Boston Sports Extra

Marcus Smart’s Value Won’t Stare You in the Face

@jared_scali

The 4th Quarter Hero

Anyone who watches the Boston Celtics has some sort of opinion on Marcus Smart. Mostly you’ll see negative views. “He can’t shoot, why is he playing instead of Rozier?”. The list goes on.

However, his value is there. It just won’t always be on the stat sheet. Take the end of the Houston game as an example:

Why He’s Here When Celtics Win Banner 18

Marcus Smart makes plays in the 4th quarter that win games. If it wasn’t for Smart drawing the first offensive foul, there was a good chance Houston would have won. Al Horford would never have had the chance to score that winning basket.

So, that begs the question: why do so many people want him traded? Simply because he can’t shoot? I agree that he isn’t a good shooter. Currently, he’s shooting 33.8% from the floor and 30.7% from behind the arc. He is a 72% free throw shooter. Not someone you’d want taking a shot late in the 4th quarter, or at all.

That’s why Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Jason Tatum and a ton of other guys are here. The biggest thing is to let Smart play in the late minutes to do what he did against Houston.

Now, if you told me Smart had to be involved in a trade for someone like Anthony Davis, then okay. I’d be the first person to say “smell you later” and drive him to Logan. However, that deal probably isn’t coming.

This group of guys, along with Gordon Hayward, will win multiple titles while in Celtic Green. Anything else would be a disappointment. Marcus Smart will be on that roster. I agree I’d like to see Terry Rozier get more minutes for how he plays. That being said, Marcus Smart is a key cog to what makes this Celtics team run. A defense-first attitude and doesn’t care who he has to guard.

 

Marcus Smart NBA Champion with the 2018-19 Boston Celtics.

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