Fred VanVleet's 'ultimate competitor' label puts high hopes on Marcus Smart

Marcus Smart just got to Houston, but his teammates are already singing his praises. During his own Media Day press conference, fellow veteran guard Fred VanVleet took the time to shout out Smart as the "ultimate competitor" that always shows up in big moments. Smart will have a big role to fill on the Rockets this season as a defensive leader, and VanVleet seems confident he's up to the task.

Smart has already earned his new team's respect

As VanVleet pointed out, Smart has gotten a reputation as an intense player and playoff riser. He had plenty of battles with VanVleet when the two were starting guards on respective Eastern powerhouses - Smart on the Celtics and VanVleet on the Raptors. During that time, Smart's physical, versatile defense helped Boston make deep playoff runs, including a 2022 Finals appearance under head coach Ime Udoka.

Naturally, Smart's prior success under Udoka, including winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, give him a leg up in the Rockets locker room. Many of the veterans in Houston are already familiar with Smart through their clashes over the years. Given Smart's defensive reputation, they all believe that he can help the Rockets defense improve further this season too.

But it's not just nostalgia of Smart's play from years ago driving his newfound respect. His performance in last season's playoff series for the Lakers against the Rockets also drove the decision to bring him in now. During that series, he made huge defensive plays to steal clutch games and take advantages of Reed Sheppard's weaknesses. Adding Smart to the team can bring in that extra defensive intensity and help Sheppard improve on his all-around game in practice.

The Rockets need Smart to live up to expectations

Since Smart was traded from the Celtics, his career trajectory has been a very mixed bag. He had some awful seasons on tanking teams with the Grizzlies and Wizards, but found resurgence with the Lakers last season. Despite his success as a defender in that first-round series, Smart's overall season with LA was middling.

He shot just 40% from the field and 33% from three last season for 9 points per game. He also added 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, but the shooting numbers could tank his impact with the Rockets. For several seasons, Houston has been a team lacking in overall spacing; Smart needs to help this problem rather than make it worse.

However, as VanVleet and others have pointed out, his biggest impact should come on defense regardless of how well he shoots. Not only will Smart be a great individual and team defender when he's on the court, but he should also raise the defensive standard across the team with his leadership. Expect to see everyone on the Rockets playing harder defense this season with Smart pushing them.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow