The Celtics’ secret to success ties back to players you’ve never heard of (yet)

PORTLAND – Earlier than the G League season started, newly appointed Maine Celtics head coach Tyler Lashbrook gathered his crew for a quintessential Maine exercise: catching lobsters collectively within the Gulf of Maine. Lashbrook, an assistant coach on the Celtics’ championship crew final season, was keen to determine the group’s tradition from the bounce and figured the crew bonding exercise was a very good place to begin.

After the lobster boat tour was full, the group loved their first-ever crew dinner the place the 33-year-old head coach needed to ship a transparent message: there’s a confirmed pathway to success within the NBA that begins in Portland, and also you don’t must look very arduous to seek out it.

Celtics gamers like Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta, and Jordan Walsh have all exemplified that chance — after prolonged stretches in Maine, they’ve was NBA gamers. Some (see: Hauser and Kornet) have performed bigger roles than others, however all have instantly contributed to the Boston Celtics this season.

So, on the inaugural dinner, Lashbrook determined to challenge slides with the faces of the notable Maine Celtics alumni.

“I used to be like, ‘That is — on the finish of the day — participant growth,” Lashbrook informed CelticsBlog final week. “That is what it appears like. It was them in Maine — after which them in Boston.”

Hauser, an undrafted guard who first joined the group as a two-way participant in 2021, epitomizes that journey completely. In August, he signed a 4-year, $45 million contract with the Celtics, only a few weeks after capturing 48% from three within the NBA Finals to assist the franchise safe its 18th title.

His success, each on the court docket and financially, had a ripple impact on the group.

“Now his title goes to be within the banners in all places in Maine,” Walsh informed CelticsBlog quickly after Hauser signed the deal. “Everybody’s going to see — right here’s a man that’s climbed that ladder.” Walsh, a 2023 second-round draft choose, additionally spent most of his rookie season in Maine, embracing the G League grind earlier than spending his sophomore 12 months with the guardian membership.

Three years after Luke Kornet spent the 2021-22 season in Portland, he’s established himself as one of the crucial invaluable backup bigs within the NBA by virtually each metric. Kornet typically dons a Maine Celtics T-shirt in warmups and speaks pridefully about his Maine tenure. Fittingly, in December, he, Hauser, and Walsh sat courtside to cheer on the Maine Celtics as they competed within the G League showcase in Orlando.

The developmental tales don’t finish there. Baylor Scheierman, the Celtics’ 2024 first-round draft choose, spent a lot of the winter in Maine earlier than becoming a member of the veterans in Boston. This month, he’s already netted a 15-point outing in opposition to the 76ers, and a 20-point outburst in opposition to the Nets, impressing his teammates and energizing a TD Backyard crowd thrilled to see a rookie thriving.

On Monday in Sacramento, after Jayson Tatum left the sport early with an ankle sprain, it was Scheierman who stepped as much as safe the Celtics’ win over the Kings.

Then, there are the tales which have but to be written. JD Davison, a front-runner for G League MVP, hasn’t but gotten a lot of an NBA alternative, however he’s unrecognizable from the participant he was when he first entered the G League in 2022. In an 8-minute stint on Sunday evening, Davison appeared as snug as he’s ever appeared within the NBA, hitting his solely three-point and racking up a steal and an help.

He may very well be up subsequent.

Whereas they develop expertise, the Maine Celtics have gained tons of video games

This season, regardless of fixed roster turnover, the Maine Celtics have gained 15 of 18 video games and maintain the second-best report within the Japanese Convention. Final 12 months, they fell one recreation wanting a G League title, dropping to the Oklahoma Metropolis Blue within the decisive championship recreation.

“We would like the chip,” Davison informed me after main final 12 months’s squad to the Finals.

On the similar time, whereas they’ve continued to be one of many G League’s winningest franchises, the group prides itself in the way it prepares gamers for alternatives with the guardian membership — whether or not that’s Hauser, Kornet, or any of the fellows who’ve contributed to successful in Boston.

It poses a curious query: what’s been the important thing to the Maine Celtics’ success — each on the court docket and with participant growth?

Final week, I headed as much as Portland to go behind the scenes in hopes of higher understanding how this Maine Celtics crew retains successful whereas concurrently growing expertise that has been essential to the Celtics’ success in Boston.

Like something, it’s been a confluence of things, all intersecting to create an outstanding developmental program that’s additionally one of the crucial aggressive within the G League. A few of these components are extra apparent than others.

Tyler Lashbrook has the final word buy-in from the squad as head coach. He was described to me by a number of Maine Celtics gamers as essentially the most down-to-earth coach they’ve ever identified.

Then, there are long-tenured G League vets who’ve company data of Portland’s program, particularly JD Davison and Drew Peterson.

Davison, who was drafted in 2022 and has spent the final three years on a two-way deal predominantly in Maine, is averaging 25.7 factors and seven.7 assists at an MVP-level this season and steadies the ship.

“I can’t even actually put into phrases how vital he’s,” Lashbrook mentioned.

Peterson, who’s on his second two-way contract with the Celtics, has gotten a number of alternatives with the guardian membership this season. Like Davison, Peterson has emerged as a vocal chief, drawing from his experiences with the Celtics’ championship crew final spring.

When the returning two-way gamers converse, the remainder of the roster listens.

“If we’re not taking part in to our stage, [Davison and Peterson] are capable of say, ‘Hey, this isn’t adequate,’” Lashbrook mentioned. “There’s increased expectations right here than the way in which we’re taking part in.”

However was there extra?

I discovered that the Maine Celtics are anchored by a bunch of unsung heroes — guys whose minutes fluctuate, who generally have to sit down by means of DNPs, who know they’re objectively additional away from the final word purpose of taking part in within the NBA, however nonetheless preserve a relentlessly constructive spirit.

JD Davison, Tyler Lashbrook, Drew Peterson, and others will get the credit score for Maine’s success this season, and deservingly so. However there’s a lesser-known cohort of gamers who’ve made all of it come collectively: the G League affiliate’s Keep Prepared Group.

Contained in the Maine Celtics’ Keep Prepared Group

Not everybody on the Maine Celtics will get to play 35 minutes and take 20 pictures a recreation like Davison, who successfully serves because the Jayson Tatum of Maine and dictates every thing the crew can do offensively.

There’s an inventory of fellows who generally discover themselves fully out of the rotation, a bunch that features 28-year-old, 6’10 heart Kavion Pippen, former USC ahead DJ Rodman (who additionally occurs to be Corridor of Famer Dennis Rodman’s son), longtime G League veteran James Banks III (on his fourth G League crew in 4 seasons), and former DII standout Kameron Warrens.

From the bounce, Lashbrook has made certain to prioritize connecting with these guys, drawing from his earlier experiences as a participant growth coach for the Philadelphia 76ers who labored carefully with the end-of-bench gamers.

“That factor I had discovered in that 12 months [in Philadelphia] was that an important individuals have been guys quantity 8 by means of 12, 8 by means of 13 — who possibly weren’t going to have the chance to play each recreation, however may enable you to once they have been referred to as on,” Lashbrook mentioned. “They introduced the fitting angle, and the fitting mindset to it, and gratefulness to it.”

Maine Celtics gamers embrace being part of a championship group

Mentally, a part of the important thing for these guys is the deep-rooted data that they’re not simply members of the Maine Celtics.

They’re members of the Boston Celtics — the group that’s raised an NBA-record 18 banners.

The winningest group in sports activities.

The defending NBA champions, with extra Corridor of Famers than any crew in basketball.

And Maine leans into it, too. Each couple of weeks, each time the chance presents itself, the G League crew shuttles all the way down to Boston to follow on the Auerbach Heart, the place the Celtics follow. Just a few months in the past, the crew helped Kristaps Porzingis work his manner again from offseason surgical procedure by involving him of their inter-squad scrimmage.

Joe Mazzulla and Brad Stevens each lately attended video games on the Portland Expo, as did the complete Celtics teaching employees and several other gamers on the crew.

“They see the banners, they see Joe [Mazzulla], they see Brad [Stevens], and so they really feel like they’re part of it,” Lashbrook mentioned.

Take Kameron Warrens, a defensive-minded ahead who performed Division II basketball on the College of Mary.

When he sits at his locker on the Portland Expo, he sees a well-known Invoice Russell mantra pasted throughout the wall in entrance of him: My ego calls for — for myself — the success of my crew.

“It’s only a championship group,” Warrens mentioned. “You may really feel the depth that the Boston Celtics have. We’ve got that, too.”

Warrens has seen inconsistent minutes in his Maine tenure. He was waived earlier within the season earlier than being introduced again and is averaging 4.7 factors in 15.4 minutes an evening, not the sort of numbers that can come out to scouts seeking to signal their two-ways.

However, he isn’t fearful concerning the occasional DNPs, or his fluctuating alternatives. Final month, he put up an environment friendly 19 factors in a win over the Nets, and whereas he’s largely fallen out of the rotation since, a way of calm blankets him as he discusses his mindset.

“There’s a season for every thing,” he tells me. “There’s a season to play, and there’s a season to cheer in your teammates. And I really feel like proper now, I’m in a season to cheer on my teammates, and I’m purchased into that as a result of I do know as soon as we win, all of us win.”

DJ Rodman, who went undrafted after a standout profession at USC, mentioned he initially doubted his skills to excel professionally.

However, his time in Maine has instilled in him a renewed sense of confidence. He realized that he may do extra than simply get by.

He may excel.

Rodman has averaged 6.6 factors and 5.6 rebounds a recreation in Maine to date, whereas exhibiting off his shotmaking skills (he’s hitting 40% from past the arc) and his innate knack for rebounding.

Like Warren, he’s not overly involved about placing up large stats as he works towards getting a possibility within the NBA.

“I simply wish to win and do every thing I can to mirror successful – whether or not it’s getting rebounds, making an additional move, making the large shot,” Rodman mentioned. “I simply wish to assist win. As a result of on the finish of the day, groups need winners. A minimum of, I hope.”

Just some weeks after Rodman was picked up by the Maine Celtics, Lashbrook introduced up his play, unprompted, in a postgame press convention.

“Can I simply say one factor about DJ Rodman?,” Lashbrook mentioned after the presser. “That’s a tremendous story. We picked him up simply a few weeks in the past off the participant pool, and he’s are available in and simply stuffed a task and introduced quite a lot of power and earned minutes with us.

There’s additionally James Banks III, who has performed for 4 completely different G League packages within the final 4 seasons and is in his second 12 months as a Maine Celtic. Banks III is averaging 5.6 factors and 6.4 rebounds an evening in Maine, and acknowledges his main position is elevating the play of the Celtics’ two-way gamers.

“I’m a connector on the ground,” Banks III mentioned. “My predominant job is to get these guys pictures, you’re feeling me?”

“Within the G, that’s what you bought to do. You bought to see what position you’ll be able to fill. I’m a defending large, a lob menace. So though I need loopy numbers and whatnot, no person within the league is searching for me to return in and be Jokic. If I’m gonna get my two-way, if I’m gonna get my 10-Day [contract], it’s gonna be off of my protection, off of rebounding, and it’s gonna be off ending straightforward across the rim.”

The checklist of fellows who’ve purchased into generally smaller roles goes on and on. There’s scrappy 5’11 guard Tyrrell Roberts, current acquisition Phillip Wheeler, and shot-blocking phenom Hason Ward. When the Celtics’ two-way gamers are with the guardian membership, these gamers see bigger on-court alternatives. When everyone seems to be with Maine, they generally take a backseat.

For Lashbrook, these Keep Prepared guys make all of it click on, in the identical manner the Keep Prepared guys elevate the gamers in Boston.

“It’s simply — they’re doing it within the G League as an alternative of the NBA,” he mentioned. “However their presence, and their power, and their capacity to get thrown right into a recreation and assist us win — which they’ve all accomplished — is large.”

The gamers laughed once I requested them in the event that they thought of themselves to be part of the Boston Celtics: “After all, bro.”

Life within the G League

The Maine Celtics gamers all stay collectively in a resort in downtown Portland, an setting that, in some ways, resembles faculty dwelling.

“Anytime you get bored, your teammate is both your next-door neighbor or he’s down the ground,” Warrens mentioned. “So, I can all the time simply name them up, and we are able to go do one thing.”

Lashbrook gushed about simply how shut his group was. A few of that closeness might be attributed to the very fact they stay comparatively regular lives — flying business airways, making simply over $40,000 for the season, and eating out in common eating places.

Of their free time, gamers take pleasure in taking part in video video games collectively. And, they love the Portland restaurant scene, particularly the seafood.

“We’ve had a few journeys the place we received on a flight, and also you needed to get off,” Lashbrook mentioned. “And that finally ends up being time spent collectively. As a lot as it’d really feel like $#!& within the second, it’s stuff that you just expertise somewhat bit much less within the NBA.”

They cherish the chance to play in entrance of a raucous Portland Expo crowd.

“Town’s wonderful,” Warrens mentioned. “Everyone comes out, and so they actually make this somewhat mini-NBA recreation setting. And I find it irresistible. I really like the dwelling out right here — the meals’s wonderful, and the persons are wonderful.”

Behind the scenes for a day in Maine

Final Wednesday, on the bus experience from their resort to follow on the Portland Expo, the Maine Celtics gamers celebrated Baylor Scheierman’s efficiency with the Celtics the evening prior; he set an NBA career-high of 20 factors on 7-8 capturing, and was doused with water on the TV broadcast.

Scheierman had spent the primary few months of his professional basketball profession within the G League taking part in alongside them, however he was virtually totally with Boston in current weeks.

His previous teammates have been thrilled to observe his success from afar, whilst they awaited their first large moments within the NBA.

The gamers then tuned right into a morning movie session led by Lashbrook in preparation for an upcoming recreation in opposition to the league-leading Osceola Magic. The 2-way gamers — Davison, Peterson, and the crew’s newest addition, Miles Norris — have been current for the 11 am session, regardless of all having been at TD Backyard till midnight the evening prior for the Celtics’ common season matchup in opposition to the Nets.

At movie, Lashbrook emphasised bettering their screening angles, praised their offensive rebounding (fourth-best within the league), and emphasised the impression of their protection, projecting the crew’s defensive ranking (the most effective within the G league over their win streak) onto the tv display.

“We’re successful due to that proper there — protection,” he mentioned impassionately.

Then, after follow, the squad debated how they’d collectively spend the remainder of their Wednesday. Rodman and Warrens performed a fast recreation of rock, paper, scissors to find out who may get their media obligations out of the way in which first.

Warrens gained, however Rodman reminded him he would nonetheless have to attend for him whereas he went by means of his post-practice elevate, since they have been driving house collectively from follow.

Then, each individually spent their media availability expressing their gratitude for his or her Maine Celtics expertise.

It began with a lobster dinner

Tyler Lashbrook’s lobster dinner set the tone initially of the 12 months: buy-in to the developmental program, prioritize successful, and good issues will occur.

Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet did it and finally turned NBA champions with multi-million greenback contracts. And, the fact is that they couldn’t have accomplished it with out their Maine Celtics teammates on the time — guys who didn’t get the identical shine, however have been essential to this system’s success.

From the bounce, Lashbrook was forthcoming about how the pathway to success with the Celtics was not a assure.

However, it was price their greatest shot.

“‘It won’t seem like this for all of you guys, proper?,’” he recalled telling his gamers at coaching camp. “‘Everybody’s path is gonna be somewhat bit completely different. However, there’s a mannequin right here to observe.’ And I believed it received quite a lot of buy-in. Our guys appreciated that. Perhaps that’s a part of the rationale that they really feel linked.”

On Sunday, the Maine Celtics punched their ticket to the playoffs for the third consecutive 12 months. Whereas gamers every pursue their very own targets in hopes that an NBA alternative awaits them, what binds them collectively is the prospect of a franchise-first G League title.

“They actually wish to win,” Lashbrook mentioned. “And I feel that makes us particular.”

All of it — together with the 18th championship — begins with the gamers that many Celtics followers have by no means heard of.