Celtics All-Star Recap (w/ Drew Carter) | First to the Floor
How would you change up the All-Star game to make it more competitive? Despite another underwhelming NBA All-Star weekend, Celtics fans were given plenty of content to pour over thanks to the heavy involvement of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Drew Carter joins us to discuss Jaylen's dunks, rule changes, and the most important factors for the final stretch of the Celtics' season.
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Check out last week's underrated plays vid: https://youtu.be/tAVippsZXts
️Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/first-to-the-floor-a-boston-celtics-podcast/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firsttothefloor18/
Watch live Celtics games with us: https://playback.tv/celticsblog
Check out Spooney's latest column on CelticsBlog: https://bit.ly/3UCITHv
JOIN OUR DISCORD SERVER: https://discord.gg/H75UWjmtya
Please LIKE this video and SUBSCRIBE to the channel!
#bostonceltics
#celtics
#postgame
#firsttothefloor
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00 [Music]
00:00:24 Ben Vallis here with First to the Floor. Thanks for joining us. Hope you're doing
00:00:27 well. Alongside me as always is Jake Eisenberg. Jake, how's it going buddy?
00:00:31 Good. I'm refreshing. I'm trying to, you know, do my inner Chris Topps. Imagine I'm in Miami
00:00:38 on the beach, waxing, resting that ankle.
00:00:42 Jacked and tanned.
00:00:43 That's me, jacked and tanned.
00:00:45 I love it. Well, we've got a very special guest tonight joining us to wrap up
00:00:49 All-Star Weekend and talk about the most important factors for the Celtics' upcoming stretch run.
00:00:54 He's the play-by-play announcer for the Boston Celtics with NBC Sports Boston.
00:00:58 Drew Carter. Drew, welcome, man. How's it going?
00:01:00 What's up, fellas? Great to see you again. Thanks for having me back on. I think this is
00:01:04 my first podcast I've done multiple times on the Celtics track. So let's go.
00:01:11 We were hoping to get you as the pendulum swung backwards as you started to go
00:01:16 another lap around the pod circuit. So I'm glad to hear that's the case.
00:01:21 I apologize if I'm a little tired. I'm in Bristol, Connecticut this week doing the
00:01:25 morning SportsCenter. So I was up at about 1.15 a.m. Eastern today.
00:01:30 Yeah, to make a two-hour drive from Boston to Bristol. I'm staying here now.
00:01:33 And I was telling you guys before we started, every time I do SportsCenter,
00:01:37 we talk about the Celtics. It's not a coincidence. And it's not because I'm doing it.
00:01:41 It's because we're the best.
00:01:42 We're what?
00:01:44 That's what we love to hear. Well, look, obviously, you're not in Boston at the moment,
00:01:47 Drew, but you did move there recently. How are you settling into life as a Bostonian?
00:01:51 Life is good, man. I feel incredibly lucky, same as the last time we spoke. That has not worn off,
00:01:59 and I hope it never does, frankly. I tell Mike Gorman I'm coming for his mark. I'd love to get
00:02:04 to 44 years or maybe even more than that. I say that partially in jest, but it's true. I think
00:02:11 this is a lifetime job and I never want to leave it. I want to retire as the play-by-play guy for
00:02:16 the Celtics. And I think that I'd be really lucky if I could do that. And I feel like I'm starting
00:02:21 to have a few "Welcome to Boston" moments. Can we swear on this podcast? I can't remember.
00:02:26 Is that allowed?
00:02:27 Absolutely. It's encouraged, if anything.
00:02:29 Good. Okay. So I was walking up the stands at the Garden. This was a couple of weeks ago.
00:02:36 And people at the Garden generally are pretty diehard. So I get recognized a lot. People ask
00:02:42 for photos, which is awesome. And I'm always happy to do it. So it's kind of surreal. But a guy
00:02:48 stops me. He goes, "Dude, you're doing a great fucking job, kid. Dude." And that was awesome.
00:02:56 And then that was... I was a couple of weeks after a guy from behind me. I just hear, "New
00:03:01 announcer. New announcer, Drew Cotter. Drew Cotter's taking a photo, dude." I was like,
00:03:07 "This is perfect. I feel like I'm in an SNL sketch." So I love it. I feel like I'm fitting in.
00:03:12 Hell, yes. I love it. I love it. I believed that "I love you. I'm going to stay in Boston"
00:03:18 so much more than the Kyrie Irving one. So yeah, we'll see. I love it, Drew. That's awesome. I'm
00:03:27 unsurprised that you're getting recognized and you're getting the Sullys of the world coming up
00:03:32 to you, hitting you with some good comments.
00:03:36 Yeah. You've nailed the accent as well very quickly. So that's very impressive. Love to see
00:03:40 it. Well, look, let's start here, Drew. Jason Tatum got asked this weekend what NBA rule change
00:03:47 or what NBA rule he would change rather. And he had a pretty hilarious and somewhat topical answer
00:03:51 about rescinding technical fouls. Drew, with another somewhat lackluster, let's be honest,
00:03:57 lackluster All-Star weekend in the rearview mirror, what would you change about the All-Star
00:04:02 game to make it more interesting if you were, as Bill Simmons would put it, "sports czar" for a
00:04:06 day?
00:04:08 Fire Kenny Smith. I think that's the easy answer. That would definitely help.
00:04:13 God damn, man.
00:04:14 No, I mean, look, I don't want to pile on. I know he's been getting roasted, but I think
00:04:17 rightfully so. I think he was pretty bad, especially during that Steph Sabrina thing,
00:04:21 which was really the only good All-Star weekend, if you think about it. What was good aside from
00:04:26 that? The dude shooting half-court shots for 90 seconds total? That wasn't very good. I mean,
00:04:32 Damian Lillard winning MVP. So just to give you some perspective on how I
00:04:37 digested the All-Star game Sunday night, I had to be awake super early, like I said. So I went
00:04:43 to bed at halftime, or at least tried to, struggling to sleep. I was having dreams about
00:04:49 Banner 18 and riding a duck boat. I couldn't get to sleep. I checked the clock. I'm like,
00:04:57 "Oh, it's 1130 Eastern. The game's probably over by now. Let me just check my phone and see who
00:05:00 won." I see East with 211 and Damian Lillard won MVP. And I'm like, "Is the All-Star game dead?
00:05:06 That's awful. Could there be a less interesting outcome than that?"
00:05:11 Especially, how many minutes of Halliburton? Just stop the count.
00:05:16 Four minutes in, when he had 15 points in 92 seconds, just give it to him.
00:05:21 So anyway, I think it was disappointing. I was bummed about it. I think it has potential to
00:05:27 be really good. I'm not one of these guys who's like, "Oh, it's a Travis." I saw Bob Ryan from
00:05:32 the Globe. He's like, "Oh, my." He basically wants these guys behind bars because they don't
00:05:38 play the All-Star game. I'm not that aggressive about it, but I do think there's probably a way
00:05:43 to incentivize winning that would make this more interesting. Maybe do it tournament style,
00:05:49 like they do with the Rising Stars. I thought that was great. I guess I should correct myself.
00:05:53 I thought that was really fun, the Rising Stars with the G League team making a little run and
00:05:57 beating the loaded team, Pau. Anytime Pau loses, we like that in Celtics culture. But I think
00:06:05 there's got to be some way they can do it with the All-Star game. The good news is, number one,
00:06:08 Adam Silver seemed pissed. Number two, he's not the kind of guy who's afraid to make big time
00:06:15 changes. We've seen it with the play-in. We've seen it with the in-season tournament. We've seen
00:06:19 it with the Elim ending in the All-Star game, a televised draft. Remember when there was a time
00:06:23 when it seemed like the televised draft, you mentioned Bill Simmons earlier, it's like,
00:06:27 "That's Bill Simmons' wet dream, but it would never happen." That's a crazy idea. Great idea,
00:06:32 but crazy. And then they did it. And then they actually stopped doing it because people were
00:06:36 like, "This isn't that great anyway." All that to say, I think Silver is willing to take big swings
00:06:40 and he seemed like he was ready for a huge change last night. So we'll see. I have a lot of faith
00:06:46 in him. - Yeah, Jake, you got anything in mind? - Well, I know in the First to the Floor Discord,
00:06:52 we've been talking about it for the last 24 hours, trying to figure out a way to improve it. I know,
00:06:57 Ben, you've been on, like, you give home court advantage to either the East or the West, whoever
00:07:03 wins it, which- - Why not? It's the most simple answer, right? They do it in baseball. - Yeah,
00:07:09 but here's the problem. Boston Celtics this year, on pace to win 65 games and probably
00:07:16 clear the West as well by four or five games. Imagine East loses last night and we end up having
00:07:23 to play the Clippers and Nuggets, whatever, and we're six games clear of them in the standings,
00:07:27 but then the Nuggets end up getting home court advantage because they won this
00:07:30 all-star tournament, all-star game. That's the only thing- - We have to all- - Is that not spicy?
00:07:36 - Jake, you should have played harder. - I know. It's true. - Is that not super fucking spicy?
00:07:42 You know what I mean? If you're the best team in the league that's gonna have a real gripe about
00:07:47 not having home court, if you're that far ahead of the pack, you should have multiple all-stars,
00:07:52 right? And then those guys have to give a shit. And maybe if you're Trey Young, right, and you're
00:07:58 like, "I hate the Celtics. F those guys. I'm gonna tank this game so they don't get home court
00:08:02 advantage," maybe that adds an interesting ripple. But, I mean, if you care about the all-star game,
00:08:08 you gotta do something, right? And there's always gonna be a but there. It's always gonna be like,
00:08:12 "Well, do we really wanna put that much emphasis?" You can't have it both ways. You want it to be
00:08:16 a real game or not. So I think that's a good idea. - Yeah. - And in that scenario, say it's Jason
00:08:22 Tatum, the best player on the best team in the East at that point, he's the captain of the East,
00:08:26 he's doing the draft, he gets to decide, "Who do I want to come and help me ensure that I've got
00:08:31 home court advantage in the finals?" I think that adds a spicy wrinkle to the draft. What about
00:08:36 this though, Jake and Drew? What about players on the winning team get plus five games on their 65
00:08:41 game eligibility counter? So Tyrese Halliburton, he's, I think, skirting the boundaries there as
00:08:47 far as whether or not he'll be eligible for all NBA and subsequently lots of additional millions
00:08:53 of dollars. If he wins the game, he gets plus five on his counter there and becomes re-eligible for
00:08:58 said millions of dollars. I think that's a spicy incentive. - I like it. Yeah, I like it.
00:09:05 Yeah, that's a good way. I was thinking it would be so hard with the schedule.
00:09:09 The teams that win, maybe you make the schedule East-West against each other only in the days
00:09:17 after the All-Star game and if your conference wins, you get an extra day off. All the Eastern
00:09:24 Conference games start on Saturday as opposed to Friday. So an extra day off, an extra day to go
00:09:29 wherever they want to go for a day. Or you pay them all 500k like you did for the in-season
00:09:35 tournament. And that seemed to work, which is shocking to me considering maybe it doesn't
00:09:40 work quite as well because we're not trying to pay off Luke Cornett's mortgage like we were
00:09:44 in the in-season tournament. But these guys seem to still care about 500k despite making 40 plus
00:09:50 mil. - How about you get an extra trip to Miami or Atlanta? You get to trip out like a Portland
00:09:56 or a Memphis trip for one of those destinations everyone wants to go to. How do you guys feel
00:10:00 about the 65 game rule by the way? Are you in favor of that? - We support the team with the Ironman
00:10:08 Touchwood, Jason Tatum, who seems to be not bound by such boundaries. So I'm largely indifferent
00:10:14 given that it's irrelevant to our favorite person on the planet Earth, Jason Tatum. I don't know,
00:10:19 Jake, have you got a more critical view? - I think it should be a limit. Maybe 65 is a tiny
00:10:25 bit high, but that's also like, it's not that high. And being durable is incredibly valuable.
00:10:32 Like Joel Embiid, even before he got injured, the Sixers were three and seven in the 10 games he'd
00:10:37 missed or something. It's like, if you play all those games, you're going to most likely win
00:10:43 those games. There's like legit, it's just like a very tangible value. If you're on the court,
00:10:49 it's very valuable. Maybe 65 is a little too high, but I like that there's a cutoff.
00:10:54 And then I'm like, and people are like, oh, Tyree Salaburn's going to miss out on the Supermax.
00:11:00 Again, I'm not crying too many tears. - World's smallest violin. - Yeah. I'm like, oh no,
00:11:06 the 200 versus $300 million contract. I'm not too worried about that. So yeah, play maybe that you
00:11:13 alternate, like alternate where it's like, if it's one injury that you miss for 10 in a row,
00:11:18 it caps it like five for the same injury or something like that. But I don't know. What
00:11:21 do you think, Trey? - I don't know. I go back and forth on it. I think it's a good idea,
00:11:25 kind of ham-fisted execution with just the raw number. I do agree though, Jake. I like how simple
00:11:30 it is to follow. But the thing is the NBA is already adjudicating whether injuries are real
00:11:38 or not. Like they're handing out fines in this new load management program they're doing or player
00:11:42 participation program. So if you're going to do that, then why can't you extend that same
00:11:48 jurisdiction to the 65 game rule, especially if it is going to affect guys' contracts, which that
00:11:52 is another rule, by the way, that I think needs to be changed. Like if you're Tyree Salaburn,
00:11:56 you're already signed. I'm kind of confused by the mechanics of that rule. And I think it was
00:12:04 put in place for, let's be honest, a guy who was an exception in Derrick Rose. Like that dude was
00:12:08 an outlier. It's very rare a guy will win an MVP when he's, what, 21 or 22. So I think they have
00:12:16 some tweaking to do with that. And I think the same thing could be said for the All-Star game.
00:12:20 Maybe that five game thing is a good idea, like toward the 65 game limit. I just feel like then
00:12:27 you're taking a step forward and two steps back because you're sort of undercutting another one
00:12:32 of your inventions this year. You know what I'm saying? - Yeah, totally. Maybe there'll be
00:12:36 exceptions like there are with the cap. I don't know, personality or injury-specific or team-specific
00:12:42 exceptions based on injury history or injury severity or the way in which your injury came
00:12:48 about. - Not to get too sidetracked on this, but I remember when we were playing Philly, we were
00:12:55 at Philly. It was mid-November and Embiid was questionable, like really questionable.
00:13:00 And I actually can't remember if he ended up playing. I don't think he did. I think he missed
00:13:04 that game. And I basically hunted down Brad Stevens in the tunnel, like cornered him,
00:13:12 accosted him. And I was like, "Can you explain the player participation role to me so we can
00:13:17 explain it to the viewer tonight? Because it seems like nothing has changed. Like, are they going to
00:13:20 get fined for this? How does this work?" And Brad is probably the wrong person to ask about that
00:13:27 generally because our guys don't sit. Like we don't have anybody who really manages their load
00:13:32 aside from Christoph Porzingis. But see, that's the thing. I don't know how this works. He has a
00:13:40 really checkered injury history. Does that lower the bar for what has to happen before they get
00:13:47 fined? Nobody understands the player participation. I don't even think the teams do. You just can't
00:13:52 write DNP old like Pop did that one time for Tim Hogan. I think that's the only thing we know.
00:13:57 - I love DNP old. I wanted the heat too. They did like DNP for like Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love
00:14:03 to get some younger guys. I forget. It was a very creative way to do it. Yeah, yeah. But like,
00:14:08 yeah, the Celtics aren't a team that typically really has to worry about this. Yeah, look,
00:14:14 and they just need, like they're trying to get, you know, these top players to play. But if you're
00:14:19 a Kawhi, it's like, why would you push it when I'm someone who hasn't been able to play like a full
00:14:24 season in like four years? Like why? And now he has an adductor injury and his application. And
00:14:29 then you've got the fucking, the piece of research that the NBA did that like back-to-backs don't
00:14:34 impact injury. It's like, sure. I don't know, man. I'm not a scientist, which everybody here is very
00:14:41 aware of. But like, I don't know. The more basketball you play, the more likely you are to
00:14:47 get injured. It feels like pretty sound logic. And like the NBA led research shockingly said that,
00:14:53 yeah, you know, like, but like we watch it with our own teams, like guys that play on back-to-backs,
00:14:58 like the odds, the lines for betting are lower, teams don't perform quite as well. Like the
00:15:03 Celtics are like one of the best teams in the league at like 15 and four or something over
00:15:07 the last two seasons on back-to-backs. But like, that's because they have a bunch of young guys
00:15:11 that are awesome. It's like, anyway, we can, well, yeah, there's too much meat on that bone.
00:15:18 But I mean, the NBA has like a serious issue as they've addressed with guys not caring about
00:15:24 whether it's a regular season game or the all-star game, whatever it is, like that's a problem. And
00:15:31 how do you get guys to give a shit again? I mean, there's a video circulating from the all-star
00:15:35 game like 20 years ago where Kobe and Stephon Marbury are going back and forth and it's
00:15:39 competitive and it's fun and it's intense. It's like, how do we get that to happen again? Is this
00:15:44 just soft ass generation or what? I don't know. - I think I saw on Twitter today, like, this is
00:15:51 LeBron's fault. This is LeBron's fault for the friendification of the NBA. I also saw what Nick
00:15:59 Wright, he was, you know, the, stop me though, you know, the worst person you know makes a comment
00:16:04 that you agree with. - You're kind of like the Australian Nick Wright, Jake, I think. - I'll do
00:16:10 it, dude. I'll be the Australian Nick Wright. But he was basically saying like, rings culture has
00:16:16 effectively, that's like a flow-on effect of this, right? Like, everybody's, like, the Celtics have
00:16:21 won more playoff games than any other team in the NBA over the past six seasons, which is cool. Also
00:16:28 hurts that we've won so many playoff games and not won a title. But like, the easiest way to clown
00:16:34 the Celtics, you know, for likes and whatever, is like, they can't get over the hump, they're not
00:16:38 clutch, etc, etc. But like, there's no value placed on like, real success in the NBA. Like, that's
00:16:44 really hard to do. Like, Jalen and Jason have like, the most playoff wins under a certain age and
00:16:49 they're kind of penalized for it. You know, Joel Embiid, we do it on this podcast, can't get out of
00:16:52 the second round. But like, no matter what he does in the regular season, 73, 70 points, whatever it
00:16:57 is, it's always diminished because it's regular season. And then that flows on to the, to the
00:17:03 All-Star game. It's almost like tall poppy syndrome, Ben, in Australia. I'm sure like, we have this
00:17:07 thing in our culture, it's like tall poppy syndrome. As soon as one person like, tries to be
00:17:12 different or cool or try something, it's like, in our culture, to be like, "Look at this f*cking dude
00:17:17 trying." Yeah, and which- I'm a piece of sh*t. Yeah, and like, it's kind of like the All-Star game.
00:17:23 Like, if someone had gone out there and like, tried on defense, up possession after possession,
00:17:28 everybody would have made fun of them. It's like, so I don't know how you fix it exactly, but yeah.
00:17:35 Do you remember when, when there was that video off-season workout, Joakim Noah and Devin Booker
00:17:43 were playing together, right? And Booker's like, "We're not doubling in this." And Joakim's like,
00:17:47 "Yeah, we are. Yeah, we are." It's like, Joakim Noah's a relic, dude. He's a blast from the past.
00:17:53 Guys like that just don't seem to really exist anymore. And one little sidebar on what you just
00:17:58 said, I know I'm throwing out the rundown here, sorry, Ben. But I'm so sick of the
00:18:04 discourse around the Celtics being like, "They can't perform in the playoffs." I'm like,
00:18:08 was I dreaming when they were in the finals two years ago and they were in Game 7 of the Eastern
00:18:13 Conference Finals last year? I know, like, sort of got popped in the mouth by Miami and that was
00:18:17 embarrassing. And I know Game 7 was really disappointing last year, but they were one win
00:18:22 away from going back to the finals for a second consecutive year. And it seems like all I hear
00:18:27 is like, "Why can't Jason Tatum win MVP?" "Oh, because he hasn't won an NBA championship,
00:18:32 so nobody trusts him." "Why are we worried about the Celtics' late game offense?" "Oh,
00:18:36 we've seen it so many times on the playoffs." "How many teams win a championship every year?"
00:18:40 "One." "Really hard to do." And by the way, Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown are in their mid-20s.
00:18:45 When did LeBron win his first? When did Jalen Brown win his first? I'm just so sick of this
00:18:49 idea that the Celtics choke and shit down their legs in the playoffs every year. It's just not
00:18:54 true. - Hey, dude, you came to the right place.
00:18:58 - Welcome to the club. Honestly, Drew, it's very endearing to see that you're like fully
00:19:03 indoctrinated into the lifelong frustrations of current Celtics fans. So that's really,
00:19:08 really good to see. Go ahead, Jake. - I'll make one comment and then we'll
00:19:12 move on. But it is really just purely a victim of their own success. Like them being the one seed
00:19:19 and Brad and Danny doing an awesome job early and Tatum going to the conference finals and Jalen
00:19:24 going to the conference finals at that age has completely fucked up the discourse around them.
00:19:28 Because it's just like, like Steph Curry, like the Warriors barely got out of the first round until
00:19:33 he was like 25, you know? And so, yeah, there's nothing they can do about it really besides win.
00:19:40 The good thing is like, it doesn't obviously like really impact them. And all they continue to do
00:19:45 is get better. And so like, look, it's just they've got the blinders on. But I do feel kind
00:19:50 of like this on a regular basis. I feel like Jon Snow in Game of Thrones every day.
00:19:56 - This is Greeny every day on Twitter. - On Twitter, dude. Yeah, Greeny and me just
00:20:01 going to war every day about the misinformation on Twitter. But we'll jump back to the All-Star
00:20:07 game and then we'll get into what we want to see from the Celtics for the rest of the season. But
00:20:12 we'll do a quick draft here. Favorite or least favorite things from the All-Star weekend. I
00:20:17 feel like we probably covered the effort aspect, but Drew, I'll let you go first.
00:20:21 What was like, what was your favorite thing from All-Star weekend?
00:20:25 Well, see, because I have the first pick here and it's a Celtics podcast, I feel like I have to take
00:20:34 the left-handed Jalen Brown dunk with the-
00:20:39 Oh, off the board.
00:20:40 There's layers to it, guys. There's layers to it. Michael Jackson's from Indiana.
00:20:46 You know, Jalen Brown, we know about the discourse around his left hand.
00:20:48 I just think that it's really refreshing when people just take a narrative on head-on,
00:20:57 you know? Like for Jalen Brown, I don't even know if he's ever talked about the fact that he knows
00:21:01 people think he can't dribble with his left hand. But he basically came out and said, "I hear you,
00:21:07 F you. Watch this." And so I really like that. Plus the fact that he was in it at all,
00:21:12 I think is really cool. So that's going to be my first pick.
00:21:16 Love it.
00:21:16 And of course, Michael Jackson is from Gary, Indiana. Is that a dig at Gary Washburn? Who's
00:21:21 to say? Certainly not me, but it's there for the conspiracy theorists. Jake, who's next? Is it me
00:21:29 or you?
00:21:29 I'll go. I'll take the reins here. You mentioned it earlier. Sabrina vs. Steph was easily like the
00:21:37 best event. And the three-point contest in general is the best event now because everybody tries.
00:21:43 And that's all we care about as sports fans is competition. And the Steph vs. Sabrina thing was
00:21:48 legitimately sick. I thought it was awesome. I was like really locked in. I bet on Sabrina
00:21:53 because I'm a psychopath. But she did really well, man. I would love to see that be like a staple of
00:22:00 the all-star game going forward. Maybe it's Dame and Steph vs. Caitlin Clark and Sabrina once
00:22:08 Caitlin Clark comes into the league or something like that. Because then it's legit. People care
00:22:12 about it for a variety of reasons and both competitors are really into it. And that's all
00:22:19 we want. And so that for me was easily number one.
00:22:21 Yeah, definitely, like you said, Drew, ruined slightly, not to put the words in your mouth,
00:22:27 but by Kenneth "The Jet" Smith. It's just his take on the situation, the narrative that he
00:22:32 constructed there was just unwelcome. And there seemed like a huge lack of awareness from his
00:22:38 part. But certainly that moment, it felt like it was a huge bringing together of a more collective
00:22:44 cohort of basketball fans. And the whole shooter-shoot mentality, it doesn't matter what
00:22:50 league you play for, what level you are, what your walk in life is. If you can shoot the ball,
00:22:55 then you can go up against anyone, including Steph Curry. So that was awesome to see.
00:22:59 My favorite moment that I'll take is definitely Jason Tatum beating Larry Bird, which is just
00:23:05 so good. There were not enough tissues in my house to dry my eyes after the man tears that I cried.
00:23:12 And here's what Jason Tatum had to say after that moment.
00:23:17 He was in the locker room before the game. Adam Silver and Dr. J, they were talking to us. And
00:23:23 once they got done, I thought I was going to be able to shake his hand. I turned around and he was
00:23:26 gone. And I remember I was saying, I was like, man, I never met Larry Bird. I never been in the
00:23:31 same room as him. As crazy as that sounds, it's never worked out. So Taylor, our PR girl, saw him
00:23:41 before. I was sitting on the sideline and she grabbed me. She was like, he's over there.
00:23:44 And I got a chance to go meet him and tell him how much of an honor it was to meet him. And
00:23:51 he told me he was looking forward to meeting me. So that was crazy to hear him say that.
00:23:56 He's a lot taller than I thought he was, but obviously what he means to the game,
00:24:02 what he means to the city of Boston and the Celtics, and he's the ultimate Celtic.
00:24:07 So it was an honor to meet him. Any thoughts, Drew, on those two greats meeting each other?
00:24:12 I guess, I mean, this is like a dead giveaway that I'm kind of new here.
00:24:16 I had no idea that they had never met. Was that common knowledge?
00:24:20 I don't think so. I kind of knew, but like,
00:24:23 and then again, back to the Jon Snow meme, Celtics fans can't have nice things. Because
00:24:27 like as soon as that happens, everybody's like, what does this mean? Is this like...
00:24:30 Oh, it's a big problem. Larry Bird.
00:24:33 Yeah. Larry Bird didn't even go to the top 75 players of all time. He doesn't go to anything.
00:24:39 He doesn't leave Indiana. That's the only reason he came to anything was because he was in Indiana.
00:24:43 Yeah. So I knew that it was funny. Tatum talking about meeting Larry Bird was like,
00:24:48 what it would be like if I was to meet Tatum. Like my mom was like, he's over there.
00:24:52 It's an honor to meet you. Much taller than I would think in real life. I think the only difference
00:24:57 he'd be like, I was really looking forward to meeting you too. Maybe then we have received
00:25:01 a couple of likes and a couple of tweets in there. But same, same saying Larry Bird, Jason Tatum.
00:25:06 What do you think they said to each other? Was it like the MJ, Larry Bird?
00:25:11 Yeah.
00:25:11 I like to think...
00:25:15 Can you imagine?
00:25:16 Yeah. Go win a chip and then we can talk about you being a top five Celtic.
00:25:20 But Hey, I think it's cool that they're meeting for the first time. It feels,
00:25:25 I don't know. I mean, I tweeted this out. Whether you believe in this shit or not,
00:25:28 but it feels like a good omen. It feels like the passing of a torch. I wanted to tweet that JT has
00:25:35 been touched by basketball Jesus now, but I thought my dad would get mad about the religious imagery.
00:25:40 So instead I Photoshopped the creation of man painting by Michael Anderson. Probably even more
00:25:46 sacrilegious, but whatever. It's cool. And I hope that... Like Larry Bird seems like kind of a
00:25:54 recluse anyway. But I do think the Celtics have done a really great and deliberate job of involving
00:26:02 alumni this year. That was a huge story in the preseason. I think it's continued during the
00:26:06 season. So who knows, maybe they can get Larry back in the fold. I think that'd be cool.
00:26:10 I'd like to meet him. Shit. Come to the garden, please.
00:26:12 I have been to the Sistine Chapel, by the way, and can confirm that this is on the ceiling.
00:26:18 So very, very good to see. Well done. Well done, Drew.
00:26:21 Made that in Snapchat, fellas. Made that in Snapchat. Don't even have Photoshop.
00:26:24 Okay.
00:26:25 Amazing. Amazing. Modern skills for a modern man.
00:26:28 Least favorite moment of the All-Star Weekend, Drew.
00:26:34 Oh my God. I mean, where do you even begin? I think Damian Lillard winning MVP. I'm just not a
00:26:44 fan. Just not a fan. I think the collective circle jerk for Damian Lillard's loyalty in Portland was
00:26:54 completely out of control for me. He made a crap ton of money and still demanded a trade and never
00:27:00 won anything anyway. And I think a lot of that is a reflection on him. So I'm just not a fan of
00:27:05 Damian Lillard generally. I think he's a great player, but it's just boring when he wins the
00:27:12 MVP. Also, it's funny that, I mean, this is like an honorable mention here. Carl Anthony Towns
00:27:17 scores 50 in a loss. That was so funny.
00:27:19 You're 31 in the fourth quarter and they lost. It's like, oh my God, no wonder Bob Ryan was
00:27:26 seething when he said that. That was like Carl Anthony Towns, the modern generation personified.
00:27:32 Oh man. That's why the alt cast was the way to go for me. On night one, it was Vince Carter
00:27:38 and Jamal Crawford. And so I didn't actually hear any of the Kenny Smith stuff until afterwards. So
00:27:43 I actually enjoyed the whole thing until I saw it afterwards. But then the first half of the All-Star
00:27:48 game, I'm watching the Reggie, Candice, and I'm forgetting the announcer's name.
00:27:53 Oh, Brian Anderson?
00:27:55 Yeah. That's right. And they were good, but I was like, the game is just boring. So I flipped
00:27:59 over to the alt cast and it was Draymond, Barkley, and Taylor Rooks. And I mean, they had their own
00:28:06 moments of political incorrectness.
00:28:09 They did. They certainly did.
00:28:10 Oh man. But it was similar to the podcast vibe. They were just talking shit. And Draymond was
00:28:22 like, "Oh, this is like old times for Carl Anthony Towns in Minnesota. Cat has 50, but they're down
00:28:26 20." So that was actually more fun. This is not necessarily our favorite or least favorite thing,
00:28:34 but did you guys see Tyrese Halliburton and his two voices?
00:28:37 Oh my God.
00:28:39 Going around?
00:28:40 How mature is that?
00:28:41 I think for the more casual basketball fan, it wasn't necessarily appealing. Post-basketball
00:28:48 is not appealing unless it's Jokic or Joel or Shaq. You know what I mean?
00:28:53 You have two different voices.
00:28:54 I do. People say that all the time.
00:28:56 Dude, I was listening to JJ Reddick. So he went on JJ Reddick's podcast.
00:29:00 What's going on?
00:29:00 Oh, they fucked up the mic. Nice job, Tommy Alter. And then I saw it happens every time.
00:29:06 It's like, he says he can't control it. I've never seen that.
00:29:08 Crazy. Yeah. It's like Tourette's, but like voice up and down. It's insane.
00:29:14 Yeah. I've seen speculation that there's like a septum issue. Maybe he needs to go see a
00:29:18 sinus doctor or something like that. Because yeah, that shit's not right.
00:29:21 I'm a big fan of Tyrese. Hey, real quick on the alt-cast stuff. A couple of things. Number one,
00:29:28 the Twitter discourse, maybe this was actually my favorite part of the night. The Twitter
00:29:32 discourse around the alt-cast was hysterical. I saw someone like, that line Draymond said was
00:29:37 pretty funny, but someone said, Draymond sees Taylor Rooks and starts acting like Dave Chappelle.
00:29:45 He came back and he stumbled his way through. I usually have to hang out with Ernie,
00:29:51 but you're nicer and prettier. I was like, dude, just leave that poor lady.
00:29:55 Somebody poured cold water on this guy. On a more serious note, the San Francisco hate to me is
00:30:03 out of pocket. I had never been to San Francisco until after COVID. The first time I went was
00:30:08 last May. I've never saw it before. And everyone says it was way better before the pandemic,
00:30:15 but I think it's still awesome. There are people who are down on their luck everywhere.
00:30:19 And they're also still human beings. I think that goes without saying, but I thought that was pretty
00:30:27 lame. And same for Indie. Indie's cool. We spent a lot of time on Indie this year and I liked it.
00:30:31 Too many CFAWs from the announcing for an All-Star weekend for people at that level of the game.
00:30:38 Also, the fact that Draymond Green has been suspended all year and then he's in the middle
00:30:43 of everything is just like, oh man, positive reinforcement for that guy. That's what we need.
00:30:49 I don't know what he's going to elbow Jason Tatum in the back of the head the next time they play.
00:30:55 You got a least favorite moment, Jake? Did we get you already?
00:30:59 Oh, no, I think we can leave it on Tyrese and then we'll let's move on.
00:31:03 Well, can I just add that the glaring lack of Derek White, which was notable to me,
00:31:07 especially in a game that was not particularly interesting to a large group of people. You add
00:31:12 some Derek White, suddenly you've got the hustle, the tenacity, the drive to win and make things
00:31:18 interesting and compel us all with these beautiful smile. There was a glaring lack of Derek White in
00:31:23 this game. So I think, you know, it's hopefully the last time he's not named an All-Star. But we
00:31:27 do have to talk about the Jayden Brown dunk contest. We'd be remiss not to because obviously
00:31:33 great current Boston Celtic as we run highlights of the dunks here on YouTube for the audio
00:31:38 listeners. I guess it was a pretty underwhelming experience there. And correct me if I'm wrong,
00:31:47 Drew, it was exciting to have one of our guys in the dunk contest, but just objectively,
00:31:51 the dunks were nothing to write home about. Did you take anything positive away from the
00:31:56 Jayden Brown dunk contest experience? Well, I mean, we're showing that the
00:32:00 Terrence Clark jersey. I thought that was pretty touching. And that was really cool. I mean,
00:32:03 obviously with the Boston connection, Terrence, you know, being from Dorchester, I thought that
00:32:08 was that was a really nice touch from J.B. And it's again, he is really aware, you know, and
00:32:15 that it sounds obvious, but I think his level of awareness maybe is higher than any other NBA player.
00:32:21 So I thought that was really neat. The left handed dunk we talked about earlier,
00:32:28 you know, I thought it was funny how people get people take any chance they can to go after the
00:32:34 Celtics. Right. Like, again, cue up the Jib with John Snow. Like that's just how it is. And so
00:32:41 right. So, of course, Jayden Brown, like, misses a dunk. And here we go again with the discourse.
00:32:47 You know, it's just I do think that the dunk contest has lost so much juice.
00:32:52 And I saw a few people say, like, hey, maybe, you know, Jayden Brown, maybe that changes everything.
00:32:58 I'm like, it won't. It won't. Sorry to be a cynic, but it's not going to happen. I feel like we've
00:33:02 had, you know, here and there a big name player like John Wall was in it once. Like it happens
00:33:08 where once in a blue moon, a big name player will do it and nothing changes. So I don't know. It's
00:33:14 such a Debbie Downer, like the All-Star Game sucks and the dunk contest sucks. But it's just
00:33:21 kind of where we are. So like Adam Silver, get in the lab, brother. Yeah, dude. Yeah. Like things
00:33:26 that are I don't know. That's why whatever the three point contest like that, if that works,
00:33:30 then you got to start to reverse engineer it from there. The good thing is with Jayden,
00:33:35 he listens to me for the most part. I was like, just stick to like windmills, power,
00:33:40 nothing too complicated. Just like complete your dunks. The Terrence Clark thing was incredible.
00:33:44 And I thought, like, you know, they changed the Celtics. Firstly, the broadcast missed Jayden's
00:33:50 first dunk, which like, what are we doing? What are we doing? It never happened on NBC Sports,
00:33:55 Boston. And so like, like he I thought the dunks were good. He just went a little I went a little
00:34:04 off the tracks. He should have kept the deep brown thing a little more straightforward. Like,
00:34:08 Jayden just keep it simple. And then the dab afterwards. That was it was just kind of
00:34:17 hilarious that he still tried to do it even after he'd he'd done. Oh, yeah. He messed that up.
00:34:23 He messed that up. But like, I like the Terrence, like objectively, like when they just do the
00:34:28 dunks windmills through the legs, like they're, they're cool. I think expectations have just kind
00:34:32 of got out of control for the dunk contest. I was at the Aaron Gordon, Zach Levine one in Toronto.
00:34:38 And so like, I don't know, like, if you're a dunker, just go back and watch the best ones and
00:34:44 just like replica like dunk from far away. I don't know, do the things that people seem to like and
00:34:50 go from there. But yeah, I enjoyed it. And that's all that's all. Yeah, I enjoyed it because it was
00:34:57 that guy. But I also felt at the same time self conscious knowing that the majority of the NBA
00:35:01 fan base was not into it. But look, we're gonna come right back in a minute and talk about the
00:35:05 stretch run for the Boston Celtics. But first, a quick word from our sponsor, get buckets with
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00:35:28 partner of the NBA. So before we get to the upcoming stretch run, Drew, I got to ask because
00:35:36 wick came out and said something along the lines of like revealing that a documentary crew is
00:35:43 following the Boston Celtics around the season quote last dance style, which is probably a poor
00:35:48 choice of words. You're obviously close to the team. You're right there. You're announcing the
00:35:53 majority of early all of away games. Have you noticed this documentary crew around the team
00:35:59 at all? Is that stood out as peculiar to you or is there no frame of reference given that it's your
00:36:03 first season with the team? Well, it makes a lot of sense that O'Shea Brissett carries a camera
00:36:07 around everywhere he goes now. Maybe he's part of the documentary crew. I don't know. I mean,
00:36:13 I've seen guys filming stuff that looks like for a documentary, but there's also that Netflix
00:36:17 show about Jason Tatum, right? True. Right. And so one of the games I saw them filming at,
00:36:23 they were playing somebody else who's also featured in that documentary. So that's what
00:36:29 I assumed it was for, but maybe it was for this other thing. Here's what I'll say about wick.
00:36:34 I've never met an owner and I'm not like I know that many owners, but I've never seen or met an
00:36:40 owner who seems to care as much as he does about the team winning. And I think that's to his credit.
00:36:44 I think that colors a lot of the decisions he makes like spending a buttload of money on his
00:36:50 team. He was on the broadcast and a couple of days before Christmas when we played the Clippers and
00:36:54 smoked them, smoked them at the crib. And then they obviously got revenge a little bit later,
00:36:59 but smoked them on December 23rd. And wick came on the show in the second quarter with Donald
00:37:04 Faison of all people of Scrubs fame and T-Mobile commercials fame. Those guys are collaborating on
00:37:10 a new NBC sitcom. So anyway, all that to say wick was on the broadcast and a guy landed, a guy like
00:37:16 went under Tatum twice. I think there was a flagrant issue and wick was like pissed. Like I
00:37:22 thought wick was going to jump down from the concourse and fight like Marcus Morris or whoever
00:37:27 it was. So wick definitely cares a lot, but you're probably right, Ben. That is maybe not the best
00:37:33 word choice. Yeah, no. Look, as you said, wick's spending a lot of money. He's just trying to make
00:37:40 new revenue streams here. He's like, I got a lot of tax bills coming in the next couple of years.
00:37:44 We got to get, as soon as that show comes out with the Scrubs guy, we all got to have that thing just
00:37:50 playing in the background. And it's just, we're going to get that thing syndicated, this documentary.
00:37:55 There's so many cameras around these guys all the time. Like I'm not surprised that you wouldn't
00:38:00 notice anything different. Like Tatum has Bret Hampton and a lot of them have their own guys
00:38:06 anyway. So like, I don't even know how different it would be, but yeah, not the best choice of
00:38:11 words. It's going to look sick though. Is this a Celtics produced documentary
00:38:17 or is it someone else? I get the sense it's like, we'll let you in behind closed doors. So I think
00:38:23 there's an outside production crew. I'm totally speculating here. It's similar to The Last Dance,
00:38:28 where it's like an independent company producing it funded by Netflix. And then they're allowed in
00:38:33 beyond closed doors to sort of pilot. It was pretty bad. Well, that doesn't bode well,
00:38:37 but I think I've just said DJ Daniel, thank you though. Was it worse than the All-Star Game?
00:38:41 What would you rather watch? We all watch that. So yeah, the bar's low.
00:38:46 Yeah. I'm hoping that that's the sitcom show, not the documentary show.
00:38:50 Definitely the sitcom. That's a good point. Scrubs guy, as you called him.
00:38:55 While we're on the topic of documentaries, you see what I'm wearing here? My NBC Paris 2024.
00:39:01 Oh, hell yeah. So NBC Sports Boston, of course,
00:39:04 an NBC station. That's where I got this. I can't reveal, I think, anything beyond this, but I'm
00:39:10 just going to say, make sure you're following us on social media, NBC Sports Boston and the Celtics
00:39:15 specific account. There's a project in the works that is, I have not been this excited about
00:39:23 something in a long, long time. It is a documentary style feature and people are going to love it,
00:39:30 guaranteed. So keep an eye out. I think later in the spring, we're going to be announcing that.
00:39:36 Okay. We're getting scoops here, Drew.
00:39:38 We will be there. Whatever it is.
00:39:41 We will be there.
00:39:42 That sounds amazing as just rabid content consumers of all things, basketball and sports,
00:39:48 and certainly Celtics as well. That sounds really exciting. Jake, do you want to tee us up for the
00:39:53 final segment here?
00:39:54 All right. Final stretch, less than 30 games left, Celtics were up to a 98% chance of securing
00:40:00 the one seed in the East via playoffs.
00:40:03 Oh shit, really?
00:40:03 Yeah.
00:40:03 According to who?
00:40:04 Via playoffstatus.com. Our schedule's gotten easy. Six game lead is insanely difficult to
00:40:12 come back from with that amount of time left. If we kept up the same pace, the Cavs would have to
00:40:17 go undefeated pretty much in order to catch us. And even if we drop off, it's going to be really
00:40:23 hard because we also have the tiebreaker against the Cavs. Anyway, final stretch. It's going to be
00:40:29 relatively difficult, I think, to manufacture high level effort at times, I think, just by human
00:40:38 nature. But what do we want to see as a collective or individually? I'll start with Tatum. I personally
00:40:47 have loved the playmaking leap that we've seen in the past 10 games or so, averaging seven assists
00:40:52 per game over the last nine, up to 4.8 on the season. Inching closer to our first Jason Tatum
00:41:02 five assist season, which would be awesome. Like last 10 games, he's at 29, eight, and seven,
00:41:08 which is just absurd play. So for me, Tatum, it's the playmaking and specifically the short
00:41:13 role passing. Because if he's got that nailed for the playoffs, gets the offense going, we get
00:41:18 ourselves out of the mud in tight spots. For me, Tatum, can we have this playmaking leap hold?
00:41:24 Jake, will you say that stat line over that recent stretch again? Because it made me hot.
00:41:32 I want to hear it again. Say it slowly and sensually. 29, eight, and seven over his last
00:41:38 nine and shooting 51, 36, 91. So yeah. Everybody, no one stand up.
00:41:46 Oh, I know. Crazy that it'd be his first five assist season. What I want to see from him is,
00:41:55 and I think you've done a really good job on social media highlighting this, guys.
00:41:58 His defense is really freaking good and pretty underrated, I think, at this point of his career.
00:42:04 When he first came into the league and he was not the first option on the team, I think he got more
00:42:10 credit as a defender, somewhat ironically. Now that he's the first guy, the conversation starts
00:42:17 and ends with his offense. But I think my favorite Tatum moment of the season actually came in a loss
00:42:25 and it had nothing to do with offense. It was when he clamped Shea Gilgis Alexander in the
00:42:29 fourth quarter after he was cooking us for the first three quarters and cooking good defenders
00:42:34 too. Like D. White and Drew Holiday, the best defensive backcourt in the league. But Shea's
00:42:37 just so slippery and crafty. You need to put size on him. And I thought when Tatum took that
00:42:43 assignment, I was really impressed. And I was like, "Hey, there's reason number 35 why it's
00:42:49 different this year." It just seems like those guys, he and Jalen, are just really willing to
00:42:55 do what's necessary to win. It doesn't really matter if they score 30. So I'd like to see more
00:43:01 of that. I think you're right about tough to manufacture effort. But the beauty of our team is
00:43:07 these guys actually really like basketball. As simple as that sounds, you don't always know that
00:43:11 with the stuff we've talked about earlier in the show. I think our guys just love to play.
00:43:15 And so I think we won't have a problem generating the effort. The only thing we might see is
00:43:21 guys resting a little bit more because I think the biggest concern is health, especially with
00:43:28 a history like with KP. But when they're playing, they're going to be playing. That's a guarantee.
00:43:34 People want to hear nicknames as well. So I'll say as I circle back on some Tatum stuff,
00:43:38 Big Deuce, Taco J, all common nicknames that you know, Drew. So we won't try and hammer those home
00:43:43 too hard like we did House Money. But I'll say the pull-up...
00:43:46 Is it Big Deuce or Big Juice? I couldn't tell with your Aussie accent.
00:43:49 Big Deuce? Am I mispronouncing it? Yeah. Deuce.
00:43:53 I thought I heard deuce. I was like, "That's a new one."
00:43:56 It's a dialect thing, clearly. The pull-up three, 44.1% in January,
00:44:02 33.3% in the last five games. So that has dropped off a little bit. And Jake, you mentioned it,
00:44:08 especially with regards to the short roll passing, the threat of the pull-up three,
00:44:13 the double, like sort of jumping over the screen at Jason Tatum and opening up that pocket of space
00:44:19 for that short roll pass is huge. The threat of the pull-up three needs to sort of remain
00:44:25 just that, a threat for that look to be there for Tatum. You know, especially at half-court
00:44:31 offense in the playoffs, but looking for little seams like that to open up to have effective
00:44:35 offense when the game slows down a little bit. So for Tatum, that needs to remain the case.
00:44:39 I had a little interaction with Drew Hanlon on Twitter before we went live here, where he actually
00:44:44 talked about going in to Boston and meeting up with Jason Tatum midway through the season and
00:44:50 correcting the height of his shot pocket. And then since then, you can track the data, the percentage
00:44:56 of his three-point looks from that point onwards have gone up exponentially. So hopefully, maybe
00:45:02 we need another visit from Drew Hanlon based on these last five games. But that's a huge stat that
00:45:07 I'm looking at trending towards the playoffs. Another Drew, Drew Carter. Jalen Brown, obviously
00:45:14 another prominent player for the Celtics. Is there something specifically from him individually that
00:45:18 you're looking for for this final stretch run? Just consistency. There have been stretches this
00:45:25 season where it's like, wow, Jalen Brown has taken a huge leap. And then there have been stretches
00:45:28 this year, starting with that Clippers loss and really going through the all-star break where
00:45:34 he just did not look very good. It looked like he was going back to his old habits.
00:45:38 You know, "Oh, shit, here we go again." Shooting a low percentage and turning the ball over and
00:45:43 probably shooting a little bit more than is necessary. I'm curious to hear your guys'
00:45:48 thoughts on this. I don't know if you saw, but NBA University is one of my favorite accounts on
00:45:52 Twitter. They put out that the Celtics are like plus 16.6 per 100 when Jalen Brown isn't on the
00:45:59 floor. And I found that interesting. There's a lot of noise in those numbers and you can never
00:46:05 really take them at face value. We all love Derek White, but none of us thinks Derek White is the
00:46:10 best player in the NBA. As great as he is, and he's leading the league. I mean, maybe you do.
00:46:14 I think Jay does, but I'm not sure.
00:46:16 You might. I don't want to speak for you, but I think there's a lot of noise in those numbers
00:46:22 generally. But I think there is something there where I think when you have both Jays on the
00:46:30 floor at once, and this has been a problem since they became the guys, but there is a little bit
00:46:35 of my turn, your turn that can happen. I think we're a lot better with that this year than the
00:46:40 team has been in the past. But there can be a little bit of that. It can be a little sticky
00:46:44 when one of those guys is out there. I don't worry about it. But when they're both out there,
00:46:48 it can be like they're taking turns and the team is just too good for that. And I think 90% of the
00:46:53 time they've been really good about sacrificing and not going into their ISO hero ball type BS,
00:47:00 but you have too many good options to take bad shots. And so I just want to see a little bit
00:47:07 less of that from really both those guys, but specifically Jaylen.
00:47:10 Yeah, I think that clip is game. Jaylen, what I love from him this year was he's played the
00:47:16 best defense of his career this year, and he's made it a legit mental focus to make the right
00:47:21 play more than he ever has before. And to me, it looked like him and Drew Holiday in particular
00:47:26 were the two guys that really wore down towards the all-star break. And that speaks to maybe why
00:47:32 that Jaylen didn't play in that Brooklyn game. Yeah, those numbers, I do get it. And obviously
00:47:40 the Brooklyn game, the Celtics go nuts. Jaylen Brown doesn't play. How much of that is because
00:47:45 Jaylen Brown doesn't play. He also didn't play in that Grizzlies game. They won by 40.
00:47:48 Like we still would have won those games by a lot if Jaylen had played.
00:47:52 I think so. And the net rating stuff, obviously you want to combine our tests and the numbers.
00:48:00 Like Jason Tatum for the first time really in the last three or four years is not at the elite of
00:48:05 the elite of EPM and some of these advanced numbers that are kind of catch-all. And it's
00:48:10 like, okay, well, is Tatum playing worse or is it like he's actually just taking a step back here?
00:48:15 Because last year he was elite across a lot of that stuff and now he's clearly made a change
00:48:21 to his approach this season and so has Jaylen. So I don't know. To me, it doesn't matter. What
00:48:27 really matters is those five guys and what do the numbers say when those five guys are together.
00:48:32 There is a little bit to it, I think, just the way the ball moves without Jaylen out there.
00:48:38 Because you're probably replacing Jaylen with Horford a lot of the time in those spots and
00:48:45 who's just a great ball mover. But when you get to the playoffs, the ball is going to slow down
00:48:52 anyway and that's why Jaylen Brown historically has been such a good playoff player because
00:48:56 the game's about a bucket a lot of the time and he's able to get those.
00:49:01 Yeah, and the thing I've got down for JB is just late game reps. And I think that,
00:49:06 and Joe has kind of talked about this in some of these postgame presses, is a lot of it is like
00:49:10 kind of experimentation for Jaylen Brown in these late game crunch time moments to make sure that he
00:49:17 has, if not the full capability, then at least the repetitions and the practice to execute in these
00:49:24 moments because he hasn't always. And a huge part of that is Chris Tapps-Porzingis. And we've said
00:49:29 it on a recent pod, Jake, but who would have thought the Latvian Moses, Chris Tapps-Porzingis
00:49:34 is the guy who like comes and brings the best out of that guy, Jaylen Brown. And Drew, I have to ask
00:49:38 just as a side note, like the name Cookies and Cream, like you're a big nickname guy, we know
00:49:43 this. Cookies and Cream gets revealed to the world. I have to imagine that this is your response in...
00:49:48 It is a gift.
00:49:50 Because like, you know, just these things, these memes, they write themselves and suddenly
00:49:56 this whole pathway is opened up to you from a broadcast perspective, rather, where you can
00:50:02 like take this Cookies and Cream thing wherever you want to take it. And I think, you know,
00:50:06 unfortunately, we haven't had that many road games since then, but like, can you talk about your
00:50:11 reaction to the revelation of that nickname or where you're thinking of maybe taking it on the
00:50:15 broadcast?
00:50:15 Well, I sort of felt like Mark Wahlberg and the other guys, like I'm a peacock, you got to let me
00:50:20 fly. Like when that nickname got revealed, I didn't call another game for like three weeks.
00:50:25 I know, crazy.
00:50:27 A couple of people tweeted at me, like Drew waiting to use this on a call. It's like the
00:50:31 guy at Pablo Esparra Narcos, I think.
00:50:33 And so we've had one game and I think I might've said it and, you know, we've got some stuff in
00:50:41 the holster, like, I don't know, lactose intolerant. There's some drinks in there and
00:50:49 milkshakes for everybody, something like that. I think it's cool how the Celtics' official
00:50:54 social media presence has really embraced it. Like they made the wallpaper,
00:51:00 they decorated the lockers. I think our social media team, and I'm not just saying this because
00:51:04 like I know those people and travel with them. I'd say this regardless. I think objectively,
00:51:08 they've been like stepping it up this year. I think, you know, one of the best, if not the
00:51:13 best in the NBA. And it's really fun to see them like embrace that nickname. It's also awesome
00:51:19 that Missoula came up with it.
00:51:21 It is cool.
00:51:22 That might be my favorite element of the entire thing because I don't know, I just,
00:51:28 Missoula's public persona and who he is behind the scenes is a little Belichickian, I think.
00:51:36 And I've gotten a chance to get to know Joe a little bit and I'm grateful for that. And it's
00:51:41 not like we're best friends or it's not like I see, you know, a real different side of him,
00:51:44 but I do think-
00:51:45 You're not doing jujitsu together? Hasn't called you up for a couple of roles?
00:51:48 Yeah. You're not like scurrying up his back in the Kaizen gym there?
00:51:52 Yeah. I'm a rainbow belt jujitsu. I'm a beginner. I really, I kind of want to try it actually. I
00:51:58 think that could be fun. Give us something to connect up. But, you know, again, I'm not saying
00:52:03 I'm boys with Missoula, but I do feel like because I'm around him, I get the chance to
00:52:09 see a little bit different side of him. And, you know, I'm not surprised that he came up with that
00:52:14 nickname, but I'm glad that everybody else is realizing like, "Hey, this guy's actually kind
00:52:18 of funny and like has a personality and clearly clicks with the team." And those guys are like
00:52:24 a microcosm of one of the reasons I think we're going to win the championship is the guys just
00:52:27 love each other and love playing with each other. And that's obvious.
00:52:29 Yeah. They've been awesome. I'm a tiniest bit concerned we're going to overdo it. So I think
00:52:37 this All-Star break came at a good time. So it's like, you know what I mean?
00:52:41 When you say we're going to overdo it, you mean I'm going to overdo it.
00:52:44 Yeah. Do you mean specific to Cookies and Cream or what were you talking about there, Jake?
00:52:49 As a collective Celtics group, like Twitter, everywhere, I'm just, you know, it's like
00:52:58 anything. You got to, and Drew, you're not better than anyone. I'm sure you'll nail the balance
00:53:04 perfectly. Probably not.
00:53:06 But yeah, the poor Zynga side of it, I mean, yeah, so look, the two, Latvian Moses we came
00:53:16 up with because the way that he impacts this Celtics offense, the way that he creates space
00:53:21 is essentially the same as parting of the Red Sea. Like the pick and pops that this guy does,
00:53:27 like out to the 30 foot, like Horvath can stretch the floor. Porzingis is like another level. The
00:53:32 way that teams freak out with his vertical spacing, like, and guys just double team Porzingis
00:53:38 and all of a sudden Derek White's got an open lane for a wide open dunk. And then our Latvian
00:53:41 viewer Pete here informed us of a Latvian legend, you know, the Greek gods, the Bear Slayer is
00:53:49 an historical figure in Latvian law. Here he is, the official guy. And then the 2024 version,
00:54:01 obviously.
00:54:02 Of course.
00:54:04 That's Red's number, isn't it?
00:54:06 It's an homage. It's an homage to Red.
00:54:11 For me, the one thing I would like to see KP work on is his ability to deal with stretch
00:54:15 pigs himself. I think, and that's just the nature of stretch pigs, are hard to deal with,
00:54:19 which is why they are so valuable in the NBA. Going back to that OKC Thunder game,
00:54:24 he's just a little, he's a little in between on his contests and his closeouts. I want to
00:54:29 see him clean up how he deals with stretch pigs. Sometimes it feels like he's just playing off
00:54:34 them a little bit too far. Because I mean, he can hang with pretty much any stretch pig. Like,
00:54:38 I don't think Brook Lopez is going to dust him off the dribble or anything like that.
00:54:41 So I think that he can definitely close out a little bit harder on some of those. So that'd
00:54:46 be like an on the court thing from Paul Zingas. I'd like to see him tighten up just a little bit.
00:54:49 But like, other than that, man, like, it's just health. Otherwise, if he's healthy,
00:54:53 like I mean, this team is just so good.
00:54:55 It's a good call, Jake. Like, you know, the same way that the Celtics are going to
00:54:59 relentlessly abuse mismatches on offense, and they've done that throughout the regular season,
00:55:05 specifically with him. Other teams will do that to us in the playoffs. That's like the trademark.
00:55:10 That's how the game changes, is if there's a mismatch, you find something you like,
00:55:14 you're going to it until they prove they can stop it. And we've seen elite rim protectors
00:55:18 struggle to stay on the floor. I'm thinking about like Rudy Gobert, if they can't move around in
00:55:23 space. And I think Paul Zingas is better at that than a Gobert, for example. But I think it is,
00:55:29 it's a good call and something to watch out for, especially when you have an elite pick and roll
00:55:33 ball handler like Shea in that game you mentioned. You look at the Eastern Conference, I mean,
00:55:38 we run into Brunson, Mitchell, Dame, Maxey, like Halliburton. The East is loaded with good
00:55:48 pick and roll ball handlers. So maybe that is a concern.
00:55:51 All guys who we can absolutely cook on their end defensively as well, which goes well. So
00:55:58 as we look to try and wrap up here, I think we've all got this energy and excitement,
00:56:01 like we could just sit and talk Celtics for another hour or two. But time is finite and we
00:56:07 do have to wrap up. Drew, who else individually stands out to you as someone that you're
00:56:12 highlighting in your mind as like you've got a particular focus for them on this stretch run?
00:56:16 The new guys, baby. The new guys. I am so, I got to read it. The Latvian story does end up
00:56:22 somehow badly fights. They'll fall in the river to death.
00:56:26 A new chapter has been revealed.
00:56:31 As long as it happens after mid-June.
00:56:33 Yeah, that's right.
00:56:34 Fall into whatever river you want after Fanner 18, Christoph.
00:56:38 Just climb out in October again, please.
00:56:40 The guys I'm most excited for are the new guys. It's the easy answer. But I'm just,
00:56:45 I'm stoked to see Tillman and Springer. I don't have any inside info on when they might play.
00:56:50 My guess is that we'll see them pretty soon after All-Star, at least I hope.
00:56:56 I actually think that Tillman, I think people expect him to play a decent amount and I think
00:57:02 he will. But Springer is the one that's kind of a question mark. I think he might play a decent
00:57:06 amount. The guy is super talented. He was one and done at Tennessee, first round pick. There aren't
00:57:13 that many guys, you hear about the really famous ones who go one and done and get drafted in the
00:57:19 first round, but not that many dudes pull it off. And so I feel like Springer just never got a fair
00:57:26 shake in Philly. And I don't really understand it. I called one of their summer league games
00:57:29 this year and he was super impressive. He was probably the best player on that team.
00:57:34 He's also, he seems like a delightful dude. I walked up to him after a game and this was in
00:57:40 Brooklyn and he was talking to somebody and I just kind of interrupted. I'm like, "Hey man,
00:57:44 sorry to bother you, but just want to introduce myself. I'm Drew. I call the
00:57:47 games on TV on the road." And he like, I don't know, some people just have an it factor. And
00:57:52 I think you can kind of see it in the video where they all get Valentines, like custom Valentines.
00:57:58 He's the last one in there. He's just got a great smile and a great energy about him. And so I'm
00:58:06 really excited to see him fit in with the guys. And also I actually think he will play and he's
00:58:13 going to be a really valuable defender. Like imagine if, these are all guys who don't start,
00:58:19 like Gene Springer, Xavier Tillman. I think Pritchard's a pretty good defender, given his
00:58:26 size deficiency. Like Nimesh Keda protecting the rim, Hauser's an underrated defender. We all know
00:58:32 why. All those guys come off the bench, pretty damn good defenders. There's really no weak link
00:58:39 on the team. - Yeah, I hope you're right. I hope you're right. I would love Springer to be
00:58:46 the guy that gets the minutes. We'll see, we'll see. - It's hard with the spacing,
00:58:52 because the spacing is one of our superpowers and it's going to be tough if you have both those
00:58:55 guys on the floor. - The thing is, if he's actually able to come in and be like a legit plus plus
00:58:59 defender, then he can play. Because you're going to be surrounded by legit offensive weapons across
00:59:03 the board. And like, you know, someone gets into foul trouble, maybe you chuck them on a dame or
00:59:07 whatever. I hope so. I'm like Laura on his ability to stay on the floor offensively in the playoffs,
00:59:15 but I'm huge on Tillman and what he can give us. - I'm just rooting for the guy, to be honest,
00:59:25 because multiple reasons. Didn't really get a chance in Philly after they drafted him in the
00:59:30 first round. Fuck Philly. - Yes, let's go to Philly. - How great would it be if Springer turns
00:59:39 into like a star for the Celtics? - Oh my god. - Dude, amazing. - Brad and the Celtics ownership
00:59:44 of the Sixers continues. - Yes. - Yes. - The shot of Freder alone would be fantastic. - The aura
00:59:50 beast. - Yes. Yeah, and you mentioned Tillman, like I think playoff-wise, we look to wrap up
00:59:57 here, his ability to switch on an Al Horford-ish level, although hopefully with younger legs. I
01:00:02 know we've got comments here that, you know, he's got some injury issues of his own, which is very
01:00:07 much the case. You mentioned Sam Hauser, I think the house trap is underrated. We've talked house
01:00:13 money on the show before. The house trap, incredibly underrated just as far as how he can
01:00:17 lock guys down sort of unexpectedly, given his glaring whiteness. And then Luke Cornett, you know,
01:00:23 how will he merge with this switching ability that Xavier Tillman adds? Luke Cornett, of course,
01:00:30 the corn hub, as we call him on the show. Can he be consistently a Cornett positive, a Cornett
01:00:35 neutral, or will he be a Cornett negative? It remains to be seen, but I do envision some minutes
01:00:42 for Luke Cornett in the playoffs, Jake, particularly if drop coverage is what's needed defensively in
01:00:48 a given series. Would you agree? - Yeah, I do think if Tillman's healthy, he's going to take all of
01:00:54 Luke's minutes. Like, offensively, they're quite similar. Now that Luke doesn't shoot threes yet,
01:01:01 the biggest difference being Tillman can't shoot free throws. That's really, offensively,
01:01:05 their only difference. But he's really good on the short roll, similar to the corn hub. He's
01:01:09 been great with decision making and great passes out of... Like, that's been awesome. Really
01:01:14 underrated offensive player, just the way that he makes quick decisions. But Tillman has been good
01:01:19 in those spots as well. His shooting numbers are skewed because the Grizzlies offense has been so
01:01:24 bad, but historically, good finish at the rim, 51% in floater range, and that's really all you need.
01:01:31 And then when you add his versatility defensively, I think there's a pretty good chance that by the
01:01:35 time we get to the playoffs and Tillman's comfortable, we don't see Luke. That'd be my
01:01:40 prediction. - So he will be a Cornett neutral after all. All right. Look, we've got to leave it there.
01:01:49 Drew, good luck for the remainder of the season, man. This was awesome. Thank you so much for
01:01:52 coming on. We really appreciate your time. - It's great to see you guys. It's always a blast,
01:01:56 whenever you want. - Yeah, likewise. We will hold you to that. All right, we'll be back with another
01:02:00 pod at the end of the week. Thanks again for listening or watching. Jake Eisenberg,
01:02:04 love your work, mate. Until next time, go Celtics. - I love the Celtics!