The Boston Globe - 05.19.2019

Sports

THE BOSTON GLOBE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2019

By Adam Himmelsbach
GLOBE STAFF
As the Celtics finished practice Fri-
day, coaches were scattered all over the
Auerbach Center courts, rebounding
and passing and instructing. In one 3-
point contest, three coaches were
planted under the basket to help.
After a string of recent hires, the
Celtics now have a total of 12 on-court
staffers — eight coaches and four play-
er enhancement specialists. It is not
quite the world that Red Auerbach

lived in.

The Celtics did not have any assis-

tant coaches in the 1960s and they had

just two when they charged to three

NBA titles in the 1980s, and even

those jobs were multipurpose. The as-

sistants would routinely leave the

team during the season to scout col-

lege prospects.

Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy,

a former Celtics beat writer, recalled a

day in 1984 when assistant coach

Chris Ford returned to the team after

being gone for several days to scout the

Southeastern Conference tournament.

Shaughnessy said that Celtics legend

Kevin McHale asked Ford where he

had been, and Ford told him he was

busy watching a player who would

kick his butt for the next 10 years. (He

was referring to Auburn forward

Charles Barkley.)

Today, of course, there are plenty of

NBA scouts and front office members

to handle these in-season trips. And on

the Celtics’ bench — and behind it, and

inthelockerroom—therearemore

spots for coaches and staffers than ev-

er before.

After assistant Micah Shrewsberry

left Boston last spring to coach at Pur-

due, there was so much interest in the

Celtics’ high-profile opening that, ac-

cording to a league source, head coach

Brad Stevens mostly stayed away from

the gym at the NBA combine in Chica-

go because he wanted to avoid the

crush of industry climbers hoping to

be hired. Instead, he kept a lower pro-

file and just helped conduct the Celtics’

prospect interviews at a nearby hotel.

Stevens knew that Red Claws coach

Brandon Bailey would return to Bos-

ton’s bench after his two-year stint in

Maine, but there was hope for more re-

inforcements, too. Stevens usually as-

sesses his staff at season’s end and tells

president of basketball operations

Danny Ainge if he sees room for any al-

terations.

“I look at what we have and what

CELTICS,Page

By Jim McBride

GLOBE STAFF

FOXBOROUGH — Jakobi Meyers has run all the

routes for Tom Brady. The rookie receiver also has run

the gamut of emotions with his quarterback.

The 23-year-old Meyers has seen sheer elation

from Brady when superb plays are made, and he also

has seen the 42-year-old, six-time Super Bowl champi-

on seethe when things aren’t going so swimmingly.

Both ends of Brady’s spectrum can be quite a scene

for an impressionable young’un, especially when he’s

the object of the desire or scorn.

“It depends on how the play went, honestly,’’ Mey-

ers said Friday. “If it’s a good play, then he’s going to be

excited — you’d think he was my age, jumping

around. But if it was a bad play, you’d think he was my

parent.

“It definitely took some getting used to, but I think

I’m coming around to it.’’

Brady was asked Friday about the difficulty young

players have had ingratiating themselves into the of-

fense, and what he can do to help ease the transition

to the New England playbook. He said it all starts with

everybody handling his own business first; then the

collaboration can commence.

“I think one thing we talk about here is doing our

jobs,’’ Brady said. “I mean, I can do what I can do. Ev-

ery player can do what they can do. I can’t do anything

for anyone else; they can’t do anything for me.

“So a lot of it is just trust and trying to communi-

cate trust and communication.’’

Brady then gave a peek into why he leans on veter-

ans so much.

PATRIOTS,Page

By Alex Speier
GLOBE STAFF
Early on Thursday morning, Joe
McDonald’s disposition was as bright
as the Florida weather.
“It’s a beautiful morning down here
in Florida,” McDonald said from his
Lakeland home. “The sun is shining,

and I’m ready to go to the ballpark.”

Yet for a 90-year-old Red Sox pro

scout who has attended thousands of

games over parts of eight decades —

from working the turnstiles at Ebbets

Field to sharing World Series titles

with the Mets (1969) and Cardinals

(1982) along with four with the Red

Sox — this day was different.

McDonald was preparing to head

to an instructional league game be-

tween young Tigers and Blue Jays

prospects at Joker Marchant Stadium,

a 10-minute drive from the home he

shares with his wife of 38 years, Vir-

ginia. As he prepared to head to the

park, he had mixed feelings.

“It’s the last game I’m going to be

attending,” said McDonald. “I’m going

to miss the game after 69-70 years of

going to the ballpark.

“I can still go, and I will go to an oc-

casional game. But it won’t be a chal-

McDONALD,Page

Edelman iffy

Patriots receiver and RB Burk-

head questionable for Sunday’s

game at Washington.Page 2

Playoff update

LeMahieu (left), Yankees belt

Twins; Astros rout Rays;

Braves stop Cardinals.Page 4

School night

Natick makes a stand against

Wellesley, stopping 2-point

conversion for victory.Page 7

INSIDE

FRANK FRANKLIN II/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Baseball lifer hangs ’em up

At 90, Red Sox scout

McDonald steps away

Collegefootball

BC-Louisville,

12:30 p.m., NESN

ALDS

Twins-Yankees,

5 p.m., FS

NBAexhibition

Hornets-Celtics,

6p.m.,NBCSB

NHL

Bruins-Coyotes,

9 p.m., NESN

TVlistings,Page

Highlights

Celtics have seen exponential growth — on coaching staff

By Matt Porter
GLOBE STAFF
GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s far
too early in the Bruins season to
worry about anything. The first
few weeks can be sloppy. Play-
ers are shaking off rust. This
certainly applies to the team’s
top offensive players.
The No. 1 power-play unit —
Patrice Bergeron, Brad March-
and, David Pastrnak, Torey
Krug, and Jake DeBrusk — had
all of one game together in the
preseason, against a collection
of Chicago’s AHL players.
Whether it was mere lack of
reps or something else, they
didn’t show much Thursday in
the season-opening 2-1 win
over the Stars in Dallas.
They went scoreless. Neither
Pastrnak nor Krug landed a
shot. DeBrusk produced the
No. 1 power-play’s only shot on
goal. The power play as a whole
put three on net, going 1 for 4.
They’ll be fine, and a solid
counterpoint here is that the
scoring depth so lacking in the
past helped lift the Bruins to a
win. Give it 10 games and see if
they’re still off-kilter.
RNot saying Brandon Carlo
has arrived as an offensive de-
fenseman, but he looked as con-
fident as ever: skating pucks
out of trouble in the final min-
utes of a one-goal game, wheel-
ing around the net on his back-
hand, and getting to the red
line in a hurry, putting it deep
and changing instead of forcing
anything (and he did enter the
zone with the puck a couple
times). Recall last Oct. 20 in
Vancouver, when he fumbled at
the offensive blue line, letting
BRUINS,Page

Opener

had signs

of success

Scoring depth

a boost for Bruins

RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGES

Tuukka Rask made 28 saves,
16 in the third period, in
the Bruins’ win Thursday.

PATRIOTSATREDSKINS

Sunday, 1 p.m., CBS

JONATHAN WIGGS/GLOBE STAFF

When asked about the difficulty of integrating young players into the offense, Tom Brady referred to a familiar Patriots refrain: Do your job.

Offensive orientation rolls on

Meyers working on

earning Brady’s trust

‘Those guys are trying. They’re young. I was young. I was trying once, too.’

TOM BRADY,on the junior members of his offense getting up to speed