Mass. native MCW ready for Sixers' trip to Boston

Share

Michael Carter-Williams is looking forward to getting an up-close look at TD Garden when the Sixers take on the Celtics in Boston on Wednesday.

Carter-Williams, a Massachusetts native, has watched several games at TD Garden but never had the pleasure of playing there.

“It is a great atmosphere,” Carter-Williams said. “When they are good, the crowd is great. They have always supported their team.”

Carter-Williams admitted he is excited for more than just getting on the parquet in Boston. The rookie point guard is eager to go head to head with four-time all-star Rajon Rondo.

Rondo is still trying to find his stride since returning from surgery to repair a torn ACL he suffered last January. Rondo is averaging 6.6 points and 5.8 assists in 23.8 minutes in five games so far this season.

Carter-Williams is trying to shake some recent struggles of his own. He is shooting 33.0 percent from the floor in the Sixers’ last seven games.

Lately, MCW has found a lot of his shots being sent back to him by the opposition.

“Part of that is probably my fault,” Carter-Williams said. “I have had a lot of shots blocked the last two games. I either need to pull up or use the floater. It is something I just need to adjust to.”

The Sixers have had 20 shots blocked as a team over the last two games. Their 334 shots blocked are more than any other team in the NBA this season 334. That’s an average of 7.4 times per game.

Sixers head coach Brett Brown loves the aggressive nature of his young team. The Sixers are second in the NBA in points in the paint with 51.6 per game.

However, Brown believes there are still techniques that his players can utilize to better maneuver around those big bodies in the paint.

“Coming to two-foot jump stops, going a little bit head and shoulders and lifting people and getting two free throws,” Brown explained. “Tony Parker was more of a two-foot guy where he would come to a jump stop and drop long floaters. Steve Nash was a one-foot guy where he would drop that Steve Nash runner.

“Everyone has a different way of handling it. The bottom line is that you are going into some big people and whether it is two feet or one foot, head and shoulders and go into a guy, or being better as a team providing outlets to people, it is all part of the package that we have to get better at. But I love our mentality of driving it. I like where we are going. I just have to do a better job coaching it.”

Despite his current inconsistency, Carter-Williams still dominates the rookie statistics. He leads his fellow first-year players in points, rebounds, assists, steals and minutes played per game.

Carter-Williams hopes to improve on those numbers when he takes the court against the Celtics for Wednesday night’s homecoming, but his coach has another message for his floor general.

“Have a blast,” Brown said. “Be so proud of your accomplishments and go back there and enjoy the experience of playing where you grew up and now being a starting NBA point guard. I want him to enjoy this experience.”

Contact Us