Marcus Smart says ‘ridiculous’ camaraderie between Boston teammates is ’going to help us a lot’

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/09/boston-celtics-marcus-smart-says-ridiculous-camaraderie-between-boston-teammates-is-going-to-help-us-a-lot.html




Boston Celtics Marcus Smart says ‘ridiculous’ camaraderie between Boston teammates is ’going to help us a lot’


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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 06: Boston Celtics teammates Marcus Smart #40, Jaylen Brown #33, Jayson Tatum #34 and Kemba Walker #26 of the 2019 USA Men's National Team pose together during a practice session at the 2019 USA Basketball Men's National Team World Cup minicamp at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV on August 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)



By John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com




A lot has been made of Team USA having four Boston Celtics on the team. The question of chemistry has been asked many times, and there aren’t many people who doubt that it can be helpful.

Still, four games into the FIBA World Cup schedule, with a couple of tough tests behind them, the Americans have grown as a team, and they’ve advanced through a lot of contributions from those four Celtics.

Marcus Smart, who has had some ups and down on this international journey but who was critical in the defeat of Greece, is encouraged by how things have gone for him and his teammates.


“It’s ridiculous the camaraderie we have now,” he said after the game against Greece. “And, getting ready to go back to Boston is going to continue to escalate it for us and be successful for us. I think it’s going to help us a lot.”

Even though there’s a risk of injury, Brad Stevens has been fully on board with these four Celtics, as well as centers Daniel Theis (German) and Vincent Poirier (France) representing their country. He believes the experience of playing in hostile environments gives them a head start on the season.

“Playing in environments where everybody is rooting against them, in tight games,” Stevens explained, “I always say that the first road game of the year hits you like a ton of bricks, these guys are doing it in late August, early September.”

There is an adjustment to be made by the Celtics, though. They’ve moved training camp back a week to allow for some extra rest. However, aside from that, Stevens doesn’t feel the need to radically adjust their preseason schedule.

“These guys are playing one game every other day and usually the day in between is probably a day off,” he said. "And nobody manages bodies better than Pop so I think they’ll just be in great shape when they come back. Again, when they get back, should they play open gym a couple of hours after they land? No. But we’ll handle all that. That’ll be pretty easy. It’s way more of a positive than a negative. You’re more ready for that season.”


There’s still another week of international basketball left to play. Smart is excited to finish it off, and along with the deeper bond he’s shared with his Boston teammates, he’s also enjoying the new bonds built through the U.S. Men’s National Basketball Team.

“We put this team together about five weeks ago. We all came to love one another. You couldn’t tell if we just met each other … some guys didn’t know each other,” he said. “But, when you put the USA on your shirt, it’s a whole different feeling. You’re playing for something way much bigger. It’s a whole different pride type of deal when you go and get somebody’s back, and you can see it when everybody comes together.”



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