NBA Global Games

Taylor Snow

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WALTHAM, Mass. – On paper, Thursday’s matchup against the 76ers in London was merely another game on the Boston Celtics’ regular season schedule. In reality, however, it proved to be far more than just that.

The organization’s three-day business trip overseas gave it a unique opportunity to spread its wings and expand its brand to an international audience. And that’s the type of opportunity that the Celtics don’t take for granted.

“Anywhere you can touch globally is just awesome,” Kyrie Irving said Saturday afternoon following Celtics practice back home in Waltham, Massachusetts. “Just to be there with the fans, to be there for the support that we garnered over there from the Celtics organization to the NBA in playing against the Sixers was great.

“I’ve had the unique opportunity of going to a few places through the connection of basketball,” added Irving, whose C’s beat the 76ers 114-103, “and that’s a way of bringing people together and just to watch some individuals on the court put a ball in the hoop. And that makes it pretty awesome.”

The Celtics have always shown interest in spreading basketball globally and engaging with their international fan base by playing abroad. It’s something that team president Rich Gotham emphasized during the summer of 2015 before the team took a preseason trip to play in Milan and Madrid.

“A lot of NBA merchandise is sold in those countries, NBA games are broadcasted in those countries,” Gotham told Celtics.com. “So while there might not be an NBA league or affiliated team in those countries, there’s a huge NBA following and television audience over there. And so for the teams to go there and rub elbows and perform in person, that’s important to keep that flame burning.”

During the last decade alone, the Celtics have participated in eight preseason and regular season international games with trips to six different cities. This marked the team’s first game in London since their preseason tilt against the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of the 2007-08 championship season.

Of course, no players that took part in that trip are still on the team, so it gave this group of Celtics a fresh taste of how dedicated their London fan base is.

“Obviously the NBA is extremely popular there,” said coach Brad Stevens. “I think people really enjoyed getting a chance to see both teams play. And then you see Celtics fans walking around all over the streets where we were. I thought it was a really good opportunity for our team, and I thought it was cool to see that reach.”

Diehard Celtics fans flooded The 02 Arena Thursday night in London, creating an atmosphere that was similar to what a gamegoer would experience at TD Garden in Boston. It was similar to the welcome the team received in other international cities, such as Istanbul, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan and Rome.

“Everywhere we go we get this amazing reception and all these arenas are filled with people in green,” said Gotham. “It’s a good opportunity for us to get out there, get our brand out there and get some exposure with this big fan base that you otherwise never really knew you had.”

Jaylen Brown traveled to London this past summer as Boston’s Global Games representative, so he had an idea of the Celtics’ enormous fan base that existed there. Still, the 21-year-old was impressed to see the turnout when he returned half a year later for the highly-anticipated game.

“It was quite surprising to see so many green jerseys in London,” admitted Brown, who scored a team-best 21 points during the win over Philly. “I think we’re pretty big over there already, but just to further expand it is great.”

The more on board the Celtics bandwagon the better, from the United States, across The Pond to London, and beyond.

london-trip-further-emphasizes-celtics-global-reach

London Trip Further Emphasizes Celtics’ Global Reach

Marc D'Amico

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MADRID – Boston’s “pace and space” offensive philosophy has typically been associated with the threeball.  It may be time to reassess that connection.

Through two exhibition games, the Celtics are averaging a mind-blowing 63.0 points in the paint per game.  Compare that to an average of just 41.8 points in the paint per game last season, which ranked 16th in the league, and it becomes clear that Boston is putting a heavy emphasis on getting to the basket.

“We need to attack the paint,” Brad Stevens said after the game.  “We need to continue to take high-quality shots.”

While the guards have been the ones attacking the basket off of the dribble, Stevens says that the forward positions have also been an integral factor of this interior explosion.

“We have a lot of depth at the forward spots.  We have a lot of skill at the forward spots,” he said.  “That opens up driving lanes for our guards.”

One of those key forwards is David Lee, who has been nothing short of impressive during his first two games with the C’s.  He tallied a double-double consisting of 13 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night, just 38 hours after logging 13 points and seven boards against EA7 Emporio Armani Milano.

“David Lee has brought a lot to our team,” Avery Bradley said of his newest partner in the starting lineup.  “Not only leadership, but just making good plays, making the right play, the easy play. That helps everyone out there just feel comfortable and play without thinking.”

In addition to strong individual play from forwards and guards, ball movement has been a critical aspect of Boston’s interior scoring.  The Celtics racked up 26 assists tonight and 31 assists Tuesday night.  Teamwork, great passes and great cuts have been staples of their offense.

“The last two games I felt like we could move it, move it, rebound a little bit. Move it, move it, dump off and score and roll down the paint and at least draw attention,” said Stevens.  “I felt like that was something we were going to be able to do. That's a good thing.”

What is the result of all of these factors?  Offensive efficiency.

Boston is running circles around opposing defenses and consistently getting quality looks in the paint.  If this trend continues, we won’t see the C’s rank in the top half of the NBA in 3-point attempts per game this season, as they did in 2014-15.  Instead, we’ll be talking about one of the top teams in the league when it comes to interior scoring.

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Emphasis on Interior Scoring is Paying off for C's

MADRID - No team wants to be missing players, but if it's going to happen, it might as well occur during the preseason.

The Celtics will be without three players during tonight's matchup with Real Madrid, and that number could easily climb to four or more. Evan Turner (right knee strain), Amir Johnson (illness) and Perry Jones (death in family) will all miss tonight's game. Additionally, David Lee missed this morning's shootaround due to illness and several other players are under the weather.

"We've had some upper respiratory issues for a couple of days now, and we have a couple of other guys who are a little feverish," Brad Stevens said at Thursday morning's shootaround. "It's going around and I don't know who's going to be available and who's not."

Boston's sudden epidemic of injuries, illnesses and other issues will quickly teach the team to adapt a "next man up" attitude. Everyone must be ready to play on a night like this, and that's a teaching point for the team's young players.

"This will be a great environment, it will be a great crowd, it will be great to play against these guys that are older," said Stevens.  "They're so accomplished.  I was thinking about it: if a couple of our young guys get to play against this, it will be nothing but good for their development

Fortunately for the C's, their youngsters, who will likely see an increase in playing time tonight, have been hard at work since training camp began.

"They're always ready," said Jared Sullinger said of his youngest teammates. He later added, "Those guys are just ready to play, and as time goes on we're going to need them."

That readiness, according to Sullinger, is the definition of being a professional.

"[That's what] the NBA is all about," Sullinger said. "Sometimes you think you're going to play and you might play. Sometimes you think you're going to play and you're not going to play. You've just got to be mentally ready for whenever coach calls your number."

Preseason basketball, meanwhile, is all about preparing for the regular season. Tonight's matchup with Real Madrid is the perfect opportunity for Boston to do so.

celts-dealing-with-myriad-of-personnel-issues-in-madrid

Celts Dealing with Myriad of Personnel Issues in Madrid

MILAN – Try to critique the Boston Celtics after their 124-91 domination of EA7 Emporio Armani Milano Tuesday night.

This was a preseason game against a non-NBA team, so take this with a grain of salt, but the Celtics were fantastic in every area of the game.  They made plays on offense, they made plays on defense, and they made plays everywhere in between.

“When we play unselfish basketball like that it’s easy basketball,” said newcomer David Lee, who scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.  “I think that that’s going to be a staple and kind of a benchmark for us all season long, is if we can play unselfish and get each other involved, and the game’s gonna be easy for everybody.  We did that tonight.”

The Celtics did that so well Tuesday night that they made many in the building – including their opponent – forget that this was their very first game together.

“I’m really surprised,” Milano head coach Jasmin Repeša said of how well Boston played, “and it’s really impressive that they can play this type of basketball just after a few days together.”

As Repeša indicated, it truly looked like the Celtics had been playing together for years.  Most impressive was the offense, which flowed with grace.  The ball consistently skipped from teammate to teammate until someone got an open look, oftentimes in the paint.  Boston tallied 31 assists compared to just 14 turnovers and notched 70 points in the paint.

“I was impressed with the way they moved the ball,” said Milano forward Robbie Hummel, who spent the last two seasons with the Timberwolves.  “I think at halftime some of us were saying that it kind of reminded us of the Spurs a little bit.”

Coming from an opponent, that’s music to Boston’s ears.  Much like the Spurs’ offense, the Celtics’ system is designed to strike from any position, at any time, from any area of the court.

“The system is wide open and it goes great with the personnel that we have,” Lee commented.  “So it’s just a matter of making basketball plays and continuing to be aggressive.”

Boston also played well at the defensive end, limiting Milano to 44.6 percent shooting from the field and 34.6 percent shooting from long distance.  The host team needed 83 shots to score its 91 points.

The Celtics did make a few mistakes during this game, as Brad Stevens was quick to point out, but that was to be expected.  After all, this was their first opportunity to play in a game together.

If they looked this good during their preseason opener, just imagine the heights they could reach as this season wears on.

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C's Were a Well-Oiled Machine in Preseason Opener

MILAN – Game day has finally arrived for the Boston Celtics, and with that, so has the team’s first shootaround of the season.

This shootaround, however, was not a typical pre-game experience.

Standard shootaround protocol calls for the C’s to simply walk through their game plan for about 30-45 minutes each game day.   Today, Brad Stevens deviated from that routine.

“We’ll go typical shootaround,” Stevens told reporters, “but then we’ll add 20 minutes and do some up-and-down stuff.”

That additional 20 minutes took the session past the one-hour mark.  To put that into perspective, a standard, full-fledged practice for Boston typically lasts 90 minutes.

Stevens believes the additional work is necessary for his team at this point of the preseason.

“It’s time to practice,” he said.  “At the end of the day, these are practice games.  I think practice and getting better is the most important thing.”

Players are usually not fans of shootarounds, let alone shootarounds that resemble a full practice, but the Celtics know that there is a method to their coach’s madness.

“I think he’s just trying to get us more familiar with each other and get a routine going and just get our minds right, especially being out here [in another] country,” said Isaiah Thomas, who learned of the alteration this morning.

Another motive for the lengthened shootaround is to improve the team’s conditioning.  Many of Boston’s players will only see limited action in tonight’s preseason opener.

“It’s good to get out here now, especially with a lot of us who might not be playing a lot,” Marcus Smart said before the session began, “getting out here and getting that work in now and getting our legs under us.”

NBA players are typically creatures of habit, especially on game days.  But Smart does not believe the altered schedule will affect the Celtics in a negative manner.  In fact, he believes it will be a good thing for the team.

“It’s going to kind of keep you engaged and ready to go, rather than coming in for 30 minutes and kind of just walk-through and everybody is just nonchalant with it,” he said.  “(It will help) get your mind set right now.”

That’s the plan.  Today’s shootaround was all about getting the players ready – both mentally and physically – for their first preseason game and beyond.

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Celtics Lengthen Shootaround in Milan

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Photos: Celtics Visit Milan

MILAN – Boston’s exhibition schedule will open up Tuesday night when the Celtics take on Olimpia Milano at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan.

Make no mistake about it: Boston is not viewing its first opponent as a pushover.

“We went through the scouting report today and they go about eight or nine deep of guys that not only play for the Italian national team, but guys that are big-time players over here,” newcomer David Lee said, rattling off Milano’s top players such as former NBAers Robbie Hummel and Oliver Lafayette.  “We’re very aware and we’re not taking anyone lightly.”

Although the C’s dominated Milano three years ago during its previous Global Games trip, winning 105-75, they did so with added motivation.  Boston was only two days removed from an alarming 97-91 defeat at the hands of Fenerbahce Ulker during their preseason opener in Istanbul, Turkey.

Avery Bradley and Jared Sullinger are the only holdovers from that 2012-13 team, and they vividly recall how it felt to lose to a non-NBA team.

“People were upset,” Bradley remembered.  “KG (Kevin Garnett) and those guys were pretty upset.”

Sullinger views that 2012 loss as a learning experience for the rest of his career, one that taught him to never take an opposing team lightly.

“These guys are just as good as us if you look at the tape,” he commented.  “Just because they play over here doesn’t mean they’re not good.  We respect them and we’re going to come out and play hard like we always do.”

The hope is that such effort will result in a win.  Bradley, Sullinger and their teammates are not interested in suffering another embarrassing loss.

“(We’re) really motivated, not only for our fans here, but for our fans in Boston,” Bradley said.  “They want to see us improve every single game and get wins while doing that.  Every game for us is important and I feel like we need to take every game serious and get a win tomorrow.”

Getting a win isn’t the only goal for the Celtics tomorrow night.  The players finally have a chance to play with each other and against another squad, which will be a great opportunity for the team to develop chemistry.

“I think the biggest thing for us is just to get comfortable with one another,” said Sullinger.  “Win, lose or draw, it’s all about being comfortable with one another.”

Lee, who will be playing in his first game with the Celtics, elaborated on that sentiment.

“While this doesn’t count toward our record at the end of the year, it matters that we’re going out there and we’re playing the kind of basketball that we’ve been playing in practice,” said the two-time All-Star. “It’s similar to a scrimmage here in practice; it doesn’t count on our record, but you saw how competitive it got out there.  It matters to us to go out there and play well and to put the things that we’ve been working on into action.”

To this point, the Celtics haven’t had an opportunity to put anything into action against anyone but themselves. That will all change Tuesday night.

And you better believe that these C’s won’t be overlooking their first opponent.

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C's Aim to Give Olimpia Milano their Best Shot

MILAN – There has been plenty of noise surrounding the Celtics over the past two days.  It was finally time to shut it all off on Sunday.

Boston made its way onto the Olimpia Milano practice court this afternoon for its first official NBA Global Games practice.  The past 48 hours had been all about travel and team bonding, but now it was time to get back to the true business at hand: basketball.

“These sessions are really important to get something accomplished in practice and make sure that we continue to progress,” said Brad Stevens, who acknowledged that this trip is very different than those which he took to Europe with his Butler teams.  “It’s still very much a part of our training camp, and so you’ve got all of the great things about being a tourist – seeing new things and being able to experience new things – and at the same time we’re 24 or 25 days away from our season opener.  So we’ve got to have productive days in the gym.”

From the sound of it, his players are in agreement.  The Celtics were excited to get back onto the court and did not appear to be worried about turning off the noise that surrounds their Global Games trip.

“It felt good having those days off,” said Marcus Smart, “but every guy here loves playing the game of basketball.  We look at it more like: this is our job, this is our practice, this is what we love to do.  So anytime we can get out here and throw a ball around and put it through the hoop is a good feeling.”

Jonas Jerebko added, “When you’re in the NBA you’re kind of used to all of the noise, so it shouldn’t be a problem.  Obviously it’s a little different coming to Europe and all of that and the time change, but we’re all professionals so we should be used to it.”

Regarding the time change, David Lee, who participated in the Global Games two seasons ago when he and the Warriors traveled to China, believes that he and his teammates will adjust well… at least for now.

“I think the most difficult thing – and obviously China was much more of a time change – once you got back to the States was kind of getting re-acclimated and getting your sleep back right,” he stated.

Once the Celtics began practice, Stevens left the doors open to the media for the first 15 minutes, which included stretching, calisthenics and pick-and-roll/pick-and-pop drills.  Lee indicated that the team expected much more to be accomplished on the court once the doors closed.

“Right now we’re in the process of putting in a lot of our new stuff and plays and also just getting used to mixing lineups up and playing alongside one another and getting used to each others’ strengths and weaknesses,” he said.

The Celtics were scheduled to practice for approximately 90 minutes Sunday afternoon, including the 15-minute gap that was open to the media.  Then they were set to return to the noise and touristy side of this Global Games trip.

Stevens had planned a “fun team activity” for this evening.  He declined to elaborate on what exactly that activity would be, but said that he would speak more openly about it at Monday’s practice.

Regardless of the details, this evening’s off-the-court activity is sure to be a great bonding experience for the team, one they surely would not have experienced back in Boston.

The most important part of Sunday, however, was that the Celtics were finally able to get back onto a basketball court and turn off all of the noise – even if it was for only 90 minutes.