Phil Pressey Gets A Shot

http://bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2013/10/phil_pressey_gets_a_shot



Wednesday, October 9, 2013
By:Steve Bulpett


..WALTHAM — Phil Pressey stayed after practice for a long shooting session. It wasn’t nearly his first such exercise in the Celtics facility.

The former Waltham High star had put in many hours there as the son of former Celtics assistant coach Paul Pressey. And after getting a DNP in his first preseason game Monday, the 5-foot-11 point guard out of Missouri is set to get a heavy look tonight when the C’s take on the Knicks in Providence.

“We’re going to have other guys play a lot,” said C’s coach Brad Stevens following yesterday’s practice. “We’re going to be without Jordan (Crawford). Jordan had a death in his family and had to go home, so we’re all thinking about him and praying for him. He just left at the end of practice, so he will not be there (tonight).

“So you’ll see a lot more of Phil Pressey, which is good. I’m really looking forward to that. I think he’s done a great job. I knew that prior to (Monday) night’s game. That’s why I didn’t play Phil (in the 97-89 loss to Toronto) and played Jordan a couple more minutes. So that was the point behind that.”

Pressey is ready for the opportunity.

“(Stevens) just told me to stay ready, keep working hard,” he said. “That’s all I can control. He puts me out there. I plan on performing well and that’s what I’m working towards. I just try to go out there and defend the ball well and try to change the pace of the game on defense.

“Offensively, I know I can pass and create for others, but I’m going to try to change the game on the defensive end.”

A little more than a week into training camp, Pressey has already benefited from the surroundings.

Speaking of Avery Bradley and Crawford, he said, “The good thing about those guys, they bring it every day, so in practice we are competing. It’s tough out there. You can’t take a play off. Jordan wants to compete every single play and win every single drill. We’re going at it. Same thing with Avery. Those guys are just helping me get better and the harder we practice, the easier games are going to be.”

Pressey won’t be the only change tonight.

“(Tonight) will be a lot more scripted lineup-wise than (Monday) night was,” said Stevens. “That’s one of the things I learned in my first exhibition game was I’ll script it a little bit differently. It’ll probably be a lot more precise from a sub pattern standpoint.”

He’d like things to be different defensively (the Raptors shot 52.1 percent) and on the glass (outrebounded, 46-26).

But Stevens was looking on the bright side of some unpleasant video.

“We can get a lot better defensively in what we’re trying to do,” he said. “Some of those things are very correctable, and then I think we can get a lot better on the glass. We’re just going to have to do it more by committee than individually. Offensively, I thought we had times during the game where we really moved the ball and got great looks, and then we had times where we got a little stagnant, again, very correctable; getting used to one another, getting used to a new coaching staff, new system. I took a lot more positives than negatives from it.”

After noting the Celts’ poor positioning, Stevens said, “Those are things that are, again, correctable, but it takes time. Even if it’s something that guys have done before, it takes time to rebuild that. We’ve got a lot of guys from a lot of different places, and they’ve played in a lot of different places. Then we’ve got a new staff, or a relatively new staff, and it takes time to be connected. We’ve got to try our best to all connect.”



bob



.

I like his confidence. Hope it's well-founded.

Sam

Good luck to Press, I hope he can let the game come to him.


KJ

First game; and, after a few early jitters, I thought he made a very good case for sticking. I liked his confidence in his earlier statement, and I particularly lliked the way you could see his confidence mushroom during the game so that he didn't hesitate on anything. Seven assists in 28 minutes is more than any other Celtic has had to date. And he certainly wasn't loathe to display his offense from outside or in penetration.

Go Phil!

Sam

Sam

Pressey is a keeper.

He is the only PG on this roster not named Rajon Rondo.

I could actually see him as the starting PG come opening day. Avery would be able to focus on his strengths. Defense and Shooting.

We have the luxury to experiment.

Courtney Lee continue to struggle shooting the ball although his defense is pretty good but if he cannot make shots let Avery play the 2 and give Pressey a chance to run the point.

dboss

Dboss,

Despite the fact that's so early, I agree about Pressey.  I've been making noise for some time about a Pressey-Bradley pairing, and the idea's really growing on me.

Another thing the I know must be thrilling you is the lack of the Celtics' walking the ball upcourt.  They run whenever it's possible and push the pace even when they don't officially run.  I really like that because it bodes well for the type of basketball you and I love over the course of the season.

And I have to credit Vitor, Humphries, and even Sims with being part of a "go to the hoop mentality that garnered 40 points in the paint last night. Humphries can be one tough guy, and Vitor runs an excellent pick-and-roll.

Sam