Wasnt able to watch the C's prior to FEB 2008 as much as I would have liked - so I missed most if not all of the TA prior to the big 3 era. The 07-08 season was when the C's lost what? 35 or so games in a row? I still remember PP and BigAl beeing the only things that keeped me from skipping the C's games for remaining games. TA's time in those seasons after 07-08 was overshadowed with injuries. His offence was most of the time inconsistant or not existant. His 3 point shot was low percentage and his drives often ended out of controll. Both passing and driving often resultet in turnovers. He allways was a serviceable defender but turning the ball over negates much of his D. One-On-One skillz seldom help if you trail the opponents fast break. Dispite all that TA was allways working and trying hard on the floor which got him many fans. After he left the C's he was having some good time with less injuries and ppl talked about how good he was playing. To tell the truth its hard for me to find the time to follow ex-celtics players in a way which would allow me to write an observation based statement.
So I will slightly alter the subject to: Are both AB & MS better than the TA I had to chance to watch regulary when he was in Boston. AB sure was even prior to this preseason. Last year he was shooting allready much better than TA in the time frame I defined further up. This year he looks even better so far as he seems to have his dribble, passing and shot improofed even further. On the other end he is giving ppl nightmares. When he guarded the pg in the brooklyn game that guy wasnt able to hold onto the ball, all dribbles were disrupted and the ball fumbled because AB was allways having a hand in there causing deflections. Even if the guy was able to recover the ball was picked up and the only option left was to pass ball.
Smarts preseason so far has shown that his shooting has improofed as has his ability to drive the ball. Last year he seemed to slow the become successfull in that department but he shows that dispite his lack of quickness he is able to finish at the rim. From what I can tell its his iso dribble that has improofed a lot. Instead of running blindly into opposition banking on his strenght he now is able to work the defender with some shaking und baking while waiting for the opening to appear. His improofed ablity to pull up for inside shots helps him a lot, hopefully he can maintain on that level thruout the season. His passing I allways liked - he clicks well with Zeller, to with he delivers the passes for open shots from the top of the key, that works with Al H. even better. Smart was turning the ball over very seldom basicly ever since he was drafted. That I allways liked about him.
So imo both Smart and AB at this point in the preseason I would rate over TA from the big 3 era.
the TA I'm talking about here was looking a lot like TR at the moment. Rozier also often looks pretty wild on Offence and will also lose the ball on his way to the basket but that will improof during this season with more playing time and growing expierience. The their bodies and aggressivness make them look very simular at times.
Topic: Is it safe to say both AB and Smart are already better than TA? (Read 4654 times)