Lowe - Quarter Season Recap

[Moranis]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14316675/running-league-nba-hits-quarter-mark

C's are in the other situations to watch section

Boston Celtics

The C's will face an interesting decision once Marcus Smart returns from injury. Isaiah Thomas seems to have burst through the bench spark-plug glass ceiling, which means it will come down to Smart and Avery Bradley for the fifth starting spot alongside Thomas, Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson and Jared Sullinger.

Both potential lineups are about even in point differential, but if Bradley keeps shooting the lights out, it will be hard for Stevens to demote him -- especially since Smart's secondary ball-handling isn't as much of a need with Thomas pounding it. We'll see. The Sullinger/Johnson combo has been solid, but it wouldn't shock me if Stevens experiments with another pairing at some point.

Crowder gets some love as well

2. Jae Crowder, attacking

Solid shooting isn't enough anymore for most spot-up guys. You have to know how to puncture a defense that has bent away from you -- how to attack off the catch, when a pump fake will work, the right driving angles, and the art of drawing contact.

Crowder isn't a great shooter or driver, but he's proof that just being decisive can get you a long way:

Crowder is getting to the line at a career-best rate, and more of his shots are coming at the rim.

[JohnBoy65]

I really liked AB coming off the bench. Thought his spark was better than IT's to be honest. A bench of:

Turner
Bradley
Jerebko
KO
Lee

Is a pretty good balance of scoring/defense/play making/ and passing.

[Timdawgg]

I really liked AB coming off the bench. Thought his spark was better than IT's to be honest. A bench of:

Turner
Bradley
Jerebko
KO
Lee

Is a pretty good balance of scoring/defense/play making/ and passing.

I agree but the way Bradley is playing now it is almost impossible to make him come off the bench..I actually think IT needs to go back...its weird but half the time I feel like the C's play better when IT is not in. On the flip side, there is always the 1 quarter where IT heats up and is crucial to winning...such a tough decision...

[MJohnnyboy]

Since this team is super deep, there's no need to automatically put Smart back in the starting lineup right away. Bring him up gradually from the bench and see which lineups mesh the most when Smart gets back to 100%. Brad will experiment and whichever lineup is the best will be the one he will go with. Simple as that.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I was actually quite disappointed in Lowe's input, particularly for someone who's shown to have an inside track on all things Celtics. Wanted a bit more insight/analysis.

[fairweatherfan]

I was actually quite disappointed in Lowe's input, particularly for someone who's shown to have an inside track on all things Celtics. Wanted a bit more insight/analysis.

Could be worse, we could be Phoenix fans:

Phoenix Suns

This is getting interesting. Stay tuned.

Sounds like some major trade winds blowing, but talk about vague and ominous!

[TheFlex]

I really liked AB coming off the bench. Thought his spark was better than IT's to be honest. A bench of:

Turner
Bradley
Jerebko
KO
Lee

Is a pretty good balance of scoring/defense/play making/ and passing.

I'd prefer Hunter or Young at the 3 if we have Turner's size at 1 and Bradley's defense at 2. Move KO to center and split the backup minutes behind Amir at the 4 between Jerebko and Lee.

[TheFlex]

I was actually quite disappointed in Lowe's input, particularly for someone who's shown to have an inside track on all things Celtics. Wanted a bit more insight/analysis.

Could be worse, we could be Phoenix fans:

Phoenix Suns

This is getting interesting. Stay tuned.

Sounds like some major trade winds blowing, but talk about vague and ominous!

They have to move Kieff Morris, right?

[fairweatherfan]

I was actually quite disappointed in Lowe's input, particularly for someone who's shown to have an inside track on all things Celtics. Wanted a bit more insight/analysis.

Could be worse, we could be Phoenix fans:

Phoenix Suns

This is getting interesting. Stay tuned.

Sounds like some major trade winds blowing, but talk about vague and ominous!

They have to move Kieff Morris, right?

That seems the most likely by far, but the tone of that post makes it seem like there's more going on than that.

[PhoSita]

With Phoenix I'm starting to think either that guys don't like playing with Eric Bledsoe, or Jeff Hornacek isn't very good at managing personalities. 

Considering the success that team has enjoyed playing a seemlingly fun, up-tempo style, you wouldn't expect there to be a negative atmosphere surrounding them, but there has been for most of the last year.

The two point guard offense is a cool idea, but I think you need to make sure the guys you bring in are ready to buy in.  At times watching Phoenix it seems like two guys who want to have sole control of the offense simply taking turns. 

[Big333223]

Maybe it would be a good idea to see if Smart can handle heavier playmaking duties better against second units. Or even, if he's going to play with Turner, ask him to attack more and see if Smart can be that 'spark off the bench.'

There are still so many option with this team.

[RockinRyA]

theres around 96 minutes for both guard positions, smart, IT and Bradley can each have around 30 mins each night. (like im doing in 2k but I cut IT's minutes coz he kept getting burned by opposing guards every game.)

[34truth]

Smart should be this team's sixth man. Bradley and thomas make this team talented enough offensively to have a shot with most teams every night. Starting lineup finally looks balanced

[MJohnnyboy]

Smart should be this team's sixth man. Bradley and thomas make this team talented enough offensively to have a shot with most teams every night. Starting lineup finally looks balanced

Tonight definitely demonstrated the Celtics' balance. IT didn't show up in the first half and Bradley couldn't buy a jumper the whole game and the Celtics still won!

[iadera]

Since this team is super deep, there's no need to automatically put Smart back in the starting lineup right away. Bring him up gradually from the bench and see which lineups mesh the most when Smart gets back to 100%. Brad will experiment and whichever lineup is the best will be the one he will go with. Simple as that.

Agree.