Welsh On Gresh And Zo: Marcus Smart Provides Celtics With Much-Needed Grit
BOSTON (CBS) - Tim Welsh of Comcast SportsNet New England joined the Gresh and Zolak Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub to discuss last night's NBA draft, more specifically, the Boston Celtics.
There was much talk of the Celtics trading their picks for a NBA all-star, however they held on to their 6th and 17th picks and chose Marcus Smart and James Young, respectively.
Tim Welsh was very pleased with whom the Celtics selected. Marcus Smart played his collegiate basketball at Oklahoma State while James Young played for the Kentucky Wildcats. Marcus Smart is a player that might be most well-known for his shoving of a fan during a game last year. It is a mistake that Smart has learned from and has become a better person because of it.
"After I thought about it long and hard and watched what he did, how he reacted, what he said and how he played it, I thought that event helped him. It helped him grow as a person, as a player, as a leader, and as a man. And I think that he will always be able to point back to that situation and say, 'That was a mistake I made.' And you know, he owned up to it as a man."
Gary Tanguay asked Tim Welsh how both Marcus Smart and James Young would fit in with the Boston Celtics coaching staff. Good news for Celtics fans: Tim Welsh thinks that they are a perfect fit.
"I think it's tremendous," said Welsh. "His (Brad Stevens) teams were gritty. They were tough. They were defensive. They were borderline dirty really. He kind of has that choir boy look, but his teams played real physical defense. They executed to a T. And that is what Marcus Smart is. I think that Brad Stevens fingerprints are on this draft in these two picks."
The Celtics are hoping that Smart and Young will be great players for them. The fans are also hoping the same.
Listen below:
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