This is a must for Jaylen Brown this season. Before each meeting, Sam Cassell comes to challenge him one-on-one. A good way to get the Celtics star in condition during the warm-up, with the right dose of “trashtalking” that goes with it.
“ Sam always wants to play, for one reason or another, one-on-one before every match. He keeps track of every duel. I wonder what his score is. We must be 70-10 or something like that. Sam always tries to make a stop before the match “, Celtics winger reportsspecifying that this assessment is favorable to him.
Better known for his scoring qualities when he was a player, the former playmaker, converted into an assistant, thus finds a good way to establish complicity with one of the best players on the team.
“ He's been in every spot on the bench and he knows how to communicate with every player. He's a good coach. A great trainer », Corrected Joe Mazzulla two weeks ago, asked to react to the fact that his assistant is in particular in the sights of the Lakers, to replace Darvin Ham.
An assistant for 15 years in the NBA (Wizards, Clippers, etc.), where he specialized in the development of leaders, Sam Cassell was stationed in Philadelphia the three previous years, contributing to the emergence of Tyrese Maxey.
A new title after that of 2008?
“ I am very sincere with the players. […] Sometimes players are reluctant, but I think I can be 100% honest with a player without them taking it badly. It's a character trait that I know I possess. I listen very closely to the players, I am a former player, so I understand what they are going through. Like I tell them all the time, I've been every player on a team, from number 1 to the end of the bench. I've been all those players. I understand what they are going through mentally », he posted last summer.
He who started his career in the Big League with a double with the Rockets (1994, 1995) arrived in Boston with the ambition of winning a new title. The first since the 2008 Celtics… of which he was a part.
“ You know, I saw what it was like when the Celtics won their last title. I was part of this team. And once we accomplish that, it will be beautiful. It's great to be back, especially when we've already won there “, said Sam Cassell, who only has four victories left to get there.
