Jaylen Brown, Aaron Nesmith talk Nesmith’s breakout game, work ethic and intensity
First-year Boston Celtics small forward Aaron Nesmith was a critical part of the team’s 120 – 111 win over the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden Wednesday evening, his breakthrough game coming with a number of eye-popping plays reminiscent of a young Marcus Smart.
Known in his collegiate days at Vanderbilt as a knock-down shooter, Nesmith has increasingly caught the attention of his coach, teammates and the Celtics fanbase for his high-energy, athletic play that sees him diving for loose balls or leaping to block a shot instead. His indefatigable approach to the game on the court and his dedicated work ethic off of it have not gone unnoticed.
“He plays extremely hard,” observed teammate Jaylen Brown after the win over Charlotte.
WATCH: Rookie forward Aaron Nesmith scores 15 points, 9 rebounds vs. Hornets (4/28) https://t.co/mlCzbdUbZX
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) April 29, 2021
"His energy is always good whether he's playing or not," he explained. "He works his ass off."
"He's stepping into his opportunities and playing well -- he plays hard. I love having him on the floor. I know he makes mistakes sometimes, but he makes mistakes going 100%, and I'll take that. I like having Aaron out there. He plays extremely hard, and he can shoot the ball when he gets going too."
"And he guards!" exclaimed Brown. "He gets into guys, rebounds, blocks, throws his body." https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1387798893103091713?s=20
It's refreshing," he continued. "Despite his situation, he's come out and played hard. Whether it's two minutes or 15 minutes, he's played with that same level of passion all year." "Kudos to him, because that's hard to do, especially coming out of college playing a lot. Now you come in here, you're not playing as much as guys in front of you. It's not as easy as it seems." "He's handled it as good as anybody I've seen," opined the Georgia native. https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1387632773922500608?s=20
"I just want him to be careful," said Brown added with a nervous laugh. "To be honest, the other players are probably more endangered with Aaron flying around and throwing elbows and stuff. I worry more about who he might hurt rather than him hurting himself." The recklessness with which the South Carolinian throws his body onto the court or towards opposing players has piqued the curiosity of the press as well, who asked Nesmith if he worried about his health playing so hard. https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1387595254812053509?s=20
"I definitely care," explained Nesmith. "I definitely care." I'm just going out there 110%, 110% trying to make any effort plays that I can because I know every team needs effort plays effort plays.
"50-50 balls, that's what win balls games. And so I'm going to go out there and I put my body on the line in order to make a play happen. But yeah, safety is definitely something that I've got to pay attention to -- but 50-50 balls, if there's a ball in the ground, I'm going to get it 100 out of 100 times."
It seems as if things are finally clicking for the Vanderbilt product, who shared his thoughts on where he was in that process. https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1387440569748709377
"Just continuing to learn the game. Continuing to go out there and make the most of the opportunities." "Continuing to go out there, making plays," he added. "As long as I continue to do that, the game will continue to get easier and easier if I just go out there and do my job." This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [lawrence-related id=49618,49606,49588,49584] [listicle id=49628]
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