LIVE: Celtics vs Hornets Preseason Postgame Show | Garden Report

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The Garden Report airs live after the Celtics' preseason game vs Hornets at Spectrum Center. Tune in with Bobby Manning, Josue Pavon, Jimmy Toscano, A. Sherrod Blakely and John Zannis as they share their takeaways from the game!

0:00 Instant Reaction: Celtics will be a tough out
6:15 Boston's ball movement
8:30 Teaser: Did Queta take Kornet's job?
10:00 Porzingis and Tatum talk
19:00 Support FanDuel and ODDS-R!
21:00 This team is VERY good
23:00 Porzingis' impact
34:00 Get 50% OFF at HelloFresh!
37:00 Did Neemias Queta take Luke Kornet's job?
51:40 Who could emerge from the bench?
54:00 Lamar Stevens emerging?
58:00 Svi's shooting
59:12 Boston's bench
1:05:30 Who starts opening night?
1:12:00 Brown talk...

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Transcript
00:00:00 Preseason is over.
00:00:02 Preseason's over.
00:00:03 It was a fun preseason.
00:00:04 You're watching the Garden Report, the final, I wouldn't say final preseason edition, final
00:00:09 preseason post-game edition of the Garden Report.
00:00:12 We will be doing a preseason special next week, either Monday or Tuesday, heading into
00:00:18 the opener where Bobby Manning will be in New York on Wednesday.
00:00:24 And that's it.
00:00:25 We're off and running, Bobby.
00:00:26 So is this my first show with starters?
00:00:31 I'm not sure.
00:00:33 Did you do the first one?
00:00:34 I think you did the first one, right?
00:00:36 Maybe.
00:00:37 Yeah.
00:00:38 Yeah.
00:00:39 So, yeah.
00:00:40 So I missed last game, but I did get a chance to watch and then I watched.
00:00:45 And again, how much can you learn when they play against reserves?
00:00:48 Right.
00:00:49 Yeah.
00:00:50 So I guess this is like the first time you and you know, the first Sixers game, you've
00:00:53 got no Embiid, no Harden.
00:00:55 Oh, you're talking the other side.
00:00:57 Yeah.
00:00:58 So I'm saying in both, this is the first time starters played starters, right?
00:01:02 And granted, those starters are the Hornets starters.
00:01:04 And granted, it's the preseason.
00:01:06 So you're not expecting like high level defense or whatever it is.
00:01:10 But like, this is like what a regular, they played this like a regular season game for
00:01:15 the first two and a half quarters, you know, in terms of rotations and in terms of how
00:01:19 they would play.
00:01:22 And this is what you expect.
00:01:23 The team of this like talent level to do.
00:01:27 And that's just absolutely just stomp on lesser opponents.
00:01:31 This looked like they were playing with like children out there.
00:01:36 I mean, it's not even competitive, Bobby.
00:01:38 I mean, the the the I know we've had our talks and I know you have your concerns about what
00:01:44 they may or may not what they might they can't do or where they might be limited or where
00:01:48 the Achilles heel could be.
00:01:50 But the talent is off the charts right now in terms of how far they've leveled up.
00:01:55 And I think you just see it more and more when they play.
00:01:58 It's like, you know, I don't want to get like crazy about it.
00:02:01 But like, who is beating?
00:02:02 I mean, this is a tough team to beat right now.
00:02:05 I mean, this is I mean, this is going to be a really hard team for teams to contend with.
00:02:11 They didn't even shoot well.
00:02:13 And they put up 70 points in the first half, you know, I mean, not from three, at least.
00:02:17 So that's where I was gonna start.
00:02:19 You floated below 30 percent from three as you got this 20 point lead in the first half
00:02:24 off turnovers.
00:02:26 Finally, this defense can create some turnovers and play disruptively.
00:02:30 They set a franchise record if it was a regular season tonight, I believe I heard on the broadcast
00:02:35 for Steelers with 22.
00:02:38 So it's going to be day and night.
00:02:40 I said over the summer, adding Porzingis and now, of course, adding Holliday gives this
00:02:45 team the chance to be the top defense in the league.
00:02:48 And Jalen said in the locker room when I was talking to him after the last game, we're
00:02:53 going to be able to win when we don't shoot well.
00:02:56 And tonight they won by nearly 30 while shooting 31 percent from three and generating 105 shots,
00:03:03 which is just a ridiculous, ridiculous.
00:03:05 And again, that's what you do when you when you get the team to turn it over as much as
00:03:09 they did.
00:03:10 I mean, 22 live ball steals.
00:03:11 That what they ended up with.
00:03:13 Twenty two, twenty two live ball steals.
00:03:15 Twenty one.
00:03:16 I'm seeing here maybe.
00:03:17 Oh, they added.
00:03:18 Holy jeez.
00:03:19 I mean, I was telling I was telling Ahmed to make that lower third when it was in the
00:03:24 teens and now it's like twenty two.
00:03:27 I mean, just banana land.
00:03:29 Derek White had like 14 blocks.
00:03:31 I think he was only credited with three.
00:03:34 You know, I mean, it was just silly.
00:03:36 They played a perfect game tonight.
00:03:39 Absolutely perfect.
00:03:40 Just in terms of the execution, the defense.
00:03:42 Yeah, but they shot.
00:03:43 They were garbage from three and they shot poorly from the free throw.
00:03:46 They only had 17.
00:03:47 Good looks, you know, good looks from three.
00:03:49 They just missed them in many cases.
00:03:50 A lot of good looks.
00:03:51 I thought the offense, especially the starters, looked great together out there for anyone
00:03:56 who wants to see this be the starting lineup.
00:03:58 You now have two electric performances by that group across the board, you know, 20
00:04:04 point advantages for a lot of these starters here tonight and another strong shoot effort.
00:04:08 I thought by Peyton Pritchard, eight assists.
00:04:11 You never imagine seeing that from him a year or two ago.
00:04:14 And he looks like he's reached another level as a playmaker here, which is really the story
00:04:17 of his preseason beyond the big scoring nights early.
00:04:21 So I think, you know, what you have here more or less in the top six.
00:04:25 And this sums it up for me.
00:04:27 I'm like, oh, like finally, like it's like, you know, all of this hesitation with do you
00:04:34 pull the trigger?
00:04:35 Do you do this thing?
00:04:36 Do you get these guys?
00:04:38 They're so good.
00:04:39 I mean, holiday and Porzingis are so good.
00:04:43 You know, what's the best thing about this?
00:04:45 No disrespect to Marcus Smart, because it's not intended to be, but everything positive
00:04:49 you say about, you know, what's going on now will be a referendum on the people who on
00:04:54 the departed.
00:04:55 And it isn't necessarily meant to be.
00:04:57 But Smart was erratic, despite the fact that he was a leader and the heart and soul and
00:05:02 a grit guy and a glue guy.
00:05:04 But he was erratic.
00:05:05 It really feels like you got a lot of grownups in the room right now, you know, like that's
00:05:09 the feel around camp.
00:05:10 It's been a focused, locked in effort.
00:05:13 Tatum said after the last game, the practices have been incredibly intense, long, focused,
00:05:19 a word you've heard a lot.
00:05:20 You had the ownership group raving over the practice that Holiday first arrived for.
00:05:25 So it's been a pretty intense, locked in camp.
00:05:28 Everyone seems determined.
00:05:29 The sacrifice quotient, which is something you've talked about, has been on high priority
00:05:35 for pretty much every star across the board.
00:05:37 I love Tatum's comments after the last game about how important it is for everybody to
00:05:41 take a little bit of a step back and praising Horford for coming off the bench in that game.
00:05:46 Great leadership by him in that spot.
00:05:48 I thought some more good comments by him there.
00:05:51 I thought he played a strong game tonight too early, despite not shooting great.
00:05:55 He looks like he's in a good spot playmaking, rebounding defensively.
00:05:59 He's looked good too out there these last couple of games.
00:06:01 So he's in a good spot.
00:06:03 Brown's shooting the ball really well too.
00:06:05 And we'll get to him from the highs and lows we've seen from him.
00:06:08 But his three-point shot seems a little bit more there to start this year.
00:06:12 White's actually looks a little worse.
00:06:16 It's just not going in, but the form looks the same.
00:06:20 With Brown, and again, I think so much the key to this season, and I think one of the
00:06:25 keys to Brown, is if you ask him to do less, he'll be able to do more.
00:06:30 And I think that's what it comes down to.
00:06:32 Every time I buck Bobby against things like Point Tatum and Brown taking on more of a
00:06:40 whatever role, it's because I just don't think that that plays to their strengths.
00:06:45 And the more you ask them to do it, the more you're asking them to do stuff that's not
00:06:48 in their comfort zone, and the more you're going to get mixed results.
00:06:51 When you ask them to do less, which is like, "So Jalen, eventually, ball's going to
00:06:55 swing to you on offense, and you're just going to be able to do whatever you want.
00:07:00 Back, shoot," because they're not going to be able to cheat off other guys because
00:07:04 there's so many other options there, and just do your thing.
00:07:07 And that's what he did tonight.
00:07:08 I don't think he forced anything.
00:07:10 He just kind of made his shots.
00:07:12 He took it to the basket when he had to, but the ball wasn't really sticking tonight.
00:07:16 No, it moved.
00:07:18 The ball moves.
00:07:19 Incredibly, yeah.
00:07:20 And you have a number of playmakers across the board here.
00:07:22 Holiday squeezed in a perfect pass by Mark Williams to hit Porzingis, I think in the
00:07:27 second quarter.
00:07:28 Probably the best pass I've seen him make so far this preseason.
00:07:33 Porzingis, that's one thing I'm still looking for with him.
00:07:37 He's been amazing.
00:07:38 He's been perfect, really, offensively and defensively.
00:07:41 He's made a huge impact, too.
00:07:43 But one assist through these three preseason games for him, or four now, whatever number
00:07:48 of games it's been for him.
00:07:49 So the playmaking's not really there from him yet.
00:07:52 But Tatum looks strong in that department.
00:07:54 Brown, too.
00:07:55 White's always going to make good decisions.
00:07:56 Turnover's up a little bit for him.
00:07:58 And like I said, Pritchard's really made some strides in that area.
00:08:01 So it's going to be playmaking by committee again.
00:08:04 But John, it's still going to be in Tatum's hands a lot.
00:08:07 I still say he'll probably lead the team in ball time.
00:08:11 Maybe Drew evens it out a little bit alongside him.
00:08:13 But the key is, it's going to shave down Brown's ball handling responsibilities and pick and
00:08:21 roll numbers, all of that.
00:08:23 And he'll be more in the finishing role than in the creation role, which suited him well
00:08:27 last year and should suit him even better this year.
00:08:31 Yeah, and yeah, there's no doubt about it.
00:08:34 We'll get into a few things.
00:08:35 I think we got to look into what do you make of the rotations?
00:08:39 Who's coming in when?
00:08:40 Who is not coming in?
00:08:42 And Bobby, I was going to check on you around the third quarter and see if you were okay.
00:08:46 I started Googling to see if like Cornette had like an emergency or like had a baby or
00:08:51 something and had to leave the game.
00:08:54 Maybe it was by design he wasn't playing.
00:08:56 If it was not by design, we have a developing situation on our hands.
00:08:59 But it's all-
00:09:00 Josue's had a hot take on that front.
00:09:01 Oh, well, Josue, I wish I knew where Josue was.
00:09:05 If Josue were around, I would let Josue have his turn at giving that hot take.
00:09:12 But I'm afraid I don't know where Josue is.
00:09:17 I'm afraid to put him on.
00:09:18 He looks frozen right now, doesn't he?
00:09:21 Let's check in on Josue.
00:09:22 Oh, he's gone.
00:09:23 I didn't get to put up frozen Josue.
00:09:25 He looked frozen.
00:09:26 I was staring at him for a while.
00:09:28 I'm like, I don't think that guy-
00:09:30 We'll let him give his hot take when it comes.
00:09:33 You want me to hit on that now, though?
00:09:34 No, let him have his take.
00:09:36 Everybody's waiting to hear what I have to say about that.
00:09:40 No, no, no, no.
00:09:41 We'll let Josue have it and talk about it himself.
00:09:45 But it's, I mean, and again, this is going to happen a lot.
00:09:54 It's preseason.
00:09:55 I don't want to take the victory lap on the, yes, Marcus Smart was never the point guard
00:10:00 this team needed.
00:10:02 But I think people are going to, if they haven't realized it yet, they'll fully realize it
00:10:08 soon into the regular season how different it's going to be tonight.
00:10:13 How different.
00:10:14 Yeah, you have a higher playmaking ceiling, I think, with Drew.
00:10:18 The turnovers actually do lean a little bit against Drew when you compare the two.
00:10:25 Believe it or not, I think that will surprise some people.
00:10:29 But Holliday does get a little erratic with the ball.
00:10:31 You saw it last game.
00:10:32 He kind of went up for a three-point shot, stopped, and just threw it away.
00:10:35 He had one play tonight where he lost the ball like six times and still ended up scoring.
00:10:39 Yeah, but no turnovers officially in this one.
00:10:42 But he did.
00:10:43 He lost it twice, got it back, got his own rebound on a wild shot, and put it back up
00:10:47 again.
00:10:48 And everyone loved the nutmeg play last game, but that was pretty erratic, too.
00:10:51 I mean, he's a three-assist guy, but when you're a point guard that's dishing seven
00:10:55 or eight assists, that's a manageable number.
00:10:59 A three-turnover, yeah.
00:11:00 So that's about who he is, but you're right.
00:11:02 He can get a little loose with it, too.
00:11:04 It's not all about assist numbers, and it's not all about assist to turnover.
00:11:08 It's about making the right read the majority of the time, and I believe Holliday does do
00:11:13 that.
00:11:14 But, yeah.
00:11:15 And the big thing for this team as a whole across the board is that the reads are so
00:11:19 much easier with the talent they have now.
00:11:22 You're not looking around at all the shooters, five wide.
00:11:25 You have some guys that you can throw the ball to inside that are willing to set screens.
00:11:29 Holliday's such a willing screener.
00:11:31 That stuck out to me the last however many games.
00:11:33 Not that smart wasn't, but he's breaking right in in that regard and making his presence
00:11:39 felt in that area of the game, which is good if he is going to be a starter here, and we'll
00:11:43 get to that conversation in a little bit.
00:11:46 He's really going to free himself up and others by setting those good screens.
00:11:49 But across the board, it's everybody's job, John, to pretty much just hit Porzingis.
00:11:55 Find him, get him the ball, let him shoot as many shots as he possibly can, because
00:12:02 I know it didn't go in as often as it did earlier in the preseason for him tonight,
00:12:06 but the shooting's just been ridiculous for him.
00:12:09 Sixty percent from the field coming into this game, 61 percent from three.
00:12:14 The guy's just going to make shots.
00:12:15 You see him at practice every day just hitting everything he puts up.
00:12:19 It's ridiculous.
00:12:20 And again, the competition, not great coming into tonight for him and others, but I think
00:12:28 he's going to just hit the ground running this year.
00:12:30 I've been so impressed by him.
00:12:32 The post-up game really hasn't been there like you've looked for with him, but for Brown,
00:12:37 for Tatum, for Porzingis.
00:12:40 More than it is, they are one of the least posting-est teams in the NBA, so any move
00:12:48 to the post, you want to see Porzingis get some work in there, you want to see Tatum,
00:12:51 we've always said, get some work in the post.
00:12:53 Tatum's been good in that area.
00:12:54 I had a lot of people say to me, Bobby, and I'm curious your take, and I'm curious what
00:12:59 the chat thinks here, too.
00:13:01 I had people DMing me last game, which I missed, that Tatum was like a brick house, just running
00:13:08 over people, and I do think he looks a little bigger, too.
00:13:15 I still don't see it translating to the finish stuff.
00:13:19 I still think he's doing the cute Euro in the lane, you know, dipsy-do.
00:13:23 I still want to see him go stronger.
00:13:25 I'm not seeing him finish through contact as well as I would, but people said he was
00:13:29 last game, or that they're seeing it.
00:13:31 Are you seeing it?
00:13:32 I saw two great finishes from him powering through guys last game, for sure.
00:13:36 Number of sets down low for him, willing to play the post area where he can pass well
00:13:41 out of two.
00:13:42 So, yeah, last game was a masterclass for him in that area.
00:13:45 He's worked on it with Sam Cassell.
00:13:47 You see Cassell saying, you know, get into the chest, bump me a little bit here.
00:13:52 I haven't gotten the chance to talk to Cassell about it yet, but some really good-looking
00:13:57 sessions, encouraging-looking sessions after practice for those two together, and Cassell's
00:14:01 really been by his side for every second we've been able to see of shoot around practice,
00:14:06 all the rest down the line there.
00:14:08 So Cassell's challenged him.
00:14:10 You know, he's saying, you know, I saw him emotioning a little bit too with the arm there,
00:14:14 and Tatum kind of goes back and says, you know, that's where he ends up picking a lot
00:14:18 of the offensive follows up.
00:14:20 But Cassell wants him to be physical.
00:14:21 He wants him to bump and bang down low, especially with the 12 pounds added, like we've talked
00:14:27 about, John.
00:14:28 So he's capable of that.
00:14:29 He looked bigger.
00:14:30 Look, and I saw a couple highlights last year when he cut through the lane and did what
00:14:34 he did, but it didn't look like he finished through contact.
00:14:36 It looked like he just got to where he wanted to go.
00:14:39 I want to see, you know, if he's actually kind of initiating it, you know, getting the
00:14:44 bump, playing through it, or if he's still kind of relying on the, let me get it up this
00:14:50 way, you know, sort of thing, you know, which I saw at least one of tonight.
00:14:53 Yeah, a lot of complaining from him last game too after an early call he didn't get.
00:14:58 Yeah, they kind of keep coming at me and saying he was, but yeah, like I said, I saw a couple
00:15:01 highlights.
00:15:02 I want to see more, but people were telling me he was trucking people.
00:15:05 Oh yeah.
00:15:06 And the New York game, especially, you didn't see as much tonight, but he had 14 free throws
00:15:09 over the last two games coming in this one, just two tonight.
00:15:12 Yeah.
00:15:13 So I think he saw more of what the Tatum are used to tonight in this game.
00:15:16 Totally.
00:15:17 It's been an emphasis for training in training camp for sure.
00:15:19 Getting him post-lucks.
00:15:20 Drew Holliday's really good at that too.
00:15:22 You're going to see him go after guards and really just truck them in the lane.
00:15:26 That's a big part of his game.
00:15:28 They were talking about it in one, in one instance where he went, you know, at Hayward
00:15:31 and Hayward's not a small guy.
00:15:33 Hayward's got a couple, Hayward's got a couple inches on him.
00:15:36 I just did my least favorite thing and I referred to him as Haywood, which Mike Gorman still
00:15:41 does by the way, hopefully in his last year, he'll figure that out.
00:15:45 Gordon Hayward and got a good shoulder into his chest and knocked him off and was able
00:15:50 to get a clean shot.
00:15:51 So you can see that white can play physical.
00:15:53 I mean, they can really, you know, Holliday, you see it too.
00:15:57 He goes, doesn't really get off the ground, but he's got a clean look because he's just
00:16:01 bodying his guy off to create space in the lane there.
00:16:04 It's pretty impressive.
00:16:06 Really good job.
00:16:07 And for Porzingis, I saw it again tonight.
00:16:11 Don't post up from 15 feet with a guy underneath you and just kind of toss it up.
00:16:15 That's where he's at his worst posting up.
00:16:18 He's got to get deep.
00:16:19 He's got to have the guy underneath the rim or a smaller guy on him.
00:16:23 He can just go right up and over.
00:16:24 But there was at least one instance tonight where I saw him kind of get caught at almost
00:16:28 a free throw line as he's turning and shooting that hook shot up.
00:16:31 And it just ends up being a very flat shot for him.
00:16:33 I almost wonder how many of his post ups last year were kind of those like weird in between
00:16:39 shots for him because he does get caught away from the basket a little bit given that he's
00:16:44 not one of the stronger guys, even with his height.
00:16:47 So yeah, his post up game is going to be interesting to follow.
00:16:50 Joe's really said that they're going to embrace that area.
00:16:53 He also has that elbow jumper too.
00:16:54 So it's another mid range shooter that they can lean on just for some offensive versatility.
00:16:59 But the three point shot still going to be their thing, John.
00:17:02 What are they at?
00:17:03 Forty five tonight.
00:17:04 Yeah.
00:17:05 Still going to be their main source of offense.
00:17:08 Yeah.
00:17:09 You know, they look deadly the other night hitting a million of them against the Knicks
00:17:11 in that game.
00:17:12 But tonight slowed down a little bit.
00:17:14 But good to have the transition run outs.
00:17:16 They're just going to be unstoppable in transition with the group of players they have here.
00:17:20 So you're glad to see the defensive emphasis.
00:17:23 It's different, John.
00:17:24 Right.
00:17:25 The defensive intensity here.
00:17:26 It is just preseason because you don't know how much pushback you're getting in either
00:17:30 direction here.
00:17:31 But it doesn't look like they're playing an all star game right now.
00:17:33 You know, they're they're playing.
00:17:34 You know, the best part about the defense.
00:17:35 And again, you had this with smart, too.
00:17:37 But you know, I you know, I think people will appreciate this watching holiday for 82.
00:17:43 He never stops.
00:17:44 He just never, ever, ever, ever, ever stops.
00:17:47 And then White's that guy, too.
00:17:49 Those two guys are relentless.
00:17:50 They're really freaking annoying, you know, with people and just moving their feet and
00:17:55 staying in front of guys.
00:17:56 It's a real pain in the pain in the ass having those guys hound you.
00:18:00 And as we said, is if there's a trickle down, Porzingis is seven foot three all day long.
00:18:05 So I mean, again, it's there and it's there on the back line.
00:18:08 And if you've got Tatum and Brown even pretending to play defense, you know, with their length
00:18:14 and being able to cut off passing lanes and their ability to again Tatum Tatum, I think
00:18:19 has the ability to be an elite defender when he wants to.
00:18:23 The defense is there.
00:18:24 It's you're right.
00:18:25 It's it's it's a matter of commitment.
00:18:27 Real quick, we want to tell you guys a couple of things, you know, heading into the season.
00:18:31 You definitely want to get involved here with FanDuel.
00:18:34 It's football season.
00:18:35 We all know that everybody loves football, loves to, you know, place their bets, you
00:18:42 know, on Sunday.
00:18:43 But NBA season is around the corner as well.
00:18:46 Starting next week, NHL is underway.
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00:20:31 So Bobby, we're going to transition in a minute.
00:20:35 In a minute.
00:20:36 What is this?
00:20:37 Oh, that's funny.
00:20:38 Amit's doing funny things.
00:20:41 We'll tell you about those in a minute.
00:20:43 First off, we're going to welcome in Joe Sway to the show.
00:20:47 What's up, buddy?
00:20:48 What's going on, fellas?
00:20:51 I was gushing earlier.
00:20:53 You got me gushing about the Celtics.
00:20:55 Really?
00:20:56 Well, I mean, I've felt this way all along.
00:20:59 After the trades here, I just ... This is how I feel.
00:21:02 He's excited, Joe Sway.
00:21:03 He's going to be in the stands again in November.
00:21:07 That's a tweak of a regular season.
00:21:09 Get me to a Nuggets game.
00:21:10 These guys are unstoppable.
00:21:11 Wait, are you telling me ... Hold on a second, John.
00:21:12 Are you telling me you forgot about Rob already?
00:21:13 The season hasn't even started yet.
00:21:14 Again, just because Jimmy misrepresented my point of view on Rob, the only thing I didn't
00:21:26 want to do about giving up Rob was my emotional attachment and connection to Rob Williams,
00:21:33 which is still profound.
00:21:36 I will never get over Rob.
00:21:38 I won't.
00:21:39 Yeah, but you said it from the very beginning.
00:21:41 That's the part that Jimmy leads out when you said at the very end, "Yes, it would hurt,
00:21:45 but I've got to do this."
00:21:46 You get over it because you're getting these players.
00:21:50 Again, you've leveled up in talent to a point where this is a better team than they've ever
00:21:55 had.
00:21:56 Is this a better team than the Kyrie Gordon one?
00:21:58 Yeah, of course it is because you've got Tatum and Brown fully evolved into superstars at
00:22:04 this point.
00:22:05 This is the best talent there's been here since the last big three.
00:22:11 It's ridiculous.
00:22:12 It's that good.
00:22:13 Let's go with some of the rankings that have been put out recently because you pretty much
00:22:17 have five top 70 players or so here.
00:22:23 Excluding ESPN, which inexplicably left Derek White out, which honestly I think was like
00:22:27 ... I would have thought they just forgot about him, but they actually included him
00:22:32 with the last guy's off day.
00:22:35 The honorable mention.
00:22:36 The honorable mention.
00:22:37 I would have thought somebody was just like, "Guys, we forgot to put in White.
00:22:39 He should be like 60.
00:22:40 What do we do?
00:22:41 Just stick him in and knock one guy out?"
00:22:43 No, they intentionally did it.
00:22:45 But everywhere else in the world ... I mean, the metrics people, Bobby, have White as the
00:22:51 35th best player in the NBA.
00:22:54 He's an analytics darling.
00:22:55 I have no idea how he doesn't make this list.
00:22:57 Grant Williams made the list.
00:22:59 Yeah, he didn't make the Ringer list.
00:23:02 He probably shouldn't make any list.
00:23:04 No, he shouldn't make any list.
00:23:08 No lists.
00:23:09 But Porzingis is the one, right?
00:23:11 I'm blown away.
00:23:13 I didn't expect this from him.
00:23:15 I had concerns about the fit.
00:23:17 It's obviously a different team now than the one we kicked around originally too with Holiday
00:23:21 coming in for Rob.
00:23:22 I think that made a lot more sense when it comes to Porzingis and the big situation.
00:23:27 But just the shot making and how much he draws attention off even the Js just because of
00:23:34 how big he is and how much of a threat he is.
00:23:37 The moves he has, but really the defense.
00:23:40 And that's one thing I did expect to be great, John.
00:23:43 But it's been even better than I expected.
00:23:46 He's so poised against the pick and roll in there.
00:23:48 He creates so many deflections.
00:23:50 Every shot he can test has pretty much turned into a miss it feels like, save for a few
00:23:55 tough shots against him so far.
00:23:58 The competition hasn't been great.
00:23:59 You wish you could have seen him against some Deed.
00:24:02 Robinson's okay for the Knicks.
00:24:04 Mark Williams is young and a little inexperienced here.
00:24:07 So we'll see him against some of the better centers in the league.
00:24:09 But I don't know, Josue.
00:24:11 I just continue to be very impressed by him.
00:24:13 I get my head in myself a little bit.
00:24:16 No, you're not.
00:24:19 The reason why you're so impressed, just as I am, is because this other time I had a guy
00:24:24 like this in a long, consistent score, can score from around the free throw line, mid
00:24:28 range, three-pointer, you name it.
00:24:30 And it's like we've been saying ever since the trade happened.
00:24:33 He's not asked to be the focal point of the offense.
00:24:35 So he's comfortable.
00:24:36 Obviously, he's in a great situation to compete for a championship.
00:24:39 But yeah, no, I don't think you're overreacting here because it's just you're seeing the benefits
00:24:44 of the offense of having someone like that.
00:24:46 And there's so many different options that they can do.
00:24:48 You're kind of using him sort of like what Al used to be to the offense in a sense, but
00:24:51 it's more like yo kids, right?
00:24:54 You've got that shot, you know?
00:24:56 Yeah, in terms of shot making, again, I'm still waiting for the passing to flash from
00:25:00 him.
00:25:01 Hasn't really yet, but maybe they don't need it to.
00:25:04 Maybe he's just the kind of guy you throw it to and you want him shooting.
00:25:07 I know that's always been Joe's approach to eliminating turnovers, just shoot the damn
00:25:11 ball.
00:25:12 But it's impressive right now what they're doing, especially for a group that got together
00:25:17 so recently, John.
00:25:19 They look like they're clicking pretty fast here.
00:25:23 And that's going to be the key, because if anything was going to hold them back early,
00:25:27 it'd be that little bit of disconnectivity we saw in that next game.
00:25:30 They turned the ball over a lot that night.
00:25:32 Tonight was much more sharp, much more connected, especially for Holiday, who will continue
00:25:37 to debate the starting lineup here.
00:25:39 I think there's good arguments in both directions.
00:25:42 But if he's looking this good and connected with the starters, there's a much better chance
00:25:47 for him to start.
00:25:48 I think the thing with Porzingis that we're catching up to a little bit is that he just
00:25:54 disappeared from our consciousness.
00:25:58 He was there.
00:25:59 Deservedly so.
00:26:00 And deservedly so, both with injuries and just not great situations.
00:26:06 But he just drifted.
00:26:09 When he came on, they were talking about he was legit considered a top five NBA asset.
00:26:17 And then just things went south.
00:26:20 He kind of faded.
00:26:21 And people just thought about him as an also-ran, just not really someone that you mention in
00:26:27 the upper echelon of NBA players.
00:26:29 Then he kind of comes back last year.
00:26:32 At what point in the year did you notice the type of year he was having?
00:26:36 It took me most of the year to look over and be like, "Holy crap, look at these numbers!"
00:26:42 He's really playing well.
00:26:45 And I think Brad's just sitting over there salivating, like, "Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup."
00:26:51 Always wanted a guy like this.
00:26:52 "Oh my God, oh my God, I want to get him."
00:26:55 And Danny was looking too.
00:26:57 And he did.
00:26:58 But the problem is, you're looking at 50 games, 43 games, 57 games, 48 games.
00:27:04 It's a consistent risk factor there.
00:27:08 But the reality is, the numbers are fairly consistent year over year.
00:27:13 You weren't thinking about him in the same vein, but his numbers are remarkably the same.
00:27:20 And then the entire run of his career, if you break him down, the only thing that's
00:27:25 missing is the games played and being in a situation where people notice what he's doing
00:27:30 because he was in a couple of shit situations and nobody really cared.
00:27:33 Yeah, exactly.
00:27:35 And I think the initial situation he had in New York, that didn't help his reputation,
00:27:40 I feel like, right?
00:27:41 People thought, "This guy's arrogant.
00:27:42 This guy might be..."
00:27:43 He even said to himself, "I was ignorant back then."
00:27:45 And I always pinpoint the fact that he walked out or he didn't attend his exit interview,
00:27:49 which is like, for a rookie, that's unheard of.
00:27:51 So that didn't help his reputation, but his talent and staying healthy was always a problem.
00:27:58 So I feel like he was easy.
00:27:59 People just forgot about him.
00:28:01 But you're seeing him in a great space right now.
00:28:02 And I think the addition of Port Zinnias, the addition of Drew Holliday, Tatum and Brown
00:28:07 taking another step with this year means to them, I think all that has to do with ESPN
00:28:12 just saying, "You know what?
00:28:13 This is probably the year," or maybe they're assuming, "This is the year that Derek White
00:28:16 goes back to being less of a factor."
00:28:19 And I don't think that's true at all.
00:28:21 If you've been following this team the way we have, we know that he's easily been one
00:28:24 of the better complimentary pieces that Tatum and Brown have ever had.
00:28:28 So we don't really see that getting better.
00:28:31 We don't see that as like his role will be reduced or that he'll be someone that gets
00:28:35 less minutes.
00:28:36 He's in the mix.
00:28:37 He's a starter.
00:28:38 He's one of these top six starters that everyone's been saying.
00:28:40 We've all been saying all month.
00:28:42 Yeah.
00:28:43 The big fact is the health.
00:28:44 And it's good to see that he can coexist with the other stars too, because we haven't really
00:28:48 seen him do that either.
00:28:49 But yeah, it's been interesting to hear him just talk about how he's just, I think, ignorant
00:28:55 was the word he used.
00:28:56 Ignorant, yeah.
00:28:57 In his career.
00:28:58 Yeah.
00:28:59 So he didn't really care about anything he said.
00:29:01 And so the maturity, looking himself in the mirror too, at aspects of the game where he
00:29:05 struggled and improving them was good to see too.
00:29:09 Well, that was the thing.
00:29:10 After we were having this conversation, I remember he was being floated as a trade deadline
00:29:14 or even like, we threw his name out there before.
00:29:18 The Kemba stuff.
00:29:19 The Kemba dump.
00:29:20 But even still, right.
00:29:21 But last year or two, we floated him.
00:29:23 The way they got out, you mean, right?
00:29:25 And even when we talked about him in the off season, when they did get him, I remember
00:29:29 Jimmy saying, and we were all kind of talking about it, "Isn't he kind of a dink?
00:29:35 Doesn't he have that reputation?
00:29:37 Didn't he kind of..."
00:29:38 And this and that.
00:29:39 But the reality is, yeah.
00:29:42 But he also acknowledged it and was like, "Yeah, I was dumb then."
00:29:49 If you didn't know anything about his past or about anything else and you just walked
00:29:54 in and you met him, you'd be like, "This guy's great.
00:29:57 He's a great interview.
00:29:58 He's thoughtful.
00:29:59 He's honest.
00:30:00 He's professional.
00:30:01 He looks like he's here and he's ready to work."
00:30:03 There's nothing that you would think would constitute diva baggage sort of stuff.
00:30:09 Maybe two years in Washington did it to him.
00:30:11 He's like, "Holy crap.
00:30:12 I just can't be the rest of my career."
00:30:15 I don't know exactly.
00:30:16 No, I don't think you're that far off.
00:30:19 I can see him as being...
00:30:20 I mean, he was irrelevant there.
00:30:22 That's what I mean.
00:30:23 If you're him, you're not sure how long it's going to last or if your next situation will
00:30:27 be much better.
00:30:29 Coming from the Dallas situation with Kyra or with Luca and people saying like, "Oh,
00:30:33 this is never going to work."
00:30:34 That was a nightmare.
00:30:35 He had no idea what was next for his career.
00:30:38 Yeah, because he effectively got dumped from Dallas for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davos Bergeron.
00:30:43 He got dumped from New York.
00:30:45 They just opted not to resign him.
00:30:47 Well, no.
00:30:48 They traded him to Dallas.
00:30:49 Yeah, but I mean, they wanted nothing.
00:30:50 They didn't want him anymore.
00:30:51 They're like, "We're not going to..."
00:30:53 They were shopping him around.
00:30:54 They were shopping him around.
00:30:55 They didn't pick up his option and they shopped him.
00:30:59 So they were done.
00:31:00 They openly shopped him.
00:31:01 They were done.
00:31:02 Yeah.
00:31:03 Yeah, and the injuries, that's still the thing, right?
00:31:06 The injuries are still going to work with him.
00:31:07 He looks fresh and spry right now.
00:31:09 I'm actually surprised how well he's moving because one thing about the last couple of
00:31:14 years here is he looked a little more groundbound, definitely less athletic and floating around
00:31:21 for dunks and such.
00:31:22 But that two-handed slam he put down in that Knicks game where we had Joe Sway was something.
00:31:26 He got way up there.
00:31:27 He looks like he's in great shape.
00:31:30 And even he continues to say he's still working his way into mid-season shape after the injury
00:31:34 over the summer.
00:31:35 You really haven't seen the effects of the injury either.
00:31:38 I still see him wearing a little something on his foot and that thing might pop up here
00:31:42 and there where they have to rest him and manage him.
00:31:44 But so far, so good.
00:31:47 That's the thing.
00:31:48 Are you equipped to lose him potentially?
00:31:51 For a stretch?
00:31:52 Certainly.
00:31:53 No one is equipped to lose good players.
00:31:55 That's the whole point.
00:31:56 You watch any team lose one of their better players and it throws them completely out
00:32:01 of whack.
00:32:02 You know, Phoenix loses Booker for 20-30 games last year.
00:32:05 Denver plays a whole season without Murray.
00:32:09 And then the next year you get them, you're a championship team.
00:32:11 The difference between being a championship team and not is having all of your stars healthy.
00:32:15 Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, one of these guys go out, you're not the same team anymore.
00:32:19 No one can withstand an injury to a star.
00:32:21 No one.
00:32:22 But if a guy is injured every year, he can't reach the end of the year and be like, "Oh,
00:32:26 I'm not."
00:32:27 You're rolling the dice and you're hoping you enter the playoffs with it.
00:32:28 But I mean, geez, Celtics might have still been playing in the finals.
00:32:31 Jason Tatum doesn't roll a freaking ankle.
00:32:33 I hate making excuses, but it means a lot.
00:32:36 You can't play without your best players at that level against the other best teams, you
00:32:41 know?
00:32:42 Except if you're Miami and apparently you don't need anybody but Jimmy Butler to win.
00:32:47 I can't wait to see them next Friday.
00:32:49 I can't wait to see how they're looking.
00:32:52 This guy is going to make a big difference.
00:32:53 There's no doubt about it.
00:32:54 The trade looks great in retrospect so far.
00:32:57 Even the contract, if this is the level he's going to look at, looks like a no-brainer
00:33:00 here.
00:33:01 But it's early.
00:33:02 We'll see him against some of the bruisers.
00:33:03 We'll see what the lineups look and how they work out for him.
00:33:06 But so far, the shot making, rebounding certainly, and the defense especially, the biggest impact
00:33:12 areas for him.
00:33:13 Yeah, no doubt about it.
00:33:14 Now I do want to get into what's so funny is we spend how many shows, Josue, like barking
00:33:21 at Bobby for starting the Cornette talk too early?
00:33:24 Oh yeah, that's right.
00:33:25 You know, like, "Stop it, Bobby.
00:33:27 It's too early to talk about Cornette."
00:33:29 But in this show, the chat has been begging us to talk about Cornette and K-Dot and what's
00:33:35 going on there.
00:33:36 And Bobby has already teased your super hot Cornette take, which I'm curious, you have
00:33:44 a theory.
00:33:45 You have a Cornette theory.
00:33:46 We're going to get to that in a, do you know what I'm talking about?
00:33:49 Because you're looking at me like, "I don't know."
00:33:51 I hope you remember, Josue.
00:33:52 You're looking at me like, "Is that not ready for TV?
00:33:54 Did you just out somebody again, Bobby?
00:33:56 That's what you do, huh?"
00:33:57 No, you already put it on, on MSG, but it hasn't been on this show, Josue's Cornette
00:34:00 theory.
00:34:01 Okay, all right, we'll talk about it first.
00:34:03 First off, first off, guys, we call this a tease, but first off, we want to tell you
00:34:08 guys about HelloFresh, which Bobby, oh boy.
00:34:14 You love it, right?
00:34:15 Yeah, and I'm a guy who loves to cook, but even if you don't, they make it easy.
00:34:19 They make it quick.
00:34:20 They make it manageable and they give you everything you need.
00:34:23 You keep saying it, John.
00:34:25 The worst thing you can end up with is a missing ingredient.
00:34:27 Yeah, dude, I have a bag of scallions right now because I needed two and those things
00:34:33 go bad in a day and a half and I just needed a little bit for one dish.
00:34:39 And then I'm just like, and it's not like you spent a ton on the bunch, but it's like,
00:34:42 I hate throwing it out.
00:34:43 Like what else am I going to make with these scallions?
00:34:46 Every single time I get cilantro or parsley, like I just use a few sprigs and the rest
00:34:51 of the next day is like all wilted and sad.
00:34:55 I was just going to say, just staring at you like.
00:34:58 It's like droopy.
00:35:00 It's lost all, it's like you buy it and it's like, it could literally like cut someone.
00:35:04 And then the next day it's just sad.
00:35:05 You feel so guilty.
00:35:06 You're like, damn, I should have used more of that.
00:35:09 I killed it.
00:35:10 I killed the poor cilantro.
00:35:11 So that's one of the things you get here with HelloFresh.
00:35:15 It's America's number one meal kit for a reason because you have all these fantastic recipes
00:35:19 you can go after and get.
00:35:22 And then as we said, you don't have to go to the grocery store.
00:35:24 You're not going to overspend and buy a bunch of stuff you're not going to use.
00:35:27 You're going to get exactly what you need.
00:35:30 Pre-portioned ingredients already separated out, farm fresh, and then bing, bang, boom,
00:35:35 little recipe card.
00:35:36 You read it and you're done and that's that.
00:35:38 And if you're busy or you're on the road or you're covering the Celtics and traveling
00:35:41 like these guys are, or you're me and you've got more kids than you should have had, then
00:35:47 yes, sometimes you just, stuff's got to happen for you fast, right?
00:35:52 So you do that 15 minute meal options, high protein options, fall feast.
00:35:58 Are you kidding me?
00:35:59 Apple cider cake with caramel sauce, barbecue pulled pork, nachos, whatever you want, go
00:36:03 get it.
00:36:04 So again, go to hellofresh.com/clns50.
00:36:07 Use that code CLNS50 for 50% off plus free shipping.
00:36:11 Once again, there's the code, hellofresh.com/clns50.
00:36:15 Use the code CLNS50, 50% off plus free shipping.
00:36:18 We are also still doing this guys.
00:36:20 We're doing it for now.
00:36:22 We're changing this deal in a little bit.
00:36:24 We're giving t-shirts out still.
00:36:26 If you fill out a form, you get a t-shirt, Garden Report t-shirt.
00:36:31 We also have a merch store.
00:36:33 We finally did it, okay?
00:36:35 So there is now Garden Report merch on clnsmedia.com.
00:36:38 - I want to check it out.
00:36:41 - Which you can check out.
00:36:42 It's on the website.
00:36:43 You can go there, you can get phenomenal bucket hats.
00:36:46 You can get, I'll put it up.
00:36:48 I'll share the screen at some point.
00:36:49 I'll show you what you can get there, but you can go check out the store and get some
00:36:53 CLNS merch if you want as well.
00:36:56 So we do appreciate you there, but also another great way to get it is get a freebie when
00:37:02 you support our sponsor.
00:37:04 We will eventually be giving out special codes, which you will get, and it'll allow you to
00:37:08 go right to the store and just get the shirt yourself rather than wait for us to ship it
00:37:11 to you.
00:37:12 It'll be a lot easier that way.
00:37:13 So check that out.
00:37:15 So let us talk about it, okay?
00:37:18 Let's get into the hot topic of the night was, oh my God, look at the bench rotation.
00:37:26 Kata, first off the bench, where's Luke?
00:37:29 Where's Luke?
00:37:30 I don't know.
00:37:31 Luke's a DNPCD in a preseason game.
00:37:36 And yes, maybe there's a reason behind it.
00:37:38 Maybe he was never expected to play and that's fine.
00:37:41 But Kata not only played ahead of him, played big minutes and played well and played with
00:37:47 the starters too, because, because there's no whore for tonight.
00:37:51 Kata had to come in as the first big off the bench, which was interesting.
00:37:57 That might happen on back to backs, right?
00:38:00 Where Al sits, you're going to have to, and we were like, okay, on those nights, Cornette's
00:38:03 minutes are going to have to get up.
00:38:05 Maybe it's Kata's minutes that are going to go up.
00:38:07 I'm thinking that too.
00:38:10 What if anything do you read into this and or the play of Kata so far?
00:38:15 Because he is everybody's darling.
00:38:16 These guys tend to sometimes fizzle.
00:38:18 You get that big look.
00:38:19 Kevin Gelley a year ago.
00:38:20 Kevin Gelley.
00:38:21 Kevin Gelley.
00:38:22 Kevin Gelley.
00:38:23 Kevin Gelley.
00:38:24 Kevin Gelley.
00:38:25 This might be a good one.
00:38:26 Kevin Gelley, Calvin Gelley.
00:38:29 This might be different though, guys.
00:38:31 I don't know, man.
00:38:32 He just fits that criteria of the bruiser slash the cleanup guy.
00:38:38 You know what I mean?
00:38:39 He can get the putbacks.
00:38:40 He's not afraid to throw down.
00:38:42 I think this is an opportunity to show more of that.
00:38:45 If you ask me, right, if you're Joe Mazzullo, well, how does this look with the other guys,
00:38:49 with the starters, with being one of the first bigs off the bench?
00:38:52 How does he handle that?
00:38:53 It's a great opportunity against a team like the Hornets.
00:38:56 I've been impressed, honestly.
00:38:57 I think we've been saying that all summer, that they could use someone like that.
00:39:00 That bruiser that can defend down low, pick up a bunch of fouls.
00:39:04 He's not going to play any more than 10, 12 minutes if that.
00:39:07 You know what I mean?
00:39:08 I don't know.
00:39:09 I think it's a great alternative.
00:39:11 It's a great weapon for Joe Mazzullo to have on nights when Al's out.
00:39:16 Do you want to give your hot take, Josue?
00:39:19 What?
00:39:20 Oh, you want me to say it?
00:39:23 I want to hear what you say first, then I'll say it.
00:39:25 So I love Kada.
00:39:28 Brilliant player in the G League last year.
00:39:30 Top five in the MVP race.
00:39:32 I'm still stunned they got him.
00:39:34 It was an amazing pickup.
00:39:35 I don't know why the Kings just dumped him the sign to Vail McGee.
00:39:39 I think it was a pretty bad move.
00:39:40 But he hasn't played much at the NBA level yet.
00:39:43 So you're still waiting.
00:39:44 You know, tonight's a little closer.
00:39:47 And he was brilliant, obviously.
00:39:49 The pick and roll game he showed with Tatum there late in the second was awesome.
00:39:53 Awesome rebounder.
00:39:54 He made one of the craziest offensive rebounds I've ever seen.
00:39:59 Like stutter stepping along the baseline and firing out to the corner.
00:40:02 And Banton ended up losing it.
00:40:04 But it was just an awesome play.
00:40:06 I think he even got credit for it.
00:40:08 And then it was a turnover.
00:40:09 But he brings some good energy to the position.
00:40:13 Size, as Josue said, 7 foot 250.
00:40:16 He moves well.
00:40:17 When I saw him in New York, where it was the first time he played in that back to back,
00:40:21 the way he could get out on the perimeter surprised me a little bit.
00:40:24 He might have more defensive potential than just dropping back.
00:40:29 Not the best rim protector.
00:40:30 I know he's no Porzingis out there.
00:40:33 But this is a great find.
00:40:37 You have this guy in a two way, John.
00:40:39 And you don't even like I know everyone in the chat is going to be like sign him.
00:40:42 But you can use him for like 40, 50 games as a two way guy and not pay him a cent to
00:40:48 your cap.
00:40:49 So it's an incredible find.
00:40:52 They're going to utilize him.
00:40:53 I was checking around on if this race is for real, because obviously he's played well.
00:40:58 And what I've heard is that Cornette's still the front runner here.
00:41:02 He's still viewed as that backup.
00:41:04 But rather than Cato being a guy who's going to ship right up to Maine when their season
00:41:08 starts, he might be a guy who's hanging around and actually in the mix to play some here,
00:41:13 depending on matchups or whatever else might be.
00:41:17 Cornette's not going anywhere, though.
00:41:19 Still a guy they really trust.
00:41:21 Still a guy they really like.
00:41:22 Defensively, I think he's in all the right spots.
00:41:25 Substitute the word "they" with "I" and then continue.
00:41:32 I think he's on the bubble, Bobby.
00:41:34 All right, go ahead.
00:41:36 Say it.
00:41:37 I think he's on the bubble.
00:41:39 I think when you look at the way the team wants to defend its identity, some of that
00:41:43 grit, that toughness, the things that I just described, I'm not quite sure if Cornette can
00:41:49 provide that on a night-to-night basis, even on second nights of back-to-backs when the
00:41:53 owl's not playing.
00:41:54 The way they've been defending at a high level, triggering the fast break and getting back,
00:42:00 cleaning up the glass, I don't know.
00:42:02 I think this is the better option.
00:42:03 I think this would be...
00:42:04 This wouldn't shock me if this other side had cut ties, and for reasons that you just
00:42:09 mentioned, money reasons, to pull back a little bit there.
00:42:12 You've got someone that can give you something else that you don't get from Cornette, you
00:42:17 don't see from Cornette on a consistent basis.
00:42:19 This team has shifted heavily into re...
00:42:22 What do you call it?
00:42:25 They're trying to almost bring back that defensive identity that they were with the Emei Udoka
00:42:30 team, but it's a little different, right, guys?
00:42:31 They have other weapons now.
00:42:33 They have three-point shooters that they didn't have.
00:42:35 They have a 7'3" unicorn in the middle and Chris Das Porzingis, and then you fit someone
00:42:41 like this coming off the bench.
00:42:42 I mean, look, it makes a lot of sense.
00:42:45 Again, it wouldn't shock me if they cut ties with Cornette.
00:42:49 I don't think it's something that they have to do or that they absolutely...
00:42:52 It would be dumb if they didn't, but it wouldn't shock me if they did.
00:42:56 Yeah, I mean, we're just...
00:42:57 How are we selling on Cornette after a few shaky games in the preseason?
00:43:02 It's not shaky, Bobby.
00:43:03 It's ultimately...
00:43:05 When you're a person who is...
00:43:06 And again, I'm trying to do this without it sounding like...
00:43:11 I'm not trying to be insulting, but...
00:43:13 I know exactly what you mean, John.
00:43:15 Bobby, before we recorded or after the fact, I think it was, I was like, "Look, I'm not
00:43:18 trying to..."
00:43:19 I think what you're trying to say is that you're not trying to foul a call Cornette
00:43:22 Soft, right?
00:43:23 I don't want to say that, but I just think it's another type of player.
00:43:29 Let's be serious.
00:43:31 Cornette doesn't have a stranglehold on an NBA roster spot anywhere, okay?
00:43:35 He's not a lock.
00:43:37 He's a guy who was out of the league two years ago, and he was resurrected because the Celtics
00:43:41 had nine guys they could suit up, and they had to bring him back in there.
00:43:46 He's a very, very, very fringy player to begin with.
00:43:51 He's not an automatic rotation guy.
00:43:53 He's not locked into your eight, nine spot.
00:43:56 He's not locked into minutes.
00:43:58 He's a break glass in case of emergency, and I'm seven feet tall all day sort of guy.
00:44:03 But that's it.
00:44:04 If he gets slightly outplayed by anybody, of course he can get removed.
00:44:08 You're not losing anything there.
00:44:10 He exists because you didn't have anything better, and that's where he would exist on
00:44:15 most rosters.
00:44:16 This is not meant to be an insult.
00:44:18 Those guys have jobs for a reason.
00:44:21 There are guys who stick on rosters because of a particular skill.
00:44:25 In his case, his skill is height, and I'm not saying this in a disparaging way, but
00:44:30 that's what he's got going for him.
00:44:31 But if you're bringing in somebody else who can do what he does and give you a little
00:44:34 bit more juice, of course he's at risk here.
00:44:37 He's not a lock by any means, nor is it insulting to say that he could lose his spot.
00:44:43 That's just where he's at.
00:44:45 That's who he is.
00:44:46 That's his reality.
00:44:47 I think with all due respect, I'm not going at you on it either.
00:44:52 I'm really not.
00:44:53 We tease you about the Cornette stuff.
00:44:54 I really do believe you have him like you.
00:44:58 I think in your mind he's about 20% better than the rest of us think he is.
00:45:02 That's about it.
00:45:03 You got him as a borderline everyday player.
00:45:05 You got him as a guy who you think should be getting 8-10 minutes every night, and we're
00:45:10 like, "Nah, when you absolutely need it."
00:45:13 That's it.
00:45:14 That's where we differ on it.
00:45:16 We had the same conversation going in the last year.
00:45:18 It's like, "Really?
00:45:19 Are they going to rely on him for secondary minutes here?"
00:45:23 When Rob was out for that huge stretch to start the season, he hurt his ankle early,
00:45:28 but when he comes back, we were pleasantly surprised by how well he played.
00:45:32 He gave them good secondary minutes against most teams.
00:45:37 He's matchup dependent.
00:45:39 He can't get out on the perimeter.
00:45:40 It's the Cornette contest, which we've determined hasn't worked here.
00:45:46 There's going to be matchups where you can't play him, and you're going to have to go to
00:45:48 some other stuff, whether it's small ball or Kata or whatever it is.
00:45:53 Lots of teams that you can clog up the middle with with him.
00:45:55 He's done a great job.
00:45:57 I said it the other day, Jon, or last week.
00:46:00 They went into a game against Joel Embiid with no Horford, no Rob last year, and started
00:46:07 Blake and played Luke heavy minutes against Embiid, the league MVP, and they won.
00:46:13 It's because he gives them solid minutes out there.
00:46:15 He's not grabbing 15 rebounds.
00:46:16 I know, but Bobby, what you're suggesting is you're basically kind of borderline suggesting
00:46:22 that Cornette is irreplaceable.
00:46:26 Of course he could be replaced, and it's not that difficult to do so.
00:46:31 That's kind of the point.
00:46:32 Yeah, but it's not a two-game.
00:46:35 It's not a very tall hurdle to get past, to be able to get beyond Cornette on the depth's
00:46:42 chart.
00:46:43 That's kind of what we're saying.
00:46:44 Next day, we're having a Luke Cornette intervention with Bobby.
00:46:50 I just can't wait for his first big regular season game this year to go.
00:46:54 There you go.
00:46:55 Remember the Suns game, Jon?
00:46:56 What do you have, 14 points?
00:46:57 No, I don't.
00:46:58 Going down reverse dunks.
00:46:59 He's like, "Jon, he had a double-double.
00:47:00 How did you forget?
00:47:01 Come on."
00:47:02 We're all going to remember where we were with Luke Cornette.
00:47:03 Everyone still remembers that Horford game, by the way, that I said that.
00:47:04 The Philly one, I'll give you that.
00:47:05 I mean, listen.
00:47:06 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:07 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:08 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:09 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:10 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:11 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:12 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:19 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:20 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:21 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:22 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:23 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:24 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:25 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:26 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:27 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:28 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:29 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:30 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:31 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:32 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:33 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:34 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:35 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:36 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:37 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:38 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:39 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:40 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:41 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:42 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:43 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:44 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:45 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:46 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:47 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:48 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:49 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:50 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:51 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:52 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:53 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:54 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:55 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:56 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:57 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:58 He had a rock-solid game.
00:47:59 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:00 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:01 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:02 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:03 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:04 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:05 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:06 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:07 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:08 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:09 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:10 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:11 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:12 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:13 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:14 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:15 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:16 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:17 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:18 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:19 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:20 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:21 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:22 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:23 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:24 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:25 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:26 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:27 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:28 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:29 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:30 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:31 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:32 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:33 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:34 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:35 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:36 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:37 He had a rock-solid game.
00:48:39 How can you be on so many islands at once?
00:48:42 That's what I ask you.
00:48:43 Like, Cornette Island and Double Big Island.
00:48:47 You know, like, just reside on one island.
00:48:50 Pick one island.
00:48:51 Hey, I gotta bring the takes here.
00:48:54 That's what people are telling me.
00:48:56 I absolutely do.
00:48:57 Bobby wants to, like, just preserve those eight, nine, ten minutes for Luke, you know?
00:49:03 And he can do that.
00:49:04 That's the thing.
00:49:05 If Horford has to miss time here, or Porzingis goes down for two weeks, you're in a situation
00:49:12 where neither of these guys are cutting it, if that's what happens.
00:49:16 I don't think you can play these guys 20 minutes, 30 minutes a game.
00:49:20 So, you're gonna have to find someone in that situation.
00:49:22 And it might be inevitable that they have to do that anyway.
00:49:25 But for the eight, ten minutes when everyone's healthy, and during a regular season game,
00:49:29 I think Cornette's perfectly suited to do that.
00:49:31 And I'm not knocking Kada.
00:49:32 I like him a lot, too.
00:49:33 I like what he's bringing to the table here.
00:49:35 I think he's a good prospect to push forward into the future.
00:49:38 We always talk about the double draft, John.
00:49:40 Having him here is a guy that Sacramento developed a little bit, and now you can take advantage
00:49:45 of is great.
00:49:46 And he looks phenomenal so far.
00:49:48 So, I think there's room for both of these guys.
00:49:50 Yeah, here's the thing.
00:49:51 Why not us?
00:49:53 You know what I mean?
00:49:55 You see Struce, you see guys, undrafted free agents, second round picks.
00:50:01 You know, hit, and you're like, "Oh, look at that.
00:50:05 They got one."
00:50:06 And like, "Why did the Celtics let that guy go?"
00:50:09 And why don't the Celtics get a guy where we can say, "Why did they let that guy go?"
00:50:14 Maybe they have one.
00:50:15 You know, like, I think in most cases, you're used to, we're preconditioned to not believe
00:50:19 the hype.
00:50:20 Like, again, the Kevin Jelly hype.
00:50:23 Like, you see a little flash, and you're like, "That's kind of exciting.
00:50:26 He can jump."
00:50:27 You know, like, maybe they can use him.
00:50:28 And then you get into the regular season, and he doesn't play for the first 12 games.
00:50:32 Noah Vonley was playing big minutes with that last year.
00:50:34 Yeah, Jimmy's darling, Noah Vonley.
00:50:36 And like, you know, and after 10, 12 games, you're like, "Yeah, no, that's…"
00:50:40 He was gone.
00:50:41 But like, what if he is something?
00:50:42 Oh, don't forget this game, Joe Slade.
00:50:43 What if you have something?
00:50:44 Like, let's take it one step further.
00:50:47 That I'll remember.
00:50:49 I'll never forget that.
00:50:50 Why can't we, like, imagine a world in which not only he makes it over Cornette or plays
00:50:55 over Cornette, but actually is a valuable piece?
00:50:58 Like, why don't we take it one step further and say, like, what if they found something
00:51:02 real?
00:51:03 That would be amazing.
00:51:04 Oh, yeah.
00:51:05 And, yeah, I think you can throw Delano Banton in there, too.
00:51:09 Toronto, just let him go.
00:51:10 And it looks like he fits in well with what they're doing here, and Joe likes him a lot.
00:51:14 So, you're always looking for these guys.
00:51:16 I think they have a ton of them on this roster.
00:51:19 And quite a few of them have shown up so far.
00:51:22 Lamar Stevens we should get to, too.
00:51:24 I think he looks fantastic.
00:51:25 But, also, again, I do want to point this out.
00:51:28 Look how far down the bench he is.
00:51:32 We thought this is a guy who started games last year, right?
00:51:35 Kata?
00:51:36 Stevens.
00:51:37 Oh, yeah, Stevens.
00:51:38 25 games started.
00:51:39 He's like the 12th guy on this team right now.
00:51:42 Yeah.
00:51:43 Look who else is really low.
00:51:45 Brissette?
00:51:46 Brissette was a pretty big part of Indiana's rotation.
00:51:48 And very low.
00:51:49 So, this is what's interesting now.
00:51:51 You've got guys who were legit players on other teams.
00:51:56 Even Svee, you know, like, got some run.
00:51:59 You know, like, there's a few guys out here who are professional basketball players.
00:52:03 Albeit guys who played on crap teams and played minutes because those teams had no interest in winning.
00:52:08 Yeah, I was going to say, Svee was on Charlotte, man.
00:52:10 Didn't have great lineups.
00:52:12 But they're actually professional.
00:52:14 The Celtics have been filling with a lot of G-leaguers the bottom of that rotation now.
00:52:17 You know, for all the fear that, like, no bench, no bench, no bench, you might actually make an argument that, like,
00:52:23 there's some professional basketball players on this bench.
00:52:26 And of all of that, Banton is the guy who seems to be getting the most run and the earliest run off of the others.
00:52:31 You know, if you lump them all together, Stevens, Kata, you know, Brissette, Banton, Svee.
00:52:37 Banton's getting in there.
00:52:39 So, like, they, you know, in addition to Hauser and Pritchard, who I think are certainly going to get some minutes early,
00:52:46 you may have a few people that you can, you know, use and utilize from time to time.
00:52:52 It's not the worst, you know, we'll see how it plays in the regular season, but I'm curious if any of them actually play.
00:52:58 You know?
00:52:59 Yeah, same.
00:53:00 Are they going to cut it at eight and that's that?
00:53:02 Or will they work some of those guys in?
00:53:04 And if so, which ones?
00:53:05 And I'm curious who you guys think has the inside track after the first eight.
00:53:09 If you include Pritchard and Hauser in the eight, then what?
00:53:15 See, I want to say Brissette, but from what I've seen from the playoff, I mean, from the preseason games,
00:53:22 I'm wondering if he's going to be one of those guys that's going to be fighting, you know, to get in there.
00:53:27 But, I mean, I'm thinking Brissette and Banton, I feel like still has a way to sort of, he's got to, like, get more comfortable with the offense.
00:53:35 Like, there's times where I feel like he's getting there.
00:53:39 Other times I feel like he takes a big step back.
00:53:41 So it's hard to say, but, I mean, those are the two guys I think of off the top, you know?
00:53:46 Yeah, Brissette obviously intrigued me most coming in.
00:53:50 Shoots 30%, though, in the preseason, 12% from three.
00:53:53 I think it's going to be tough for any of these guys who struggle to shoot to break through consistently, given the way they want to play.
00:53:59 Banton in that group, too.
00:54:01 He really struggles to even get to 30% so far through his career.
00:54:06 So it's going to be a challenge for all those guys, especially Hauser.
00:54:09 I'm coming back, guys. Sorry, one second.
00:54:12 Especially if Hauser's still a 40% guy.
00:54:14 Right.
00:54:15 You know, for any of them to break past him is going to be tough.
00:54:20 But the one guy I keep looking at, and he played well again tonight, Lamar Stevens.
00:54:26 Not a great shooter, but a guy who's gotten by.
00:54:28 Just came off his best year from three, actually.
00:54:30 I think around 33%.
00:54:32 You know, I interviewed his trainer last week.
00:54:34 He thinks that he'll be closer to 35 this year.
00:54:38 And that dunk tonight.
00:54:39 He has a few dunks this preseason.
00:54:41 The rebounding, super strong.
00:54:43 Defensively, you know what he's capable of.
00:54:45 He can defend most positions.
00:54:47 When I was talking to him at practice, he said two through five.
00:54:50 He can defend.
00:54:51 Which isn't even the case for Brissette.
00:54:53 We've seen Brissette play some center and have some trouble there.
00:54:56 Against wings and guards, he can get blown by.
00:54:59 Stevens is a pro-level defender who, as John said, started games on the best defense in the NBA a year ago.
00:55:07 He hasn't played a lot in the preseason.
00:55:09 I think the reason for that is that they kind of know what he is.
00:55:12 They know he's at his best when he's playing next to the regulars.
00:55:15 And that they're trying to let some of these other tryout guys have their run and shoot back and all that.
00:55:22 But I'm pretty confident, if they're in a game, Josue, where they're down big early,
00:55:27 or the energy just isn't there, all of a sudden, Lamar Stevens is going to be checking into that game.
00:55:31 Yeah, I can see that for sure.
00:55:33 Especially because he's able to defend the wing at a high level.
00:55:35 That's essentially what got him into that starting lineup in Cleveland.
00:55:39 Cleveland just couldn't. They had a really hard time defending, especially at the wing position.
00:55:44 He sort of just emerged as one of those guys that just locked down as best as he could and provided more possession.
00:55:50 Yeah, he really provided extra possession.
00:55:54 I think that's what essentially got the attention from the Celtics.
00:55:57 They need someone like that, a secondary wing defender that can come in, eat up minutes from Tatum or Brown.
00:56:03 If they're in foul trouble, help stop the bleeding, defend some of the better players on the opposing team.
00:56:09 And I'm with you too, Bob. I think that they know that already about him.
00:56:13 I feel like that's an opportunity that's going to be there for him at some point this season.
00:56:18 It could be right from the beginning.
00:56:20 So yeah, if he's able to take on that role and raise his eyebrows, I think it's his spot for the taking.
00:56:28 I really don't see another guy at the wing position that's a shoo-in over him.
00:56:35 And for the Celtics, you're still looking at your top six being like, this is still a championship.
00:56:41 This team could still win a championship the way it is, but you're wondering how the makeup of that second unit is going to look like, especially out of the gates.
00:56:48 And we got somewhat of an idea from these preseason matchups, but that part, that role is still sort of up in the air.
00:56:57 It's still up for grabs in the sense of who's going to be that ninth guy, eighth ninth guy, who can always get minutes, who's always going to have minutes ready for him.
00:57:05 It's going to take a little getting used to, too, some of this new CBA stuff, but the Celtics can't design by-out guys this year, which is worth noting.
00:57:13 But yeah, we're talking Stevens, John. I'm pretty intrigued by him.
00:57:17 I'm really curious who of those guys is going to have any value.
00:57:22 I think Stevens just brings the best mix of defense.
00:57:27 Pedigree playing so far, starting game for a really good team.
00:57:31 The energy, I don't know how much you caught in the fourth quarter him tonight because everyone starts snoozing.
00:57:36 The big dunk.
00:57:37 The rebounds. He does a lot.
00:57:39 I watch the games, Bobby.
00:57:41 I didn't know if you were interested in the cornet time of the game.
00:57:47 I like him a lot. I loved him in Cleveland. Another guy I'm surprised that they got for a training camp deal, not even a minimum.
00:57:53 He came in as a tryout guy here. I guess I'm intrigued with Spie. I don't know how much he intrigues you, John.
00:57:59 A lot.
00:58:01 The shooting's ridiculous.
00:58:03 He's just a classic 1980s Euro player.
00:58:10 Where did he go tonight? He had what? Two of eight, two of seven from three?
00:58:17 He slowed down a little bit, but coming into that, he was 54% from three.
00:58:21 He really struggles to defend, though. He does.
00:58:26 No, he does.
00:58:28 I'm bummed about O'Shea. He really has struggled this preseason.
00:58:31 Derek, I like the effort. It's not bad.
00:58:36 I feel like he's more of a '90s Euro.
00:58:40 Thank you for anybody, by the way. Super Chats, if we missed one, I apologize.
00:58:45 All of the proceeds go to the hosts, not to the greedy, nefarious owner, Nick Gelso.
00:58:51 We do appreciate that for anybody.
00:58:54 Nefarious.
00:58:55 Yeah.
00:58:57 Yes, I burned my pies. I had a pie crisis. That's why I had to go.
00:59:00 Who's your pick on that group, John?
00:59:02 I don't know. I swear. I swear.
00:59:06 Do you trust Hauser? That's the real question. It's not can any of these guys break through.
00:59:10 It's not whether – so I don't. I don't think Hauser's a lock, a guarantee. I really don't.
00:59:15 I actually think it'll be game dependent, too, depending on who's out there and what you need.
00:59:20 Yeah. I agree with that.
00:59:22 You might play lineups that are a little bit more athletic, more defensive-oriented, or you might be –
00:59:28 I think Hauser's the default, but I do think you could easily see situations like last year, guys,
00:59:33 where Hauser's in a cold snap and they forget about him for a little bit.
00:59:37 He went cold for two months before they finally sat him down.
00:59:40 Exactly, and they forget about him a lot.
00:59:44 Yeah, that's a good point.
00:59:45 They have other directions to go if that happens again, and it did to start this receipt.
00:59:49 And again, I want to stress this again because everybody says it.
00:59:54 Absolutely, he is. We know he is.
00:59:57 John doesn't care about defense.
01:00:00 And no, it's not that, Bobby.
01:00:02 It's the thing we always say is you can't – when you're getting into players 8, 9, 10, 11 on your team,
01:00:10 they're obviously going to have some flaw.
01:00:13 Otherwise, they wouldn't be players 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
01:00:16 They would be starters.
01:00:18 So that's the point is like you can't tell me the ninth guy on the team can't do something.
01:00:23 We know he can't do something.
01:00:25 It's a pick-your-poison situation.
01:00:27 I think where Joe last year probably admittedly was so afraid to play certain people
01:00:35 because he didn't want to lose games for making bad decisions,
01:00:39 so he played the shit out of his starters way, way, way more than he should have.
01:00:44 You have to just live with it.
01:00:46 Like I said, look at Milwaukee and what they do with Giannis Minutes.
01:00:49 He averages 32.
01:00:51 They just are like no frigging way am I going to play this guy until the playoffs 40 minutes a night.
01:00:57 I'm not doing it.
01:00:58 It's not important enough.
01:00:59 So you just live with imperfection for periods of time.
01:01:04 You bring in guys.
01:01:05 There are guys who start in this league who you can point out 12 things they don't do well.
01:01:10 Like it's just some guys are there and they shoot really well or they play some defense or they –
01:01:16 having an elite skill is great and obviously Hauser has one.
01:01:21 Svee shoots all day.
01:01:22 Elite, being able to score –
01:01:24 That's the thing.
01:01:25 All these guys –
01:01:26 Does a lot for you.
01:01:27 I take that over a guy who's just in the way and you're basically playing four on five for 10 minutes or five minutes.
01:01:34 I don't want to see that.
01:01:35 That's the thing that's good about this bench.
01:01:37 They have mostly minimum guys, but all of them do have one skill that really intrigues you.
01:01:43 Svee in the shooting, offensive rebounding and defense.
01:01:47 In Steven's case, O'Shea has really played with some amazing energy at the floor as a cutter especially is his skill.
01:01:55 Svee's shooting and you go down the line, Banton really screens well and just seems to know this offense super well, which show like.
01:02:03 So they have a number of guys, none of them even mid-level guys, who can do something for you, which is, again, a credit to Steve.
01:02:12 Brad Stevens, who built this roster really well.
01:02:16 They really have a group that's new and different, but is super intriguing, even on this bottom half that we're debating here, which could have sunk John.
01:02:25 As you said, G League guys, castoffs, undrafted rookies.
01:02:29 It could have been any of those kind of guys, but they ended up with some intriguing players.
01:02:34 Bobby, do you have all your dishes below your seat or something?
01:02:37 No, I got my light here.
01:02:39 Okay. It's like you're kicking a tray of dishes or something.
01:02:43 Yeah, like right underneath you.
01:02:45 There we go.
01:02:46 No, no, that's a good point, Bobby, but we also have to give Brad Stevens a lot of credit for that.
01:02:53 I feel like he's able to bring in these guys who aren't going to break the bank.
01:02:57 They're in that point of their career where they're not quite out of the league, but they have that opportunity to show that they've been in the league long enough.
01:03:04 They're just waiting for an opportunity. They're driven, and I think that's why it's also difficult to gauge which one's going to break through.
01:03:11 Who's going to solidify that spot?
01:03:13 But it's intriguing because you can see potential in all these guys, and I don't think that was always the case last year or even two years ago.
01:03:20 How many times there were three, four guys, and you were just like, "There's no way these guys are going to get solid playing time."
01:03:25 And you were kind of just hoping three, four months into the season that maybe Romeo, because he had nine points one game, he's going to break through.
01:03:33 I think this is completely different.
01:03:35 These guys, you know one of them is going to latch onto this rotation.
01:03:39 You're going to get something out of that person.
01:03:41 Yeah, John, how many times did we ask some of those old bench guys like Romeo, what do they do?
01:03:46 We just wanted them to grow up like that.
01:03:48 You're right, exactly.
01:03:49 It was unrealistic, Bobby.
01:03:50 These guys are different.
01:03:52 Yeah, these guys can do certain things.
01:03:54 Romeo, legit, could do nothing.
01:03:56 Nothing.
01:03:57 It's not just him, though.
01:03:59 That's just a good example.
01:04:00 He's a good example.
01:04:03 Yabusele.
01:04:04 Yabusele.
01:04:05 Semmy's exactly that guy.
01:04:07 Semmy was, every minute Semmy played, just…
01:04:10 Wanamaker?
01:04:11 Ugh.
01:04:12 He can go down the list.
01:04:14 But like, Romeo was a classic case of just doesn't do anything.
01:04:17 Like, he's just a body, right?
01:04:19 Offensively, nothing.
01:04:21 Nothing.
01:04:22 Just a body.
01:04:23 He could play some defense, but he would never get the benefit of the doubt on calls, and that would negate whatever.
01:04:29 I actually still think he could have been a legit bench D guy.
01:04:34 Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:04:35 Why do you say past tense, man?
01:04:37 I think Bobby nailed it.
01:04:39 We were talking the other day.
01:04:40 Every time he gets cut, which is like every other day now.
01:04:43 Every time he gets cut.
01:04:45 I'm like, "Get him!"
01:04:46 But he got waved, and Bobby's like, "I don't think he likes basketball."
01:04:51 And I was like, "That might be it."
01:04:53 I hate to say that because we had that conversation at Summer League, and he was like,
01:04:57 "I hate when people say I don't like basketball."
01:04:59 But I don't know.
01:05:01 Something's not clicking there.
01:05:02 Maybe it's the injuries.
01:05:03 I think you rehab enough times.
01:05:05 A lot of setbacks.
01:05:06 Yeah.
01:05:07 It gets mental.
01:05:08 It gets mental.
01:05:09 And he certainly struggled with the shot and all the rest.
01:05:11 We'll see if someone picks him up.
01:05:13 I'd have to say if Danny, who drafted him in Utah, who has developed so many of these unsung guys, didn't want him, it's not a great sign.
01:05:19 San Antonio can make it work with him.
01:05:21 No.
01:05:22 San Antonio's like, "We're doing something real now, so we're going to see you later."
01:05:26 [Laughter]
01:05:28 We got a lot going on.
01:05:29 That was the Derek White trade, John.
01:05:30 I got to pay a lot of attention to what's going on here.
01:05:33 So, yeah.
01:05:35 So, that's good stuff.
01:05:36 Celtics, like we said, they start Wednesday.
01:05:39 These guys will be heading down to New York.
01:05:40 I'm going to ask you, John, before we wrap.
01:05:42 Yeah.
01:05:43 Who starts on Wednesday?
01:05:46 Well, I mean, again, I just don't want to have this conversation because then I'll get angry for no reason.
01:05:51 I mean, I guess I don't know, but I just never at any point in time until that first preseason game when Holiday came off the bench did it ever enter my mind that he might be coming off the bench.
01:06:03 And so, I really believe what you saw tonight and what you saw last game is the lineup, and it's always been the lineup.
01:06:12 I never at any point in time thought Holiday or White were coming off the bench.
01:06:18 Ever.
01:06:19 Ever.
01:06:20 Ever.
01:06:21 I've never thought it.
01:06:22 I don't believe they're going double big.
01:06:24 That's what made the trade so incredible, right?
01:06:26 The fact that it happened because no one sort of saw that going to be the Celtics.
01:06:30 No one saw the Drew Holiday thing days before, but that's what made it exciting, the thought of putting those two together in the back.
01:06:37 Ever.
01:06:38 Ever, ever, ever.
01:06:39 And so, and again, for multiple reasons.
01:06:41 One, I mean, Holiday's a freaking all-star.
01:06:43 You're not trading for a guy and putting him on the bench.
01:06:45 It's ridiculous to think.
01:06:47 White, the way he played last year, he was your second-best player.
01:06:50 I mean, it's like, you know, he was so good.
01:06:53 We were screaming for more minutes.
01:06:56 And third, like, you're limited in what you have in terms of big body, so it makes sense to split.
01:07:03 I thought it made sense to split Al and Rob.
01:07:07 It certainly makes sense to split Cornette and Al because you don't have anything you love coming up behind it.
01:07:15 So, for all the reasons it makes sense, I just, I've never understood it.
01:07:20 I think they were trolling us the whole time.
01:07:22 Or it was just respectful, deferential, respectful to Al to not say openly he's on the bench without talking to him and making sure he understands it, blah, blah, blah, you know?
01:07:38 Maybe, yeah.
01:07:39 So, that's, I think, maybe out of respect to Al, that's it.
01:07:42 But I don't believe for one second Joe in his mind had ever considered this not being the lineup.
01:07:48 Yeah, that might explain more why Drew, when I asked him, was just like, "Yeah, I'll do whatever," knowing that he won't come off the bench.
01:07:55 But I still think it's a real possibility.
01:07:57 I think there's been enough smoke behind it to make you think that that could happen on certain nights that they want to go double big.
01:08:03 And again, I try to explain this when Jimmy and I were going back and forth over it last game.
01:08:09 Just because he's coming off the bench doesn't mean it's going to be the 20-minute thing like Brogdon did last year, or limited minutes.
01:08:14 He'll play far more than Horford does.
01:08:16 Horford will still take a back seat.
01:08:18 It's just about the combination to start the game.
01:08:20 And Joe, I guess, actually kind of went off about it to start the game, our pregame tonight.
01:08:26 You know, he's starting to get frustrated with the conversation and said, "It's not even about starters."
01:08:32 It doesn't matter. It's just the five guys on the floor to start the game.
01:08:36 And then the closing lineup is what we're really talking about.
01:08:39 Or did we ever consider this?
01:08:41 No.
01:08:45 Guess we have.
01:08:46 Here's what I want to end with, Bobby.
01:08:48 A lot of people in the chat think you're sad because of two things.
01:08:53 Because it's possible both your dream, your two islands, you know, are both sinking.
01:09:01 Your dream of Cornette and double big might have died on the same night.
01:09:08 And everyone thinks you're sad.
01:09:09 So can you tell me why you're not sad?
01:09:11 Someone said you had the Arthur clenching fists going on.
01:09:14 Yeah, Arthur.
01:09:16 I'm certainly concerned about what's going on with Luquier this preseason.
01:09:22 He's concerned.
01:09:23 But...
01:09:24 But...
01:09:25 You were concerned after...
01:09:27 You were a little concerned after I said it and then when he played after that New York game, you were like, "He's good. He's safe."
01:09:31 Well, yeah. I mean, you gave the full run to Keita tonight, which is interesting.
01:09:35 Obviously, you want to see extended minutes for both those guys.
01:09:38 But Cornette was pretty limited last game against the Knicks, too.
01:09:41 He had that one first half run.
01:09:42 But since Horford was coming off the bench, he really didn't play a ton the rest of the way.
01:09:46 So, yeah, there's some concern on that end for me.
01:09:49 But double big? There's going to be a lot of double big.
01:09:52 I still think, especially with Joe teasing starters by committee, John, maybe it's not next Wednesday.
01:09:56 But maybe against the Heat the next night.
01:09:59 Holliday's coming off that bench and Horford starting.
01:10:01 There's going to be different combinations throughout the year.
01:10:03 All I know, especially after tonight, you mentioned White off the top.
01:10:07 Don't sit White. Ever.
01:10:10 Like, it's the easy move.
01:10:12 He's going to...
01:10:13 Like, if you're Joe and you're worried about how Al feels and Holliday's coming in as a star, you don't want to put him on the bench.
01:10:20 The easy decision is White, who's like, "Yeah, I'll do it."
01:10:22 Like, not even, you know, thinking twice about it.
01:10:25 Don't diminish his role on this team at all.
01:10:29 He should be out there with the starters.
01:10:31 He should be out there setting a tone to start games.
01:10:33 Hey, salut.
01:10:35 I just love where White's at right now.
01:10:38 Yeah.
01:10:40 Last thing I will say.
01:10:43 One, chat's been awesome tonight.
01:10:48 Yeah, it has.
01:10:49 I mean, y'all bringing it.
01:10:50 Good, funny, goofy.
01:10:52 Which, by the way, John, real quick, when we're talking about something semi-serious, if you guys just see me smiling, I'm not laughing at what they're saying.
01:10:59 I'm reading the comments.
01:11:00 I know.
01:11:01 No, it's fun.
01:11:02 This chat, man.
01:11:03 They want to see Cornett and Horford's demise.
01:11:05 They really do.
01:11:06 No, chat's been great.
01:11:08 But what I do want to say is also, I mean, that's what, like, kind of the optimism, you know, I think, of what could be, you know, does for us.
01:11:19 And also, I want to just show people, I want people to know that we can do these shows when the Celtics are doing well also.
01:11:28 It's much more fun to talk about what the possibilities, rather than just crapping over Jalen Brown, you know, dribbling into people.
01:11:36 You didn't bring up Brown once tonight.
01:11:38 No, because, I mean, look, again, to me, Brown is -- the key to Brown is he will be asked to do less.
01:11:47 And I believe if he embraces that, he will end up doing more.
01:11:50 My only fear with Brown potentially is kind of like, you know, he was forgotten when it was just Tatum.
01:11:58 What happens if we go through stretches where it's just not flowing through him?
01:12:01 Is he going to disappear, go in and out and this and that?
01:12:04 And then when he does get it, feel like he has to force it because it's like, geez, I haven't touched it in a while.
01:12:08 So it's how they play together and share the touches that you want to see.
01:12:11 That's going to be a big concern when you have -- when you put a bunch of stars together,
01:12:15 the sharing of the ball is always an issue.
01:12:18 You know, and with Brown, it's been an issue with less talent.
01:12:21 I'm really curious how it is with this much talent.
01:12:24 I'm not condemning it one way or the other.
01:12:26 You know, like, oh, he's just -- like, tonight was perfect.
01:12:30 I mean, it's like -- I mean, you can't say anything about it.
01:12:34 It was a perfect --
01:12:35 No, I get you, John.
01:12:36 It's like you -- is he just going to, like, join in with the crowd or be the oddball, you know?
01:12:40 Like, that's what -- the philosophy from the beginning has been all about teamwork.
01:12:44 You know, you're hearing guys talking about how there's a lot more drills with other guys in ball,
01:12:48 whereas before there was a lot more one-on-one work.
01:12:50 And I think it's all, you know, relative in the sense of everyone's going to have to sort of sacrifice a little bit, right?
01:12:56 I mean, you talk about what Joe Mazzullo said before tonight's game,
01:12:59 and he doesn't want to hear any of that when it comes to people starting because that's -- they're a team.
01:13:04 You know, they're going to do what -- it's all about what's best for the team.
01:13:07 When guys start, you know, when the narrative starts to become, oh, this guy is not crazy about his minutes or this and that,
01:13:13 that's when you see dysfunction.
01:13:15 If there's one thing the Celtics tend to run into is dysfunction, you know, like one way or another,
01:13:20 or every other year there's something or some sort of rift,
01:13:24 and you're hoping you see less of that this year going in with a lot of new guys and a new look.
01:13:31 It feels that -- Bobby's there every day, and he's said it a bunch of times,
01:13:34 and I have been down a couple of times, and I kind of get the same vibe, too.
01:13:38 It's businesslike but not, like, not fun.
01:13:42 I wonder how goofy it would be sometimes last year.
01:13:44 Like, goofy.
01:13:45 It was, you know, brown and frigging -- and I mean not brown, Grant and White and those stupid horse games.
01:13:52 Oh, yeah, it's not goofy yet.
01:13:53 You know, but then it was also --
01:13:54 Try it on the floor, throwing the ball.
01:13:56 Smart doing trick shots and looking around like, did anybody see that?
01:14:00 Everyone's like, yeah, man, we did.
01:14:02 You know, like -- you know, and then Tatum would be like, I'm going to go all the way over here and work out by myself, you know,
01:14:09 which is what he does every time.
01:14:11 Yeah, it's so true.
01:14:12 He's not even going to talk to anybody.
01:14:13 He's just a far court with a coach, you know.
01:14:16 I'm going to do you guys whatever, you know.
01:14:18 So, like, yeah, it does feel like it's a little bit more locked in.
01:14:23 Yeah, and before the Warriors game, they lost on the road there, the rematch of the finals.
01:14:27 It was just like -- it was like a bus ride in the locker room.
01:14:31 Everyone was just joking around and, like, fighting over their colleges,
01:14:34 and then Jalen walks in just with, like, his headphones on, locked in, but everyone else is just like --
01:14:39 it was a very, at times -- I almost compare it like a bunch of, like, college friends,
01:14:45 just, like, cracking jokes, guys who have been around together for years.
01:14:49 It was a loose vibe to last year's team.
01:14:52 Like, that was the word I used most often about last year's team was just how loose they were.
01:14:56 The focus waned.
01:14:58 Their consistency was all over the place.
01:15:00 They were very inconsistent.
01:15:02 And this year's team just seems to be a little bit more locked in.
01:15:05 These guys aren't as familiar with each other.
01:15:07 There's definitely some deference toward the guys who are coming in, right?
01:15:10 A lot of respect for these guys, and they are veterans who are very focused on coming in and winning.
01:15:16 Holiday has already won a championship in his case, so there's obviously a willingness to listen to him.
01:15:21 And it's just a little bit more fresh, which this team obviously needed.
01:15:26 Brad decided they needed.
01:15:28 You know, there's still, like, that whole conversation of, like, oh, the broadening trade fell apart,
01:15:33 so that's why Smart's gone.
01:15:35 I still don't think that's the real--
01:15:37 Like I said, they were both--it was very likely they were both gone.
01:15:41 But it really was.
01:15:43 I think they were ready to move off both guys.
01:15:46 Anyway, we are going to wrap it, and, you know, we do appreciate you guys hanging out.
01:15:51 It was a good chat.
01:15:52 It was a fun night.
01:15:53 It's been a fun preseason, so everybody who's been along for the ride, that's great.
01:15:59 We're psyched.
01:16:00 First of 82 coming up on Wednesday.
01:16:02 Real quick, tell you once again, check out FanDuel.
01:16:05 Sign up at fanduel.com/boston.
01:16:07 200 bonus bets when you bet just five.
01:16:10 That's all you have to do.
01:16:11 Five bucks, America's number one sportsbook and the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.
01:16:17 Also, if you want to help it along, go to oddsare.com/celtics.
01:16:21 This is not a sportsbook, but they're going to help you bet smarter.
01:16:24 Oddsare.com/celtics.
01:16:26 Download the app.
01:16:27 Get a 30-day free trial when you sign up.
01:16:30 And what else do we have?
01:16:31 Let's do HelloFresh.
01:16:32 Why not?
01:16:33 Everything is number one.
01:16:35 We're number one on this show.
01:16:36 America's number one meal kit.
01:16:38 Okay?
01:16:39 >> Is that the first question you guys ask?
01:16:40 >> If you're number one, you ask--
01:16:41 >> Are you guys the number one of the things that you do?
01:16:43 >> When the advertisers call Guy and they're like, "We'd like to put these guys on your show,"
01:16:49 Guy's like, "Are they number one?"
01:16:51 Are these guys--
01:16:52 [laughter]
01:16:53 >> Like, is your product the best?
01:16:55 Because only then will we accept it.
01:16:57 And HelloFresh is America's number one meal kit.
01:16:59 Again, HelloFresh.com/clns50.
01:17:02 Use that code, clns50, for 50% off free shipping.
01:17:07 And someone mentioned this in the chat, so I'm going to throw it up there now.
01:17:10 >> Yeah, good call.
01:17:12 >> Yes, it is like this during the game on the Discord.
01:17:15 There's a good group of people in there, you know, hanging out, chatting.
01:17:21 Very fun.
01:17:22 Sign up right now, clnsmedia.com/discord if you want to keep up with the chatter.
01:17:28 While you're waiting for us to come on here, and then you can yell at us about the dumb shit that we say here.
01:17:34 And that's fine.
01:17:35 We like that.
01:17:36 Once again, Celtics defeat the Hornets in a laugher, in a fun, impressive game.
01:17:40 Starters versus starters.
01:17:42 127-99.
01:17:43 >> Charlotte played everyone.
01:17:44 >> Charlotte played their people, and it was ridiculous.
01:17:48 And Celtics didn't even play their best game.
01:17:50 It looked like they barely broke a sweat.
01:17:53 Put up 127.
01:17:54 It was unreal.
01:17:56 So, yeah, fun night, fun preseason.
01:17:59 We're back early next week.
01:18:01 We're going to do a preview show.
01:18:02 We're going to have all our bold predictions.
01:18:04 Ooh, that's going to be fun.
01:18:07 >> They'll be bold, John, don't worry.
01:18:08 They'll be bold.
01:18:09 >> Be really bold.
01:18:10 Jimmies are always bold, bordering on ridiculous, but they're fun.
01:18:13 But thank you guys for hanging out with us tonight and throughout the preseason.
01:18:17 Regular season starts on Wednesday, preview show Monday or Tuesday.
01:18:21 Follow us at Celtics Twitter or any of our Twitter handles here, and you'll see notifications.

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LIVE: How Does Karl Anthony-Towns Trade IMPACT Celtics? | Garden Report
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Boston Bruins preseason mailbag episode | Pucks with Haggs
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Patriots vs. 49ers preview and does Mayo want to start Drake Maye? | Pats Interference
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LIVE: Patriots vs. 49ers Week 4 Preview | Patriots Beat
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LIVE: Patriots vs. 49ers KEY MATCHUPS w/ The Athletic's Ted Nguyen | Patriots Daily
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Can Mayo get Patriots to rebound vs. 49ers? | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast
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Jeremy Swayman Negotiations Update | Bruins Beat
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Bob Ryan Reacts to Perk's comments on MJ and Lebron | Bob Ryan & Jeff Goodman Podcast
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Celtics training camp takeaways | Still Poddable
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How Are Top Prospects Playing in Training Camp? | Poke the Bear
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What to expect from Tatum this year | Big 3 NBA Podcast
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LIVE Patriots Daily: Week 4 Mailbag
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