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Tacko Fall recorded four points and three rebounds in his NBA debut against the Knicks on Saturday night, but with G-League training camp starting up this week, he's off to Maine with fellow two-way rookie Tremont Waters.
Both Fall and Waters are only permitted to spend up to 45 days with the Celtics this season, so they'll be able to get some reps in practice as Boston prepares to play the Bucks and Knicks this week.
Red Claws coach Darren Erman, who was named the G-League affiliate's head coach in July, offered his thoughts on what he wants to see Fall improve on while he develops in Maine to the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach.
“He just needs more comfort handling the ball on the perimeter,” Erman said. “Everyone runs dribble handoffs with bigs, and bigs handle the ball 25-30 feet from the basket, but he just has to be comfortable making simple plays with the ball in his hands, especially in Brad [Stevens’s] system."
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Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge have typically targeted skilled bigs to fill out their rotations. Al Horford, Kelly Olynyk and more recently Grant Williams have all succeeded by posing a threat as a ball-handler in those handoff situations. Fall doesn't have much of a perimeter jump shot right now, so he'll have to prove he can handle the ball to get more of a shot at the next level.
But that chance at a full-time NBA roster spot won't come until at least next season. For now, he can focus on developing new skills and fine-tuning his post game and pick and roll defense while getting limited spells in garbage time as he did in New York this weekend.
So, in the meantime, we can enjoy the small taste of TackoMania that videos like this can provide until he grows into a bonafide NBA player.
The Red Claws will begin their season on November 9 in Delaware against the Blue Coats and will play their home opener on November 15.
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