tlee324 wrote:Captain_Caveman wrote:tlee324 wrote:
He's been on very restrictive time coming off of surgery; but I recall you calling Kemba our best player (and I agreed at the time) prior to the injury. They want to preserve him for the playoffs the best they can.
But to the original point of the thread, you can be a fan of the Celtics even if you don't like Smart. Just my opinion on it.
I think he's playing pretty well overall, but there's going to be frustrating moments along the way.
Definitely wasn't me. Tatum has been our best player for a few years now, IMO. I had Kemba 4th best last year behind Hayward and Jaylen. This year? Still not top 3. I don't hate him, but he's gloriously overpaid for a scoring specialist who is rarely on. More to the point here, it's pretty crazy that Smart has started 250+ games in the regular season and playoffs, despite never being a starter or being paid like one. He's perpetually having to fill in for guys that make 2-3 times as much, and has done a hell of a job doing it.
Was able to find it, January last year. And like I said, I agreed with you. He'd still be a bit overpaid, but he's a pretty special player when healthy. If we can get that for the playoffs it gives us an honest chance to go far.
And at that early point of the season, he was. Tatum started the year slow but passed him for good last season just a few weeks later in that big 2OT Clippers game. Hayward ended up being better overall last year as well, IMO. Maybe even Jaylen, although he too started really slow, IIRC.
Not to parse too much, but since you are knowingly or not, I also think there is a clear difference between saying "best player" and "best player
this year". I have never, ever felt that Kemba was a better player than Tatum since he signed here, and never said he was. Pretty confident my posts reflect all of this, even if I can also acknowledge when a guy is playing well. I have been saying pretty early on that Kemba is not a very good playmaker and poor defensively.
That's really not too much nuance. We've had similar conversations about IT and Jaylen. We can both agree that I never thought IT was a building block, and felt he was way more net neutral than most realized, but I can still give him props for that amazing 2-month run he had. Similarly I vote Tatum for VC more often than Jaylen because I feel that Tatum is a more complete player who has tougher responsibilities than a player who is more limited than many realize IMO, but I still vote Jaylen 3x as much as any other player on the team.