With an NBA championship in the balance, Sam Hauser is doing everything he can to stay confident and ready for when his Boston Celtics teammates find him open on the perimeter — and by “everything” I mean watching his own highlights.
“There’s nothing tangible that I switch out in my workouts or anything.” Hauser explained to reporters at NBA Finals Media Day. “It’s just trying to stay confident, maybe going back and looking at highlights where I’m on a heater or something like that. Just to know that, like, I’m still the same guy. It’s just shots aren’t going in sometimes. It happens to everybody in this game. That’s why you play the game of basketball.”
Hauser appeared in 79 of 82 possible regular-season games for the Cs this year. He was a key part of Joe Mazzulla’s rotation and averaged the eighth most minutes on the team at 22 per game, largely because of his silky smooth three-point shot. Hauser was the 11th-best long-range shooter in the entire league this season, drilling 42.4% of his attempts from beyond the arc.
In the playoffs, his minutes haven’t quite been what they once were.
Why might that be?
Well, just take a look at his efficiency from deep. The Wisconsin native is down to just 33.3% on threes throughout the postseason.
His numbers in the Eastern Conference Finals are a huge reason for that. Hauser made just one of his 14 attempts from distance against the Indiana Pacers. For those wondering, that’s a 7% clip.
A number that isn’t up to his usual standard of excellence. Fortunately, Boston has been more than comfortable in this playoff run, despite Hauser’s slump. They lost just two games on their way to the NBA Finals, even sweeping the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“That’s why it’s a team sport, not just an individual sport,” Hauser continued. “I try to impact the game other ways. Obviously shooting is the loud impact that I make. But I always know that water finds its level. It usually regresses to the mean. Shots are bound to start falling.”
Though the team has succeeded through his struggles, they’ll be better off if he’s finding the bottom of the net. Hauser is a complete shooter, meaning he’s got the tools to put himself in the right space for teammates to find him. The rest of the Celtics clearly have good chemistry with Hauser and trust him to knock down shots.
He just has to learn to trust himself again. From one Sam to another, it sounds like it’s time to hit the YouTube search bar.
“Sometimes I just search up my name and watch the first couple videos that come up,” Hauser responded when asked which clips in particular help when he’s slumping. “Sometimes when you’re in a hole or a slump like that, you just need something to bring you out of it.”
To save everyone (even Hauser himself, if he’s reading this) some time, I’ve pulled up a few heaters as a reminder of how well Big Smooth can shoot it.
Just in case the highlights aren’t enough for you, Hauser had been better in the first two rounds of the playoffs than he was in the regular season. He made 44.1% of his threes (15-34) against the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Hauser will have a chance to find his groove again tonight as the Celtics host the Dallas Mavericks for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. ET.