BRIGHTON -- It was a quiet morning at The Auerbach Center on Thursday. Long before practice began, Ron Harper Jr. and Joe Mazzulla were already ready to speak with reporters. Jayson Tatum walked into the scrum shortly after them.
Boston's training camp guys got in some individual workouts. Chris Cenac and Dillon Mitchell worked on their 3-point shots with head of player development Craig Luschenat. And eventually, Maine head coach (back for his second year) Phil Pressey brought the Exhibit 10 players together for some half-court, five-on-five drills.
Some interesting tidbits came out of the morning. A quick thought on Mitchell Robinson. Some future belief in Payton Pritchard. But there were a couple of side topics, too.
1. Celtics fantasy football league
Apparently, the Celtics play fantasy football. "It's a little weird. We got 11 people in it, so it's an odd-number fantasy league," Harper said. "Not the greatest, but it's good for team bonding, talking trash week by week. I just beat Neemi [Neemias Queta]. He was undefeated, so he was pretty upset about that."
Tatum and Paul George are still undefeated, and George seems to be the current favorite to win the league this season. But it was Mike Conley who started the league. Evidently, he has a bit of an obsession.
"Y'all should ask Mike how many leagues he's in when y'all talk to him," Harper said with a smile. "I don't know how he watches a single game on Sunday without freaking out."
2. Golf
If you were on social media at all this summer, you would have seen the Celtics golfing. Tatum. Pritchard. Sam Hauser. So many others. It was even the theme of Boston's schedule release this year.
But there are levels within the team. Harper has been trying to catch up to speed, but for the time being, he's avoiding playing with the Tatum and Pritchards of the world.
"I ain't playing with Payton and JT anymore. Sam. I'm good off that," Harper joked. "I just started in May, so. I'll be out there with my boy Luka [Garza], though. My boy Luka. So, we get out there, we get better. But yeah, next summer hopefully I'll get competitive."
Learning the game of golf is no easy task. There's a massive gap between beginners and veterans in the sport. Harper was able to pick up some tips from Conley, but the 20-year NBA vet isn't exactly a newcomer on the fairways.
"I went golfing with Mike one time, and Mike can just hit it dead straight down the fairway every time. He's hitting out the tee box lefty, he's putting righty, so I'm just sitting there just watching something completely out of your league," Harper said. "And then I got a bunch of tips from him, and then it just makes the game so much more complicated. So, I think I'm gonna just try to keep a small mind and try to just focus on what I can. But I kind of put the golf clubs away for a little bit. So we're on to basketball now."
That said, having Conley has given Pritchard another guy to compete against. And according to Tatum, that's what he loves the most.
"He always wants to play, especially now that Mike can beat his ass a couple times," Tatum said. "He ain't like that, so he always wants to play."
3. Payton Pritchard's upcoming campaign
Speaking of Pritchard (and his competitiveness), the Celtics point guard could be due for a major season this year. He should have more opportunities than ever to thrive within the flow of Boston's offense.
The Celtics supposedly plan on playing with more freedom this year. That means guys like Pritchard, George, and even Baylor Scheierman should have more wiggle room to run the offense at times. For stints.
Pritchard has been in Boston for six years now. Going on seven. Tatum has been his teammate for his entire career, and heading into next season, the Celtics superstar is very confident in Pritchard. His best asset? The biggest reason he's ready for the challenge? Confidence.
"I think P's biggest strength, or one of them, is just his confidence in his ability and his work ethic," Tatum said. "He is always looking at ways to get better, looking at ways to challenge himself. He's a hell of a competitor, and he just loves to hoop. Being a six-foot white guard, gotten to the point where he has in his career, it's because he works his ass off, and he just competes at the highest level."
4. Mitchell Robinson's impact
It's only been a couple of days of training camp so far, but getting some initial impressions is always fun. For Harper, the first thing that came to mind was Robinson.
"I'll say one thing, you know when Mitch is in the paint, for sure," Harper said. "So, just navigating Big Fella in that paint. But like Neemi said during Media Day, we're gonna enjoy having him on our side and not on the other team from now on."
Robinson is one of the league's best offensive rebounders, but he's also a great defender. He has a freakish wingspan and uses it to his advantage whenever he can.
He's not the only guy who's stood out to Harper. Conley, George, and the rookies have certainly made an impression, too.
"But him, PG, Mike, and the rookies, they all bring something new to the team. The rookies are real, fun, lively. Real bouncy. Athletic. And Mike and PG are really smart with the way they play the game. They know the ins and outs. The intricacies of the game. So, just picking their brain and being able to learn off them has been a big thing for me."
5. Expectations
Picking Mazzulla's brain is always a highlight of my day. He thinks about everything so much differently than a normal person does. So, on Thursday, I decided to ask about expectations.
About his own expectations for the team. But more specifically, how he approaches the concept of expectations, and whether or not that approach has changed since his first year as a head coach.
"It hasn't changed," Mazzulla said. "I think you have to find the balance of taking it day by day versus understanding what the ultimate goal is at the same time. So, I mean, internally, our expectations as a team and a building will be higher than what anyone else could ever put on us. And at the end of the day, you just have to figure out the best process to go about that and stick to it. But I don't think it's changed as much.
"I think you just -- Obviously, every year changes you a little bit because you either win or you don't. And so, those experiences will change your perspective. But they don't change the standard that you have to hold yourself to, and who we hold ourselves to in the building. So, but you do gain more perspective as you go on, and I think that's what you have to take."