San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is now fully immersed in his current gig. But over the summer, he served as the head coach for Team USA's Men's Select Team at the World Cup. On the roster were four current Celtics, one of whom was blossoming star Jaylen Brown, whom Popovich noted before Wednesday's game between San Antonio and Boston, was one player whose growth over the summer that he was particularly impressed with.

Jaylen Brown has ramped up his scoring during his fourth professional campaign, entering Wednesday averaging 20.7 points per contest. It hasn't just been the over seven and a half-point increase from last year, but Brown is on pace to set a new career high by shooting 51.1. percent overall.

Brown was joined on Team USA by the trio of Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart, whom Popovich was also impressed with and seemingly appreciative of, saying via Brian Robb:

“They were great. Those guys were great.”

Things notoriously went sideways for that Team USA group after entering as the projected favorites to win the tournament; they departed with seventh place in tow.

But the growth of four of the Celtics' key cogs during the off-season has paid dividends in the regular season. Boston has gotten off to a 25-9 start to the year, which has the team in possession of the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into play Wednesday. The franchise has a new look with Walker having replaced Kyrie Irving, as well as allowing Brown and others to rapidly further their development.