BOSTON (WHDH) - Derrick White and the Celtics are ready to play for keeps, and they’re thankful to tip off the regular season on the parquet.
“You’re playing the game you love, especially playing in the garden and the crowd’s gonna be active,” White said. “I mean [you’re] kinda just waiting all summer for this moment, as soon as your last game ends from last season, like you just want to play some more and so, I think just all that summer, just looking forward to this moment and now it’s finally here.”
With Jayson Tatum sidelined as he continues to rehab a torn Achilles, along with an influx of new faces, head coach Joe Mazzulla will implore his overhauled roster to push the pace on offense this season while increasing the physicality and aggressiveness on defense.
“I mean he expects a lot out of ’em and I think that’s just kinda what you want from a coach,” White said. “You want a coach that holds you to that standard and Joe’s been, been hard on them cause he sees the potential, he sees what they can do for us and so, I mean that’s the exciting part and I mean he coaches everybody the exact same so you know what you’re gonna get.”
“You know obviously we’re less talented than we have been before, less experienced than we have been before so this is the style of basketball we have to play,” Jaylen Brown said. “We gotta double down on it if we want to be successful, I think Joe has like, you know, done a good job of that, he’s like maybe been a little crazy but a little crazy is needed at times, I’m ok with that.”
Brown is also okay with taking his leadership role to another level. He’s eager to pick up the slack on and off the court with Tatum out of action for the foreseeable future.
“Success comes from the top to the bottom, so holding myself accountable, Joe holding me accountable to play with that energy, put my body on the line, make sure that we’re all ready to go, sets the tone,” Brown said.
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