Payton Pritchard’s offseason work has a very specific flavor: early mornings, sweaty gyms, and a steady stream of one-on-one battles against whoever he can get to show up.
The Celtics guard, who signed a $44 million contract extension after showing steady year-by-year growth since being drafted, has built a reputation on grinding through the margins. That approach fit the underdog identity he’s embraced as an undersized guard carving out a bigger and bigger role in Boston. After winning Sixth Man of the Year last season, he’s expected to handle even more for the Celtics.
This summer, part of that work takes place in Cape Cod, where Pritchard brings in college players, amateur ballers, Division II and III guys, international players and hometown friends to train with him in high school gyms. ESPN’s Hallie Grossman reported that sessions can start as early as 6:45 a.m. on hot June mornings, and Pritchard says the environment matters.
“There's just something about a humid gym,” Pritchard says.
He used to do much of his offseason training in Oregon, but the heat there made it harder to convince players to fly out and take part. Cape Cod, by contrast, is a more manageable setup, and Pritchard leans into the grind anyway. Grossman noted that he has been recruiting this type of mix of players for years, because he believes they bring a certain edge.
“They're not exactly a ragtag motley crew, but they're not polished professionals either, and Pritchard figures that makes them hungry. He'll pay for their gas to drive down from Boston to the Cape, or their flights to cross the country or an ocean, because they can be counted on to play feisty, relentless one-on-one defense.”
That’s exactly the kind of environment Pritchard wants when he’s sharpening his isolation game. His work is built on repetition: bump the defender, create space, rise into the shot; beat the defender cleanly, get to the spot, shoot; read the chase, attack the rim, and keep the sequence moving.
“Today, as ever, it's death by repetition for Pritchard. Bump his defender, create space, shoot.
Beat his defender, get to his spot, shoot. React to his defender chasing him.
Drive to the basket because his defender is chasing him from too far behind,” Grossman added.
One of those summer defenders, Bruce Saintilus, recently of Division III Clark University, got caught in the loop and thought he had forced Pritchard into a bad angle. But the possession still ended with the Celtics guard getting the finish.
“About 30 minutes in, Bruce Saintilus, recently of Division III Clark University and one of Pritchard's defenders for the summer, is the one chasing Pritchard. He's feeling himself, certain that he has forced Pritchard into a bad angle.
“But Saintilus runs past the basket, so he doesn't get to see Pritchard attempt an awkward layup. Still, Saintilus knows. He shouts over - to Soares, or maybe to the basketball gods for forsaking him and his defense - “Did that really go in?”
Pritchard’s summer workload is designed to mimic NBA game pressure as closely as possible. Grossman reported that he’ll pile up 150 possessions in these one-on-one sessions, moving from spot to spot around the court while defenders rotate through and he keeps going.
“Pritchard will do 150 possessions in his elaborate dance around the basketball court - the block, the elbow, the other elbow, the 3-point line, the corner, the wing, the high slot, the middle, the opposite slot - going one-on-one versus a rotating cast of defenders,” Grossman said. “They'll get breaks, he won't, and if Pritchard shoots under 60% on the day, his defenders eat like kings at Chipotle and then send him the bill.
He considers it a small price to pay for the thousands of live looks he gets over the summer, for the chance to square up against one man and try to best him. And then do it again and again, filing it all away in his mental archive.
How much basketball data mining is too much? The limit does not exist.”
Boston improved to 1-1 after a 107-103 win over the New York Knicks on Friday. The Celtics will host the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden on Monday.
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