The Maine Celtics will have consistency on the sideline this upcoming season.
The Boston Celtics have named Phil Pressey as the head coach of their G-League affiliate in Maine for the second consecutive season.
Pressey was also the head coach of Maine last season, and he will be the first returning head coach to the affiliate in seven seasons. Pressey led Maine to a 27-23 record and a trip to the G-League playoffs.
As reported by the Celtics, the full staff in Maine is also out: Mike Malat and Boaz Mensah will return as assistants. Devin Sweetney, Jacob Kester and Rich Kelly are on the staff as well.
The season begins on Nov. 6, which is about 2.5 weeks after the start of the NBA's regular season. The Celtics will begin the season on Oct. 20 against the Detroit Pistons.
About Phil Pressey
Pressey, now 35, played his college ball at Missouri, spending three years with the Tigers in both their Big 12 and SEC eras.
A player with the Tigers from 2010-13, he played in 99 career games with 81 starts. He led the Big 12 in assists (6.4) and steals (2.1) as a sophomore while also leading the SEC in assists (7.1) as a junior. For his career, he averaged 9.7 ppg.
He played parts of three seasons in the NBA with the Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 3.2 ppg for his career. He actually got significant playing time with the Celtics as a rookie in 2013-14, playing 15 minutes a game that season. He appeared in 75 games for then-head coach Brad Stevens.
Boston Celtics guard Phil Pressey (26) drives the ball against Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) in the second half at TD Garden. The Clippers defeated the Celtics 119-106. David Butler II-USA TODAY SportsBoston went just 25-57 that year, as that was the first year of Stevens's NBA career. They went 40-42 the next year, actually making the playoffs, and they made them every year of his career after that as well.
As for the NBA Celtics
Boston will continue their work at training camp this week, and we are now just one week away from the start of the preseason slate, which begins on Oct. 8. The Celtics will play four preseason games in total before that opener on Oct. 20.
We have raised the question multiple times about how the Celtics will handle their big man rotation this year, but with that, there's another question: How will Mitchell Robinson's lack of ability at the free-throw line impact his ability to play meaningful minutes down the stretch of games?
That's something Joe Mazzulla will have to figure out quickly.
