Some people are positive… some people are negative… some are in between. We’re trying this new feature to look at things this season from each perspective and maybe get to the heart of what’s really going on. Welcome to the Spin Room.
Marcus Smart is back! Let’s discuss!
Positive Spin: Marcus Smart is going to help shore up this struggling bench a bit. Remember early on in camp when the bench was beating out the starters? Remember how often Smart has been called a leader? He’s exactly the kind of guy we need in games, especially defensively. He alone could change so much of what’s gone wrong so far.
Negative Spin: How bad is it that we’re already crying for Smart to come back so our defense, which hasnt’ been great thus far, can go back to being elite? Is this one guy THAT important? If he is, then shouldn’t we be questioning our overall defense? There was a lot of talk about this team having an elite defense… it can’t be predicated on having this one person playing.
Positive Spin: Think about the ripple effect. You knock guys who have been playing one spot down the bench. That means less of a defensive liability like Gerald Green and more of a defensive pitbull like Smart. That’s just a good thing.
Negative Spin: This just highlights a poor decision by Danny Ainge. If Green is going to get phased out here, then why didn’t he just get cut and those minutes could have gone to James Young or RJ Hunter? At least they could have kept a young first round pick like Hunter around, put him in the D-League, let him grow and see what could have been while giving Young some chances to get some minutes and at least bump up some trade value or something.
Positive Spin: End of bench issues are a distraction. The true fact of the matter is Smart’s return helps the Celtics on both ends of the floor. We haven’t even talked about his offense, which we’ve seen can be pretty good when he has the ball in his hand. With Smart coming in off the bench, Terry Rozier can focus on his off-the-ball movement, which has been pretty good so far. And with Smart available, Brad Stevens can go to his “chaotic 5” small-ball lineup and really drive the other team crazy. Is it ideal to have such a reliance on one guy to tie it all together? No, but he does, and it’ll be very noticeable.
Negative Spin: That’s all well and good, and while that might be fun to watch, it’s also pretty nerve wracking. Let’s face it, Smart hasn’t been the most reliably healthy Celtic over his career so far. Even though he’s not dealing with chronic issues, he’s still missed significant time over two seasons and he’s already missed games this season. How are we supposed to enjoy a season when we’re constantly holding our breath wondering when Smart will go down again, especially since it’s pretty clear he’s a massive pieces of this team’s success?
That’s the spin room. Where do you fall on these? Positive? Negative? In between? Continue the conversation in the comments.
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