Wanamaker finally gets homecoming
PHILADELPHIA – At the age of 29, Brad Wanamaker has checked off an early bucket list item.
The Celtics guard is an undrafted rookie, with nine seasons of international competition in between his last game at the University of Pittsburgh and his first NBA season. And last night, the Philadelphia native played his first NBA game in his hometown, at the Wells Fargo Center.
“Even going out there before the game, there’s a lot of people I went to high school with, it’s a special honor,” said Wanamaker, who had toiled on the fringes for years for this chance.
It was only natural that he would be patient after getting here.
“Very solid guy in every which way,” coach Brad Stevens said. “You know what you’re getting. If he doesn’t play, he’s good, if he does play, he’s good. He’s a good teammate, he’s everything that was advertised when we signed him. He knew when he came in he would be behind Kyrie (Irving) and Terry (Rozier) and oftentimes (Marcus) Smart as well at the point, but he’s always prepared well. He’s been through this. He’s a pro’s pro. He’s been all over the world playing basketball and has a chance to play an NBA game in his hometown. That’s a great thing.”
Stevens’ tribute to Wanamaker’s years of hard work certainly struck a chord with the guard.
“It was a grind, lot of ups and downs, but to be here today in this moment is something I wouldn’t trade for the world,” he said. “The icing on the cake, with all of the trials and tribulations I’ve been through for my family, this is great.”
Irving absent
Irving remained behind with Aron Baynes to work on rehabbing his sprained right knee, but there is not an update for his status for Wednesday night’s game against the Pistons at the Garden.
Stevens made it clear the Celtics aren’t simply being cautious with their All-Star guard.
“I don’t think so. All these games are big games,” the coach said. “He wasn’t going to be able to play. We decided to leave both him and Baynes back so they could get all of their rehab in. Also knowing the weather challenges, it made sense.”
Brown learns
The Celtics’ overtime win against Philadelphia on Christmas remains one of the season’s highlights. It also gave Brett Brown a lasting takeaway of what to avoid when playing the Celtics.
“There’s two things. I think when they win, they turn people over. And I think when they win, they hunt 3s, they really are good at producing 3s,” the Sixers coach said. “If you go back to that game on Christmas Day, we had 19 turnovers, it’s too many. They had 41 3s, it’s too many. And really at the end of regulation, J.J. (Redick is) wide-open, we have a chance to win the game on Christmas. But we didn’t.
“And so when you sort of shrink it down into my opinion what’s most important, it’s that can you get a shot, can you get a shot, do you not just turn it over. And some of the turnovers, when I take a deeper dive into the Boston game last year were self-inflicted. Most of it I give them credit. They’re strong. You have to go body, body, ball if you’re going to drive. If you’re going to drive, you better go to dunk. If you want to create a lead, you have to go forearm and fist and show a hand. If it’s limp, it’s going to get stolen. All those things. And I think some of that was on us. Some of that I give them credit for with the turnover side of things. And are we appropriately helping? We don’t want to get into scramble mode and just run around the gym and let them pick it apart with 3s. Those two things come to my mind.”