Wednesday’s session was the first featuring new point guard Jrue Holiday, who was acquired by the Celtics on Sunday in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. Holiday was officially introduced to the media at a post-game press conference, attended by Celtics governors Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, as well as president of basketball operations Brad Stevens.

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Practices at the start of training camp are usually filled with energy as there is always so much excitement surrounding a new season, but in every way this was different, to the point where even Paul Pierce was surprised by what he witnessed.

“Today the gym only has electricity when there are such great players playing at a high level,” Pagliuca said. “Paul Pierce turned to us and said he had never seen an NBA game in his entire career that went so hard and so fast for so long. He also laughed really hard.”
“We watched practice today, Jrue was there, and in the 21 years Steve and I have been here, we agree that this was one of the most energetic, focused, practices,” Grousbeck said. has the most incredible motivation and connection.” “Jrue and the rest of the guys will probably comment on that as the season progresses, but it’s a good start to see the whole team and how excited everyone is.”

Steon wvens noted that while there were the types of mistakes you’d expect to see early in camp, there was great competitiithin the group.

“We just practiced and were lucky to see this group compete,” Stevens said. If you sit anywhere on the field, you can get hit with balls thrown everywhere, just like a typical second day of practice.” speak. “If you look at it carefully, you can say we made thousands of mistakes, but you can also see this there. There is solidarity, there is excitement, there is joy, there is competition.
There was one particular moment during practice that excited Stevens. He couldn’t help but smile as he described it.

“I was one of the few people who felt incredible joy during artillery exercises,” Stevens said. “And I told Jrue, when he went after (assistant coach) Phil Pressey and almost put him out of coaching while defending him, that made me happy. I guess that’s why I smile. That’s just the result of practice. »

The Celtics still have a very long way to go before achieving their ultimate goal. It’s a tough road and every team in the tournament will be motivated to get through it. But there’s no denying the incredible amount of top talent on this squad. If the Celtics can stay healthy, we have to appreciate their chances of capturing Banner 18.