Celtics open camp at the Expo

The Maine Celtics held their first practice of training camp today at the Portland Expo and started things off with a bang. 

“We played a game first thing,” said head coach Phil Pressey. “That’ll teach us what we’re trying to do. Watch the film, take the good and bad from the scrimmage, and build the training camp that way. The players will tell us what we need to work on.” 

Back for his second season, Pressey said having players such as Hayden Gray and Hank Morgan return to Maine has been helpful. 

“We have some familiar faces in the building. They understand my coaching style and they’re able to kind of help me teach through their leadership.” 

The layout of this practice reflects Pressey’s coaching style. He believes emotional intelligence is a key component in coaching. 

“I give them grace but also hold them accountable. I feel like the players feel for having that perspective, compassion, and energy. Since teams are largely judged off wins and losses, it is important to remember that we’re humans first at the end of the day, so being able to understand that helps me lead.” 

Gray, who spent the entire season with Maine last year, played with the Boston Celtics during their preseason for the 2026-27 season.  

“I tried to learn as much as possible from those guys. My main takeaways are being connected, playing together, and being active.” 

Gray, who holds the franchise record for single-season steals with 98, said he is looking forward to playing in front of Maine fans again because of the energy they bring to the Expo.  

New to the G League this season, Milos Uzan could not be more excited to be playing in Portland.  

“These guys are high-character guys, that’s probably the most exciting part about this. It doesn’t seem like we have to worry about attitudes or off-the-court drama.”  

During his junior year, with only seconds left, Uzan scored the game winning basket for the University of Houston Cougars in the Sweet 16 round of the 2025 March Madness tournament against Purdue. There were around 30,000 fans in attendance, but Uzan is especially looking forward to experiencing the love from fans in Maine.  

“I hear the Expo gets pretty rocking, I’m excited for that. We played today with no crowd. At the end of the day it’s five on five- I’m just excited to play ball.”