Frank Garza on how son Luka remade his game, body to set up Boston Celtics success

[ASFN Admin]

When backup Boston Celtics big man Luka Garza was playing in the college level, his interior game was almost unstoppable, the Washington DC native a recipient of a national college player of the year award, and numerous accolades for his offensive impact inside with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Still, even with a trophy case the envy of many a player to his name, even his father Frank knew the interior game would not be enough for Garza at the NBA level.

"Now listen, here's the big dude. Won every reward, every award unanimously his senior year -- every one -- from Kareem to Pete Newell to all of them. Armstrong and Senior of the Year, all that stuff. To having his father and his (career) architect saying this won't translate," said the elder Garza in an interview with the Celtics Chronicle Adam Taylor. "And here we are today,"

"You go from a prolific scorer, he's got 21, he's added a few more, probably 25 finishes at the rim," said Frank. "He has a foul shot, a skyhook which is rarely seen. He has ability to score that's prolific."

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"And yet we don't need him for that; the Celtics don't need him for that ... He doesn't need to score," said Garza of his son. "So what does he do?"

"Yes, (he) transitioned into becoming an elite screener. To be so obsessed with getting Jaylen Brown open, (Payton) Pritchard, Sam (Hauser), now Jayson (Tatum), who's an incredible passer off of that as all of them are, to then becoming an elite offensive rebounder, building on his college career and then becoming an elite defender. And quick hands to deflect and get steals and block. I mean, he blocked Wemby's shot ... So he had to change. I mean it was one of those, well what do we do (moments)?"

"The solution is what do we have to change? Everything." And change he did, from dropping down to six percent body fat from 14 to completely restructuring how he plays.

And it has been paying off in spades – for Boston and Luka Garza both.



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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Frank Garza on how son Luka remade his game, body to set up Celtics success

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