Hearing Marcus Smart's Press Conference Today Makes Me Love And Trust Him Even More
Nobody ever said living through the Marcus Smart Experience would be easy. But after 6 years I've learned to simply accept Marcus for who he is. Good and bad. The poor shooting only to be followed up by him making 11 threes in a game. Shot selection that makes you want to pull your hair out only for him to make a huge shot he had no business taking in a big moment. The winning plays. The way he's a sore loser and is willing to punch a picture frame out of frustration. The flopping. All of it. You can't love Marcus Smart and pick and choose what parts of Marcus Smart you love. You either accept it all or you don't.
Which brings me to what happened after Game 2. I think everyone was obviously pissed about blowing that 17 point lead. Marcus had two plays in the fourth that were bruuuuuutal and you could argue played a huge factor in blowing that lead. I can understand how you see that and then hear about him losing his shit in the locker room and think that's a little messed up. All you heard the day after was how this team was imploding and they hated each other and blah blah blah. Well, look at how they, and more importantly Smart, responded
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To me, Game 3 was the best Marcus has played this series. I find that pretty important given what happened after Game 2. I found it to be a great sign that he didn't come out in Game 3 and try to do too much. He filled his role PERFECTLY. He closed out the game with the final 10 Celtics points or some shit. When we talk about Marcus being a leader, for me part of that means knowing when to stay within his role and not be something he isn't. He can do that at times.
So to put up that type of performance with the season on the line, and then come out today and call that locker room issue "electrifying" and giving us dynamite quotes as we all wait for Game 4, it makes me love and trust him even more. He's not perfect, he has flaws and makes mistakes that you almost can't comprehend why he would make. But it's all part of the Marcus Smart Experience. You either love and trust him or you don't.
It's very apparent that this team is not fracturing, as badly as radio hosts or TV pundits wanted to believe. You could tell right from the jump in Game 3. I think as fans deep down we were hoping all that drama would serve as the kick in the ass this group needed and that's what ended up happening. It's not the sexy storyline that you want to talk about, but it tells you that this is a group that has been together way too long to let something like that fuck them up. They love Smart for who he is even if it takes getting into it in the locker room after a tough loss.
So sorry to the haters out there that thought this team done because Marcus Smart maybe had a little temper tantrum. Maybe next time.