Reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard has flown under the national radar for much of his time in the league, with his long distance shooting being the one skill in particular that got him noticed by fans of other ball clubs. But the University of Oregon alum is also a sneaky good offensive rebounder — and not just in a token sense.
Pritchard is actually one of the Celtics’ best offensive rebounders overall despite playing in the backcourt and standing at just 6-foot-2, tying two other teammates for the fourth most o-rebs last season at 1.3 per game. The West Linn, Oregon native was asked where that tendency came from after a recent practice, and Pritchard suggested that it wasn’t anything new for him.
“I’ve been doing that my whole career, like college, all that,” he explained. “So I’ve always been a person that likes to rebound.”
“I like to crash the glass offensively and defensively,” added the Celtics guard. “I like to box out bigger guys, make sure they don’t get it.”
“So it’s just about being a full ball player, not just an offensive player or everything — you’ve got to rebound. You’ve got to play defense, you’ve got to play offense.”
Listen to “Havlicek Stole the Pod” on:
Spotify: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3
