Smart should be our de facto PG

[droopdog7]

Lol

Pls elaborate.

I love Smart.  But in no way will he ever be the primary PG on a highly successful team. He is "positionless," as someone else said, for several reasons -- pros and cons -- but in part because he can't reliably run an offense.  If he could, we wouldn't be force-feeding those minutes to Rozier (a natural 2 in a PG's body) now, would we?

He has always had solid court vision, he's a capable passer that at times makes flashy plays.  But his ball-handling is weak, he can't break down other PGs off the dribble to the extent needed. IT is so under-appreciated around here right now.  Can you imagine Smart breaking down Wall off the dribble and creating shots for himself or others the way IT did several times last game? He can't.

Agree 100%.  To really create, a PG needs to be able to break down the defense.  If he can't do that, then he won't consitently get other guys open.  Marcus can't consistently break down the defense.  He may be stronger than many point guards but his lack of explosiveness makes it very difficult to take advantage of that strength.

[mr. dee]

Lol

Pls elaborate.

I love Smart.  But in no way will he ever be the primary PG on a highly successful team. He is "positionless," as someone else said, for several reasons -- pros and cons -- but in part because he can't reliably run an offense.  If he could, we wouldn't be force-feeding those minutes to Rozier (a natural 2 in a PG's body) now, would we?

He has always had solid court vision, he's a capable passer that at times makes flashy plays.  But his ball-handling is weak, he can't break down other PGs off the dribble to the extent needed. IT is so under-appreciated around here right now.  Can you imagine Smart breaking down Wall off the dribble and creating shots for himself or others the way IT did several times last game? He can't.

Agree 100%.  To really create, a PG needs to be able to break down the defense.  If he can't do that, then he won't consitently get other guys open.  Marcus can't consistently break down the defense.  He may be stronger than many point guards but his lack of explosiveness makes it very difficult to take advantage of that strength.

He's getting more craftier in getting in the ring. He can develop some footwork without having a quick first-step, like Melo or Pierce.

[droopdog7]

Lol

Pls elaborate.

I love Smart.  But in no way will he ever be the primary PG on a highly successful team. He is "positionless," as someone else said, for several reasons -- pros and cons -- but in part because he can't reliably run an offense.  If he could, we wouldn't be force-feeding those minutes to Rozier (a natural 2 in a PG's body) now, would we?

He has always had solid court vision, he's a capable passer that at times makes flashy plays.  But his ball-handling is weak, he can't break down other PGs off the dribble to the extent needed. IT is so under-appreciated around here right now.  Can you imagine Smart breaking down Wall off the dribble and creating shots for himself or others the way IT did several times last game? He can't.

Agree 100%.  To really create, a PG needs to be able to break down the defense.  If he can't do that, then he won't consitently get other guys open.  Marcus can't consistently break down the defense.  He may be stronger than many point guards but his lack of explosiveness makes it very difficult to take advantage of that strength.

He's getting more craftier in getting in the ring. He can develop some footwork without having a quick first-step, like Melo or Pierce.

Melo and pierce may not be lightening fast (though they are faster than they look) but the one thing both have/had is an explosive fist step.

[LilRip]

I don't think being a PG means you need blazing quickness. Andre Miller comes to mind as a great PG who could run a team well. Smart has shown some good vision and patience in running an offense.

[mr. dee]

I don't think being a PG means you need blazing quickness. Andre Miller comes to mind as a great PG who could run a team well. Smart has shown some good vision and patience in running an offense.

Thank you. Main job of a PG is to set up team mates and run offense, regardless of his AST numbers.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I don't think being a PG means you need blazing quickness. Andre Miller comes to mind as a great PG who could run a team well. Smart has shown some good vision and patience in running an offense.

Thank you. Main job of a PG is to set up team mates and run offense, regardless of his AST numbers.

Yeah, but that's the point.  He can't penetrate well/consistent enough to run an offense.  I think he could take-on a lot Miller's characteristics as he ages, but that's not his game right now.  Being a bull in a china stop has made him one of the better defenders/intangibles guy in the league.  It's really hard to switch gears from defense to offense like that, and he's still young and knuckleheady.

[mr. dee]

I don't think being a PG means you need blazing quickness. Andre Miller comes to mind as a great PG who could run a team well. Smart has shown some good vision and patience in running an offense.

Thank you. Main job of a PG is to set up team mates and run offense, regardless of his AST numbers.

Yeah, but that's the point.  He can't penetrate well/consistent enough to run an offense.  I think he could take-on a lot Miller's characteristics as he ages, but that's not his game right now.  Being a bull in a china stop has made him one of the better defenders/intangibles guy in the league.  It's really hard to switch gears from defense to offense like that, and he's still young and knuckleheady.

He's not as reckless as you make him out to be. He have lesser TOs this season compared to IT. You can see that he's improved his driving game and developed some ugly but effective floater. His midrange is also solid which makes him a threat inside the arc.

[walker834]

That's the big question on Smart is whether he can be a real pg and whether he can create offense off the dribble or if he really is just a jack of all trades.  That little floater he has is pretty good and he can run an offense.  He's a really good passer. His stats haven't really shown that yet but if he concentrates on makng plays and runs the offense more and more as he's in there his assist numbers are going to go up.

I think he's just a bsketball player who has a chance to develop into a real pg.  The more he plays there the better he gets is all i know.  He has the ball in his hands me makes things happen.

I also like when he has the ball from the point of attack. He makes plays all over the court though. He reminds me of DJ that way even still.

[LarBrd33]

I still believe Smart can be a star.  There's signs that his shooting might be slowly improving.  His last 4 games have been pretty solid.    14.75 points, 3.75 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal with 43% FG and 38% from three.  That's great.  I hope he keeps it up.

His turnovers have been low as well.  He seems to shoot better when he creates for himself.  Thomas seems to excel when he's focused on scoring instead of distributing.   I think it's worthwhile  to experiment with Smart as the primary ballhandler.  They also might want to again experiment with starting Smart and Bradley with Thomas off the bench.   Tough sell though when THomas is having an outstanding start.

[mr. dee]

There's no need for Smart to start. Brad already said he is their 6th man. My point is not who should start, but rather who should run the point everytime Smart is on the floor.

[iadera]

I see all of IT, AB and TZ as undersized 2's more than a standard PG.

Whenever Smart is on the floor, our offense seems to run much smoother, especially when playing along KO. Even our scrubs are having good looks from him.

Are you kidding me?! Smart as a PG? We already tried that some manny times when IT was a 6th man and Smart never looked good as a PG. He's just not that much creative. He's a great 2 which btw does so manny other things that other 2's usually don't. But I agree that his agressivness keeps us keep moving so very often.

[BMark]

The Celtics don't need a "traditional" point guard.  The Cs just need to move the ball on offense in the half-court set and move without the ball.  The Cs also need to fast break as much as they did last night, especially off turnovers.

I notice that the Celtics tend to get bogged down when go east to west on offense.  Rozier is the primary offender in that regard. 

[Celtics4ever]

I think we need either Smart or Crowder in with the team in the game because they both bring toughness and their style of play motivates the team.  So when JC gets back he starts because he brings the toughness when he is in there, Smart would bring it off the bench.   Smart starts for now until JC comes back because we lacked that Brown.

Pretty clear we lack size, and had our heads in the clouds earlier in the year.   We were taking teams for granted.   We are not good enough to do that folks.

[mgent]

Marcus is by far our best PG.

The Rozier backup PG experiment is failing.  He looks promising, but doesn't deserve a single minute over Smart.

IT 32 / Smart 16
AB 32 / Smart 16
Crowder 20 / Brown 28
KO 30 / Crowder 12 / Amir 6
Horford 30 / Amir 18

Best 8 man rotation in the league.

[walker834]

Rozier is going to continue to eat into Smart's minutes. Young will eat into Brown's minutes and Zeller will eat into KO's and Amir's however.  jerebko will be out there too and Green may even get a shot at some point.

I'm a fan of Young and Rozier.  Zeller doesn't both me too much either. His lack of trying does at times.

Tommy Heinsohn is right on young and rozier too.  These guys can play.   People need to stop being so impatient.   

I love Brown and Smart as much as the next guy but we have to let it play out a bit.