We’re lower than 24 hours from Opening Night, and Celtics star Jayson Tatum is itching to get out on the court docket. During an interview at Celtics observe, the younger ahead joked about how he used to be feeling main into day after today’s house opener towards the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jayson Tatum: “It’s like the first day of school tomorrow. I’ve got my outfit laid out.”
— Jay King (@ViaJayKing) October 17, 2022
“Honestly, It’s like the first day of school, you know? I got my outfit laid out” mentioned Tatum with a grin. “I’m just excited. Time flies, it’s already my sixth year (in the league), so just trying to stay in the moment and enjoy it. Because it’s like a dream come true, I get to play basketball for a living. I’m just ready to get back out there.”
When requested if he nonetheless were given butterflies going into the season, Tatum mentioned “Butterflies? Nah, not anymore. I’m anxious, I’m excited. I’m not nervous.” It’s really easy to omit how seasoned this younger Boston roster is, particularly Tatum, with such a lot of years of NBA enjoy underneath his belt earlier than age 25. After a deep Finals run, the Boston Celtics appear poised to have every other robust season with stars Tatum and Brown main the fee.
On the place the Celtics are at presently, Tatum mentioned “I feel good. I think we had a really successful training camp. Obviously, we wish we had Gallo and Rob, but with the group we’ve had, I love the way we played in those four preseason games. I love the way we practice. I think everyone is gelling well together, with the feel we have out there. It feels good.”
Boston’s Finals look towards the Golden State Warriors served as a take a look at for this younger Celtics core, and whilst it didn’t finish the approach they sought after, it served as the most important lesson. “I think I just have more experience,” mentioned Tatum, “And learning from that deep playoff run, going to the Finals, there’s some benefit to that. I feel like I approached coming into this year differently than I did last season.”
With no Robert Williams for a minimum of 8 weeks to begin the season, Boston has trotted out a way smaller lineup with Derrick White taking part in with the starters and Jayson Tatum slotting into energy ahead. While the workforce does lose so much of their rebounding that Williams contributed, the Celtics have had stellar spacing and ball motion with every other succesful ballhandler on the flooring.
“Essentially, I’m the tallest guy out there, and I think that plays to our strength, just playing fast,” mentioned Tatum, “Anybody can get the rebound and push it, even Al, and we know that. So when a shot gets up, we get the rebound, nobody’s necessarily waiting in the backcourt to get the ball, we all push it ahead, we all can attack. We’ve just got a good feel for each other, we’ve been playing together for a while now. So just kind of knowing where to be, without necessarily having to call a play, especially after a miss. Just get the ball out and go.”
The Celtics will wish to make a aware effort and center of attention on boxing out and monitoring down rebounds, particularly with the smaller lineups they’ll run in Williams’ absence. “We just don’t have any room for error on that end, for leak-outs,” mentioned Tatum, “When a shot goes up, everybody’s gotta attack the glass. Even if you’re boxing somebody out, you gotta do your job and somebody else has gotta grab the board, and just being aware of that… we’re not the tallest team without Rob right now, so everybody’s gotta get in there and get the rebound.”
During the Celtics preseason finale towards the Raptors in Montreal, Tatum won two technical fouls and used to be tossed from the sport with seconds to head in the 3rd quarter. When requested what he took clear of that scenario, Tatum mentioned “That was the first time I’ve ever gotten thrown out of any sporting event. The part that I was bothered by was that it was a preseason game in Montreal, and they don’t have an NBA team. There was a lot of Celtics jerseys, and there was a lot of guys with number zero on them that came to see me play. You don’t know the next time they’ll have that opportunity, so I think that was the most unfortunate part. But it was preseason, so I didn’t get fined any money, so I learned my lesson.” After being tossed, Tatum mentioned he ended up going again to the locker room and were given a exercise in, which were given some laughs from media individuals.
Tomorrow night time, the Celtics will honor Bill Russell earlier than the sport, in addition to put on new town version jerseys that had been designed with Russell previous to his passing. When requested about the workforce honoring Russell’s legacy in Boston in addition to the NBA, Tatum mentioned “I’m excited, and I’m glad that we’re doing that, especially throughout the NBA with everybody have number six on their jersey. Just honoring him, obviously how much he meant to the Celtics, the game of basketball, what he meant to this world. I’m honored to be a part of that tomorrow.”
About whether or not or now not opening night time would function a observation sport for the Celtics, Tatum mentioned “Obviously, you wanna win every game you play, but we’re not gonna overreact if we win or if we lose. We can learn from both, it’s only one game.”
When requested about if he used remaining 12 months’s Finals loss as gas, Tatum mentioned “Use it as fuel? Yeah, we lost. It’s no secret, we talk about it, it felt like every day. So it’s kind of a relief to just get out there and play basketball and have a goal in mind. Obviously we’re trying to get to a championship, but it starts with tomorrow. Take it one game at a time.”