Mitchell Robinson’s first Celtics camp comes with a coach who does not let up, and the former Knicks big man says that is exactly what he wants. Robinson got real about Joe Mazzulla’s coaching after Boston’s 114-93 preseason win over the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden on Wednesday night, as first reported by ClutchPoints.
“He’s getting on my as* a lot,” Robinson said. “Which, you know, I need that.”
He played like it. Robinson went 5-for-5 from the field for 12 points and 7 rebounds in 17 minutes. Jayson Tatum added 19 points, 8 boards and 6 assists, Derrick White had 17 points and 4 steals, and Neemias Queta scored 16 off the bench. Boston owned the paint 56-20 and forced 29 Charlotte turnovers.
The IAHHM Take
Mazzulla runs his room on championship standards, with heavy emphasis on defensive communication and effort, and a big man who welcomes that kind of coaching is a big man who fits. Robinson coming to Boston from New York after the Knicks-Celtics battles of recent years is a storyline by itself, and if he is buying in this early, Boston’s frontcourt gets a lot tougher to deal with.
Now the Carolina side of this box score. Twenty-nine turnovers and getting outscored by 36 in the paint is a rough night for a Hornets team starting a new chapter after trading LaMelo Ball to Minnesota. It is preseason, so nobody is hitting the panic button, but ball security has to be priority one before opening night.
Is Robinson the piece that makes Boston a real problem in the East again? And how worried should Hornets fans be about that turnover number?
Source: ClutchPoints
