Opening night time within the NBA Summer League wasn’t precisely a calming time for Ime Udoka, not with the NBA Finals such a latest reminiscence.
“Anytime you get there you want to finish the deal and we had opportunities,” the Celtics coach mentioned throughout an interview on NBA TV. “You look at the Game 4, Game 5 third-quarter leads we didn’t maintain, and with four or five minutes left knowing you had a chance there – you come into summer league and you’re around all these people, you get unfriendly reminders of how close you got. Finish the deal next time.”
With Udoka, Jayson Tatum and the remainder of the franchise mind belief courtside for the staff’s Las Vegas opener towards Miami Saturday night time, the Celtics’ 2022 summer season leaguers performed to an elevated viewers.
And very like the father or mother membership within the Finals, the Summer Celtics light down the stretch of their 88-78 loss to the Heat as a result of some horribly-timed scoring droughts.
Sam Hauser, hoping to make use of this summer season league as a springboard after signing a three-year contract earlier within the week, struggled from the beginning with a seven-point efficiency on 2-for-12 taking pictures, together with 1-for-9 from his bread-and-butter 3-point vary.
But Hauser was removed from alone together with his offensive struggles. Rookie JD Davison, earlier than limping off late within the fourth quarter after cramping up, lived as much as his vow to “be a dog” at each ends of the ground with a powerful defensive efficiency that included three blocks, two steals, and 6 assists and rebounds every.
But the rookie level guard, who signed a two-way contract with the staff earlier within the day – not identified for his taking pictures as evidenced by his 10-point, 3-for-11 (2-for-5 downtown) night – has lots to work on offensively over the subsequent two weeks.
Juhann Begarin, final 12 months’s second-round choose and a veteran of two seasons within the French league, shot 2-for-10 for his 13 factors.
“Just progress,” Udoka mentioned of what he’s in search of. “We’ve seen some of these guys over the last year and we want to see what they’ve done with the last year. Guy like Juhann, who’s been overseas, we want to see the growth in him from last year to this year. That’s the main thing you want to see — how they fit into what we do well. A guy like Sam Hauser. They’re playing a different position here, and we want to see how they can acclimate to that. Some things translate, some don’t as far as the scoring and all of that, but we want to see how they fit in with the big scheme of what we’re doing.”
Brogdon commerce turns into official
The Celtics’ commerce for Malcolm Brogdon was made official Saturday, together with the re-signings of Luke Kornet and Hauser, and Udoka naturally seems to be ahead to his enviable backcourt depth.
The plan stays for Brogdon to return off the bench behind Marcus Smart. Overall, although, it’s all about deepening the rotation, in accordance with the Celtics coach.
“For us, an area we had to rely on young guys with inexperience a lot, and you saw the difference in the Finals as opposed to some of the other rounds, we wanted to tighten up some bench rotations and I think we did that with some of the additions,” mentioned Udoka. “Just overall they’re complementary pieces to some guys we already have, guys at a certain point in their career who saw what we did and want to be a part of that. The biggest thing I’ve told the group is growth from within. We’ll add the pieces we need as far as strengthening our bench, but you guys have to come back better.”
The new additions mark a dramatic change for the bench, although.
“We are very excited about what Malcolm brings both on and off the court,” Celtics president Brad Stevens mentioned in a ready assertion. “His resume speaks for itself. He is the kind of playmaker, shooter, and impact defender that we need in our continued pursuit of Banner 18.”
Big man options
The Celtics proceed to seek for a backup massive man, however might have two attention-grabbing candidates on their summer season league roster. Trevion Williams, an undrafted middle out of Purdue, put his well-publicized passing expertise on show as a part of a six-point, two-assist, six-rebound efficiency.
Mfiondu Kabengele, the previous Clipper coming in off a powerful G-League season, completed off 4 lobs Saturday night time on the best way to a 14-point, six-rebound, 5-for-7 efficiency.
“Consistency,” Udoka mentioned of what the younger massive man wants. “I saw him at Florida State in college and his first two years with the Clippers, and you just want to see progress. Shot the ball well in college and want to see him continue to progress as far as that, but he’s a lob threat, high energy, big time rebounder in college, and you just want to see more of that consistency across the board.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com