Brad Stevens on Abdel Nader after missed free throws: ‘I believe in him’

https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/03/18/boston-celtics-new-orleans-pelicans-brad-stevens-on-abdel-nader-after-missed-free-throws-i-believe-in-him/




Brad Stevens on Abdel Nader after missed free throws: ‘I believe in him’



Greg Cassoli | March 18, 2018 8:49 pm




Abdel Nader missed four consecutive free throws in the Boston Celtics’ loss against the New Orleans Pelicans, but Brad Stevens still has faith in his rookie wing.
Abdel Nader stepped to the free throw line with 10:54 seconds remaining in the Boston Celtics’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans. He found himself in a peculiar situation.

Pelicans’ head coach Alvin Gentry had just been assigned a technical foul for argue a shooting foul that had been assessed on a Nader three-point attempt. Brad Stevens directed Nader to shoot the technical, which meant he would have four straight free throws.

He missed them all.

The Celtics, down just six at the time, failed to capitalize on an opportunity to cut their deficit to just two. The Pelicans didn’t give them another chance, pushing their lead as high as 23 and ultimately winning by 19.

“It’s frustrating,” Nader said after the game, per MassLive’s Jay King. “I think after I missed the first one, I got a little tense and stressed out and it led to more misses. It won’t happen again, I guarantee you that.

“It’s like that some nights. Like I said, it’s frustrating. I really can’t explain it. It just happened.”

Whether or not Nader had made any or all of his many free throws likely would have been inconsequential. Boston, its roster depleted by injuries, didn’t have the juice to compete with New Orleans down the stretch.


Nader’s misses were a bit unnerving regardless. He’s a solid free throw shooter and has been for the entirety of his professional and collegiate careers. The injury-riddled Celtics are starved for offense and need everyone on the roster, Nader included, to collect on opportunities for easy points.

Stevens trusts him to do so moving forward.

“I told him to,” he said when asked why Nader took the initial technical free throw. “I believe in all these guys. I think at the end of the day, Ab’s been a very good free throw shooter his whole career. We can get into the numbers of everybody, but he was going to step up and have three right after that and I thought he could step up and make the first one.

“The next time we’re on the court, I’m probably going to tell him to [shoot a technical free throw] again, because I believe in him.”




bob


.

Best thing for him is to get back to the stripe and sink one.

Love Brad Stevens and have been using a lot of his way of thinking in everyday life, particularly at work.

These things have to be taken in moderation, as you wont have a job if you dont produce. BUT, as each project is begun - I instill in my team the idea that:

*The process is more important than the results.
*The need to focus on how to get better every day in order to succeed later.
*99% of your work is done before the game/ presentation / big meeting. If you fail there, you are not putting in the work beforehand.