Tag: Ime Udoka

WATCH: Boston’s Jayson Tatum working out for Team USA with new Celtics coach Ime Udoka

The Boston duo has been getting a feel for each other while Tatum prepares for the Olympics.

New Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka gets an extra perk out of his relationship with Team USA and his status as a branch of the Gregg Popovich coaching tree on top of it being a factor in his landing the new gig with the Celtics.

By being an assistant for USA Basketball under coach Pop, he gets extra reps in with one of his star wings in Boston, working with All-Star swingman Jayson Tatum on the Duke product’s game as they gear up to play in the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Las Vegas this month. The duo could be seen putting in work in a clip circulated by Team USA retweeted by the Celtics’ Twitter account, for those with eyes to see their routine in action.

Watch the clip embedded below to get a look at it yourself.

It won’t be long now until the games are taking place in Japan — and count towards medal status.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Report: Celtics expected to add Warriors player development coach Aaron Miles to Ime Udoka’s staff

The Celtics are reportedly expected to add Warriors player development assistant Aaron Miles to Ime Udoka’s new coaching staff in Boston.

More changes look to be coming to the Golden State Warriors coaching staff during the 2021 offseason. After moving on from longtime assistants, including Jarron Collins, and reportedly adding new faces Kenny Atkinson and Dejan Milojevic to Steve Kerr’s coaching staff, another assistant looks poised to make a move.

According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Boston Celtics are expected to add Golden State player development assistant Aaron Miles to the coaching staff.

Since Brad Stevens took over as Boston’s head of basketball operations, the Celtics have been building a staff behind new coach Ime Udoka. San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Will Hardy and University of the Pacific head coach Damon Stoudamire will join Miles on Udoka’s new staff.

Via @JakeLFischer on Twitter:

Miles played with the Kansas Jayhawks before joining the Warriors as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Miles went on to play professionally overseas before re-joining the Jayhawks as an assistant coach. In 2017, he was named the head coach of Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. In 2019, Miles was hired as a player development assistant on Kerr’s staff in Golden State.

Via @GSWReddit on Twitter:

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Jayson Tatum ‘extremely happy’ about Ime Udoka hiring

As Ime Udoka takes the reins as the Celtics new head coach, All-Star Jayson Tatum gives his approval.

When making a coaching change in professional sports, especially in the NBA, getting your star player’s stamp of approval is crucial.

And that’s exactly what All-Star Jayson Tatum gave for the hire of Ime Udoka.

In a recent interview with Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, Tatum voiced how happy he is with Udoka as his new coach.

“Extremely happy about Ime,” Tatum said. “I’ve known him for a little while. He’s extremely motivated and I think everybody has a good feeling about this.”

Tatum and Udoka’s relationship began with Team USA in year’s past as where Udoka serves as an assistant.

And though elated with the hire and gave his input, the All-Star stated that he and fellow All-Star Jaylen Brown never presented any demands. “They asked for our input and I know from my perspective, I gave input, but never, ‘You need to do this or you need to do that.'”

Udoka was an assistant under Steve Nash on the Brooklyn Nets staff this season. Prior to his job with the Nets, Udoka spent the first seven years of his coaching career under Gregg Popovich on the Spurs coaching staff before joining the Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant in 2019-20.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: What’s it like to work with new Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka?

What’s it like to work with Udoka? Listen to this pod to hear some takes.

What is it like to work with new Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka? A veteran of the coaching staff with the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, and Brooklyn Nets, Udoka has already forged a reputation as an outstanding communicator who has experience as a player and uses that experience to his advantage with tactics as much as with connecting with players.

Trying to get the low down on the new Celtics coach, the hosts of the CLNS Media podcast “The A-List” spoke with The Athletic’s Sam Amick, who shared a number of stories with Kwani A. Lunis and A. Sherrod Blakely to that end.

Listen to or watch the podcast embedded below to get some behind-the-scenes stories about Udoka the coach, and perhaps learn a bit more about him as a person as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfHIvL7XBVE

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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How does the Celtics sense of urgency relate to other contenders?

With offseason questions looming for the Celtics, where does their sense of urgency sit compared to other contending teams?

As the Celtics have already kicked off a busy offseason with Brad Stevens replacing Danny Ainge in the front office and Ime Udoka becoming the Celtics new head coach and trading former All-Star Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder in return reuniting with Al Horford, it’s clear a new regime has began in Boston.

The Celtics 2020-21 season ended as a disappointment, losing in the first round to the Brooklyn Nets in five games. Injuries, COVID-19, and flat performances landed the Celtics in the play-in tournament, ultimately making the playoffs as the No. 7 seed.

With a new regime in charge for Boston, next season ought to look different with less pressure and a somewhat lowered sense or urgency.

Evan Valenti of CLNS Media spoke about just that recently on an episode of the Celtics Beat. Looking at the landscape of the Eastern Conference, the Celtics makeup looks different than those the Brooklyn Nets or Milwaukee Bucks, whose stars, outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo, are older and have dealt with injury issues, specifically for the Nets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zph71vQoaX0

The Celtics find themselves with a rookie head coach in Udoka and rookie president of basketball operations in Stevens leading a team with two All-Stars under the age of 25 with Jaylen Brown signed through 2023-24 and Tatum under contract through 2025-26.

Compared to teams like the Nets or the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics have time to build out their roster as their star players aren’t facing a lengthy injury history or father time pulling into their driveway.

So, championship or bust next season? It doesn’t look that way for Boston, but that doesn’t mean TD Garden won’t be itching to celebrate No. 18.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

Goodman: Damon Stoudamire to leave Pacific, join Udoka’s staff

Former NBA veteran Damon Stoudamire is set to join Ime Udoka’s coaching staff with the Celtics.

Ime Udoka continues to build out his coaching staff in his first head gig with the Boston Celtics.

Spurs assistant Will Hardy was Udoka’s first addition to the staff. This time around, he adds a former NBA veteran.

Reported by Jeff Goodman of Stadium, Pacific head coach Damon Stoudamire has agreed to join Udoka’s staff with the Celtics.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported last week that Udoka had his eyes on the 13-year NBA veteran.

Udoka and Stoudamire were teammates on the San Antonio Spurs during the 2007-08 season as well as both growing up in Portland.

Prior to being the head coach at Pacific since 2016 and assistant coaching gigs at the University of Memphis and Arizona, Stoudamire was an assistant for the Memphis Grizzlies from 2009-11.

Stoudamire, like Udoka, gives the Celtics another former player turned coach who can relate to the players on and off the court.

WATCH: Team USA, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is excited for Ime Udoka’s hire in Boston

Ime Udoka’s former boss Gregg Popovich had plenty of praise for his former assistant.

On Tuesday, USA Basketball and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich held a press conference ahead of Team USA assembling in Las Vegas, Nevada. In Sin City to train and play a series of exhibition games with the Nigerian National Team, the gathering was in anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics kicking off at the end of the month of July.

The legendary coach had plenty to say about Team USA, including two members who are Boston Celtics for their day job, All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, and new Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, the latter serving as an assistant under Popovich for seven seasons.

Watch the video embedded below to hear his praise Udoka and his hire for Boston, Popovich lavishing his former assistant with praise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUl_k9WzxY8

It’s exactly the sort of thing you’d want to hear from any former employer, and coming from a coach as renowned as Pop, it’s hard not to get excited for the coming season.

Not that we advise such a course of action.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: Team USA, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is excited for Ime Udoka’s hire in Boston

Ime Udoka’s former boss Gregg Popovich had plenty of praise for his former assistant.

On Tuesday, USA Basketball and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich held a press conference ahead of Team USA assembling in Las Vegas, Nevada. In Sin City to train and play a series of exhibition games with the Nigerian National Team, the gathering was in anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics kicking off at the end of the month of July.

The legendary coach had plenty to say about Team USA, including two members who are Boston Celtics for their day job, All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, and new Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, the latter serving as an assistant under Popovich for seven seasons.

Watch the video embedded below to hear his praise Udoka and his hire for Boston, Popovich lavishing his former assistant with praise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUl_k9WzxY8

It’s exactly the sort of thing you’d want to hear from any former employer, and coming from a coach as renowned as Pop, it’s hard not to get excited for the coming season.

Not that we advise such a course of action.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: What expectations should we have for Udoka working with Tatum and Brown?

What will the dynamic be between new Celtics head coach Ime Udoka and Boston’s young stars?

The dynamic of how new Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka will relate to All-Star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will be critical to the team’s success in the 2021-22 season.

To talk about how that could go down, hosts of the CLNS Media “A-List” podcast Kawni A. Lunis and A- Sherrod Blakely are joined by current Sacramento Kings play-by-play announcer and former Celtics broadcaster Kyle Draper, and the trio dive into expectations for the coming season, how Tatum can take himself and the team to the next level as well as some observations about Atlantic Division rivals.

Watch the video embedded below to get the low down on these three’s thoughts on some critical issues facing the Celtics next season, with Boston now possessing a renewed sense of optimism under its new regime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH39Ipzp7co

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: New Celtics head coach Ime Udoka raising the bar in Boston already

With the positive buzz surrounding his hire, expectations for the team are rising as well.

Kwani A. Lunis, co-host of the CLNS Media podcast “The A List” called the hire of former Brooklyn Nets assistant Ime Udoka to become the 18th head coach of the Boston Celtics a day before it happened.

Lunis has plenty to say about the hire, and has very high expectations for the new Celtics coach, mirroring the buzz emanating everywhere from the team’s front office down to the fanbase. The “A List” host does believe there’s some additional steps needed to be taken to set Udoka and Boston up for success at the highest levels, but she’s evidently very happy with the hire overall.

Watch the video short embedded below to get Lunis’ assessment of the hire, and decide for yourself if you agree with her take on whether Udoka, as the 18th coach, is in a good position to bring home Banner 18.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE5vuqODyUQ

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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