NBA bubble safest place on earth?
Zero players positive in latest round of testing
The NBA’s most recent report on COVID-19 testing spoke well of the bubble, with none of the 346 players in Orlando testing positive for the virus.
Though some have yet to return from earlier rounds of tests, like old friend Aron Baynes with the Suns, who has remained in Phoenix, Disney’s protective environment appears to be creating the desired level of security and safety.
“We all feel the league has done a great job of making it as good as it can be,” Brad Stevens said prior to Sunday’s scrimmage against Phoenix. “It’s interesting — where we’re staying, there probably wasn’t half as many people as there are now, with different people working the game and all those other things. But the precautions everybody has taken, the way they have required the quarantines into the bubble, the testing, everybody feels we’re doing everything we can to mitigate the risk.
“That’s all you can do. We all realize there will always be a level of risk. But I think I heard Pop (San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich) say this is probably one of the safer places to be.”
Glad to be back
As surreal as this season has become with its Disney finish, nothing matches the feeling when the NBA shut down on March 12 following the positive COVID test of
Utah’s Rudy Gobert.
“I remember when it happened. I was watching OKC about to play Utah,” said Jayson Tatum. “Everything was unfolding right in front of me. I was watching the TV and I would say, like everybody else, it was a surreal moment, something I’ll never forget. These games have felt real, in a way. Honestly I’m just so excited to be back playing basketball, even the last game of the day. I’m happy to be out there back playing and back with the guys, so obviously I’ll be excited when the real games start. But this has been fun.”
Baynes’ world
Baynes hopes to eventually rejoin the Suns once the seeding schedule begins later this week, and thus resume a career season. As it turns out, his growth under Stevens as a 3-point shooter was only the start. When the season stopped in mid-March, the former Celtics center was shooting an even 48% from 3-point range while also nearly quadrupling his attempts to 4.0 per game.
“The nine 3-pointer game where he hit a step-back against Portland was one of my favorite games to watch all year,” said Stevens. “But he’s always had amazing touch. He’s added the 3-pointer as his career has gone on, and I think it’s added to his game.
“But what he brings is the ability to be loud, like we’ve talked about, he’d be great in this scenario,” said the Celtics coach. “You can hear him when 18,000 fans are yelling, you can hear Baynes calling out a pick-and-roll coverage.
Can you imagine when nobody is yelling what he would sound like in an empty gym? We got to live that every day in practice.”
Speak up
Stevens has talked a lot this week about the need to be more vocal, to the point where he’s considered how to place his loudest players on the bench for maximum oral impact during rest periods.
“We’ll probably look at our bench and determine who is going to be most vocal on the bench and then put them in the seats that they can be most impactful in,” said Stevens. “I told (Marcus) Smart ,I think Smart in particular, out of our guys that we really lean on, has a chance to really be that vocal guy for us. He knows what’s coming, he knows what’s going on, he’s been there, done that. Sometimes he starts, sometimes he starts on the bench and comes in at seven, but he’s going to be as important right from the get-go of the game as anybody on our team.”