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WALTHAM, Mass. – Terry Rozier believes that he is a completely different animal than he was a year ago as he transitions from his rookie season to his upcoming sophomore campaign with the Boston Celtics.
The young point guard spent his entire offseason working on his game, starting with an evaluation period that began immediately after Boston’s postseason ended in April.
“I did a lot of thinking,” the 22-year-old reflected. “I wanted to clear my mind for a little bit, then I started watching film and seeing what areas I could improve on and things like that.”
The thing that stood out to Rozier the most was that he was often overthinking when he was on the court – a common flaw among NBA rookies who don’t have a consistent role.
“I kept that in my mind going into Summer League, and just how I can be aggressive from that point on,” said Rozier, who averaged eight minutes per game for Boston last season.
Well, something must have clicked over the last few months, because word in the Celtics’ gym is that Rozier has been one of the most aggressive players on the court during training camp.
“He’s coming to work everyday trying to get some minutes,” said forward Jae Crowder ahead of Monday's practice. “He wants to play. It’s very obvious that he wants to play very bad and he’s having a great training camp so far.”
Crowder began noticing a difference in Rozier’s game when he invited the young guard to work out with him over the summer.
“I think ‘confident’ is the best word you can use for his game right now,” said his veteran teammate. “He’s very confident and he’s playing at a high level. He put in work, and when you put in work the confidence comes. That’s one thing that you’ll see has changed with him.”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens is also impressed with the development Rozier has shown, and credits his increased confidence to the consistent workload he put in over the summer.
“He was [with Crowder] some, he was in Summer League, he was [home] in Cleveland, he was here [in Waltham]… I think the bottom line is, Terry is always working,” said Stevens.
Rozier began showing signs of improvement during Summer League in July. He emerged as a leader for the young squad and was the most consistent contributor, averaging a team-best 21.0 points per game in Las Vegas.
He’s carried that aggressiveness over to training camp, and Celtics fans caught a glimpse of it Friday night during open practice when Rozier went off for a team-high 10 points – which included two 3-pointers – during a 10-minute inter-squad scrimmage. The best part was that he showed no hesitation on the court, which is a sign that he was not overthinking his actions.
A major reason why Rozier’s confidence has improved is because he senses that his basketball IQ has increased significantly from Year 1 to Year 2.
“Going into my second Summer League I felt like I had more knowledge,” he said. “Just being around the game and learning your routines, and just learning from other guys that you’re around. You feel like you pick up on a lot of stuff.”
Another thing that that Rozier has picked up on is slowing down how he sees the game, which allows him to make better reads as a ball handler.
“I’m just seeing my options instead of just feeling like I’m rushed,” said Rozier. “That’s one of the reasons, once I slow my mind down and see what the options are, it makes it better on me.”
Rozier is hoping his increased confidence translates to improved production on the court, because he’s noted on numerous occasions that he wants to eat up the vacant minutes that Evan Turner – who is now with Portland – left behind.
“I really want them all,” Rozier said of those available minutes. “But I’m just waiting patiently, trying to get better, learning a lot of things. Just waiting for that time to come.”
Based on how things have panned out so far through camp, Rozier’s waiting period may not last too much longer.