Marcus Smart Wins NBA Hustle Award

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar-misc-20230504-marcus-smart-earns-third-hustle-award-in-past-five-seasons


Marcus Smart Earns Third Hustle Award in Past Five Seasons



Taylor Snow
Taylor Snow●@taylorcsnow
Sr. Writer

May 4, 20235:43 PM EDT



The NBA might as well name its annual Hustle Award after Marcus Smart because the veteran Celtics guard basically owns the honor at this point.

The league announced Thursday afternoon that Smart was named the recipient of the award for the 2022-23 season, marking his second consecutive year winning it and his third overall.

No other player has received the award more than once since its inception during the 2016-17 season.

According to the league, the Hustle Award “honors a player who makes impactful effort plays that might not appear in the box score.”

That describes Smart’s game in a nutshell.

Some of the statistics that don’t appear in the box score, but are still tracked by the NBA, include charges drawn, loose balls recovered, deflections, box outs, and screen assists. Smart placed high in each of those categories this past season.

Smart’s 0.18 charges drawn per game ranked 10th in the league, his 0.8 loose balls recovered per game ranked 14th, his 2.6 deflections per game ranked 16th, and his 1.0 box outs per game ranked first among all guards, as did his 0.8 screen assists per game.

Last year’s Defensive Player of the Year also ranked 10th in steals per game (1.5) and played a key role in leading Boston to the second-best defensive rating in the league.

To win this award three times in the past five years speaks volumes about what kind of player Smart is: a one-of-a-kind player.

“Defensively, he just does things that nobody else can really do,” said Blake Griffin, a fellow hustler who also typically ranks among the top players in charges drawn.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla says the number one aspect of Smart’s game that allows him to stand out is, “Just his commitment to physicality. I think that's the most important thing. Every single night he brings a commitment to being physical, to being the hardest-playing guy on the team. And what's good about him is his ability to be physical and, at the same time, be detailed in his defense and his scouts and his preparation. He’s just the spearhead of our defense. And so, we're very fortunate to have him.”

Smart’s aggressive mindset isn’t only evident in how he plays, but also in how he commands. He acts like another coach on the floor, calling out sets and directing his teammates where to be.

“He’s a guy on the floor that has great chemistry with everybody,” said Smart’s new backcourt mate, Malcolm Brogdon. “You have a player like that, you can plug him in at any point in the game with whatever lineup and he’s going to help.”

And when he helps by getting in on the action directly, his tenacity becomes contagious.

“When you see Marcus [dive on the floor] and the crowd goes crazy,” said Griffin, “it brings energy to the team.”

That’s why Smart is considered to be the heart and soul of the Celtics and, in many ways, the city of Boston. He plays a blue-collar style of basketball in a blue-collar city, and he blew away the hustling competition once again this season by winning the award that might as well permanently bear his name.


Bob


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Bob
MY NOTE:  The beating heart of this team.  Some players were born to wear green.   Marcus Smart is one of them.

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When Marcus Smart focuses on the playing the game, he is just so good. And then, at times, his focus is on playing the referees. That is when he becomes frustrating.

Just keep playing the game Marcus!! We need it.

Best move we did was giving full time point position to Smart, took our already formidable defense up a notch. Gave more shots and forced J’s to create more offensively.

Congrats Mr. Smart!

cowens/oldschool wrote:Best move we did was giving full time point position to Smart, took our already formidable defense up a notch. Gave more shots and forced J’s to create more offensively.

The search for a PG netted us The Royal PITA and Kemba, both of which turned out to be failures over time. It turned out that we had the right guy all the time.

I’d probably cut Kemba some slack. He had knee and injury issues. The Royal Pita is in a category all by himself.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Best move we did was giving full time point position to Smart, took our already formidable defense up a notch. Gave more shots and forced J’s to create more offensively.

+1