Eric Bledsoe Claims He Doesn't Know Who Terry Rozier Is
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Just about everyone in the basketball world knows who Terry Rozier is. If not for his slick play over the first two games of the playoffs (and throughout the season), than they've probably seen his sweet nickname "Scary Terry" in a few online memes.
But Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe, the guy responsible for guarding Rozier in the first round, claims he doesn't know of this Terry Rozier people are speaking so fondly of these days.
Hey, Eric, you may want to figure that out before Game 3 on Friday night.
Rozier dropped 23 points and eight assists on the Bucks in Boston's 120-106 win on Tuesday night, giving the Celtics a 2-0 series lead. It matched his point total from Sunday's Game 1 win, when he shook Bledsoe out of his sneakers near the end of regulation to hit a go-ahead three for Boston.
Bledsoe was in no mood to answer questions about Rozier's second straight dominant performance on Tuesday, and went as far as saying he has no idea who Rozier is. Asked if he takes his match up with Rozier personally, given the Boston guard's hot start to the series, Bledsoe responded with a "who?"
"I don't know who the f--k that is," he shot back.
That kind of explains why Rozier was so wide open at the end of Game 1.
Who knows what Bledsoe is trying to do here. Maybe he's just blocking out the bad memories from the last two games. Maybe this is a lingering college beef, given Bledsoe went to Kentucky and Rozier went to Louisville. Maybe he's just getting back at Rozier for accidentally calling him "Drew" Bledsoe after Game 1.
But Bledsoe clearly knows who Terry Rozier is, and the "Scary Terry" version has likely haunted a few of his dreams since Sunday afternoon. And if he doesn't really know who Rozier is, he should probably do a little studying ahead of Friday night because according to ESPN Stats & Information, Rozier is 7-for-12 when guarded by Bledsoe this series.
Bledsoe, meanwhile, is just 4-for-13 when guarded by Rozier. He is 9-for-25 for the series and has six turnovers. Rozier hasn't turned the ball over in his 78 postseason minutes.
To Rozier's credit, he's not going to take part in some foolish back-and-forth with Bledsoe.
"I'm not feeding into that," Rozier told ESPN when relayed Bledsoe's comments.
Instead, Rozier will continue to let his play do the talking.
