Boston Celtics rookie Tacko Fall proved to be dominant in his first season on assignment in the G League with the Maine Red Claws, becoming one of the best big men in the process.
The 7-foot-5 center averaged 12.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 29 games played with the Red Claws. He finished sixth in rebounding and third in blocks while his 18 double-doubles ranked eighth.
According to his Celtics teammate, Grant Williams, there may be a reason why Fall was so dominant: He has successfully mastered the art of stat-padding.
The two players were talking about the art of rebounding on The Grant and Tacko Show, a podcast on The Athletic, and how they each watch Enes Kanter work in the post. They were both fascinated by how Kanter has a quick second step to grab offensive rebounds.
Then, came the hilarious conversation between the two players.
Williams: [Kanter] misses it where he positions himself where if he misses, he just jumps and taps it again, taps it again.
Fall: I do that a lot.
Williams: So, you’re a stat-sheet stuffer, huh? Purposely miss layups and then just get rebounds?
Fall: I don’t do it on purpose. Sometimes, I catch the ball and then I have like two or three people under me and I’m trying to go up and I try to just touch the ball in because I’m right there. Sometimes, the ball has no touch to it so it just comes out but my hand is always there. So I tip it in and then grab it. It happened [recently]. I did the same play: tipped it in, missed, tipped it in, missed, tipped it and then missed, grabbed it and then dunked.
Fall: That was only three.
Williams: No wonder. Only three? So, if you did it twice, that’s six offensive rebounds.
Of course, they were having a light-hearted exchange as Fall went to say that he felt as though he really began to settle in with the Red Claws as the season progressed.
He had several double-digit rebounding performances and he nearly recorded his first career 20-point, 20-rebound outing but the official scorer took away a few rebounds after the fact.
With the season in jeopardy due to the coronavirus pandemic, Fall’s time in the G League is likely over but his first year as a pro likely proved that he belongs and that he has shown great improvement this season.
Note: The podcast was recorded prior to the recent coronavirus outbreak
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