Jrue Holiday

Celtics Notes: Brown, 15th Roster Spot, Holiday

April 6th, 2024 at 12:06pm CST by Luke Adams

After missing Monday’s game due to what was referred to on the injury report as a left hand sprain, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown returned from the injury and showed no ill effects in Wednesday’s blowout win over Oklahoma City, scoring 23 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists.

Speaking after that game to reporters, including Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link), Brown described the ailment as a strained ligament in his left hand, but stressed that he’s not concerned about it and intends to play through it.

Brown didn’t end up suiting up on Friday vs. Sacramento, but it sounds like he would have played if the game had been more meaningful for a Celtics team that has already clinched the NBA’s best regular season record. According to Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link), head coach Joe Mazzulla said Brown made it through Wednesday’s contest with no issues and his absence on Friday was about “managing the rest of the season.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

With eight more days for the Celtics to fill the final opening on their 15-man standard roster, Brian Robb of MassLive.com expects the club to opt for a younger player who could get a longer look this summer. Barring a change of heart from Blake Griffin, whom Celtics players recruited earlier this season, Robb doesn’t expect an experienced veteran to claim that spot, since the 15th man won’t be used in the postseason. Promoting two-way player Neemias Queta remains a possibility, Robb adds.
Jrue Holiday appeared in his 66th game of the season on Friday, locking in a contract bonus worth $354,960, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That bonus was considered likely because Holiday played at least 66 games last season, so it won’t have an impact on Holiday’s cap hit or the Celtics’ tax bill. However, as Marks adds (via Twitter), Boston will save a bit of tax money on two of Holiday’s bonuses (worth a total of $702,960) that had been considered likely entering the season and won’t be earned, since he didn’t earn an All-Star berth and will average fewer than 7.3 assists per game.
In a feature for Yahoo Sports, Jake Fischer takes a look at how Holiday has fit in seamlessly with the Celtics this season, shooting a career-high 43.0% on three-point attempts while sacrificing individual statistics in other categories. As Fischer notes, Holiday’s contract extension restrictions lifted on April 1, so he’s now free to negotiate a long-term deal with Boston. If the two sides don’t work out a multiyear agreement, Holiday will have to make a decision in June on a 2024/25 player option worth over $37MM in base salary, plus incentives.

Zion, Holiday, Jackson Meet 65-Game Criteria For Award Eligibility

April 4th, 2024 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson met the criteria for end-of-season award eligibility on Wednesday by appearing in his 65th game of the season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

It’s a career high for Williamson, who appeared in 61 games in his second NBA season in 2020/21 but had otherwise never played more than 29 times in a season. The former No. 1 overall pick has built a legitimate case for All-NBA consideration this season, averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 31.3 minutes per contest, with a .581 FG%.

The bad news for Williamson and the Pelicans is that he didn’t play the final seven-plus minutes of Wednesday’s loss to Orlando due to a finger injury on his left hand. As Andrew Lopez of ESPN details, Zion had his left middle finger taped up after the game, but declined to speculate on the severity of the injury when he spoke to reporters.

“I don’t want to say anything that’s not right, to be honest,” he said. “But yeah, I tweaked it a little bit. I’ll have more information on it [Thursday] morning and I’m going to get it looked at and go from there.”

Appearing in 65+ games and potentially earning an All-NBA spot this season wouldn’t have any real impact on Williamson’s contract situation, though as Marks outlines in a YouTube video, the 23-year-old is on a unique deal and his games played in future seasons will help determine how much of his salary is guaranteed or non-guaranteed going forward.

Williamson was one of three notable players to reach the 65-game threshold for award consideration on Wednesday, according to Marks, who points out (via Twitter) that Celtics guard Jrue Holiday and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. also got there. It was technically Jackson’s 66th outing of the season, but he played fewer than 15 minutes in one of those contests, so it didn’t count toward the 65-game minimum.

Neither Holiday nor Jackson is a legitimate candidate for an All-NBA spot or for any other major award except for All-Defense. Holiday has made the All-Defensive First Team three times, including last season, and has also earned a pair of Second Team nods, while Jackson is the league’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year and has made the First Team in each of the past two seasons.

There’s essentially no chance that Jackson will repeat as Defensive Player of the Year for the lottery-bound Grizzlies, but it’s worth noting that if he did – or if he wins the DPOY award next season – he would become eligible for a super-max extension in July 2025.

Celtics Notes: Holiday, Brown, White, Tatum

April 3rd, 2024 at 5:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

A harrowing family experience in 2016 helped Jrue Holiday keep things in perspective when he got the surprise news that he had been traded from Milwaukee to Portland last summer, writes Mirin Fader of The Ringer. Eight years ago, Holiday’s wife, Lauren, was diagnosed with a brain tumor while she was pregnant with their first child. Holiday took a leave from the NBA to care for Lauren, and she was able to deliver the baby and later have the tumor safely removed.

Holiday said dealing with that type of life-and-death situation gave him a calmness to accept any basketball fate. He embraced the change, even though his family was settled in Milwaukee and he expected his long-term future to be there after helping the Bucks win the 2021 championship.

“I think it helped me prepare for [the trade],” he said. “Life does hit you in different types of ways at different times, and maybe just subconsciously you learn this lesson. … I know some people get down on life … but I think for me, and I don’t know why—maybe it is because of the support of my family, maybe it is because of my faith — but it’s always turned out to be something that I grew from and made me so much stronger.”

Holiday didn’t have to figure out his future in Portland, as the Trail Blazers dealt him to the Celtics five days later. He welcomed the chance to join another veteran team with title hopes, but he knew he had to figure out the best way to fit in.

“Every team is a puzzle,” Holiday said. “And I’m a part of that puzzle. … So whatever the team needs from me: Some nights it might be scoring, some nights it might be shooting corner threes or being a decoy. It might be setting screens or rebounding. I think that just comes with the type of talent and character that we have on this team.”

There’s more from Boston:

Jaylen Brown is a legitimate candidate for All-Defensive honors, although he might get overlooked because the Celtics have so many high-level defenders, observes Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports. Forsberg notes that Brown reminded voters of his defensive prowess on Saturday when he held Zion Williamson to 1-of-6 shooting with three turnovers as the primary defender on the Pelicans star.
The $500K bonus that Derrick White earned by reaching 185 made three-pointers will affect Boston’s cap figure this season and in 2024/25, according to Brian Robb of MassLive. With tax penalties included, Robb estimates that White’s bonus will cost the team more than $1.5MM this year, although he adds that ownership shouldn’t mind paying extra for White’s breakout performance. White has the same bonus in his contract for next season and it’s now considered likely, so his cap hit will be raised to about $20.6MM.
Celtics players weren’t happy with the way they finished the regular season last year and they’re determined not to repeat that mistake, per Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “I think last year we were like so antsy to get back to the Finals that we had a few bad losses in the last few weeks of the season,” Jayson Tatum said. “We went to six games in that first-round [series against the Hawks]. We may have took some things for granted. This year we’ve done a really good job of not skipping steps and respecting every day, every game, just trying to get better, as cliché as that sounds.”

And-Ones: Harding, Cooper, All-NBA, Kaba, Bronny

April 2nd, 2024 at 7:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Stockton Kings head coach Lindsey Harding has been named the NBA G League Coach of the Year in a vote by G League head coaches and general managers, NBA Communications tweets. Harding is the first woman to win the Coach of the Year award in the NBA G League. She’ll receive the Dennis Johnson Trophy.

Harding was hired to coach Sacramento’s NBAGL affiliate last June. Harding spent the past four seasons as an assistant/player development coach with the NBA’s Kings.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Sharife Cooper has signed with China’s Liaoning Flying Leopards, according to Sportando. Cooper signed a 10-day contract with the Cavaliers in late February but didn’t play at all and didn’t receive a second 10-day contract. He has spent the bulk of this season with the Cavs’ G League team, the Cleveland Charge.
Who are the highest-paid players who have never received All-NBA honors? HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto ranks the top 50 in that category, with the Timberwolves‘ Mike Conley ($276.5MM), the Thunder‘s Gordon Hayward ($271MM) and the Celtics‘ Jrue Holiday ($259.4MM) topping the list.
Alpha Kaba, a 2017 draft-and-stash prospect, has signed with Valencia, the Spanish team tweets. The Rockets acquired the NBA rights to Kaba in a five-team trade last summer, though it appears unlikely that Kaba is planning on an NBA career. The big man had been playing with China’s Jiangsu Dragons.
Bronny James has entered the transfer portal, college basketball expert Dick Weiss tweets. Following an underwhelming freshman year at USC, Bronny is considered more likely to stay in college for another year than to be drafted in 2024. LeBron James‘ son posted averages of 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 36.6% from the field in 25 games for the Trojans.
[UPDATE: Weiss has since walked back his report on Bronny entering the transfer portal, tweeting that it’s not yet confirmed.]

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Holiday, Hauser, Nets

March 31st, 2024 at 9:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid is now traveling with club as he continues to progress toward an on-court comeback, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The reigning MVP has rejoined the team for the first time since undergoing surgery to address a meniscus injury in early February.

Mizell adds (via Twitter) that, per head coach Nick Nurse, Embiid took part in a light practice Saturday on the road in Toronto. Nurse indicated that the club “geared” some of the workout toward the recuperating big man.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Celtics guard Jrue Holiday has now earned his $354,960 minutes-played bonus for the 2023/24 season, reports Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). The two-time All-Star has submitted another All-Defensive season during his first year in Boston, though he has taken a step back as a scorer. Nevertheless, Holiday has been an essential component of the top-seeded Celtics’ perimeter attack. According to Marks, this is the seventh straight season that the veteran has reached the minutes played benchmark (2,075) required for this bonus.
The Celtics have a cost-effective team option on reserve sharpshooter Sam Hauser for 2024/25. In his latest mailbag, Brian Robb of MassLive.com predicts that Hauser could earn a salary in the range of the mid-level exception if he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2025.
The Nets’ recent improvement on defense looks like something the club might be able to develop further in the future, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. As Schwartz writes, the team’s 111.7 defensive rating since the All-Star break is the No. 11 mark in the NBA, a huge improvement from its 116.8 rating prior to the break.

Injury Notes: Mitchell, LeBron, Clarke, Holiday, Heat, Duren

March 27th, 2024 at 1:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who hasn’t played since March 16 while he recovers from a nagging knee injury and a nasal fracture, is hoping to return to action as early as Friday, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). After playing in Charlotte on Wednesday, the Cavs will return home to host the Sixers on Friday.

If Mitchell isn’t able to suit up vs. Philadelphia, his next opportunity to return would be on Sunday in Denver for the start of a five-game Western Conference road trip. The Cavs will also visit Utah, Phoenix, and Los Angeles (to play both the Lakers and Clippers) on that trip before wrapping up the regular season with three home games.

Cleveland is in a battle for playoff positioning in the East and currently holds a narrow lead on New York for the No. 3 seed. At 44-28, the Cavs have a half-game cushion on the 43-28 Knicks, who would hold the tiebreaker edge if the team finish with identical records.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Lakers forward LeBron James has officially been listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. Memphis (Twitter link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic). However, Dave McMenamin of ESPN, confirming previous reporting, tweets that James remains on track to be available for that contest.
There’s a chance that Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke will be able to make his 2023/24 debut in that game against the Lakers. Clarke, who has spent the season recovering from an Achilles tear, has been upgraded to questionable, per the team (Twitter link).
Celtics guard Jrue Holiday participated in practice on Wednesday after missing the team’s past five games due to a right shoulder injury, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. It’s unclear whether Holiday will be available on Thursday vs. Atlanta.
Providing updates on a pair of injured Heat players, Shams Charania of The Athletic said on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link) that Duncan Robinson (back) should return within the next week or so but that “the big worry” is Tyler Herro (foot), who still doesn’t have a return timeline. For what it’s worth, Herro replied to Charania’s report with a “cap” emoji, sarcastically adding in a follow-up tweet, “I just had a great workout , but I ain’t coming back no time soon.”
Pistons center Jalen Duren will return on Wednesday in Minnesota vs. the Timberwolves following a three-game absence due to back spasms, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Harden, Knicks-Pistons Trade, DiVincenzo, Holiday

March 25th, 2024 at 11:50am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers‘ first meeting with James Harden since trading him to the Clippers last fall was relatively calm, but Wednesday’s rematch in Philadelphia will likely have a different atmosphere, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Harden concentrated on play-making on Sunday afternoon, scoring 12 points and handing out 14 assists as the Sixers picked up a much-needed road victory. Harden left without speaking to reporters, but his former teammates said they’re happy that he appears to have found a positive situation in Los Angeles.

“James is a hell of a player and I’ll always have a huge amount of respect for him,” Tobias Harris said. “Playing with him here, it’s good to see him playing in L.A., flourishing and playing his game and just ballin’ out. It’s all love and respect. He’s a hall-of-fame player, and for me it was an honor being here, playing with him.”

Harden can expect a raucous reception when he returns to Philadelphia for the first time since a bitter contract dispute with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey led him to demand a trade last summer. Haden launched repeated verbal attacks at Morey and disrupted training camp and the early part of the season before being traded to L.A. at the start of November.

Vardon adds that instead of being focused on Harden, the Sixers are concerned about their playoff prospects as they try to stay in the race for the sixth seed while Joel Embiid recovers from meniscus surgery.

“We know what the situation is,” Tyrese Maxey said. “We know we gotta go out there and fight. He’s not here, he’s not walking through those doors right now. What we have in this locker room, that’s who has to go out there and compete.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks will host the Pistons tonight in a reminder of a trade that has turned out poorly for both teams so far, notes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. New York hoped to bolster its shooting last month when it acquired Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic from Detroit. However, they’ve both been disappointing, even with extra opportunities created by injuries to Julius Randle and OG Anunoby. For Detroit, Quentin Grimes has missed 15 of 21 games with a right knee injury he suffered when he was still with the Knicks. Evan Fournier has appeared in 19 straight games after being trapped on Tom Thibodeau’s bench, but he’s been in a severe shooting slump.
Donte DiVincenzo is nearing the Knicks‘ record for most three-pointers in a season, Bondy adds in a separate story. He’s 18 away from the mark of 241 that Fournier set two years ago. “I don’t think about it. Obviously I’m aware of it, but I don’t go into the game going, ‘How many do I need?’” DiVincenzo said. “That’s for you guys to talk about, that’s for everybody else to have fun with. But when you start doing that — there’s basketball karma, basketball gods. That’s not something [I want to mess with].”
Celtics guard Jrue Holiday explained the shoulder issue that will cause him to miss his fourth straight game tonight, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Not a dead arm. I got hit on my shoulder and it felt like my arm went dead,” Holiday said. “But it’s not a nerve thing or anything. It’s just the part of the shoulder that I got hit in. But my shoulder is fine.

Celtics Notes: Holiday, Hauser, Pritchard, White

March 22nd, 2024 at 9:37pm CST by Rory Maher

Boston has all but secured the No. 1 seed in the East, holding an 11-game lead on second-place Milwaukee with 12 games left on the team’s schedule.

As Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes (subscription required), the Celtics have been resting some of their top players over the past week to be cautious — for example, Jayson Tatum missed Friday’s game vs. Detroit with what was officially called a right ankle impingement, but there’s no indication it’s anything serious.

However, veteran guard Jrue Holiday, who missed his third straight game on Friday with a sprained right AC joint in his shoulder, does not fall into that category. Holiday tells Himmelsbach he’s been experiencing “dead arm” following a hard screen from Wizards center Richaun Holmes last Sunday (Twitter video link).

The two-time All-Star has been getting treatment for the injury, which requires rest to heal, per Himmelsbach. While Holiday says he’s starting to feel better, there’s no timeline for his return. Despite the team’s sizeable lead in the standings, he’s eager to get back on the court.

“I still want to play,” Holiday said. “That’s part of the reason I play basketball. But it’s also keeping rhythm. Sometimes when you’re out for a long time you break rhythm, but I feel like I’ve been in a good groove and I want to continue to play.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Backup forward Sam Hauser missed a couple games with an ankle sprain he sustained vs. Washington, but he returned to action in Friday’s victory, Himmelsbach adds in the same story. The third-year sharpshooter says he was relieved the injury wasn’t more serious. “It didn’t feel great, that’s for sure,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect or how it was going to feel in the days to come, but it’s felt pretty good throughout the week.”
Giving Payton Pritchard a four-year, $30MM rookie scale extension last offseason is looking like a shrewd decision by the Celtics, according to Brian Robb of MassLive, who says the fourth-year guard has outperformed that deal this season, though the extension doesn’t begin until 2024/25. “Payton’s been great, and I’m not surprised, to be honest,” Jaylen Brown said. “Some guys just got a certain mentality they carry themselves with. Payton is somebody you don’t worry about. Even in the lowest of times he’s a hard worker and his mindset is phenomenal in terms of a relentless, never-give-up warrior-type mentality. So you put him out there, I’m not surprised at anything we’re seeing now. It’s just now the work is coming to fruition.” Pritchard has been logging major minutes of late with Holiday injured and is arguably playing his best basketball of the season.
Guard Derrick White met the 65-game criteria for postseason awards on Friday, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. White earned a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team in 2022/23 and is having another excellent campaign. White has three pending bonuses, Marks notes — the 29-year-old will earn $250K if he makes another All-Defensive team, $500K if he makes at least 185 threes (he’s currently at 172), and $500K if he appears in 70 games.
Robb of MassLive lists four takeaways from Friday’s blowout victory, including a big night for Brown, who finished with 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting.

Northwest Notes: Lofton, Thunder, Porter, Holiday, Billups

March 13th, 2024 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz used a portion of their room exception to sign Kenneth Lofton Jr. to a three-year contract that includes a $500K rest-of-season salary, Hoops Rumors has learned. Lofton’s deal is worth approximately $4.9MM in total, with minimum salaries in the second and third seasons.

However, the agreement doesn’t currently include any guaranteed money beyond this season. If Lofton remains under contract through July 25, he’d be assured of a $400K partial guarantee for 2024/25, and that partial guarantee would increase to $600K on the first day of the regular season, but if he’s waived on or before July 25, the Jazz won’t be on the hook for any ’24/25 salary.

If Lofton plays out the first two years of the contract, the Jazz would face a team option decision for the 2025/26 season.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

The fact that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a legitimate MVP candidate while Chet Holmgren is in the running for Rookie of the Year is emblematic of how unique the young, contending Thunder are, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who notes that an NBA club hasn’t had a top-two finish in both MVP and Rookie of the Year voting since the 2001/02 Nets. Before that, the last time it happened was in 1979/80, when Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won MVP while Magic Johnson finished second in ROY voting.
Monday’s game between the Nuggets and Raptors marked the first time that brothers Michael Porter Jr. and Jontay Porter shared an NBA court for meaningful minutes, writes Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. In honor of the occasion, Benedetto looks back at the role that Michael played in convincing Jontay not to give up on his NBA dream despite recurring injury issues.
Jrue Holiday was only a member of the Trail Blazers for a few days last fall between stints in Milwaukee and Boston, but he tells Jay King of The Athletic that a discussion he had with Chauncey Billups during that time “meant a lot” to him. Billups gave Holiday advice on how to handle the transition period and assured the veteran guard that the team wanted him to end up in a favorable landing spot.“I love Jrue, man. I love Jrue,” Billups said. “And we got him very briefly obviously. And I had a conversation — a long, good conversation with him — just about I know it was a little tough spot for him, being traded, kind of being blindsided by that. I’ve been there before. So just being able to rap with him like that because I know him. And it was important for me that a good person like him, who’s been great on every team and every community that he’s lived in, for him to be treated properly and be put in a great position and a great spot.”

Atlantic Notes: Brown, Raptors, Reed, Nurse, Maxey, Celtics

March 11th, 2024 at 2:23pm CST by Rory Maher

After missing four games with knee inflammation, Bruce Brown hopes to be able to play against his former team when the Raptors visit Denver tonight, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Brown, who played an important role in the Nuggets’ title run last season, has been increasing his workload recently and hopes he’ll receive medical clearance to take the court.

This will be Brown’s second visit to Denver, which is rare for a player in the opposite conference. He picked up his championship ring on January 14 when he was still with the Pacers, three days before being shipped to Toronto in the Pascal Siakam trade.

“I always looking forward to coming back here,” Brown said. “Great fans, great fan base, excited to see my previous teammates. It will be great to see everyone.”

Brown is officially questionable for Monday’s contest, while Immanuel Quickley (left hip flexor strain), Chris Boucher (right knee contusion) and Gary Trent Jr. (groin strain) are all out, according to Grange (Twitter links). RJ Barrett, who missed Saturday’s loss to Portland with an illness, is probable.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Sixers big man Paul Reed criticized the officiating following Friday’s loss to New Orleans, per Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter video link). “Just knowing that the referees are going to be the referees, and we’re going to have to beat them too. So we got to already be expecting that,” Reed said. Philadelphia was victorious on Sunday vs. New York, with Reed recording 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. The team was plus-13 in his 28 minutes in the ugly 79-73 win.
While Reed lamented the officiating, head coach Nick Nurse was more unhappy with the Sixers‘ effort in the first half of Friday’s game, calling their offensive approach “soft,” writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). “We tried to jump-shoot our way to a lead early, and you can’t count on that,” Nurse said. “ … That’s not good enough. You’ve got to play tougher than that. You’ve got to put your nose in there and drive it in the paint and try to get to the foul line and draw some defense and kick it out to somebody who’s open.” Nurse also said he’s still evaluating the make-shift rotation following a number of injuries, most notably to reigning MVP Joel Embiid.
Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey has missed the past four games while in the NBA’s concussion protocol, but he has been cleared to return on Tuesday against the Knicks, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The first-time All-Star is set to hit restricted free agency this summer and will likely command a massive payday.
The Celtics‘ entire starting lineup is on the injury report for tonight’s game in Portland, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Jaylen Brown (sacroiliac strain), Jrue Holiday (left knee tendinopathy), Jayson Tatum (right ankle impingement) and Derrick White (left hand sprain) are questionable, while Kristaps Porzingis will miss his second straight game with right hamstring tightness.
[Update: Brown, Tatum and White are active, but Holiday will be out, Smith tweets.]
Heading into Saturday’s contest vs. Phoenix, the Celtics had dropped two straight games for only the second time during the 2023/24 season. They responded with a victory they badly wanted, as Jay King of The Athletic writes. “Just not letting it snowball effect, right,” said Tatum, who specifically asked to play the entire second half. “We’re not perfect. We try to be. We really do try. But we make mistakes and things like that. This is a tough league. The other teams are really good, got great players. So it’s all about how you respond. If you want to be a special team, you have to do a really good job of responding. Especially winning on the road is tough, being away from home for 10, 12 days or whatever. So this is a great way to come out here and get a win against a team that’s been playing well lately.”

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

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