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Christmas eager to prove he belongs
by 112288 Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:31 pm
By Greg Payne | ESPNBoston.com
Dionte Christmas' new reality hasn't sunk in quite yet.
He's a Boston Celtic, signed by the team to a partially guaranteed, two-year deal shortly after he wrapped up two weeks of impressive summer-league play for the club in Orlando and Las Vegas last month. But the ratio of time he spent chasing the NBA, as opposed to the amount of time he's been one of its newest members, is rather lopsided -- approximately three years to three weeks -- so you'll have to forgive him if his elation for his new situation hasn't yet outweighed the memories of the rigorous journey it took to get here. But it's certainly making a strong push.
Dionte Christmas, known in college mainly as a scorer, showcased an all-around game while playing for the Celtics this summer.
"I'm still excited over it," Christmas said of his new deal in a phone interview with ESPN Boston on Friday. "It's been like a week or so since I've signed the deal, so it's still been very exciting for me. I'm overwhelmed and all of the congrats I've been getting from Boston fans, I've been loving it, and I just want to repay them by just going into camp and going into the season giving everything I've got."
Christmas spent the past three seasons playing overseas in Israel, Turkey and, most recently, Greece, but he never lost sight of his NBA goal.
Training camp in October will be his first true test. As of now, the Celtics are poised to bring in 16 players (that number could go up or down over the next two months) for a 15-man roster. The Celtics are already stocked with shooting and combo guards (Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Avery Bradley and Keyon Dooling), but at 6-foot-5 Christmas could also get time at the small forward spot, and that versatility should help his chances of making the final cut.
Christmas will have to earn his spot on the roster like everybody else, but should he fall short of that goal he could join the Maine Red Claws and be a mere injury away from helping the Boston team (not uncommon for the Celtics in recent seasons). But he's adopting a mindset built around the belief that he will make the final squad. As hard as he was working prior to signing his contract, the new deal has motivated him to take the step beyond making the roster and contribute once the season begins.
"This is even more motivation. Before, my motivation was just to get to this point, but now my motivation is to, first of all, just stay on the team and, second of all, just help the team out in any way possible," said Christmas, who went undrafted in 2009. "I know the history of the Boston Celtics and I know what Doc Rivers expects out of his players. My motivation is to go in there and just try my best to get some playing time and show Doc and show Danny Ainge that I can be a great asset to the team, and that I can help out more than in practice and things like that.
"That's my motivation right now. I'm just going to take it one day at a time, step-by-step. My first step is to go into camp and just play hard, just play 110 percent, like I did at summer league, and make those guys not regret their decision on giving me this contract," he said.
Preparing to make the team is an integral part of actually making the team, which is why Christmas has been going through daily workouts with his trainer, Chuck Ellis, down at Temple, his alma mater, to prepare for October.
"I go through a heavy routine I go through every day. I work out, just trying to keep my body right, just trying to stay in shape for camp," Christmas explained. "Going into camp, you definitely have to be in shape. I know with our vets, they're not going to have that from the young guys. With [Kevin Garnett], Paul [Pierce], Jason [Terry], [Rajon] Rondo, all those guys, I know they're not really going to have too much slack from the young guys, so we've got to be in tip-top shape and get ready to run with those guys."
Christmas, known in his Temple days purely as a scorer, showcased an all-around game while playing for the Celtics this summer. He averaged 12.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and four assists per game in Orlando, and followed that up a week later with averages of 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in Vegas. For Christmas, the past year or so has been all about remodeling his game in order to be an impact player in a variety of areas, particularly on defense, which should appeal to Boston, given its defensive focus over the past five seasons.
Christmas says his first goal is to "show Doc [Rivers] and show Danny Ainge that I can be a great asset to the team, and that I can help out more than in practice and things like that."
"Basically that's what this summer and last summer and even last season in Greece, that's really what I was working on -- my all-around game," Christmas said. "If I can just better that … just keep bettering myself as an all-around player, that would be great. But you know, everybody knows me as a scorer and a jump shooter, so I'm definitely going to do what I'm best at. But just to keep perfecting my all-around game would be great. I just want to better myself. I want to become a great defender, not just a good defender, I want to become a great defender. I think I have the size and the speed and everything to do that."
Christmas said he plans to relocate to Boston in mid-August either just before or right after the NBA's mandatory Rookie Transition Program in New York City, which runs Aug. 17-20. Once in Boston, Christmas will be better able to embrace the many Celtics fans who have poured in their support and notes of congratulation ever since his deal was signed.
"I've been getting great feedback. I literally haven't been getting any negative feedback," Christmas said. "I think all the fans that had been watching me play in summer league can respect the way that I play, and I just want to thank them for everything. They've really been supporting me the last couple of weeks, since summer league started. Since summer league I've gotten like 3,000 new followers on Twitter and they hit me up every day and it's crazy. That right there just gives me a taste of what it's going to be like during the season in Boston."
Boston was always Christmas' preferred destination, despite him correctly pointing out in Vegas that he was really auditioning for every team in the league. He was hoping that the continuity he built up with the Celtics during summer league could carry over to a full season.
"This is a top-of-the-line, all-around great program," Christmas said. "Now that I'm signed with these guys, I see people and we talk, the first thing they say is, 'You are with the best program in the NBA. They're very professional. Everything they do is professional.' It's great. To say I'm a Boston Celtic is great.
"You have very few guys who come into opportunities like this, and like I said before, I'm very lucky, very blessed to be in this opportunity to help this team get the 18th banner."
It's all part of Christmas' new reality. It'll sink in, eventually, as it helps him to further appreciate the long journey he hopes will yield a brighter NBA future.
112288
Dionte Christmas' new reality hasn't sunk in quite yet.
He's a Boston Celtic, signed by the team to a partially guaranteed, two-year deal shortly after he wrapped up two weeks of impressive summer-league play for the club in Orlando and Las Vegas last month. But the ratio of time he spent chasing the NBA, as opposed to the amount of time he's been one of its newest members, is rather lopsided -- approximately three years to three weeks -- so you'll have to forgive him if his elation for his new situation hasn't yet outweighed the memories of the rigorous journey it took to get here. But it's certainly making a strong push.
Dionte Christmas, known in college mainly as a scorer, showcased an all-around game while playing for the Celtics this summer.
"I'm still excited over it," Christmas said of his new deal in a phone interview with ESPN Boston on Friday. "It's been like a week or so since I've signed the deal, so it's still been very exciting for me. I'm overwhelmed and all of the congrats I've been getting from Boston fans, I've been loving it, and I just want to repay them by just going into camp and going into the season giving everything I've got."
Christmas spent the past three seasons playing overseas in Israel, Turkey and, most recently, Greece, but he never lost sight of his NBA goal.
Training camp in October will be his first true test. As of now, the Celtics are poised to bring in 16 players (that number could go up or down over the next two months) for a 15-man roster. The Celtics are already stocked with shooting and combo guards (Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Avery Bradley and Keyon Dooling), but at 6-foot-5 Christmas could also get time at the small forward spot, and that versatility should help his chances of making the final cut.
Christmas will have to earn his spot on the roster like everybody else, but should he fall short of that goal he could join the Maine Red Claws and be a mere injury away from helping the Boston team (not uncommon for the Celtics in recent seasons). But he's adopting a mindset built around the belief that he will make the final squad. As hard as he was working prior to signing his contract, the new deal has motivated him to take the step beyond making the roster and contribute once the season begins.
"This is even more motivation. Before, my motivation was just to get to this point, but now my motivation is to, first of all, just stay on the team and, second of all, just help the team out in any way possible," said Christmas, who went undrafted in 2009. "I know the history of the Boston Celtics and I know what Doc Rivers expects out of his players. My motivation is to go in there and just try my best to get some playing time and show Doc and show Danny Ainge that I can be a great asset to the team, and that I can help out more than in practice and things like that.
"That's my motivation right now. I'm just going to take it one day at a time, step-by-step. My first step is to go into camp and just play hard, just play 110 percent, like I did at summer league, and make those guys not regret their decision on giving me this contract," he said.
Preparing to make the team is an integral part of actually making the team, which is why Christmas has been going through daily workouts with his trainer, Chuck Ellis, down at Temple, his alma mater, to prepare for October.
"I go through a heavy routine I go through every day. I work out, just trying to keep my body right, just trying to stay in shape for camp," Christmas explained. "Going into camp, you definitely have to be in shape. I know with our vets, they're not going to have that from the young guys. With [Kevin Garnett], Paul [Pierce], Jason [Terry], [Rajon] Rondo, all those guys, I know they're not really going to have too much slack from the young guys, so we've got to be in tip-top shape and get ready to run with those guys."
Christmas, known in his Temple days purely as a scorer, showcased an all-around game while playing for the Celtics this summer. He averaged 12.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and four assists per game in Orlando, and followed that up a week later with averages of 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in Vegas. For Christmas, the past year or so has been all about remodeling his game in order to be an impact player in a variety of areas, particularly on defense, which should appeal to Boston, given its defensive focus over the past five seasons.
Christmas says his first goal is to "show Doc [Rivers] and show Danny Ainge that I can be a great asset to the team, and that I can help out more than in practice and things like that."
"Basically that's what this summer and last summer and even last season in Greece, that's really what I was working on -- my all-around game," Christmas said. "If I can just better that … just keep bettering myself as an all-around player, that would be great. But you know, everybody knows me as a scorer and a jump shooter, so I'm definitely going to do what I'm best at. But just to keep perfecting my all-around game would be great. I just want to better myself. I want to become a great defender, not just a good defender, I want to become a great defender. I think I have the size and the speed and everything to do that."
Christmas said he plans to relocate to Boston in mid-August either just before or right after the NBA's mandatory Rookie Transition Program in New York City, which runs Aug. 17-20. Once in Boston, Christmas will be better able to embrace the many Celtics fans who have poured in their support and notes of congratulation ever since his deal was signed.
"I've been getting great feedback. I literally haven't been getting any negative feedback," Christmas said. "I think all the fans that had been watching me play in summer league can respect the way that I play, and I just want to thank them for everything. They've really been supporting me the last couple of weeks, since summer league started. Since summer league I've gotten like 3,000 new followers on Twitter and they hit me up every day and it's crazy. That right there just gives me a taste of what it's going to be like during the season in Boston."
Boston was always Christmas' preferred destination, despite him correctly pointing out in Vegas that he was really auditioning for every team in the league. He was hoping that the continuity he built up with the Celtics during summer league could carry over to a full season.
"This is a top-of-the-line, all-around great program," Christmas said. "Now that I'm signed with these guys, I see people and we talk, the first thing they say is, 'You are with the best program in the NBA. They're very professional. Everything they do is professional.' It's great. To say I'm a Boston Celtic is great.
"You have very few guys who come into opportunities like this, and like I said before, I'm very lucky, very blessed to be in this opportunity to help this team get the 18th banner."
It's all part of Christmas' new reality. It'll sink in, eventually, as it helps him to further appreciate the long journey he hopes will yield a brighter NBA future.
112288
112288- Posts : 7855
Join date : 2009-10-16
Re: Christmas eager to prove he belongs
by bobheckler Mon Sep 17, 2012 1:01 pm
Rather than starting a new Xmas thread, I thought I'd just use this one (at least until camp starts or something real like that).
From Chris Forsberg. Some repetition, but some new (like his new routine).
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4697370/christmas-this-is-my-dream
Christmas: 'This is my dream'
September, 17, 2012
12:05PM ET
By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com
Dionte Christmas still faces an uphill battle -- or at least a dogfight -- to secure one of the Celtics' final roster spots for the upcoming 2012-13 season. During last week's Celtics community event in Dorchester, he stressed again why he made the decision to ink a partially guaranteed deal to stick around in Boston.
"Basically, this is my dream," said an emotional Christmas. "I played overseas for the last three years and this was actually like my money year overseas. I played real well over there last year and this is the year I would go back over there and make a lot of money. But this opportunity came and God blessed me with this opportunity with the Celtics.
"I played very well in Orlando [summer league], very well in Vegas, and when [Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny Ainge and [director of player personnel] Austin [Ainge] came with the proposal to my agent, it was my dream, and I couldn't turn it down. I had a long talk with my dad, and he basically was just saying, 'It's not all about the money. It's about chasing your dream.' He still wakes up with regrets, because my dad was an athlete, and he [had to] forego his dreams to do certain things, but he still wakes up with regrets. He was like, 'You don't want to do that, wake up with regrets, saying you could have, but you didn't.'
"So that right there just stuck with me the whole night and the next day it was like a no-brainer. I just told [the Celtics] I was on board. I called the overseas teams and told them what I was doing and now I'm here today."
As we noted this summer, it appears that Christmas and Jamar Smith inked similar league-minimum deals, where only a small portion ($25,000 for Smith) is guaranteed. If Christmas doesn't make the Celtics' 15-man roster out of camp, he might have sacrificed money overseas given the fact that those teams have likely signed other players.
Christmas, who has spent the past three seasons in Greece and the Czech Republic, admitted there's benefits to staying stateside.
"It's great, man," he said. "[In July I was getting ready to go] overseas, packing up, 10 months, not seeing my family. Now I get to go home [to the Philadelphia area on] certain days, see my family, I can fly people in, and it's just a lot better feeling, a lot better setting. So it's definitely a blessing. It truly is a blessing, and I just can't thank the Celtics enough for giving me this opportunity."
And how has his focus changed since summer league?
"A lot different. It's a lot more focus," said Christmas. "I was definitely focused in summer league, but now, I've got to pay attention to every detail, getting up early, working out, getting a good lift in. I'm just trying to eat right and rest well, because we're going hard. Once we get into the gym at 9:30, 10 in the morning, we go hard for about four or five hours, and so I have to be mentally tough and just be prepared to go in. Those long lifts -- I'm not used to lifting -- and then doing the training that I'm doing now, as opposed to overseas, is a lot different. Just mentally and physically, it's a different mindset."
If it leads to an NBA job out of camp, all that work -- this summer and for the past three years overseas -- will be well worth the grind.
bob
.
From Chris Forsberg. Some repetition, but some new (like his new routine).
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4697370/christmas-this-is-my-dream
Christmas: 'This is my dream'
September, 17, 2012
12:05PM ET
By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com
Dionte Christmas still faces an uphill battle -- or at least a dogfight -- to secure one of the Celtics' final roster spots for the upcoming 2012-13 season. During last week's Celtics community event in Dorchester, he stressed again why he made the decision to ink a partially guaranteed deal to stick around in Boston.
"Basically, this is my dream," said an emotional Christmas. "I played overseas for the last three years and this was actually like my money year overseas. I played real well over there last year and this is the year I would go back over there and make a lot of money. But this opportunity came and God blessed me with this opportunity with the Celtics.
"I played very well in Orlando [summer league], very well in Vegas, and when [Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny Ainge and [director of player personnel] Austin [Ainge] came with the proposal to my agent, it was my dream, and I couldn't turn it down. I had a long talk with my dad, and he basically was just saying, 'It's not all about the money. It's about chasing your dream.' He still wakes up with regrets, because my dad was an athlete, and he [had to] forego his dreams to do certain things, but he still wakes up with regrets. He was like, 'You don't want to do that, wake up with regrets, saying you could have, but you didn't.'
"So that right there just stuck with me the whole night and the next day it was like a no-brainer. I just told [the Celtics] I was on board. I called the overseas teams and told them what I was doing and now I'm here today."
As we noted this summer, it appears that Christmas and Jamar Smith inked similar league-minimum deals, where only a small portion ($25,000 for Smith) is guaranteed. If Christmas doesn't make the Celtics' 15-man roster out of camp, he might have sacrificed money overseas given the fact that those teams have likely signed other players.
Christmas, who has spent the past three seasons in Greece and the Czech Republic, admitted there's benefits to staying stateside.
"It's great, man," he said. "[In July I was getting ready to go] overseas, packing up, 10 months, not seeing my family. Now I get to go home [to the Philadelphia area on] certain days, see my family, I can fly people in, and it's just a lot better feeling, a lot better setting. So it's definitely a blessing. It truly is a blessing, and I just can't thank the Celtics enough for giving me this opportunity."
And how has his focus changed since summer league?
"A lot different. It's a lot more focus," said Christmas. "I was definitely focused in summer league, but now, I've got to pay attention to every detail, getting up early, working out, getting a good lift in. I'm just trying to eat right and rest well, because we're going hard. Once we get into the gym at 9:30, 10 in the morning, we go hard for about four or five hours, and so I have to be mentally tough and just be prepared to go in. Those long lifts -- I'm not used to lifting -- and then doing the training that I'm doing now, as opposed to overseas, is a lot different. Just mentally and physically, it's a different mindset."
If it leads to an NBA job out of camp, all that work -- this summer and for the past three years overseas -- will be well worth the grind.
bob
.
bobheckler- Posts : 61434
Join date : 2009-10-28
Re: Christmas eager to prove he belongs
by Sam Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:46 pm
Bob,
I don't recall hearing about this many pre-camp sessions for some time, if ever. I hope all the Celtics will be motivated to be in top condition when the season starts. It's one of the surest ways (1) to get out to a great start and (2) to avoid serious injuries.
Sam
I don't recall hearing about this many pre-camp sessions for some time, if ever. I hope all the Celtics will be motivated to be in top condition when the season starts. It's one of the surest ways (1) to get out to a great start and (2) to avoid serious injuries.
Sam
Sam- Admin
- Posts : 22663
Join date : 2009-10-10 -
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