Ojeleye earns another start for Celtics

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/20180428/celtics-journal-ojeleye-earns-another-start-for-celtics




Celtics Journal: Ojeleye earns another start for Celtics




By SCOTT SOUZA / MetroWest Daily News



Posted Apr 28, 2018 at 8:43 PM




BOSTON — Celtics coach Brad Stevens often says that, as a coach, you can take something away from every competitive situation that you might be able to use in the future.

On Jan. 3, he took something away from watching Semi Ojeleye that he used in the biggest games of the season against one of the NBA’s brightest young stars.

It was in the third quarter of that game when Stevens went with the rookie second-rounder to guard the greatest player in the world. It was then that Ojeleye forced LeBron James into three straight misses as he made a big impact on a 14-point victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers despite not scoring a single point.

Three months later, it was sequences like that — and Ojeleye’s overall play defensively all season — that made the coach turn place him in the starting lineup against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.

“Experience is the best teacher at all times,” Ojeleye said prior to Saturday night’s Game 7 of the series. “Getting to guard great guys like that throughout the whole season really helped my confidence and helped me kind of be ready in those moments.”

Ojeleye played 31 minutes in his first start in Game 5 and helped hold Antetokounmpo to just 16 points on 10 shots. The 6-foot-11 power forward, with point guard skills and leaping ability virtually unmatched in the league, came back strong with 31 points on 23 shots in Game 6. But Stevens elected to stick with Ojeleye on Saturday night with the season on the line.

“If you look at any of the numbers, or just watch, I mean it’s pretty clear that he’s our best guy guarding Giannis,” the coach reasoned before the game. “It doesn’t mean at the end of the day that you can keep him from getting every shot. But as far as getting to the basket, keeping a guy in front, making him take as tough (shots) as possible, he’s done a pretty good job at that.”

Defense — with lateral quickness that defies the conventions of his muscular, 6-foot-7, 240-pound frame — is what has made all the difference for Ojeleye in his rookie year as he worked his way into being a playoff starter, despite averaging just 2.7 points and shooting 34.6 percent during the regular season. Entering Game 7, he had averaged 16.2 minutes per game in the series, averaging 1.7 points and shooting 23.1 percent.

“It’s helped me tremendously,” Ojeleye said of his defense. “I wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case. That’s something I’ve tried to focus on whether shots are going in or not that I can impact the game and be consistent on that end.”


Stevens said before the game that Ojeleye still needs to be a floor spacer and be willing to take and — hopefully — hit the shots when they come to him in the rotation. Ojeleye said his confidence remains solid in his shot coming off a final year at SMU when he connected at 42.9 percent on 3-pointers.

“I’m putting in the work every day,” he said. “You realize that sooner or later shots are going to go in. It wasn’t always good shooting for me in college. I think over time, if I stick with it, things will go back to the way they should be in my head.”

He said this whole season has been a lesson in perseverance.

“It will be invaluable for me,” he said. “I could have been in the G-League all year. That would be a different case, different story. Going forward, having these experiences, having this confidence, I think will be something that I really look back that helped me get to where I wind up going.”


Small steps

Celtics forward Daniel Theis, who was lost for the year with a torn meniscus with a month to go in the regular season, this week began walking without crutches for the first time since his surgery.

“We’ve gotten use to celebrating those things around the office this year,” Stevens said. “He’s got a long way to go before he’s able to get back on the court really doing hard cutting and those types of things.

“I don’t want to put a timeline on it, but my understanding is that he wouldn’t be cleared for full physical activity until mid-July, or sometime around that area.”

Injured stars Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving and Theis were all on the bench with the Celtics for Game 7.



bob
MY NOTE: “Experience is the best teacher at all times,” Ojeleye said. That's what I'm talking about.


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Ojeleye is a great example of taking what you can do well and do it to perfection. He was a real thorn in the side of the Bucks even though he can't handle, pass or even shoot very well.

If he can develop some offensive skills to go with his defense he may make himself into an NBA rotation player for many years. Hope he can do it in Boston.