Luka Garza aiming to improve defense

Joe Mazzulla spanned the globe this summer to spend time with his players, arriving in Spain, Portugal, Dallas and Omaha. His most remote happened 20 minutes south of Des Moines, Iowa.

“It was one of the biggest things that’s happened in Indianola in a long time, I’ll tell you that,” Frank Garza, Luka’s father, told CLNS Media/CelticsBlog on the Celtics Daily Podcast last week.

While Mazzulla provided words of wisdom and moral support at one of Garza’s two basketball camps in Iowa, Celtics assistant D.J. MacLeay visited Garza in his native Washington D.C. for defensive work with Boston’s big man.

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Neemias Queta ascending to the starting center role last season and Mitchell Robinson’s arrival in free agency leaves Garza in a depth role entering 2026-27. However, he proved himself as a reliable NBA reserve last season. He averaged 8.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.0 assist while shooting 57.7% from the field and 43.3% from three in 16.2 minutes per game during the regular season.

Like with Queta and Nikola Vučević playing in front of him, foul trouble doomed Garza in the playoffs against Philadelphia, committing 8.5 per 36 minutes compared to 5.2 during the year. That’s why Garza, his father and MacLeay largely focused on that side of the ball in their offseason work.

“(Luka) worked incredibly hard on defense,” Frank said. “We’re talking 90 possessions on defense where he’s either doing drop coverage or screen-and-roll … for a center particularly, 90% of the game you don’t have the ball, thus, you should be practicing 90% without the ball … you’re gonna be boxing out, you’re gonna be defending … that’s how his practices were mimicked … a lot of defensive positions, a lot of handwork, a lot of foot drill work, just to improve upon the things that he needs to continue to do.”

The Garzas also focused on improving Luka’s defensive rebounding after a standout season on the defensive glass. At Iowa and to begin his NBA career, he often boxed-out to allow other players to grab rebounds, which will continue with Jayson Tatum’s return for a full season. They want Garza to have the ability to fight for loose…

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Publish date : 2026-09-27 10:00:00

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