Scal says Smart is the team's MVP this year

[celtics2030]

Thats the thing

Every "MVP" on this team has sucked not only at one point but multiple times......but they have also willed wins for the team

Even if their is a true mvp, i dont think I want to choose one.

This team has to play overachieving basketball to win, and that takes a team effort, not an MVP one.

[GetLucky]

Danny Ainge:

[mmmmm]

Why is Smart our MVP?
He doesn't take plays off. Ever.

Does it count as 'taking plays off' if the defense ignores you when your team is on offense?

Because that happens a lot when Smart is on the floor.

It definitely happened a lot in the Milwaukee game.

[BDeCosta26]

Smart is part of the future .....he is a super talent.   Not a skinny twigg who can do NOTHING but shoot jump shots.  ......skinny legged twigs get broken , if hey must rebound or defend.  Or they get run over by big players .   

I don't see any new guys close to being a point guard do it all guy like him.  He is smarter player already than many of the 30 year old guards.   

He is going to be one of the best in the league by time CP 3 days are numbered..

Absolutely agree. Stevens is trying to get this team to the playoffs, so having Smart drive to the hoop ten times a game isn't the way were gonna get there. Smart was one of the best players in the draft as far as getting to the rack goes, and as the season has gone on his opportunities to do so have increased, and we've started to see him getting adjusted to the speed of the NBA. He's finishing drives better, and he's shown flashes of excellent passing instincts. It's not like after a lifetime of bulling his way to the hoop he's never gonna be able to do it. Stevens wanted nothing from Smart this year except his unbelievable defense and to hit open 3 point shots. How anyone could say "He's a role player who couldn't start on a championship caliber team" is beyond me. I guess they weren't watching the games.

He's certainly got his deficiencies, but I'm excited as ever for his future. CBS wanted him to earn playing time with his D and to take open shots when they're there. He's really excelled in this role. His jump shot has improved more than most of us thought it would. He's made a ton of HUGE clutch plays on both sides of the ball. His intangibles and instincts are off the charts. His defensive acumen is elite. He's already one of the best back-court defenders in the NBA as a rookie! And as a rookie he's already a natural leader who NEVER takes a play off. His ultra-competitive mindset and his non-stop hustle are infectious to the rest of the team. Smart just makes things happen. Hustles to a momentum changing loose-ball, comes up with needed stops, makes key shots with ice-water in his veins. He always seems to be in a position to make a play. He's the definition of a winner, And By all accounts he's an extremely hard worker.

I'm still not sure if he's a PG or a ball-handling SG long-term, but in today's NBA it doesn't really matter much. Everything I've seen from him so far says we've got ourselves a player here. Tony Allen with a jump shot, which is just about where he's at now, can be one of the three best players on a contending team with a couple years development. May not be a top 3 offensive option, but one of the 3 best players. And I think his ceiling is much higher than TA with a jump shot. He has a legit shot at a few DPOY awards in his prime, if he can put up 16-7-5 with everything else he brings to the table he'll be an excellent player. Going into next year, were gonna see his offensive opportunities increase just as we have all season this year and in the future well have us a really good player. Talk about the perfect guy to be a Celtic.

[BDeCosta26]

Thats the thing

Every "MVP" on this team has sucked not only at one point but multiple times......but they have also willed wins for the team

Even if their is a true mvp, i dont think I want to choose one.

This team has to play overachieving basketball to win, and that takes a team effort, not an MVP one.

MVP is for the Most Valuable Player, not a player who puts the team on his back and carries his team single-handedly to victory.

You can be the most valuable player on a team without being a dominant super-star. I agree with your premise though, it's hard to choose anyone. You can easily make a case for 4 or 5 guys. Stevens/Ainge deserve the most credit though.

[bleedGREENdon]

Put Marcus smart on the Memphis Grizzlies instead of Tony Allen.

The Grizzlies would Without a doubt be a better team. My reason for saying this is, Tony Allen is a starter on a top 5 team in the league. Smart easily even at this stage in his career is a starter on a good team. Give him time to continue grow and learn and I promise by year 3 he'll be averaging atleast 16ppg, 6assist and 4 rebounds along with 1st team all NBA defense, and if we're a contending team, An All-Star appearance. I've said it since the draft when Danny ainge did an interview on him and said " I love his competitiveness" , Since I saw him in the summer league, since he played in the preseason alongside Avery Bradley and they were both experimenting with full court pressure, I Said this kid is special. Our one thing everyone on the board said about him was, kid is a terrible 3 point shooter... The kid went and worked his arse off on it, and TBH out of anyone of our team at this moment, he's the one I want taking the game winning 3.

 I think CBS and ainge told him, at the beginning of the year, work on your 3 pointer and play defense. He took it to the next extreme and literally didn't drive to the basket and when he didn he always passed it. Now that his 3 point shot is reliable, now he's finally finishing at the basket. I see this kid being so special. Great draft choice Danny and I can't wait to see these last 6games and next season when he has more talent around him.

[truth4lyfe]

Put Marcus smart on the Memphis Grizzlies instead of Tony Allen.

The Grizzlies would Without a doubt be a better team. My reason for saying this is, Tony Allen is a starter on a top 5 team in the league. Smart easily even at this stage in his career is a starter on a good team. Give him time to continue grow and learn and I promise by year 3 he'll be averaging atleast 16ppg, 6assist and 4 rebounds along with 1st team all NBA defense, and if we're a contending team, An All-Star appearance. I've said it since the draft when Danny ainge did an interview on him and said " I love his competitiveness" , Since I saw him in the summer league, since he played in the preseason alongside Avery Bradley and they were both experimenting with full court pressure, I Said this kid is special. Our one thing everyone on the board said about him was, kid is a terrible 3 point shooter... The kid went and worked his arse off on it, and TBH out of anyone of our team at this moment, he's the one I want taking the game winning 3.

 I think CBS and ainge told him, at the beginning of the year, work on your 3 pointer and play defense. He took it to the next extreme and literally didn't drive to the basket and when he didn he always passed it. Now that his 3 point shot is reliable, now he's finally finishing at the basket. I see this kid being so special. Great draft choice Danny and I can't wait to see these last 6games and next season when he has more talent around him.

I like Smart and think he has a lot of talent, but people are going overboard with his jumpshot. How is it reliable? He shoots 33% on 3's. His other percentages, 36% overall and 66% on fts, dont exactly speak to a reliable shooter either. He shoots with confidence and can get hot, but he still isn't a very good shooter. The much maligned AB has a way more accurate and fundamentally sound shot.

[tankcity!]

I'm concerned about his first step. He should aim for Chauncey's offensive game.

[BDeCosta26]

Put Marcus smart on the Memphis Grizzlies instead of Tony Allen.

The Grizzlies would Without a doubt be a better team. My reason for saying this is, Tony Allen is a starter on a top 5 team in the league. Smart easily even at this stage in his career is a starter on a good team. Give him time to continue grow and learn and I promise by year 3 he'll be averaging atleast 16ppg, 6assist and 4 rebounds along with 1st team all NBA defense, and if we're a contending team, An All-Star appearance. I've said it since the draft when Danny ainge did an interview on him and said " I love his competitiveness" , Since I saw him in the summer league, since he played in the preseason alongside Avery Bradley and they were both experimenting with full court pressure, I Said this kid is special. Our one thing everyone on the board said about him was, kid is a terrible 3 point shooter... The kid went and worked his arse off on it, and TBH out of anyone of our team at this moment, he's the one I want taking the game winning 3.

 I think CBS and ainge told him, at the beginning of the year, work on your 3 pointer and play defense. He took it to the next extreme and literally didn't drive to the basket and when he didn he always passed it. Now that his 3 point shot is reliable, now he's finally finishing at the basket. I see this kid being so special. Great draft choice Danny and I can't wait to see these last 6games and next season when he has more talent around him.

I like Smart and think he has a lot of talent, but people are going overboard with his jumpshot. How is it reliable? He shoots 33% on 3's. His other percentages, 36% overall and 66% on fts, dont exactly speak to a reliable shooter either. He shoots with confidence and can get hot, but he still isn't a very good shooter. The much maligned AB has a way more accurate and fundamentally sound shot.

He shot 28% last year from a shorter 3pt line in college. His jump shot was the biggest concern with him going into the draft. He worked hard to improve, and just a year later in his rookie year, from the further away NBA line he's gotten it up to 32-34% where it's been floating around all year. That's huge improvement in just one season. His jumpshot isn't as nice as AB's but it's much better than it was. If he keeps working at it he could creep up on 40%. And once Stevens starts letting him really try to score, that much improved jump shot combined with his defense and intangibles will be a special player.

I love the kid, there's plenty of deficiencies in his offensive game, but his highly improved long-range shooting in such a short time is a really great development.

[255 Rings]

Why does Marcus Smart get so much flak on here? I love the kid! He's getting knocked on because of his offense but if you watch the games closely you'll notice that his role isn't primary and is more about learning experience in his first year. A player like Payton in Orlando is getting the green light early mainly because Orlando sucks and gave him the keys much earlier than Smart. Did anybody forget that he wasn't even starting for us up until the middle of the season when Rondo was long gone and he was also injured from his ankle sprain. Boston fans always drool over opposing players and bash on their own. By year 3 Marcus Smart should be showing us what kind of player he's gonna be, so maybe y'all can judge him then? He is our PG of the future unless a superstar player is brought to Boston and he has to be used in a trade package. Otherwise he's here to stay!

[BDeCosta26]

Why does Marcus Smart get so much flak on here? I love the kid! He's getting knocked on because of his offense but if you watch the games closely you'll notice that his role isn't primary and is more about learning experience in his first year. A player like Payton in Orlando is getting the green light early mainly because Orlando sucks and gave him the keys much earlier than Smart. Did anybody forget that he wasn't even starting for us up until the middle of the season when Rondo was long gone and he was also injured from his ankle sprain. Boston fans always drool over opposing players and bash on their own. By year 3 Marcus Smart should be showing us what kind of player he's gonna be, so maybe y'all can judge him then? He is our PG of the future unless a superstar player is brought to Boston and he has to be used in a trade package. Otherwise he's here to stay!

Here here. Not everyone who watches the game knows enough about it to take things like offensive stats and put them in context. Jordan Clarkson has a couple nice games scoring and all of a sudden he's better than Smart. Haha. Even of Smart was an absolute 0 on offense, which he's not, his D is so elite that he'd still be better.

It's awful hard to consistently drive to the hoop when no one runs any plays for you and half the time you don't even bring the ball up court. As the seasons gone on, CBS has started letting him control the ball and drive more, normally after he hits a few open shots and he's looked progressively more comfortable doing so. He had some real nice drives in the past month or so.

It seems like once the Rondo trade happened, everyone assumed we were in full out tank mode and were gonna put the ball in Smart's hands 35 min a game and plan around him. Turns out Stevens was planning on pushing this ragtag group to the playoffs and in order to do that, he needed to win games. Riding your rookie PG to the tune of 20 attempts per game isn't a good bet to win games. A bunch of the good folks around here realize we're definitely playing to win, but for some reason they still think he should be running the offense and taking all the shots. I swear some people just look at the box score on espn and say "Wow, Smart only had 6/2/2. He sucks on offense!" without any context.
 

[CelticGuardian]

I wouldn't go that far, but he's definitely integral to our success.

I'm with Tommy in thinking Stevens is the MVP, because the beauty of this team is there's no real "most valuable player." We play our best when we're playing as a cohesive unit, and that's all due to Stevens. His system has our team playing way above our collective skillset.

You know, the more I'm thinking about this Stevens guy and his "system." The more I begin to question if a star like Kevin Love or whoever would commit to it.

I mean what if the star does not want to make all these extra passes seeing as he has the better jumpshot?

Can this system work with better quality players? Or is it mainly built for mediocre-to-good players to thrive in?

[Tr1boy]

If he can shoot this efficiently moving fwd plus the way he can play defense.  We got a nice player for the long term. Even when he has bad nights on the offensive end, it seems like he never does on the defensive end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwuRIjrTcHE