‘It just looks different’: Joe Mazzulla explained how Marcus Smart has impacted current Celtics team
The Celtics traded Smart over the offseason, but Mazzulla said the guard's presence is still being felt.
Marcus Smart won’t play in Sunday’s Grizzlies-Celtics game, but he’s expected to make his first trip to TD Garden since Boston traded him.
On the eve of what was supposed to be Smart’s return game to Boston, coach Joe Mazzulla reminisced over the now-Grizzlies guard’s impact in the organization and outside of it.
“I always said you don’t replace a guy like him, you just find different ways to be able to do it,” the Celtics coach told reporters Saturday. Who he is will always be etched into the City of Boston because of what he’s done in community service and what he’s done here, which is helping represent and give. I think he’s one of the guys that started our defensive foundation before I got here because of his ability to compete at a high level, to defend at a high level and execute different coverages.
“Who he is off the court and kind of what he brings from a mind-set standpoint and a defensive intensity standpoint. It’ll be good to see him tomorrow.”
Smart, who suffered a right finger injury in early January that’s expected to sideline him for a least six weeks, quickly became a fan favorite in Boston shortly after the Celtics drafted him in 2014. He immediately earned a reputation for being a hard-nosed player due to his defensive intensity and his desire to make hustle plays.
There was some concern that the Celtics would lose some of that intensity and toughness when they traded Smart this offseason, but Mazzulla doesn’t believe that’s the case. While Celtics players might not be making those same flashy hustle plays that Smart made, Mazzulla pointed to other examples of what the team’s starters are doing this season that exemplify toughness.
“You don’t replace him. It just looks different,” Mazzulla said. “[Jayson] Tatum dove on the floor for a loose ball. Derrick [White]’s making winning plays and the back tips in transition. Jrue [Holiday]’s [got] constant intensity and focusing on everyone’s strengths and what they’re able to do. Jaylen’s individual defense, that’s just as tough as what another player does. It just looks different.
“So, I think you just have to highlight each person’s definition of toughness and how that pertains to helping our team win as well.”
Even though Celtics might not be making the plays Smart made at the same rate, Mazzulla credit his former guard for helping to set the example.
“When you have a guard who plays as hard as he does and guards centers, point guards, picks up full court, boxes out, [takes] charges and does all of those little things, I think, go into it,” Mazzulla said of his team maintaining toughness after trading Smart. “For him to win Defensive Player of the Year, he was the first guard since Gary Payton [in 1995-96], it’s always been big to do it. So, when you see a guard have an impact on the game at so many levels the way he did, I think that’s kind of what started it.”
Celtics guard Payton Pritchard has been one of the beneficiaries of the Smart trade, playing 21 minutes per game this season compared to 13.4 last year. Still, Pritchard admitted that it’s been “weird” to see Smart play for another team and that he was stunned by the traded, saying it was “crazy to see.”
Pritchard praised his former teammate’s character though as he said how much he meant to Boston.
“Marcus is just a good dude at heart,” Pritchard told reporters. “He wants to have a good time, a competitor, but he looks out for his people. I admire that about him.”
Smart’s absence from Sunday’s game probably won’t make it as weird for the Celtics when they go up against the Grizzlies. He actually missed the first Celtics-Grizzlies game this season in November due to injury as well as he’s only played in 20 games for a struggling Memphis squad this season.
Still, Mazzulla wants his team to keep the sentimental aspect of going up against Smart until after the game.
“After the game, it’ll be good,” Mazzulla said when asked if it’ll be good to see Smart on Sunday. “During the game, trying to win the game. But it doesn’t change who he is as a person.”
However, Mazzulla reasonably understands that Celtics fans might be more sentimental during Sunday’s game. He’s hoping Smart can give them another gritty play to celebrate.
“I think there will be a little bit of extra emotion because of how Smart’s been able to impact the community and impact the Garden so many times,” Mazzulla said. “Hopefully, during a timeout, I don’t know if his hand still hurts, but if he can dive on the floor for a loose ball.”
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