Free Smart!

[jpotter33]

Bad game by Thomas he's not an All Star, merely a sixth man. Overreactions......

It's a running trend with IT. Bad turnovers, stupid forced shots, and a major defensive liability. Which one of those can you seriously disagree with? He's the prototypical sixth man.

A player who averages 21 and 7 is a sixth man? This team will be in the lotto if it weren't for Thomas.

Uh, yeah. Put those numbers into context: 42% fg%, 34% 3PFG%, 3 TO's a game, no defense. That's the classic volume scorer, who is traditionally associated with the sixth man role - Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc.

Has Lou and Crawford ever averaged 7 assists a game? And to the numbers in context, Thomas also averages 6 free throw attempts a game and is their only scorer. Who on this team besides thomas can score like can? Besides some terrible turnovers, Isaiah had 21 and 10 against the Raptors, he's not even a big part of the problem why the Celtics lost, it's their defense that failed them.

.....which is exactly what I'm saying. With Smart out there, our perimeter defense can pretty much overcompensate for our lack of a real interior defensive presence. With IT out there, we can't, because he's always going to be the weak spot on the perimeter.

And it is our offense, too, because IT has never met a shot he didn't like. Plus, per usual, he regularly kills us in end-game situations with costly turnovers and stupid forced shots.

[Rondo9]

Bad game by Thomas he's not an All Star, merely a sixth man. Overreactions......

It's a running trend with IT. Bad turnovers, stupid forced shots, and a major defensive liability. Which one of those can you seriously disagree with? He's the prototypical sixth man.

A player who averages 21 and 7 is a sixth man? This team will be in the lotto if it weren't for Thomas.

Uh, yeah. Put those numbers into context: 42% fg%, 34% 3PFG%, 3 TO's a game, no defense. That's the classic volume scorer, who is traditionally associated with the sixth man role - Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc.

Has Lou and Crawford ever averaged 7 assists a game? And to the numbers in context, Thomas also averages 6 free throw attempts a game and is their only scorer. Who on this team besides thomas can score like can? Besides some terrible turnovers, Isaiah had 21 and 10 against the Raptors, he's not even a big part of the problem why the Celtics lost, it's their defense that failed them.

.....which is exactly what I'm saying. With Smart out there, our perimeter defense can pretty much overcompensate for our lack of a real interior defensive presence. With IT out there, we can't, because he's always going to be the weak spot on the perimeter.

And it is our offense, too, because IT has never met a shot he didn't like. Plus, per usual, he regularly kills us in end-game situations with costly turnovers and stupid forced shots.

With Smart and Bradley starting, the Celtics don't have a reliable offensive option and as a result have slow starts on offense. Thomas is needed because he's their only scorer especially in the 4th quarter.

[jpotter33]

Bad game by Thomas he's not an All Star, merely a sixth man. Overreactions......

It's a running trend with IT. Bad turnovers, stupid forced shots, and a major defensive liability. Which one of those can you seriously disagree with? He's the prototypical sixth man.

A player who averages 21 and 7 is a sixth man? This team will be in the lotto if it weren't for Thomas.

Uh, yeah. Put those numbers into context: 42% fg%, 34% 3PFG%, 3 TO's a game, no defense. That's the classic volume scorer, who is traditionally associated with the sixth man role - Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc.

Has Lou and Crawford ever averaged 7 assists a game? And to the numbers in context, Thomas also averages 6 free throw attempts a game and is their only scorer. Who on this team besides thomas can score like can? Besides some terrible turnovers, Isaiah had 21 and 10 against the Raptors, he's not even a big part of the problem why the Celtics lost, it's their defense that failed them.

.....which is exactly what I'm saying. With Smart out there, our perimeter defense can pretty much overcompensate for our lack of a real interior defensive presence. With IT out there, we can't, because he's always going to be the weak spot on the perimeter.

And it is our offense, too, because IT has never met a shot he didn't like. Plus, per usual, he regularly kills us in end-game situations with costly turnovers and stupid forced shots.

With Smart and Bradley starting, the Celtics don't have a reliable offensive option and as a result have slow starts on offense. Thomas is needed because he's their only scorer especially in the 4th quarter.

Slow starts, huh? Like our starts in Dallas and Toronto tonight? If that's why he's out there, why are we still having those droughts? A major part of it, especially in Dallas, was him being abused defensively.

[Rondo9]

Bad game by Thomas he's not an All Star, merely a sixth man. Overreactions......

It's a running trend with IT. Bad turnovers, stupid forced shots, and a major defensive liability. Which one of those can you seriously disagree with? He's the prototypical sixth man.

A player who averages 21 and 7 is a sixth man? This team will be in the lotto if it weren't for Thomas.

Uh, yeah. Put those numbers into context: 42% fg%, 34% 3PFG%, 3 TO's a game, no defense. That's the classic volume scorer, who is traditionally associated with the sixth man role - Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc.

Has Lou and Crawford ever averaged 7 assists a game? And to the numbers in context, Thomas also averages 6 free throw attempts a game and is their only scorer. Who on this team besides thomas can score like can? Besides some terrible turnovers, Isaiah had 21 and 10 against the Raptors, he's not even a big part of the problem why the Celtics lost, it's their defense that failed them.

.....which is exactly what I'm saying. With Smart out there, our perimeter defense can pretty much overcompensate for our lack of a real interior defensive presence. With IT out there, we can't, because he's always going to be the weak spot on the perimeter.

And it is our offense, too, because IT has never met a shot he didn't like. Plus, per usual, he regularly kills us in end-game situations with costly turnovers and stupid forced shots.

With Smart and Bradley starting, the Celtics don't have a reliable offensive option and as a result have slow starts on offense. Thomas is needed because he's their only scorer especially in the 4th quarter.

Slow starts, huh? Like our starts in Dallas and Toronto tonight? If that's why he's out there, why are we still having those droughts? A major part of it, especially in Dallas, was him being abused defensively.

You really think these droughts will get better with limited offensive players like Smart and Bradley? The Celtics still boasted an elite defense with Thomas starting. Thomas is needed as a scorer. The Celtics lack a Lebron James or Anthony Davis like player.

[hwangjini_1]

Bad game by Thomas he's not an All Star, merely a sixth man. Overreactions......

It's a running trend with IT. Bad turnovers, stupid forced shots, and a major defensive liability. Which one of those can you seriously disagree with? He's the prototypical sixth man.

A player who averages 21 and 7 is a sixth man? This team will be in the lotto if it weren't for Thomas.

Uh, yeah. Put those numbers into context: 42% fg%, 34% 3PFG%, 3 TO's a game, no defense. That's the classic volume scorer, who is traditionally associated with the sixth man role - Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc.

Has Lou and Crawford ever averaged 7 assists a game? And to the numbers in context, Thomas also averages 6 free throw attempts a game and is their only scorer. Who on this team besides thomas can score like can? Besides some terrible turnovers, Isaiah had 21 and 10 against the Raptors, he's not even a big part of the problem why the Celtics lost, it's their defense that failed them.

.....which is exactly what I'm saying. With Smart out there, our perimeter defense can pretty much overcompensate for our lack of a real interior defensive presence. With IT out there, we can't, because he's always going to be the weak spot on the perimeter.

And it is our offense, too, because IT has never met a shot he didn't like. Plus, per usual, he regularly kills us in end-game situations with costly turnovers and stupid forced shots.

With Smart and Bradley starting, the Celtics don't have a reliable offensive option and as a result have slow starts on offense. Thomas is needed because he's their only scorer especially in the 4th quarter.

Slow starts, huh? Like our starts in Dallas and Toronto tonight? If that's why he's out there, why are we still having those droughts? A major part of it, especially in Dallas, was him being abused defensively.

i am not quite sure i see the suggested connection between IT having poor defense and the celtics having scoring droughts. i get that you are feeling ill will towards IT right now, but i just dont see the connection between your criticisms here.

[jpotter33]

Bad game by Thomas he's not an All Star, merely a sixth man. Overreactions......

It's a running trend with IT. Bad turnovers, stupid forced shots, and a major defensive liability. Which one of those can you seriously disagree with? He's the prototypical sixth man.

A player who averages 21 and 7 is a sixth man? This team will be in the lotto if it weren't for Thomas.

Uh, yeah. Put those numbers into context: 42% fg%, 34% 3PFG%, 3 TO's a game, no defense. That's the classic volume scorer, who is traditionally associated with the sixth man role - Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc.

Has Lou and Crawford ever averaged 7 assists a game? And to the numbers in context, Thomas also averages 6 free throw attempts a game and is their only scorer. Who on this team besides thomas can score like can? Besides some terrible turnovers, Isaiah had 21 and 10 against the Raptors, he's not even a big part of the problem why the Celtics lost, it's their defense that failed them.

.....which is exactly what I'm saying. With Smart out there, our perimeter defense can pretty much overcompensate for our lack of a real interior defensive presence. With IT out there, we can't, because he's always going to be the weak spot on the perimeter.

And it is our offense, too, because IT has never met a shot he didn't like. Plus, per usual, he regularly kills us in end-game situations with costly turnovers and stupid forced shots.

With Smart and Bradley starting, the Celtics don't have a reliable offensive option and as a result have slow starts on offense. Thomas is needed because he's their only scorer especially in the 4th quarter.

Slow starts, huh? Like our starts in Dallas and Toronto tonight? If that's why he's out there, why are we still having those droughts? A major part of it, especially in Dallas, was him being abused defensively.

i am not quite sure i see the suggested connection between IT having poor defense and the celtics having scoring droughts. i get that you are feeling ill will towards IT right now, but i just dont see the connection between your criticisms here.

I was specifically referring to the Dallas game where in addition to IT not helping us offensively, he was majorly hurting us defensively, which equally led to the huge advantage they had at the start of the game.

But Rondo9 is saying that he's in there to help stop these scoring droughts from happening, but they're still happening, which shows that he's not doing all that much to hinder them. He consistently has trouble with bigger, lankier defenders, and more and more teams are trying to both take advantage of him defensively and take him out of his penetration game offensively by utilizing those kinds of defenders on him. That's because his ability as a point guard is totally reliant on the penetration and dish, and when you take that away from him, he doesn't help the offense all that much.

[KeepRondo]

Bad game by Thomas he's not an All Star, merely a sixth man. Overreactions......

It's a running trend with IT. Bad turnovers, stupid forced shots, and a major defensive liability. Which one of those can you seriously disagree with? He's the prototypical sixth man.

A player who averages 21 and 7 is a sixth man? This team will be in the lotto if it weren't for Thomas.

Uh, yeah. Put those numbers into context: 42% fg%, 34% 3PFG%, 3 TO's a game, no defense. That's the classic volume scorer, who is traditionally associated with the sixth man role - Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc.

Has Lou and Crawford ever averaged 7 assists a game? And to the numbers in context, Thomas also averages 6 free throw attempts a game and is their only scorer. Who on this team besides thomas can score like can? Besides some terrible turnovers, Isaiah had 21 and 10 against the Raptors, he's not even a big part of the problem why the Celtics lost, it's their defense that failed them.

.....which is exactly what I'm saying. With Smart out there, our perimeter defense can pretty much overcompensate for our lack of a real interior defensive presence. With IT out there, we can't, because he's always going to be the weak spot on the perimeter.

And it is our offense, too, because IT has never met a shot he didn't like. Plus, per usual, he regularly kills us in end-game situations with costly turnovers and stupid forced shots.

With Smart and Bradley starting, the Celtics don't have a reliable offensive option and as a result have slow starts on offense. Thomas is needed because he's their only scorer especially in the 4th quarter.

Slow starts, huh? Like our starts in Dallas and Toronto tonight? If that's why he's out there, why are we still having those droughts? A major part of it, especially in Dallas, was him being abused defensively.

If you rewind the tape back a few games, we had the lead in 11 of 12 games after the first quarter. So you might want to go back further then the last couple of games.

[SHAQATTACK]

Smart needs to be on the court

As much as he can stand


Turner need to be waved ...let go ASAP ...if winning IS the prime objective

[Rondo9]

Bad game by Thomas he's not an All Star, merely a sixth man. Overreactions......

It's a running trend with IT. Bad turnovers, stupid forced shots, and a major defensive liability. Which one of those can you seriously disagree with? He's the prototypical sixth man.

A player who averages 21 and 7 is a sixth man? This team will be in the lotto if it weren't for Thomas.

Uh, yeah. Put those numbers into context: 42% fg%, 34% 3PFG%, 3 TO's a game, no defense. That's the classic volume scorer, who is traditionally associated with the sixth man role - Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc.

Has Lou and Crawford ever averaged 7 assists a game? And to the numbers in context, Thomas also averages 6 free throw attempts a game and is their only scorer. Who on this team besides thomas can score like can? Besides some terrible turnovers, Isaiah had 21 and 10 against the Raptors, he's not even a big part of the problem why the Celtics lost, it's their defense that failed them.

.....which is exactly what I'm saying. With Smart out there, our perimeter defense can pretty much overcompensate for our lack of a real interior defensive presence. With IT out there, we can't, because he's always going to be the weak spot on the perimeter.

And it is our offense, too, because IT has never met a shot he didn't like. Plus, per usual, he regularly kills us in end-game situations with costly turnovers and stupid forced shots.

With Smart and Bradley starting, the Celtics don't have a reliable offensive option and as a result have slow starts on offense. Thomas is needed because he's their only scorer especially in the 4th quarter.

Slow starts, huh? Like our starts in Dallas and Toronto tonight? If that's why he's out there, why are we still having those droughts? A major part of it, especially in Dallas, was him being abused defensively.

If you rewind the tape back a few games, we had the lead in 11 of 12 games after the first quarter. So you might want to go back further then the last couple of games.

To add the Celtics still maintained an elite defense with Thomas starting most of the games. I'm not sure replacing him with Smart is going to add besides take away a major part of the offense.

[Ilikesports17]

Smart needs to be on the court

As much as he can stand


Turner need to be waved ...let go ASAP ...if winning IS the prime objective

I agree. Let Marcus run the second unit and find a way to get him into the crunch time lineup

[loco_91]

I don't think that IT is as much of a defensive liability as people say. He used to be, but like Evan Turner, he has improved. He gets back in transition, stays in front of his man, doesn't foul much, and forces a surprising number of turnovers. He isn't a threat to block jumpshots, and there are some matchups that are clearly bad for him. Relative to AB and MS, he's a bad defender. Relative to a typical starter, I think he's below-average but not a liability.

I love watching Smart and I hope he gets 30 minutes every night, but IT should continue to start.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Turner's defense lately has been a disaster, and his offense has been extremely hit and miss.

Smart really needs to have a bigger role for us going forward, win or lose.

[rollie mass]

you want a problem put isaiah on second team-he doesn't get it -its an insult to him
isaiah feels gyped
,the 2nd half of season should get easier,players slack off
kelly should have a strong 2nd half ,jerebko and,marcus as he gets healthy-all this should help isaiah but put him on 2nd unit and he might short circuit-