Pressey has point covered in Rondo's absence

Pressey has point covered in Rondo's absence
October 10, 2013, 12:30 am


PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Phil Pressey was scoring. He was finding teammates.

But maybe just as important, he was leading the Celtics in a way that the C's have not really seen since Rajon Rondo went down with a torn right ACL in January.

Pressey was far from flawless in his performance Wednesday night against New York, but the 5-foot-11 point guard delivered a slew of clutch plays at both ends of the floor.

His play enabled the Celtics to take a lead late in the game after he made a left-handed, driving layup that put the C's ahead after having fell behind by as many as 23 points in the fourth.

But this fairy tale performance did not have a happy ending for the Celtics.

Knicks rookie Tim Hardaway Jr., with his all-NBA dad in the stands cheering him on, drilled a baseline 17-foot jumper with eight seconds to play that allowed the Knicks to escape with a 103-102 win.

C's coach Brad Stevens was disappointed with the outcome, but had nothing but praise for the job that Pressey did in directing the team's near-comeback.

It was the kind of performance that has to be taken into account in Stevens' evaluations as far as who will play and who will not.

"Phil’s going to find time if he keeps doing what he’s doing," Stevens said. "Now, the challenge is responding to a night where you have a little success, and then responding the nights where you don’t.  And just maintaining an even-ness about you."

Pressey had 13 points, seven assists along with three rebounds and two steals.

After the game, Pressey was still thinking like a point guard, quickly passing the credit for his success upon teammates Jordan Crawford and Avery Bradley.

“I was just trying to go out there and carry over what was happening in practice," Pressey said. "Compete everyday, and I really feel like Avery and Jordan and other guys, us competing against each other, really got me ready for the game.”

Pressey has also benefited from having Rajon Rondo around.

Despite being out since January, Rondo has been among the many voices Pressey hears in his ear often.

"I give him as much advice as he asks me," Rondo said. "He's a good listener; not a lot of young guys come in and always willing and open to listen. He's a very humble guy. That will take him a long way. He has a little chip on his shoulder. He was undrafted. But the way he plays in practice, and the heart he has, you can't measure that. I think he'll be a pro for a long time."

Performances such as the one Pressey had on Monday can only help.

"The one thing about Phil is Phil gets in the gym, you guys have all been around, and he doesn’t leave the gym early," Stevens said. "And he’s a guy that can make plays for other people and he made us better tonight.”

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At first, I had my reservations about Pressey once I had seen him play during the summer league. He had a lot of turnovers and seemed too jittery to be a solution as a PG. Well, he has, for the moment, proven me wrong. I was impressed with his control of the game and he looks like a viable player on this new-look roster.

It looks like the PG and C positions finally have some legitimate players.


KJ

Those two "layups" he made down the stretch were not really layups.  They were running lefty hook shots, and obviously, he has that move mastered.  Compared with Rondo's preference for a backhanded underhand flip, a running hook is much less susceptible to being blocked (especially if the shooter is on the small side)....as long as the shooter can hit a high percentage.

I'm still almost numb from the accelerated growth he displayed during just one game.  I won't go so far as to say he seemed cocky at the end because he didn't do any posturing; but he seemed to be in solid command in just his first game.

I hope Brad will start Phil and Bradley together in the near future.  It's very likely this year's Celtics will have to overcome other teams with disruption and debilitation rather than with finesse or power.  Those two, paired together, could play a big role in both disrupting and debilitating other teams.

Sam

Gotta love coach's kids.


bob


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I'm really looking forward to the Philly game in hopes of seeing step number one in proving Phil's not just a one-hit wonder. I'm pretty sure that's not the case, but some confirmation wouldn't hurt. And it also wouldn't hurt to get him closer to a potential starting role. I certainly wouldn't want to inflict too much pressure on the kid; but he looked last night as though he considered pressure to be a form of adrenalin.

Sam