Sunday’s preseason womping (till it wasn’t) of the Toronto Raptors featured a formidable show from second-year Boston Celtics wing Jordan Walsh. Walsh’s 16-point, 10-rebound outing in opposition to Toronto added to his eye-catching preseason resume.
This was his third double-digit scoring evening in 4 appearances thus far. Walsh continues to look increasingly comfy capturing the basketball, as he’s sank six of his 14 makes an attempt from past the arc. His confidence has come a great distance in a brief time frame.
Simply final week, Walsh was hesitating to fireside up open appears from the wing.
Now, he’s doing every little thing in rhythm, whether or not he decides to hoist up the shot or to drive the closeout and take it to the ring.
On prime of that, he’s proven a capability to hold with opposing gamers on the defensive finish, which shouldn’t come as a shock since that was his calling card at Arkansas.
Following the 115-111 win, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla praised the younger wing for constantly understanding his function.
“Simply an understanding of what job is,” mentioned Mazzulla of what’s impressed him most about Walsh thus far. “Defending at a excessive stage, defending a number of positions, rebounding, after which making reads the offensive finish. So, they’re doing an excellent job. Simply actually pleased with his progress… He works onerous at it. However beginning to carve out a job and simply exhibiting a very good angle in direction of it. So, it’s been enjoyable to look at him develop.”
Positive, these video games don’t imply something, and the one place you’ll be capable of discover these stats might be on RealGM, however Walsh is laying the groundwork for an thrilling sophomore season for the Celtics.
“It feels good to have that 12 months underneath my belt,” Walsh defined (by way of CLNS Media). “I do know what to anticipate now. I understand how to play with the group, so I really feel like that’s the largest factor going into this 12 months.”
The 20-year-old didn’t see a lot time in his rookie marketing campaign with the Cs final 12 months and spent most of his hours up in Maine with Boston’s G-League affiliate.
Many followers have been excited to see what Walsh was able to on the 2024 NBA Summer time League in Las Vegas, however his efficiency was fairly disappointing. He seemed timid and really a lot trapped in his personal head. The numbers appeared to worsen with every recreation, and together with the poor showings got here increasingly questions.
With only one exhibition recreation left earlier than opening evening, Walsh has answered these questions. He appears like a man who could possibly be requested to play 12 minutes an evening, for certain.
