This is how many minutes they had last night:
Jerebko 25
Smart 24
Olynyk 18
Rozier 16
Brown 9
Do you guys generally agree with what Brad's going for here? Jerebko over KO/Smart? Rozier over Brown?
I know we won, but I can't help but think they should be rearranged closer to this:
Jerebko 15
Smart 28
Olynyk 24
Rozier 9
Brown 16
With only Smart and Olynyk initiating the offense and driving into the paint. Sick of watching Jerebko, Zeller, Rozier, and Brown do a lot of fancy screens/curls which ultimately just end up in them throwing a hot potato back and forth around the perimeter until the clock runs out because they don't want to take the shot. When Amir comes in and plays with the bench (which happens at times because he's the first starter to sit early in the 1st) he adds to that problem a lot more.
Our starters tend to play pretty well, we really just need to figure out how this 2nd unit is going to get it together. A lot to ask when you've got two 22 year olds and a 20 year old, but I thought they'd be playing together better than this by this point in the season.
Actually, I'd like to see Smart's minutes get cut in a pretty big way.
Sorry (I know this will get me much hate), but Smart has been pretty terrible this year.
I don't know what's been worse:
a: His offensive inefficiency (1.02 Points Per FGA)
b: His ghastly shot selection (4.6 3PT attempts @ 27.6%)
c: His woeful overall FG percentage of 37.2% (which is, frighteningly, a career high)
d: His horrible 2.3 Assist:TO ratio (has gotten worse every year so far)
e: His disturbing tenancy to rack up flopping fines
People can't even rave about his "intangible" impact this year, because even his advanced stats have been mediocre:
Def Rating: 108
Off Rating: 96
Ovr Rating: -12
Real Plus Minus: -0.08 (15th among PG)
No matter how you spin it, he's been horribly ho-hum this year and isn't coming close to earning the 30 MPG or so he's been getting. I'd rather see Smart playing around 20-22 MPG with the extra 8 MPG being shared between Rozier and Brown, who actually have some potential.
Defense and the midrange game are literally the only areas in which Smart has't been downright terrible.
I'd also like to see Amir's minutes dropped, as he really is struggling badly. I'd like to see more minutes to to Olynyk and Jerebko, who seem to be pretty solid. It's sad to say because I love Amir and the way he goes about his craft, but I think the injuries have reduced him to a fraction of the player he once was.
Ultimately I'd like to see us move Smart and Amir in return for a quality big man who can anchor the paint.
Sending Smart+Amir to the Sixers for Noel would be nice move that probably helps both teams, and would also clear about $10M in cap space for the Celtics.
Sending Smart + Amir to the Bucks for Monroe would match up salaries near perfect, and would be a major upgrade for us - while Smart would be a great fit alongside Middleton, Giannis, Parkerr and Henson in Milwaukee.