the unwritten rule to generate an edge in their favour. Instead they just stop executing as relentless as prior to that point. It alters the pace of the game to be somewhat slower. All of the sudden the team stops scoring. When the opponent is able to make a little run you are making them actually even stronger since a more expearenced team can smell such turning points. At some point the young C's start to feel unsecure because they are not really realizing what happens to them. Thats the point there they collaps resulting in the loses we have seen this season cept for the one at Dallas. Dallas was the opposite. If you would reset the score at the point the C's started getting into their game when you have an game ending like you should have seen vs. Cleveland is well. Without the breakdown at the 4th.

They have to get over this in order to take those games home. They play 3 quaters of high pace bball instead of 4. Its importent to keep playing their style no matter how big the lead is until some point late in the 4th depending on the lead. CLE was demoralized at the end of the 3rd. LeBron was sitting on the bench and his mind was allready leaving the building. 5-6 Minutes into the 4th at the same pace the CAVs would have realized that its not their night but instead the C's settle down, trying to bring it home and in doing that robbing themself of their strenght and exposing their weaknesses. They lose a step, now the flaws in our lineup suddenly become an issue because nobody is open anymore and we have no paul pierce type player anymore who completly takes over. Suddenly everyone has a much harder time scoring the basket.

If the C's can get over this & yes they are aware of that problem as one can hear in their interviews after the game they will really really hard to beat. The pace we play is something which allows us to overpower many teams and once the lead is there even if they start scoring the high pace should give them enough easy baskets to still bring such games home.

I have seen the interviews with KG and LeBron and both praised the system and made statements that the C's will suprise many this year. I guess LeBron as well as the C's realized why they lost and its to be expected that thru the season they can turn off that issue.

We don't have to have a superstar scorer (he wouldnt get as many shots as in other teams anyways since at hte pace you play yo have to get deeper itno the bench and constantly moving the opposing D by threatening em from all angles) or a great rim protector playing that style of basketball. The team still has those flaws but the impact is not as big as it seems initally. By constantly keeping the preasure up there is enough openings for us to score with our none scorers. The big problem for the oppenents is that they have to keep up with us thru the game. Means you force them off their game plan too play like we do. by doing that and by that robbing them of many of their stenghts.

So even with this young team of ours we should be able to steal a bunch of games from teams you would expect to beat us. Mark my words....

It has a lot in common with what the german scoccer team started under coach Klinsman and Löw which lead to a world cup victory in the last World Campionship. After failing in the one before cause of a stratgie change to match italy instead of forcing the working system. All of the sudden everything that was good b4 was gone. It was so crewl to watch.

[Chris22]

If Brad Stevens hadn't gone small in the fourth quarter, we would have won.
And if Smart had played he would have helped.