Early Saturday evening the Boston Celtics played their first summer league game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics team is composed of many of their own rookies as well as second and third year players such as Robert Williams and Guerschon Yabusele, in addition undrafted players such as UCFs Tacko Fall and other players trying to make an impression to fill out the roster.
The #33 pick in this years draft, Carson Edwards, showed that he could continue to score the ball at a high level like he did in college leading the team with 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting and five 3-pointers. His quick release seems to be just as deadly in the preliminary stages of summer league as it was during the NCAA tournament when he averaged 34.8 points a game.
Rookie Grant Williams from Tennessee delivered 12 points in his NBA debut. The rookie power forward hit two 3-pointers, if WIlliams continues to shoot this well he may carve out a small role for himself in the Celtics rotation this season.
7-foot-7 rookie Tacko Fall received the biggest reception of the night by simply checking in for his first action of the game. His first professional basket was a dunk and there was barely any room between hit feet in the floor to the delight of all in attentendence. One of the most interesting stories of coming weeks will be how much offensive talent Fall currently possess.
The Celtics rookie who will play for the Maine Red Claws if he doesn't make the parent club during training camp has surprised the Celtics with how agile he is considering his size. If able to learn the sky hook which he has been taught by two NBA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon he possibly contain one of the most unstoppable moves in the game of basketball. As stated by Celtics assistant coach Scott Morrison, “He doesn’t even have to have a sky hook. His normal hook would be a sky hook. . . . I was saying that the other day, if he could develop a little jump hook it would be one of the most unstoppable shots in the game, if he was consistent with it. . . . I see some skills people don’t give him credit for. I don’t think anyone wants to see him get the ball 14 feet from the bucket, but if he catches the ball with one foot in the paint, he’s one half-step away from dropping it over the rim or dunking it. . . . We were trying to do a post entry drill today where the post was a passer, but he kept catching it so low that he had to finish it. The biggest thing for him will be getting down the floor and getting position, because if he gets position he’s unstoppable in certain respects.”
Second year player Robert Williams had a strong showing posting a nine-point, nine-rebound, two-block performance. He even shot 3 mid-range shots showcasing his improved comfort venturing outside the paint.
Guerschon Yabusele was 0-for-4 shooting with four rebounds. However, Celtics assistant coach Scott Morrison still believes Yabusele can be a key contributor for the team, “Probably just maybe not press so much. He didn’t get that many touches, which I could help with a little bit,” he said. “The second half I tried to get him a few more looks and I feel like maybe he was pressing a bit to make something happen on those touches because he hadn’t gotten many. So Guerschon is a great passer, great cutter, good team basketball player, so I just have to remind him to play like that and showcase his strengths, and I’ll try to get him more opportunities where he can be a scorer as well.”
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