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What is a fellow thermonuclear effort.
I am Dan Valley coming at you with

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another twenty twenty four NBA Team look
Ahead, our penn ultimate NBA team look

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Ahead. It is the Boston Celtics, who had quite an off season,

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and I'm excited to be joined by
Bobby Manning from CLNS Media as well as

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the Boston Journal. Does great detailed
work, especially if you're following the stuff

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he's gonna do at does it CLNS
between the videos, articles all great stuff.

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First time. Yes, So Bobby, thank you so much for joining

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me. How are you doing?
I'm good man excited to get back into

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it. It was a long offseason, busy one, but I'm all about

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the games. I'm all about the
action. So excited for Wednesday and opening

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Night. Yeah, It's like it
felt like it was a long offseason and

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then as soon as training camps open, it just feels like it's been a

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dead spread until opening Night for some
time. I'm done with preseason basketball.

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I'm definitely ready to get to some
more meaningful basketball. But it's funny how

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the timeline sort of it felt like
we were in the off season forever,

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but as soon as training camps open
it's like this dead spread. Yeah,

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and they've had an intense training camp
in Boston. There's been some line practices

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we've been at, and we of
course can't watch practice, so you know,

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we're just waiting and waiting and waiting
for things open up after. So

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the good thing is, you know, even preseason games, you're not seeing

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a ton, but it's some sort
of action. You get to look at

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the starters at least you get to
see these guys for the first time.

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And then opening night where it is
where it's gonna all come together for the

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first time. Yeah, and I
have to start before you even get to

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just sort of the on court implications, given how much roster turn there was

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for them looking at acquisitions and departures, what do you think was sort of

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the overall message telegraphed by this organization? Was it, you know, was

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it a matter of the opportunities that
were in front of them. Did the

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Jalen Brown supermax with the Jason Tatums
next deal sort of looming pushed them to

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kind of make more aggressive moves this
offseason? What was just like, was

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it more about, oh, we
need to be offensively versatile? Like?

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What was just the overarching motivation,
but behind everything they did this summer,

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Yeah, I think all that comes
into play. Of course, you want

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to see a shake up after disappointing
season, a year as a whole that

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I felt never seemed right with some
of the lessons against bad teams and going

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down three nothing of the heat just
wasn't acceptable, even with the comeback effort

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that they made. You know,
there were a couple gave vincentn injury here

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to put back in game six,
a couple of fuky things helped you get

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to that game seven. Then you
got blown out in game seven, so

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changes were coming. Grant seemed that
he was out the door from the start,

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so you needed some front court help. I think that that's a lot

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of what the organization talked about over
the summer when it came to their pursuit

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of porzingis guy that they've obviously liked
for a long time, that had interest

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in coming to Boston. So it
all made sense in that standpoint, and

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I think shaking up the core is
something they were interested in. You know,

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you extend Brown. I think they
want to make this Tatum Brown thing

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work, and this is going to
be that real test this year. Having

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put pretty much the best team you
can imagine around them now, even better

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than some of the last couple of
teams that were pretty good too, and

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you have a real offensive presence in
Porzingis now, who's blown me away this

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preseason. I wasn't super sure about
that move at first, but you had

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in the holiday trade, which I
think addresses some of what you lost with

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Marcus Smart, and I think everything
makes sense now. Everything came in to

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focus, and as you mentioned,
there's some implications in terms of the money,

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trying to add salary, trying to
add talent before these new restrictions come

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into place that make it difficult to
do. So. You can't imagine a

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better offseason than this team had here, not only with the top tier talent

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they added, but I think they
added some intriguing guys on the bench too,

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despite not having a ton of money
or resources after to do so.

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And they have it all. They
can play a bunch of different ways now.

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They have numerous matchup issues offensively for
teams, and you've seen in the

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preseason. There's still a few questions
here or there, and we'll get to

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those. But to answer your original
question, I do think they felt the

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need to shake things up a little
bit. And it's no mistake that Smart

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goes out the door. As part
of that that some new faces, talents

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come in and coaches too, you
know, a couple of good coaching hires

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behind Joe Mizzoulan. There's a big
year for Missoula too, of course,

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So do you think that I think
the national media or even just fans like

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of the league who aren't necessarily following
the Celtics day to day, you can

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get them. They're over selling sort
of this decision to trade the cultural touchdown

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in Marcus Smart and was that you
know, especially the players they acquired in

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Porzingis and Holiday, It's not surprising
they were interested in them. It's not

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surprising that they went after them.
Wasn't it all surprising when you look at

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who they gave up to get them
where it was? Finally moving on from

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Marcus Smart, even including Robert Williams
the third and the Drew Holiday deal,

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did any of that stuff kind of
catch you by surprise? Yeah, Training

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Smart definitely shock me. I thought
he would continue to be a cornerstone guy

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for this team. I thought he
played the best point guard of anyone on

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the roster last year and over the
last couple of years here Defensive player of

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the Year two years ago, of
course, So I don't think that loss

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is over sold. And if they
didn't end up acquiring Holidays, they did,

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that would have been a major question
for me this year. Where's the

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leadership come from? Where's that physical
on ball defense come from? Against some

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of the better offensive talents in the
league. The defensive organization of course,

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something Holidays talked about himself picking up
now since he arrived here, So that

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was a big loss I felt like, and I didn't love the move initially,

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just because I didn't think there was
a clear production behind him or replacement

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for what he brought to this team. Fortunately, the Holiday thing came out

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of nowhere over the last couple of
weeks here and they addressed it by making

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that move, which if you were
thinking of a Smart upgrade, Holiday would

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be the first guy I think anyone
would mention in terms of stepping into that

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role. So I think the thing
when it came to moving on from Smart,

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and a lot of the perception when
it happened was, oh, the

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Brogden trade fell apart, so they
had to scramble and throw Smart out there

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to make this work. I think
there's a real chance that even if the

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original Brogden trade went through, they
would have looked into moving Smart a different

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way. I don't know if it
would have been Tias Jones or some other

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piece coming back from Memphis. Memphis, of course said after the fact that

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they had had conversations about Smart going
back a little while well before that night,

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and I think it's just inconceivable that
that trade came out of nowhere with

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an hour to spare on the Porzingis
stuff. So I think there's been consideration

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for a long time about where Smart's
future goes with this team. He's been

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such an institution there and someone that
both Brown and Tatum have looked up to

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and deferred to at times. I
think part of this move, of course,

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too, beyond adding a major talent
that they really like in Porzingis,

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was opening the door for Brand and
Tatum to really have full rings on leadership

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and ball handling and everything across the
board when it comes to running this team

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and having no real challenge to that
or feeling that they have to accommodate the

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longest tenured player on the team here. I think that was all a factor

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here, and I think Smart's going
to be amazing in Memphis. I still

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think there'll be some moments this year
where you're like, they kind of miss

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Smart a little bit here, gonna
speak up. Things aren't going great,

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But I think the time comes.
You know, he's dealing with an abdominal

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injury now going into camp. I
think injuries are something that's really plagued his

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play Smart, that is, in
recent years, So maybe it was the

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right time. I still think the
moves up for debate going forward whether it's

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the right move or not. But
of course that move too help you helped

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you do the holiday trade because the
Warriors pick you got back and that ends

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up going out in the holiday deal. So I like it all now.

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If you ask me this a month
ago, where poor Zengis is in Smart's

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out, I wouldn't have liked it
as much. But again, holiday really

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solved that issue. I think of
what's going up the door and Smart.

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Yeah, I I tend not to
be too inflammatory, but I absolutely killed

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that Poorzingis deal before the Holiday trade. I just didn't. I didn't like

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the idea of like sort of diluting
your playmaking when that was your biggest need

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for a risk impreciated, and I'm
like you, the holiday trade definitely helped

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it make more sense. I do
still admittedly count myself as just like a

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skeptic of Porzingis. And so my
question to you is I acknowledge how good

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he was last year, Like he
was hitting turnaround jumpers, he was scoring

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efficiently at every level, even though
he doesn't get to the basket a ton

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for size, without being especially ball
dominant, yet still being able to punish

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mismatches. And you're looking at where
he's getting the ball in the shots he's

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hitting. What do you think is
the biggest impact he's going to have on

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this team offense? Like, what's
the biggest thing that he brings that they

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needed? I think an easy target. You talk about some of the playmaking

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concerns here, and I think when
people think about playmaking, it's that point

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guard on the ball and he's making
all the decisions and finding guys right in

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their spots. I think, especially
in the minern NBA now and Joe talks

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about all the time, finding the
mismatches and advantages are really what playmaking is

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all about now in the league,
especially where guys are switching and screening.

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He's just crying mismatches two on ones
and stuff like that. It's gonna be

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so much easier for Tatum and Brown
rather than scanning and saying like, oh,

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Grant's over here, Smart's here,
he's open. You know, Horford's

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over here. You got this seven
to three guy who's probably gonna hit the

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shot when you pass it to him. So more often than not, when

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Tatum and Brown are on the ball, it's gonna be fine. Porzingis he's

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probably open or he probably has an
advantage after the screen here, and you've

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seen it in preseason like you,
I came into this a little skeptical about

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the year he had, his ability
to stay healthy, how fresh he is

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after so many injuries in his career. But he's blown me away. And

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yes, preseason, bad competition all
the rest, but even just watching him

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in practice, I mean, he
hits everything. Every three he puts up

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goes in. It's a beautiful form. It's got that great mid range release

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as well. You talked about the
post improvement last year. We haven't seen

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a ton of that yet, but
against smaller guys, it's something he's capable

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of. I've been very him twenty
to nine. Of course, in the

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last game, the three point percentage
is gonna just go through the roof.

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I said, if he doesn't shoot
forty this year, the only reason will

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be because he's taken like three ten
a game, and you know he's just

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below that forty mark. But he's
a real element that they've missed. Robert

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Williams didn't have much of an offensive
game. Al Horford's offense mostly just came

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from spot up threes, so you
didn't have a presence in the pick and

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roll that you could throw to and
make stuff happen with. And Porzingis has

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shown a little bit too when it
comes to that topic of playmaker, that

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he can make a quick decision if
guys really close out on him. So

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it's a real third playmaker. And
one of the reasons I came into this

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skeptical too, was can he step
into a third role, a third option

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role behind Brown and Tatum. I
think he's even done a good job with

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that, just trailing plays, shooting
quickly when he gets to catch, attacking

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the offensive glass. I think he's
done a great job with two. So

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it's just an element they don't have, especially I think Tatum's come a long

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way as a passer. But for
Brown, who receives so much criticism for

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the turnovers in Game seven, when
he's out there with the second unit,

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a spot that they really struggled in
last year without Tatum on the floor,

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I think for him to just focus
and even said this after last game when

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I was talking to him about it, if he can just focus on get

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poorzingis that ball and go from there, it's going to be a huge pus

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for these guys turning the ball over
less and being less stagnant offensively. Yeah,

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that was my I had two main
I guess three when you include the

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playmaking, but one of the other
three was would it be difficult to get

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him to buy into a number three
role? And at times it could be

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just the amount Drew Holly might have
the ball in his hands if you're playing

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all quarter them together, as it
tochnally number four. And then I saw

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some of his comments. I think
you actually posted them or as a video

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in your article about I've never seen
him talk like that. I've never seen

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him seem so introspective about how he
was kind of I guess like that.

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I don't know that he used the
word immature, but was just talking about

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how he didn't understand certain things earlier
in his career. Now he gets it.

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And so I guess, just from
what you're saying, that doesn't sound

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like fitting him into the larger offensive
ecosystem doesn't sound like it's an actual concern

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anymore. No, not yet,
and we'll see where that goes. I'm

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sure there'll be some frustrating moments and
games where things don't go their way.

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We even saw a stretch in that
last game against the Knicks where they got

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a little stale offensively for about a
quarter and a half. So that stuff

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will still happen. I think turnovers
are really something they're gonna have to avoid

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here to make everything work. But
Joe keeps stressing the best way to avoid

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turn the ball over is just finding
an open shot quickly and taking it.

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And that's something for Zengis I think
is capable of doing. He's gonna get

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a ton of shots. He's going
to be a major factor in this offense,

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and i've you know, we haven't
even mentioned it. The one thing,

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for all the doubts we both had
about him, the one thing I

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said when he came in is that
he's going to be a defensive force the

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way the Celtics play defense, dropping
their big back, having guards who can

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really navigate screens. Well, I
knew he'd be incredible, and he just

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had a great season with the Wizards
defending pick and rolls, and man,

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he's out there. I don't have
the numbers because they haven't done a great

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job tracking them in the free season, but it feels like he's contested a

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million shots in these games. Guys
are probably shooting below forty percent against him

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inside. That's what it's felt like
just watching it. Had a couple more

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blocks last game, but it's not
even all about the blocks. He's deflecting

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passes in the pick and roll.
They were even pressing last game, and

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he was getting up making things happen
in the press. So I'm blown away.

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He moves better than I thought he
did. I thought there were and

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there probably will be situations where if
he has to get out to the perimeter

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to cover screens and shooters and stuff, it's going to be a challenge.

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But you have Horford. If you
got to do that, He's a better

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defender against that. Having a seven
to three guy in that drop rather than

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Horford, who's probably six eight six' nine, not really a room protector.

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World of a difference for this team
defensively already, and I think he's

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gonna have a monster year on that
end. Offense, I think, you

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know, he's gonna make shots,
He's gonna produce on that end. But

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defense is what I think many people
question with him in the past. But

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in this system, the way this
team defends, he looks like a natural

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fit and it's simple, like he
just has to guard those greens, stay

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back against the rim and defend contest
shots and he's done a great job of

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it so far. I've been super
impressed by his defense. Yeah, I

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think statistically he's been one of the
best drop coverage defenders for the past couple

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of years too. Yeah, and
before I asked more about the defense,

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is really quickly in the offense,
is there any element of Okay, now

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you trade away Malcolm Brogden, who
for his position, and I think in

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large part thanks to Boston spacing,
he got to the rim a little bit

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more than people realized. Robert Williams
the third was kind of that guy who

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could put pressure on rolls and cuts
and slips and whatever to the basket.

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Is there any concerns about losing that
element. I know you bring in Drew

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Holly, like porzingis is not a
necessarily a rim heavy big like when he's

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he's picking and popping more than he's
necessarily going to pick and roll, or

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he might pull up out of those
plays anyway, if he is going downhill,

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Yeah, you'll stagger quite a bit
and have those impacts into the second

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unit. I do think if you're
looking at in a vacuum, they'll miss

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Brogden based on what he did last
year. You know, he scored half

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their bench points pretty much. He
was a constant with that unit. The

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one thing I'll say about Brogden is
I've never seen a player, you know,

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in my years watching the Celtics who
shot so consistently night tonight. Like

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he wouldn't have many like two for
tens or you know, one for sevens.

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It'd mostly be four for eight,
five for ten every single night.

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And that was a huge part of
their second unit production. And he didn't

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play make a ton He was more
focused on shooting and scoring. I think

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that was a role they expected of
him, but he was so consistent with

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that role and so who's going to
the second unit, who's filling that bench

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roll. That's the biggest story tracking
in preseason and maybe holiday who More and

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more reports and you know, stuff
I've heard too seems to be pointing toward

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him at least starting the year on
the bench or going to the bench in

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certain games. Maybe he can fill
that role, you know, playmaking ball

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in his hands all the rest.
I asked them if starting is important to

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him, and he said no,
I just want to win, and it's

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more about who closes and who starts. And I think the whole team's embracing

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that a little bit. So,
you know, Rob, I always imagined

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a more fully formed, effective offensive
player when it comes to Rob, and

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I think many people dreamed of that. You saw the passing, you saw

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him stealing guys sometimes in transition.
The roles were incredible, but he never

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got involved often enough. Guys didn't
look for him enough. It never seemed

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to be a well established connection between
some of the playmakers on the team and

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him, And I thought sometimes he
just floated around and didn't really have a

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involved role offensively. I didn't think
he was the best screen setter either,

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Like Williams def offense, always left
more to be desired. Great put backs,

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great offensive rebounder, but that can't
be your offensive game pretty much,

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especially if you have another center in
Horford out there who's mostly limited offensively when

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it comes to scoring too. So
you know there's some depth questions on this

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team, for sure. Cornett's a
guy who's gonna have to give them a

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few minutes. Houser really struggled to
start the preseason and he wondered if there's

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going to be some competition for his
spot. He closed the preseason so strong,

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and you know, we'll see him
again tonight as we record this.

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I think he's got a pretty good
hold on his position there. But what

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you did in training, Smart and
Grant and Rob and all the other guys

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we've mentioned here is will meet your
depth a little bit. And how important

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is depth? We'll see, you
know, I think that's becoming more and

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more of a question around the league, like how much of it is top

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end talent to win a championship and
how much of his depth. I think

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Denver, as great as the top
end talent was last year, really had

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some solid app that contributed to their
championship run too. So I'm interested to

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see how the Celtics strike that balance. They have a lot of candidates to

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provide some depth here and then the
second unit, and if Holiday's gonna embrace

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that role and they roll with him
for the whole year there, I think

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that could be interesting. But for
now, you're betting on the top end

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talent. You're betting on the new
guys who are really you look at some

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00:19:23,839 --> 00:19:27,039
of the top one hundred lists are
putting out there so far much closer to

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Brannon Tatum than some of the supporting
cast was a year or two ago.

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You're betting on that swinging this team
closer to the title, even if you're

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not getting Rob off the bench or
Brogden's scoring off the bench like you did

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a year ago. Because you know, as great as those things were,

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Dan, nobody looks at last year
and says this, that was a great

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season. You know they got they
were awesome last year. Everybody looked at

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last year and was like, what
the hell is going on? So they

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had to change stuff and they did. And I guess this kind of puts

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the bow on the Porzingis discussion.
The two things I'm wondering, what changes

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you already sort of alluded to the
defense. Do we see any changes to

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how Boston defense or you already mentioned
that maybe they've been bringing him up higher

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his hit mobility as soon as he
went to Washington. I don't know if

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they gave Maydega or something, but
he just improved his hit mobility a lot.

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Do we see them be more aggressive
with him or is it because you

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might have when he's healthy one of
the most dominant just drop coverage rim protectors

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in the league, that you're going
to be more even more aggressive. I

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think they finished after a slow start
like seventh to opponent turnover rate. That

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could we see them be even more
aggressive up top and try to force those

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those issues. Yeah, they're going
to feel it out. They've done it

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a lot in preseason, tried different
things to zone over the summer. I

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kept a big eye on that because
they played so much of in summer league.

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They tried it out a little bit
in preseason in spots. You know,

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I'd be asking guys and they'd be
smiling. They didn't they didn't really

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want to say some of the stuff
they'd be trying out behind the scenes here.

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But I don't think that's something that's
going to come into play in a

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00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,480
significant way. But Joe keeps talking
about finding a curve ball, other defensive

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00:21:00,519 --> 00:21:03,119
looks they can go to ways to
throw teams off their game, because he

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thought defensively, especially last year,
they had a system that worked, but

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they really didn't have stuff to adjust
to when they got a little stale or

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ineffective on that end. So they're
going to have something that they throw out

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there that surprises people at some point. I think a lot of the stuff

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we've seen in the preseason has mostly
been experimenting, but bringing Porzengis up using

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00:21:25,559 --> 00:21:27,759
him in a variety of coverages is
something Joe wants him to do. He

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00:21:27,839 --> 00:21:30,880
said, it's not just going to
be drop here. He's got to be

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00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,880
ready to do a lot of different
stuff on that end, and we've seen

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that from him so far. They
haven't gotten too crazy with the way they've

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used him as he's adjusted to the
system. So far. I think they've

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kept it fairly simple in the preseason, and they frankly played the Knicks twice

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and all of that a team that
they're going to play on opening Night.

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I don't think they've shown everything that
they're going to use when the real season

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starts. Especially since they've sat guys
in games too, So I think a

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00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,400
lot of the defense is yet to
be seen here. I think they been

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00:22:00,559 --> 00:22:04,400
hammering that this camp rather than last
year, mostly focusing on offense, and

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I've said it, I think they
have a real chance to get back to

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number one in the league. Defensively
this year, it's gonna look different.

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I think they're more focused on covering
space, you know, navigating screens for

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00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,039
the guards. As you said,
Porzingis playing back and manning the middle wings,

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you know, covering space and trying
to cut off passes and stuff like

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00:22:22,799 --> 00:22:26,880
that. I think has been a
big deal too. They want to increase

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00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,640
the turnovers this year. I think
the biggest thing you saw between that finals

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00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:34,400
defense and the defense that ranked well
last year but didn't look that forceful or

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00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,279
disruptive, was the amount of turnovers
they forced. They were way up there

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00:22:38,319 --> 00:22:42,400
in twenty twenty two. They were
in the bottom ten last year in terms

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00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,720
of turnovers forced. So they're going
to be scheming up different ways to do

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00:22:45,799 --> 00:22:49,319
that. And having Porzingis on the
back line is as you've mentioned here,

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00:22:51,039 --> 00:22:52,960
is going to allow the perimeter players
to get a little more aggressive on the

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00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,920
ball take some risk and try to
force those turnovers. You saw Holiday do

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00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,920
it if you watch that next game
early by cutting off a pick and pop

345
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:06,359
to Sims and just you know,
kind of cutting that passing lane and jumping

346
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,119
out of his coverage there, seeing
that they were going to do that and

347
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:15,880
having those really smart, long impactful
guards that they do between Holiday and why

348
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:18,599
he is going to be a big
part of that. Yeah, now that

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00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,880
you said, I don't know where
I got they were seven to the point

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00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:23,720
a turval rate for they're actually twenty
six. That's a brand part on my

351
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:29,000
end. So like the contentment pro
that you are, you already answered most

352
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:33,279
of my questions on Drew Holiday and
the bench stuff is interesting because does that

353
00:23:33,599 --> 00:23:37,079
sort of imply that they want to
ensure he's gonna have enough reps on the

354
00:23:37,079 --> 00:23:41,359
ball, and maybe it makes it
a little cleaner if you're staggering him from

355
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,480
some of the stars to make his
fit right away, or even just if

356
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,279
you look at him offensively. What
do you think is the biggest difference going

357
00:23:48,319 --> 00:23:52,680
from Marcus Smart to Drew Holliday.
Essentially, I actually think it's gonna be

358
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,799
pretty similar. And that's what Jalen
say at least when I asked him about

359
00:23:56,839 --> 00:24:00,960
it. Yeah, secondary ball hand
who they're gonna go to a little bit

360
00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,880
more in crunch time, I think, is how Mizzoula has described it,

361
00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:07,119
making that comparison, But throughout the
flow of the game, it's going to

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00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,359
be a lot of ball handling back
committee. I still think Tatum's going to

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00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:11,759
be a major part of what they
do there, and I know that freaks

364
00:24:11,759 --> 00:24:17,839
people out, but every star in
the league is pretty much their team's primary

365
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,720
ball handler, you know, more
or less. So the ball is going

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00:24:21,759 --> 00:24:23,240
to be in Tatum's hands a ton, and it's still going to be on

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00:24:23,319 --> 00:24:26,799
him to make good use of it
for them to win a championship, and

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00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:32,440
if he's not able to, then
they might not be able to do it.

369
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:33,440
It'd be great to get him off
the ball more, and I'm sure

370
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,400
they're going to do that throughout the
flow of games. But at the end

371
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:38,880
of the day, for everything to
work offensively, you got to have the

372
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,160
biggest threat on the ball a lot
of the time, and that's going to

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00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:47,079
continue to happen here. Fortunately,
Holiday mid forties percent catch and shoot guy,

374
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:48,839
So they're going to find him and
he's going to knock down shots there.

375
00:24:48,839 --> 00:24:52,759
I think the biggest issue with Smart, and this is definitely one to

376
00:24:52,799 --> 00:24:56,079
go back to that conversation a little
bit that this team looked at here is

377
00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,920
in crunch time, the ball was
going a Smart. Defenses were saying,

378
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,319
we're gonna sell out on these guys
and make sure that ball finals the Smart

379
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:08,519
because he's gonna shoot those threes,
and those are the shots we want this

380
00:25:08,599 --> 00:25:11,319
team taking here in this spot.
And you look at the numbers in crunch

381
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:15,880
time over the last couple of years
here, Smart would be their shot leader

382
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,640
in some of those close and late
situations, above Brown, above Tatum,

383
00:25:19,039 --> 00:25:23,119
even Horford I think was above the
two stars in the way that teams forced

384
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,839
them to give shots to certain guys. That's gonna be tougher to do with

385
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,440
Holiday, who's been a pretty good
shooter throughout his career, can make good

386
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,559
decisions on the ball. I think
his screening has really been impressive too.

387
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,599
But it's you know, he just
got here two weeks ago, so I

388
00:25:37,599 --> 00:25:41,680
think that's part of the thinking here
is helping him continue to acclimate, making

389
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,440
sure White's a starter. The Horford
thing's interesting too, because obviously last game

390
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,680
you start White, Holiday Tatum,
Brown, Porzingis, and I think most

391
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,400
fans look at that and say,
that's your best five. Horford's getting a

392
00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,839
little bit older. Send them to
the bench. You really don't have a

393
00:25:56,839 --> 00:26:00,440
backup center if you're starting too bigs
who you you can rely upon in any

394
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:06,880
matchup for big minutes. Even though
I'm a big Cornette fan, so I

395
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,319
think most fans want to see that
be the starting five. But you lose

396
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:12,839
your double big looks when you're doing
that. Horford, I've said it over

397
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:17,400
and over again. He's only come
off the bench fourteen times in his career.

398
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,440
He looked good doing it against the
Knicks, which which encourages me a

399
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,799
little bit. I'm sure they'll do
that on certain nights, and Joe continues

400
00:26:22,839 --> 00:26:26,319
to really emphasize the starting lineup's gonna
be by committee. You know, there's

401
00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:29,920
gonna be a lot of different starting
lineups this year, and Guy's gonna be

402
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,079
resting and stuff too, so that's
naturally you're gonna create some different starting lineups

403
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:37,119
here. I don't think it's gonna
be like Broaden for Holiday this year,

404
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,599
where he never starts games. It's
gonna be six man every game. I

405
00:26:40,599 --> 00:26:42,200
don't think that's gonna be the case
for holiday, but start the year,

406
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,960
help him continue to ease in a
little bit, give him some added ball

407
00:26:47,079 --> 00:26:48,240
time. As you said, you
know, when Tatum's off the floor,

408
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,319
Drew can have the ball in his
hands and Brown can continue to play off

409
00:26:52,319 --> 00:26:56,240
the ball with him. And I'm
sure Porzingis was stagger and there's some of

410
00:26:56,279 --> 00:27:00,640
those lineups. You can really have
an effective second unit with out Tatum on

411
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,519
the floor, which this team has
never had in the time that Tatum has

412
00:27:03,519 --> 00:27:06,839
been their star. So I think
that's all part of the thinking there.

413
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,839
You're gonna have some nights where Horford
comes off the bench. I'm sure White

414
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,079
is super willing to do it.
So if it comes down to just personalities

415
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,119
and management of ego and stuff like
that, I think the easy move is

416
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,559
to send White to the bench.
But you can't do it. Like he

417
00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,119
was too good with the starters last
year. He has been too good in

418
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:30,880
the preseason. He's maybe your best
defensive player all around, at least last

419
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,279
year, right like that, So
like as much as he's like, I'll

420
00:27:34,319 --> 00:27:37,880
do it, you know, I'm
the good soldier. You know, I'm

421
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,319
fine off the bench. He looked
at his best playing with their best players

422
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,359
last year, and you got to
continue to keep letting him play as many

423
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,400
minutes as possible alongside those best players. So as easy as it will be

424
00:27:49,519 --> 00:27:53,799
for Joe to make that move,
I think you really got to keep White

425
00:27:53,799 --> 00:27:56,440
out there as a starter. So
again, I said it on the Garden

426
00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:00,279
Report after last game. If I
had to predict the starting line up on

427
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,680
Opening Night, I think it's gonna
be White, Brown, Tatum, Horford,

428
00:28:03,799 --> 00:28:06,559
Porzingis, and Holiday's gonna come off
the bench, Which doesn't mean he's

429
00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:10,880
gonna play ten minutes. He'll still
play thirty minutes off the bench, but

430
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,920
it's just in terms of the rotations
and how they're starting games. And everybody

431
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,240
says it doesn't matter how you start
the game, it's how you finish.

432
00:28:17,319 --> 00:28:21,640
And Holiday will be out there to
close every game. Yeah, even as

433
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:23,480
the reports have come out or like
the comments when he was I just wouldn't.

434
00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,200
I didn't buy it. I didn't
buy it, but I mean you're

435
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:27,039
saying it, so I'm gonna I'm
gonna have to buy it, and I

436
00:28:27,079 --> 00:28:32,599
am. Overall when whether he's playing
against second units or I'm looking more so,

437
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:33,960
you know, he's a good shot
maker during the regular season. His

438
00:28:34,039 --> 00:28:37,640
splits in the postseason have been so
bad, even back to Milwaukee's run.

439
00:28:38,039 --> 00:28:42,039
I am so interested to see though
not just maybe being nudged down in the

440
00:28:42,039 --> 00:28:45,640
pecking order a little bit, but
like Boston spacing, he will probably be

441
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:51,039
with three to four above average shooters
at their positions at all times. That

442
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:55,039
is spacing he did not have in
Milwaukee. And you can even look at

443
00:28:55,039 --> 00:28:56,960
some of his three point shot quality
metrics, like it just supports that how

444
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,359
difficult his role was. And so
whether you're starting him, whether you're bringing

445
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:04,920
him off the bench, it feels
like they are streamlining his functionality in a

446
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:11,359
way that could be devastating to opposing
defenses because it's just the holiday we've seen.

447
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:12,960
I mean, maybe his shot leaves
in the playoffs, but like this

448
00:29:14,079 --> 00:29:15,680
is someone who's been hitting step back
jumpers for a few years now, Like

449
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,640
these contested step back jumpers, and
now you don't need to use that as

450
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,599
a crutch. You're gonna have more
room to attack in the middle, or

451
00:29:22,599 --> 00:29:26,240
you just might be getting wide open
threes you weren't in Milwaukee. That's I'm

452
00:29:26,279 --> 00:29:30,440
so fascinated to see how his offensive
efficiency and just game changes regardless of how

453
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,799
the Celtics are gonna use him because
of just the half court spacing environment they're

454
00:29:34,839 --> 00:29:37,839
set to put him in. Yeah, it's similar to Porzingis, right.

455
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,799
You're captivated by how much more space
these guys will have to operate apart from

456
00:29:42,839 --> 00:29:47,279
the Jays. And I said that
last year when Brogden arrived. He didn't

457
00:29:47,279 --> 00:29:49,519
have the best shooting year with Indiana
that last season he was there, But

458
00:29:49,519 --> 00:29:52,960
it's like, all right, he's
gonna be shooting mid open shots every time

459
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,319
here in Boston. And he had
a forty four forty five percent three point

460
00:29:56,359 --> 00:30:02,079
shooting year, So holiday's definitely capable
of that. Porzingis as well. It's

461
00:30:02,079 --> 00:30:07,480
gonna be tough for teams to stay
away from anyone, to overcompensate against anyone,

462
00:30:07,559 --> 00:30:10,960
and they might have to do that
against Porzingis, especially if he's gonna

463
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:15,599
play that inside game against the mismatches, and that's gonna lead to some easier

464
00:30:15,599 --> 00:30:18,599
shots for Brown and Tatum too.
To go back to that conversation, so

465
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:23,079
you really have release valves everywhere for
this offense, shot making everywhere a little

466
00:30:23,079 --> 00:30:27,000
more flexibility offensively too. When you
think of the stuff Porzingis can do inside

467
00:30:27,039 --> 00:30:30,359
the arc. You know, Tatum
at the rim two has been posting up

468
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:34,319
more of this preseason I've noticed.
So you're just gonna really be pressuring teams.

469
00:30:34,319 --> 00:30:38,279
You know, when I talk to
opponents throughout the league last year,

470
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,519
you know, with last year's team, it's like this is a tough shot

471
00:30:41,559 --> 00:30:47,160
making team, Like they're able to
make shots where you defend them great,

472
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,880
you feel good about what you did, and they just make a ridiculous step

473
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,920
back three as you mentioned there,
or just a fade away or whatever it

474
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:59,680
might be. And now you're adding
two of as you said there, even

475
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,279
tough for shot makers. With Holiday
and what he's capable of doing. Even

476
00:31:03,319 --> 00:31:06,119
as a first option on a team, some nights in Milwaukee, he was

477
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:10,279
really able to get a shot off. Porzingis is the Wizard's top option on

478
00:31:10,359 --> 00:31:14,079
a lot of Knights, a ridiculous
shot maker. He has this move and

479
00:31:14,119 --> 00:31:17,759
he did against the Celtics last year
where you know he's dribbling around this is

480
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,400
seven to three guys, you know, dribbling into a step back three fade

481
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,640
away and nailing it against them.
And he tried it the other night against

482
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,839
the Knicks and he just barely missed
it, and it's like, if you

483
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:32,240
have to defend that alongside Brown and
Tatum, it's gonna be a long night.

484
00:31:32,279 --> 00:31:34,079
And I know some teams are already
saying, like, what the hell

485
00:31:34,079 --> 00:31:38,279
are we going to do against this
much offensive talent here? And credit to

486
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:44,480
Joe who I think has gotten a
lot of criticism and rightfully so. To

487
00:31:44,559 --> 00:31:49,240
quote Marcus Smart from the playoffs series, he's really drilled offense. And as

488
00:31:49,319 --> 00:31:55,359
this becomes more and more of an
offensive league, having that best offense by

489
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,599
and far away the Nuggets did it
last year is really the ticket. It

490
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,480
looks like more and more to winning
a championship. I still think you need

491
00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:07,240
that high, high level defense too. Not many teams have won championships without

492
00:32:07,279 --> 00:32:10,359
a top ten defense or even higher. But they have the capability to do

493
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,920
both of that here, which I
think is really why this team's going to

494
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,759
be a pretty good bet to win
the championship. I'm not shying away from

495
00:32:17,759 --> 00:32:21,559
Denver. You know, if you
really made me pick today, I think

496
00:32:21,599 --> 00:32:24,720
that's the way you lean just because
of what they're running back with here Jokich's

497
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:30,319
superpowers. But a Denver Boston championship
series, especially with Porzingis and the mix

498
00:32:30,359 --> 00:32:34,720
now is a big man against Jokic, It's gonna be a lot more captivating

499
00:32:34,759 --> 00:32:37,480
than it was last year. Say
the Heat won or the Celtics won Game

500
00:32:37,559 --> 00:32:40,920
seven against the Heat there, I
think they would have lost pretty quickly against

501
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,480
Denver, and this time it'd be
a much longer, more competitive series with

502
00:32:45,519 --> 00:32:49,279
what these teams have now, Yeah, I mean they both. I think

503
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,960
the top six for each of these
teams are the best in the league too.

504
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:53,079
When you look. It depends maybe
on how you feel about Ristian Brown

505
00:32:53,079 --> 00:32:58,359
and Denver, but Boston just they
have the best top six in the league.

506
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:00,839
Jalen Brown, I've seen a lot
of optimism on the timeline about him.

507
00:33:00,839 --> 00:33:04,799
He's ripped. We've seen videos of
him, you know, dribbling with

508
00:33:04,839 --> 00:33:07,519
his with his offhand. Is that
still just the next frontier for him is

509
00:33:07,599 --> 00:33:12,319
Kenny and tighten his handle or improve
upon the turnovers, or be a more

510
00:33:12,359 --> 00:33:15,559
consistent playmaker. You know, at
one point it used to be Kenny deep

511
00:33:15,599 --> 00:33:17,920
in is his shot making Armorne.
He's done that and like each and every

512
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:21,960
season seems like he's added a little
bit to it. Do you trust that

513
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,599
he has the ability to kind of
hit that next gear of can you diversify

514
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:29,640
your handle or be more of a
consistent playmaker or is it okay looking at

515
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,039
how long he's been in the league
like this just he might just be closer

516
00:33:32,079 --> 00:33:36,759
to what he is now than waiting
for him to continue to add on.

517
00:33:37,359 --> 00:33:39,640
Yeah, I think the better bet
is accentuating what he is now rather than

518
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:44,759
completely changing it. He's been in
the legal a long time now, since

519
00:33:44,799 --> 00:33:49,599
sixteen seventeen, and you haven't seen
too much improvement on the ball handling front

520
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:53,359
day. There's been some spurts of
it, but for whatever reason, I

521
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:57,319
know that there's a lot of talk
coming in the league about his hand size

522
00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,279
or whatever it is that really prevents
him from being that great tight dribbler.

523
00:34:02,359 --> 00:34:06,400
Every player is going to have a
weakness, and if you could show up

524
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,000
all your weaknesses, you'd be the
best player in the league. And this

525
00:34:08,119 --> 00:34:12,360
is just going to be that thing
that holds him back. It seems like,

526
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:20,679
so instead of becoming you know,
Pritchard with the handles, it it's

527
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:23,800
gonna be about him making good decisions
on the ball. And last game especially,

528
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:28,480
he had six assists four turnovers.
You see where he's able to get

529
00:34:28,519 --> 00:34:31,079
off of it quickly and find an
open guy and pass out of the traffic

530
00:34:31,119 --> 00:34:35,880
that's really coming to pressurize him on
the ball, and you see situations where

531
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:37,760
you just get stuck under the basket
doing a little too much and tries to

532
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,800
throw it away and it ends up
in the other team's hands. So for

533
00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:45,719
him, he started doing it last
year and it really led to the All

534
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,199
NBA season he had. Being an
off ball scorer for him is going to

535
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,599
be super important. Hitting threes.
He's had a few down seasons from three,

536
00:34:52,679 --> 00:34:58,079
and improving in that again I think
would really help him. You know,

537
00:34:58,159 --> 00:35:00,519
being a quick finisher, better screen
I think is something he's worked at

538
00:35:00,519 --> 00:35:05,920
too, because especially now you mentioned
Holiday, you mentioned Borzingis, those are

539
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:08,519
two guys that are gonna cut into
his ball time a little bit here.

540
00:35:08,599 --> 00:35:12,840
So this is gonna be much less
time for him on the ball, and

541
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,239
that could be to his benefit.
I know he has aspirations of becoming a

542
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:19,480
better playmaker on the ball and running
pick and rolls and all that, but

543
00:35:19,519 --> 00:35:22,360
if that's not your strengths, focus
on your strengths, which are finishing,

544
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,239
you know, shooting off the catch. He can break guys down from mid

545
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,800
range and you're still gonna want that
to be part of your arsenal. And

546
00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:31,239
a lot of his turnovers, as
high as those numbers are, I think

547
00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:36,679
come from him being aggressive. One
of my favorite things about Jalen is against

548
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:40,480
the best room protectors in the league. You're Evan Mobley's and you know,

549
00:35:40,519 --> 00:35:44,960
all the way down the line,
Rudy Goberts or whoever it is, he's

550
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,679
able to just go in there against
those guys, aggressively, knock them off

551
00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:52,599
their spot, and finish. And
if you're turning the ball over a little

552
00:35:52,599 --> 00:35:55,480
bit doing that, I think it's
worth it. Because for Tatum and some

553
00:35:55,519 --> 00:36:00,199
of these other guys, when they've
gone up against great room protectors, it

554
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:02,199
is really made the offense stale,
and I think those have been the nights

555
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:07,360
for Brown Shine most where he's able
to knock those guys off their spot and

556
00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:10,320
open up that lane for the Celtics. So, you know, he's much

557
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:15,119
maligned, much criticized after the last
year. There'll be a lot more scrutiny

558
00:36:15,159 --> 00:36:17,280
with the contract that's coming up for
him too, But when you focus on

559
00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:22,519
the things he's great at, which
are still a huge benefit for this team,

560
00:36:22,039 --> 00:36:24,639
and realize that you're going to have
to deal with some of the weaknesses

561
00:36:24,679 --> 00:36:30,519
to come with that. I think
you're able to accept and embrace who he

562
00:36:30,599 --> 00:36:32,239
is as a player and how it
helps his team. Now, you'd love

563
00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:36,840
to see him tighten up the ball
handle a little bit. Got out of

564
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:39,719
control in that East Final series to
a point where it was just killing the

565
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:45,199
team. But you can live with
three ish turnovers a night giving them what

566
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,519
he gives you there. Now the
defense is another story. I don't know

567
00:36:47,559 --> 00:36:51,679
what's going on with that part of
his game in the last couple of years,

568
00:36:51,679 --> 00:36:54,920
getting lost off the ball and making
mistakes on that end and just looking

569
00:36:55,599 --> 00:37:02,079
unfocused on that end of the floor. Eight length really strong. Even earlier

570
00:37:02,079 --> 00:37:06,079
in his career, it felt like
he was almost a defensive specialist. In

571
00:37:06,119 --> 00:37:08,199
the last couple of years, he's
let that slip. So as much as

572
00:37:08,199 --> 00:37:12,559
everyone's gonna be focusing on the ball
handling, I'm focusing on the defensive year

573
00:37:12,599 --> 00:37:16,519
because that's more just about effort and
consistency and being dial and rather than the

574
00:37:16,559 --> 00:37:21,360
ball handling where there might be some
physical limitations or you know, whatever's caused

575
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:24,800
that. So if he has a
great defensive year and he keeps talking about

576
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:30,719
it. I think that's gonna make
the ball handling mistakes he has more acceptable

577
00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:34,360
for me. I wrote to you
in the outline that Jason Tatum has just

578
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:37,599
reached a level of stardom where don't
really have any interesting topics to bring up

579
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:40,119
about him, just because he's such
a known commodity. But you mentioning that

580
00:37:40,559 --> 00:37:44,159
Drew Holly's gonna come off the bench, is that I know they have the

581
00:37:44,199 --> 00:37:47,079
connective tissue of Derek White al Horford
then in that starting lineup. Is that

582
00:37:47,119 --> 00:37:52,119
a vote of confidence though, in
his ability to drive the offense as a

583
00:37:52,119 --> 00:37:53,960
passer, which he's look, he's
improved upon over the past few years,

584
00:37:54,159 --> 00:37:59,400
gotten better at, like making those
quick decision notgeable touch passes or the assistant

585
00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:00,880
he threw to Jail Brown was I
can't remember what game it was in the

586
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:05,239
preseason, where yeah, the last
one in the corner, just like so

587
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,400
like he's just able to make these
more complicated reads. Is that among many

588
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,320
of the other factors that goes into
bringing Drew Howdy off the bench? Is

589
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,679
that also kind of a vote of
confidence in Jaalen Brown, h excuse me,

590
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:20,039
Jason Tatum the facilitator though yeah,
and that's inherent. I keep saying

591
00:38:20,039 --> 00:38:22,400
it. A lot of people want
to see them bring in like a Chris

592
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:27,920
Paul or something to just organize this
thing and run it. It doesn't happen

593
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,719
as much anymore, and you don't
really have those guys who are going to

594
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:35,519
come in and run an offense alongside
stars like Rono used to do or whoever

595
00:38:35,519 --> 00:38:37,239
it's going to be. The ball
has got to be in your best player's

596
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:42,159
hands and he's got to be able
to pull in the pressure of the defense

597
00:38:42,559 --> 00:38:46,639
and make other guys better away from
that pressure. And so if if the

598
00:38:46,679 --> 00:38:50,840
ball is in his hands less often, it's going to be less opportunity for

599
00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,039
him to, you know, take
on some pressure and dish the ball and

600
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:59,199
create some mismatches as he can do
on the ball there. I like his

601
00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:01,360
pick and roll product. I think
the numbers were decent last year without having

602
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:06,480
them in front of me. It's
just about consistency for him cutting down turnovers

603
00:39:06,519 --> 00:39:08,159
too. He can be a little
bit of a mess out there to on

604
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:12,639
the ball at times, though he's
made some real strides in that area.

605
00:39:12,679 --> 00:39:15,800
As you mentioned, it just has
to happen, and you only get better

606
00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:19,559
by doing it more and more.
So I think it only makes sense that

607
00:39:19,559 --> 00:39:22,760
you're going to push him to do
it more and more, and when late

608
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:25,199
game situations come up, the ball
is going to be in his hands.

609
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:29,159
It's just how it goes. It's
nice to hear that they'll be a little

610
00:39:29,199 --> 00:39:30,400
bit more of an outlet out there
on holiday, and I think it's going

611
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:36,239
to be important for Tatum and Brandt
to know that and empower him because going

612
00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:38,280
back to the smart thing, I
felt like there were times late in games

613
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:42,559
where they could defer to him a
little bit more as a creator, but

614
00:39:42,599 --> 00:39:45,679
they just didn't for whatever reason,
trust or shot making or anything down the

615
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:50,440
line you could say about smart there. So the biggest thing for Tatum as

616
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:52,440
a ball handler is trusting his teammates, especially with the teammates he has.

617
00:39:52,559 --> 00:39:57,039
Now, you don't have to be
this great orchestrator. Again, back to

618
00:39:57,079 --> 00:40:00,440
the poor Zingis point, you just
got to find him. A lot of

619
00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:02,880
the time that's going to be your
read is just finding Porzingis. So it's

620
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:07,360
simplifying things for these guys. And
is Tatum ever going to be an eight

621
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:10,760
to nine assists the game guy?
Probably not, But if he's making the

622
00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:15,960
right reads moving and keeping things flowing
after that. Keeping up the pace of

623
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,840
this offense too, I think is
so key for him. He's just such

624
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:24,199
a naturally slow moving player offensively on
the ball that I think that's another thing

625
00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:29,119
that pisses offfense, is that like
he's just slow down with him. But

626
00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:31,840
it's all about just continuing to improve
in that area for Tatum especially, he's

627
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:37,280
only twenty five. Guys really don't
hit their stride their prime until twenty six,

628
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,920
seven, eight, So that's the
big thing you're still looking for from

629
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:45,239
him. You know, he can
be a great defender and shot maker and

630
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:47,239
scorer, and even his finishings come
a long way. He draws a million

631
00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:51,880
free throws every night. Now,
it's just that playmaking and you need it

632
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:54,079
to happen. I keep saying it. If he can't figure that out,

633
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:59,239
they're probably not going to win a
championship with him, because I mean,

634
00:40:59,239 --> 00:41:04,119
how many Yiannis. I guess even
Giannis really made some good strides on the

635
00:41:04,159 --> 00:41:07,719
ball. And he's a center,
So centers are kind of that exception that

636
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:12,199
you can be the roller and create
out of that too. During that title

637
00:41:12,239 --> 00:41:15,039
run, he's more of like sort
of a play finisher than put him on

638
00:41:15,079 --> 00:41:17,360
the ball and have him run this
show. Yeah, and that you don't

639
00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:22,760
have that luxury here because he's really
not a center and Brown has to do

640
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:24,559
that right, He's going to be
that play finisher. So Tatum's going to

641
00:41:24,559 --> 00:41:28,519
be the creator a lot of the
time. And that's just how it is,

642
00:41:28,559 --> 00:41:30,880
and that's how you structure your team
with him as the star. Not

643
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,880
many teams can say our star is
going to play off the ball and it's

644
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:37,119
going to be someone setting him up
all the time. You know, I

645
00:41:37,159 --> 00:41:39,440
can't really even think of it.
Maybe Philly last year with harn and embiid.

646
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:45,039
He saw how that went. So
he's got to be the you know,

647
00:41:45,159 --> 00:41:47,480
point forward for lack of a better
term. That's just got what he's

648
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:52,039
going to be here. I think
he I guess I don't know if I'm

649
00:41:52,039 --> 00:41:53,679
more optimistic than most, but I'm
optimistic that he gets there. I guess

650
00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:57,760
the biggest question for me would be
when you mentioned when he kind of slows

651
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,519
things down. I also feel like
that's how he sees the court or I

652
00:42:00,559 --> 00:42:04,239
think he did a better job of
throwing those like touch passes. It's can

653
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:08,079
he make quicker live dribble decisions and
be less predictable on his drives, whereas,

654
00:42:08,119 --> 00:42:12,360
yes, he's a very varied shot
taker and maker, but you kind

655
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:14,920
of also know sometimes and he's going
to take a shot, like when he's

656
00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:16,599
operating on those those quicker dribbles.
And so I'm curious to see if he

657
00:42:16,639 --> 00:42:22,119
can improve like his live fast dribble
playmaking not back to the basket, or

658
00:42:22,159 --> 00:42:25,559
like breaking down defenses more methodically.
And if he does that, like it

659
00:42:25,599 --> 00:42:29,000
would not shock me physicist. I
know he said it'll never be an eight

660
00:42:29,039 --> 00:42:31,039
assists per game guy, but it
wouldn't shock me if his assist totals jump

661
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:34,599
by like two or three from last
year and he was at like four and

662
00:42:34,639 --> 00:42:37,840
a half or whatever it was four
point seven. Yeah, And my question

663
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:40,559
too, and how much can Holiday
help this when things get stale, when

664
00:42:40,559 --> 00:42:45,239
they go into some of those droughts, which were still their fatal flaw a

665
00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:49,760
year and even the year before that, where do they go? Can he

666
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,159
be the guy who breaks them out
of that? Does Holidays start to help

667
00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:55,559
them solve that a little bit more? Can he really jump out there and

668
00:42:55,559 --> 00:42:59,719
command the ball, because that,
to me is still where this team is

669
00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:07,320
going to have its championship hopes made
or broken. How quickly can you get

670
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:12,800
out of those droughts, those lapses
offensively, those stretches of sometimes eight,

671
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:15,119
nine, ten possessions in a row
where they're really not getting anything going.

672
00:43:15,639 --> 00:43:20,559
You have some better shot makers.
Now you have an array of better playmakers.

673
00:43:20,599 --> 00:43:22,440
So it comes down to Tatum and
Brown. Can you trust those guys?

674
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:24,920
Can you get off the ball and
make stuff happen off the ball after

675
00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:29,840
you make that initial pass? For
Tatum especially, That's gonna be what I'm

676
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:34,199
looking for this year. With Brogden
gone, I'd assume that Derek White was

677
00:43:34,199 --> 00:43:36,559
gonna be one coming off the bench. You mentioned at some points he might,

678
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:38,239
and so I was my question was
the Cell is gonna need him to

679
00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:42,320
be more of an aggressive scorer this
year? Not having that Brogden type there.

680
00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:45,360
I think putting him in the starting
lineup would insulate him against needed to

681
00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:47,960
play that role. But does what
they need from him change? And I

682
00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:51,960
think it changes more offensively than defensively, But does it change at all just

683
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:54,760
based off the new makeup of this
team. They need him to be aggressive,

684
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:59,000
They needed to be a shot maker. He's still that guy or He's

685
00:43:59,039 --> 00:44:01,960
now that guy rather that defenses I
think are going to find on the ball

686
00:44:02,039 --> 00:44:07,079
toward a little bit more. And
luckily he is so downhill driven. Luckily,

687
00:44:07,119 --> 00:44:09,920
he is such a willing screener that
he's gonna shake loose and it's a

688
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:14,880
good finisher. Last year he had
an exceptional three point season. I'm interested

689
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,800
to see if he can replicate that. His shooting coach who he primarily worked

690
00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:22,800
with last year and Ben Sullivan's gone, so I'm interested to see if that

691
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:25,280
can keep up that forty consistency from
out there, because he's had a lot

692
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:29,559
ups and downs in his career as
a three point shooter, and if he

693
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:34,840
lapses a little bit, it's gonna
be easier for defenses to lean away from

694
00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:37,960
him. Now, in that awful
Game seven that everyone wants to forget,

695
00:44:38,199 --> 00:44:42,079
there was the one silver lining of
that stretch, I think in the third

696
00:44:42,159 --> 00:44:49,920
quarter where White got super aggressive and
looked like a central offensive creator in that

697
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,440
game. You know a guy who
can create off the dribble for himself and

698
00:44:52,599 --> 00:44:57,159
make good decisions on the ball for
others. He's always had that in him.

699
00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:00,920
He's not your prototypical point guard.
He's going to flow and on and

700
00:45:00,119 --> 00:45:05,039
off the ball, more of a
combo guy. But he's just such a

701
00:45:05,079 --> 00:45:08,280
smart and effective playmaker that if you
put the ball in his hands or involve

702
00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:10,920
him in a play, something good's
gonna happen, whether he's shooting it or

703
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:15,760
whether he's moving it. And of
course you know he should be remembered always

704
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:20,840
for the game six put back.
It's just the embodiment of how smart he

705
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:22,519
is as a player. The way
he read out that play. And you

706
00:45:22,559 --> 00:45:27,800
look at his turnover numbers two they're
so low. It just reflects how good

707
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:30,239
of a decision maker he is.
So the more you can empower him on

708
00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:35,000
the ball, I think the better
you'll be. Again, he's so willing

709
00:45:35,039 --> 00:45:39,920
to sacrifice. He's such a team
guy that he doesn't always imprint himself on

710
00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:43,679
the game. You know, he's
more willing to set that screen or space

711
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:46,320
or whatever it might be for the
other guys, which is helpful. But

712
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:50,320
sometimes you do, as you said, need him to get aggressive and be

713
00:45:51,199 --> 00:45:54,960
a big shot taker because he's he's
so capable of it. You know,

714
00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:59,280
even from three last year he was
so good. So I see him more

715
00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:02,800
confident white over the last year and
change here, you know, becoming a

716
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:07,679
father, becoming comfortable in Boston on
a winning team, a starter. It

717
00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:12,400
all comes into play there. And
he saw him really hit his stride in

718
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:15,000
those playoffs. So I'm not worried
about him. You know, he's probably

719
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,400
the guy you worry about least here
in terms of what he's going to bring

720
00:46:17,440 --> 00:46:22,079
to the table. But it's just
about staying consistently aggressive if you're him,

721
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:24,800
you know, even speaking up a
little bit more too. I talked to

722
00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:29,840
his trainer over the summer and in
that leadership conversation we have. You know,

723
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:31,639
he's one of the more elder guys
who's been here the longest now,

724
00:46:31,679 --> 00:46:36,000
so he's got to be willing,
especially as a fellow starter, to point

725
00:46:36,119 --> 00:46:38,119
something out to Brown and Tatum to
you know, get them in the right

726
00:46:38,159 --> 00:46:42,480
positions defensively, if that's what it
is, to just speak his mind on

727
00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:45,599
stuff. Because a lot of the
leadership here is coming from the players on

728
00:46:45,639 --> 00:46:50,199
this team. They've added some good
assistance. You know, Joe's becoming more

729
00:46:50,239 --> 00:46:52,679
confident this preseason, he can tell. But this is this is a player's

730
00:46:52,719 --> 00:46:58,679
team, right. They don't have
this big coach with a lot of pedigree

731
00:46:58,719 --> 00:47:02,280
who's been around forever who gonna set
everybody straight like he may did. It's

732
00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:05,639
going to be a lot of the
players figuring out stuff on their own.

733
00:47:05,679 --> 00:47:07,159
So, yeah, Tatum and Brown
are the leaders now and it's going to

734
00:47:07,239 --> 00:47:10,960
come from them, but you're also
going to need your Whites and Porzingises and

735
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:15,599
your Holidays of the world to speak
their mind too when it comes to it.

736
00:47:15,639 --> 00:47:17,559
And especially for White, who's been
playing for these guys for a couple

737
00:47:17,599 --> 00:47:22,000
of years, with these guys,
I think he's in a better position to

738
00:47:22,039 --> 00:47:23,760
do that, and he's talked a
little bit about doing it too, and

739
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:29,519
he's so naturally shy and quiet and
to himself that I think it's going to

740
00:47:29,559 --> 00:47:32,239
be an adjustment. But especially if
you're a starter, if you're one of

741
00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:37,559
the longest tenure guys on this team, you've got to be a vocal guy

742
00:47:37,599 --> 00:47:39,280
to some degree, and that's going
to be something else I watched with him

743
00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:44,960
this year with Holiday. If he
does come off the bench a ton does,

744
00:47:45,159 --> 00:47:50,440
is Peyton Pritchard still this team's seven
most important player or does that role

745
00:47:50,519 --> 00:47:52,039
shift? What do they need from
him this year? And then who is

746
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:57,880
after him? Like who looking at
this their depth, their their role players,

747
00:47:57,880 --> 00:48:00,679
like who becomes the next most important
player after that top seven. Yeah,

748
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:04,920
I think to go back to this
last next game you're gonna see,

749
00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:08,159
I think what Peyton Pritchard did in
that game be his role more than some

750
00:48:08,199 --> 00:48:13,079
of the flashier, high scoring games
this preseason. I'm sure you know if

751
00:48:13,079 --> 00:48:15,480
guys are sitting out tonight, we'll
see that from him again. His acclamation

752
00:48:15,559 --> 00:48:21,239
of being an off ball shot maker, an active player await from the ball

753
00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:23,880
is going to continue to dictate his
success. And there might be some nights

754
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:28,800
where he plays a little less often
to allow those top six guys to play

755
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:31,239
together more often, especially in the
playoffs, but during the regular season,

756
00:48:32,119 --> 00:48:37,559
allowing him to play more often and
acclimate to that role, which they haven't

757
00:48:37,559 --> 00:48:40,360
given him a ton of time to
do throughout his early portion of his career,

758
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:44,880
even though he's a career forty percent
guy from three. That's gonna be

759
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:47,559
key to this team developing depth and
having him ready to step up if needed.

760
00:48:47,599 --> 00:48:52,639
I still think you will get Pritchard
and say he's probably still more of

761
00:48:52,679 --> 00:48:58,199
an if needed guy than every night
twenty twenty five minutes a game guy when

762
00:48:58,239 --> 00:49:02,280
it matters. But he's showing these
capable of these things now, surviving defensively,

763
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:07,199
making shots away from the ball,
making quick decisions away from the ball,

764
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:09,119
and you know, you want to
see him get more involved in some

765
00:49:09,159 --> 00:49:14,039
of those team areas too, like
screening and moving and making the right cuts

766
00:49:14,079 --> 00:49:15,519
and all the rest. And I
think he's shown all that this preseason.

767
00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:19,360
He looks a little stronger too,
and you know, we can create off

768
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:22,400
the dribble. Not the best playmaker
on the team, so I still don't

769
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:24,480
think that's going to be a massive
part of what he gives them, but

770
00:49:24,599 --> 00:49:29,440
he's just ready to contribute now,
I think, which if that's ten fifteen

771
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:34,800
to twenty minutes a game, is
helpful because you can't have everything right.

772
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:38,039
This team has a big top six
that's high paid, that star studded,

773
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:42,360
so you're going to need your pitchers
of the world to go down the line

774
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:45,400
like you wanted Howser, another big
year from him. Shooting forty percent from

775
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:50,800
three is all you really need from
him. Surviving defensively too. Coronett a

776
00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:58,480
guy who I like who fans I
think misunderstand playmaking, Steve Yeah, playmaking,

777
00:49:59,239 --> 00:50:01,679
setting the rights greens and defending the
rim. It's all you need him

778
00:50:01,719 --> 00:50:05,360
to do. And now you have
an array of guys down the line here

779
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:12,280
Stevens a defensive specialist, Mahai Luke
a shot making specialist. I think these

780
00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:15,920
guys are probably much further down the
depth chart than it's seen this preseason.

781
00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:19,960
Even Jordan Walsh, I thought he
might make an impression and break into the

782
00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:22,559
conversation here, but it seems like
he's going to be more of a main

783
00:50:22,639 --> 00:50:25,039
guy this year. So it really
is about the top six. Then you're

784
00:50:25,039 --> 00:50:29,679
looking at Prichard for all the things
I mentioned. Then you're looking at Houser

785
00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:34,840
for the shot making, and then
you're looking at Cornet for the room protection

786
00:50:35,039 --> 00:50:37,159
and passing and what he brings.
So if this team is fully healthy,

787
00:50:37,159 --> 00:50:40,719
I think you have what you need. But when you're a little less reliant

788
00:50:40,840 --> 00:50:45,719
on depth, suddenly an injury strikes, especially in that front court. To

789
00:50:45,719 --> 00:50:50,519
bring it back to porzingis the concern
we have with him. The healthy he

790
00:50:50,599 --> 00:50:52,840
goes down for a week or two, all of a sudden, it's thirty

791
00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:58,280
forty minutes of Horford at center a
lot more if he gets injured during that

792
00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:01,360
stretch too, That's where you start
to get a little worried with this group,

793
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:05,760
and I do think they've minimized their
injury risk a little bit, even

794
00:51:06,199 --> 00:51:09,559
buying into porzingis you know, White's
a guy who stays healthy, played eighty

795
00:51:09,559 --> 00:51:13,840
two games last year, Holiday throughout
his career has done so. Tatum's never

796
00:51:13,920 --> 00:51:15,559
hurt. Brown as a week or
two every year where he's kind of out

797
00:51:15,559 --> 00:51:20,559
of the mix but mostly healthy.
So I think that concern has been minimized

798
00:51:20,599 --> 00:51:23,280
here. But you do have a
team I think that's a little more susceptible

799
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:28,800
to having its championship hopes threward to
buy an injury than a year ago,

800
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:31,880
where you have Rob to step in
or Horford and vice versa, and you

801
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:36,159
know, Smart and White and brogged
in if anything happened there, Brognent's in

802
00:51:36,199 --> 00:51:39,519
the mix. Last year's team was
definitely better suited to sustain a loss than

803
00:51:39,559 --> 00:51:45,119
this year's team. But fortunately you
have fewer injury risk across the board here,

804
00:51:45,159 --> 00:51:49,599
So that's the balance they struck.
That's a great segue into the end

805
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:52,599
of the podcast, which is a
cookie cutter portion of the podcast. It

806
00:51:52,639 --> 00:51:54,480
seems like you outline their nine locks
for this rotation. If you got to

807
00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:58,199
pick like sort of a tenth guy, that sneaks in there is that like

808
00:51:58,199 --> 00:52:01,159
an O shape, Rissett that probably
the best chance of doing that. I

809
00:52:01,239 --> 00:52:07,119
love o'sha at Covenantman College didn't have
the best preseason. I think it's Stevens.

810
00:52:07,320 --> 00:52:09,400
You know, he's on the training
camp deal. He hasn't played a

811
00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:15,079
ton this preseason. But to me, that reflects less, oh, he's

812
00:52:15,079 --> 00:52:20,039
on the bubble and he might not
make it here, and more we understand

813
00:52:20,079 --> 00:52:22,719
what this guy can do when he's
out there with the best players, and

814
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:27,719
so we really don't have to see
him as much in these tryout spots because

815
00:52:28,239 --> 00:52:30,280
he's not a player who's going to
shoot a bunch of threes in a fourth

816
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:34,159
quarter of a preseason game. And
really why he was shot making like a

817
00:52:34,239 --> 00:52:37,679
Mahailuke did for stretches here. You
know, Brissette, I think a lot

818
00:52:37,719 --> 00:52:40,960
more his game is going to be
predicated on shot making than Stevens, who

819
00:52:42,480 --> 00:52:45,039
you know I've talked to a lot
this preseason and says, you know,

820
00:52:45,079 --> 00:52:47,519
I can play some five if needed, small ball five. Yeah, I

821
00:52:47,519 --> 00:52:52,079
can make shots, I can get
involved in the screening actions. And we

822
00:52:52,119 --> 00:52:54,760
know what he's capable of as a
defender from that top rank Cavs defense last

823
00:52:54,840 --> 00:52:59,440
year where he started twenty five games. So I'm still amazed they got him

824
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:02,199
on a training camp deal. He's
gonna make this team. I think there's

825
00:53:02,239 --> 00:53:06,199
gonna be times where you know,
maybe someone's missing for a little bit of

826
00:53:06,199 --> 00:53:08,320
a stretch. He just need a
change of pace where he's gonna come in.

827
00:53:08,639 --> 00:53:13,480
And you saw in the first preseason
game he puts down this two handed

828
00:53:13,519 --> 00:53:15,800
slam putting the ball back in against
the Knicks on the road, he had

829
00:53:15,800 --> 00:53:21,320
three offensive rebounds. The shot is
really a point where he struggles, and

830
00:53:21,360 --> 00:53:23,000
that's the reason you got him on
the minimum deal. To answer my own

831
00:53:23,079 --> 00:53:28,280
question, he really struggles to shoot. And you know that's the name of

832
00:53:28,280 --> 00:53:30,760
the game now. So this isn't
gonna be a guy who plays night in

833
00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:32,679
and night out, but it is
gonna be a guy who I think you

834
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:36,800
need in spots here and it's gonna
end up being one of the more pleasant

835
00:53:36,800 --> 00:53:40,400
surprises of this offseason was bringing in
Lamar Stevens, who I think is gonna

836
00:53:40,440 --> 00:53:45,480
have his moments this year. Oh
Shay, we'll see again struggle shot making

837
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:51,400
this preseason. I think he's more
one positional defensively against fours than Stevens who

838
00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:53,559
can guard a bunch of different positions
here, so we'll see how that goes.

839
00:53:53,639 --> 00:53:58,840
Mahai Luke amazing preseason shooting the ball, but man, do teams go

840
00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:01,519
after him on the defensive side,
and it's gonna be tough to play him

841
00:54:01,559 --> 00:54:07,079
even with you know, the back
line help that we've mentioned here. Nice

842
00:54:07,119 --> 00:54:08,360
to have him in the mix,
nice to have him on a minimum deal,

843
00:54:08,400 --> 00:54:10,519
but probably not gonna be a guy
who plays a lot this year,

844
00:54:10,599 --> 00:54:15,360
especially with Howser in front of him. Walsh. Again, what I'm hearing

845
00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:17,480
is it's gonna be a lot of
main early on for him as he acklemates

846
00:54:17,519 --> 00:54:21,760
to the league Cada. People are
excited about him, and I won't rule

847
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:23,840
him out, But in your dress
rehearsal last night against the next he didn't

848
00:54:23,840 --> 00:54:27,719
play a minute. So again,
a guy on a two way deal is

849
00:54:27,719 --> 00:54:31,079
probably gonna see some time in Maine
here. But if we're mentioning guys who

850
00:54:31,079 --> 00:54:36,079
could break through Stevens and him,
I can't deny what he's done this preseason,

851
00:54:36,159 --> 00:54:39,519
Cada. He's probably closing in on
Cornette more than some of these wings

852
00:54:39,559 --> 00:54:45,159
are on Hausers, So keep an
eye on him. Active moves better than

853
00:54:45,199 --> 00:54:47,119
I thought he did, a huge
body at seven foot two point fifty.

854
00:54:47,920 --> 00:54:52,960
I've liked his game out there in
Sacramento, a top five G League player

855
00:54:52,039 --> 00:54:57,000
last year in that mix for MVP, another guy where it's like, all

856
00:54:57,079 --> 00:54:59,400
right, we'll take him on a
two way deal, you know, why

857
00:54:59,400 --> 00:55:01,840
not? So they have a lot
of options here. I like the offseason

858
00:55:01,880 --> 00:55:06,760
they had. I said it at
the beginning, as much as the druimporzingis,

859
00:55:07,079 --> 00:55:10,519
additions are really some exciting things here. You do have some guys lower

860
00:55:10,559 --> 00:55:14,760
on this roster who do intrigue,
who do bring a bona fide NBA skill

861
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:17,719
to the table. I'm interested to
see if Gabriel makes this roster. He

862
00:55:17,719 --> 00:55:23,000
didn't really play at all in the
preseason, wasn't around for much of camp.

863
00:55:23,039 --> 00:55:27,039
You know, he's kind of a
late addition. You have fifteen guys

864
00:55:27,119 --> 00:55:29,960
right now, you can carry an
open spot into the year. He's on

865
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:34,199
a training camp deal too, So
do you carry him into the year sign

866
00:55:34,280 --> 00:55:37,320
him or do you just let him
go after camp here and keep some flexibility

867
00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:40,119
open with that fifteenth spot. I
think they might end up cutting Gabriel here,

868
00:55:40,199 --> 00:55:44,199
not that I've heard anything about that, but if that's if they want

869
00:55:44,239 --> 00:55:46,960
to have an open spot into the
year, save some luxury tax money all

870
00:55:47,039 --> 00:55:51,440
the rest. I think Gabriel would
probably be the guy who ends up let

871
00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:54,440
go out of camp here, But
we'll see if we fast over at the

872
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:57,840
end of the season. And I
know that this will probably be matchup base

873
00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:00,360
for them a lot, But what
would you expect to be there? Most

874
00:56:00,480 --> 00:56:04,119
leaned upon crunch time unit and kind
of as a follow up to that,

875
00:56:04,159 --> 00:56:07,639
do you expect that they're gonna tilt
now that they've traded time Lord, I

876
00:56:07,679 --> 00:56:09,800
know they might start Porzingis and Horford
together a bunch. Do you expect them

877
00:56:09,840 --> 00:56:15,039
to still just lean more so on
the one true big lineups rather than trying

878
00:56:15,039 --> 00:56:19,920
to cobble together as many dual big
stretches. Definitely, especially I think Missoula

879
00:56:19,960 --> 00:56:22,159
is a guy who likes so small
it looks better, and he did a

880
00:56:22,199 --> 00:56:25,880
great job coaching that mix last game
when that was the starting lineup, So

881
00:56:27,639 --> 00:56:30,599
I think that's how you're going to
close games. I think Horford's probably gonna

882
00:56:30,599 --> 00:56:36,199
sit more often than not in those
closing lineups, especially given his one dimensional

883
00:56:36,280 --> 00:56:38,119
offense at this point. Good passer, but mostly just spot up threes.

884
00:56:38,159 --> 00:56:43,400
As We've said that's fine. You
know, there might be some bigger teams

885
00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:46,159
where you go double big against them
late if you're going more defensive down the

886
00:56:46,159 --> 00:56:49,760
stretch to try to hold a lead, that might be the way you go

887
00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:52,920
too. But more often than I
think it'll be Holiday, White, Brown,

888
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:57,360
Tatum and Porzingis. So I'm still
interested to see what happens when they

889
00:56:57,360 --> 00:57:00,000
face a Warriors type team, a
team that's really going to spread you,

890
00:57:00,599 --> 00:57:05,039
that's really going to pull the center
out to the perimeter. I think there'll

891
00:57:05,039 --> 00:57:07,360
be some situations where Porzingis might have
to take a seat late in games.

892
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:12,119
In those situations if teams are really
hammering them from the three point line with

893
00:57:12,159 --> 00:57:15,519
those screen and pops you know,
Luka Doncic, even a guy like that

894
00:57:15,559 --> 00:57:19,920
who's just jumping around screens and hitting
threes from deep. The interesting thing too,

895
00:57:20,079 --> 00:57:22,159
you know, Milwaukee obviously the main
competition is going to be doing that

896
00:57:22,239 --> 00:57:27,599
with Lollard and Giannis. Can Porzingis
cover those picking rolls. You know,

897
00:57:27,639 --> 00:57:30,679
it's there's not going to be any
center in the league that shuts down that

898
00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:35,000
combination. But you know, I
feel like I'm still higher on Horford than

899
00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:38,920
most fans where I've really seen him
guard on the perimeter and switch on to

900
00:57:39,079 --> 00:57:43,840
ones in ways that not many centers
are capable of doing. I know Trey

901
00:57:43,880 --> 00:57:45,960
Young gave him a tough time in
that first round. Who wouldn't have a

902
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:49,800
tough time as a center in that
spot. But he can just stay in

903
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:52,880
front of guys. He's so used
to playing the perimeter defensively, and he's

904
00:57:52,880 --> 00:57:57,719
so used to navigating screens for this
team that I do think there'll be certain

905
00:57:57,760 --> 00:58:00,840
games where you do close Whitehall a
day, Tatum, Brown, Horford,

906
00:58:00,920 --> 00:58:05,880
so you can switch everything. You
know, that's not something I see Porzingis

907
00:58:05,920 --> 00:58:08,400
doing as much switching one to five. You know, he's not a guy

908
00:58:08,440 --> 00:58:14,039
who's gonna guard many guards effectively on
the ball. So you know there'll be

909
00:58:14,079 --> 00:58:16,360
some games I think where Porzingis has
to take a seat and Horford's out there

910
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:20,239
to close. But again, the
buy in that we've mentioned on this show,

911
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:22,840
guys being willing to come off the
bench, guys being willing to play

912
00:58:22,840 --> 00:58:28,639
a fewer minutes. Porzingis, as
you mentioned, surprising, more surprising than

913
00:58:28,679 --> 00:58:30,679
anyone maybe in saying that, like, if my stats take a dip this

914
00:58:30,800 --> 00:58:34,320
year, if I got to do
this or that to sacrifice. I don't

915
00:58:34,360 --> 00:58:37,599
care. You know, I want
to win. So having that buy in

916
00:58:37,679 --> 00:58:39,920
this year is a little bit of
difference versus last year, where I think

917
00:58:39,960 --> 00:58:44,760
Grant falling out of the rotation really
just threw him for a loop. You

918
00:58:44,800 --> 00:58:46,800
had a guy like Smart who I
think expected to be out there in crunch

919
00:58:46,840 --> 00:58:51,639
time given his pedigree on this team. Of course, it was a starter

920
00:58:51,639 --> 00:58:55,000
at night in and night out,
not as flexible I think in his movement

921
00:58:55,039 --> 00:58:58,880
between the starting lineup and the bench
as some of these guys will prove to

922
00:58:58,880 --> 00:59:01,440
be. And then minutes of course
too. You know, you kind of

923
00:59:01,480 --> 00:59:05,400
knew what you had last year,
and this year I think you can be

924
00:59:05,440 --> 00:59:08,199
a little bit more flexible with those
minutes. So Missoula is just really more

925
00:59:08,239 --> 00:59:12,880
empowered this year, I think,
to make some decisions in all these different

926
00:59:12,880 --> 00:59:15,840
spots we've talked about, right,
and he's got the assistance backing him up.

927
00:59:16,119 --> 00:59:21,119
You're bringing Jeff Van Gunny for even
more added perspective. I mean,

928
00:59:21,199 --> 00:59:25,159
if you're Missoula this year, there
I think all the excuses people used from

929
00:59:25,199 --> 00:59:30,440
Missoula last year, we're all valid
coaching staff that didn't really sign up for

930
00:59:30,519 --> 00:59:37,280
coaching alongside him, and many of
them left over the summer. Great assistant

931
00:59:37,320 --> 00:59:40,519
in Damon Stardomaire Leaven in April,
and that really was a demarcation point for

932
00:59:40,599 --> 00:59:46,280
them going into some of their more
inconsistent play into the playoffs after he left,

933
00:59:47,400 --> 00:59:51,360
you know, losing Will Hardy,
losing email, all that stuff,

934
00:59:51,400 --> 00:59:54,320
and especially not having a whole summer
to prepare for the job. He took

935
00:59:54,360 --> 01:00:00,199
over two days before camp. Those
were all valid excuses to me. You

936
01:00:00,239 --> 01:00:02,079
know, you never hate to hear
excuses. You never like to hear excuses

937
01:00:02,880 --> 01:00:07,159
for a team of this caliber,
but those were valid to me. And

938
01:00:07,199 --> 01:00:09,079
now this year, I don't think
there's any excuses. He had the summer,

939
01:00:09,280 --> 01:00:14,119
He's had all the personnel he needs, he's got the assistant. So

940
01:00:14,480 --> 01:00:19,320
there's some pressure on Missoula to get
off to a great start here, right

941
01:00:19,719 --> 01:00:23,079
and show that he's capable, because
he did have those moments last year where

942
01:00:23,079 --> 01:00:29,159
you really questioned him. But he
looks more confident to me. He's deploying

943
01:00:29,199 --> 01:00:31,880
a lot of interesting schemes, especially
on that defensive end. As we've talked

944
01:00:31,880 --> 01:00:37,239
about. He's got guys working with
players positionally, like Cassell with Tatum,

945
01:00:37,280 --> 01:00:40,239
and you know, Tony Dobbins is
back who's done a lot of work with

946
01:00:40,519 --> 01:00:45,639
Brown, and Charles Lee's here who
coached Holiday in Milwaukee, so it's been

947
01:00:45,719 --> 01:00:49,599
nice having him tackle mate Holiday to
this system too, that Lee's been a

948
01:00:49,599 --> 01:00:52,599
part of all summer, and you
know those guys are going to be there

949
01:00:52,679 --> 01:00:58,719
to I think, probably make some
suggestions to Missoula, give him some perspectives

950
01:00:58,719 --> 01:01:01,239
that he might not have had last
year. And I'm coming in this year

951
01:01:01,320 --> 01:01:05,559
high on Missoula. I really am. You know, when the East Finals

952
01:01:05,679 --> 01:01:08,519
ended, I said, if you
really made me pick one way or another,

953
01:01:08,559 --> 01:01:12,920
bring him back or let him go. I probably lean let him go

954
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:15,559
because I just think he struggled that
much in the playoffs last year. But

955
01:01:16,440 --> 01:01:21,840
I said, if you really believe
in him, if you like at his

956
01:01:21,960 --> 01:01:24,840
core what he's capable of as a
coach, and you're willing to support him,

957
01:01:25,280 --> 01:01:29,320
I can accept him coming back.
Because of all the excuses we just

958
01:01:29,400 --> 01:01:34,119
lined out like they were all valid. So I mean, if they were

959
01:01:34,119 --> 01:01:37,880
going to move on from Missoula,
my top choice would have been Charles Lee,

960
01:01:37,519 --> 01:01:43,679
and he's here as an assistant.
Why not have both? Is there

961
01:01:44,360 --> 01:01:46,639
a weird or wacky lineup that maybe
they won't try, but you think that

962
01:01:46,679 --> 01:01:52,480
they should try, or you just
they're morbidly curious to say. You know,

963
01:01:52,599 --> 01:01:57,000
it's funny Brad mentioned it, and
I think he was joking at the

964
01:01:57,039 --> 01:02:00,079
Perusingis introduction. Oh you know,
Rob's not even hear anymore, But it

965
01:02:00,119 --> 01:02:04,599
was funny you mentioned Rob, Horford
and Porzengis playing out there together. That

966
01:02:04,599 --> 01:02:10,800
would have been interesting. Three bigs
on the flour in certain spots. You

967
01:02:10,840 --> 01:02:14,039
know what, why not? Right, let's go with that one. Three

968
01:02:14,039 --> 01:02:19,199
bigs on the flour corsink, Porzingis
at the wing, Horford at the four,

969
01:02:19,320 --> 01:02:22,119
and Cornett down the middle. Maybe
that would be something we see.

970
01:02:22,119 --> 01:02:23,880
I don't, I don't see it. It'd probably be something smaller, right,

971
01:02:24,000 --> 01:02:29,719
like a white Holiday, Tatum Brown
and another wing out there, like

972
01:02:29,760 --> 01:02:31,800
a Prissett or something like that.
To really go small, really run,

973
01:02:32,679 --> 01:02:37,760
really defend one through five. I
think that's probably more likely than seeing Cornett

974
01:02:37,760 --> 01:02:39,920
out there with two of the bigs. So yeah, if something whacky was

975
01:02:39,960 --> 01:02:44,119
gonna happen, I think it'd be
five small guys out there. Stevens too,

976
01:02:44,400 --> 01:02:45,679
you know, could he play a
little bit of five small ball five

977
01:02:45,719 --> 01:02:49,719
for them? Yeah, Tatum's never
really been a guy who I think has

978
01:02:49,760 --> 01:02:52,679
been in at the five. To
throw it back to twenty twenty, I

979
01:02:52,719 --> 01:02:54,559
still think that was the fatal fall
of that team, is that you really

980
01:02:54,559 --> 01:03:00,159
couldn't go small with your three wings
and two guards that year. So it's

981
01:03:00,199 --> 01:03:02,679
only so small you'll go with this
team, I think. But again,

982
01:03:02,719 --> 01:03:07,199
if there's an injury to that front
court and you don't have an immediate reinforcement

983
01:03:07,519 --> 01:03:13,880
ready to come in, they're gonna
have to do some more innovative stuff with

984
01:03:13,920 --> 01:03:15,119
small ball. I think, you
know, to make it work. And

985
01:03:15,519 --> 01:03:20,000
that's gonna be part of Joe's job
this year is making that stuff happen,

986
01:03:20,159 --> 01:03:23,599
especially when injuries strikes. So that's
still the one thing that could really hurt

987
01:03:23,639 --> 01:03:27,280
this team and throw them off their
path. As an injury to a key

988
01:03:27,320 --> 01:03:30,159
guy like Porzingis or even a Horford
I think would really hurt this team at

989
01:03:30,159 --> 01:03:34,360
this point with their flexibility. So
yeah, it's gonna be on Joe to

990
01:03:34,400 --> 01:03:37,079
experiment a little bit and see what
the way you can do with this new

991
01:03:37,119 --> 01:03:39,079
look roster throughout the year. And
I'm excited to see it. Yeah,

992
01:03:39,119 --> 01:03:44,119
you outlaid mine. I want to
see Tatum Brown White Holiday then throw Pritchard

993
01:03:44,159 --> 01:03:45,159
in there for me, like,
let's really, let's really yeah, it

994
01:03:45,199 --> 01:03:49,119
go super small, right, And
that's something Joe I think is open to.

995
01:03:49,280 --> 01:03:52,800
He loves going small, he loves
spreading out the floor, really stressing

996
01:03:52,840 --> 01:03:55,800
teams with their offense, and so
I wouldn't be surprised to see something wacky

997
01:03:55,880 --> 01:03:59,840
like that at all. As we
record this. To wrap up, it

998
01:03:59,880 --> 01:04:02,679
is October nineteenth. Their win total
over under a set at fifty four and

999
01:04:02,719 --> 01:04:05,559
a half. Would you take the
over of the under on that? And

1000
01:04:05,639 --> 01:04:10,239
asking where they stack up in the
East isn't really interesting because they have a

1001
01:04:10,400 --> 01:04:14,239
very high flour in the East.
But are there any looking ahead to the

1002
01:04:14,239 --> 01:04:16,960
playoffs? Are there any teams or
matchups that are either particularly intriguing to you

1003
01:04:17,119 --> 01:04:23,400
or maybe even particularly problematic for this
team? So to answer the first question,

1004
01:04:24,320 --> 01:04:27,000
it's a high number, right,
It's probably the highest in the league

1005
01:04:27,119 --> 01:04:30,280
over under or right up there.
I think I believe it is. So

1006
01:04:30,239 --> 01:04:33,800
usually when I'm approaching those, and
I'll probably pick mine soon. All the

1007
01:04:33,840 --> 01:04:39,679
over unders i'd lean under, you
know, just because I think they're setting

1008
01:04:39,719 --> 01:04:43,119
it high and stuff can happen,
and you know, you want to be

1009
01:04:43,159 --> 01:04:45,199
a little more conservative with picking some
of the high numbers, but for this

1010
01:04:45,280 --> 01:04:48,920
team, I think I'll actually go
over. Just the energy coming into the

1011
01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:54,360
year, all the personnel, they
have a relatively weak East, and their

1012
01:04:54,400 --> 01:04:58,639
ability to win games with guys missing
last year really flashed. I forget whether

1013
01:04:58,679 --> 01:05:00,840
they went over or under last year, but they won a lot of games

1014
01:05:01,079 --> 01:05:05,039
with starters out. They almost beat
the Bucks with pretty much none of their

1015
01:05:05,119 --> 01:05:09,480
started playing in that game last year
up there, so they're good at that.

1016
01:05:09,679 --> 01:05:12,400
I think there'll steal some wins here
there where you don't think they're gonna

1017
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:15,760
win, and they'll probably just edge
out that number. So I'd go over

1018
01:05:15,800 --> 01:05:17,320
if I had to pick one way
or the other there. And in terms

1019
01:05:17,360 --> 01:05:23,440
of matchups, I can't wait for
next Friday against the Heat. They didn't

1020
01:05:23,440 --> 01:05:27,480
get loaded, they didn't get holiday. You know, Holiday would have really

1021
01:05:27,480 --> 01:05:30,280
scared you if he ended up there. They didn't even get brogged in yet.

1022
01:05:30,440 --> 01:05:34,320
I'll keep an eye on that one. But they're coming in with Jimmy

1023
01:05:34,400 --> 01:05:39,039
and Bam, and you know,
it's it's all these unsung guys like Cole

1024
01:05:39,079 --> 01:05:42,519
Swider. They're really excited about in
camp and what he's done so far,

1025
01:05:42,719 --> 01:05:47,239
and you know, you got your
Jamal Kaines and just guys no one has

1026
01:05:47,239 --> 01:05:51,239
on their radar right now, a
couple of rookies and hacks and Jovic,

1027
01:05:51,280 --> 01:05:55,039
who's effectively a rookie spent most of
the last year in the G League.

1028
01:05:56,360 --> 01:06:00,800
Are they gonna surprise everybody? Again? I ruled them out early last year

1029
01:06:00,840 --> 01:06:02,440
when they stumbled coming out of the
break, and then they made the finals

1030
01:06:02,480 --> 01:06:05,360
and they beat the Celtics, going
up three nothing on them. So it's

1031
01:06:05,400 --> 01:06:09,920
still a little bit of a boogeyman
for Boston. I'm sure it's still a

1032
01:06:09,960 --> 01:06:13,039
team that's gonna challenge them when they
play them, just because of how great

1033
01:06:13,119 --> 01:06:16,599
the coaching is on that other side, and Jimmy and dam as effective as

1034
01:06:16,599 --> 01:06:19,599
they are on both ends of the
court. I think that's going to be

1035
01:06:19,639 --> 01:06:23,320
an interesting team if you run into
them in the playoffs, it's going to

1036
01:06:23,360 --> 01:06:26,360
be a team that you really have
to overcome. And you know, I

1037
01:06:26,440 --> 01:06:30,760
use this analogy all the time,
but the Patriots for so long struggled with

1038
01:06:30,800 --> 01:06:33,239
the Ravens. It was just a
team they really couldn't get passed. Always

1039
01:06:33,280 --> 01:06:36,760
seemed to beat them come playoff time, even though they were the worst roster.

1040
01:06:38,480 --> 01:06:41,480
But then that you know, they
had that game in twenty fourteen where

1041
01:06:41,519 --> 01:06:44,519
it was a shootout. It was
back and forth, and then the Patriots

1042
01:06:44,559 --> 01:06:46,400
finally overcame them, and you never
really heard about the Ravens when it came

1043
01:06:46,440 --> 01:06:50,639
to Brady again after that. Could
this be the year you finally discard of

1044
01:06:50,679 --> 01:06:55,800
the Heat. It'd be big for
this team and this Corps going forward into

1045
01:06:55,800 --> 01:06:58,639
the future to do that. Having
Porzingis against that zone is going to be

1046
01:06:58,639 --> 01:07:00,440
a big plus. He played well
against the Heat last year, even though

1047
01:07:00,440 --> 01:07:04,000
he didn't particularly shoot well. I
watched a lot of film of Porzingis against

1048
01:07:04,039 --> 01:07:10,239
the Heat. But it's still a
team and a matchup that's gonna always challenge

1049
01:07:10,239 --> 01:07:13,119
the Celtics more than you think.
So I come into this year with full

1050
01:07:13,159 --> 01:07:16,800
respect for the Heat, despite losing
Strews, despite losing Vincent in this matchup

1051
01:07:16,840 --> 01:07:20,079
in particular. Now, are they
probably still going to be scrapping and kwon

1052
01:07:20,159 --> 01:07:24,079
a getting into the playoffs? Given
the ross they have right now. I

1053
01:07:24,119 --> 01:07:27,199
think that's how it's going to go
for them this year. But that still

1054
01:07:27,239 --> 01:07:30,480
puts you in April of the Heat
are down there at seven and eight and

1055
01:07:30,519 --> 01:07:33,039
the Celtics are up at one and
two look out, because I still think

1056
01:07:33,079 --> 01:07:36,599
that's something that's going to scare Celtics
fans a little bit after the way last

1057
01:07:36,639 --> 01:07:41,519
year, when how could it not. Luckily, they get to play them

1058
01:07:41,559 --> 01:07:44,440
on Friday Opening night, so we'll
get an early look at that. Yeah,

1059
01:07:44,440 --> 01:07:45,440
that's I didn't even really figure that
one, but that's a good one.

1060
01:07:45,519 --> 01:07:48,480
The Bucks obviously, not only because
Damen Giannis were there, but because

1061
01:07:48,519 --> 01:07:51,920
the Bucks kind of helped create this
version of the Celtics by not here's my

1062
01:07:51,960 --> 01:07:57,199
thing with the Bucks. I obviously
would have said them, but before we

1063
01:07:57,280 --> 01:08:00,159
recorded this, Terry Stotts stepped down, which was weird that are And the

1064
01:08:00,199 --> 01:08:05,880
big thing is Middleton not being ready
for the for camp. I mean that

1065
01:08:05,880 --> 01:08:09,320
would scare the hell out of me
if I'm a Bucks fan, because with

1066
01:08:09,360 --> 01:08:13,400
their depth, I don't think they
can beat Boston without Middleton. Well,

1067
01:08:13,519 --> 01:08:17,319
the other thing that's just interesting from
a storyline standpoint is the Bucks patted themselves

1068
01:08:17,359 --> 01:08:19,880
on the back to the point they
might have dislocated their shoulder for not,

1069
01:08:20,720 --> 01:08:25,079
you know, putting Drew Holiday's name
in the public one. I think if

1070
01:08:25,119 --> 01:08:28,319
you give a player notice that allows
them to brace themselves for a trade in

1071
01:08:28,399 --> 01:08:30,880
two. By going that route,
they weren't able to control the team that

1072
01:08:31,000 --> 01:08:34,000
ended up with Drew Holliday and now
the Celtics, so they kind of helped

1073
01:08:34,000 --> 01:08:38,000
create this beast and then the other
team. I'm just I mean, CAAZ

1074
01:08:38,000 --> 01:08:40,079
would be fun. There are a
lot of good teams. They're just looking

1075
01:08:40,079 --> 01:08:44,079
at the makeup and how small they
could technically play at points. Nets versus

1076
01:08:44,079 --> 01:08:48,319
Celtics would fascinate the hell yeah this
year. No, I don't like them

1077
01:08:48,359 --> 01:08:50,840
as an overall team, but as
they match up against the Celtics, where

1078
01:08:50,880 --> 01:08:56,000
you have Dorian Finney Smith, Nick
Claxon, I think is like all defense

1079
01:08:56,079 --> 01:08:59,479
caliber. They brought in Dennis Smith
Junior, who really juices up their point

1080
01:08:59,479 --> 01:09:02,000
of attack defense. With mchal Bridges
there, I just think they can run

1081
01:09:02,039 --> 01:09:08,000
some maybe one or two problematic lineups
for a lot of really good offenses in

1082
01:09:08,039 --> 01:09:10,399
the NBAS. So I would just
be curious to see it. The coach,

1083
01:09:10,840 --> 01:09:13,920
Yeah, so, but I like
that you bring them up because Joe's

1084
01:09:13,920 --> 01:09:16,319
told the story a couple of times. Everybody remembers the game last year where

1085
01:09:16,319 --> 01:09:20,600
they went up twenty eight the Celtics
did against them and then blew it in

1086
01:09:20,680 --> 01:09:26,039
just unbelievable fashion, and Joe keeps
saying, you know, he said it

1087
01:09:26,079 --> 01:09:29,439
a couple of times. I knew
we were going to lose that game because

1088
01:09:29,800 --> 01:09:32,479
they were taking the three pointer away
from us. The nets were just jacking

1089
01:09:32,520 --> 01:09:36,039
three is like crazy to try to
get a three point attempt advantage on Boston.

1090
01:09:36,439 --> 01:09:41,199
And the Celtics built that twenty eight
point lead with layups and shots around

1091
01:09:41,199 --> 01:09:44,279
the rim. So he's like,
we're not going to keep hitting these shots

1092
01:09:44,279 --> 01:09:46,760
at the rim, you know,
and we're losing the three point shooting battle

1093
01:09:46,800 --> 01:09:49,800
here, So this game's gonna flip
against us, and it obviously did,

1094
01:09:50,479 --> 01:09:54,600
so Vaughn talked about it too after
that game. He was like, you

1095
01:09:54,640 --> 01:09:57,520
got to take the three point volume
away from this team. You got to

1096
01:09:57,560 --> 01:10:00,159
take those analytical edges away from them, and that's how you beat Boston.

1097
01:10:00,199 --> 01:10:03,760
And they methodically did it with a
roster that again, last year wasn't all

1098
01:10:03,800 --> 01:10:09,960
that great after the Bridges, after
the Durant trade. So their smart team,

1099
01:10:10,199 --> 01:10:12,680
Bridges is gonna have a monster year. I think he should probably be

1100
01:10:12,680 --> 01:10:15,560
the favorite for most Improved, And
like you said, they have some real

1101
01:10:15,600 --> 01:10:18,680
defensive pieces out there. And even
as a guy who's probably about as low

1102
01:10:18,720 --> 01:10:24,600
on Simmons as anyone else. This
is it for him, right, That's

1103
01:10:24,640 --> 01:10:28,079
the only intriguing part for him going
into this year, along with the health

1104
01:10:28,079 --> 01:10:31,159
that he's talked about, which you
have to believe now too. If he

1105
01:10:31,199 --> 01:10:35,079
has a year like the last year
or the year before that, they'll probably

1106
01:10:35,199 --> 01:10:39,000
wave and stretch him and that'll be
the end of his career. So he

1107
01:10:39,119 --> 01:10:42,319
kind of has to come through this
year to extend his career, at least

1108
01:10:42,319 --> 01:10:45,960
in Brooklyn. So there's really a
lot for him to play for this year,

1109
01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:49,319
and that's that intrigues me a little
bit, even though I'm not counting

1110
01:10:49,319 --> 01:10:54,560
on him turning into the old Ben
again. You've been more than generous with

1111
01:10:54,600 --> 01:10:58,520
your time. Is there anything else
strengths, weaknesses, players, any storylines

1112
01:10:58,520 --> 01:11:00,199
about this team I haven't asked you
about you think needs to be touched upon

1113
01:11:00,239 --> 01:11:03,359
before I let you go? No, I think we hit it all.

1114
01:11:03,399 --> 01:11:05,920
I guess the one guy I'll throw
out there too, And he played a

1115
01:11:05,920 --> 01:11:10,640
little bit last last game in the
dress rehearsal, which I think is telling

1116
01:11:11,560 --> 01:11:17,439
Delan O'Bannon, a young raw guy
who just didn't work out in Toronto who

1117
01:11:17,640 --> 01:11:21,079
fans up there like, but the
coach didn't really trust them and Nick Nurse.

1118
01:11:21,880 --> 01:11:26,800
They get him on the minimum.
He's on a non guaranteed deal with

1119
01:11:26,880 --> 01:11:30,880
a team option the second year,
so they really bought low on him.

1120
01:11:31,079 --> 01:11:33,680
Joe really likes him, and you
can tell why. He had a great

1121
01:11:33,720 --> 01:11:38,800
game scoring twenty points against the Knicks
on the road. Knows all the screening

1122
01:11:39,640 --> 01:11:43,000
actions on this team. He said
he came eight weeks ago and learned all

1123
01:11:43,119 --> 01:11:45,880
that. So he got super in
depth with the offense over the summer,

1124
01:11:45,640 --> 01:11:49,680
really endeared himself to Joe. It
seems a long guy at the point guard

1125
01:11:49,680 --> 01:11:54,840
spot at six seven, but a
guy who really really struggles to shoot.

1126
01:11:55,079 --> 01:11:58,880
And we know how important shooting is
for this team. We know important spacing

1127
01:11:59,000 --> 01:12:01,079
is, but space this thing's not
all about shooting, you know, moving

1128
01:12:01,119 --> 01:12:05,119
and screening and all the different stuff
we talk about. He could get involved

1129
01:12:05,119 --> 01:12:08,960
in that way. Andy's a playmaker
on top of it, is a natural

1130
01:12:09,000 --> 01:12:12,720
point guard who was still six seven
and can guard some wings. I'm keeping

1131
01:12:12,760 --> 01:12:15,920
an eye on him because of all
the players we've mentioned, I think he's

1132
01:12:15,920 --> 01:12:20,439
had the most surprising preseason just with
how involved he's been, with how much

1133
01:12:20,479 --> 01:12:25,600
the coach has talked him up and
how effective he's looked at times now Nurse.

1134
01:12:25,640 --> 01:12:28,319
I asked Nurse about him, you
know, when Philly came through last

1135
01:12:28,319 --> 01:12:30,479
week, and he was like,
yeah, he'll look great one game and

1136
01:12:30,520 --> 01:12:34,600
then the next game he's here.
So that happened. He had twenty points

1137
01:12:34,600 --> 01:12:38,279
against the Knicks, and then the
next game against Philly on the road,

1138
01:12:38,359 --> 01:12:41,880
he didn't die for a loose ball
and Joe benched him to start the third

1139
01:12:41,960 --> 01:12:45,239
quarter. So there's still some inconsistency
to his game. He's still young enough

1140
01:12:45,279 --> 01:12:48,039
where you're like, all right,
he's probably not a part of the picture

1141
01:12:48,119 --> 01:12:51,960
right now. But a little time
in Maine, you know, a little

1142
01:12:53,000 --> 01:12:57,720
an injury, maybe he could sneak
into the conversation fast here, just like

1143
01:12:57,760 --> 01:13:00,399
what I said with Lamar Stevens.
So I'm keeping an eye on and he's

1144
01:13:00,399 --> 01:13:03,960
had a great preseason. His energy
seems great. He's got a variety of

1145
01:13:04,119 --> 01:13:09,840
skills and a unique body that I
think is well suited to the way this

1146
01:13:09,920 --> 01:13:13,560
team wants to play on both ends
of the floor. So Banton, nice

1147
01:13:13,600 --> 01:13:16,880
pickup, surprising preseason, and maybe
a guy that surprises some people early in

1148
01:13:16,880 --> 01:13:19,800
the schedule if he sneaks in some
minutes. And you know the other thing

1149
01:13:19,840 --> 01:13:24,159
too, is there is some wing
minutes open here. If Howser goes into

1150
01:13:24,159 --> 01:13:28,039
a slump two months last year he
shot twenty eight percent of three and they

1151
01:13:28,079 --> 01:13:30,880
really had nowhere else to go.
I think this time around, if he

1152
01:13:30,960 --> 01:13:33,640
slumps for like five six games,
you have a lot of different guys like

1153
01:13:33,720 --> 01:13:39,279
Benton that you could put into that
spot and try something new. This was

1154
01:13:39,319 --> 01:13:41,760
great. Thank you so much for
being so generous with your time. Are

1155
01:13:41,760 --> 01:13:44,039
you able just to tell our listeners
where they could find you in all the

1156
01:13:44,079 --> 01:13:48,039
great work that you do. Yeah, Steelinusmedia dot com written content there of

1157
01:13:48,039 --> 01:13:51,720
course, the Garden Report after every
game will be live tonight as we record

1158
01:13:51,760 --> 01:13:56,760
this. After the Hornets preseason finale
for the Celtics opening night next week will

1159
01:13:56,800 --> 01:14:01,279
be down to New York Boston Sports
Channel every weekend call him over there and

1160
01:14:01,600 --> 01:14:05,479
Celtics Bog occasionally as well. So
a lot of stuff out there, go

1161
01:14:05,600 --> 01:14:10,760
find it. The links to Bobby
cnls media page will be in the YouTube

1162
01:14:10,760 --> 01:14:14,479
and podcast description, so go support
him over there please, and once more,

1163
01:14:14,479 --> 01:14:15,520
thank you so much for giving me
a bunch of your time, and

1164
01:14:16,000 --> 01:14:19,079
I will definitely be spamming you again
in the future. Thanks Jan,