Nothing happened. Some waited. Some forgot. Forgot about Stephon Marbury? After being in the spotlight for the first half of the season without even playing a game, and all of a sudden, he was potentially the forgotten soldier? Nobody was talking about him. Not good. Not bad. Marbury had become a quiet, abiding bench player. Not even a role player..a bench player.
But alas, the playoffs came, and Boston was struggling a little. But not all hope is lost for the defending champions, amid a little struggle. Being a part of one of the most entertaining first round playoff series in a long, long time...Stephon Marbury had a chance to make himself relevant again.
And just as quickly as it came...he let it go.
At this point in the game, a bucket is desperately needed. Boston had been crawling back, and almost has the game in their hands. Pierce drove to the basket only to be collapsed by the Bulls defense. He dished it to Marbury. Stephon Marbury was wide open for at least two seconds, and not a Bulls defender for 5-6 feet. Who wouldn't kill for this shot? He hesitated for a moment, gave a light-hearted pass to Rondo who threw it up over a defender only to airball the shot.
Yes, the Celtics went on to to win the game. This article isn't about how the Celtics don't know how to finish a game. This article isn't about how the Celtics coaching staff aren't doing their jobs, thus losing the game. That would be the Bulls, and their inabilities. Boston won the game, but Stephon Marbury is losing by a lot right now.
Since being in Boston, he hasn't done anything productive to help the team. In most games we have seen him, he usually has more shots than points (88 points on 111 shots this season with the Celtics). But this was his chance to shine. This was such a great opportunity. Call me crazy, but I think that's a shot Marbury hits easily. But he didn't. He passed it up.
If the season ends this weekend for the Celtics or in the next few weeks...whenever it may be, I don't see Steph being asked to return to the Celtics. He has shown to value to the team. But hey, maybe Garnett would have made a difference and they bring him back. You never know, but I just don't see him coming back to the Celtics. But then I think about it...and I don't see any reason any other team would sign Marbury. We haven't seen him do anything for the Celtics. We can;t say he has no more offense, nor can we say he has great defense. He is just there.
ESPN Writer, Bill Simmons points out that in Game 5, Marbury was a -17 when he was on the floor. In some crazy ESPN calculation, he concludes that the Celtics would have lost 192-28. That's not a good sign for your resume next season.
Not all is lost for the Starbury yet. He still has minimum two games left to prove his worth to the Celtics, and to the rest of the team. Doc Rivers isn't putting him in because Marbury is playing so well. He is putting him in because he has no choice. The Celtics are not a deep team.
Even if some people believe that Boston is done regardless of their first round series, Stephon Marbury is not.
Or is he?
Mr. Littal had the twitter of the night last night and I am paraphrasing:
"Anytime a guy has a hot chick checking him out and he passes it off to a friend he will be known as a MARBURY"
Who knew there would come a day where Marbury would be scared to shoot.
It is the tatto on his face
Q5otHD
Q5otHD