The Boston Celtics’ season has taken a complete 180, and much of that has had to do with the switch-everything defensive scheme that first-year head coach Ime Udoka has implemented.
While it took time, the C’s have found their identity on the defensive end of the floor. Their switch-everything defense is amazing, Marcus Smart deserves a boatload of the credit as well.
While leading the Boston Celtics to the NBA’s top defense, Marcus Smart deserves to be in the DPOY conversation
The Boston Celtics have a league-best 105.4 defensive rating, and that number got a huge boost by holding the sharpshooting Golden State Warriors to only 88 points, including just 32 points in the first half.
Boston has disrupted opponents by switching nearly everything and using Robert Williams as more of a roamer. They place him on the power forward instead of the center to ensure he can help on drives to the paint.
While some may think switching is easy, it takes elite communication to be successful, and that is something Smart has thrived at. The vocal leadership he has provided has been just as impactful as the individual defense he brings on a nightly basis.
Individually, Smart holds a defensive rating of 104.4 while averaging 1.7 steals per game, good enough for the fifth-best in the league. Yet despite all this, NBA.com’s most recent Defensive Player Ladder had Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, and Mikal Bridges as the top three for the year-end award, with Marcus Smart on the outside looking in.
Let’s compare some defensive numbers between the four candidates.
According to NBA.com’s tracking data, opponents are shooting 44.9 percent from the floor when defended by Marcus Smart. In comparison, opponents are shooting 44.6 percent against Giannis, 42.4 percent against Gobert, and 46.7 percent against Bridges.
The DPOY award has favored the big man for many years and has ultimately turned into an award that goes to who is the best rim protector all year long.
With the NBA becoming more and more of a perimeter-centric league, it is time to award those who defend the first line of defense and stop opponents from hoisting threes or getting to the paint in the first place.
Offensive players are shooting just 32.5 percent from deep against Smart on 5.1 attempts per game and just 34.1 percent from 15 feet plus on 6.2 attempts per game.
For Giannis – 35.4 percent from three on 4.8 attempts per game and 37.5 percent from 15 feet plus on 6.8 attempts per game.
For Gobert – 32.9 percent from three on 5.2 attempts per game and 36.8 percent from 15 feet plus on 8.7 attempts per game.
For Bridges – 35.6 percent from three on 4.8 attempts per game and 36.2 percent from 15 feet plus on 6.0 attempts per game.
Two-point field goal percentage certainly favors Giannis and Gobert (49.8 percent and 45.5 percent) compared to the likes of Smart and Bridges (55.6 percent and 53.4 percent), but even when you get Smart into the paint, his size and physicality make it tough to back him down and get a shot off.
Smart has shown enough versatility to take on the likes of a Trae Young or Steph Curry on a nightly basis, and even takes the assignment of fronting a player like Giannis.
All four are deserving candidates, and that doesn’t even include Draymond Green and Bam Adebayo, who just miss the cut due to games played. But it is time for the NBA’s top-ranked defense to have a player be in the DPOY conversation.
If you don’t want to listen to the numbers or analysis, just take Jayson Tatum’s word for it…
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