The basketball pedigree is as a Texas Longhorn.
But had there been a transfer in one other sporting course, P.J. Tucker apparently would have been embraced as a Clemson Tiger.
At least that’s the impression created amid these Eastern Conference semifinals by an encounter Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke of with Clemson soccer coach Dabo Swinney.
No sooner had Tucker’s relentless hustle as an undersized member of the facility rotation helped present the Miami Heat with a 1-0 sequence lead Monday night time in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers, then Spoelstra spoke of a Swinney embrace.
“I had Dabo out here,” Spoelstra defined. “He and I’ve been pals for a couple of years. I’ve visited him. So as we had been hanging out in Championship Alley after the sport, Tuck got here by, and he was the primary man Dabo went as much as, and he stated, ‘Man, I love the way you play. I love the way you compete. You could have played for us, back in the day.’ “
That’s Championship Alley as within the hallway that leads from the courtroom at FTX Arena to the Heat locker room.
“And that’s the way P.J. is,” Spoelstra stated. “He’s extraordinarily bodily, clearly. He’s actually aggressive. He’s all in regards to the performs in between, the hustle performs, the 50-50s. But he’s capable of do it with an unimaginable self-discipline and a thoughts.
“I think that really is what separates him from just being an overly physical guy that’s just picking up six fouls in 10 minutes. P.J. has a great feel and IQ for the game and he does it on both ends for us. That’s really important.”
Considering what Tucker, 36, has been keen to do on the hardwood relating to unfastened balls, Spoelstra has little question about what would ensue on the turf if Tucker was chasing down a fumble.
“I would not want to be in that pile,” Spoelstra stated, “if he’s got a loose ball going for it.”
So maybe all full circle, that probability assembly with Swinney, contemplating that when Rick Barnes recruited Tucker to Texas, he quipped, “Am I here to recruit a basketball player or an offensive tackle?”
The Riley manner
In a chunk on ESPN’s Andscape website, Tucker spoke in regards to the shocking chill nature of Heat President Pat Riley on the crew’s observe facility.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever liked somebody as much as I like Pat,” Tucker stated. “Maybe as a result of he’s older. He’s chill. He’s at each observe. He obtained his pad. He obtained his pen. He is over there writing. He doesn’t say a phrase. I don’t know if anyone ever heard Pat say a phrase at observe. He has not addressed the crew. He has not stated a phrase all season.
“And I’d heard all these Pat Riley stories, so I’m ready for him to start wigging out, come to the locker room and halftime. I have been on teams where owners and presidents come in and say, ‘What y’all doing?’ Bro, Pat Riley hasn’t said one word all year. Hey, I’m telling you all Pat, for me, sends is text messages. Pat text messages with me.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com