Sully Bleeds Green

It's amazing what one year with KG can do for a young player.  Sully was in Orlando, providing some coaching to the players.  He is way, way, way mature for his age.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/sullinger-we-have-celtic-pride-wont-tank#o92tp2BPYvWusBWl.99


Sullinger: We Have Celtic Pride, Won’t Tank
By Yannis Koutroupis
Senior NBA Writer & College Basketball Editor



Boston Celtics fans may want to hold off on having custom Andrew Wiggins jerseys made in preparation for winning the 2014 NBA Draft lottery.

No, not because the last time they did that with Tim Duncan in 1997 they ended up heartbroken – but because there isn’t a Celtic onboard with the idea of tanking the season, no matter how great the benefits may be.

“You got to understand, with you being a Celtic you have Celtic pride,” Celtics second-year power forward Jared Sullinger said to HOOPSWORLD. “With Celtic pride we don’t tank. You have to bleed green or else you might as well get out of town.”

The Celtics are two days away from the trading of veteran forwards Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets for a combination of expiring contracts, draft picks and Gerald Wallace. They recently hired former Butler head coach Brad Stevens to be their next head coach, giving him a six-year deal worth $22 million. All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo’s status is currently up in the air as well. The Celtics have publicly stated that they have no plans to trade Rondo and want to build around him, but that hasn’t stopped teams from calling and trying to offer a deal good enough to pry him away.

All signs point to the Celtics being in full-blown rebuilding mode, but Sullinger still believes in the team’s potential.

“We just have to play basketball, play hard and handle our business,” Sullinger said. “That’s it. Everyone is counting us out, talking about how we might tank. We’re competitors, we don’t care about that. We just want to win basketball games.

“[Me and Coach Stevens] talked.  He told me his expectations, what he wants from me and the team. He’s a great guy. Also, with where he came from at Butler, raising that program to a Top 25 team the past couple of years, it’s only a matter of time [until we see] what he can do with us.”

Sullinger’s rookie campaign was limited to 45 games due to a back injury that required surgery. The injury is preventing him from participating in the 2013 Orlando Summer League. However, he’s progressed well.

“You’ll see me on the court,” Sullinger said. “That’s pretty much is self-explanatory.”

When he does return, Sullinger will have big shoes to fill. He could be replacing Garnett, his mentor, in the starting lineup and relied on much more than he was as a rookie.

Just like there are doubters over how good the Celtics can realistically be next season, there are also those who question whether or not Sullinger can be a productive starter in the league or live up to the high expectations that followed him after a dominant career at Ohio State.

“It’s been like that my whole life,” Sullinger said. “One moment I can’t do this, I can’t do that, I’m not athletic enough, I can’t play. Now we’re going to tank a season? It’s only a matter of time before we’re going to try to put all these doubters to shame.”


bob


.

Love this kid, love this kid, love this kid...


http://redsarmy.com/2013/07/07/coach-sullinger-will-have-none-of-your-tanking-talk/


21-year-old Jared Sullinger’s NBA career has spanned 45 games.  He is, on a team that will already be young, one of its youngest players.

But Sullinger doesn’t carry himself like some kid.  Here in Orlando, he’s setting up shop on the Celtics’ bench, and playing the role of mentor to guys like Kelly Olynyk, who just happen to be older than him.  When Celtics assistant Jay Larranga, who is coaching the Summer League team, was asked about Sullinger “kind of” acting like a coach today, he smirked and shot back, “Kind of?”

Sullinger has been lauded for his “high basketball IQ” for a long time now.  Kevin Garnett, notoriously tough on rookies, quickly gave the same effusive praise last season, and used it almost every time he spoke about Sullinger.  So it’s not a shock that Sullinger is putting his mind to this use on the bench while he waits for his body to be ready for the floor.

“Sully’s so smart,” gushed Larranga.  ”With him and Kelly we have two very,very high IQ basketball guys.  And Sully’s a very social guy… but every single thing he said was right on point.  It’s almost as much of an advantage as if he was on the court.  We would prefer he was on the court, not coaching, but he was really helpful on the bench.”

Sullinger was quick to blow off the “coach” label, but it doesn’t make it inappropriate.

“He’s great on the bench, telling me different stuff,” said Olynyk.  ”One time, [Orlando Magic guard Victor] Oladipo came down the lane and I missed a tag on him, so [Sullinger's] just trying to help me out as best he can.  It’s great having him there.”

I guess this is what you call natural leadership.  It’s the type of attitude that transcends age.  Let’s be honest, how many coaches want to hear it from a kid that is spending his first summer able to legally buy beer?  But they accept it, probably because Sullinger doesn’t give a damn about it.

“If we had the 15-year-old Jared Sullinger on our bench,” mused Larranga, “He’d be giving us suggestions and ideas.”

“It’s been like that for a long time,” explained Sullinger.  ”I’ve been doing it since I was like 12.  Even talking to my older brothers.  At the time they didn’t listen.  As time wore on they said ‘you was right about what you said.’  I’m just not ashamed to show my basketball IQ.”

He’s really not ashamed about much, if anything at all.  That’s why he’s not afraid to let you know that he hears you.

“When you have Celtic pride, you don’t really have time to rebuild.  You gotta play hard, play smart.   Everybody counts us out, but we still have Rondo.  He won a championship in ‘08, he knows what it takes.”

The Celtics still have Sullinger, too.  And he knows that big words write big checks that he’ll need to cash this upcoming season.
He does not, however, seem to be afraid.

“I gotta step up and do a little bit more, probably play a little bit more.  At the same time, we just wanna play.  We’re tired of everybody talking about how we’re going to tank.  We just want to play and shut everybody up.”


bob


.