Getty Marcus Smart looking unimpressed during a Boston Celtics game.
Marcus Smart recently sent Boston Celtics fans into a frenzy when he accused Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown of selfish play following the team’s implosion against the Chicago Bulls.
However, “Coach Nick” the NBA Analyst and owner of the BBall Breakdown YouTube channel, which has almost 850 thousand subscribers, has other thoughts.
In a recent video labeled “The Marcus Smart Solution Won’t Fix The Celtics,” Coach Nick dissects every possession that includes Smart operating off-ball and explores whether Brown and Tatum made the correct decision on each play.
The overall narrative of the video is that Smart’s comments weren’t just poorly timed, but that they were wholly inaccurate when looking at the Celtics loss to the Bulls.
“While it’s a helpless feeling for Smart (being in the corner), he’s not a good enough player to insist he needs to do more with the ball. His montage of troubling shots, turnovers, and bad decisions make it clear to anyone watching that he’s a complementary player at best. Someone who can find success being aggressive against second units but should be more content to provide a little bit of gravity and the occasional foray into the paint off a pick-and-roll. Instead, he seems to be advocating for a bigger role within the offense.” Coach Nick explains during the video breakdown.
At the time of the video’s release, the Celtics defense was ranked 28th in the NBA. While NBA Stats has their defense now listed at 13th following good games against the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, and Dallas Mavericks, Coach Nick isn’t a fan of Smart’s impact on that end of the floor either.
“I’ve also had to explain to Marcus Smart fans that his defense isn’t always consistently good. Last night (against the Bulls) is a good example that he’s getting by on reputation instead of facts,” Coach Nick explained, before going into specific examples that show Smart’s poor decision-making on defense in that game.
Marcus Smart Made a Bad Decision Against Mavericks
Coming down the stretch against the Dallas Mavericks, Marcus Smart made a poor defensive decision when he chose to foul with just 16 seconds left on the clock, effectively costing the Celtics one final offensive possession.
Ime Udoka said the Celtics were not supposed to foul on the last play. Said it was a mistake. Put it on himself because he didn’t tell everybody the plan. Marcus Smart used the foul to give, and it gave the Mavericks a chance to take the last shot.
Ime Udoka took the blame for Smart’s poor decision, but a 2x All-Defensive First Team guard should understand late-game situations and know not to foul when there’s a final possession on the line for his team.
The Celtics lost that game courtesy of a Luka Doncic step-back jumper, snapping their two-game winning streak in the process.
LUKA FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!! 🪄🪄🪄
Smart Wants the Ball More
As is common knowledge at this point, Smart’s comments after the loss against the Bulls were geared towards ball movement and allowing him to initiate the offense more down the stretch. While Smart was advocating for Brown and Tatum to trust their teammates more, he made it clear that being placed in the corner is hurting the Celtics’ ability to break down their opposition.
“There’s only so much I can do without the ball in my hands. I’m just standing in the corner. We’re running plays for our best players. Every team knows that. They do a good job of shutting that down. We can’t allow that. When they shut that down, we can’t keep trying to go to those guys,” Smart said following the Celtics’ loss to the Chicago Bulls, “I can only do so much just standing in the corner when I come up and give the ball away.”
According to Cleaning The Glass, Smart’s usage rate is at an all-time low, with the ball being in his hands just 16.1% of the time on offense, despite him being the team’s de facto point guard. However, despite his lower usage rate, Smart’s turnover percentage is at its highest ever point, albeit by 1%, with him turning over the rock 16.5% of the time per 100 possessions.
Smart will need to start making better decisions with the ball if he wishes to keep his starting spot, as Dennis Schroder’s impressive early-season play undoubtedly has the Celtics’ longest-tenured player looking over his shoulder.