Marcus Smart, Irrational confidence and the Celtics’ revival

Even when shots weren't falling, Marcus Smart remained convinced the Celtics could start turning things around soon. Following a blowout win over East-leading Miami Heat on Monday, he's got company.

From the time he arrived in Boston, Marcus Smart has walked that fine line between being a vocal leader and one who leads by example.

So to see him talk the talk of late and back it up with strong play, shouldn’t really come as a surprise.

It’s what he does, every year.

But this season seemed different.

After years of deep playoff runs and a string of regular season finishes near the top of the Eastern Conference standings, Boston has hovered around the .500 mark all season, unable to string together no more than three consecutive wins.

Whenever a team performs below expectations, fans and the media immediately go into carving up slices of blame pie for the poor play.

And Marcus Smart became an easy mark.

While he remains one of the best perimeter defenders, Smart’s impact last season and for long stretches this year, wasn’t what we had grown accustomed to.

He was still good, but not nearly as dominant or as big a difference-maker as we had seen in past years.

Couple that with the team’s shift to being more offensive-minded, and you had what appeared to be the makings of a player on his way out of town via trade.

Boston has had some intriguing options to consider for Smart, only for the Celtics to pass on them and keep the veteran guard in tow.

And Smart has made it clear he wants to be here, something that’s not a given in this day and age of the NBA when the slightest bit of constructive criticism or trade speculation directed toward a player may lead to them asking for a trade.

But for all the qualities that Smart brings to the table, the irrational confidence that he plays with really stands out.

Smart has shot in the low-to-mid 30s from 3-point range his entire NBA career, the kind of numbers that would give players (and their coach) reason for them to pause before shooting so much.

Not Smart.

Despite being just a career 31.8 percent shooter from 3-point range, he ranks fourth on the franchise’s all-time list of made 3-pointers, trailing

Why?

Because he has the kind of confidence that regardless of what the numbers say, regardless of what the eye test may reinforce, he’s going to take those shots without hesitation and be surprised when they don’t go in.

Having that kind of faith in one’s game, you would hope would be contagious.

Because the talent at the NBA level isn’t nearly as spread out as it has been in past generations.

Success isn’t just about who can jump the highest or has the sweetest 3-point shot. At times, all those physical attributes and skills among players are relatively even, with the only real difference-maker being the attitude of the combatants.

And that irrational confidence that we see Smart exhibiting often, seems to have infected the rest of the Celtics whose play of late has been more akin to what we’ve seen in past years.

Monday night’s blowout win over Miami was not what you expect to see from the top team record-wise in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat, to get throttled as they did by Boston.

This team is just a smidge above .500 now at 26-25, but are showing they can do more than just compete with the best.

They can beat them.

We saw it against Miami on Monday night, and have seen them step their collective games up against some of the best teams in the NBA and come away victorious.

Of course all those teams - and most teams in the NBA - were missing some key players while the Celtics had the bulk of their roster available.

But before folks bring up that Boston beat really good teams that were at less than full strength at that time, save that energy.

Because for most of the season, the Celtics have been a team that has had its share of players missing games whether it be an injury, an illness, and yet you seldom hear an argument as to why they too have lost some games due to not having their core guys all available and healthy to play.

That’s because this team is full of players with the kind of irrational confidence that has helped them at times achieve milestones few outside their locker room envisioned happening.

Smart’s ability to elevate his play defensively has often been the jump-start this team has needed to compete at a higher level, and come away victorious more times than not.

But the reaction to Smart was far more muted in general than it has been in past years.

Regardless of whether he was getting through to his teammates, Smart continued on, continually encouraging his teammates that good times and sweet victories were coming if they just stayed with it and didn’t give into the struggles.

While they are far, far away from being one of the top teams in the East, at least now they look as though they will compete and challenge some of the top-tier clubs.

And who knows how far that irrational confidence they now have in this team and one another, will take them.