46 Pts 10 boards 11 assists for the new backcourt.

[KG Living Legend]

 This makes so much sense it's ridiculous. Smart at the two takes so much pressure off him, we know Bradley doesn't dribble or pass very well and neither does Crowder.

 Bradley can now be an agrresive scorer off the bench. Too bad Bradley had to get hurt to see this but it's clear as day we found are starting backcourt.

[GreenWarrior]

I'm not a huge fan of both smart and Thomas starting in the backcourt or 2 pg's even playing in the backcourt at the same time for that matter. but at the same time I never understood why AB has been penciled in as the starting SG no matter what.

[LarBrd33]

Yeah I was saying it last year as well...  you can only start Thomas at PG if you plan on benching Bradley.  Bradley is tiny for a SG.  Thomas is tiny for a PG.  You can't play them both together or you're basically making every opposing back-court look like Dirk Nowitzki as they tower over those guys.   The only way you can start THomas is if you put hiim next to a larger guard.  Smart isn't exactly a giant, but he's got size and strength to cover most shooting guards.   Bradley + Smart works, because Bradley is large enough to cover point guards and Smart is large enough to cover SG's.

The problem with a Thomas + Smart backcourt was that it meant you were moving a guy you just paid a not insignificant amount of money (Bradley) to your bench... and you'd lose a bit of the offensive punch the gimmicky Thomas gave you in the micromicrowave role as 6th man.    I thought we'd potentially see this backcourt, but it wouldn't happen until we moved Bradley.   It'll be interesting heading forward to see if Bradley regains his starting role now that he's back from his injury.

[Granath]

Still waiting for a certain someone to pop into the thread shouting "Banks 2.0, Banks 2.0!!!".

[Vermont Green]

IT is having a great year but I still like him off the bench.  He will get his 32 or so minutes and will still share the court with Smart at times.  I believe that when Bradley is fully back (healthy and no rust), he will be back starting alongside Smart.

The thing I want to watch is whether or not Smart plays better with IT or Bradley.  I don't expect it to make any difference, I think Smart is still inconsistent so he has more control over how he plays than who is around him but I am sure that Stevens will continue to work combos and track how well they do.

[loco_91]

Well, it seems to be working. I'm a big fan of continuing whatever is working. Not sure it makes a huge difference, though - they're all going to play ~30 minutes a night either way.

[Chris22]

Still waiting for a certain someone to pop into the thread shouting "Banks 2.0, Banks 2.0!!!".

Yea, whatever happened to that guy?
I have said all along that Smart was not a point guard. Glad to see the switch.
Turner can handle the ball for the second unit. He did a great job last night.

[manl_lui]

I'm not a huge fan of both smart and Thomas starting in the backcourt or 2 pg's even playing in the backcourt at the same time for that matter. but at the same time I never understood why AB has been penciled in as the starting SG no matter what.

same, we need a legit point guard to run the show with Smart as the SG, I hope Rozier will be that guy. But I'll take that win yesterday! good team win and I hope Smart doesn't just play well whenever he returns to OKC, but consistently like that every game

[Reggie's Ghost]

I'm not a huge fan of both smart and Thomas starting in the backcourt or 2 pg's even playing in the backcourt at the same time for that matter. but at the same time I never understood why AB has been penciled in as the starting SG no matter what.

same, we need a legit point guard to run the show with Smart as the SG, I hope Rozier will be that guy. But I'll take that win yesterday! good team win and I hope Smart doesn't just play well whenever he returns to OKC, but consistently like that every game

I'll tell you what I'd really love to see:

Smart
Turner
Crowder
Sully / Amir

Turner is this teams best facilitator, and is having a career defensive year. We would have size on almost every backcourt matchup. And we would have an excellent bench with Bradley providing defense and outside shooting to compliment IT's sparkplug style.

I would also love to have a lineup like this that encourages Smart to continue to seek out and develop his offensive game.

Thoughts?

[Big333223]

Part of me still likes the idea of Thomas coming off the bench but starting him and Smart might be the correct answer to this roster question.

Smart's defensive versatility makes him the perfect guy to play alongside Thomas and since neither one is really a traditional PG, letting them share the playmaking also makes sense. It also means Smart focusing on scoring more on facilitating which I'm starting to think is was he needs to do. I like him attacking the basket and looking for his own shot which is hard to do if he has to look for other people's shots, too.

Maybe I'm overreacting to one game but the pieces look like they fit.

[trickybilly]

Part of me still likes the idea of Thomas coming off the bench but starting him and Smart might be the correct answer to this roster question.

Smart's defensive versatility makes him the perfect guy to play alongside Thomas and since neither one is really a traditional PG, letting them share the playmaking also makes sense. It also means Smart focusing on scoring more on facilitating which I'm starting to think is was he needs to do. I like him attacking the basket and looking for his own shot which is hard to do if he has to look for other people's shots, too.

Maybe I'm overreacting to one game but the pieces look like they fit.

Someone commented in the game thread today that Isaiah makes bad passing decisions if there is help out of the p n r.. do people agree with that? I didn't see his TO box line.

[Chris22]

Part of me still likes the idea of Thomas coming off the bench but starting him and Smart might be the correct answer to this roster question.

Smart's defensive versatility makes him the perfect guy to play alongside Thomas and since neither one is really a traditional PG, letting them share the playmaking also makes sense. It also means Smart focusing on scoring more on facilitating which I'm starting to think is was he needs to do. I like him attacking the basket and looking for his own shot which is hard to do if he has to look for other people's shots, too.

Maybe I'm overreacting to one game but the pieces look like they fit.

Someone commented in the game thread today that Isaiah makes bad passing decisions if there is help out of the p n r.. do people agree with that? I didn't see his TO box line.

Thomas had 8 assists and 2 turnovers.