Last night Stephon Marbury went from a sub that many Celtic fans shook their heads at, to a key contributor to a playoff victory. Marbury all of a sudden out of nowhere found the confidence his playoff appearances was lacking. For a few fleeting minutes the swagger was back, the desire to make buckets was back. At the start of the 4th quarter Marbury strapped the offense on his back, dropped 12 points, kept the Celtics in the game and was essentially a playoff hero, a very mild one. This entire season and playoff with the Celtics, Stephon's main goal has seemingly been to be a good teammate. He cheers on the bench. He never hogs the ball. He never tries to be the star. He often passes on open shots to try to get other teammates better looks. He's even trying to play good defense. Gasp. How can you use Marbury and good defense in the same sentence? I said trying, not playing.
From my perspective I've seen these things for the entire postseason and have thought that he's giving his best effort and that if he ever got the swagger back and combined it with his efforts to be a good teammate than he could potentially be a key component off the bench. Last night was a glimpse into that potential world, and with an entire offseason to workout with the guys and to get a little confidence back in his blood I think Marbury 09-10 may just be good enough to challenge for 6th man of the year. Bring him back.
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