ryaningf wrote:bucknersrevenge wrote: The issue remains building a team beyond this season. Smart's best position to take advantage of his skills remains PG. Rondo is iffy at best to stay beyond this year if we can't add enough talent to become a contender quickly. Understandably so. Rondo is in his prime. He doesn't want to waste his years. Try as he has, Danny has not been able to do this yet. And I don't see any free agents that we can bring in to change that status.
You're confusing the issue by the way you're framing it and then you're treating your assumptions like they're facts. (I.E., Smart's best position
remains PG. How so, he hasn't even played 1 effing game. OR; Rondo's iffy at best to stay beyond this year. Who says?). You treat Smart like the heir apparent and Rondo as yesterday's news because we can't put talent around him. What you aren't considering is that if Smart's so talented why can't we (1) pair him with Rondo; (2) trade him for talent to pair with Rondo.
Let's keep things simple. Smart has a lot to prove as all rookies do. The best way to develop him isn't to hand him the PG position, it's to make him go out and take it. He's been a SG/SF most of his life and has transitioned to combo guard lately. He's got a lot of opportunity on this team to be both an off-the-ball and on-ball threat this year (no need to project years into the future, it's part of the way you're framing this issue to show the conclusion you prefer). There's is literally no reason we need to move Rondo to create better circumstances in which for Smart to thrive. In fact, there are a lots of reasons why having Rondo in tow accelerates Smart's progress.
The only reason you and others want to move Rondo and give the keys to Smart has nothing to do with what's best for the Cs or Smart or Rondo and everything to do with your psychological preference for a "direction". But sometimes the best move is no move at all and that's where we find ourselves now. It's wait-and-see time, your psychological preferences just have to suck it up.
humblebum wrote:Not saying Smart couldn't learn a lot from Rondo, but you're underselling Smart if you consider him less than exceptionally intelligent. Kids basketball IQ is really really high. He's just the anti Rondo though in terms of being personable and aggressive looking to score.
I've said this to you before, but you've never really responded: if Smart is so high in BBIQ then why are his recognized weaknesses classed under "decision-making"? Even if you say that it's his competitiveness that overrides his intelligence and causes him to make bad decisions under duress in the heat of battle, you have to admit that if pressure causes him to make erratic decisions then he still has a lot to learn, right? Rondo's cool detachment might not make him the rah-rah leader-type but what it does allow him is the ability to make intelligent split second decisions while under duress, in the exact same situations in which Smart's intelligence malfunctions. Again, this is why I continue to claim that a Rondo/Smart pairing makes great sense and why I continue to class Smart as a SG until further notice--the ability to make intelligent decision under duress, the ability to not allow your competitiveness hijack your decision making process is THE quintessential PG quality.
Smart is a charismatic leader who gets his guys to believe but until he can harness his competitiveness and still maintain his IQ in the face of adversity his teams will continue to underachieve (which is exactly what happened to him at OK St.). Like I said, charisma is great but what Smart needs to understand is how to win and part and parcel to that is making good decisions and he just ain't there yet. You know who is, though? RONDO.
Jesus H Christmas ryan. Fight fair. I'm not confusing anything with anything. My
opinion is that Smart would fit best at PG where his physicality can create mismatches at both ends. You're right he hasn't played a game yet but from what I've seen of him, that's what I think. I didn't think I had to qualify my point of view with "in my opinion" first. I just assume people knew that. This is a strawman argument. I could say the same about your point of view that having rondo here accelerate Smart 's growth. "We haven't ' played one effing game ". How do you know that Rondo will have the effect you think he will have on Smart?
And so we're clear, I never said Rondo is yesterday's news. Talk about putting words in my mouth. I said Rondo is an asset. Just like every other player on the team. I happen to think Rondo might have more value right now than Smart. So I would cash in that chip now because IN MY OPINION, Danny will not be able to bring in enough talent to make this team a championship contender by next offseason. What am I basing this on? Glad you asked. I'm basing this on the fact that Danny was unsuccessful in acquiring a big name talent at the draft or during this offseason. I'm basing it on what this team is scheduled to look like after this season if nothing changes. And I don't
assume change. I am also basing it who is available in free agency next year and who might be impactful. Again, these are opinions, not assumptions.
And so now you're going to tell me what the only reason is that I want to move Rondo? ryan, c'mon now. Now who's playing the pop psychologist? You are not in my head. And I don't think you stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night like I did. I wouldn't waste any time concerning yourself with any of my preferences, psychological or otherwise. And it's not about picking a direction. It's solely about maximizing your assets. You think it's time to wait. I don't think we're waiting on anything in particular
