It’s hard not to start to think about the new NBA season once media day rolls around. It’s the time of year we learn more about the inner workings of a team’s schemes, but also behind-the-scenes interactions between the players. With the preseason approaching quickly, let’s recap the media day festivities the Celtics released as well as some of the finer details of Mazzulla’s gameplan.
Tatum is Finally “The Guy”
It’s been harped on by me, by Boston media, by the entire NBA sphere, that Tatum is under massive pressure this season. Coming off his Achilles tear as the Bonafide leader of this squad is not the easiest task to bear, but if there’s anyone I’d trust, it’s him. He’s also in a situation where he can play alongside someone, he grew up studying, Paul George. He had this great quote that put it into perspective:
“He definitely was one of the guys that, when I was coming up, I used to watch a lot of film on. Just that archetype of a two-way player, 6-9, score on all three levels. So, he was definitely somebody when I was in high school, college, even early in my career, that I would always try to steal things from and watch what he was doing just because of the way that I play and his ability, just a lot of things translated”.
As we will get into later, PG is going to be a perfect scheme fit next to Tatum but also a mentor.
Mazzulla and Robinson Form Fun Bond to Cauterize Rivalry
On the lighter side of Media Day, a funny clip came out of Mazzulla spending time with new free agent acquisition Mitchell Robinson this summer. Mazzulla has done an excellent job meeting with all his players at some point; he went to Spain and Portugal to meet with Hugo Gonzalez and Neemias Queta respectively. The NBC Sports Boston crew got Mazzulla to talk about riding in Mitchell Robinson’s infamous truck. Robinson, who is no afraid of posting his… obnoxious? Fun? Not sure what the right word for it, truck on social media. Mazzulla said:
“I did not drive. I was very nervous. I’m not—I can’t drive a truck. I’m not a very good driver. From New England, you know, we can’t drive”.
The Johnston, RI native also touched on his rivalry with Robinson in the past. The “Hack-A-Mitch” strategy has long been used to halt Knick offense in the past. Robinson is one of if not the worst free throw shooter ever, but they seem to have gotten past this. He’s going to be an elite fit next to Tatum in pick and roll scenarios.
Scheierman, Gonzalez, Harper Jr Friendship Continues to Grow
The young bench unit narrative was pretty fun last year and was one of my favorite talking points when discussing the future of the Celtics. There is no guy with “star potential”, but rather “star role player potential”. There was plenty of entertaining antics between the trio, which in turn leads to smoother play on the court. Ron Harper talked about Baylor switching from rap to Latin music ever since Hugo joined the C’s, and Hugo was messing with Baylor in an interview with the NBC Sports Boston crew. It’s great to see these interactions over none at all. Dysfunctional locker rooms end the season before they begin. The season is already on the right foot.
Welcome to Big Fella University
Queta came out as one of the most improved players last year in a bigger role due to the departure of Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. While he’s still raw and uncoordinated, he has a higher ceiling than people outside of diehard Boston fans would believe. Now with Robinson behind him and Luka Garza in the 3rd unit, Queta leads an enhanced center room he coined “Big Fella University”. He also included sophomore Amari Williams and rookie Chris Cenac Jr. in the new class. I’m relieved that Queta has stepped up into a new, vocal role as I think the media saw him as a quieter member of the locker room. Vocal presences are necessary, and as one of the longer tenured guys on the team now, I’m glad he stepped up as the Dean of BFU.
“We bring toughness, physicality. That’s something that we do really well – all three of us. We’re all pretty down-to-Earth guys. I think that’ll mesh us pretty well. I can’t forget about Amari and Chris, as well.”
Media day is not the time to give up or buy fully into a team, but rather a time for outsiders to get a better look into the personalities of the players and staff of their favorite teams in order to become even stronger fans. It’s a lot of fun watching a 7-footer do a silly cup stacking game or make a “back to school” board and gets fans thinking about the imminent season coming in a month.
Let’s just hope the Celtics offense looks better than the Patriots and Red Sox next week during the preseason opener versus the Cavaliers.
