Edwards’ summer effort proves on money
LAS VEGAS — Carsen
Edwards capped off his summer league experience with a 25-point performance during the Celtics’ 94-88 quarterfinals loss to Memphis yesterday.
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
It was the guard’s third 20point-plus effort in five games, this time with 6-for14 3-point shooting. His fearless approach to shot-making is one reason the Celtics offered him a particularly good contract for a secondround pick, all guaranteed, for four years and roughly $4.5 million over the life of the contract. It includes a team option in the fourth year.
“It’s amazing, man, a blessing to have opportunity like this and at the same time have security,” he said. “I was trying to find something guaranteed, just have security for myself, a good feeling.”
He led the team in scoring (19.4 ppg), 3-point shooting (46.6 percent) and made 3-pointers (21). In short, the kind of thing the 6-foot-0 guard was famous for at Purdue.
“I just went out and tried to play my best, play my game ,” he said .“I just wanted them to know I was going to play hard every game. I just try to play my game, get to my spots. Just try to play my best and make the best decision for my team.”
Up to challenge
Scott Morrison ,theCeltics summer league coach, successfully challenged another call, this time late in the game, taking a shooting foul away from Memphis and forcing the Grizzlies to inbound the ball. Morrison has experience, dating back to his time using the challenge option during his time in Maine. The NBA is adapting the coach’s challenge for the upcoming season.
“Humble brag, I’m 2-for-2 on coaches challenges,” Morrisonm said. “The risk is that, A, you don’t use them at all, and B, you waste a timeout. With four minutes left in the game it was kind of a key time. I’ll use my challenge, still have a timeout left, and I’ll use it to address the team. It’s always hit and miss, I try to use it only when it’s going to save a bucket, and that guy was going to the free throw line, so why not.”
Williams on target
Grant Williams went into the game trailing only Edwards in 3-point percentage and made 3-pointers (10 to 21) on the team. As evidenced by his 4-for-5 performance from downtown during Thursday night’s win over Memphis, Williams is disproving those who questioned his range. He was 3-for-5 yesterday.
“They encourage me to shoot, so I’m really comfortable just having that confidence to be able to let the ball go,” he said. “Hopefully I can do that at a high level so that teams have to switch and we can add more to our offense, because when I’m out there, if I’m not able to knock those shots down, you could consider me a liability on the offensive end because then they can just sag off you and pack up the paint. So if I’m able to open up shots like Javonte (Green) or Carsen right now, or
Kemba (Walker) and those guys in the future, it’s going to be huge for our team.”
Said Morrison: “Well, one he’s got confidence in it. There was one time he caught it in the corner and I thought he could have shot it and he passed up a shot and we didn’t get something as good as what he had. I just had coach ( Brad) Stevens in my mind saying, ‘Make sure he’s encouraged to shoot it.’ “So I told him to shoot the next one and I think he hit the next one or two that he got. So that’s a big skill for him if he can knock down that corner 3, even just in the corner, he’s going to be a problem for teams to match up with, because if they go smaller on him he can post him up. He’s shown that he’s got a good ability to seal and work angles and catch and finish in there. I’m happy to see him throw them up there and happy to see a couple go in.”
Williams has routinely led the summer Celtics in plusminus, though, refreshingly perhaps, this is one particularly cerebral player who doesn’t pay much attention to the analytical side of things.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I have no idea what goes into plus/minus,” he said. “Someone just tells me that I’m pretty high, but I have no idea what it means. So honestly, I don’t pay much attention. I’m not a huge stats guy. I just focus on whether we win the game or not. That’s just how I was raised and how I’ve always looked at the game of basketball. If we win, great, if I have zero points or 30 points or whatever stat line I have. So for me, it’s all about if we get a ‘W’ in the win column.”