Marcus Smart was suspended by the team for tomorrow’s preseason finale against the Miami Heat due to a violation of team rules.
“It's been handled internally,” head coach Ime Udoka said, noting that the rule violated is one he set. “He won't play tomorrow and be ready for opening night.”
While neither the team nor Smart, who was available to the media, revealed what rule was broken, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Smart had missed the team flight to Orlando.
This leaves the Celtics very short handed for what Udoka had called a dress rehearsal for the regular season. The final regular season game was supposed to feature Udoka’s actual rotations for the start of the season. Instead, he’ll be without the suspended Smart, and Al Horford and Jaylen Brown, both of whom are recovering from COVID-19.
“We set the standard pretty high from Day One and he understands that, as well as the rest of the team,” Udoka said today. “He understands what we expect from him, so to have this happen also with the guys we’re missing sets us back a little bit and we’ll all move on from it moving forward.”
Accountability has been something attached to Udoka since his hiring and players have repeatedly mentioned Udoka’s direct nature.
“He's very good with really engaging the group and getting his point across, really connecting with us players,” said Horford, who was also coached by Udoka in Philadelphia. “The time I got to spend with him, that's what I saw. He really held people accountable, Being very clear and telling people how he sees things and things like that. Those were my impressions from him that impressed me when I was with him.”
Smart now becomes the first player we know of to be disciplined by Udoka. Both sides seem satisfied with the resolution.
“It’s frustrating I won’t be able to play, but it is what it is,” Smart said. “It’s over and done with and I’m looking forward to coming back to MSG and playing.”
Added Udoka, “Marcus broke a team rule. We talked about it and handled it internally, but he won’t play tomorrow. He’s with us on this trip. Marcus is one of our leaders and we expect a certain standard of him and he knows that. He’s remorseful. He will not play tomorrow and we’ll get him ready for opening night.”
OPTIMISTIC ABOUT PRITCHARD
The Celtics think Payton Pritchard broke his nose in last night’s game, and he’s back in Boston getting it checked by a specialist.
“We’re waiting to hear back but he'll obviously be out tomorrow,” Udoka said. “We're optimistic that he'll be ready to go next week sometime and ready for opening night.”
NESMITH IMPRESSES
Aaron Nesmith’s 23 point, 4 assist, 3 rebound performance last night was pretty impressive, especially since he was able to do it against NBA competition (even if it was the Orlando Magic).
“Aaron's been a pleasant surprise,” Udoka said. “Obviously, he's had a huge carryover from summer league and that's where he really picked it up ... he's taking advantage of his opportunities. Growing in a lot of areas and I think his comfort level out there is night and day from last year, so we're encouraging him to be who he is, learning on the fly as we go.”
Still, as impressive as Nesmith has been, there are obvious areas for the second-year sharpshooter to improve.
“We want him to be one of our guys that can obviously guard on the perimeter a little bit better at times,” Udoka said. “Like a young guy, he gets lost at times, on and off the ball, but that's expected to some extent. We’re just trying to implement a new system. So he's getting it, just like all the other guys and experience will only help them through this preseason.”
ROBERT WILLIAMS CONDITIONING IS OFF
Williams added some bulk in the offseason, but maybe he didn’t focus quite enough on the cardio.
“My conditioning could be better for sure, in my opinion,” Williams said. He’s been asked to do a lot, including switching onto guards on the perimeter. “It is different having to go out on the wing and switch, guard those guards with guard tendencies. It's a little adjustment I feel like."
As I’ve said many times already, Williams probably has the biggest adjustments to make under Udoka. The work on the perimeter adds a new element to his defensive responsibilities, and it doesn’t seem like he was fully prepared for that.
Basically, he put on bulk thinking he was going to have to bang with the big boys in Philadelphia (and he still probably will), but Udoka’s switching require someone to be a little more fleet of foot. Williams has to find that middle ground.
