P.s.
People criticised me when I suggested we should go after Kevin Martin when he was bought out - but I have to say he would he would have been incredibly useful right now. We could have started Turner and Martin could have covered his bench role.
This is why we really need more depth at the SF spot. Hunter and Young are still quite a way from being ready.
Having one bad defender and another who's a little below average on the team?
Evan Turner is our best player at SF with Crowder out, by a mile. But we cannot afford to move him to the starting lineup, because we would lose ALL offensive production from our bench with Turner and Olynyk out of the bench rotation.
Having another wing scorer like Kevin Martin would allow us to move Turner to the starting lineup in Crowder's place, and Kevin Martin could replace Turner's offense off the bench.
Having a backup SF is always better than not having one. He might have barely played, but in the event of something like this happening he'd be a different maker.
We have a ton of depth at guard and in the front court, and we have practically none at the wing. It's an obvious hole that you just can't afford to have when you are trying to hold on to a #3 seed in a very competitive East. If we lose all three games against Indiana, OKC and Toronto (which we very easily could) then we could drop to as far as 7th seed in the space of 3 games.
I guess me and you are the only ones that see this
As much as balance production from the starting unit and bench unit are important, you need to start off the right way.
Starting a 6'3 player as a SF is not what you call the right way. And having him stay in the corner to prepare to launch 3s is not the right way (he is not a good 3 pt shooter).
He would be much more at ease and productive at least playing as a SG from the bench. getting a chance to handle the ball and getting into the rhythm of things too
Yeah, to be completely honest I just don't think Smart is ready to start yet.
I think he's ready to play a big role off the bench, and I think he's not too far off from being ready to start...but just don't think he is there yet.
His passion is there, but he needs to become more disciplined in his shot selection and he needs to further refine his overall skill set.
I think size isn't a killer for him. He's small height wise for the SF spot sure, but he's got strength and length to cover bigger guys in occasions like this. The thing that kills it is his lack of a remotely consistent jump shot combined with his inability to score at the basket - at this point in time he really is a significant offensive liability.
Turner can't hit the three but he is a sniper from midrange, and he can get in to the paint at will - and finishes very well there too. His defence isn't Crowder good but it's solid enough these days to hold his own.
His ability as a ball handler, rebounder, passer and as a scorer make him easily our best option at SF with Crowder out. He is capable of creating chaos when he is on the court.
I love Smart - I think he has a bright, bright future. But he needs more time I think. Until he reaches the point where he can consistently dominate opposing second units (the way Turner does now) he's just not ready for a starting role.
If he could cut down on the threes it would help, but he needs more refinement to his game too.
Topic: Someone help me understand what CBS is doing starting Smart at sf? (Read 6898 times)