Ime Udoka Downplays Report Of Celtics Having Players-Only Meeting

Ime Udoka Downplays Report Of Celtics Having Players-Only Meeting

'Yeah, it wasn't really a players-only meeting'

NESN by Alexandra Francisco

It looks like there’s no bad blood between Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum after Smart’s postgame comments earlier in the week.

For all the Boston Celtics’ problems last season, they kept things in-house, and not much ever leaked to the media.

But during their much-needed win against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the team held a players-only meeting in the aftermath of Marcus Smart calling out the team on Monday.

To complicate things further, Wojnarowksi got the impression that the meeting was not particularly productive nor beneficial.

Following the game, head coach Ime Udoka downplayed the gathering, saying it wasn’t a players-only meeting at all.

“Yeah, it wasn’t really a players-only meeting,” Udoka said after the game via Zoom. “We had a team dinner scheduled way before anything happened, so that was planned for some weeks now. And we gave the players their time before the coaching staff and everybody else came down so they had about 30 minutes on their own but it wasn’t anything scheduled, it was wasn’t anything scheduled by them. It was what we already had planned and like I said, we gave them time to enjoy each other first before we came down 30 minutes later.”

So either someone inside the organization exaggerated the nature of the meeting to Wojnarowski or Udoka is downplaying the situation to avoid another mess. Neither would be surprising, but hopefully some progress at least came from it.

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Yawn

So it could have been a big deal, or not. It could have been 'players meeting' that is being downplayed by the team or it could just been a conversation between a couple of players who already spend a lot of time together with some pre-scheduled free time on their hands.

Clarity brings direction and resolution to the focused. This article did little to add clarity, in my opinion.


Bob


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bobheckler wrote:So it could have been a big deal, or not.  It could have been 'players meeting' that is being downplayed by the team or it could just been a conversation between a couple of players who already spend a lot of time together with some pre-scheduled free time on their hands.

Clarity brings direction and resolution to the focused.  This article did little to add clarity, in my opinion.


Bob


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I’m beginning to look side eyed at some of Woj’s reports. Especially now that he’s working for ESPN.
He says it was not productive with no details as to why or what when on.
He’s starting to remind me of an old wash woman who always supposedly had something on everyone.

Another story that does not come with facts. Tiring of these guys jumping all over reports just to beat someone else to the story. When asked if this was called for by the players, Ime replied that this was a scheduled team dinner and they gave the players time to talk before handd.

it only stands to reason there would be some yelling. Brown and Smart have gone at each other before. I love Marcus, what he said was really true, but he picked the wrong time and place to speak up. In house, that is where it should have been. Look them straight in the eyes and tell them how you feel. The TV gives people a false sense of courage.

Too much is being made of this, it happens all the time

Perhaps Marcus Smart already addressed this issue - in house - and has seen enough!

This is all speculation on everyones part, however what is not speculative is Tatum is not living up to his assigned title by the press as an elite player.

A stat that does not lie is this one > Most shots taken by an NBA player, worst shooting percentage by a player in that category.

The scoring stats are misleading. Anyone can score 20+ points a game if they throw up enough shots.

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In other critical events that might decide the season for the Celtics, all 15 players used the locker room and showers yesterday.

There was a report from a source with knowledge of the situation that Jayson Tatum was short one coat hanger, but that Marcus Smart lent him an extra from his own locker.

There was no word on who was last to leave the locker room, and if they turned out the lights.


C'mon Woj! Give us something with some substance.

woj, woj in search of a headline.

You just fell at least 10 notches on my 'like you list'