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A Familiar Face is Helping Jrue Holiday Get Acclimated to Celtics: 'I Could Always Go to Him'
While this era's Boston Celtics are playoff-tested, with and Jaylen Brown leading the franchise to at least the Eastern Conference Finals in four of their first six years together, including coming within two wins of capturing the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the organization tied for the most NBA titles was short on championship experience.
That's not the primary reason they hired Sam Cassell and Charles Lee, two of the league's top assistants, and traded for Jrue Holiday, coming off his second All-Star appearance, but adding a trio who have reached the NBA's summit -- three times in Cassell's case, including contributing to raising Banner 17 to the TD Garden rafters -- will help a group who are yet to reach the mountain top.
But for Holiday, the most recent arrival of the triumvirate and the only active player of the three, his transition to Boston has been a whirlwind. He's still looking for a house and working to familiarize himself with a new city, teammates, coaching staff, and schematics.
"For me -- obviously -- everything is different, like on the court and off the court, but I think what I take on the court, I take it very seriously," expressed the five-time All-Defensive Team selection after Monday's practice at the Auerbach Center. "That's something that I every day have questions, ask questions, try to get acclimated as quickly as possible."
To accomplish that objective, the former UCLA Bruin said he's focused on "being as communicative as possible (and) being as loud as possible, especially for me defensively, not really having any mishaps. Offensively, I think everybody out here is really smart; we can play off each other really, really well, (and) we can figure it out. Defensively, I feel like we really need to be on the same page."
Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
The 2021 NBA title winner also conveyed the following to Inside The Celtics regarding how much having assistant coach Charles Lee, who also came over from Milwaukee this offseason and works with Holiday in post-practice drills, has helped him get acclimated.
"Having Charles here is obviously a familiar face. Also, having (Maine Celtics head coach) Blaine (Mueller), I don't know if you met Blaine yet, but having those two guys really helped me. Charles has always been the type to be very teacher-esque; if I have any questions or anything like that, I could always go to him. But he's always quizzing me on plays (and) he's quizzing me on schemes, what we want to do defensively, he'll literally just walk up to me and ask me a question about something and I have to answer it. So, always just keeping my mind going, my mind engaged."
He later added of the assistant coach he's reunited with in Boston, "A lot of it is his presence. He's just loud, very loud, kind of talks a lot. Charles' presence is, I feel like it's always felt and always heard. And everything that he says, how he presents things, I kinda call him a teacher because when he talks, you always have to pay attention, and he's always kinda hinting at the answer. But, kinda using your brain to think and let me just think the game. So, again, him being over here just makes it more natural for me."
Further Reading
Joe Mazzulla Indicates Neemias Queta has Earned More Playing Time
Al Horford Shares Where Kristaps Porzingis Has Impressed Him Most
NBA Insider Explains Why Celtics Might Utilize Jrue Holiday as Sixth Man
Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Win vs. 76ers: Regulars Shine, Roster Battles Intensify
Oshae Brissett's Value to the Celtics on Full Display in Preseason
Under Joe Mazzulla, Celtics Rebuilding Brotherhood Between Past and Present
