Marcus Smart: "Jayson and Jaylen, they don't want to pass the ball"

[bisme37]

I honestly don't know what I did to deserve this.

[bisme37]

Why Marcus Smart ‘pass the ball’ critiques of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown don’t hold weight after Celtics collapse

Smart’s comments should only add fuel to the fire for Boston’s 2-5 start but they also ring relatively hollow after this particular loss. A second watch of the team’s fourth quarter collapse shows Tatum and Brown making plenty of passes and right reads in the face of double teams and getting open looks from 3-point range for numerous teammates including Josh Richardson, Al Horford and even Smart himself, all resulting in misses.

Both Brown and Tatum had a shot attempt or two that may have been forced in the fourth quarter but they’ve earned that right as All-Stars to take those here and there. A lack of ball movement from that duo was far from the reason the Celtics mustered just 11 points in the fourth quarter though. Both missed easy shots at the rim but the same can be said for the guys they were passing it to. The rest of the Celtics roster went 4-of-13 from the field amid the Bulls runaway victory with Tatum and Brown creating clean looks for teammates on a number of those shots.

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2021/11/why-marcus-smart-pass-the-ball-critiques-of-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown-dont-hold-weight-after-celtics-collapse-brian-robb.html

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Smart spent the summer publicly lobbying for the starting PG job and he's been the hottest piece of garbage in this entire dumpster fire. I love you bro but shut up.

[Mamba81p]

Smart needs to STFU. He can't shoot to save his life, but he think he is a better shooter than Steph Curry and a better player than Lebron. He never admits to any mistakes, even when he makes the dumbest decisions ever, and has a loud mouth whenever he is called out(see the interaction with Kemba last year). He thinks he is the leader for this team, when he is the dumbest player on the team. No wonder the chemistry is messed up, I wouldn't want to play with a guy like this. Perkins is right, everybody in locker room is tired of hearing his voice

Clearly Brad Stevens was not the problem, now they narrowed it down to Brown, Tatum and Smart. One of them has to go, and I think this should be an easy answer.
Giving him that extension was a monumental mistake from the Celtics. I think he is a negative value at this point in any trade.

[sikma42]

Really shocked to see people have a problem with Smart speaking up. The best player on the team is often not the locker room leader. Leadership talent and playing talent aren’t a 1:1 thing.

And is anything, Tatum refusing to speak to media is much worst than anything Smart said. That’s not the Mamba Mentality that seems to want to imitate.

Also everyone seems extremely quick to let Brad Stevens off the hook.


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[Lunartic]

True - I suppose I don't consider him to be a star player whatsoever. He averages like 14/7/7 in the playoffs when he team needs scoring and he wasn't exactly shutting anyone down either. Trading for him would be a huge downgrade and the Celtics likely miss the playoffs.

I honestly agree as I don't love Simmons game on the offensive end for him being considered a star but people smarter than me seem to covet him regardless...so what do I know? I also didn't expect our rookie Scottie Barnes to be averaging 18 points so far...so what do us fans know?

smart
jrich
tatum
ben
williams/Al

is strapping a lot of teams and having a very dangerous transition game. They could space the floor out extremely well for ben and tatums shot selection lends itself to having a guy that doesnt space the floor well since he likes to stop short of the basket a lot.

That team has one player capable of putting up 20+ and he's not some uber-efficient scorer.

Ben cannot be counted on to put up points
JRich gives you 12 ppg on like .530TS
Smart is a non-factor on offense most days
Williams isn't a scorer

That team gets destroyed by any playoff team

[bisme37]

Really shocked to see people have a problem with Smart speaking up. The best player on the team is often not the locker room leader. Leadership talent and playing talent aren’t a 1:1 thing.

And is anything, Tatum refusing to speak to media is much worst than anything Smart said. That’s not the Mamba Mentality that seems to want to imitate.


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He can speak up. My problem is his criticism was not apropos of what happened last night. And he needs to look at himself and take accountability too if he's going to be the team leader (which, it's actually Horford not Smart). Smart is a good player and I'm a fan but he lacks emotional maturity and when adversity hits he lashes out at everyone but himself. We've seen it numerous times now.

[gottamakeit]

Why Marcus Smart ‘pass the ball’ critiques of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown don’t hold weight after Celtics collapse

Smart’s comments should only add fuel to the fire for Boston’s 2-5 start but they also ring relatively hollow after this particular loss. A second watch of the team’s fourth quarter collapse shows Tatum and Brown making plenty of passes and right reads in the face of double teams and getting open looks from 3-point range for numerous teammates including Josh Richardson, Al Horford and even Smart himself, all resulting in misses.

Both Brown and Tatum had a shot attempt or two that may have been forced in the fourth quarter but they’ve earned that right as All-Stars to take those here and there. A lack of ball movement from that duo was far from the reason the Celtics mustered just 11 points in the fourth quarter though. Both missed easy shots at the rim but the same can be said for the guys they were passing it to. The rest of the Celtics roster went 4-of-13 from the field amid the Bulls runaway victory with Tatum and Brown creating clean looks for teammates on a number of those shots.

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2021/11/why-marcus-smart-pass-the-ball-critiques-of-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown-dont-hold-weight-after-celtics-collapse-brian-robb.html

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Smart spent the summer publicly lobbying for the starting PG job and he's been the hottest piece of garbage in this entire dumpster fire. I love you bro but shut up.

Why highlight that shot by Smart?
You want your players taking 3's when they're wide open like that. The dumb move would have been to pass up on the open shot.

Smart's criticism of the lack of ball movement is still valid. One play that shows passing doesn't invalidate what he was saying.

[G R E Y]

Marcus, mate, this way ain't it. Call a players-only meeting, talk to your team, speak your mind but keep it in-house.

You have to wonder what the motivation is here. It's not showing leadership, especially given his own performance and those "I can only do so much standing in the corner comments" oof... Is it just lack of impulse control? He's not helping anything but satisfying his own frustration by airing grievances. Does he want out thinking he'll get a bigger role elsewhere? Udoka or someone has to put a lid on this.

[Lockdown504090]

I honestly agree as I don't love Simmons game on the offensive end for him being considered a star but people smarter than me seem to covet him regardless...so what do I know? I also didn't expect our rookie Scottie Barnes to be averaging 18 points so far...so what do us fans know?

smart
jrich
tatum
ben
williams/Al

is strapping a lot of teams and having a very dangerous transition game. They could space the floor out extremely well for ben and tatums shot selection lends itself to having a guy that doesnt space the floor well since he likes to stop short of the basket a lot.

That team has one player capable of putting up 20+ and he's not some uber-efficient scorer.

Ben cannot be counted on to put up points
JRich gives you 12 ppg on like .530TS
Smart is a non-factor on offense most days
Williams isn't a scorer

That team gets destroyed by any playoff team

well, no cap there. They need to find some undiscovered gem, or fleece the hell out of somebody in a trade.

[matt6715]

Still wild to me that they extended Josh Richardson without him playing one minute of regular season basketball... Have to imagine an 11M expiring would be worth more than his current value locked up for 3 years. One of the most frustrating offensive players I have ever watched

[zshawn10]

Tatum in the past 2 games has taken 55 shots, gone to the line about 8 times and only has 5 assists.

[PhilBlackson]

I don't disagree with his message regardless of his own play because the fact is the Celtics (like any TEAM) are better when they share the ball; it's just a simple FACT. Get other guys involved, the team plays with more energy on both ends of the court and the chemistry just builds and makes the team as a whole harder to stop.

BUT....you simply don't air dirty laundry (period) -- unless you don't care and you're on your way out.

I don't think it's the case that Smart wants out, I think he made an ironically unintelligent premature move and called them out publicly when he should've exhausted every in house option available. Call them out in practise, film sessions, in the lockerroom, go speak with the coaching staff to work with them on it, heck go to Brad/management to step in, call a Player's Only Meeting...can't tell me he exhausted his options and that's the problem because that's a last ditch move and it's FAR too early in the season to be founded.

I get it if we're a couple months in, he's done the majority of what I listed, it's fallen on deaf ears and now you're a bottom feeder that looks like it will need a miraculous turnaround just to be a PlayIn team. But this is not that, this is a rough start but something that could likely be ironed out privately within a few weeks. Now that Smart put them on blast --- could really go both ways, VERY risky because maybe Tatum/Brown respond looking to prove him wrong. But just as likely the opposite happens where now you have tension on top of frustration and run a high risk of boil over where all of sudden EVERYTHING is in question and risk meltdown. Smart is not wicked shmart for this.

[Homer38]

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[queridiculo]

Really shocked to see people have a problem with Smart speaking up. The best player on the team is often not the locker room leader. Leadership talent and playing talent aren’t a 1:1 thing.

And is anything, Tatum refusing to speak to media is much worst than anything Smart said. That’s not the Mamba Mentality that seems to want to imitate.

Also everyone seems extremely quick to let Brad Stevens off the hook.


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There are very few players around the league that have earned the right to throw their teammates under the bus publicly and even then it would probably considered ill advised.

Smart of all people has been absolutely terrible so far this season, so for him to air his grievances about other players publicly is just wrong.

[queridiculo]

Still wild to me that they extended Josh Richardson without him playing one minute of regular season basketball... Have to imagine an 11M expiring would be worth more than his current value locked up for 3 years. One of the most frustrating offensive players I have ever watched

Brad Stevens had a disastrous offseason.

He'll have to pull a rabbit out of his ass in the offseason to make up for it.

[I_Like_Dirt]

Offense is one thing. I can't recall the last time a team got 0 defensive rebounds in a quarter. The team might do well to think a bit about that too.

[sikma42]

Really shocked to see people have a problem with Smart speaking up. The best player on the team is often not the locker room leader. Leadership talent and playing talent aren’t a 1:1 thing.

And is anything, Tatum refusing to speak to media is much worst than anything Smart said. That’s not the Mamba Mentality that seems to want to imitate.

Also everyone seems extremely quick to let Brad Stevens off the hook.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

There are very few players around the league that have earned the right to throw their teammates under the bus publicly and even then it would probably considered ill advised.

Smart of all people has been absolutely terrible so far this season, so for him to air his grievances about other players publicly is just wrong.

The idea that someone playing poorly can’t speak on an issue seems to miss the point. It’s the reason Derek Fisher had a huge voice. Talent and leadership aren’t the same.

This just seems like people babying Tatum again. Smart is a reputable player with some say, this isn’t Smush Parker.


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[itrsteve]

They need a real point guard. A guy like CP3, Rondo, Lonzo, Rubio whoever. Someone who is going to take the ball and get it to guys in the best position for them to do what they do best. The issue is that Tatum and Brown are the ones bringing the ball up and it never leaves their hands. They're literally playing 1 on 1 the entire length of the court. Smart is right about this criticism but he's really no better.

If this team could bring in a real point guard that took the playmaking duties away from those guys then this team would be in a lot better shape. How many teams win a lot of games if 35 year old Al Horford is their best playmaker?

Not saying that Pritchard is the savior or anything but he's a pass-first PG, has excellent court vision and can certainly space the floor.

The fact that Ime isn't playing him at all is baffling to me. We typically got on Brad for playing deep into the bench at the start of the year but he always shortened the roster come playoff time. Ime is jumping right into the short roster, I don't understand it at all. You have some assets available, feel them out and see what works.

[Homer38]

Really shocked to see people have a problem with Smart speaking up. The best player on the team is often not the locker room leader. Leadership talent and playing talent aren’t a 1:1 thing.

And is anything, Tatum refusing to speak to media is much worst than anything Smart said. That’s not the Mamba Mentality that seems to want to imitate.

Also everyone seems extremely quick to let Brad Stevens off the hook.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

There are very few players around the league that have earned the right to throw their teammates under the bus publicly and even then it would probably considered ill advised.

Smart of all people has been absolutely terrible so far this season, so for him to air his grievances about other players publicly is just wrong.

The idea that someone playing poorly can’t speak on an issue seems to miss the point. It’s the reason Derek Fisher had a huge voice. Talent and leadership aren’t the same.

This just seems like people babying Tatum again. Smart is a reputable player with some say, this isn’t Smush Parker.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

I don't remember the time that Fisher calls out Kobe,Shaq,Gasol or any others teammates in the media.....

[therealbig3]

Are we gonna pretend like these aren't the exact same criticisms from last year, including from the Celtics own PBP announcer?

There's no way to spin this, really surprised people are trying to. Smart isn't the only one that's called them out, this is now the 2nd straight year that these guys are being called selfish to the detriment of the team.

It's a problem, and it's pretty damning.