More than a decade ago, Brian Scalabrine was a cult favorite among Boston Celtics fans — even though he didn’t quite measure up to teammates like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and others.
That said, fans still adored the 6-foot-9 big man no matter how he played, something that Scal admits he found “disrespectful” at points, per The Atheltic’s Jared Weiss. It’s a situation Tacko Fall currently is experiencing as a 7-foot-5 rookie, with fans erupting every time he takes the court.
So Scalabrine, who now serves as an analyst for NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics coverage, recently gave Fall a little advice.
Embrace everything — the moment, the role and all the attention — but don’t lose sight of what brought you here.
“You know what he has to do? Switch the floor. Get from one side of the floor to the other. Be better at dribble handoffs. Get back on defense. Play two. Meet guys at the rim. That’s the expectation,” Scalabrine said, per Weiss. “… Do 19,511 (fans in the stands), do they know that? When he checks into the game and he guards two and meets a guy at the rim, do they cheer then? OK, so Tacko needs to worry about doing what Brad Stevens, Danny Ainge and all the Celtics brass underneath him needs him to do. Not go get a bucket.”
Fall is averaging 3.2 points and 1.8 boards in six games for the C’s this season.
