Twenty-four hours after learning of his transfer from San Antonio to Boston, Derrick White was already dressed tonight to challenge Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets. A first which happened ideally since the Celtics won a 7th victory in a row, but also because the rear immediately melted into the collective with his 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists off the bench. It must be said that the presence of Ime Udoka, a former Spurs assistant, can help.
“We showed him some videos and got him on board as quickly as possible, and he did what he knows how to do and what I’ve seen him do in the past,” said the Boston coach after the game. “He’s a very smart player who does a lot of things really well. We lack nothing with him on the pitch. The spacing, the ability to defend, the ability to shoot, simple things like going to corners and spreading the game. Things anchored in him and it showed tonight. “
The day before, White was with the Spurs in the Atlanta side, when Gregg Popovich took him aside to explain to him that he was traded against Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford. “Pop came to my room to say I was traded to Boston” says White. “It was just a little chat with him, and I just tried to imagine what happened next. I was quite shocked. I hadn’t seen it coming. “
Four teammates in selection
Greeted by a big ovation from TD Garden, White was immediately effective with an interception, two assists for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, then a 3-pointer. In one minute, the former Spur will even score eight points in a row!
“He didn’t take long to acclimatize because he knows what he has to do” explains Udoka, who especially appreciates having one more designer on the team. “We now have four players who can kick things off or be the ones we put screens on. We ended up with interesting matchups for Marcus or Derrick. You can launch the systems with them, or they can also put the screens down, then open up to the circle or come out to shoot. Using the versatility of four players, on both sides of the pitch, opens up plenty of opportunities. “
The little extra is that these four players (Smart, Brown, Tatum and White) played together with Team USA, and there are already some automatisms.
“We played with Derrick with the United States, and we got to know him as a player and as a person. We had gotten to know his game, and since he is playing with Ime again, things are already very similar for him. entrusts Smart. “We knew it wouldn’t take long for him to adapt. It was a big boost for us tonight”.
| Derrick White | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2017-18 | SAN | 17 | 8 | 48.5 | 61.5 | 70.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| 2018-19 | SAN | 67 | 26 | 47.9 | 33.8 | 77.2 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 9.9 |
| 2019-20 | SAN | 68 | 25 | 45.8 | 36.6 | 85.3 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 11.3 |
| 2020-21 | SAN | 36 | 30 | 41.1 | 34.6 | 85.1 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 15.4 |
| 2021-22 | SAN | 49 | 30 | 42.6 | 31.4 | 86.9 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 14.4 |
| Total | 237 | 26 | 44.5 | 34.4 | 83.6 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 11.6 | |
