Celtics' Joseph channeling inner Pierce in summer league

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ORLANDO, Fla.Kris Joseph has turned to a number of players and sources to improve his game - including YouTube.

And while the names and players have changed, there was one player whose game he has tried to pattern his own after - Paul Pierce.

So the irony of him being drafted by the Celtics is not totally lost on the second-round pick who has been among Boston's better summer league players.

Joseph certainly delivered a Pierce-like performance in Boston's 93-79 loss to Detroit, tallying 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Celtics have plenty of proven scorers already.

In Joseph, the C's need to see him showcase a more well-rounded game - the kind of game that Pierce has delivered for years.

"We just try to put him in ways to be effective," said C's assistant coach Tyronn Lue who is coaching the C's summer league squad. "In transition and when he has the ball, we want him to attack and be effective. He's doing a good job of that."

While no one - especially not Joseph - believes he's anywhere close to being the second coming of Paul Pierce, Celtics coach Doc Rivers acknowledges that the C's did recognize the similarities between the two prior to drafting him last month.

"He just plays at a good tempo," Rivers said. "You can just see that. In practices, he didn't stand out. But I think he's been much better in games."

And now, Joseph will get a chance to put the lessons learned from watching Pierce for so many years, to use against the man himself when training camp starts.

"Seeing it in the flesh, it's going to be an unbelievable thing," Joseph said. "But I have to remember I'm a part of this team; I'm not a fan anymore. It's going to be a great opportunity for me to learn."

It is an opportunity that few would have envisioned for Joseph who began playing as a youth shooting into empty garbage cans because there weren't any basketball courts during his early youth.

Even once a location was secured, Joseph still struggled to feed his insatiable appetite for stiffer competition, even with an older sibling (Maurice Joseph, who played at Michigan State and later, Vermont) who played collegiately.

"I played where I could, rec leagues, Boys and Girls clubs," Joseph recalled. "I played high school, but the high school wasn't anything special at all."

That all changed when Joseph did what so many have done before - he took his talents state-side to Washington, D.C.

But first, he had to convince his mother that her youngest child, was ready for such a major move.

"I'm used to him being on the road," his mother, Eartha Rigsby, told CSNNE.com. "I just wanted to make sure he was old enough and mature enough to handle it, and he was."

Joseph recalled how significantly better the competition was at Archbishop Carroll in a league that featured a number of talented college players, among them being Phoenix Suns first-round pick Kendall Marshall.

"Playing there made me realize, it's night and day from Montreal to America," Joseph told CSNNE.com. "I had to step my game up. That adjustment was made. It wasn't made easily, but I eventually made it."

Before he could prove he had talent, first he had to convince his teammates to give him an opportunity to do so.

Being the new kid on the basketball team is one thing.

New kid from Canada? New kid from hockey-minded Montreal?

"Some of the things you have to deal with," Joseph said, with a shaking of his head reflecting on those times in high school. "Being a Canadian is tough, coming to America. As far as guys looking you off and stuff like that, not passing you the ball much. It started off like that."

But as he got the ball more often and showcased a step-back jumper and a deceptively quick dribble-drive to create space, his teammates began to embrace him.

It didn't hurt that Archbishop Carroll was instrumental in leading them to a 26-11 record, and established himself as one of the top AAU teams at the time, the DC Assault.

His play established him as one of the nation's top players, eventually choosing Syracuse University over Georgetown and Maryland.

And just like high school, Joseph has to prove himself with the Celtics just to make the team.

As a second round pick, Joseph's contract is not fully guaranteed unless he makes the team.

So far, he's off to a good start.

"Defensively, he's better than what he showed in college already," Rivers said. "He rebounds better. A lot of times, you get a guy out of a system and they either look worse or better. But I think in his case, he's looked better."

Joseph feels good about his chances of making the roster, but refuses to take anything for granted.

"I have a long way to go, to get where I want to be," he said. "But being in Boston, learning from a guy like Paul Pierce who is going to really go at me, challenge me everydaythat's only going to make me a better player and hopefully make us a better team."

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