Sam Packard hosts the "Still Podable" Podcast. Sam makes his Celtics Beat debut to talk about the Boston Celtics struggles at the end of games, why they need to trust Derrick White more, and what Joe Mazzulla is doing to experiment with the last few remaining games. Twitter: @JamPackard
0:00 Celtics still have opportunity to develop better habits
13:55 Boston can’t rest on “turning a switch”
28:21 Joe Mazzulla is still experimenting
34:01 Denver still championship favorites
Available for download on iTunes and Spotify on Sunday, March 31st, 2024. Celtics Beat is powered by Prize Picks, the official daily fantasy partner of CLNS Media. Download the Prize Picks app and use the promo code CLNS for a deposit match up to $100!
0:00 Celtics still have opportunity to develop better habits
13:55 Boston can’t rest on “turning a switch”
28:21 Joe Mazzulla is still experimenting
34:01 Denver still championship favorites
Available for download on iTunes and Spotify on Sunday, March 31st, 2024. Celtics Beat is powered by Prize Picks, the official daily fantasy partner of CLNS Media. Download the Prize Picks app and use the promo code CLNS for a deposit match up to $100!
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Celtics is powered by prize picks the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS media network
00:06 What's up, everyone? Welcome to a new edition of Celtics beat great to have you here with us on Easter Sunday as a matter of fact
00:14 I know what some of us need to put in the hard work on Easter Sunday
00:18 we can't just be lounging around getting ready for elite eight games and
00:23 you know day baseball and afternoon basketball and
00:28 Draft prep in the NFL. No, we got to put in the hard work here and record a Celtics themed podcast, which yeah
00:36 Obviously, there's nothing hard about this
00:37 We enjoy every second of it Adam Kaufman and Valenti and we have Sam Packard on the show for I don't know if it's the first
00:43 Time ever, but it's definitely the first time
00:46 When I've been hosting so Sam and I get in a chat here for the first time
00:50 Which is great from of course the still potable podcast, which many of you I'm sure out there know Sam first
00:57 Welcome, but second I think I have to how many incarnations of this podcast have there been going back through the years?
01:04 I mean it was way back with like you Jake King Corrales the locked on obviously
01:10 but then you know with the athletic and now you're part of the CLNS family and be Rob and and just I mean this this
01:17 Podcast is in in one version or another been around for a while
01:21 Yeah, well, it's great to be here and I appreciate you guys having me
01:25 I think this is version 4.0
01:27 Started way back on locked on
01:32 Jay and John were doing a podcast and then they were going to daily and so they invited me on
01:37 I of course got to change my name to jam there. And so, you know, that was a fun
01:42 Really just it's the athletic that has been the main driver of all the changes because then they said
01:49 Jay had to do his own podcast and I was like, oh, maybe I'll join the athletic because
01:55 I like clout and clouts fun and then so Jay and I started anything is potable
02:00 And then the athletics like oh, we don't do team podcasts anymore. And so
02:04 We had to kind of figure things out and that went to still potable which we had for about two weeks
02:10 And then be Rob was like, hey, I could do a podcast. And so we brought in be Rob for another
02:17 Daily Celtics podcast over on the patreon. So it's been
02:22 Four different versions, but it's basically the same level of hopefully nonsense
02:26 Analysis that we we like to bring to talking about the Celtics
02:31 Yeah, and obviously listeners of or fans of the Celtics listeners of this podcast
02:36 I'm sure also listeners viewers of that podcast. So you guys had Zach Lowe on recently which you know is
02:42 You know always a fun one. He goes way back to like the Celtics blog days would be Rob and everything
02:48 So he's you know of the many Celtics blog people to truly take off actually he wasn't he wasn't Celtics blog
02:56 Right. He was the one with he was a Celtics hub
02:59 That was the one that be Rob started. That's right way back in the in the day. Yeah
03:04 Celtics coverage man. Have you noticed?
03:08 There's many many Celtics
03:10 Watered down is it over saturated yet? I think I like to think the cream rises to the top, but who knows? Yeah
03:18 With we're we're hoping man. So let's let's talk through a little bit of what's what's happening. So the
03:24 The last time have I I think that we had a show
03:28 I don't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday or Friday or whatever the hell day last week with greenie from barstool
03:33 Of course, we were talking about this team. I think maybe it was an eight game winning streak at the time
03:38 They won nine in a row and then they dropped that back-to-back in
03:42 Atlanta which was not a back-to-back because it was a Monday Thursday situation with the Hawks having a game in between
03:50 But a back-to-back I guess for the Celtics and they were both in Atlanta
03:54 but that weird gap and just everything was was disoriented and the the Celtics it was
04:00 Anything but inspiring their performances. They lost both those games. They bounced back, you know one last time out against the Pelicans
04:08 and that was a
04:10 Even a little slow at points. You'll sluggish out of the gate
04:13 They rally late get a lead at halftime and cruised in the second half. That was yesterday as we sit here right now and
04:19 I just
04:21 The discourse around this team and and you guys know this
04:25 It's a group that is still to date and this was the case when we talked last week
04:30 It is still the only team that has clinched a playoff spot. They have you know run away obviously with the Eastern Conference
04:36 They're closing in hopefully on 60/20. They're 58 and 16 right now 60/20 being 60 losses or 60 wins 20 losses
04:43 Hopefully get to that 60 wins before the 20
04:46 Maybe we don't see 20 losses at all as the regular season winds down. That would be wonderful. This team is you know, at least
04:52 regular season wise
04:55 definitely exceeding the expectations I had for them and yet we sit here at the very end of March and
05:03 Things aren't perfect guys. I know they're generally healthy. That is the most important thing
05:08 They're sort of strategically load managing these guys getting themselves ready for the playoffs
05:12 No problem with that at all. The biggest concern is late game execution and
05:17 We saw it in both those games with Atlanta. We've seen it at other stretches during the year even games that they've won the
05:25 just
05:28 Uninspiring
05:31 Uncreative borderline lazy I soda Tatum at the end of games is
05:35 Increasingly frustrating when you have so many guys Sam on this team that are capable of helping you win a game late
05:41 There have been conversations at higher levels than us that we brought up two months ago about how we'd rather see
05:48 Jalen Brown with the ball at the end of the game just statistically speaking
05:52 It's it's been better than Tatum doesn't mean Brown's a better player than Tatum just means at the end of the game
05:58 Brown has been a better player in those final moments than Tatum has been why do we have to just default and have the
06:04 37,000 dribbles and off-balance ugly shot to try and win a game, but that's where we're at
06:11 Let's start there. How much of that is on Tatum versus obviously
06:16 Joe, Missoula and the coaching staff for not imploring them to do something different. I
06:22 Think you got to blame everyone involved. I mean, it's
06:27 The process has been bad. I think we saw at the end of the first Hawks game
06:31 It was Jalen Brown dribbling the hell out of the basketball and that really didn't result in a great shot either and so
06:37 At what point are they gonna try?
06:40 Anything different than that. I think that's my biggest takeaway is that like we've seen just kind of the ISO
06:48 Doesn't really work doesn't produce a good shot
06:52 It's either just a fadeaway jumper and so and I think they did some of that the the second game against the Hawks was interesting
07:00 Because the end of regulation it's tied and they just ran the same
07:03 Bad Tatum play and then actually in overtime
07:06 We saw them inbound to Chris taps. They had Tatum cuts the finds Jalen Brown who knocks down the jumper
07:12 We saw I think a tail Jalen
07:15 It was more it was somewhat of an ISO
07:17 But it also involved Tatum or and Derek white running some like a back screen
07:22 and so that's all I want is just something other than
07:25 just the the one isolation play I
07:29 Don't think Joe is on the sideline being like hold the ball for 20 seconds. I think I don't think that's the play
07:37 He's calling out. So I do think it's like
07:39 eventually on the players to
07:42 Do something different whether that it's just like hey and involve Derek white
07:47 He is likely gonna have the smallest guy on the team. He's very good at setting screens. Just do something different and
07:54 I think it's ultimately on the players to kind of
07:58 implement something because
08:01 They it's clearly as much as they believe in themselves. They're all they're all both Jalen and Jason are extremely confident players
08:08 It's just not what gets them good looks
08:12 for the first 47 minutes of a game and so at some point that it has to translate to oh, maybe we should
08:18 Maybe should try something a little different
08:21 Yeah, and with Derek it's like he's kind of one of their best clutch time shooters I'm trying to currently figure out
08:28 You know as we're talking here, what is clutch time shooting percentages, but he's clearly one of the best
08:35 you know, he has some of the best fourth quarter numbers in the league this year, especially for the Celtics and
08:40 I keep going back to just what everybody says about Derek in
08:43 Terms of he always makes the right like Chris taps months ago on the JJ Redick podcast. It's like I almost like
08:49 Get a little frustrated when Derek doesn't do the right play because he's always
08:54 95% of the time always making the right decision and every once in a while, but he doesn't and I kind of sit there and question
09:00 it
09:01 he just has good control of the basketball game and it's kind of like if you go all the way back to that's something that
09:08 We've been talking about by we I mean everybody in the Celtics NBA, you know
09:14 Conversation, you know, they need a real point guard to slow things down at the end of game. So they have one
09:19 He's sitting right there. It's named Sarah quite he can control everything. It's one of these things where
09:24 you have to trust your teammates and
09:27 I don't know if
09:29 Boston like I think they're very capable of having end of game situations that go very well
09:36 But it's just a matter of like do they trust everybody or not when it when it really matters you can tell and again
09:41 We always compare them to Denver because that's who you're chasing
09:43 Or you're chasing Golden State, you know, like the the ghost of Golden State past of teams that always make the right decision at the right time
09:52 Steph Curry trusting his teammates to know if everything breaks down just give me the ball and I'll figure it out
09:58 And I'm not quite sure if Tatum has that faith in his teammates like that quite yet
10:03 Everybody knows Joker's is gonna make the right decision. No matter what happens at the end of the basketball game. He's brilliant
10:09 He's he's the Terminator like on offense. I've never seen anything quite like it
10:13 Tatum I don't think has that level of trust in his guys yet
10:17 And I think it's gonna take the playoffs for him to really realize that
10:20 And that's the final form like that's it. Like we've been talking we are game what 70 whatever 60 whatever
10:29 That's the last thing they have to accomplish is that one thing and we keep hammering this and we've talked about Zach
10:35 Well being on your podcast recently Sam. This is something that that
10:38 Low has been talking about all season
10:40 It's the only thing that was really left for this others to hurdle and once that happens, you know
10:46 It's gonna be really tough the rest of you to catch up Denver is one of the few teams that can so it's
10:50 We've been agonizing this for months about this particular one thing and it's not just months. It's years, but that's it
10:58 That's all we have to talk about
10:59 It's that in health and it's I know it's annoying for a lot of people coffin that we've talked about this every single week
11:04 But that's it. I mean we can sit here and talk about oh, they're gonna match up against X Y or Z, but we don't know yet
11:10 We have no idea. It hasn't fully shaken out yet that bottom half the East was really interesting
11:16 Like it's just a lot of jockeying for position
11:18 so all we can really do is focus on what the Celtics are currently doing and that's it because
11:25 Most of the time they shoot the hell out of it. They play great defense. They're pretty healthy right now
11:29 That's it. That's all we have to do football season may be over but the action on the floor is heating up
11:36 Whether it's a tournament season or the fight for a playoff home court
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12:28 Mean I think the larger point and and you alluded to this ev is
12:34 74 games in at this point. There's less than 10 left in the regular season
12:39 And yeah, we could sit here on a weekly weekly basis and say oh my god
12:43 They're the only team that's clinched a playoff spot and how amazing is this name the best record by far in the NBA?
12:48 And good luck catching them get the duck boats ready
12:51 Here comes banner 18 and all like we could be you know
12:55 Pro pro pro like over-the-top about it and and that I'm sure is what some listeners viewers out there on the
13:03 CLNS YouTube page
13:05 want and and
13:07 No, like I'm not gonna do that. I mean I tweeted I don't remember exactly what I tweeted
13:12 But after that second Atlanta loss, I tweeted something to the effect of what?
13:17 You know an inexcusable borderline
13:19 unacceptable loss it was and you know
13:22 16-point favorites or something like that going into that game and you know forget like covering they lost outright the game before that
13:29 they were up by 30 points and
13:32 again, forget didn't cover ten and a half they lost the game outright and
13:38 fine like those I
13:43 Want to say those games happen they really don't I mean in the in today's NBA
13:47 You know, it's not like back in the day like back in the 90s were growing, you know
13:51 Giving up a 15-point lead was a big deal. I realized that's not where we are today
13:56 You know teams on a nightly basis give up 20-point leads that happens. I understand it
14:02 Not 30-point leads 30-point leads. Generally speaking you win that game and you know the Celtics obviously
14:11 Lose it, you know the even the Pelicans game. They're up 22 gets down to 12. That's not like I
14:17 Won't call that blowing it. It just got a little tighter than then they would have liked but you know
14:22 That second game in Atlanta guys. I thought that was especially because they were fully healthy
14:27 I thought that was going to be guns blazing step on their throats react to how pissed they were
14:33 from what happened back on Monday kind of performance and we didn't get that and
14:38 fine coming off of that like now you're
14:41 Against New Orleans like you're gonna come out and just curb stomp the Pelicans and out of the shoot
14:47 They're down and it takes a miracle Derek Whiteshot to even be up at halftime
14:52 and I know like they generally cruised from there, but
14:56 For all the people in my mentions and I'm sure you guys get the same stuff
15:00 That you know will say something about one of these games and what a disappointing loss and the conversation is dude
15:06 Who cares like they've got 58 wins. They've you know locked up the East these games are meaningless
15:13 Let's get to the playoffs. Yeah in the grand scheme of things
15:16 I get that seating is not relevant and these games don't matter
15:20 But habit-building
15:22 They do matter and and the way that execution looks at the end of games
15:27 It does matter because you're not gonna flip a switch
15:31 How many times have we seen this in in the last decade and a half of Celtics playoff?
15:36 Basketball where people seem to think the playoffs are gonna come and something is gonna happen in the playoffs
15:41 That didn't happen during the regular season. It's not the way it works. You know that these
15:46 You're you're this is the breeding ground for what the end
15:50 The playoffs are gonna look like and and what these clutch time
15:54 Situations are going to look like and how they're going to manage these games. You're gonna tell me in a game
16:00 six against
16:02 Philadelphia in the second round and
16:05 the
16:06 Celtics are you know tied and and you need a
16:10 Bucket to win the game and win the series. It's not gonna be ISO to Tatum with no creativity. No look to pass
16:17 No, of course it is
16:18 That's exactly what it's going to look like and he's gonna hit it and people are gonna celebrate or he's gonna miss it and
16:23 People are gonna bitch and that's the way it goes. I think
16:27 All of this that we're starting to see you're not starting continuing to see is
16:31 Really indicative of what it is to come and that doesn't mean they're not gonna win the whole thing
16:36 It doesn't mean they can't win the whole thing
16:38 It doesn't mean they're a bad team Sam or anything like that
16:40 But I just I I balk at the notion that what we're seeing right now what we saw in Atlanta that none of this counts
16:47 That none of this matters at all. I think it's a stupid
16:49 Social media narrative or anybody else out there. That's that's spewing it
16:55 Yeah, I think one of the things that's been interesting about the Celtics this year is that
16:59 they at least earlier in the season, they felt like they did a much better job of
17:04 Responding to down games or even just responding in situations not letting games get away from them
17:10 They've absolutely destroyed like the kind of the worst teams in the league. Maybe they don't respect the Atlanta Hawks whatsoever. I
17:17 Probably don't respect Quinn Snyder when he's wearing those goofy red framed glasses, but
17:23 they've done a very good job of responding to
17:26 Kind of lulls and effort and energy and I think that's one of the things that made the the at least the second game in Atlanta
17:32 disappointing I actually thought
17:35 We talked a lot about the clutch offense. I thought their defense in the second game
17:41 Was pretty bad. I thought I think Chris steps persingus was a great at the rim. I don't think he brought it
17:49 Defensively, that's a reason why they're giving up so many offensive rebounds which allowed the Hawks to say in that game. I
17:54 think they did a much better job of
17:56 locking in against the Pelicans
17:59 We saw Chris taps kind of challenged Zion or Cyan challenge Chris taps at the rim multiple times
18:05 And I thought Chris taps did a better job of just being that rim protector and bringing more intensity on defense
18:11 I also think Jalen Brown deserves a lot of credit for like
18:15 Picking up Zion. I just didn't know that was
18:19 just looking at their two body sizes that that was something that Jalen Brown could
18:22 reasonably do and I think
18:25 really, it's about bringing that intensity on on the defensive end because that's like one of the
18:31 You're giving up 30-point lead to the Hawks are giving up a 30-point lead to the Cavs
18:35 a
18:36 lot of that is defensive failures and if you get they got a couple stops in that game and brought the intensity in that we
18:41 Wouldn't necessarily be talking about their clutch offense
18:44 And so I do think they did a better job against the Pelicans of just bringing that intensity on defense
18:50 They have this phenomenal talent
18:52 one through six in terms of being able to
18:55 Lock in defensively and I thought they did a much better job in that Pelicans game and it all started with Jalen Brown and
19:03 It's kind of insane to say on a roster that has Derek white on a roster that has drew holiday
19:10 but it feels like Jalen Brown is like the defensive leader on this team the guy willing to pick up the other team's best player and
19:17 We've all watched Jalen Brown for his entire career
19:19 This guy got lost like anytime Jalen Brown was defending off ball
19:23 There was a guy cutting back behind him for a layup
19:27 and so I think he deserved a lot of credit for just his growth as a player to be able to be like
19:32 You know what Damian Lillard's in town. I'm gonna guard Dame
19:36 We're playing against the Pelicans. I'm gonna guard Zion like that kind of versatility from a guy who's
19:42 Not really was not known as a defender. I think hopefully will
19:47 Trickle down to the rest of the team when you see you're all NBA level
19:51 Guard or forward willing to step up and play that intensely on defense. Hopefully that will trickle down to
19:57 the rest of the team so they don't have these kind of lapses where
20:02 They're leaving it to the final 30 seconds. And then we have to have this whole kind of ice of discussion
20:07 We'll go back to that Atlanta game the second one at the end of the game
20:10 You know that it was a lot of Dijon Tammuri calls up Wevers
20:14 Chris taps within this assignment. They switch Chris taps on Dijon TAY
20:19 We all know how that went
20:21 Except for the second to last possession where Dijon TAY decided to go straight at Jalen Brown and Jalen was not having any of that
20:26 Stopped him got a turnover came back down on the other end hit the game time shot at the time
20:31 And he noticed Dijon TAMURI didn't go at Jalen Brown for the game winner
20:35 There's a reason for that and it's because Jalen's been outrageous defensively this year and I want to make that point because it's a great
20:41 I want to echo that a little bit because it's a great point. He brought up. It's not just Jalen either
20:46 Jason at times has done this where he's like like the Shea
20:50 Gilders Alexander game where he was going nuts against the Celtics in Oklahoma City and
20:56 Tatum was like, all right enough of this. I'm just gonna take them and it's really frustrated
21:01 Shea for the last quarter of that game. One of your best players can
21:06 Say, you know what?
21:08 And this is the thing that showed me a lot of maturity of the Celtics this year
21:11 Which way which is why I have some hope for like the way the playoffs go because Kauffman we talked about
21:16 Developing good habits now. Yes, they have a little room left here to develop some good habits
21:23 But they've also done a good job of that for the previous 70 games like they they're it's like they're they've won 58 games
21:31 It's not they don't have good habits
21:33 But like some of the things that they've done
21:35 Defensively to take guys out of structure, right?
21:39 Like whether it's Jalen or Jason or drew holidays playing this weird just free safety thing
21:45 Moving around it just to Sam's point. It takes just a little bit of
21:50 Like intensity to lock in a little bit. And yeah, I understand most these games the end of the year
21:56 They don't really matter at all and if it to be frankly honest the both of you. I'm very pro
22:01 I'm very team just as long as nobody gets hurt. I really don't care
22:04 What happens during these games the last week with with with greeny Kaufman?
22:12 We had the with the push this back because we don't know everything about true holidays injury yet, right?
22:17 We were talking about that right off the top of the show drew has a
22:20 Not that arm. Yeah, not a dead arm. Don't you dare say it was a dead arm?
22:25 Even though that's what he told Adam him look fuck. Yeah, that was uh that that scared everybody for a little bit
22:30 He seems to be okay. Okay with the triple-double yesterday. Yeah
22:34 He's fine, but like at the end of the day, yes, you want to see them walk in defensively
22:40 You want to see them do X Y & Z?
22:43 But as we go from here the end of the season all I care about is that that injury sheet is clean
22:49 And you're gonna see like whatever weird injuries they want to make up for certain guys when they want to rest them. Sure fine
22:57 If it's an injury, I've never heard of before that. I'm probably gonna be okay
22:59 But from here on out looking for that clean injury sheet just making sure everybody's cool
23:04 And and and that's it but like yeah, there are certain things we can still nitpick us as we get going here
23:10 But I do want to point out that the defensive stuff from some of the leaders in this team this season has been really eye-opening
23:16 and Jalen
23:17 Just because as Sam said he wasn't the greatest defender. We all knew he had it in him this year. We're seen
23:24 Max wins 66 for this team in the regular season and of these eight games left
23:31 Of course, you got your Monday night in Charlotte
23:33 We know Jason Tatum was playing in that one and then after that it's you know
23:37 You got six out of the final seven at home
23:40 So this team is obviously positioned well to win a whole hell of a lot of games taking them into the playoffs
23:46 There'll be more and more rest down the stretch inevitably
23:49 Celtics aren't concerned in any way shape or form about seating all of that is locked up
23:54 So they're just trying to stay as fresh as possible and to Eves point Sam is there anything?
23:59 I feel like we bring this up to some degree every show at this point
24:02 But is there anything that that does matter is there anything that matters the rest of the regular season?
24:09 outside of entering the playoffs at full health I
24:12 It's hard for me to come up with situations like maybe they can play themselves into
24:19 Six clutch games and so they can really try and work on some things down the stretch like really do their best like I don't
24:27 Know what are the crazy things about that first Atlanta? That's why they keep blowing all these leads guy
24:31 We're up. We're up too much. Let him come back. We got to work on some stuff
24:35 What other reason would there be to play Jaden Springer for eight minutes in the fourth quarter of that first talk scheme?
24:40 Like you that was my point the entire next day. I'm like Jaden Springer. It's me. You're getting fourth quarter minutes. Everybody relax
24:46 I was actually shocked to see that the team was like fully healthy against the Pelicans
24:52 Maybe it's because they lost both games in Atlanta that they like wanted to come out and write the ship
24:56 But I kind of fully expected them to be like three guys on three guys off for the the rest of the season. I
25:02 think it's just the the thing that's important is
25:06 Willing like showing up and break like
25:10 Having that defensive intensity for the rest of the game. Joe Missoula this year has been like very much focused on process
25:17 He is like truly a Brad Stevens disciple of like process over results
25:23 and so I do think there's a tendency especially once they clinch the East to kind of
25:28 Overlook the Hawks, but I I do think one of the strengths of this team is that they have not really done that this year
25:34 And so I think it's finishing out the the season
25:38 Strong and not really taking completely taking nights off
25:44 No, they have some interesting games like it's gonna be fun to see how they play against the Thunder
25:49 I mean the Thunder one of the teams that beat them Shea really like cut their defense apart
25:53 And so I think it's just gonna be interesting to see how they play against. I
25:58 Think that's the most interesting magic. They have left. They play have a game against the Bucs
26:02 I would imagine they don't play anyone because they don't want to reveal anything to them
26:05 They have a game against the Knicks, but that's against the front end of a back-to-back
26:08 So I imagine half the guys won't play
26:10 So I feel like it's the Thunder game will be the last interesting game. And then the rest is just like
26:16 Let's see. What's what's Lee what's vegan do I want to see speed drop 20 points like that's that's the most important thing for me
26:22 For the remainder of the season. Oh that that's Sunday April 14th against the Wizards that final game
26:27 I mean that could be that's just a straight main call-up game right there. That's all it is
26:32 Jordan Walsh double doubles 40 minutes use your prize picks code CLNS get all the Jordan Walsh overs on that day
26:40 That's right. Yeah, we can there's this whole scandal we could help just like a Jordan
26:45 Just say you're sick like three minutes
26:47 Call yourself out. So we just bet all the under it's on your props. That's worth destroying your NBA career over
26:53 Yeah, no, no big deal or anything. But I mean
26:56 Yeah, it's it's just about like because one thing I liked about how light but I like that
27:03 There was at least an excuse for it at the end of that first Hawks game
27:07 You know, they asked Missoula like why didn't you do anything to help Chris Dabbs one-on-one with the John or second one?
27:14 Was the John Tate Murray's like well Chris Dabbs during the playoffs is gonna have to do that sometimes and he has to be
27:20 At least up to date a little bit on how to guard his you know
27:24 Guard his yard in space against a smaller guy because you know
27:26 There's gonna be times in the playoffs where that's gonna happen
27:29 He's gonna be comfortable with it the more reps he gets more comfortable
27:32 He gets like obviously in the playoffs where they wouldn't let
27:35 They would let the shot a Murray shoot it 44 times like they would send a double like this
27:41 That's what I think people get a little lost in the in the sauce a little bit. It's like obviously
27:46 They're trying to do some stuff. Like that's the one thing I like about Joe this year. He's been he's been doing some stuff
27:53 He's been trying some things
27:54 I've been waiting for the two two to one trap that they rolled out the beginning of the year
27:58 We haven't really seen it since they tried that that's stunk. It didn't work
28:02 No point did it work except for the weird possessions where drew holiday just decided I'm doing whatever I want
28:08 Yeah, I would want them to see them try do a different zone
28:11 Yeah
28:12 like like anything different but
28:14 that two two two one two was always kind of a kind of a nightmare because it didn't really feel like
28:19 Anyone other than drew holiday knew what was going on
28:21 I think this may be by design but like, you know, just like just try some stuff like I'm again
28:27 They they would they would do like full court pressing against the Wizards like back in like November and December and I was like
28:32 I love this. This is great. They're up like 35 or just trying stuff because they don't get practice time. This is great
28:38 I will almost kind of treat some of these games like that like, okay
28:43 Let's is Joe talked about it, you know the cabin the curveball thing
28:46 Like, you know, maybe this is part of how we developed that curveball or maybe they don't even want to show it now
28:51 Maybe it's like we had that's buried in our tape back in November December
28:56 Nobody's thinking that we can do this because we haven't shown it in a while and they'll just forget
28:59 So maybe that's what they're playing. I don't know again at the end of the day
29:03 It's all about health and that's the only thing I care about from here on out
29:07 as much as I loathe
29:09 Nick nurse
29:11 For being a whiny crybaby. I will give him credit for he always had his Raptors team
29:16 it's like he could throw out seven different zones at any point because they worked on them in the regular season and
29:22 So I do I don't know if it's too late to do that
29:26 but I do like think of like having that curveball having that something to change the defense because
29:30 and I think they have that with Chris taps this year because
29:33 He plays in a drop and then you can put in a whore for perhaps and switch everything in past years
29:39 They're basically their entire defense was just like we're gonna switch
29:43 Maybe we'll try to hide Rob, but it feels like they were one-dimensional and I do think they have kind of the versatility now
29:49 Again coming back to Jalen's defense
29:52 Or it's like you can throw him on any number of different players
29:56 You can kind of switch everyone on to different players where they can do something a little bit different
30:01 Which hopefully will help them moving forward in the postseason. I
30:05 Do think of what you brought up before with respect to?
30:08 Porzingis and Missoula talking about it after the game is notable is important
30:13 You know the fact obviously that they're working on some of those different things and I and look bigger picture
30:18 I'll sacrifice a regular season game against the Hawks if it means them working on something that they may need
30:24 In the playoffs and games that actually matter. That's fine
30:27 It's just it is helpful, you know to someone who's not as
30:31 Certainly basketball savvy as anybody on that coaching staff, you know to to hear some of that postgame and Missoula is
30:39 You know refreshingly
30:43 Honest a lot of the time in terms of some of the things that they are
30:47 Exploring or wanting to work on and so it's it is nice when he is revealing in that way
30:54 I want as a consumer as a fan. I want to hear some of that stuff. Sure
30:58 You know my my tweets or level of anger after a game may be somewhat motivated by how much money I had on the outcome
31:07 But I would like to see obviously some of these things in the bigger picture to get them as close as possible
31:13 The banner a team we all want to see it. They're obviously built for it
31:16 There is talented if not more so than anybody else as deep as anybody else
31:21 We've talked about it here on this show Sam at ad nauseam probably but what?
31:26 I'm sure you guys have gone in depth on still potable, you know, you JB Robbett talking about the
31:32 just
31:34 Level of competition, you know, I think we all believe that
31:37 Yeah
31:38 There are teams that that are capable of tripping up the Celtics in the Eastern Conference
31:42 But this really should be viewed as as the C's to lose
31:46 I mean this they are the best team in the East if they are healthy
31:49 but over in the West
31:51 if we get that what some people feel is
31:55 Inevitable that that finals matchup between Boston and Denver
31:59 I'm still at the camp that and this isn't one of those like the the nuggets of the champs until
32:05 Somebody says otherwise like you got to beat him. You got to show me
32:09 It's it's not that so much as when I watch the Nuggets, which I do a fair amount including against Boston
32:16 Yoke it's the best player on the planet and I just believe that they still are the best team
32:22 I I think that is you know, I I think the Celtics
32:26 Sure could beat the Nuggets, but and and betting wise would be the favorites to beat the Nuggets
32:34 But I don't think they should be I think the Nuggets the defending champs should be the favorites in a potential series like that
32:41 How do you handicap that series as you look at it right now
32:47 I
32:47 Agree with you. The Nuggets are so good. You know, bitch is so good
32:51 Yokich Murray pick and roll. There's just not a real an answer for it
32:55 It feels like Aaron Gordon hanging out in the dunker spot is just like he's perfected that I do
33:01 Think the the Celtics have a chance, but it a lot of it comes down to can they have four?
33:06 Games of like over 40% three-point shooting like this is like the the dumbest analysis you can have but they you got to outscore
33:15 the Nuggets if you want to beat them, but like you like they really have to have a
33:19 And Joe Mazula talks about the math the entire time. They have to have an elite three-point shooting
33:25 Performance against the Nuggets across an entire series because the Nuggets for how good they are on offense there and they're great at executing
33:33 They're not a great three-point shooting team
33:35 And so if you can kind of tilt the math in your favor and get four games where you're making 15 to 23s
33:42 I think the Celtics have a chance but
33:44 You know, I mean yo kish is just amazing. He's the best passer for a man that size I've ever seen
33:49 And so I think it'd be a great series. I think the Celtics would be
33:53 Like I don't I think it would be absolutely close, but I I'm with you. I would probably still favor the Nuggets
34:00 Just because I haven't really seen anyone stop them in the playoffs yet when they're fully healthy
34:06 I said this in a group text the other day
34:09 But if the Celtics team can't be the Nuggets then the NBA has a serious problem
34:14 because
34:15 It's like if this team of ridiculous talent can't take down yo kish then I don't know
34:20 It's basically like yeah
34:23 like hope the Thunder figure everything out because they have a kajillion picks and a lot of young talent and
34:28 Maybe they can do it
34:30 You know, I I don't have a lot again if the Celtics were not to win the series
34:35 I don't have a lot of faith in Giannis going in there and didn't do it in there any better
34:39 It's there there a machine
34:44 They are a machine and to Sam's credit
34:47 You're gonna have to just outscore him and it sounds simple, but it's really not because they're an excellent defensive team
34:53 You know with with KCP being just an incredible guy on both sides sides
34:59 But like super good shooter awesome defender very versatile
35:03 It really comes down to their bench
35:05 like
35:06 It is all about the non yo kish minutes because they always win the yo kish minutes and if you go back to the two games
35:11 That Boston has played against Denver
35:13 Their bench has done a good job
35:16 And that's what's frustrating is it's like if you're gonna beat that team
35:21 You have to hope the Christian Browns the world
35:24 And the other guys that bring off the bench are just not having it, you know, they're young
35:29 But they they'd have a lot of experience. You know what I'm saying?
35:33 It's like one of these things where you know, they've been in the finals. Most of the guys came back
35:37 They've added some younger pieces like don't get me wrong, but they just I don't know
35:41 It's gonna be really tough if they get there, but you know, I'm anything can really happen. It's just the yo kish is the Terminator
35:47 Man, he's just he's the t1000. I don't know if you want to keep going in this analogy
35:51 he's whatever the what's-her-face from Terminator 3 like the
35:55 T1 million or whatever. She is like
35:58 He's insane he is insane and
36:04 You know, I just want everybody to be healthy because I don't want to do the you know, oh yo pitch was heard
36:09 So that's that's I don't need that. I don't want that. That's for sure
36:12 Well as we wrap up this show the Celtics have three games before probably I don't know
36:18 Maybe we'll come at you with a midweek show. We'll see but if we stick with the weekend thing
36:22 They have three games before we talk to you again
36:24 Which which is at Charlotte Monday and then home against the Thunder and the Kings Wednesday Friday. So in every other day situation
36:33 Pretty much the rest of the way with the exception to that back-to-back with the Knicks and Hornets as
36:38 Sam had mentioned before this Monday in Charlotte thing, by the way, like the
36:42 Everybody remembers it's why I made reference to it earlier. Everybody remembers the Jason Tatum thing about, you know load management
36:50 Wanting to play and there's gonna be that that
36:53 Kid that shows up on a Monday night in Charlotte
36:57 This was something he said what back in the offseason or at the end of last year
37:01 Whatever it was and and I don't want to miss that game
37:03 I don't it's the only opportunity for that kid to see me and all that's a very I like it
37:08 I love when Tatum talks about that stuff and I like that. He really needs to be forced out of games
37:13 It's a it's a rare superstar quality these days and one that that obviously big fan of but the whole Monday in Charlotte thing
37:20 The Celtics go to Charlotte two times this year. They already been once then obviously this one both times a Monday night in Charlotte
37:30 That can't be an accident, right? Like that's like there's there's no way that's a coincidence
37:35 That's just the NBA being the NBA where this like cutesy cheeky stuff is like no
37:41 All right, we got to make sure whatever the Celtics go to Charlotte. It's both times around a Monday night
37:46 And that first Monday he's had like 30 points in the first half and then the Celtics completely fell apart
37:52 So he didn't look good. He has needs this for redemption Monday night
37:56 Yeah, and I think this is the first time stem seeing Grant Williams on the Hornets
38:01 So I think he's just annoying enough that I'm expecting a good Jason Tatum performance bad locker room guy most annoying teammate ever
38:08 It's what it's what the streets are saying. I
38:11 Just want to see Tatum I so grant like 18 times
38:16 Just like clear out we're gonna just gonna pick on grant
38:22 And I love grant I don't I I think grants got a bad rap I I enjoyed his time with the Celtics
38:28 I know he talks a lot but like I don't know. I still think he was cool. Whatever sue me
38:33 All right, well make sure you check out handsome be wonderful over here Sam Packard on Twitter at jam Packard
38:41 Also the still potable
38:43 Account has they've they've got a Twitter account their heads and shoulders above us
38:49 We were we don't have a Celtics beat Twitter account
38:52 We just ask that you follow us but at still potable is where you can find that as well daily Celtics podcast
38:58 Make sure you check that out with Sam with J King with be Rob Brian Rob
39:03 We love having those guys on this show, but Sam, it's great pleasure, man. We really enjoyed it. We'll have to do it again
39:08 Yeah, appreciate you guys having me on fun fun to talk to you
39:11 Absolutely. All right guys, let's hope the Celtics, you know continue to win games that it's maybe some more inspiring
39:18 wins than what we've seen of late and
39:20 Again, most importantly even if you lose the final eight just be healthy. Just be healthy be healthy
39:27 Come on, April 15 tax day and then the playoffs begin. Let's get on with it. So for Sam for Evan
39:35 I am Adam check us out Celtics beat wherever you get your podcast rate review. Most importantly subscribe and
39:40 We'll see you again next week
39:43 You
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