I always kind of liked Jason Terry when he was on the Mavericks. I liked his energy and his enthusiasm. Of course, when the Celtics played them, that kind of got a bit irritating, but I still liked him. He was always a classy player. Now that he's on the Celtics and I'm learning more about him, I'm even more impressed.
First there was the press conference where he sounded so genuinely happy to be a Celtic. And the fact that he held off signing while Danny tried to work a sign and trade to be able to also sign Courtney Lee. Then there was the twitter profile photo of Jet in a Celtics shirt, pointing to the Celtics logo, when they announced his contract signing. He was so enthusiastic and willing to do whatever it would take to help the Celtics win. He talked of going out to work out with KG and start building chemistry. The guy knows what it takes to win.
Then, there was the tattoo. In the offseason before the Mavs won the title, Jason
Terry got a tattoo of the Larry O'Brien trophy to show his confidence in his team and his Mavericks teammates repaid that confidence with a title. Now, Jason Terry has shown even more confidence in this Celtics team by getting not just the trophy, but Lucky the Leprechaun holding the trophy tattooed on his arm. Confidence is a funny thing. As a teacher I was aware of the benefits of confidence in a student. I remember reading an article about how students who were told they were given a performance enhancer did much better than students who were not given it, in spite of the fact that it was just a placebo. The difference in their performance was simply confidence. By getting that tattoo, Jason Terry has given his teammates a performance enhancer in the form of a boost of confidence.
Now, we see this tweet from Dionte Christmas:
Jason Terry is not only working out with KG, he's working out with what may be the Celtics 15th man. He's still building chemistry and taking Dionte under his wing to help him work out and improve. This proves that this quote from Jason on
ESPN Celtics Blog isn't just talk.
"For me, I'm a veteran, I'm going to be able to not only show them, but then I'm going to teach them and I'm going to talk to them and those are guys that I will take under my wing," Terry said. "If I'm in the gym, they're in the gym, that type of deal. And that's just how I've been everywhere I've played."
And, finally, there's
the article on ESPN that compares Terry to both KG and Ray. For one thing, Jet is studying film of Ray Allen and working to add the jumper curling off of screens to his repertoire of moves. He also discusses his ability to perform in the clutch as we had seen Ray do so often.
He eventually elaborated on how he's been able to thrive in the clutch moments in seasons past. That's my time of the game. Obviously your team is counting on you, your fans are counting on you to bring home that victory, whether it's an assist to win it, whether it's a shot to seal the game, or a free throw to win the game, it's what I do," Terry explained. "That's my time. And the reason why I'm confident in those situations is because of the work I put in. It's like repetition for me. It's second nature."
I guess that's why they call him Mr. Fourth Quarter. But don't expect him to be stoic and calm like Ray was. Ray was always reserved and rarely showed his emotions on the court. Jason on the other hand will be a fan favorite because he plays to the crowd. I can't wait to see him fly down the court after his first big three. That emotion gets the crowd fired up, which in turn gets the team fired up.
"With me, I guess you'll call it just a little turned up, a little bit more," Terry said Thursday at the headquarters of one of his sponsors, Reebok. "Ray's personality, his demeanor, he's real calm, he's always laidback. Me, I'm like KG. I'm going to play to the crowd, and I'm going to bring that enthusiasm, that passion, and you're going to be able to see it every night."
And one of Jet's latest tweets says simply "Motivation" with a link to this photo
I simply can not wait for this season to start. Motivation indeed.
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