Poll: C's starting backcourt

[Csfan1984]

I mainly just hope Isaiah starts. He definitely earned it last year, he's our best player

He's too much of a defensive liability. I'd rather have him on the floor against 2nd unit guys or when guys tire in the 2nd and 4th quarters. Let him pile on the points in bunches then.

Smart/Bradley start, though I think long-term Smart/Hunter make a wonderful back court combination (assuming Hunter pans out).

I agree with the long term but disagree on IT starting. Doesn't matter starters or backups IT can't guard. He can however score and draw fouls. Let him force the opposite starting guard to defend and maybe pickup fouls.  Smart has trouble on offense yet he would lock down any backup and score easier against 2nd units. Also Smart can play either guard spot so it makes more sense for Smart to come off bench.

[2short]

Until he is traded  I'll go with Bradley and smart

[SHAQATTACK]

If healthy

Smart is the future and needs to be on the court gaining time.

And Bradley has earned the right to start at the start of the season.


Danny already likes the IT as the first man off the bench for guard on second unit.

We will have a more experienced first and second units on the floor this year .....hope to see Crowder , Zellar , Sully , and KO all better .....add Thomas will have a lot better group with him .....I hope Hunter gets minutes .

[MJohnnyboy]

Its Bradley and Smart no question.

I feel like some are confusing what our starting backcourt should be with what our best backcourt should be. Our best backcourt is IT/Smart, but Stevens utilized Thomas correctly last season by having him be the scoring punch off the bench against the 2nd unit as opposed to having him start. Just because IT won't start doesn't mean he won't finish the game.

The real debacle is the starting small forward. Will it be Turner or Crowder? It all depends on how well Smart has progressed as a playmaker. If he's good enough to handle ball-handling duties fully, it'll be Crowder. If not, it'll be Turner.

[Tr1boy]

Sb rozier and smart
It and AB off the bench

[CelticsFan166]

Sb rozier and smart
It and AB off the bench

Personally I wouldn't mind this one bit, but I'd be worried about IT taking it personally. He already isn't too happy coming off the bench, but losing his spot to someone who hasn't played a single NBA game would be kinda insulting. The last thing we want is our best player demanding a trade or having this come back to haunt us when he's a free agent.

[Tr1boy]

Sb rozier and smart
It and AB off the bench

Personally I wouldn't mind this one bit, but I'd be worried about IT taking it personally. He already isn't too happy coming off the bench, but losing his spot to someone who hasn't played a single NBA game would be kinda insulting. The last thing we want is our best player demanding a trade or having this come back to haunt us when he's a free agent.

IT will have to understand.  The way he likes to score is not the best lway to get the rest of the team started.  You set the tone with playing tough D and passing the ball around. Rozier and Smart while both not pure pgs showed enough passing skills/willingness to get others involved

IT can have the luxury to come off the bench and play his game. AB certaintly wont care . crowder, KO wont either.  The bench functions better actually having IT lead the scoring charge

[CelticsFan166]

Sb rozier and smart
It and AB off the bench

Personally I wouldn't mind this one bit, but I'd be worried about IT taking it personally. He already isn't too happy coming off the bench, but losing his spot to someone who hasn't played a single NBA game would be kinda insulting. The last thing we want is our best player demanding a trade or having this come back to haunt us when he's a free agent.

IT will have to understand.  The way he likes to score is not the best lway to get the rest of the team started.  You set the tone with playing tough D and passing the ball around. Rozier and Smart while both not pure pgs showed enough passing skills/willingness to get others involved

IT can have the luxury to come off the bench and play his game. AB certaintly wont care . crowder, KO wont either.  The bench functions better actually having IT lead the scoring charge

Exactly. He's by far my favorite player but should be able to understand that the NBA is a business and that players/coaches aren't stupid. I think the most important thing for us is to limit the other team's scoring in the first 5 minutes, as our second unit is so potent offensively that we can pull away. Imagine a starting lineup of Smart-Bradley-Crowder-Mickey-Amir. Talk about setting the right tone.

[SCeltic34]

Sb rozier and smart
It and AB off the bench

Personally I wouldn't mind this one bit, but I'd be worried about IT taking it personally. He already isn't too happy coming off the bench, but losing his spot to someone who hasn't played a single NBA game would be kinda insulting. The last thing we want is our best player demanding a trade or having this come back to haunt us when he's a free agent.

IT will have to understand.  The way he likes to score is not the best lway to get the rest of the team started.  You set the tone with playing tough D and passing the ball around. Rozier and Smart while both not pure pgs showed enough passing skills/willingness to get others involved

IT can have the luxury to come off the bench and play his game. AB certaintly wont care . crowder, KO wont either.  The bench functions better actually having IT lead the scoring charge

Starting Rozier would rub both IT and Bradley the wrong way.  AB is a good dude and a team player, but I doubt that that move would sit well with him.  And even if IT was assigned to come off the bench, he'd likely be more understanding and willing to do so if it was Smart or Bradley starting in front of him.  But I doubt that this would be the case for Rozier - especially since Rozier hasn't even played a second of real NBA basketball and is completely unproven.

I quite honestly don't see how Rozier is legitimately even in the discussion of who should start on opening night.

[jambr380]

Its Bradley and Smart no question.

I feel like some are confusing what our starting backcourt should be with what our best backcourt should be. Our best backcourt is IT/Smart, but Stevens utilized Thomas correctly last season by having him be the scoring punch off the bench against the 2nd unit as opposed to having him start. Just because IT won't start doesn't mean he won't finish the game.

The real debacle is the starting small forward. Will it be Turner or Crowder? It all depends on how well Smart has progressed as a playmaker. If he's good enough to handle ball-handling duties fully, it'll be Crowder. If not, it'll be Turner.

I realize this thread is coming soon, but doesn't it obviously have to be Turner. I mean, I loved the re-signing of Crowder and suppose there is room for improvement, but Turner was arguable our most important player last year. Smart may improve his playmaking, but the ball still does and should move through Turner.

Besides, we need some defense in the 2nd unit and Crowder is the perfect leader for that role.

[Jon]

Sb rozier and smart
It and AB off the bench

Personally I wouldn't mind this one bit, but I'd be worried about IT taking it personally. He already isn't too happy coming off the bench, but losing his spot to someone who hasn't played a single NBA game would be kinda insulting. The last thing we want is our best player demanding a trade or having this come back to haunt us when he's a free agent.

IT will have to understand.  The way he likes to score is not the best lway to get the rest of the team started.  You set the tone with playing tough D and passing the ball around. Rozier and Smart while both not pure pgs showed enough passing skills/willingness to get others involved

IT can have the luxury to come off the bench and play his game. AB certaintly wont care . crowder, KO wont either.  The bench functions better actually having IT lead the scoring charge

Starting Rozier would rub both IT and Bradley the wrong way.  AB is a good dude and a team player, but I doubt that that move would sit well with him.  And even if IT was assigned to come off the bench, he'd likely be more understanding and willing to do so if it was Smart or Bradley starting in front of him.  But I doubt that this would be the case for Rozier - especially since Rozier hasn't even played a second of real NBA basketball and is completely unproven.

I quite honestly don't see how Rozier is legitimately even in the discussion of who should start on opening night.

I think there's a greater chance Rozier starts the year in Maine than as a starter for this team.

[MJohnnyboy]

Its Bradley and Smart no question.

I feel like some are confusing what our starting backcourt should be with what our best backcourt should be. Our best backcourt is IT/Smart, but Stevens utilized Thomas correctly last season by having him be the scoring punch off the bench against the 2nd unit as opposed to having him start. Just because IT won't start doesn't mean he won't finish the game.

The real debacle is the starting small forward. Will it be Turner or Crowder? It all depends on how well Smart has progressed as a playmaker. If he's good enough to handle ball-handling duties fully, it'll be Crowder. If not, it'll be Turner.

I realize this thread is coming soon, but doesn't it obviously have to be Turner. I mean, I loved the re-signing of Crowder and suppose there is room for improvement, but Turner was arguable our most important player last year. Smart may improve his playmaking, but the ball still does and should move through Turner.

Besides, we need some defense in the 2nd unit and Crowder is the perfect leader for that role.

I wouldn't say "obviously" but I do lean more towards Turner because his presence does help Smart ease into being an NBA-caliber point guard. I think Smart is destined for great things but offensively he's developing. On the other side, I could see the Celtics turn to Crowder because he strengthens the defense in the starting 5 with him in instead of Turner, and the second unit could benefit from having two playmakers with IT and ET. Again, that all depends on how ready Smart is to be the guy running the offense.

Frankly, a few years down the line I pray neither Crowder or Turner are the starting wing when this team (hopefully) aims for a championship.

[LilRip]

easy. it's gotta be AB and Smart with IT4 off the bench. The backcourt picture is a lot clearer than the frontcourt.

[LarBrd33]

Simply because of their size, I can't imagine Bradley and Thomas starting together.   That would put us at a real size disadvantage.   Either one of those guys could start next to Smart, though.  Smart has some size that allows him to cover most SG's.   

I hope we get an upgrade at SG at some point, though.

Only one person voted for it (not me), but Smart + Turner is an interesting long-shot if Crowder breaks out and it becomes clear that Crowder needs starting SF minutes.  Turner might be one of the best players on this team.  It's not unthinkable that he could start in the backcourt with Smart. 

[Joe Green]

easy. it's gotta be AB and Smart with IT4 off the bench. The backcourt picture is a lot clearer than the frontcourt.

Statistically, IT/Smart is BY FAR our best backcourt (I did a long post on this a few weeks ago). AB is statistically bad in every lineup.

People fear IT is a defensive liability, but this is WAY overrated. He is a big plus when on court due to two facts: He adds a lot more on offense (elite penetration, gets to FT and knocks them down, good 3pt, GREAT pick and roll) than he detracts on defense. Both his offensive and defensive numbers are also inflated due to PACE.

Smart has the size and defensive chops to guard most shooting guards in the league, and very few PG will post up IT (I think there are like 3-4 PG who do this on a high level), so his size is not that big a problem.

We can't EVER have IT and AB together since AB cannot guard big shooting guards - of which there are PLENTY....