Do nothing

[jpotter33]

Smart, Rozier and Brown are going to be better than ET and get an opportunity.

Smart was repeatedly given the opportunity to take control of the second unit and we had to revert to Turner every time because he ended up so patently awful. Rozier better be ready.

This is just categorically untrue. He was never given the opportunity to "take control of the second unit," because he probably played greater than 85% of his minutes with Turner himself. Hell, virtually every game they came in together in the first and second halves.

How exactly is that giving him that opportunity?? Brad really liked that pairing together, and though it's undeniable that Smart would have more opportunity to grow without Turner always on the floor alongside him, Brad prioritized winning and the better overall unit on the floor than necessarily working on developing Smart.

Many of you are going to be blown away with how different Smart's game will be when he's not having to play with Turner all the time.

66% of Smart's minutes can with Turner on the floor.

TP. Obviously I was a bit high, but that's still a huge proportion of the time that they shared the floor together.

Where did you find that stat at? I'd really like to see the proportion of the time that he was out there without one of IT or Turner on the floor, or even Rozier, i.e. when he was the primary ball-handler or at least had significant ball-handling responsibilities.

bball ref has [dang] near every stat you can imagine. Click on lineups and then scroll down to 2 man combos and compare the Turner minutes with his total minutes.

Thanks again.

I just looked at it, and the Smart/IT/Turner threesome was his fourth most minutes played together at 424 minutes. Also, one of Turner or IT is in every single one of the top-9 of his threesome units played together. Further, ET was by far the player he played the most with, and IT was third trailing Bradley by only six minutes.

Thus, it's very, very safe to say that Smart almost never played as the primary ball-handler without one of IT or ET in the game.

[Beat LA]

Smart, Rozier and Brown are going to be better than ET and get an opportunity.

Smart was repeatedly given the opportunity to take control of the second unit and we had to revert to Turner every time because he ended up so patently awful. Rozier better be ready.

This is just categorically untrue. He was never given the opportunity to "take control of the second unit," because he probably played greater than 85% of his minutes with Turner himself. Hell, virtually every game they came in together in the first and second halves.

How exactly is that giving him that opportunity?? Brad really liked that pairing together, and though it's undeniable that Smart would have more opportunity to grow without Turner always on the floor alongside him, Brad prioritized winning and the better overall unit on the floor than necessarily working on developing Smart.

Many of you are going to be blown away with how different Smart's game will be when he's not having to play with Turner all the time.

66% of Smart's minutes can with Turner on the floor.

He played nearly 300 more minutes with turner than any other player.

All 10 of his most common 5 man lineups included either Thomas or Turner.

He was not repeatedly handed the reigns to the offense. He was very rarely the main ball handler.

But don't you think that there's a reason for that, though, lol ?

[kozlodoev]

Thus, it's very, very safe to say that Smart almost never played as the primary ball-handler without one of IT or ET in the game.

Except this factoid doesn't mean what you think it means. Smart started the season as the primary ballhandler on the FIRST unit -- remember that? He was in the starting lineup and  played next to Bradley and Crowder for the vast majority of games.
 
http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20151101&game=SASBOS

Then he proceeded to play himself out of that role and by the time he got injured, the rotation clearly had evolved to the extent to which he was always on the floor with either Thomas or Turner.

http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20151118&game=DALBOS

The fact that he "almost never" played as the primary ballhandler (on the balance in the end of the season) is an indication of how quickly Brad S figured out he has to yank him from that role (Brad S is not exactly a short leash guy, and it only took him two weeks). But the chance was clearly given.

[Ilikesports17]

Smart, Rozier and Brown are going to be better than ET and get an opportunity.

Smart was repeatedly given the opportunity to take control of the second unit and we had to revert to Turner every time because he ended up so patently awful. Rozier better be ready.

This is just categorically untrue. He was never given the opportunity to "take control of the second unit," because he probably played greater than 85% of his minutes with Turner himself. Hell, virtually every game they came in together in the first and second halves.

How exactly is that giving him that opportunity?? Brad really liked that pairing together, and though it's undeniable that Smart would have more opportunity to grow without Turner always on the floor alongside him, Brad prioritized winning and the better overall unit on the floor than necessarily working on developing Smart.

Many of you are going to be blown away with how different Smart's game will be when he's not having to play with Turner all the time.

66% of Smart's minutes can with Turner on the floor.

He played nearly 300 more minutes with turner than any other player.

All 10 of his most common 5 man lineups included either Thomas or Turner.

He was not repeatedly handed the reigns to the offense. He was very rarely the main ball handler.

But don't you think that there's a reason for that, though, lol ?

Oh absolutely, its because he cant or at least couldnt run an offense. He got a chance briefly his rookie year as well.

I just think its inaccurate to say that Brad repeatedly tried to hand the keys to him. Theyve given him chances, but not a ton.

[kozlodoev]

I just think its inaccurate to say that Brad repeatedly tried to hand the keys to him. Theyve given him chances, but not a ton.

Sure. Change "repeatedly" with "more than once". It just hasn't worked.

The point was that this isn't some sort of a case where Smart was snubbed because they really wanted Turner to run the offense; it was closer to being the other way round: they wanted Smart to run the offense, but he was just not able to do it.

[Ilikesports17]

Thus, it's very, very safe to say that Smart almost never played as the primary ball-handler without one of IT or ET in the game.

Except this factoid doesn't mean what you think it means. Smart started the season as the primary ballhandler on the FIRST unit -- remember that? He was in the starting lineup and  played next to Bradley and Crowder for the vast majority of games.
 
http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20151101&game=SASBOS

Then he proceeded to play himself out of that role and by the time he got injured, the rotation clearly had evolved to the extent to which he was always on the floor with either Thomas or Turner.

http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20151118&game=DALBOS

The fact that he "almost never" played as the primary ballhandler (on the balance in the end of the season) is an indication of how quickly Brad S figured out he has to yank him from that role (Brad S is not exactly a short leash guy, and it only took him two weeks or so to figure out this was an unmitigated disaster). But the chance was clearly given.

the vast majority of 3 games?

2 of which he played terrific basketball (a 5 assist +22 performance in a 17 point win vs Philly and an overall terrific performance against SA where he bullied Tony Parker.)

Also the offense must have evolved [dang] quick because in Marcus's last game before being hurt, he played 40 minutes. Brad was not clearly careful to play a ball handler with him, he was clearly careful to play Marcus as much as possible.

He was not repeatedly given a chance to run the offense. He didnt lose that job, Turner and Thomas took it.

[Ilikesports17]

I just think its inaccurate to say that Brad repeatedly tried to hand the keys to him. Theyve given him chances, but not a ton.

Sure. Change "repeatedly" with "more than once". It just hasn't worked.

The point was that this isn't some sort of a case where Smart was snubbed because they really wanted Turner to run the offense; it was closer to being the other way round: they wanted Smart to run the offense, but he was just not able to do it.

I think its more they preferred Smart to run the offense, but Turner did it better.

[chiken Green]

So you guys will accept Turner and Smart playing together more than anyone but you wont Acknowledge that ET cannot play off the ball..  He never has been. He cant space the floor and he is not a catch and shoot guy..

You guys know ET's game.. if he is not the Primary ball handler what else can he possibly do on the court in anybodies offense? Stevens had no choice but to make him the Primary..

but okay, guess its easier to blame the 2nd year player and not the 5th year journeymen..

[walker834]

Marcus is going to be good for a long time.  He is on a rookie deal.   He isn't going to shoot like this his entire career. He is better than Turner by himself potentially.

[jpotter33]

Thus, it's very, very safe to say that Smart almost never played as the primary ball-handler without one of IT or ET in the game.

Except this factoid doesn't mean what you think it means. Smart started the season as the primary ballhandler on the FIRST unit -- remember that? He was in the starting lineup and  played next to Bradley and Crowder for the vast majority of games.
 
http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20151101&game=SASBOS

Then he proceeded to play himself out of that role and by the time he got injured, the rotation clearly had evolved to the extent to which he was always on the floor with either Thomas or Turner.

http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20151118&game=DALBOS

The fact that he "almost never" played as the primary ballhandler (on the balance in the end of the season) is an indication of how quickly Brad S figured out he has to yank him from that role (Brad S is not exactly a short leash guy, and it only took him two weeks or so to figure out this was an unmitigated disaster). But the chance was clearly given.

the vast majority of 3 games?

2 of which he played terrific basketball (a 5 assist +22 performance in a 17 point win vs Philly and an overall terrific performance against SA where he bullied Tony Parker.)

Also the offense must have evolved [dang] quick because in Marcus's last game before being hurt, he played 40 minutes. Brad was not clearly careful to play a ball handler with him, he was clearly careful to play Marcus as much as possible.

He was not repeatedly given a chance to run the offense. He didnt lose that job, Turner and Thomas took it.

Yeah, that's a short-sighted argument to make. He didn't "play himself out of the role" and Brad didn't "yank him from that role." He literally played three games to start the season, sat out three games to recover from the minor injury, came back for six games, and then had his major injury.

IT, justifiably I might add, took that starting spot from him and played like an All-Star when he went down with the injuries, so that's a very far cry from "playing himself out of the role." Further, it's not like they weren't going to play either Turner or Smart in the second unit due to limiting Smart, since Turner is useless off the ball, so they just bit the bullet for this past year with Smart's ball-handling development and played the best lineup, which included both of them.

It takes a pretty creative reinterpretation of the events to totally ignore the injuries that allowed IT the very opportunity to take the starting role from him. Smart won the starting spot in his rookie year. If he never had the major knee injury this year, then IT might have never taken the starting spot from him in the first place. It's a small sample size, but our ultimate winning percentage wasn't all that much different with IT at the helm this year than Smart at the helm.

[inverselock]

Smart couldn't create anything as the ball handler.   Poses no threat off the dribble.

He would pick up his dribble and pass it to someone else to create while he went and stood at the 3pt line.

Its more, not capable, rather than no opportunities.

[BDeCosta26]

Smart, Rozier and Brown are going to be better than ET and get an opportunity.

Smart was repeatedly given the opportunity to take control of the second unit and we had to revert to Turner every time because he ended up so patently awful. Rozier better be ready.

This is just categorically untrue. He was never given the opportunity to "take control of the second unit," because he probably played greater than 85% of his minutes with Turner himself. Hell, virtually every game they came in together in the first and second halves.

How exactly is that giving him that opportunity?? Brad really liked that pairing together, and though it's undeniable that Smart would have more opportunity to grow without Turner always on the floor alongside him, Brad prioritized winning and the better overall unit on the floor than necessarily working on developing Smart.

Many of you are going to be blown away with how different Smart's game will be when he's not having to play with Turner all the time.

66% of Smart's minutes can with Turner on the floor.

He played nearly 300 more minutes with turner than any other player.

All 10 of his most common 5 man lineups included either Thomas or Turner.

He was not repeatedly handed the reigns to the offense. He was very rarely the main ball handler.

But don't you think that there's a reason for that, though, lol ?

Sure there was. We were winning games then, Smart can play off the ball, while Turner just can't. Your wasting floor space if your playing Turner off the ball. Smart has had some on-ball experience here with mixed results, but it's pretty clear he has decent ball handling ability, his driving got much better last year, and he's had great court vision since he got here. It's time to put it all together now.

We'll see Smart and Rozier flip-flop as primary ball handlers behind IT until one separates themselves. Brown will get some time with the ball in his hands, as that's his most NBA ready skill. It'll be interesting to see who's the most effective.

The key is gonna be our defense. We had an excellent defense last year, and if we can keep one of Horford/Amir on the floor almost all the time, we could have the best D in the league.

[JBcat]

I think because of the contract status of Griffin (along with injury concerns) and Westbrook I'm hesitant to give up major assets for either one.  It's risky as they could just bolt in a year.  Why not just wait a year and see if you can sign them, while keeping your main core assets.

Cousins is a different matter. He's locked up for a couple years, and his contract may be low enough next year where you can still make a run at a max contract guy.    I would love to pair him with Horford.

It would be nice if someone like KO took a big step up in their play like Crowder did in the meantime.  Give more time for Smart and other to develop all the while having a very strong team with the potential of getting stronger next offseason. 

I don't think we need to act desperate here. Only make a move if it seems right and don't overpay.

[greece66]

I think because of the contract status of Griffin (along with injury concerns) and Westbrook I'm hesitant to give up major assets for either one.  It's risky as they could just bolt in a year.  Why not just wait a year and see if you can sign them, while keeping your main core assets.

Cousins is a different matter. He's locked up for a couple years, and his contract may be low enough next year where you can still make a run at a max contract guy.    I would love to pair him with Horford.

It would be nice if someone like KO took a big step up in their play like Crowder did in the meantime.  Give more time for Smart and other to develop all the while having a very strong team with the potential of getting stronger next offseason. 

I don't think we need to act desperate here. Only make a move if it seems right and don't overpay.

We would all love to get Cousins; this would make us the favourite for the 2nd seed in the East and even give us a real chance against the Cavs.

But SAC is likely to ask for a king's ransom in  return. Boogie is all they are left with now- if you took him away, they are arguably the worst team in the League. So, I do not see us landing him now.

Things could be different if we got lucky with the ping pong balls this June- SAC presumably would be more hard pressed by then to make a deal. But by then Cousins would be a one year rental, and would be giving up the chance to land a transcendental talent. Not saying we should not do if the opportunity arises, but it won't be an easy decision.

[SHAQATTACK]

My father said I was good at this ....😈


I think the Celtics are good at this