Marcus Smart has had a career-best campaign in regard to inheriting the role as the go-to floor general for the Boston Celtics this season.
The 29-year-old is averaging a career-high 6.5 assists and 32.4 minutes per contest, which speaks volumes about Smart’s willingness to buy into Boston’s bigger-picture mindset. But while his on-court adjustments have proven to be effective, Smart is still critical of his most valuable contribution: his defense.
Just a year ago, Smart was closing in on his first-ever Defensive Player of the Year-winning season, averaging 1.7 steals and 0.3 blocks through 71 games. All of which came as expected from Smart, who since being drafted by the C’s in 2014, has served as the team’s grittiest and hustle-minded player in Boston. Yet, Smart has a different perspective on how his defensive game has unfolded this season.
“It’s mediocre,” Smart told reporters before Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to MassLive’s Souichi Terada. “We all see it. It’s tough. You don’t get the same calls as you probably would. It makes it tough for you as a defender — especially with a league that’s very highly, highly offensively oriented where everything is catered to the offensive player. It’s hard to play defense, and especially coming off a DPOY stint. Everything you do is more critiqued.”
This isn’t the first time that Smart has aired his grievances in regard to the league’s officiating.
When Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet blasted NBA referees last Thursday, which earned him a $30,000 fine, Smart supported the non-family-friendly worded rant. Smart noted that VavVleet’s feelings toward officiating weren’t anything personal, but rather a shared mindset among players across the league.
“Soon as you put your body on the offensive player, and all you can do is do it like that, it’s a foul on you, hands fly,” Smart said, per Terada. “It comes to the flopping aspect on the defensive end where you gotta see it. Just like an offensive player who’s trying to sell a call on offense, you’re trying to sell it on defense because even more on the defensive end, you have no advantage.”
Smart’s defensive stat line this season would suggest that he isn’t the same defender he was a year ago, whether that’d be impacted by officials or not. He’s averaged 1.5 steals through 52 games at a 2.2-steal per 48-minute rate and 0.60 steal-to-turnover ratio, which are all drop-offs from previous career averages.
