Getty Images Celtics prospect Yam Madar
The buzz surrounding Boston Celtics prospect Yam Madar is picking up significant steam, this week.
In light of a recent report suggesting the Celtics plan to invite their 2020 draft-and-stash second-round pick to this year’s Summer League competition, one of Madar’s teammates turned in a raving review about the 20-year-old standout.
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Jon Diebler: ‘Yam’s a Guy who was Very Confident’
Jon Diebler, who is 13 years Madar’s senior, played alongside Yam as a member of Hapoel Tel Aviv and his shared thoughts with Jay King of The Athletic.
“Yam is very mature for his age,” Diebler said per The Athletic’s Jay King. “It’s not easy for a guy that age to kind of control the team at the professional level, especially in a top division in Israel where there’s a lot of foreign players, but Yam’s a guy who was very confident in his game. You felt his presence and that he knew he belonged if that makes sense. I think it goes back to that confidence. It’s a confidence. It’s not cockiness. It’s a confidence where it’s like, ‘Hey, man, no matter my age, I belong here.'”
Yam Madar, the 47th pick in last year’s draft, is still a mystery man to most Celtics fans.
I spoke to Jon Diebler, one of Madar’s teammates this past season, to learn more about the 20-year-old point guard.
Right now it’s too early to say if that confidence will translate at the NBA level in 2021-22. However, getting a firsthand look at Madar, this summer, should give Boston a good idea of where he stands in his development process.
“Just the way he carries himself, you’re like, man, he doesn’t look at his age as a disadvantage,” Diebler said, per The Athletic. “He plays confident, he trusts his work, he trusts the work he puts in. And you love to see it. Here’s a guy that maybe he will come down and turn it over, miss a shot — he doesn’t get rattled by that. And for a guy his age, that’s special.”
Diebler On Yam Madar’s Offense: ‘Very Creative, Can Obviously Get His Shot Off’
Diebler, who has spent his entire professional career playing overseas in Greece, and Turkey before joining the Israeli Basketball Premier League in 2020, has played alongside imported NBA players such as Dario Saric, Furkan Korkmaz, and Cedi Osman, according to The Athletic. And, of the selected group, Jon says Madar’s worth-ethic stands out the most.
“He’s obviously talented,” Diebler said. “But for me it’s like, he doesn’t shy away from the moment. He hit some big shots for us this year. And for a kid that age to be playing in the first division in the Israeli League, he hit some big shots. He’s a guy who doesn’t shy away from those opportunities.
“Whether he makes it or misses it, it doesn’t discourage him. And just his demeanor on the court, he has that confidence about himself that you really — that’s what you notice. It’s easy to notice how good he is as a player, but you notice that in those moments when you might need a bucket or something like that, he makes the right play more often than not.”
Diebler believes it’s that same confidence that’s turned Madar into a confident scorer, who can create on his own.
“He can score the basketball,” Diebler said. “Really shot the ball well, very creative, can obviously get his shot off. In the Israeli League especially, he did a very good job of not only creating for himself but creating for other guys. His ability to score the basketball, that’s probably what attracted teams. A guy that can score at the point guard position, that’s special.”
Madar averaged 17.1 points while shooting at a 46.9% clip from the floor, including 40.9% from behind the 3-point arc, per basketball reference. He also averaged 5.2 assists, and 1.3 steals in 30 games last season.
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