Brad Stevens spoke about the state of Kemba Walker as Walker flew into the press conference area as he headed to the bathroom. The sprint showed great mobility, change of direction, Stevens told reporters hungry for more information on the biggest question from the Celtics training camp.
The Celtics remain optimistic about Walker’s trajectory despite his limited status at the start of the training camp. They suffered the first setback, however, at the end of last week in practice when Tremont Waters suffered a concussion. Stevens was thrilled with the best practice he had already seen from Waters days earlier, and noted that it would heavily influence the scripts. He is now in the backend of the concussion protocol, but has not been authorized for the activity.
Stevens, Tacko Fall and Robert Williams spoke after Boston’s eighth round in the Orlando bubble. Despite the momentary thinning of the bodies in the typical point guard position, Stevens continues to emphasize the management of the ball on the wings with a blitz against Jayson Tatum as the central focus.
Tatum worked with Jay Larranaga on drop-backs and flat-outs that turn into quick steps back to prepare him for the attacks. The Celtics have otherwise prepared their positioning on the use of screens, approaching them from the correct position in defense and general conditioning as the main foundations of this re-entry period. Players and coaches believe that the game book and game planning are secondary to the recovery of legs and habits at this point in the field.
The second unit emerged as an initial development for Stevens, despite Waters’ stalled progress. Carsen Edwards and Romeo Langford have attacked and absorbed feedback to a higher level since arriving in Orlando, said Robert Williams. Williams added that the pain eased from his hip after returning from a long-term injury in March.
Fall discussed the difficulty of being within minutes of his original treaded ground in the United States. Her host family called, shocked that he was in a short drive from them. Despite this reality, it is also allowing him to practice full-time, without traveling back and forth to Maine, interrupting his close proximity to supervising the development of the Celtics. This advantage cuts both ways – with Williams’ intention his presence in practice helps Boston.
“He doesn’t want to be known as a 7-footer who can’t move,” he said. “You can see the progress he’s making, you can see he’s grinding and he wants to be known for different things. And all you can do is respect it. “
