#ROOKIE MARCUS SMART HOW TO#

“There were days where it was really bothering me to where I could barely walk on some mornings. “There were days I just wanted to call it quits and have my rookie season be over,” he said. Smart constantly iced the ankle and received electro-stimulation and would sometimes arrive at TD Garden six hours before tipoff to loosen the joint. I was always putting more pressure on it and pushing it and pushing it.” I never really gave it that time to heal on its own. “I just couldn’t get my regular explosiveness,” Smart said.

3 but was in pain for most of the season. He suffered the sprain and a bone bruise while attacking the rim on a fast break during a Nov. Smart said his workouts have been productive because, for the first time in months, his left ankle is not a hindrance. “If he continues to work,” Erman said, “he can eventually be an All-Star.”

#ROOKIE MARCUS SMART HOW TO#

They have worked on shooting, ball-handling and defense, and how to make proper reads coming off of pick-and-rolls. “That’s just another thing that’s on my book, my mind, that’s keeping me going and motivated into this summer,” Smart said.Īnd that is why, after a brief trip home to Texas to see family, he is now back in Waltham, training for several hours a day with Celtics assistant coach Darren Erman. And he still believes he should have been a first-team all-rookie choice. He still thinks he should have been in the Rising Stars Challenge, an all-star game involving first- and second-year players. He is still frustrated by his shooting percentage (36.7), and annoyed his ankle injury suffered in November never truly went away. “I’m a lock-up defender and I believe strongly in my defense, so I don’t need to take cheap shots at guys to get an edge.” “I didn’t have a reason to do it,” Smart said.

Rookie marcus smart