Smart can still be effective, but at this stage of his career he’s probably best suited for a bench role. He remains a strong defender, a vocal leader, and someone who helps set the tone on the defensive end. In many ways, he’s doing exactly what we hoped he would for us. However, we’re clearly missing AR’s offensive production, and that’s something Smart simply can’t replace. That’s not his game, and it’s not a knock on him. If anything, Smart feels like the successful version of what we hoped Gabe Vincent would be, providing those intangibles and defensive impact that Gabe was brought in to deliver but hasn’t.
Redick is only rocking heavy with 8 guys, (with 2 others on standby for emergencies) in the rotation for the playoffs. Smart is definitely going to be one of the rotation players.
HUGE in the final 5-6 minutes. Couple 3s, the 3 fts, charge and a key rebound. And that's just the loud plays. Not the defensive pressure, preventing them from being able to get the switch they want by being able to navigate the screen and muck up their efforts. It's a roller coaster with him, but the good greatly outweighs the bad. I trust him in big games and high leverage matchups probably more than anyone outside of our big 3. If we're strictly talking defense, then more than anyone not named Playoff LeBron. Hopefully we can get him some help in the coming weeks. He's much better slotted at this stage to be your second best defender instead of your best defender.
