What is a fellow thermonuclear effort. I am Dan Valley coming at you with
another twenty twenty four NBA Team look Ahead, our penn ultimate NBA team look
Ahead. It is the Boston Celtics, who had quite an off season,
and I'm excited to be joined by Bobby Manning from CLNS Media as well as
the Boston Journal. Does great detailed work, especially if you're following the stuff
he's gonna do at does it CLNS between the videos, articles all great stuff.
First time. Yes, So Bobby, thank you so much for joining
me. How are you doing? I'm good man excited to get back into
it. It was a long offseason, busy one, but I'm all about
the games. I'm all about the action. So excited for Wednesday and opening
Night. Yeah, It's like it felt like it was a long offseason and
then as soon as training camps open, it just feels like it's been a
dead spread until opening Night for some time. I'm done with preseason basketball.
I'm definitely ready to get to some more meaningful basketball. But it's funny how
the timeline sort of it felt like we were in the off season forever,
but as soon as training camps open it's like this dead spread. Yeah,
and they've had an intense training camp in Boston. There's been some line practices
we've been at, and we of course can't watch practice, so you know,
we're just waiting and waiting and waiting for things open up after. So
the good thing is, you know, even preseason games, you're not seeing
a ton, but it's some sort of action. You get to look at
the starters at least you get to see these guys for the first time.
And then opening night where it is where it's gonna all come together for the
first time. Yeah, and I have to start before you even get to
just sort of the on court implications, given how much roster turn there was
for them looking at acquisitions and departures, what do you think was sort of
the overall message telegraphed by this organization? Was it, you know, was
it a matter of the opportunities that were in front of them. Did the
Jalen Brown supermax with the Jason Tatums next deal sort of looming pushed them to
kind of make more aggressive moves this offseason? What was just like, was
it more about, oh, we need to be offensively versatile? Like?
What was just the overarching motivation, but behind everything they did this summer,
Yeah, I think all that comes into play. Of course, you want
to see a shake up after disappointing season, a year as a whole that
I felt never seemed right with some of the lessons against bad teams and going
down three nothing of the heat just wasn't acceptable, even with the comeback effort
that they made. You know, there were a couple gave vincentn injury here
to put back in game six, a couple of fuky things helped you get
to that game seven. Then you got blown out in game seven, so
changes were coming. Grant seemed that he was out the door from the start,
so you needed some front court help. I think that that's a lot
of what the organization talked about over the summer when it came to their pursuit
of porzingis guy that they've obviously liked for a long time, that had interest
in coming to Boston. So it all made sense in that standpoint, and
I think shaking up the core is something they were interested in. You know,
you extend Brown. I think they want to make this Tatum Brown thing
work, and this is going to be that real test this year. Having
put pretty much the best team you can imagine around them now, even better
than some of the last couple of teams that were pretty good too, and
you have a real offensive presence in Porzingis now, who's blown me away this
preseason. I wasn't super sure about that move at first, but you had
in the holiday trade, which I think addresses some of what you lost with
Marcus Smart, and I think everything makes sense now. Everything came in to
focus, and as you mentioned, there's some implications in terms of the money,
trying to add salary, trying to add talent before these new restrictions come
into place that make it difficult to do. So. You can't imagine a
better offseason than this team had here, not only with the top tier talent
they added, but I think they added some intriguing guys on the bench too,
despite not having a ton of money or resources after to do so.
And they have it all. They can play a bunch of different ways now.
They have numerous matchup issues offensively for teams, and you've seen in the
preseason. There's still a few questions here or there, and we'll get to
those. But to answer your original question, I do think they felt the
need to shake things up a little bit. And it's no mistake that Smart
goes out the door. As part of that that some new faces, talents
come in and coaches too, you know, a couple of good coaching hires
behind Joe Mizzoulan. There's a big year for Missoula too, of course,
So do you think that I think the national media or even just fans like
of the league who aren't necessarily following the Celtics day to day, you can
get them. They're over selling sort of this decision to trade the cultural touchdown
in Marcus Smart and was that you know, especially the players they acquired in
Porzingis and Holiday, It's not surprising they were interested in them. It's not
surprising that they went after them. Wasn't it all surprising when you look at
who they gave up to get them where it was? Finally moving on from
Marcus Smart, even including Robert Williams the third and the Drew Holiday deal,
did any of that stuff kind of catch you by surprise? Yeah, Training
Smart definitely shock me. I thought he would continue to be a cornerstone guy
for this team. I thought he played the best point guard of anyone on
the roster last year and over the last couple of years here Defensive player of
the Year two years ago, of course, So I don't think that loss
is over sold. And if they didn't end up acquiring Holidays, they did,
that would have been a major question for me this year. Where's the
leadership come from? Where's that physical on ball defense come from? Against some
of the better offensive talents in the league. The defensive organization of course,
something Holidays talked about himself picking up now since he arrived here, So that
was a big loss I felt like, and I didn't love the move initially,
just because I didn't think there was a clear production behind him or replacement
for what he brought to this team. Fortunately, the Holiday thing came out
of nowhere over the last couple of weeks here and they addressed it by making
that move, which if you were thinking of a Smart upgrade, Holiday would
be the first guy I think anyone would mention in terms of stepping into that
role. So I think the thing when it came to moving on from Smart,
and a lot of the perception when it happened was, oh, the
Brogden trade fell apart, so they had to scramble and throw Smart out there
to make this work. I think there's a real chance that even if the
original Brogden trade went through, they would have looked into moving Smart a different
way. I don't know if it would have been Tias Jones or some other
piece coming back from Memphis. Memphis, of course said after the fact that
they had had conversations about Smart going back a little while well before that night,
and I think it's just inconceivable that that trade came out of nowhere with
an hour to spare on the Porzingis stuff. So I think there's been consideration
for a long time about where Smart's future goes with this team. He's been
such an institution there and someone that both Brown and Tatum have looked up to
and deferred to at times. I think part of this move, of course,
too, beyond adding a major talent that they really like in Porzingis,
was opening the door for Brand and Tatum to really have full rings on leadership
and ball handling and everything across the board when it comes to running this team
and having no real challenge to that or feeling that they have to accommodate the
longest tenured player on the team here. I think that was all a factor
here, and I think Smart's going to be amazing in Memphis. I still
think there'll be some moments this year where you're like, they kind of miss
Smart a little bit here, gonna speak up. Things aren't going great,
But I think the time comes. You know, he's dealing with an abdominal
injury now going into camp. I think injuries are something that's really plagued his
play Smart, that is, in recent years, So maybe it was the
right time. I still think the moves up for debate going forward whether it's
the right move or not. But of course that move too help you helped
you do the holiday trade because the Warriors pick you got back and that ends
up going out in the holiday deal. So I like it all now.
If you ask me this a month ago, where poor Zengis is in Smart's
out, I wouldn't have liked it as much. But again, holiday really
solved that issue. I think of what's going up the door and Smart.
Yeah, I I tend not to be too inflammatory, but I absolutely killed
that Poorzingis deal before the Holiday trade. I just didn't. I didn't like
the idea of like sort of diluting your playmaking when that was your biggest need
for a risk impreciated, and I'm like you, the holiday trade definitely helped
it make more sense. I do still admittedly count myself as just like a
skeptic of Porzingis. And so my question to you is I acknowledge how good
he was last year, Like he was hitting turnaround jumpers, he was scoring
efficiently at every level, even though he doesn't get to the basket a ton
for size, without being especially ball dominant, yet still being able to punish
mismatches. And you're looking at where he's getting the ball in the shots he's
hitting. What do you think is the biggest impact he's going to have on
this team offense? Like, what's the biggest thing that he brings that they
needed? I think an easy target. You talk about some of the playmaking
concerns here, and I think when people think about playmaking, it's that point
guard on the ball and he's making all the decisions and finding guys right in
their spots. I think, especially in the minern NBA now and Joe talks
about all the time, finding the mismatches and advantages are really what playmaking is
all about now in the league, especially where guys are switching and screening.
He's just crying mismatches two on ones and stuff like that. It's gonna be
so much easier for Tatum and Brown rather than scanning and saying like, oh,
Grant's over here, Smart's here, he's open. You know, Horford's
over here. You got this seven to three guy who's probably gonna hit the
shot when you pass it to him. So more often than not, when
Tatum and Brown are on the ball, it's gonna be fine. Porzingis he's
probably open or he probably has an advantage after the screen here, and you've
seen it in preseason like you, I came into this a little skeptical about
the year he had, his ability to stay healthy, how fresh he is
after so many injuries in his career. But he's blown me away. And
yes, preseason, bad competition all the rest, but even just watching him
in practice, I mean, he hits everything. Every three he puts up
goes in. It's a beautiful form. It's got that great mid range release
as well. You talked about the post improvement last year. We haven't seen
a ton of that yet, but against smaller guys, it's something he's capable
of. I've been very him twenty to nine. Of course, in the
last game, the three point percentage is gonna just go through the roof.
I said, if he doesn't shoot forty this year, the only reason will
be because he's taken like three ten a game, and you know he's just
below that forty mark. But he's a real element that they've missed. Robert
Williams didn't have much of an offensive game. Al Horford's offense mostly just came
from spot up threes, so you didn't have a presence in the pick and
roll that you could throw to and make stuff happen with. And Porzingis has
shown a little bit too when it comes to that topic of playmaker, that
he can make a quick decision if guys really close out on him. So
it's a real third playmaker. And one of the reasons I came into this
skeptical too, was can he step into a third role, a third option
role behind Brown and Tatum. I think he's even done a good job with
that, just trailing plays, shooting quickly when he gets to catch, attacking
the offensive glass. I think he's done a great job with two. So
it's just an element they don't have, especially I think Tatum's come a long
way as a passer. But for Brown, who receives so much criticism for
the turnovers in Game seven, when he's out there with the second unit,
a spot that they really struggled in last year without Tatum on the floor,
I think for him to just focus and even said this after last game when
I was talking to him about it, if he can just focus on get
poorzingis that ball and go from there, it's going to be a huge pus
for these guys turning the ball over less and being less stagnant offensively. Yeah,
that was my I had two main I guess three when you include the
playmaking, but one of the other three was would it be difficult to get
him to buy into a number three role? And at times it could be
just the amount Drew Holly might have the ball in his hands if you're playing
all quarter them together, as it tochnally number four. And then I saw
some of his comments. I think you actually posted them or as a video
in your article about I've never seen him talk like that. I've never seen
him seem so introspective about how he was kind of I guess like that.
I don't know that he used the word immature, but was just talking about
how he didn't understand certain things earlier in his career. Now he gets it.
And so I guess, just from what you're saying, that doesn't sound
like fitting him into the larger offensive ecosystem doesn't sound like it's an actual concern
anymore. No, not yet, and we'll see where that goes. I'm
sure there'll be some frustrating moments and games where things don't go their way.
We even saw a stretch in that last game against the Knicks where they got
a little stale offensively for about a quarter and a half. So that stuff
will still happen. I think turnovers are really something they're gonna have to avoid
here to make everything work. But Joe keeps stressing the best way to avoid
turn the ball over is just finding an open shot quickly and taking it.
And that's something for Zengis I think is capable of doing. He's gonna get
a ton of shots. He's going to be a major factor in this offense,
and i've you know, we haven't even mentioned it. The one thing,
for all the doubts we both had about him, the one thing I
said when he came in is that he's going to be a defensive force the
way the Celtics play defense, dropping their big back, having guards who can
really navigate screens. Well, I knew he'd be incredible, and he just
had a great season with the Wizards defending pick and rolls, and man,
he's out there. I don't have the numbers because they haven't done a great
job tracking them in the free season, but it feels like he's contested a
million shots in these games. Guys are probably shooting below forty percent against him
inside. That's what it's felt like just watching it. Had a couple more
blocks last game, but it's not even all about the blocks. He's deflecting
passes in the pick and roll. They were even pressing last game, and
he was getting up making things happen in the press. So I'm blown away.
He moves better than I thought he did. I thought there were and
there probably will be situations where if he has to get out to the perimeter
to cover screens and shooters and stuff, it's going to be a challenge.
But you have Horford. If you got to do that, He's a better
defender against that. Having a seven to three guy in that drop rather than
Horford, who's probably six eight six' nine, not really a room protector.
World of a difference for this team defensively already, and I think he's
gonna have a monster year on that end. Offense, I think, you
know, he's gonna make shots, He's gonna produce on that end. But
defense is what I think many people question with him in the past. But
in this system, the way this team defends, he looks like a natural
fit and it's simple, like he just has to guard those greens, stay
back against the rim and defend contest shots and he's done a great job of
it so far. I've been super impressed by his defense. Yeah, I
think statistically he's been one of the best drop coverage defenders for the past couple
of years too. Yeah, and before I asked more about the defense,
is really quickly in the offense, is there any element of Okay, now
you trade away Malcolm Brogden, who for his position, and I think in
large part thanks to Boston spacing, he got to the rim a little bit
more than people realized. Robert Williams the third was kind of that guy who
could put pressure on rolls and cuts and slips and whatever to the basket.
Is there any concerns about losing that element. I know you bring in Drew
Holly, like porzingis is not a necessarily a rim heavy big like when he's
he's picking and popping more than he's necessarily going to pick and roll, or
he might pull up out of those plays anyway, if he is going downhill,
Yeah, you'll stagger quite a bit and have those impacts into the second
unit. I do think if you're looking at in a vacuum, they'll miss
Brogden based on what he did last year. You know, he scored half
their bench points pretty much. He was a constant with that unit. The
one thing I'll say about Brogden is I've never seen a player, you know,
in my years watching the Celtics who shot so consistently night tonight. Like
he wouldn't have many like two for tens or you know, one for sevens.
It'd mostly be four for eight, five for ten every single night.
And that was a huge part of their second unit production. And he didn't
play make a ton He was more focused on shooting and scoring. I think
that was a role they expected of him, but he was so consistent with
that role and so who's going to the second unit, who's filling that bench
roll. That's the biggest story tracking in preseason and maybe holiday who More and
more reports and you know, stuff I've heard too seems to be pointing toward
him at least starting the year on the bench or going to the bench in
certain games. Maybe he can fill that role, you know, playmaking ball
in his hands all the rest. I asked them if starting is important to
him, and he said no, I just want to win, and it's
more about who closes and who starts. And I think the whole team's embracing
that a little bit. So, you know, Rob, I always imagined
a more fully formed, effective offensive player when it comes to Rob, and
I think many people dreamed of that. You saw the passing, you saw
him stealing guys sometimes in transition. The roles were incredible, but he never
got involved often enough. Guys didn't look for him enough. It never seemed
to be a well established connection between some of the playmakers on the team and
him, And I thought sometimes he just floated around and didn't really have a
involved role offensively. I didn't think he was the best screen setter either,
Like Williams def offense, always left more to be desired. Great put backs,
great offensive rebounder, but that can't be your offensive game pretty much,
especially if you have another center in Horford out there who's mostly limited offensively when
it comes to scoring too. So you know there's some depth questions on this
team, for sure. Cornett's a guy who's gonna have to give them a
few minutes. Houser really struggled to start the preseason and he wondered if there's
going to be some competition for his spot. He closed the preseason so strong,
and you know, we'll see him again tonight as we record this.
I think he's got a pretty good hold on his position there. But what
you did in training, Smart and Grant and Rob and all the other guys
we've mentioned here is will meet your depth a little bit. And how important
is depth? We'll see, you know, I think that's becoming more and
more of a question around the league, like how much of it is top
end talent to win a championship and how much of his depth. I think
Denver, as great as the top end talent was last year, really had
some solid app that contributed to their championship run too. So I'm interested to
see how the Celtics strike that balance. They have a lot of candidates to
provide some depth here and then the second unit, and if Holiday's gonna embrace
that role and they roll with him for the whole year there, I think
that could be interesting. But for now, you're betting on the top end
talent. You're betting on the new guys who are really you look at some
of the top one hundred lists are putting out there so far much closer to
Brannon Tatum than some of the supporting cast was a year or two ago.
You're betting on that swinging this team closer to the title, even if you're
not getting Rob off the bench or Brogden's scoring off the bench like you did
a year ago. Because you know, as great as those things were,
Dan, nobody looks at last year and says this, that was a great
season. You know they got they were awesome last year. Everybody looked at
last year and was like, what the hell is going on? So they
had to change stuff and they did. And I guess this kind of puts
the bow on the Porzingis discussion. The two things I'm wondering, what changes
you already sort of alluded to the defense. Do we see any changes to
how Boston defense or you already mentioned that maybe they've been bringing him up higher
his hit mobility as soon as he went to Washington. I don't know if
they gave Maydega or something, but he just improved his hit mobility a lot.
Do we see them be more aggressive with him or is it because you
might have when he's healthy one of the most dominant just drop coverage rim protectors
in the league, that you're going to be more even more aggressive. I
think they finished after a slow start like seventh to opponent turnover rate. That
could we see them be even more aggressive up top and try to force those
those issues. Yeah, they're going to feel it out. They've done it
a lot in preseason, tried different things to zone over the summer. I
kept a big eye on that because they played so much of in summer league.
They tried it out a little bit in preseason in spots. You know,
I'd be asking guys and they'd be smiling. They didn't they didn't really
want to say some of the stuff they'd be trying out behind the scenes here.
But I don't think that's something that's going to come into play in a
significant way. But Joe keeps talking about finding a curve ball, other defensive
looks they can go to ways to throw teams off their game, because he
thought defensively, especially last year, they had a system that worked, but
they really didn't have stuff to adjust to when they got a little stale or
ineffective on that end. So they're going to have something that they throw out
there that surprises people at some point. I think a lot of the stuff
we've seen in the preseason has mostly been experimenting, but bringing Porzengis up using
him in a variety of coverages is something Joe wants him to do. He
said, it's not just going to be drop here. He's got to be
ready to do a lot of different stuff on that end, and we've seen
that from him so far. They haven't gotten too crazy with the way they've
used him as he's adjusted to the system. So far. I think they've
kept it fairly simple in the preseason, and they frankly played the Knicks twice
and all of that a team that they're going to play on opening Night.
I don't think they've shown everything that they're going to use when the real season
starts. Especially since they've sat guys in games too, So I think a
lot of the defense is yet to be seen here. I think they been
hammering that this camp rather than last year, mostly focusing on offense, and
I've said it, I think they have a real chance to get back to
number one in the league. Defensively this year, it's gonna look different.
I think they're more focused on covering space, you know, navigating screens for
the guards. As you said, Porzingis playing back and manning the middle wings,
you know, covering space and trying to cut off passes and stuff like
that. I think has been a big deal too. They want to increase
the turnovers this year. I think the biggest thing you saw between that finals
defense and the defense that ranked well last year but didn't look that forceful or
disruptive, was the amount of turnovers they forced. They were way up there
in twenty twenty two. They were in the bottom ten last year in terms
of turnovers forced. So they're going to be scheming up different ways to do
that. And having Porzingis on the back line is as you've mentioned here,
is going to allow the perimeter players to get a little more aggressive on the
ball take some risk and try to force those turnovers. You saw Holiday do
it if you watch that next game early by cutting off a pick and pop
to Sims and just you know, kind of cutting that passing lane and jumping
out of his coverage there, seeing that they were going to do that and
having those really smart, long impactful guards that they do between Holiday and why
he is going to be a big part of that. Yeah, now that
you said, I don't know where I got they were seven to the point
a turval rate for they're actually twenty six. That's a brand part on my
end. So like the contentment pro that you are, you already answered most
of my questions on Drew Holiday and the bench stuff is interesting because does that
sort of imply that they want to ensure he's gonna have enough reps on the
ball, and maybe it makes it a little cleaner if you're staggering him from
some of the stars to make his fit right away, or even just if
you look at him offensively. What do you think is the biggest difference going
from Marcus Smart to Drew Holliday. Essentially, I actually think it's gonna be
pretty similar. And that's what Jalen say at least when I asked him about
it. Yeah, secondary ball hand who they're gonna go to a little bit
more in crunch time, I think, is how Mizzoula has described it,
making that comparison, But throughout the flow of the game, it's going to
be a lot of ball handling back committee. I still think Tatum's going to
be a major part of what they do there, and I know that freaks
people out, but every star in the league is pretty much their team's primary
ball handler, you know, more or less. So the ball is going
to be in Tatum's hands a ton, and it's still going to be on
him to make good use of it for them to win a championship, and
if he's not able to, then they might not be able to do it.
It'd be great to get him off the ball more, and I'm sure
they're going to do that throughout the flow of games. But at the end
of the day, for everything to work offensively, you got to have the
biggest threat on the ball a lot of the time, and that's going to
continue to happen here. Fortunately, Holiday mid forties percent catch and shoot guy,
So they're going to find him and he's going to knock down shots there.
I think the biggest issue with Smart, and this is definitely one to
go back to that conversation a little bit that this team looked at here is
in crunch time, the ball was going a Smart. Defenses were saying,
we're gonna sell out on these guys and make sure that ball finals the Smart
because he's gonna shoot those threes, and those are the shots we want this
team taking here in this spot. And you look at the numbers in crunch
time over the last couple of years here, Smart would be their shot leader
in some of those close and late situations, above Brown, above Tatum,
even Horford I think was above the two stars in the way that teams forced
them to give shots to certain guys. That's gonna be tougher to do with
Holiday, who's been a pretty good shooter throughout his career, can make good
decisions on the ball. I think his screening has really been impressive too.
But it's you know, he just got here two weeks ago, so I
think that's part of the thinking here is helping him continue to acclimate, making
sure White's a starter. The Horford thing's interesting too, because obviously last game
you start White, Holiday Tatum, Brown, Porzingis, and I think most
fans look at that and say, that's your best five. Horford's getting a
little bit older. Send them to the bench. You really don't have a
backup center if you're starting too bigs who you you can rely upon in any
matchup for big minutes. Even though I'm a big Cornette fan, so I
think most fans want to see that be the starting five. But you lose
your double big looks when you're doing that. Horford, I've said it over
and over again. He's only come off the bench fourteen times in his career.
He looked good doing it against the Knicks, which which encourages me a
little bit. I'm sure they'll do that on certain nights, and Joe continues
to really emphasize the starting lineup's gonna be by committee. You know, there's
gonna be a lot of different starting lineups this year, and Guy's gonna be
resting and stuff too, so that's naturally you're gonna create some different starting lineups
here. I don't think it's gonna be like Broaden for Holiday this year,
where he never starts games. It's gonna be six man every game. I
don't think that's gonna be the case for holiday, but start the year,
help him continue to ease in a little bit, give him some added ball
time. As you said, you know, when Tatum's off the floor,
Drew can have the ball in his hands and Brown can continue to play off
the ball with him. And I'm sure Porzingis was stagger and there's some of
those lineups. You can really have an effective second unit with out Tatum on
the floor, which this team has never had in the time that Tatum has
been their star. So I think that's all part of the thinking there.
You're gonna have some nights where Horford comes off the bench. I'm sure White
is super willing to do it. So if it comes down to just personalities
and management of ego and stuff like that, I think the easy move is
to send White to the bench. But you can't do it. Like he
was too good with the starters last year. He has been too good in
the preseason. He's maybe your best defensive player all around, at least last
year, right like that, So like as much as he's like, I'll
do it, you know, I'm the good soldier. You know, I'm
fine off the bench. He looked at his best playing with their best players
last year, and you got to continue to keep letting him play as many
minutes as possible alongside those best players. So as easy as it will be
for Joe to make that move, I think you really got to keep White
out there as a starter. So again, I said it on the Garden
Report after last game. If I had to predict the starting line up on
Opening Night, I think it's gonna be White, Brown, Tatum, Horford,
Porzingis, and Holiday's gonna come off the bench, Which doesn't mean he's
gonna play ten minutes. He'll still play thirty minutes off the bench, but
it's just in terms of the rotations and how they're starting games. And everybody
says it doesn't matter how you start the game, it's how you finish.
And Holiday will be out there to close every game. Yeah, even as
the reports have come out or like the comments when he was I just wouldn't.
I didn't buy it. I didn't buy it, but I mean you're
saying it, so I'm gonna I'm gonna have to buy it, and I
am. Overall when whether he's playing against second units or I'm looking more so,
you know, he's a good shot maker during the regular season. His
splits in the postseason have been so bad, even back to Milwaukee's run.
I am so interested to see though not just maybe being nudged down in the
pecking order a little bit, but like Boston spacing, he will probably be
with three to four above average shooters at their positions at all times. That
is spacing he did not have in Milwaukee. And you can even look at
some of his three point shot quality metrics, like it just supports that how
difficult his role was. And so whether you're starting him, whether you're bringing
him off the bench, it feels like they are streamlining his functionality in a
way that could be devastating to opposing defenses because it's just the holiday we've seen.
I mean, maybe his shot leaves in the playoffs, but like this
is someone who's been hitting step back jumpers for a few years now, Like
these contested step back jumpers, and now you don't need to use that as
a crutch. You're gonna have more room to attack in the middle, or
you just might be getting wide open threes you weren't in Milwaukee. That's I'm
so fascinated to see how his offensive efficiency and just game changes regardless of how
the Celtics are gonna use him because of just the half court spacing environment they're
set to put him in. Yeah, it's similar to Porzingis, right.
You're captivated by how much more space these guys will have to operate apart from
the Jays. And I said that last year when Brogden arrived. He didn't
have the best shooting year with Indiana that last season he was there, But
it's like, all right, he's gonna be shooting mid open shots every time
here in Boston. And he had a forty four forty five percent three point
shooting year, So holiday's definitely capable of that. Porzingis as well. It's
gonna be tough for teams to stay away from anyone, to overcompensate against anyone,
and they might have to do that against Porzingis, especially if he's gonna
play that inside game against the mismatches, and that's gonna lead to some easier
shots for Brown and Tatum too. To go back to that conversation, so
you really have release valves everywhere for this offense, shot making everywhere a little
more flexibility offensively too. When you think of the stuff Porzingis can do inside
the arc. You know, Tatum at the rim two has been posting up
more of this preseason I've noticed. So you're just gonna really be pressuring teams.
You know, when I talk to opponents throughout the league last year,
you know, with last year's team, it's like this is a tough shot
making team, Like they're able to make shots where you defend them great,
you feel good about what you did, and they just make a ridiculous step
back three as you mentioned there, or just a fade away or whatever it
might be. And now you're adding two of as you said there, even
tough for shot makers. With Holiday and what he's capable of doing. Even
as a first option on a team, some nights in Milwaukee, he was
really able to get a shot off. Porzingis is the Wizard's top option on
a lot of Knights, a ridiculous shot maker. He has this move and
he did against the Celtics last year where you know he's dribbling around this is
seven to three guys, you know, dribbling into a step back three fade
away and nailing it against them. And he tried it the other night against
the Knicks and he just barely missed it, and it's like, if you
have to defend that alongside Brown and Tatum, it's gonna be a long night.
And I know some teams are already saying, like, what the hell
are we going to do against this much offensive talent here? And credit to
Joe who I think has gotten a lot of criticism and rightfully so. To
quote Marcus Smart from the playoffs series, he's really drilled offense. And as
this becomes more and more of an offensive league, having that best offense by
and far away the Nuggets did it last year is really the ticket. It
looks like more and more to winning a championship. I still think you need
that high, high level defense too. Not many teams have won championships without
a top ten defense or even higher. But they have the capability to do
both of that here, which I think is really why this team's going to
be a pretty good bet to win the championship. I'm not shying away from
Denver. You know, if you really made me pick today, I think
that's the way you lean just because of what they're running back with here Jokich's
superpowers. But a Denver Boston championship series, especially with Porzingis and the mix
now is a big man against Jokic, It's gonna be a lot more captivating
than it was last year. Say the Heat won or the Celtics won Game
seven against the Heat there, I think they would have lost pretty quickly against
Denver, and this time it'd be a much longer, more competitive series with
what these teams have now, Yeah, I mean they both. I think
the top six for each of these teams are the best in the league too.
When you look. It depends maybe on how you feel about Ristian Brown
and Denver, but Boston just they have the best top six in the league.
Jalen Brown, I've seen a lot of optimism on the timeline about him.
He's ripped. We've seen videos of him, you know, dribbling with
his with his offhand. Is that still just the next frontier for him is
Kenny and tighten his handle or improve upon the turnovers, or be a more
consistent playmaker. You know, at one point it used to be Kenny deep
in is his shot making Armorne. He's done that and like each and every
season seems like he's added a little bit to it. Do you trust that
he has the ability to kind of hit that next gear of can you diversify
your handle or be more of a consistent playmaker or is it okay looking at
how long he's been in the league like this just he might just be closer
to what he is now than waiting for him to continue to add on.
Yeah, I think the better bet is accentuating what he is now rather than
completely changing it. He's been in the legal a long time now, since
sixteen seventeen, and you haven't seen too much improvement on the ball handling front
day. There's been some spurts of it, but for whatever reason, I
know that there's a lot of talk coming in the league about his hand size
or whatever it is that really prevents him from being that great tight dribbler.
Every player is going to have a weakness, and if you could show up
all your weaknesses, you'd be the best player in the league. And this
is just going to be that thing that holds him back. It seems like,
so instead of becoming you know, Pritchard with the handles, it it's
gonna be about him making good decisions on the ball. And last game especially,
he had six assists four turnovers. You see where he's able to get
off of it quickly and find an open guy and pass out of the traffic
that's really coming to pressurize him on the ball, and you see situations where
you just get stuck under the basket doing a little too much and tries to
throw it away and it ends up in the other team's hands. So for
him, he started doing it last year and it really led to the All
NBA season he had. Being an off ball scorer for him is going to
be super important. Hitting threes. He's had a few down seasons from three,
and improving in that again I think would really help him. You know,
being a quick finisher, better screen I think is something he's worked at
too, because especially now you mentioned Holiday, you mentioned Borzingis, those are
two guys that are gonna cut into his ball time a little bit here.
So this is gonna be much less time for him on the ball, and
that could be to his benefit. I know he has aspirations of becoming a
better playmaker on the ball and running pick and rolls and all that, but
if that's not your strengths, focus on your strengths, which are finishing,
you know, shooting off the catch. He can break guys down from mid
range and you're still gonna want that to be part of your arsenal. And
a lot of his turnovers, as high as those numbers are, I think
come from him being aggressive. One of my favorite things about Jalen is against
the best room protectors in the league. You're Evan Mobley's and you know,
all the way down the line, Rudy Goberts or whoever it is, he's
able to just go in there against those guys, aggressively, knock them off
their spot, and finish. And if you're turning the ball over a little
bit doing that, I think it's worth it. Because for Tatum and some
of these other guys, when they've gone up against great room protectors, it
is really made the offense stale, and I think those have been the nights
for Brown Shine most where he's able to knock those guys off their spot and
open up that lane for the Celtics. So, you know, he's much
maligned, much criticized after the last year. There'll be a lot more scrutiny
with the contract that's coming up for him too, But when you focus on
the things he's great at, which are still a huge benefit for this team,
and realize that you're going to have to deal with some of the weaknesses
to come with that. I think you're able to accept and embrace who he
is as a player and how it helps his team. Now, you'd love
to see him tighten up the ball handle a little bit. Got out of
control in that East Final series to a point where it was just killing the
team. But you can live with three ish turnovers a night giving them what
he gives you there. Now the defense is another story. I don't know
what's going on with that part of his game in the last couple of years,
getting lost off the ball and making mistakes on that end and just looking
unfocused on that end of the floor. Eight length really strong. Even earlier
in his career, it felt like he was almost a defensive specialist. In
the last couple of years, he's let that slip. So as much as
everyone's gonna be focusing on the ball handling, I'm focusing on the defensive year
because that's more just about effort and consistency and being dial and rather than the
ball handling where there might be some physical limitations or you know, whatever's caused
that. So if he has a great defensive year and he keeps talking about
it. I think that's gonna make the ball handling mistakes he has more acceptable
for me. I wrote to you in the outline that Jason Tatum has just
reached a level of stardom where don't really have any interesting topics to bring up
about him, just because he's such a known commodity. But you mentioning that
Drew Holly's gonna come off the bench, is that I know they have the
connective tissue of Derek White al Horford then in that starting lineup. Is that
a vote of confidence though, in his ability to drive the offense as a
passer, which he's look, he's improved upon over the past few years,
gotten better at, like making those quick decision notgeable touch passes or the assistant
he threw to Jail Brown was I can't remember what game it was in the
preseason, where yeah, the last one in the corner, just like so
like he's just able to make these more complicated reads. Is that among many
of the other factors that goes into bringing Drew Howdy off the bench? Is
that also kind of a vote of confidence in Jaalen Brown, h excuse me,
Jason Tatum the facilitator though yeah, and that's inherent. I keep saying
it. A lot of people want to see them bring in like a Chris
Paul or something to just organize this thing and run it. It doesn't happen
as much anymore, and you don't really have those guys who are going to
come in and run an offense alongside stars like Rono used to do or whoever
it's going to be. The ball has got to be in your best player's
hands and he's got to be able to pull in the pressure of the defense
and make other guys better away from that pressure. And so if if the
ball is in his hands less often, it's going to be less opportunity for
him to, you know, take on some pressure and dish the ball and
create some mismatches as he can do on the ball there. I like his
pick and roll product. I think the numbers were decent last year without having
them in front of me. It's just about consistency for him cutting down turnovers
too. He can be a little bit of a mess out there to on
the ball at times, though he's made some real strides in that area.
As you mentioned, it just has to happen, and you only get better
by doing it more and more. So I think it only makes sense that
you're going to push him to do it more and more, and when late
game situations come up, the ball is going to be in his hands.
It's just how it goes. It's nice to hear that they'll be a little
bit more of an outlet out there on holiday, and I think it's going
to be important for Tatum and Brandt to know that and empower him because going
back to the smart thing, I felt like there were times late in games
where they could defer to him a little bit more as a creator, but
they just didn't for whatever reason, trust or shot making or anything down the
line you could say about smart there. So the biggest thing for Tatum as
a ball handler is trusting his teammates, especially with the teammates he has.
Now, you don't have to be this great orchestrator. Again, back to
the poor Zingis point, you just got to find him. A lot of
the time that's going to be your read is just finding Porzingis. So it's
simplifying things for these guys. And is Tatum ever going to be an eight
to nine assists the game guy? Probably not, But if he's making the
right reads moving and keeping things flowing after that. Keeping up the pace of
this offense too, I think is so key for him. He's just such
a naturally slow moving player offensively on the ball that I think that's another thing
that pisses offfense, is that like he's just slow down with him. But
it's all about just continuing to improve in that area for Tatum especially, he's
only twenty five. Guys really don't hit their stride their prime until twenty six,
seven, eight, So that's the big thing you're still looking for from
him. You know, he can be a great defender and shot maker and
scorer, and even his finishings come a long way. He draws a million
free throws every night. Now, it's just that playmaking and you need it
to happen. I keep saying it. If he can't figure that out,
they're probably not going to win a championship with him, because I mean,
how many Yiannis. I guess even Giannis really made some good strides on the
ball. And he's a center, So centers are kind of that exception that
you can be the roller and create out of that too. During that title
run, he's more of like sort of a play finisher than put him on
the ball and have him run this show. Yeah, and that you don't
have that luxury here because he's really not a center and Brown has to do
that right, He's going to be that play finisher. So Tatum's going to
be the creator a lot of the time. And that's just how it is,
and that's how you structure your team with him as the star. Not
many teams can say our star is going to play off the ball and it's
going to be someone setting him up all the time. You know, I
can't really even think of it. Maybe Philly last year with harn and embiid.
He saw how that went. So he's got to be the you know,
point forward for lack of a better term. That's just got what he's
going to be here. I think he I guess I don't know if I'm
more optimistic than most, but I'm optimistic that he gets there. I guess
the biggest question for me would be when you mentioned when he kind of slows
things down. I also feel like that's how he sees the court or I
think he did a better job of throwing those like touch passes. It's can
he make quicker live dribble decisions and be less predictable on his drives, whereas,
yes, he's a very varied shot taker and maker, but you kind
of also know sometimes and he's going to take a shot, like when he's
operating on those those quicker dribbles. And so I'm curious to see if he
can improve like his live fast dribble playmaking not back to the basket, or
like breaking down defenses more methodically. And if he does that, like it
would not shock me physicist. I know he said it'll never be an eight
assists per game guy, but it wouldn't shock me if his assist totals jump
by like two or three from last year and he was at like four and
a half or whatever it was four point seven. Yeah, And my question
too, and how much can Holiday help this when things get stale, when
they go into some of those droughts, which were still their fatal flaw a
year and even the year before that, where do they go? Can he
be the guy who breaks them out of that? Does Holidays start to help
them solve that a little bit more? Can he really jump out there and
command the ball, because that, to me is still where this team is
going to have its championship hopes made or broken. How quickly can you get
out of those droughts, those lapses offensively, those stretches of sometimes eight,
nine, ten possessions in a row where they're really not getting anything going.
You have some better shot makers. Now you have an array of better playmakers.
So it comes down to Tatum and Brown. Can you trust those guys?
Can you get off the ball and make stuff happen off the ball after
you make that initial pass? For Tatum especially, That's gonna be what I'm
looking for this year. With Brogden gone, I'd assume that Derek White was
gonna be one coming off the bench. You mentioned at some points he might,
and so I was my question was the Cell is gonna need him to
be more of an aggressive scorer this year? Not having that Brogden type there.
I think putting him in the starting lineup would insulate him against needed to
play that role. But does what they need from him change? And I
think it changes more offensively than defensively, But does it change at all just
based off the new makeup of this team. They need him to be aggressive,
They needed to be a shot maker. He's still that guy or He's
now that guy rather that defenses I think are going to find on the ball
toward a little bit more. And luckily he is so downhill driven. Luckily,
he is such a willing screener that he's gonna shake loose and it's a
good finisher. Last year he had an exceptional three point season. I'm interested
to see if he can replicate that. His shooting coach who he primarily worked
with last year and Ben Sullivan's gone, so I'm interested to see if that
can keep up that forty consistency from out there, because he's had a lot
ups and downs in his career as a three point shooter, and if he
lapses a little bit, it's gonna be easier for defenses to lean away from
him. Now, in that awful Game seven that everyone wants to forget,
there was the one silver lining of that stretch, I think in the third
quarter where White got super aggressive and looked like a central offensive creator in that
game. You know a guy who can create off the dribble for himself and
make good decisions on the ball for others. He's always had that in him.
He's not your prototypical point guard. He's going to flow and on and
off the ball, more of a combo guy. But he's just such a
smart and effective playmaker that if you put the ball in his hands or involve
him in a play, something good's gonna happen, whether he's shooting it or
whether he's moving it. And of course you know he should be remembered always
for the game six put back. It's just the embodiment of how smart he
is as a player. The way he read out that play. And you
look at his turnover numbers two they're so low. It just reflects how good
of a decision maker he is. So the more you can empower him on
the ball, I think the better you'll be. Again, he's so willing
to sacrifice. He's such a team guy that he doesn't always imprint himself on
the game. You know, he's more willing to set that screen or space
or whatever it might be for the other guys, which is helpful. But
sometimes you do, as you said, need him to get aggressive and be
a big shot taker because he's he's so capable of it. You know,
even from three last year he was so good. So I see him more
confident white over the last year and change here, you know, becoming a
father, becoming comfortable in Boston on a winning team, a starter. It
all comes into play there. And he saw him really hit his stride in
those playoffs. So I'm not worried about him. You know, he's probably
the guy you worry about least here in terms of what he's going to bring
to the table. But it's just about staying consistently aggressive if you're him,
you know, even speaking up a little bit more too. I talked to
his trainer over the summer and in that leadership conversation we have. You know,
he's one of the more elder guys who's been here the longest now,
so he's got to be willing, especially as a fellow starter, to point
something out to Brown and Tatum to you know, get them in the right
positions defensively, if that's what it is, to just speak his mind on
stuff. Because a lot of the leadership here is coming from the players on
this team. They've added some good assistance. You know, Joe's becoming more
confident this preseason, he can tell. But this is this is a player's
team, right. They don't have this big coach with a lot of pedigree
who's been around forever who gonna set everybody straight like he may did. It's
going to be a lot of the players figuring out stuff on their own.
So, yeah, Tatum and Brown are the leaders now and it's going to
come from them, but you're also going to need your Whites and Porzingises and
your Holidays of the world to speak their mind too when it comes to it.
And especially for White, who's been playing for these guys for a couple
of years, with these guys, I think he's in a better position to
do that, and he's talked a little bit about doing it too, and
he's so naturally shy and quiet and to himself that I think it's going to
be an adjustment. But especially if you're a starter, if you're one of
the longest tenure guys on this team, you've got to be a vocal guy
to some degree, and that's going to be something else I watched with him
this year with Holiday. If he does come off the bench a ton does,
is Peyton Pritchard still this team's seven most important player or does that role
shift? What do they need from him this year? And then who is
after him? Like who looking at this their depth, their their role players,
like who becomes the next most important player after that top seven. Yeah,
I think to go back to this last next game you're gonna see,
I think what Peyton Pritchard did in that game be his role more than some
of the flashier, high scoring games this preseason. I'm sure you know if
guys are sitting out tonight, we'll see that from him again. His acclamation
of being an off ball shot maker, an active player await from the ball
is going to continue to dictate his success. And there might be some nights
where he plays a little less often to allow those top six guys to play
together more often, especially in the playoffs, but during the regular season,
allowing him to play more often and acclimate to that role, which they haven't
given him a ton of time to do throughout his early portion of his career,
even though he's a career forty percent guy from three. That's gonna be
key to this team developing depth and having him ready to step up if needed.
I still think you will get Pritchard and say he's probably still more of
an if needed guy than every night twenty twenty five minutes a game guy when
it matters. But he's showing these capable of these things now, surviving defensively,
making shots away from the ball, making quick decisions away from the ball,
and you know, you want to see him get more involved in some
of those team areas too, like screening and moving and making the right cuts
and all the rest. And I think he's shown all that this preseason.
He looks a little stronger too, and you know, we can create off
the dribble. Not the best playmaker on the team, so I still don't
think that's going to be a massive part of what he gives them, but
he's just ready to contribute now, I think, which if that's ten fifteen
to twenty minutes a game, is helpful because you can't have everything right.
This team has a big top six that's high paid, that star studded,
so you're going to need your pitchers of the world to go down the line
like you wanted Howser, another big year from him. Shooting forty percent from
three is all you really need from him. Surviving defensively too. Coronett a
guy who I like who fans I think misunderstand playmaking, Steve Yeah, playmaking,
setting the rights greens and defending the rim. It's all you need him
to do. And now you have an array of guys down the line here
Stevens a defensive specialist, Mahai Luke a shot making specialist. I think these
guys are probably much further down the depth chart than it's seen this preseason.
Even Jordan Walsh, I thought he might make an impression and break into the
conversation here, but it seems like he's going to be more of a main
guy this year. So it really is about the top six. Then you're
looking at Prichard for all the things I mentioned. Then you're looking at Houser
for the shot making, and then you're looking at Cornet for the room protection
and passing and what he brings. So if this team is fully healthy,
I think you have what you need. But when you're a little less reliant
on depth, suddenly an injury strikes, especially in that front court. To
bring it back to porzingis the concern we have with him. The healthy he
goes down for a week or two, all of a sudden, it's thirty
forty minutes of Horford at center a lot more if he gets injured during that
stretch too, That's where you start to get a little worried with this group,
and I do think they've minimized their injury risk a little bit, even
buying into porzingis you know, White's a guy who stays healthy, played eighty
two games last year, Holiday throughout his career has done so. Tatum's never
hurt. Brown as a week or two every year where he's kind of out
of the mix but mostly healthy. So I think that concern has been minimized
here. But you do have a team I think that's a little more susceptible
to having its championship hopes threward to buy an injury than a year ago,
where you have Rob to step in or Horford and vice versa, and you
know, Smart and White and brogged in if anything happened there, Brognent's in
the mix. Last year's team was definitely better suited to sustain a loss than
this year's team. But fortunately you have fewer injury risk across the board here,
So that's the balance they struck. That's a great segue into the end
of the podcast, which is a cookie cutter portion of the podcast. It
seems like you outline their nine locks for this rotation. If you got to
pick like sort of a tenth guy, that sneaks in there is that like
an O shape, Rissett that probably the best chance of doing that. I
love o'sha at Covenantman College didn't have the best preseason. I think it's Stevens.
You know, he's on the training camp deal. He hasn't played a
ton this preseason. But to me, that reflects less, oh, he's
on the bubble and he might not make it here, and more we understand
what this guy can do when he's out there with the best players, and
so we really don't have to see him as much in these tryout spots because
he's not a player who's going to shoot a bunch of threes in a fourth
quarter of a preseason game. And really why he was shot making like a
Mahailuke did for stretches here. You know, Brissette, I think a lot
more his game is going to be predicated on shot making than Stevens, who
you know I've talked to a lot this preseason and says, you know,
I can play some five if needed, small ball five. Yeah, I
can make shots, I can get involved in the screening actions. And we
know what he's capable of as a defender from that top rank Cavs defense last
year where he started twenty five games. So I'm still amazed they got him
on a training camp deal. He's gonna make this team. I think there's
gonna be times where you know, maybe someone's missing for a little bit of
a stretch. He just need a change of pace where he's gonna come in.
And you saw in the first preseason game he puts down this two handed
slam putting the ball back in against the Knicks on the road, he had
three offensive rebounds. The shot is really a point where he struggles, and
that's the reason you got him on the minimum deal. To answer my own
question, he really struggles to shoot. And you know that's the name of
the game now. So this isn't gonna be a guy who plays night in
and night out, but it is gonna be a guy who I think you
need in spots here and it's gonna end up being one of the more pleasant
surprises of this offseason was bringing in Lamar Stevens, who I think is gonna
have his moments this year. Oh Shay, we'll see again struggle shot making
this preseason. I think he's more one positional defensively against fours than Stevens who
can guard a bunch of different positions here, so we'll see how that goes.
Mahai Luke amazing preseason shooting the ball, but man, do teams go
after him on the defensive side, and it's gonna be tough to play him
even with you know, the back line help that we've mentioned here. Nice
to have him in the mix, nice to have him on a minimum deal,
but probably not gonna be a guy who plays a lot this year,
especially with Howser in front of him. Walsh. Again, what I'm hearing
is it's gonna be a lot of main early on for him as he acklemates
to the league Cada. People are excited about him, and I won't rule
him out, But in your dress rehearsal last night against the next he didn't
play a minute. So again, a guy on a two way deal is
probably gonna see some time in Maine here. But if we're mentioning guys who
could break through Stevens and him, I can't deny what he's done this preseason,
Cada. He's probably closing in on Cornette more than some of these wings
are on Hausers, So keep an eye on him. Active moves better than
I thought he did, a huge body at seven foot two point fifty.
I've liked his game out there in Sacramento, a top five G League player
last year in that mix for MVP, another guy where it's like, all
right, we'll take him on a two way deal, you know, why
not? So they have a lot of options here. I like the offseason
they had. I said it at the beginning, as much as the druimporzingis,
additions are really some exciting things here. You do have some guys lower
on this roster who do intrigue, who do bring a bona fide NBA skill
to the table. I'm interested to see if Gabriel makes this roster. He
didn't really play at all in the preseason, wasn't around for much of camp.
You know, he's kind of a late addition. You have fifteen guys
right now, you can carry an open spot into the year. He's on
a training camp deal too, So do you carry him into the year sign
him or do you just let him go after camp here and keep some flexibility
open with that fifteenth spot. I think they might end up cutting Gabriel here,
not that I've heard anything about that, but if that's if they want
to have an open spot into the year, save some luxury tax money all
the rest. I think Gabriel would probably be the guy who ends up let
go out of camp here, But we'll see if we fast over at the
end of the season. And I know that this will probably be matchup base
for them a lot, But what would you expect to be there? Most
leaned upon crunch time unit and kind of as a follow up to that,
do you expect that they're gonna tilt now that they've traded time Lord, I
know they might start Porzingis and Horford together a bunch. Do you expect them
to still just lean more so on the one true big lineups rather than trying
to cobble together as many dual big stretches. Definitely, especially I think Missoula
is a guy who likes so small it looks better, and he did a
great job coaching that mix last game when that was the starting lineup, So
I think that's how you're going to close games. I think Horford's probably gonna
sit more often than not in those closing lineups, especially given his one dimensional
offense at this point. Good passer, but mostly just spot up threes.
As We've said that's fine. You know, there might be some bigger teams
where you go double big against them late if you're going more defensive down the
stretch to try to hold a lead, that might be the way you go
too. But more often than I think it'll be Holiday, White, Brown,
Tatum and Porzingis. So I'm still interested to see what happens when they
face a Warriors type team, a team that's really going to spread you,
that's really going to pull the center out to the perimeter. I think there'll
be some situations where Porzingis might have to take a seat late in games.
In those situations if teams are really hammering them from the three point line with
those screen and pops you know, Luka Doncic, even a guy like that
who's just jumping around screens and hitting threes from deep. The interesting thing too,
you know, Milwaukee obviously the main competition is going to be doing that
with Lollard and Giannis. Can Porzingis cover those picking rolls. You know,
it's there's not going to be any center in the league that shuts down that
combination. But you know, I feel like I'm still higher on Horford than
most fans where I've really seen him guard on the perimeter and switch on to
ones in ways that not many centers are capable of doing. I know Trey
Young gave him a tough time in that first round. Who wouldn't have a
tough time as a center in that spot. But he can just stay in
front of guys. He's so used to playing the perimeter defensively, and he's
so used to navigating screens for this team that I do think there'll be certain
games where you do close Whitehall a day, Tatum, Brown, Horford,
so you can switch everything. You know, that's not something I see Porzingis
doing as much switching one to five. You know, he's not a guy
who's gonna guard many guards effectively on the ball. So you know there'll be
some games I think where Porzingis has to take a seat and Horford's out there
to close. But again, the buy in that we've mentioned on this show,
guys being willing to come off the bench, guys being willing to play
a fewer minutes. Porzingis, as you mentioned, surprising, more surprising than
anyone maybe in saying that, like, if my stats take a dip this
year, if I got to do this or that to sacrifice. I don't
care. You know, I want to win. So having that buy in
this year is a little bit of difference versus last year, where I think
Grant falling out of the rotation really just threw him for a loop. You
had a guy like Smart who I think expected to be out there in crunch
time given his pedigree on this team. Of course, it was a starter
at night in and night out, not as flexible I think in his movement
between the starting lineup and the bench as some of these guys will prove to
be. And then minutes of course too. You know, you kind of
knew what you had last year, and this year I think you can be
a little bit more flexible with those minutes. So Missoula is just really more
empowered this year, I think, to make some decisions in all these different
spots we've talked about, right, and he's got the assistance backing him up.
You're bringing Jeff Van Gunny for even more added perspective. I mean,
if you're Missoula this year, there I think all the excuses people used from
Missoula last year, we're all valid coaching staff that didn't really sign up for
coaching alongside him, and many of them left over the summer. Great assistant
in Damon Stardomaire Leaven in April, and that really was a demarcation point for
them going into some of their more inconsistent play into the playoffs after he left,
you know, losing Will Hardy, losing email, all that stuff,
and especially not having a whole summer to prepare for the job. He took
over two days before camp. Those were all valid excuses to me. You
know, you never hate to hear excuses. You never like to hear excuses
for a team of this caliber, but those were valid to me. And
now this year, I don't think there's any excuses. He had the summer,
He's had all the personnel he needs, he's got the assistant. So
there's some pressure on Missoula to get off to a great start here, right
and show that he's capable, because he did have those moments last year where
you really questioned him. But he looks more confident to me. He's deploying
a lot of interesting schemes, especially on that defensive end. As we've talked
about. He's got guys working with players positionally, like Cassell with Tatum,
and you know, Tony Dobbins is back who's done a lot of work with
Brown, and Charles Lee's here who coached Holiday in Milwaukee, so it's been
nice having him tackle mate Holiday to this system too, that Lee's been a
part of all summer, and you know those guys are going to be there
to I think, probably make some suggestions to Missoula, give him some perspectives
that he might not have had last year. And I'm coming in this year
high on Missoula. I really am. You know, when the East Finals
ended, I said, if you really made me pick one way or another,
bring him back or let him go. I probably lean let him go
because I just think he struggled that much in the playoffs last year. But
I said, if you really believe in him, if you like at his
core what he's capable of as a coach, and you're willing to support him,
I can accept him coming back. Because of all the excuses we just
lined out like they were all valid. So I mean, if they were
going to move on from Missoula, my top choice would have been Charles Lee,
and he's here as an assistant. Why not have both? Is there
a weird or wacky lineup that maybe they won't try, but you think that
they should try, or you just they're morbidly curious to say. You know,
it's funny Brad mentioned it, and I think he was joking at the
Perusingis introduction. Oh you know, Rob's not even hear anymore, But it
was funny you mentioned Rob, Horford and Porzengis playing out there together. That
would have been interesting. Three bigs on the flour in certain spots. You
know what, why not? Right, let's go with that one. Three
bigs on the flour corsink, Porzingis at the wing, Horford at the four,
and Cornett down the middle. Maybe that would be something we see.
I don't, I don't see it. It'd probably be something smaller, right,
like a white Holiday, Tatum Brown and another wing out there, like
a Prissett or something like that. To really go small, really run,
really defend one through five. I think that's probably more likely than seeing Cornett
out there with two of the bigs. So yeah, if something whacky was
gonna happen, I think it'd be five small guys out there. Stevens too,
you know, could he play a little bit of five small ball five
for them? Yeah, Tatum's never really been a guy who I think has
been in at the five. To throw it back to twenty twenty, I
still think that was the fatal fall of that team, is that you really
couldn't go small with your three wings and two guards that year. So it's
only so small you'll go with this team, I think. But again,
if there's an injury to that front court and you don't have an immediate reinforcement
ready to come in, they're gonna have to do some more innovative stuff with
small ball. I think, you know, to make it work. And
that's gonna be part of Joe's job this year is making that stuff happen,
especially when injuries strikes. So that's still the one thing that could really hurt
this team and throw them off their path. As an injury to a key
guy like Porzingis or even a Horford I think would really hurt this team at
this point with their flexibility. So yeah, it's gonna be on Joe to
experiment a little bit and see what the way you can do with this new
look roster throughout the year. And I'm excited to see it. Yeah,
you outlaid mine. I want to see Tatum Brown White Holiday then throw Pritchard
in there for me, like, let's really, let's really yeah, it
go super small, right, And that's something Joe I think is open to.
He loves going small, he loves spreading out the floor, really stressing
teams with their offense, and so I wouldn't be surprised to see something wacky
like that at all. As we record this. To wrap up, it
is October nineteenth. Their win total over under a set at fifty four and
a half. Would you take the over of the under on that? And
asking where they stack up in the East isn't really interesting because they have a
very high flour in the East. But are there any looking ahead to the
playoffs? Are there any teams or matchups that are either particularly intriguing to you
or maybe even particularly problematic for this team? So to answer the first question,
it's a high number, right, It's probably the highest in the league
over under or right up there. I think I believe it is. So
usually when I'm approaching those, and I'll probably pick mine soon. All the
over unders i'd lean under, you know, just because I think they're setting
it high and stuff can happen, and you know, you want to be
a little more conservative with picking some of the high numbers, but for this
team, I think I'll actually go over. Just the energy coming into the
year, all the personnel, they have a relatively weak East, and their
ability to win games with guys missing last year really flashed. I forget whether
they went over or under last year, but they won a lot of games
with starters out. They almost beat the Bucks with pretty much none of their
started playing in that game last year up there, so they're good at that.
I think there'll steal some wins here there where you don't think they're gonna
win, and they'll probably just edge out that number. So I'd go over
if I had to pick one way or the other there. And in terms
of matchups, I can't wait for next Friday against the Heat. They didn't
get loaded, they didn't get holiday. You know, Holiday would have really
scared you if he ended up there. They didn't even get brogged in yet.
I'll keep an eye on that one. But they're coming in with Jimmy
and Bam, and you know, it's it's all these unsung guys like Cole
Swider. They're really excited about in camp and what he's done so far,
and you know, you got your Jamal Kaines and just guys no one has
on their radar right now, a couple of rookies and hacks and Jovic,
who's effectively a rookie spent most of the last year in the G League.
Are they gonna surprise everybody? Again? I ruled them out early last year
when they stumbled coming out of the break, and then they made the finals
and they beat the Celtics, going up three nothing on them. So it's
still a little bit of a boogeyman for Boston. I'm sure it's still a
team that's gonna challenge them when they play them, just because of how great
the coaching is on that other side, and Jimmy and dam as effective as
they are on both ends of the court. I think that's going to be
an interesting team if you run into them in the playoffs, it's going to
be a team that you really have to overcome. And you know, I
use this analogy all the time, but the Patriots for so long struggled with
the Ravens. It was just a team they really couldn't get passed. Always
seemed to beat them come playoff time, even though they were the worst roster.
But then that you know, they had that game in twenty fourteen where
it was a shootout. It was back and forth, and then the Patriots
finally overcame them, and you never really heard about the Ravens when it came
to Brady again after that. Could this be the year you finally discard of
the Heat. It'd be big for this team and this Corps going forward into
the future to do that. Having Porzingis against that zone is going to be
a big plus. He played well against the Heat last year, even though
he didn't particularly shoot well. I watched a lot of film of Porzingis against
the Heat. But it's still a team and a matchup that's gonna always challenge
the Celtics more than you think. So I come into this year with full
respect for the Heat, despite losing Strews, despite losing Vincent in this matchup
in particular. Now, are they probably still going to be scrapping and kwon
a getting into the playoffs? Given the ross they have right now. I
think that's how it's going to go for them this year. But that still
puts you in April of the Heat are down there at seven and eight and
the Celtics are up at one and two look out, because I still think
that's something that's going to scare Celtics fans a little bit after the way last
year, when how could it not. Luckily, they get to play them
on Friday Opening night, so we'll get an early look at that. Yeah,
that's I didn't even really figure that one, but that's a good one.
The Bucks obviously, not only because Damen Giannis were there, but because
the Bucks kind of helped create this version of the Celtics by not here's my
thing with the Bucks. I obviously would have said them, but before we
recorded this, Terry Stotts stepped down, which was weird that are And the
big thing is Middleton not being ready for the for camp. I mean that
would scare the hell out of me if I'm a Bucks fan, because with
their depth, I don't think they can beat Boston without Middleton. Well,
the other thing that's just interesting from a storyline standpoint is the Bucks patted themselves
on the back to the point they might have dislocated their shoulder for not,
you know, putting Drew Holiday's name in the public one. I think if
you give a player notice that allows them to brace themselves for a trade in
two. By going that route, they weren't able to control the team that
ended up with Drew Holliday and now the Celtics, so they kind of helped
create this beast and then the other team. I'm just I mean, CAAZ
would be fun. There are a lot of good teams. They're just looking
at the makeup and how small they could technically play at points. Nets versus
Celtics would fascinate the hell yeah this year. No, I don't like them
as an overall team, but as they match up against the Celtics, where
you have Dorian Finney Smith, Nick Claxon, I think is like all defense
caliber. They brought in Dennis Smith Junior, who really juices up their point
of attack defense. With mchal Bridges there, I just think they can run
some maybe one or two problematic lineups for a lot of really good offenses in
the NBAS. So I would just be curious to see it. The coach,
Yeah, so, but I like that you bring them up because Joe's
told the story a couple of times. Everybody remembers the game last year where
they went up twenty eight the Celtics did against them and then blew it in
just unbelievable fashion, and Joe keeps saying, you know, he said it
a couple of times. I knew we were going to lose that game because
they were taking the three pointer away from us. The nets were just jacking
three is like crazy to try to get a three point attempt advantage on Boston.
And the Celtics built that twenty eight point lead with layups and shots around
the rim. So he's like, we're not going to keep hitting these shots
at the rim, you know, and we're losing the three point shooting battle
here, So this game's gonna flip against us, and it obviously did,
so Vaughn talked about it too after that game. He was like, you
got to take the three point volume away from this team. You got to
take those analytical edges away from them, and that's how you beat Boston.
And they methodically did it with a roster that again, last year wasn't all
that great after the Bridges, after the Durant trade. So their smart team,
Bridges is gonna have a monster year. I think he should probably be
the favorite for most Improved, And like you said, they have some real
defensive pieces out there. And even as a guy who's probably about as low
on Simmons as anyone else. This is it for him, right, That's
the only intriguing part for him going into this year, along with the health
that he's talked about, which you have to believe now too. If he
has a year like the last year or the year before that, they'll probably
wave and stretch him and that'll be the end of his career. So he
kind of has to come through this year to extend his career, at least
in Brooklyn. So there's really a lot for him to play for this year,
and that's that intrigues me a little bit, even though I'm not counting
on him turning into the old Ben again. You've been more than generous with
your time. Is there anything else strengths, weaknesses, players, any storylines
about this team I haven't asked you about you think needs to be touched upon
before I let you go? No, I think we hit it all.
I guess the one guy I'll throw out there too, And he played a
little bit last last game in the dress rehearsal, which I think is telling
Delan O'Bannon, a young raw guy who just didn't work out in Toronto who
fans up there like, but the coach didn't really trust them and Nick Nurse.
They get him on the minimum. He's on a non guaranteed deal with
a team option the second year, so they really bought low on him.
Joe really likes him, and you can tell why. He had a great
game scoring twenty points against the Knicks on the road. Knows all the screening
actions on this team. He said he came eight weeks ago and learned all
that. So he got super in depth with the offense over the summer,
really endeared himself to Joe. It seems a long guy at the point guard
spot at six seven, but a guy who really really struggles to shoot.
And we know how important shooting is for this team. We know important spacing
is, but space this thing's not all about shooting, you know, moving
and screening and all the different stuff we talk about. He could get involved
in that way. Andy's a playmaker on top of it, is a natural
point guard who was still six seven and can guard some wings. I'm keeping
an eye on him because of all the players we've mentioned, I think he's
had the most surprising preseason just with how involved he's been, with how much
the coach has talked him up and how effective he's looked at times now Nurse.
I asked Nurse about him, you know, when Philly came through last
week, and he was like, yeah, he'll look great one game and
then the next game he's here. So that happened. He had twenty points
against the Knicks, and then the next game against Philly on the road,
he didn't die for a loose ball and Joe benched him to start the third
quarter. So there's still some inconsistency to his game. He's still young enough
where you're like, all right, he's probably not a part of the picture
right now. But a little time in Maine, you know, a little
an injury, maybe he could sneak into the conversation fast here, just like
what I said with Lamar Stevens. So I'm keeping an eye on and he's
had a great preseason. His energy seems great. He's got a variety of
skills and a unique body that I think is well suited to the way this
team wants to play on both ends of the floor. So Banton, nice
pickup, surprising preseason, and maybe a guy that surprises some people early in
the schedule if he sneaks in some minutes. And you know the other thing
too, is there is some wing minutes open here. If Howser goes into
a slump two months last year he shot twenty eight percent of three and they
really had nowhere else to go. I think this time around, if he
slumps for like five six games, you have a lot of different guys like
Benton that you could put into that spot and try something new. This was
great. Thank you so much for being so generous with your time. Are
you able just to tell our listeners where they could find you in all the
great work that you do. Yeah, Steelinusmedia dot com written content there of
course, the Garden Report after every game will be live tonight as we record
this. After the Hornets preseason finale for the Celtics opening night next week will
be down to New York Boston Sports Channel every weekend call him over there and
Celtics Bog occasionally as well. So a lot of stuff out there, go
find it. The links to Bobby cnls media page will be in the YouTube
and podcast description, so go support him over there please, and once more,
thank you so much for giving me a bunch of your time, and
I will definitely be spamming you again in the future. Thanks Jan,