The late-game offence seems to be the easiest to improve upon and the most evident mistake of all the lessons learned during the Atlanta road trip.
One can work to address a deficiency in boxing out. That will occur throughout the postseason. Although Murray’s thrashing of the Celtics was brutal, he took 44 shots and they were able to try out a new defence. There are still issues with the Tatum isos. They appear harsh to him, unfair to the other players on the squad, and wholly unjustified in light of this season’s performance.
Last season, Gabriel made 68 appearances with the Lakers and averaged 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game while shooting a career-high 59.6 percent from the field, according to the announcement posted at around noon by the Celtics.
Gabriel grew up in Manchester and played for Coach Sudi Lett as part of the Bishop Elite recreational team. Lett, who is head coach for Central High School’s varsity boys basketball, has continued to be a mentor and friend and said he sees the move to Boston as a great opportunity – not just for Gabriel, but for fans who haven’t had the opportunity to see him play in real-time on an NBA court.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for him. The Celtics recently traded one of their big guys so they may need the energy he brings,” Lett says. “Overall I’m happy for him and his family and it’s really cool for the city of Manchester. There have only been 5,000 players to ever play in the NBA and Manchester is home to one of them.”
Lett said the outpouring online once the news broke Tuesday has been nice to see.
Still, it’s possible that Mazzulla has a file on his computer that says, “Don’t show until the playoffs.
He signed to a training camp deal, so he still has some work to do, but so far we’re all super happy and rooting for him, big time,” says Lett. “Personally, I will do my best to keep as much distance as I can – because I know as great as it is for people to want to go see him play, it can also be a distraction because everyone’s pulling at you. Not that I don’t want to be there, but I will intentionally give him some space. After all, he’s at work; it’s a job for him and I want to respect that,” says Lett, in full coach-mode.
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