You understand Jake Issenberg from our Playback channel and his First To The Ground podcast and now, he’s becoming a member of CelticsBlog as a author. Ensure that to take a look at his first piece on Jayson Tatum and his late season taking pictures hunch.
What received you into basketball and the Celtics?
My love for basketball and the Boston Celtics could be attributed to 3 individuals: my dad, John Havlicek and Larry Chook. My dad, who grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, had his basketball thoughts molded by the 70s and 80s Celtics. Simply as we speak we have been going forwards and backwards on whether or not or not Giannis’ Bucks will go down as a historic Celtics rival. I stated completely. Dad was on the fence. He did in fact take the chance to remind me that the 1974 Finals sequence between the Celtics and Kareem’s Bucks was his favorite sequence ever. Then someplace between John Havlicek’s final All-Star look and Larry Chook’s rookie 12 months, my dad moved to Australia, which is how my household ended up as the most important Celtics followers on a single continent.
My love of basketball is definitely traced and was apparent from the start. From House Jam, NBA Reside 2003 on XBOX, I’m ashamed to confess the Lakers have been my most performed workforce (reduce me some slack — I used to be 10), taking part in basketball yearly of my life as a *very* undersized combo guard, to beginning a basketball podcast in Jayson Tatum’s rookie 12 months. From the soar I’ve beloved each the sport of basketball and the tradition surrounding it.
What are your strengths and/or favourite matters as a author?
Basketball is enjoyable. I believe basketball content material must be enjoyable. Getting swept up within the feelings of sports activities is a part of being a fan however even amidst the ache of a Recreation 7 loss to the Miami Warmth in 2023, we will attempt to snicker via the ache. That’s the best way I attempt to write. I’m trying ahead to laughing via extra wonderful victories because the Celtics deliver again one of the best roster within the NBA.
What’s your daring prediction for the approaching season?
So far as daring predictions for the 2024/2025 Boston Celtics go, it’s exhausting to be daring a few workforce that simply gained 64 video games and had some of the dominant seasons in NBA historical past. However I’ll give attention to possibly probably the most underrated position participant within the NBA, Sam Hauser.
I’m undecided the basketball world absolutely grasped how properly Sam Hauser performed within the NBA Finals. He did the factor that received him within the NBA, shot the piss out of the ball – 47.8% from 3 for the sequence. On the opposite finish Hauser was focused by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving relentlessly and held up higher than any non-Celtics fan would ever count on.
I say non-Celtics followers as a result of Celtics followers already knew what Hauser was able to in terms of isolation protection. You don’t need to come into the Hause Entice. One of these affect for a seventh or eighth man shouldn’t be simple to search out. It is going to be exhausting to quantify Sam Hauser’s leap into Elite Position Participant territory. He gained’t make the All-Star workforce. He gained’t make an All-Protection workforce. However he’ll proceed to affect successful at a excessive degree as Hauser continues to develop his recreation and exceed expectations.
This upcoming season, I’m Hauser to proceed bettering his secondary playmaking and talent to attain when he will get run off the road. If we need to nail down some numbers: final season Hauser performed 22 minutes per recreation and averaged 9 factors on 62.6% true taking pictures to go together with 3.5 rebounds and 1 help. I’d wish to see these numbers bumped as much as 28 minutes per recreation – 14 factors – 5 rebounds – 2.5 assists on 60% or higher true taking pictures. Positive, Tre Murphy and Naji Marshall are the attractive position gamers persons are speaking about this offseason, but it surely’s Sam Hauser’s time to turn into the position participant each workforce needs they’d.
