Full Transcript for Secrets Behind Celtics’ Player Development: Brain Research & Making Players Fail

season, it's more like day to day. 74 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:41.379 What's going to help us win tomorrow night? 75 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.159 It sounds to me, though, that like there might be 76 00:03:44.180 --> 00:03:47.800 a different process of evaluation and putting together this plan 77 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:51.530 for younger guys as opposed to like Paul George or 78 00:03:51.550 --> 00:03:53.960 like someone who's very established in the league. Although you're 79 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:56.900 still going to have this program for that player, it's 80 00:03:56.939 --> 00:03:58.419 going to probably differ a little bit. 81 00:03:58.620 --> 00:03:59.939 Am I accurate on that? 82 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.030 For guys like that that are very established, it's more 83 00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:07.930 about winning around the margins. And so, yes, it is 84 00:04:07.969 --> 00:04:10.169 definitely different, but at the end of the day, we're 85 00:04:10.189 --> 00:04:11.729 still trying to find three to four things that we 86 00:04:11.750 --> 00:04:13.150 can focus on and really attack. 87 00:04:13.729 --> 00:04:16.220 Talking about all those lenses that you mentioned there at 88 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:20.360 the beginning of putting together the plan, how do you 89 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:21.120 diagnose those? 90 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:22.600 Different lenses. 91 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.019 And then number two, how do you kind of put 92 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:28.110 everything into action? Like what is the process of putting 93 00:04:28.170 --> 00:04:31.310 what you saw and what you planned out into action 94 00:04:31.370 --> 00:04:34.360 and then like tracking it as you work with the player. 95 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:34.680 On those things? 96 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:40.500 Yeah, so the coaching side of it, we're just focused 97 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:45.290 on the on-the-court piece, right? With the off-the-court piece, with 98 00:04:45.310 --> 00:04:47.709 the strength and conditioning, mental performance side of it, we 99 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:49.389 leave it to those departments to kind of handle that. 100 00:04:50.629 --> 00:04:54.490 But for the coaching piece, essentially each player has a 101 00:04:54.509 --> 00:04:59.120 coach assigned to them, and they that coach is heavily 102 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:04.930 involved in the making of the plan as well. And, again, 103 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:07.089 once we kind of talk to the player about, hey, 104 00:05:07.129 --> 00:05:08.569 this is the vision, this is what we're trying to 105 00:05:08.589 --> 00:05:13.569 get accomplished, then the coach is, you know, every day 106 00:05:13.649 --> 00:05:16.209 trying to complete that feedback loop with the player and 107 00:05:16.250 --> 00:05:19.610 having them understand, like, you know, these are the times 108 00:05:19.629 --> 00:05:21.490 you've done a really good job in X, Y, and Z, 109 00:05:21.889 --> 00:05:23.589 and then these are the areas where you can continue 110 00:05:23.610 --> 00:05:25.949 to get better. But it's a daily process of, like, 111 00:05:25.970 --> 00:05:27.009 completing that feedback loop. 112 00:05:27.939 --> 00:05:30.720 So those relationships between the coach and the player, the 113 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:33.439 player enhancement coach and the player are so important. And 114 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.519 we hear so important, so much about them from the 115 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:39.180 players themselves and how much they are getting out of those. 116 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:40.939 How do you guys determine those? 117 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:43.199 I know it's kind of size and size, but also 118 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:48.430 how much is personality and yeah, who they are. 119 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.490 So I think there's a lot of factors we look at. 120 00:05:51.589 --> 00:05:55.829 I think a couple of things like, you know, one, 121 00:05:57.209 --> 00:06:00.009 we try to put players together that are similar, that 122 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:04.220 they can kind of learn from each other. And we 123 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:07.839 also try to put the coaches that, you know, we 124 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:11.000 try to maximize the coaches' strengths with the players. So, 125 00:06:11.019 --> 00:06:13.399 you know, if a coach is really good working with 126 00:06:13.430 --> 00:06:16.129 the guards, you know, we'll try to maximize, you know, 127 00:06:16.170 --> 00:06:20.829 their ability to work with guards. And in terms of 128 00:06:20.870 --> 00:06:24.060 the pairings, yeah, it's just about, like, Again, a lot 129 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:25.660 of times if we can, we'll try to make it 130 00:06:26.019 --> 00:06:29.040 veteran and then maybe a younger guy so they can 131 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:32.439 learn from each other. But it's more so about like position. 132 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:33.779 So interesting. 133 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:34.100 Yeah. 134 00:06:34.420 --> 00:06:37.079 And fun to watch from Mike Conley and Peyton Pritchard, 135 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:39.199 like you're talking about, but the bigs from Mitchell Robinson 136 00:06:39.220 --> 00:06:40.750 and Amari Williams and stuff too. 137 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:43.759 But you mentioned feedback loop. 138 00:06:44.089 --> 00:06:47.009 And that's something we talked to Dylan and Chris before 139 00:06:47.029 --> 00:06:49.589 the season started. And they were amazed at how much 140 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:52.680 video information they're getting. 141 00:06:52.850 --> 00:06:54.769 They were like every night after practice. 142 00:06:54.810 --> 00:06:55.170 Yes. 143 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:57.050 We get a file every day and we're. 144 00:06:56.949 --> 00:06:59.209 Looking at it just so you know, like they told us. 145 00:07:00.769 --> 00:07:01.449 And they liked it. 146 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:04.399 I mean, they said it was something that really is 147 00:07:04.459 --> 00:07:06.439 helping them

in this transition time. 148 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:06.860 Yeah. 149 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:12.160 How do you, uh, balance too much information for them? 150 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:13.259 That's a great question. 151 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:16.240 Because I mean, like just me as someone who is 152 00:07:16.339 --> 00:07:19.259 in a performance-based industry, sometimes like I don't necessarily like 153 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:22.100 to watch myself all the time. Or if I get 154 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:23.879 too many things in my head at once, I can't 155 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:27.519 necessarily focus on the job that I'm trying to do 156 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:28.120 in that moment. 157 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.959 Try to be strategic with it. Like I think When 158 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:35.220 we sit down in person, it's kind of the biggest 159 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:38.600 film grab we'll do. We'll talk about, you know, the good, 160 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:41.339 the bad. And there's a process to, like, how much 161 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:46.600 of each we show. But typically when the coaches send film, 162 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:49.930 it's more so, like, the highlights. And it's more so 163 00:07:50.009 --> 00:07:52.389 them seeing themselves, like, doing really well. 164 00:07:53.110 --> 00:07:53.779 What you want to see. 165 00:07:54.069 --> 00:07:54.550 Exactly. 166 00:07:54.589 --> 00:07:56.629 Like, what excellence should look like and what they should 167 00:07:56.649 --> 00:08:00.709 try to emulate. And a lot of time, like... I 168 00:08:01.230 --> 00:08:04.670 think it's important for guys to see themselves doing well 169 00:08:04.750 --> 00:08:07.610 in the environment. So an example would be if we 170 00:08:07.649 --> 00:08:13.430 play at Charlotte, them seeing themselves perform well in Charlotte's arena. 171 00:08:14.610 --> 00:08:18.500 And so just trying to be creative and strategic with 172 00:08:18.509 --> 00:08:21.680 things that they see. And I think, yeah, it's always 173 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:24.199 a balance of how much film is too much film. 174 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:27.339 But just kind of try to use your feel to 175 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:28.220 be smart with that. 176 00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:29.639 That's really interesting to me. 177 00:08:30.050 --> 00:08:32.490 Because I would think that a lot of the film 178 00:08:32.509 --> 00:08:36.200 would be like corrective film, right? Of like, here's an 179 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:40.299 example of something that, of like the old version of 180 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:42.480 what you were doing. And here's an example of like 181 00:08:42.500 --> 00:08:44.320 the new version of what we want you to do. 182 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:44.679 Yeah. 183 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:47.210 But it sounds like that's not the case. But on 184 00:08:47.230 --> 00:08:50.190 that note, what are you guys doing out on the court? 185 00:08:50.210 --> 00:08:52.250 Because this is fascinating to me just

to like learn 186 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:54.190 of like, how do you work on certain things? I 187 00:08:54.210 --> 00:08:55.870 know you mentioned Al Horford there a moment ago. 188 00:08:56.009 --> 00:08:56.190 Yeah. 189 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.139 If you're working on crash rate with him, is there 190 00:08:59.159 --> 00:09:01.789 something you, like, do? I imagine you don't just, like, 191 00:09:01.850 --> 00:09:03.429 sit in a room and say, we want you to 192 00:09:03.470 --> 00:09:04.450 crash the glass. 193 00:09:04.190 --> 00:09:05.590 More, or, like, we want your. 194 00:09:05.610 --> 00:09:06.529 And here's a clip of you grabbing a rebound. 195 00:09:06.549 --> 00:09:08.330 Yeah, or, like, we want your elbow to be in more. 196 00:09:08.370 --> 00:09:10.909 Like, how do you actually, like, work on these things, 197 00:09:10.950 --> 00:09:12.690 and how do you come up with the process of 198 00:09:13.149 --> 00:09:14.750 how to work it out on the floor? 199 00:09:16.659 --> 00:09:17.379 Well, I think a couple. 200 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:19.080 Give us a couple examples. I think that's probably the 201 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:21.639 easiest way. Yeah, I think... You don't have to say 202 00:09:21.659 --> 00:09:22.500 the player names either. 203 00:09:22.539 --> 00:09:23.720 Putting you on the spot, yeah. 204 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:27.210 So high level. So high level. I think, like, Our 205 00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:32.870 our assistant coaches creativity is so just, again, really high level. 206 00:09:32.929 --> 00:09:36.570 I think we all steal from each other, which is awesome. 207 00:09:37.169 --> 00:09:39.370 But I think the biggest things that we try to 208 00:09:39.429 --> 00:09:42.029 do day to day and really our greatest advantage as 209 00:09:42.070 --> 00:09:44.820 a staff is that we're young. And I think like. 210 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:49.379 People might look at that and say there's a lack 211 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.330 of experience or whatever or try to find faults within that. 212 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:54.690 But it's the number one reason why we've been able 213 00:09:54.710 --> 00:09:57.309 to develop the way we have. Because if you look 214 00:09:57.350 --> 00:10:01.460 around the league, most front benches don't... get involved on 215 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.649 the court at all. And we definitely have the most– 216 00:10:04.740 --> 00:10:07.419 like Joe is out there during our workouts. Like he'll rebound, 217 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:13.049 he'll pass. Tony, DMACC, Sam Cassell, right? And so at 218 00:10:13.070 --> 00:10:15.269 the end of the day, the more coaches you have, 219 00:10:15.309 --> 00:10:17.929 the more decisions you can make as a player. And so, 220 00:10:19.429 --> 00:10:21.309 you know, if you watch our workouts, there's always a 221 00:10:21.389 --> 00:10:23.269 coach guarding a player. And, like, at the end of 222 00:10:23.309 --> 00:10:27.000 the day, it's all about how many right decisions you 223 00:10:27.019 --> 00:10:29.200 can make in a game. You're making a million decisions, 224 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:31.960 like where to run to, where to cut to, you know, 225 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:34.559 what move to use in this situation or that situation. 226 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:38.440 And if there's nobody guarding you, you don't learn when 227 00:10:38.460 --> 00:10:40.600 to apply the skill. You just learn how to do 228 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:42.539 the skill. You learn the footsteps of it or the 229 00:10:42.590 --> 00:10:46.779 dance steps of it. And so... Because we have so 230 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:50.360 many coaches that, one, are super creative and are willing 231 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:53.730 to get on the floor, it allows us to put 232 00:10:53.789 --> 00:10:56.450 our players in these situations that they're going to see 233 00:10:56.490 --> 00:11:02.190 in game. And so we have 13, 14 coaches that 234 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.059 every day are involved in our workouts, and so we 235 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:08.500 can simulate the situations they're going to be in. And 236 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:10.700 so that's really the greatest thing we've been able to do. 237 00:11:11.250 --> 00:11:13.429 And when you talk about creativity, it's coming up with 238 00:11:13.450 --> 00:11:16.149 the drills and ways to kind of drive these things home. 239 00:11:16.210 --> 00:11:18.480 It's so funny because Charles Lee was here during the 240 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:21.899 preseason talking about Kemba Walker and his development as an 241 00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:25.000 assistant and just the creativity from him. And I hadn't 242 00:11:25.379 --> 00:11:28.940 heard that word necessarily used in that context before. But 243 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:32.769 it's so true in that how do you drill home 244 00:11:32.870 --> 00:11:34.549 these things that you can say over and over and 245 00:11:34.590 --> 00:11:38.450 talk about in film without actually executing it on the floor? 246 00:11:39.009 --> 00:11:42.450 Yeah, for sure. I just think like, At the end 247 00:11:42.490 --> 00:11:46.450 of the day, if you read and learn about how 248 00:11:46.470 --> 00:11:49.190 the brain works and how people form new neural connections, 249 00:11:49.210 --> 00:11:53.970 it's all about can you experience failure and then self-correct 250 00:11:53.990 --> 00:11:57.210 from that failure. And essentially every day we're trying to 251 00:11:57.250 --> 00:11:59.149 make our guys fail on the court in this setting. 252 00:12:00.669 --> 00:12:03.169 That's why you have the assistants there pushing them so hard. 253 00:12:03.190 --> 00:12:05.929 So that when they get to the game, they've seen 254 00:12:06.250 --> 00:12:09.320 this read a million times and they've failed out here 255 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:11.340 in this setting and they know how to self-correct from that. 256 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.019 So I think, like, at the end of the day, 257 00:12:14.080 -->

00:12:18.419 it comes down to, you know, skill, decision-making, problem-solving. And 258 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.409 if you can, like, focus on those every day within 259 00:12:21.429 --> 00:12:24.870 your workouts, you'll ultimately become the best player you can be. 260 00:12:26.389 --> 00:12:28.570 And so our coaches do an awesome job of putting 261 00:12:28.590 --> 00:12:31.309 our guys in, you know, creative situations to accomplish that. 262 00:12:31.809 --> 00:12:34.000 Skill, decision-making, problem-solving. 263 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:34.240 Yeah. 264 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:37.659 Is that, like, in order of importance for you guys, 265 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:39.440 or are they all leveled out the same? 266 00:12:40.590 --> 00:12:43.960 I think they're all pretty important. I mean, you know, 267 00:12:43.980 --> 00:12:47.740 it's probably equal split. I just think, like, again, if 268 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:50.820 you have the skills but don't know how to apply them, 269 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:54.070 it doesn't matter, right? It's all about perception and action. Like, 270 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:58.750 when you see... For example, you see a closeout, you 271 00:12:58.769 --> 00:13:01.590 have to be able to read body position, their speed, 272 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:06.950 who it is closing out to you, who's behind them, 273 00:13:07.029 --> 00:13:10.600 who's next to you offensively. You're processing so many things 274 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:14.210 that people don't really realize in the moment right it's 275 00:13:14.230 --> 00:13:16.870 not just about how great your dribble is exactly and 276 00:13:16.889 --> 00:13:18.850 like people think it's just the guy in front of 277 00:13:18.870 --> 00:13:20.669 them but they got to read like is that sam 278 00:13:20.690 --> 00:13:22.690 hauser next to me that's a one more is that 279 00:13:23.029 --> 00:13:24.789 who's at the rim is there anybody at the rim 280 00:13:24.809 --> 00:13:26.409 like if i get by this guy's at a dunk 281 00:13:27.269 --> 00:13:29.450 um and so like there's so many things that you 282 00:13:29.490 --> 00:13:32.309 have to process every time you make a decision that 283 00:13:32.789 --> 00:13:34.250 we're trying to get that accomplished out there. 284 00:13:34.710 --> 00:13:36.960 What about shooting In particular. Yeah. 285 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:37.899 You talk about skill. 286 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:39.059 Yeah, exactly. 287 00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:41.159 That's the number one thing that people think about when 288 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:43.830 they think about skills in basketball. I know you and 289 00:13:43.870 --> 00:13:45.970 I have had some conversations kind of like off the 290 00:13:46.009 --> 00:13:48.029 record about some stuff that you guys have tweaked with 291 00:13:48.049 --> 00:13:50.730 some guys' shots over the years. And not to ask 292 00:13:50.750 --> 00:13:53.830 you to give us any examples, but those types of things. 293 00:13:54.110 --> 00:13:54.309 Yeah. 294 00:13:54.350 --> 00:13:57.090 How do you work on those on the court? Is 295 00:13:57.149 --> 00:14:00.580 it just talking about it and then film study after that? 296 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:01.320 Like, how do you guys. 297 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.539 But also breaking. I mean, a shot is something that 298 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:05.509 someone's been doing... their whole. 299 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.360 Lives exactly and that's like how do you do that 300 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:10.419 like that little tweak you know what i mean. 301 00:14:10.379 --> 00:14:12.919 Just to so every player is different i'll just say 302 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:15.539 this like we want our guys to be the most 303 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.360 adoptable players they can be in all environments and so 304 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:22.759 with certain guys it's more about hey let's just make 305 00:14:22.779 --> 00:14:26.259 this minor tweak right and then with certain guys like 306 00:14:26.340 --> 00:14:28.919 a dylan mitchell will completely change what it looks like 307 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.559 right um so just depending on who it is um 308 00:14:34.649 --> 00:14:38.610 you know, we'll adjust accordingly to that. But at the 309 00:14:38.629 --> 00:14:40.669 end of the day, so what I mean by being 310 00:14:40.690 --> 00:14:43.870 the most adaptable player you can be is if you 311 00:14:43.909 --> 00:14:47.230 can shoot off the catch really good, like that's obviously 312 00:14:47.250 --> 00:14:51.450 a huge bonus, right? But for guys like Peyton, for D-White, 313 00:14:51.610 --> 00:14:54.309 for JT, for PG, like guys that need to be 314 00:14:54.389 --> 00:14:56.429 able to not only shoot off the catch, but shoot 315 00:14:56.460 --> 00:15:00.220 off the dribble, shoot off the move, like that requires 316 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:05.090 a different either release point or form or there there's 317 00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:06.889 different things that we think about and I won't get 318 00:15:06.929 --> 00:15:10.870 too much into the weeds with that, but we don't 319 00:15:10.889 --> 00:15:11.850 have the time folks. 320 00:15:11.990 --> 00:15:12.230 All right. 321 00:15:12.490 --> 00:15:15.289 Yeah. But it's more so about, all right, this guy 322 00:15:15.309 --> 00:15:17.559 can shoot really well off the catch, but he can't 323 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:19.659 off the dribble or off the move. How can we 324 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.220 make him more adaptable? And so like this small change 325 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.740 can help that for a guy like Dylan, like he 326 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:29.299 just never shot in college. Like he just didn't shoot any. And, 327 00:15:29.970 --> 00:15:32.250 So just trying to get him to get a foundation 328 00:15:32.309 --> 00:15:34.809 with his shot first and to be able to build off. 329 00:15:36.169 --> 00:15:37.710 But then you have a guy like Sam Houser, who's 330 00:15:38.009 --> 00:15:39.830 obviously

an amazing shooter, but to get him on the 331 00:15:39.889 --> 00:15:42.879 no dip, I mean, that's like a years long process, right? 332 00:15:42.889 --> 00:15:45.639 So it's more like with those guys, like Sam is 333 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:49.259 so elite. It's about how hard can we make shooting 334 00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:51.919 for him? Like a lot of times we'll do drills 335 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:55.059 where there's two guys closing out to him or, you know, 336 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:57.340 we use these arms that make our contest so much 337 00:15:57.419 --> 00:16:01.730 longer and or will change his platform where he's shooting off, like, 338 00:16:02.389 --> 00:16:04.789 all these messed up platforms where, like, his left foot's forward, 339 00:16:04.809 --> 00:16:07.240 his feet are wide, or his feet are together. He's 340 00:16:07.250 --> 00:16:10.039 got to sprint in one direction, be able to catch 341 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:12.539 a handoff and turn all the way around. Like, things 342 00:16:12.580 --> 00:16:15.340 that are going to make shooting as hard as possible 343 00:16:15.379 --> 00:16:17.220 for him just because he's such an elite shooter. 344 00:16:17.379 --> 00:16:20.179 That sounds like fun. Yeah, exactly. 345 00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:21.779 Not just shooting on ghosts out there. 346 00:16:23.490 --> 00:16:25.879 But you mentioned in this stuff and we're starting to 347 00:16:25.899 --> 00:16:28.200 get into the player side. I'm so interested for you 348 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:30.649 to be able to relay to everyone out there of 349 00:16:30.690 --> 00:16:33.070 what it is for the player side, because, you know, 350 00:16:33.169 --> 00:16:34.830 all of you out there have not had the chance 351 00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:36.879 to like sit and like watch an NBA practice. 352 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:39.409 Right. There is the practice where the. 353 00:16:39.350 --> 00:16:42.110 Team is out there executing whatever Joe needs you guys 354 00:16:42.129 --> 00:16:44.330 to practice to get ready for the next game or 355 00:16:44.370 --> 00:16:47.620 whatever it is. But then there's a ton of individual 356 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:50.860 time where the player is working with his coach outside 357 00:16:50.899 --> 00:16:55.039 of regular practice time to enhance whatever that part of 358 00:16:55.059 --> 00:16:57.539 the game that you guys are talking about. So give 359 00:16:57.620 --> 00:16:59.240 the fans out there an idea of just how much 360 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:02.580 time goes into that for the players, of them working 361 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:05.769 on themselves beyond just the team practice time. 362 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:10.779 Yeah. So it depends, again, what part of the year 363 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:15.640 it is. In the summer, it's all development. Once we 364 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:19.329 get into training camp, it's more so focused on the 365 00:17:19.450 --> 00:17:23.490 team and the habits we're trying to build as a

team. 366 00:17:24.150 --> 00:17:26.849 And so their individual will kind of drop down to 367 00:17:26.869 --> 00:17:30.369 basically anywhere from 15 minutes to 30 minutes a day. 368 00:17:31.690 --> 00:17:33.750 And then as soon as we get into the season, 369 00:17:33.769 --> 00:17:37.359 so past training camp, it it really becomes, again, a 370 00:17:37.420 --> 00:17:39.680 lot more about the development because you don't have time 371 00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:43.380 to practice as much. So it's more about, like, shoot-arounds, pregame, 372 00:17:45.589 --> 00:17:47.210 all these different moments that we can kind of work 373 00:17:47.269 --> 00:17:49.769 on their individual game. And then the team aspect is 374 00:17:49.809 --> 00:17:52.730 more the film sessions that we'll have, things of that nature. 375 00:17:52.769 --> 00:17:54.609 So it just depends on the part of the year. 376 00:17:54.789 --> 00:17:56.829 But when you add up that individual time, that's kind 377 00:17:56.869 --> 00:17:57.490 of what I'm getting at. 378 00:17:57.670 --> 00:17:57.849 Yeah. 379 00:17:58.730 --> 00:18:01.339 It's just a general idea of, like, how much time 380 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:01.920 that is, like, a week. 381 00:18:01.940 --> 00:18:02.240 Oh, my gosh. 382 00:18:04.109 --> 00:18:04.529 It's a lot. 383 00:18:04.670 --> 00:18:04.950 Yeah. 384 00:18:05.089 --> 00:18:07.210 It's a lot. That's kind of what I'm getting at. 385 00:18:07.450 --> 00:18:10.730 I also think, too, like, again, I think there's a 386 00:18:10.769 --> 00:18:14.410 lot of, like, these old and, again, not to say 387 00:18:14.470 --> 00:18:16.329 we have the answers by any means, but just saying, like, 388 00:18:16.930 --> 00:18:18.960 there's these adages that, like, all right, you need to 389 00:18:18.980 --> 00:18:20.680 spend X amount of time and you got to get 390 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:22.759 this many shots. We don't view it that way. We 391 00:18:22.779 --> 00:18:25.859 view it as, like, every time our guys are on 392 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:29.359 the floor, there's multiple people guarding them, whether it's a 393 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:32.019 player or coach. And so it puts so much stress 394 00:18:32.059 --> 00:18:35.069 on their body so that, If we're working out for 395 00:18:35.069 --> 00:18:40.589 15 minutes, it's very, very taxing, 15 minutes. Intentionally. 396 00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:40.990 Yeah. 397 00:18:41.029 --> 00:18:43.920 And they might be only shooting, you know, 20 to 398 00:18:43.910 --> 00:18:48.779 30 shots. But all of those shots are super high-level 399 00:18:48.819 --> 00:18:54.319 difficulty shots where it's, again, our objective is to make 400 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:57.680 this gym a lot harder than TD Garden. That's the goal. 401 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:00.339 So that when they step into TD Garden, it's a 402 00:19:00.339 --> 00:19:00.799 lot easier. 403 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:01.039 Yeah. 404 00:19:01.779 --> 00:19:04.200 Craig, speaking with you, and

then also, I mean, our 405 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:08.029 conversations with players and stuff, there just is such a 406 00:19:08.190 --> 00:19:11.369 culture of development and enhancement, if you will. 407 00:19:11.450 --> 00:19:13.250 How has that evolved? 408 00:19:13.769 --> 00:19:16.589 How do you guys cultivate that and maintain that? Because 409 00:19:16.609 --> 00:19:21.269 I feel like when you look at the wing group specifically, 410 00:19:21.410 --> 00:19:23.380 there are so many of those guys who are talented, 411 00:19:23.410 --> 00:19:25.539 have different skills, but they're all fighting for the same 412 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:29.400 playing time. And they all have these individual goals, understand 413 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:30.880 that the team's success is ultimately. 414 00:19:32.309 --> 00:19:36.380 What everyone's working for, but at the same time, they 415 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:37.099 need to get better. 416 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.359 I guess I'm just, how does the culture, how is 417 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:41.440 the culture cultivated? 418 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:44.029 Well, I think, I think like iron sharpens iron, right? 419 00:19:44.109 --> 00:19:48.490 I think, yeah, our team is so talented. Like Brad 420 00:19:48.500 --> 00:19:51.579 and the front office do an unbelievable job of bringing high, 421 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:54.140 high level talent. And so that when they get to us, 422 00:19:54.180 --> 00:19:57.140 like our jobs are a lot easier, you know, we 423 00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:58.930 don't have to deal with any of the off the 424 00:19:58.970 --> 00:20:01.349 court issues or anything like that. And these guys that 425 00:20:01.369 --> 00:20:04.720 we get are just like super talented, hardworking guys and, 426 00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:07.910 And when they get in our gym, they just want 427 00:20:07.930 --> 00:20:10.400 to be coached and want to be better. And I 428 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:13.940 think like, again, because we have so much talent, everybody 429 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:15.940 knows when they step into the gym every day, they 430 00:20:15.980 --> 00:20:17.539 got to bring it. You know what I mean? If 431 00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:20.640 one of these guys has like the group you just referenced, 432 00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:23.470 if they have a bad day, there's somebody behind them that, 433 00:20:23.769 --> 00:20:25.750 you know what I mean, is well deserving to play. 434 00:20:26.250 --> 00:20:31.309 And so I think, yeah, I really just think iron 435 00:20:31.329 --> 00:20:32.809 sharpens iron with that. Yeah. 436 00:20:33.410 --> 00:20:36.359 You just got out of a player enhancement meeting after practice. 437 00:20:36.380 --> 00:20:37.799 That's what we were waiting in here for Craig to 438 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:40.859 come in because you had a long meeting with your 439 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:42.160 group after practice. 440 00:20:42.180 --> 00:20:43.519 What do you guys talk about? 441 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:46.160 Like what is that kind of like an immediate recap 442 00:20:46.299 --> 00:20:47.940 after practice that you guys do? 443 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:51.210 So that, that was actually with three of our players. 444 00:20:51.529 --> 00:20:53.349 We were delivering the plans to them for the year. 445 00:20:54.450 --> 00:20:56.549 For the year. So you have plans and then they're 446 00:20:56.569 --> 00:20:57.130 just adjusted. 447 00:20:57.789 --> 00:21:00.089 We have like a plan that the player sees the 448 00:21:00.109 --> 00:21:02.049 beginning of the year. and then we'll check in throughout 449 00:21:02.089 --> 00:21:05.630 the year, kind of from a macro look. But every 450 00:21:05.650 --> 00:21:07.759 day their individual coach is kind of hitting them with 451 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:08.470 those feedback loops. 452 00:21:08.490 --> 00:21:10.940 But, for instance, today's, that's really interesting. 453 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:13.440 You don't have to tell us what three players, but, like, 454 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:14.880 what do you guys do in that meeting? 455 00:21:15.339 --> 00:21:18.480 So, yeah, it's just we have, like, a presentation that 456 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:20.759 we go through and just we'll ask them a couple 457 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.259 questions just from, like, a team aspect, how they can 458 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:25.259 best help us win a championship, things of that nature. 459 00:21:27.579 --> 00:21:30.480 and then we'll kind of dive into the details of, like, hey, 460 00:21:30.500 --> 00:21:32.039 this is what we're trying to focus on this year. 461 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:36.109 You know, the physical side will speak, the mental side 462 00:21:36.150 --> 00:21:37.809 will speak, and then we'll wrap it up. It's like 463 00:21:37.809 --> 00:21:42.150 20 minutes, but try to be intentional with what we're saying. 464 00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:45.130 But remember, this is after practice. 465 00:21:45.230 --> 00:21:46.779 Like, that's kind of what I was getting at, of, like, 466 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:49.000 the time investment that players are putting in and the 467 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:52.039 coaches to continue that development outside of the team practice. 468 00:21:52.059 --> 00:21:53.259 I just want to make sure that's clear to the 469 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:53.859 fan base. 470 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.240 How did you get into this? 471 00:21:56.470 --> 00:21:58.450 Because I feel like the way you're talking, yes, you're 472 00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:01.029 on the floor and you are also executing all these drills, 473 00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:05.970 but you are kind of in this management role as well. 474 00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:10.160 So how I got into player development? Yes. Like in general? 475 00:22:10.180 --> 00:22:10.819 Yeah, I guess. 476 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:13.900 Yeah. What is your journey? Yeah, tell us your journey. Yeah, yeah. 477 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:16.480 So I played Division III at St.

478 00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:18.039 Joseph, Maine. Let's go D3 athletes. 479 00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:20.160 A little D3 school in Maine. Do you guys know 480 00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:22.140 Noah LaRoche? You guys ever heard that name before? 481 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:22.329 Yeah. 482 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:25.490 So Noah was my coach's first recruit. So Noah's like 483 00:22:25.490 --> 00:22:30.630 20 years older than me. But his first year doing 484 00:22:30.750 --> 00:22:35.099 player development was for Wasserman, the agency, was my senior 485 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.039 year of college. And so he called my coach and 486 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:40.960 asked if somebody would want to come help him, basically 487 00:22:40.980 --> 00:22:45.019 just like rebound and just– Be a ball boy, basically. 488 00:22:45.619 --> 00:22:47.630 And so I left my senior year of college early, 489 00:22:47.730 --> 00:22:48.519 went out to L.A. 490 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:49.000 Really? 491 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:53.160 Yeah, went out to L.A. for five months. The first 492 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:57.079 summer and then four months the next summer. Was able 493 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.380 to meet Dave Lewin. You guys know Dave? When I 494 00:22:59.400 --> 00:22:59.740 was out there. 495 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:01.640 Assistant general manager for the Celtics. Yep. 496 00:23:02.839 --> 00:23:05.599 And fortunate enough that he gave me an opportunity in 497 00:23:05.619 --> 00:23:08.460 Maine and spent three years in our G League and 498 00:23:08.500 --> 00:23:10.160 was just able to work my way up each year. 499 00:23:11.730 --> 00:23:13.130 Did you always know you wanted to be a coach? 500 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:17.039 Yeah, I did. I never, ever thought coaching in the 501 00:23:17.059 --> 00:23:20.039 NBA would be realistic. For the Boston Celtics, too. Yeah, 502 00:23:20.259 --> 00:23:20.819 forget about it. 503 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:24.829 I assume you grew up a Celtics fan. Absolutely. 504 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:28.390 But I think a lot of things worked, obviously, very 505 00:23:28.450 --> 00:23:29.690 fortunate in a lot of ways. A lot of things 506 00:23:29.730 --> 00:23:32.670 worked in my favor and just the right timing. Joe 507 00:23:32.710 --> 00:23:36.950 and I always had an awesome relationship. Just super fortunate 508 00:23:36.990 --> 00:23:40.769 and grateful that Joe believed in me and gave me 509 00:23:40.789 --> 00:23:43.299 an opportunity to step into this role and been in 510 00:23:43.339 --> 00:23:44.339 this role for three years now. 511 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:45.000 So it's been fun. 512 00:23:45.420 --> 00:23:48.240 And I know beyond you, there's a bunch of other 513 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:50.299 people who are involved in the player enhancement group. Can 514 00:23:50.339 --> 00:23:53.279 you give us an understanding of what the responsibilities are 515 00:23:53.380 --> 00:23:53.940 within the group? 516 00:23:54.119 --> 00:23:59.369 Well, it's

literally everybody on staff. I think people see 517 00:23:59.869 --> 00:24:02.250 the titles and all that and just think it's just 518 00:24:02.289 --> 00:24:09.170 that group. And that group is phenomenal. Nana, Sham, Deshaun, Steve, Brock, 519 00:24:10.170 --> 00:24:14.059 you know, Phil Pressey is an extension in Maine. But 520 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:17.880 it's our full staff. You know, again, our greatest advantage 521 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:20.680 is the fact that everybody's invested in player development and 522 00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:24.940 wants to help our guys. Enhancement. Player enhancement, you're right, exactly. 523 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:26.900 And wants to help our guys. 524 00:24:27.319 --> 00:24:29.619 Everyone in the league calls it development. We at the 525 00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:30.880 Celtics here call it enhancement. 526 00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:32.400 That's right. That's right. That's on me. 527 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:34.740 But. 528 00:24:35.609 --> 00:24:38.650 Yeah, so I think everybody, obviously they have their players 529 00:24:38.930 --> 00:24:40.730 that they work with, and they do an awesome job 530 00:24:40.769 --> 00:24:44.119 preparing them to play and helping them get better. And 531 00:24:44.130 --> 00:24:45.880 we all are just trying to help each other, right? 532 00:24:45.900 --> 00:24:49.019 Like I think if there's any way that we can 533 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:51.400 be of assistance, you know, we try and do that. 534 00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:53.519 But it's really a group effort, yeah. 535 00:24:53.980 --> 00:24:55.579 We're coming up on time here, so we've got to wrap. 536 00:24:55.619 --> 00:24:57.539 But you mentioned Phil in Maine. 537 00:24:57.579 --> 00:24:57.759 Yeah. 538 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:01.769 So the importance of that kind of two-way relationship with Maine, 539 00:25:01.829 --> 00:25:04.970 we can't close this out without talking about that. During 540 00:25:04.990 --> 00:25:08.490 your time here, how important has that been to the 541 00:25:08.549 --> 00:25:11.190 development of these guys? Because you're working with some of 542 00:25:11.210 --> 00:25:13.539 these guys here. They're not going to be here every day. 543 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:15.400 As we know, they're going to be up in Maine 544 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:18.220 with the Maine Celtics. So how important is that relationship? 545 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:20.440 I would add, in your time in Maine, does that help. 546 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:24.119 You kind of figure out how best to utilize that relationship? 547 00:25:24.140 --> 00:25:24.599 Absolutely. 548 00:25:24.660 --> 00:25:26.839 I think a lot of the things that I do today, 549 00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:27.880 I first tried Maine. 550 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:28.839 And. 551 00:25:31.069 --> 00:25:33.829 Yeah, I think we view Maine as an extension of 552 00:25:33.890 --> 00:25:35.990 our staff. We don't view them as the Maine Celtics staff, 553 00:25:36.009 --> 00:25:41.920 but just an extension of our staff. Our staff here 554 00:25:41.940 --> 00:25:44.900 in Boston does an awesome job communicating with that Maine 555 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.500 staff throughout the year. Phil and I have a lot 556 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:52.059 of conversations, but the offensive team here for our coaches 557 00:25:52.099 --> 00:25:55.140 does an awesome job communicating with the offensive team in Maine, 558 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:57.859 so make sure that they're doing the same stuff. Same 559 00:25:57.900 --> 00:25:59.880 thing with defense. Defense team does a great job communicating 560 00:25:59.900 --> 00:26:01.930 with defense team in Maine. make sure they're doing the 561 00:26:01.950 --> 00:26:04.089 same stuff so that it's a seamless fit. When they 562 00:26:04.109 --> 00:26:06.150 come back to Boston, they know all of our plays, 563 00:26:06.430 --> 00:26:11.170 they know all of our calls. And so depending on 564 00:26:11.190 --> 00:26:16.720 who's down in Maine, we'll pull them aside and either 565 00:26:17.099 --> 00:26:20.960 FaceTime or Zoom and watch their film and all that stuff. 566 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:25.000 But Phil does a really, really good job preparing those 567 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:25.460 guys in Maine. 568 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:30.640 That's something I will never forget about last season. Amari Williams... 569 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:34.319 was called up. We were in Brooklyn that night. What 570 00:26:34.380 --> 00:26:36.009 a game. He did not have time to go to 571 00:26:36.029 --> 00:26:39.630 the hotel before. He played a game for Maine and 572 00:26:39.650 --> 00:26:41.750 then flew into Brooklyn, and I'm sure it was coming 573 00:26:41.789 --> 00:26:44.539 from somewhere, I mean, in the middle of America. Went 574 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:47.000 straight to the arena, and then the game goes to overtime, 575 00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:48.509 and it's Amari who.... 576 00:26:49.980 --> 00:26:51.329 Assists on the game-winning bucket. 577 00:26:51.349 --> 00:26:52.089 The pitch back to Peyton. 578 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:53.390 Yes, and just knew the play. 579 00:26:53.930 --> 00:26:58.569 That, to me, speaks so much to how connected everything is. 580 00:26:58.569 --> 00:27:01.230 Well, I think also just because Joe and I both 581 00:27:01.269 --> 00:27:03.930 spent time in Maine, along with Ross and a bunch 582 00:27:03.950 --> 00:27:06.130 of our other coaches. Tyler was the head coach there. 583 00:27:07.990 --> 00:27:10.200 I think we view the importance of it. You know 584 00:27:10.220 --> 00:27:12.559 what I mean? It really starts with Joe. Because you've 585 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:14.160 lived it. 100%. It starts with Joe and just his 586 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:16.920 belief in it. you know, in Maine and the program 587 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:19.299 and the importance of those guys going down to be 588 00:27:19.339 --> 00:27:24.700 able to play. And so, yeah, it's been an awesome, 589 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:27.160 you know, fit, you know, having guys go down there 590 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:27.960 and then be able to come back. 591 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:31.859 This is such a fascinating topic and conversation. 592 00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:33.680 We could probably do it for hours on end, but 593 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:34.839 we got to get you out of here. 594 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:36.019 We appreciate you coming on. 595 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.480 And more importantly, we appreciate you and all the other 596 00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:41.119 guys sprinkling that magic on top of every guy that 597 00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:41.880 walks through the doors. 598 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:43.640 Because, I mean, the fans out there know. 599 00:27:43.660 --> 00:27:44.799 Why are you shaking your head at that? 600 00:27:44.819 --> 00:27:45.700 I mean, it literally is. 601 00:27:45.619 --> 00:27:48.200 Like every player that comes in gets better, no matter 602 00:27:48.259 --> 00:27:49.339 how old they were. 603 00:27:49.140 --> 00:27:50.259 Or how established they were. I appreciate that. 604 00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:53.279 Like I said, it's everybody in the building. Like, I 605 00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:55.869 know you might think I'm just saying it's really everybody 606 00:27:55.880 --> 00:27:58.990 in the building. Like, Our strength team, our PTs, the 607 00:27:59.029 --> 00:28:01.769 kitchen staff, everybody adds up to the product you see 608 00:28:01.789 --> 00:28:04.569 on the floor. I cannot stress that enough. Like, it's 609 00:28:04.589 --> 00:28:07.990 the truth. And so, yeah, as a coaching staff, we 610 00:28:08.029 --> 00:28:09.630 try to do our best to prepare our guys and, 611 00:28:09.650 --> 00:28:12.940 you know, still trying to find ways to be better. 612 00:28:13.019 --> 00:28:16.319 But like I said, everybody in the organization plays a 613 00:28:16.339 --> 00:28:16.640 huge role. 614 00:28:17.150 --> 00:28:18.329 Craig's got to get back to work. 615 00:28:18.349 --> 00:28:20.509 Yeah, then the magic dust is sprinkled on people when 616 00:28:20.529 --> 00:28:23.109 they come through the door then. And then everyone is 617 00:28:23.170 --> 00:28:24.920 a part of it. But thanks for the time. We 618 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.220 appreciate it. Looking forward to seeing a lot of these 619 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:28.799 guys grow even more so this season. 620 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:29.259 Awesome. 621 00:28:29.299 --> 00:28:29.619 Thanks, guys. 622 00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:30.119 Thanks, Craig.