SQ27 Camp—My Favorite Match Up

I've been stumped for two days since every train of thought eventually turns to camp, and every camp thread veers off into a dozen different directions. So I've decided to take the one that has recurred most often and been the most vivid. Last year I thought the most violent and competitive battles would be Smart vs. Bradley and Sullinger vs. Bass. The first seemed a candidate for death match in the octagon; and the other more like a battle of the leviathans. They were both great examples of why I would gladly sacrifice tickets to the December games for a pass to all the October workouts; sometimes the magic in the kitchen is even more satisfying than the final product on the table. This year, I think no conflict will be more intense than Smart battling Smart2 (i.e. Terry Rozier)!

While I think you can make a pretty good case for any of the three rookies breaking out, and by that I mean playing his way into minutes on the parquet and forcing an adjustment in game rotations, none have the potential to radically alter multiple positions more than the progress of Rozier. He should be too green, certainly to carve out minutes at the most difficult college-to-pros transition at point guard. Terry though, like Smart, may be a guard that defies categorization. Usually we think of these tweener's as working at a disadvantage, but Terry, like Marcus, brings such strength and defensive aggressiveness to the back court that he may force his way onto the court not in spite of, but because of, his flexibility.

Another factor in his, and Smart's, favor is the improving level of passing across the roster. IMHO the worst passers on the team are Young and Bradley, with Perry Jones coming in at “who knows?” Sadly, after them, I would list Turner and Thomas, not so much for lack of skills but rather for lack of awareness and inclination. They may be the leading assist men on the team, but far too many of those assists came from desperation rather than calculation. As for Smart and Rozier, neither has yet shown a natural propensity for playing point guard, and there is some parallel with Avery Bradley who came into the league with a touted defense, an offense that was a work in progress, and little concept of what is required to be a point guard. I don't think Marcus and Terry will be as poor as Avery in their adaptation to NBA point guard, but both have a long way to go. Interestingly, if Rozier pushes his way into the lineup, playing with Smart where both are interchangeable guards, the tornado of defense might generate a fair bit of offense. Other than that, the pairing will be depending heavily upon the ball/player movement, pick and roll, and passing bigs to grease the offense into production.

Their camp battle should be a riveting spectacle. At times it may be difficult to believe that neither is armed, or that basketball is not supposed to be a collision sport. In both cases the defensive prowess far exceeds their handle so quite a few possessions may not progress past mid court. Interestingly, when they play together, each may offer relief as either may bring the ball down court so the ball handler match up can be against the lesser of back court defenders. If this Rozier emergence comes to pass, it is very likely that opposing back courts may find nagging injuries growing prohibitively debilitating when the prospect is facing the Celtics (think of the great hitters in baseball that took a day of rest when a knuckle-baller was slated to start against them the next game).

Only 40 days to camp.

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