Re: Ime Udoka is the new coach of the Celtics.

by **dboss** Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:59 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDLsezwIpfo&t=11s

short clip on IME playing

by **bobheckler** Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:31 pm

international wrote:New Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has made a decision on his replacement, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Boston is finalizing a deal to hire Nets assistant Ime Udoka as the team’s new head coach.

Udoka, who appeared in over 300 NBA games as a player for the Lakers, Knicks, Blazers, Spurs, and Kings, transitioned into coaching following his retirement in 2012. He spent seven years as an assistant on Gregg Popovich‘s staff in San Antonio before joining the Sixers for the 2019/20 season. He was hired by the Nets last fall and focused on Brooklyn’s defense as one of the top assistants on Steve Nash‘s staff.

Udoka has interviewed for several open head coaching positions in recent years, having been linked to the Bulls, Pacers, Knicks, and 76ers a year ago and to the Cavaliers in 2019. He was due for a shot at a top job and quickly separated himself from the Celtics’ other candidates during the team’s coaching search, tweets Wojnarowski.

International,

Btw, nice to see you again. Hope everything has gone well for you in Puerto Rico.

Bob

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by **international** Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:34 pm

Thank you Bob, thank God everything is good here . I read all the comments every day . Partially retire for commenting in this group but still a Celtic's Fan.

by **bobheckler** Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:28 am

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

Boston Celtics
@celtics
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37m
It’s official

Welcome to Boston, Coach.

Ime Udoka is the new coach of the Celtics. - Page 2 E4-HVoCXwAQ-36K?format=jpg

Bob

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by **gyso** Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:00 am

Celtics Name Ime Udoka 18th Head Coach in Franchise History

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/pressrelease/celtics-name-ime-udoka-18th-head-coach-franchise-history

Seven-year NBA veteran brings nine years of assistant coaching experience to Boston
By Boston Celtics | @Celtics
Celtics.com
June 28, 2021

Presented by Putnam Investments
BOSTON, MA – The Boston Celtics have named seven-year NBA veteran Ime Udoka the franchise's next head coach, making him the 18th head coach in the organization's 75-year history. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"I would like to welcome Ime, Nia, Kez, and Massai to the Boston Celtics. Among the many outstanding qualities that Ime brings to the table are his character, humility, and competitiveness. He has a relentless work ethic and a vast array of experiences as a player and coach," said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens. "He's a leader that is warm and demanding, and we are so excited that he has chosen to join us in pursuit of Banner 18."

Udoka joins the Celtics franchise after spending the last nine NBA seasons as an assistant coach between San Antonio (2012-13 to 2018-19), Philadelphia (2019-20), and Brooklyn (2020-21). Teams that Udoka has served as an assistant coach on have qualified for the playoffs in all nine seasons, with one of those years resulting in an NBA championship (Spurs, 2014).

In addition to his coaching experience in the NBA, Udoka was also an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich and the USA Basketball Men's National Team in 2018.

"It's an honor to be a part of the historic Celtics franchise. Coaching this talented roster and working alongside Brad makes it an ideal situation," said Udoka. "I'd like to thank Wyc, Steve, and Brad for entrusting me with this opportunity. I look forward to getting started right away."

Udoka played 12 years of professional basketball, including seven seasons in the NBA from 2003-04 to 2010-11. He averaged 5.2 points on 41.7% shooting (35.6% 3-PT), 2.9 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 18.1 minutes in 316 career games with San Antonio, Portland, Sacramento, New York, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Udoka also represented Nigeria in international competition throughout his playing career, earning bronze medals in 2005 and 2011 at the African Championships.

"Ime stands out as a person of integrity, accomplishment, energy, and insight," said Celtics Co-Owner and Governor Wyc Grousbeck. "He has worked with some of the best and is ready to take the next step forward. I look forward to having him as our head coach."

"Ime's passion for basketball and coaching is extraordinary," said Celtics Co-Owner and Alternate Governor Steve Pagliuca. "He is respected by players and coaches throughout the league for his empathy, humility, and deep knowledge of the game. We are thrilled that he will be coming to Boston to lead our team."

A native of Portland, OR, Udoka, 43, began his collegiate career at Utah State University Eastern (1995-97) before transferring to the University of San Francisco (1997-98) and finishing up at Portland State (1999-00).

by **RosalieTCeltics** Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:45 am

Well, he is saying all the right things right now, it is live on tv. This is an exciting time, fresh look to the team. Impressive guy. Good luck to him

by **bobheckler** Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:58 am

Marc D'Amico @celtics
2 minutes ago
Ime Udoka: "We have a willing group, and they’ve only reiterated that in our conversations lately ... I’m not worried about our group being worried about hard coaching. They’re asking for that and it’s something I’m going to bring to the table."

Bob
MY NOTE: for those who thought Brad wasn't tough enough, those days seem to be over.

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by **bobheckler** Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:33 am

Mark Murphy @Murf56
about 5 minutes ago
Also appears that Udoka's new players want to be pushed: "They’re going to allow me to coach them, push them, they know I’m going to be on their ass, and that’s what they like about me, they’ve asked me about that. They want to be pushed, they want to be directed towards winning.

Bob
MY NOTE: It's one thing to say "I want you to push me" in a hypothetical way, it's another to actually be pushed relentlessly. Nevertheless, I'm liking what I'm hearing from Odoka and I like what he's saying the players are saying to him.

All good so far, as far as I am concerned. All very good.
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by **dboss** Mon Jun 28, 2021 12:20 pm

I think Ime will do well.

Brad needs to finish adding roster improvements. Now that we have a deep center rotation attention will turn towards PG and maybe a 4 and a bench scorer.

by **bobheckler** Mon Jun 28, 2021 1:08 pm

Boston Celtics
@celtics
·
17m
Passing of the torch

Ime Udoka is the new coach of the Celtics. - Page 2 E4--jd5XMAgdXHJ?format=jpg

Bob

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by **bobheckler** Mon Jun 28, 2021 3:18 pm

by **prakash** Mon Jun 28, 2021 4:02 pm

Lets improve the roster, pray to the injury gods and we should do well.

Time to reap the rewards of what Danny sowed: Drafting injured players that had potential but slipped because of injury. RWill, Langford and Nesmith. Perhaps following the Embiid blue print.

Unfortunately, RWill looks like he will have lingering health issues. Langford and Nesmith may be finally healed and ready to go. Pritchard was a good get and GWill a bust.

We need to add one more creative forward for the roster to be ready. I will take a creative 1 as well but don't see many options except Kyle Lowry.

by **bobheckler** Mon Jun 28, 2021 5:37 pm

Here's Ime's intro presser. A lot of what you'd expect. Happy talk. At about the 13 1/2 minute mark (you can fast forward) Ime is asked about what "stamp will he put on the team?" THAT is a key question. He also mentioned he has known Pritchard since his Portand, OR days growing up. A shout out by your new coach in his intro presser should juice PP up.

He was very noncommittal about the current coaching staff. I'd update my resume if I were them.

Bob

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by **bobheckler** Tue Jun 29, 2021 11:57 am

In his presser, Udoka repeatedly referred to the Js as "two pillars". That sounds like any rumors that have Jaylen being moved are probably overblown.

And then, there's this today:

Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
about 15 minutes ago
Ime Udoka with high praise for Marcus Smart, including calling him a foundational piece, during a chat with @ZoandBertrand. Time to start crunching those extension numbers.

This is why you accept offers to play for Team USA and other such. You never know who might be your future coach, never know who you might need to impress. Would Brad, who loves Smart too, move him for Dame? Probably but, other than an obviously clear upgrade like Dame or Kawhi or such, with the new head coach singing his praises too, it's going to take a helluvan offer to get him.

I'm greedy. I want a point guard, a veteran proven point guard, but I don't want to have to give up Marcus Smart to get him. A brain without a heart is no improvement.

Bob

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by **bobheckler** Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:45 pm

Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
about 11 minutes ago
Ime Udoka on Robert Williams: “It was night and day when he was on the court [in Nets series] … [Toe is] something we don’t think is that serious and hopefully he’ll overcome … I’ve talked to him quite a bit … Happy to be on his side now, of the blocked shots and alley oops."

Bob

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by **RosalieTCeltics** Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:08 pm

I feel Smart is going no where, at least not right now. Who knows what will happen at trade deadline time or free agency He played that card once and ended up signing for a little less than the original offer. I just do not see them moving him right now.. I could be wrong, The first few months of the season will prove to be extremely important to Langford, Neismith and Pritchard and even Williams.

I already cannot wait for summer league, free agency and camp. Watching these other teams in the playoffs shows that there is a lot of work ahead for this team. Are you listening Jaylen and Jason????I sure hope so

by **bobheckler** Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:15 pm

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I feel Smart is going no where, at least not right now. Who knows what will happen at trade deadline time or free agency He played that card once and ended up signing for a little less than the original offer. I just do not see them moving him right now.. I could be wrong, The first few months of the season will prove to be extremely important to Langford, Neismith and Pritchard and even Williams.

I already cannot wait for summer league, free agency and camp. Watching these other teams in the playoffs shows that there is a lot of work ahead for this team. Are you listening Jaylen and Jason????I sure hope so

Rosalie,

40 days. Summer League begins on August 8th.

August. In Las Vegas. Better them than me.

Bob

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by **bobheckler** Wed Jun 30, 2021 1:20 pm

by **bobheckler** Sun Jul 04, 2021 11:06 am

Apparently Ime's partner, Nia Long, is really happy he's in Boston too!

Ime Udoka is the new coach of the Celtics. - Page 2 Nia_lo10

Bob

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by **gyso** Sun Jul 04, 2021 12:18 pm

What a great number pick.

Ime is the 18th head coach and his first major goal will be the #18 NBA Championship.

There is a third 18 around here, they come in threes.

$18M/year, three year contract for Fournier?

by **RosalieTCeltics** Sun Jul 04, 2021 12:26 pm

you think??? I would like him back, with a camp under his belt with new coaching, he may find his job more defined and more comforatable

by **bobheckler** Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:02 pm

dbrown4 wrote:Yeah, the Pop connection is more than enough for me. Get him on board. There's lots of work to do! Time's a wastin'!!

db

Dbrown,

Speaking of the "Pop connection" here's da man himself weighing in.

Bob

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