New Atlanta Hawk CJ McCollum says that his older brother Errick has helped him adjust to coming off the bench for the first time in over ten years.
(via atlhawksfans):
“I called my brother. My brother’s in Europe. And in Europe, you only play like 25 minutes a night. If you’re the best player on the team, you play like 27. So he’s been the highest paid player coming off the bench for a long time, and he was just like, ‘You’ve got to insert yourself into the game faster.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘You can’t slow roll it because you’re coming in midway through the first. You’ve got to be aggressive. You’ve got to attack.’ And he’s like, ‘The good news is you get to feel the game out, get to understand the pace and what’s needed. Sometimes it’s scoring. Sometimes it’s pace. Sometimes it’s paint touches, nobody’s getting into the paint.’
“So he’s like, ‘You’ve got to really read the game, but you’ve got to be extra aggressive.’ He’s like, ‘You know how you like to ease your way into stuff?’ He’s like, ‘You can’t be easing your way in because you’re halfway through the first quarter, and then you’re probably coming out.’ So, that was helpful just to kinda hear from him. That’s my guy. That’s my mentor and I’ve modeled myself after him. So, just mentally changing my routine a little bit. I probably workout a little harder than I normally would because then you sit idle, and it’s like not starting your car for a while. You’ve got to stay warm, especially when it’s cold outside. So, just subtle changes in my routine: how I lift, how I do my pregame stuff. I probably workout an extra 5 minutes pregame just to kinda make sure I feel good.”
