The Smart - Brown problem

Does anyone else see it? Jalen is in with the starters, and in the first 8 minutes he goes 3-5, scores 7 points, and has seven rebounds. Also he's guarding Booker and doing a reasonable job defending him. Marcus comes in, takes over defensive duties against Booker, who then goes off for 70 points, shooting over Smart at will. Meanwhile Marcus is going 1-13 and rarely if at all passes Jaylen the ball when they are on the court together. Does not Brad recognize there are two problems here with Marcus? First he absolutely sucks as a shooter. Second, he's impairing the development of a great draft pick and very talented young man, Jalen,  who has zero attitudinal problems, other than trying to figure out how to coexist with a not so smart Smart. I do appreciate Marcus' game. he's a great complement to our other players. He makes a difference, truly, but Brad has GOT to repair the Smart - Brown relationship before the toxicity impairs the chemistry of the team.

P.S. I love this take on Jalen by a UC classmate:

http://www.celticsblog.com/2016/6/24/12028372/i-went-to-school-with-jaylen-brown-here-is-why-he-is-different

Agree completely worse, after a nice scoring binge by Jaylen, he never got the ball, was saying to my son feed him, the hot hand he deserves it. I don't know if it was all Smart as IT could have gotten the ball to the rook too, but had to be most frustrating game of Smarts career, bricking everything and getting so abused on the other end. Jaylen should have gotten at least 6-7 more shots and shame on the coaching staff or Smart for taking so many shots when he was soo off, bench him if hes so off and keeps on chucking up shots.

I see the problem and think it's entirely Brad's to fix. Smart has a chip on his shoulder, which is great when he directs it at the opponent, and terrible when you have to treat him like a spoiled child because he's jealous of a teammate. Brad may think it's too early in Brown's career to demand that he gets his shots, but this is a mistake. Good as Smart is on D, he's too slow to stay with quick opponents and he's no shooter. Brown is taller, faster, has much more potential and because he is not a problem child, the coach should intercede for the team's good. I can see keeping Smart forever as a valuable sub, invaluable in some situations. But Brown is a budding star. Hawk

I do not know who the Celtics will draft but if they draft Fultz he may be the most versatile  guard on the team because he can play on the ball and off the ball and is a willing passer.

Smart plays a ton of minutes but he just kills our offense.  At what point does Boston say..enough he is average as a PG and is well below average off the ball.  Celts need to pair Jalen with a complementary player not  named .

dboss

I wonder how much of it is that Brad has started Smart a few times when IT or Bradley were out and then moved him back to the bench and started Jaylen instead?


bob


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It's a team game and everyone owns a piece of the responsibility. It all starts with Danny. It stops with him too. Danny has had a hard time drafting/trading to meet the needs of the team. From the time he took over we needed a pass first pg. We didn't get on until Rondo and then we won a championship. We've needed a rim protecting center since Perk got traded. We may have finally gotten one in Zizic.

We've needed a pass first pg since Rondo got traded. IT may not fit that description but his replacements should. That is why Rozier and Jackson were drafted. To meet that need. Unfortunately they are not making it on the floor.

Danny is in love with Combo. Combo guards, combo bigs. People who can play multiple positions. Unfortunately we are getting jacks and not masters of the trade. Marcus is an excellent example of this. He is not a pg. He is a combo guard. He can pass and facilitate but he can't be relied upon to distribute the ball as needed. And he can't hit his shot. He only looks clutch but makes way too many mistakes to be relied upon. To his credit, he is improving all the time but it's because he has a great work ethic, not because he has "that" kind of talent.

Jaylen does have that kind of talent. He's been spoon fed too much. He gets in the game and most of this season it hasn't mattered how he has performed. He is taken out and kept on the bench. It was so bad a couple of months ago I was calling for him to get to the D-league so he could get some minutes. Then AB got hurt and Jaylen got his chance. He has not disappointed me in his production. I've been looking for 10 and 5 and 70% once he got regular minutes. He rarely gets his number called. He's not there yet but does anyone doubt that he will soon be there while adding even more on D?

If our offense runs through Al, Jaylen will do better. So will the team. Marcus will continue to improve as a role player and his minutes change next year once Fultz/Ball is here. The secret of the motion offense is to get your best players an open look. It works best when the options are known and practiced. Get Jaylen the ball in a position to make a play and/or score, and he will.

is it really a deal?

I think we may looking a bit too close. besides the one in game blow up, why would anyone think there is conflict?

and if I remember right Crowder was getting on Browns shit as well there. He is a still a rookie and makes mistakes. He also looks to be a quality piece for a long time.

I could care less if they love or hate each other, as long as they win. Guys don't always become pals after all.

This could the equivalent of the "Delonte West freezes out Rondo" issue during Rondo's rookie season. I remember discussing it on BDC, but years later when I tried to search for anything to do with it, I came up with nothing.

This may just be sports chat board talk. Time will tell.

gyso

Delonte definitely did not want Rondo to get his hands on the ball.

LeBron definitely did not want Delonte to get his hands on LeBron's mom.

With all due respect...

Sorry folks, I just don't see any problem.

When we drafted Brown, I did say there was a certain amount of redundancy with Smart.  Brown does, however, have an edge in skills on offense.  Either way, the two can coexist just fine, and I think they do.

No problem here, just two good young players.  Both of whom can defend multiple positions.  Conflict?  No.  Core of a developing contender?  Absolutely.

I cannot see Brad putting up with any foolishness on the part of either player. In face, I see Danny stepping in if he felt this was taking place. There is too much at stake here to take any chances with high school fooling around. They would be called on the carfe