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Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 16, 2016 21:03:22 GMT -5
For sure Smart is playing better basketball, at least in preseason. His handles is better, he's a bit shiftier, and his midrange pull up is improved.
It looks like he's stsrting to revert back to his old shooting form, though. It's going to take time for his new form to be automatic.
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Post by joshrblabber on Nov 3, 2016 18:08:59 GMT -5
4 games in, IT is doing a great job in adapting to his new role. His assists are way up and it's not just drive-and-dish, he is making better decisions with the ball. He is making passes I have never seen him try before and he is not pounding the ball as much. He is turning the ball over too much but the decisions are often good ones - his passing is a work in progress. If he continues to improve this aspect of his game he will be a worthy all-star again - and better yet, we will win a lot of games.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Nov 4, 2016 14:01:41 GMT -5
IT is proving to the world that he's a legit scoring machine. His outside shooting wasn't falling for most of the night, but his drive & finish, and getting to the line helped him score big against the Cavs.
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Post by jrmzt on Nov 4, 2016 14:36:14 GMT -5
IT is proving to the world that he's a legit scoring machine. His outside shooting wasn't falling for most of the night, but his drive & finish, and getting to the line helped him score big against the Cavs. But scoring machines all falter with age...just look at Iverson..question is do you re-sign IT and how long for.. |
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Nov 4, 2016 15:59:43 GMT -5
IT is still young enough that even 4 years from now, he could still be playing like he is now. It's not usually until a player hits his 30's when he starts to slip athletically.
But yeah, the cost of re-signing him will be important. Giving him the max will cut into how much we can spend for our other needs. We need to upgrade our frontcourt muscle. Aside from another star player, we need better shooters.
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Post by jrmzt on Nov 4, 2016 22:53:57 GMT -5
IT is still young enough that even 4 years from now, he could still be playing like he is now. It's not usually until a player hits his 30's when he starts to slip athletically. But yeah, the cost of re-signing him will be important. Giving him the max will cut into how much we can spend for our other needs. We need to upgrade our frontcourt muscle. Aside from another star player, we need better shooters. Again its hard to tell when a player will hit his decline. Look at a guy like Ty Lawson who isnt 30 yet but has completely fallen off the map after being one of the better floor generals in the western conference. Even a guy like Vince Carter experienced some serious decline when he barely hit 30. So a guy like IT who will be hitting 29 by the time his contract is up..what do you realistically give him with that bit of historical context in mind? It'll have to be a 4 year sort of deal..but do you risk maybe only getting 1 good year or 2 out of that 4? |
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Nov 5, 2016 4:04:01 GMT -5
Yeah, I hear you. It is possible that IT loses his quickness before he reaches 30. I mean, even losing half a step is huge for a short guy like IT.
I have mixed feelings about what we ought to do with him. He's such a competitor and comes through for us so often, and he's such a good teammate that you'd hate to lose him. But if giving him a large contract and he game starts to slip away, that will strap us down.
Danny has a big decision to make.
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Post by joshrblabber on Nov 5, 2016 12:34:44 GMT -5
This season is a BIG one for IT. His game is still improving, both defensively and as a facilitator. He needs to improve in both those areas to succeed long term. He needs to make his teammates better as well as being a scorer. His performance in these areas will determine whether he can become a perennial all-star.
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Post by jrmzt on Nov 5, 2016 20:03:09 GMT -5
I think he'll always have issues defensively given his height. Plus I dont think he needs to be too much more of a facilitator. If you have a look at where we stand in the league in terms of passing and assist rates, we're actually 2nd behind Golden State and we're leading the league as the no.1 team in assists versus turnovers meaning we're passing the ball more and but making careless slip ups even with all that ball movement. As a team we're one big assist machine therefore we don't need individuals to be better at specific areas when we're greater as a sum of our parts.
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Post by joshrblabber on Nov 5, 2016 22:37:32 GMT -5
All true. Maybe the improvement has to come in making quicker and better decisions. He (and everybody else) needs to pass or shoot within about 4 seconds. My impression is that he is doing this much better than last year.
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Post by jrmzt on Nov 5, 2016 22:49:29 GMT -5
Yup and I think this was a result of other guys adding to their skillsets.. Bradley becoming more polished, Smart knocking down 3s, guys like Horford and Crowder stretch the floor abit more, giving IT more options to kick it out instead of only being able to drive into the lanes to do it himself. Definitely liking our pace and spacing, we just need to start either crashing the boards for offensive rebounds when we miss or get back quickly to set our defense in transition.
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Post by joshrblabber on Nov 10, 2016 18:54:22 GMT -5
Again last night IT took two bad 3's in the first 5 possessions and, blink, we were down 10 again. Q1 is KILLING us, and I think IT is big part of the problem. He is not getting the ball moving and his D is a big liability. Even short-handed we are doing OK after Q1. It is clearer with each game that IT needs to come off the bench.
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