Jonathan Holmes chose Boston Celtics summer league team partly because 'they have the best coaching staff'

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Jonathan Holmes chose Boston Celtics summer league team partly because 'they have the best coaching staff'







Boston Celtics' Jonathan Holmes (68) defends against Philadelphia 76ers' Jahlil Okafor ( during the first half of an NBA summer league basketball game Tuesday, July 7, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)


Print Email Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com

on July 13, 2015 at 1:25 PM, updated July 13, 2015 at 3:19 PM



LAS VEGAS -- On draft night, Jonathan Holmes was surprised and disappointed. Expecting to get selected, he slipped past every single team. Ranked No. 24 on DraftExpress' list of top prospects, he had plenty of reason to think he would get picked. Still, he did not hear his name called.

As the second round advanced, he and his agent discussed whether Holmes even wanted to get picked. Undrafted free agents -- especially highly-touted ones like the Texas product -- get to choose from a list of suitors.

Eventually, Holmes agreed to play for the Boston Celtics summer league squad. The club's regular-season roster features a pack of big men, but the summer league team would give the 6-foot-9, 242-pound forward plenty of chances. Plus, he held a lot of respect for the men on the sidelines.

As Holmes explained Sunday after a 15-point, 10-rebound performance against Philadelphia, "I just know they have the best coaching staff, and I feel like I have a good opportunity to play here and show what I can do. It seems to be a pretty good choice so far.

"Just Brad Stevens and his staff -- he's one of the best coaches coming up right now. So they all really know the game really well, and they help explain it to us and break it down to us in a way we can understand it. It's been a lot of fun."

Over two games in Las Vegas, Holmes has been one of Boston's most consistent contributors, averaging 15 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Flashing a lot of pick-and-pop potential, he has been solid at both ends of the court, taking advantage of a different role than he played in college.

"I feel like last year I was kind of forced to play the 3," he said, "because we had a lot of 4s, guys that were good. So I feel like I can do both, but I feel pretty comfortable about the 4."

"I think (the NBA game fits me well)," Holmes added. "Just being able to spread the floor and guard multiple positions, I feel like I can do that. And I'm trying to show I can do that consistently while I'm out here."

The stakes are high for Holmes in Las Vegas. He said he doesn't know what will come next after summer league.

"Every NBA game you play, you're pretty much auditioning," he said. "So this is no different than that. It's on a kind of bigger scale right now because it's the offseason and it's summer league. But it's just good to get out there and compete."



bob



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I also saw this quote from Holmes. Quite a compliment for Stevens and his staff, and if this young kid knows it you can bet that other young players also know it.

Although the overall performance of the team may not mean as much as that of individual players in Summer League, I've been impressed by how quickly the young Celtics have coalesced.  Between games 2 and 3, in particular, they seemed to leap from a bunch of playground kids to a reasonably well coordinated team.  And that change, in turn, allowed Mickey, Hunter and Rozier to start really showing what they can do out there.  Kudos to the Summer League coaching staff.

Sam