An Attitude Reborn
The “No one believes in us” Boston Celtics are back, and I’m here for it. Seriously, pump that shit right into my veins.
Marcus Smart made an appearance on The Jump on Monday afternoon. When asked if people are sleeping on 2019-20 Celtics, Smart responded as he does.
“100 percent think they [are]. To be honest, that’s exactly how we like it.”
During the Isaiah Thomas regime, the Celtics adopted a “no one believes in us” attitude. The attitude drove the Celtics into the hearts of fans and to the Eastern Conference Finals. A year later, Smart handed down the attitude to the Celtics youth after the Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward injuries. The result? Shocking the world and coming within minutes of the NBA Finals.
With Brad Stevens at the helm, the Celtics have always possessed an “us against the world” mentality. Last season saw a 180-degree turn from that mentality. The 2018-2019 Celtics took on an “us against us” mentality.
They had all the expectations in the world. The 2018-2019 Celtics came into the year with a front-running mentality. After years of over achievement the Celtics were favorites to come out of the East. They disappointed early and never found their edge to turn things around.
Rebounding From a Disastrous Season
The Celtics almost had a disaster of an offseason in losing Irving and Al Horford. Danny Ainge recovered by signing Kemba Walker, Enes Kanter and came out with a solid draft haul. Despite this, many view them as a middling afterthought in the Eastern Conference.
No one believes in this team outside of the city of Boston. In a wide open Eastern Conference, the Celtics have a fighting chance to come out of the East come playoff time.
They’ve added a superstar that has everything to prove. Walker has never found playoff success in his career. He’s already stated that he’d be picking Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Smart’s brain on playoff success. The easy answer? Fight.
It’s been said to death, but this team is going to be a hell of a lot more likable than last season’s team, but that’s not hard. They’re also going to play a lot harder and we know that. At the end of the day, this team is going to be a lot better.
Tatum will take the step we expected him to take last season with an unselfish star next to him in Walker. Hayward will be closer to the version we saw with the Utah Jazz.
Boston’s made a run with out Irving before. On the team rebounding from the losses of Irving and Horford, Smart relayed, “We played without Kyrie last year and made it to the ECF… so it can be done. I think having that chip on our shoulder is that extra motivation that we needed to get us over that hump. I think it’s going to work out for us this year.”
It All Starts With Smart
It’s so refreshing to hear Marcus Smart, discuss last season’s turmoil and how Boston can rebound from it. It sounds a lot better than Brown and Tatum guaranteeing championships last season. The confidence and honesty from Smart is a great sign as he will officially take over for Horford as the locker room leader.
No one believes in this team. Using that as a chip on their shoulder is essential to the team’s success this season. The heart needs to overcome the ego. The fight is back in Boston.
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Author Details
My Name is a David Barr, I am a social media manager for the site. I was born in Massachusetts in the mid-90’s so I’ve had the pleasure of being a fan of winning teams for much of my life. I’ve been spoiled by greatness all these years but yet I’m a miserable cynic about my favorite teams. I was originally brought on the site as a Celtics writer, and I’ll continue to produce NBA pieces despite my social media responsibilities. So look out for my work on the site, and on our various social media accounts.
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My Name is a David Barr, I am a social media manager for the site. I was born in Massachusetts in the mid-90’s so I’ve had the pleasure of being a fan of winning teams for much of my life. I’ve been spoiled by greatness all these years but yet I’m a miserable cynic about my favorite teams. I was originally brought on the site as a Celtics writer, and I’ll continue to produce NBA pieces despite my social media responsibilities. So look out for my work on the site, and on our various social media accounts.
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