LIVE: Team USA vs. South Sudan Olympics Postgame Show | Garden Report
The Garden Report crew goes LIVE for an Olympics edition! Join John Zannis, Noa Dalzell, and Bobby Manning for postgame analysis of Team USA's game against South Sudan.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Can you say hard hats folks? Hard hats, munch pails, steel tool, boots.
00:07Anything short of a championship this year is a failure.
00:09Look at this boomer right here.
00:11You've just got so much talent here.
00:14Somebody said we need to apologize for Jalen.
00:16Can I pull the John? What are we apologizing for? What did we say? What did we do?
00:20Welcome in guys.
00:30John Zanis, Bobby Manning, Noah Dalzell here to talk about USA basketball.
00:34It's the Olympic basketball postgame show or otherwise known as the
00:41what has Steve Kerr done to Jason Tatum's confidence
00:43and why are Celtics fans upset today show and we'll go over all of that.
00:48There's plenty of things to celebrate.
00:49If you're a Celtics fan, including Derek White showing out once again of why he is who he is
00:55and was such a big part of the Celtics championship puzzle,
01:01but Tatum's going to dominate the headlines again, and I'm not going to play around.
01:04I know it's not the thing we want to talk about following a USA win,
01:08but it is interesting because it's been the saga and for three days.
01:12It was really the only thing that anyone in Celtics Nation could talk about
01:16why Tatum didn't play, why Steve Kerr is an idiot,
01:21you know, why there's agendas and conspiracy theories and a whole bunch of different things.
01:24Well, Jason Tatum played today and not only that he started and I don't know two mixed results.
01:31So let's just kind of start around here.
01:35Yeah, I'll start with you know, the thought you what do you think about Tatum being inserted
01:39into the starting lineup for Team USA today after being a DNPCD in the last game?
01:47I mean, we knew he was going to play Steve Kerr pretty much said that right?
01:50So yeah, honestly like the whole starting line of thing.
01:53It's a little bit meaningless at a point
01:56because everybody's playing between 15 to 20 minutes generally speaking.
02:00And so, you know, he got 17 Derek White got 17 Drew Holliday got 15.
02:04I don't really care that much about who started
02:06but it might have been a little bit of a signal to kind of get his confidence going
02:09that you know, one day you sit the next day you start everybody stay ready.
02:12Like there might have been some emotional messaging behind that to kind of keep everybody in line
02:17with you know, you never know when you might go from last game
02:20and being started to now coming off the bench.
02:22So didn't make too much of that.
02:24I think he started off a little bit slow and does look like his confidence is a little bit shaken,
02:29but I think it's not just exclusive to him.
02:31I think it's this is a completely different type of basketball to only be getting a couple shots a game
02:37to be playing very limited minutes different rotation.
02:39So I think a lot of it can be attributed to that.
02:41I mean that Devin Booker didn't get too much today.
02:44So that has Steph Curry struggled a lot.
02:45So I don't really view it as just because of this whole situation with the DNP last game.
02:51I know you have to ask him but I think it's a little bit of speculation of attributed completely to that.
02:57Yeah, well, it felt like a bit of a over I wouldn't say overcompensation,
03:01but I think you know, what's funny in the dialogue being had among,
03:05you know people out there who think Kerr has an agenda of some sort,
03:09which I think is preposterous.
03:11Honestly, it's him.
03:11It's it's really ridiculous.
03:15He's trying to manage as you said Noah a whole bunch of different people
03:19who are used to being having the ball in their hands being start
03:22with the exception of white and holiday who are there to be role players
03:26and doing an exceptional job at that almost everybody.
03:29There is used to being the man having the ball in their hands being the go-to person,
03:34you know, putting up 17 18 20 plus shots per game.
03:40So it's an adjustable, you know playing on ball not off ball.
03:43So you're asking a lot of people to take on different roles,
03:45but that's kind of throughout and you see different people adjusting to it differently.
03:49Anthony Edwards for my money has been playing great in that second unit sort of
03:53but he's dribbling too much because that's what he's used to doing
03:56and you know, there's some ball stopping that goes on from time to time.
04:00So there's going to be some growing the Devin Booker's forced to play almost entirely
04:04off the ball in this lineup in order to fit with whatever it is that they're doing here.
04:09So everybody's being asked to be a little bit different,
04:12but it's obvious they want to push the pace.
04:13They want to move the ball and they have a lot of capable players out there,
04:18but I just never bought that Kerr has an agenda for why he didn't play Tatum
04:24and a lot of people seem to think that that was the case.
04:27He in fact, I think he was so almost embarrassed for having sat him in the first game
04:34that he kind of overcompensated and put him into the starting lineup in this one either to say,
04:39hey, this could happen to anybody. We're all moving parts here.
04:42We're all equals or as you said to get his coffees going
04:44and they tried to get him going they were they had a set play to start digging.
04:48So Kerr had on his mind like I got to get Tatum feeling good
04:52and part of this team because he's a star and he deserves it.
04:55But I actually thought he was showing him great deference and respect
04:58by both putting him in the starting lineup
04:59and trying to draw up an easy play to get him going early on a backdoor that kind of got blown up.
05:04So I think it was on Kerr's mind to like how can I make this right
05:08because it did feel a little shitty to him to have sat him in the first game.
05:13Yeah, there's no doubt and I don't think I don't think anyone can think it was personal
05:17or whatever he's being accused of in terms of setting Tatum.
05:22It's a difficult situation. They played more guys to the credit.
05:26Many people reached out to me and said you can play more than 10 guys and they did in this game.
05:30They went deeper. They tried a bunch of different combinations.
05:33You probably have more leeway to do that against South Sudan rather than against Serbia
05:37as Noah said with the matchups here,
05:39but this showed that you can go in many different directions as this team
05:44and still win still be successful still look good.
05:47I actually thought these lineups unsurprisingly given our Embiid conversation
05:52look better than they did against Serbia.
05:55The double big combination was great. It worked out the exhibitions.
05:59It worked against Serbia. But in this game,
06:01you got to some switching that I was kind of some tough shot making
06:05and I'll give South Sudan credit. They were hitting tough shots again.
06:09Not the amount you needed to stay in this game,
06:11but enough to stay within striking distance
06:14and the US just kept reducing stops forcing turnovers.
06:18And when you got to the white holiday combination,
06:22it was no contest. Those guys were just ripping the ball blocking the ball
06:27taking it away from South Sudan left and right.
06:29So the combinations worked again. I think I sent the stat in the group John.
06:33It was like something ridiculous like 30 out of 55 points
06:37or something like that came from the bench in in that first half as they pulled away.
06:43So you have this great depth,
06:47but you're still looking for the combinations that hit perfectly
06:51and this starting lineup in large part because of Tatum
06:55and his inability to get involved in the offense didn't work in this game.
07:00And so you're still searching into your third game Puerto Rico.
07:03They're going to roll over that team,
07:04but you're still searching for your best five
07:06and you didn't have to go to crunch top crunch time in this game
07:09and find a closing five.
07:11They were still mixing up like starters and holiday and white,
07:15which I think is intriguing.
07:17They're mixing together Durant with the starters in that second half.
07:20So they're still searching. They've been dominant.
07:23They look better head and shoulders above the field here just
07:25because of their depth of talent,
07:27but they still haven't made the most of this roster
07:30and Tatum's a big reason for it. Where does he fit in?
07:33Where do you utilize him? Where do you get the best out of him?
07:36It's and whether that's Tatum's fault or Kerr's fault,
07:39he's still in a weird place in this offense.
07:41And I think some of the blames on Tatum being unable to you saw a couple situations,
07:46right? John where he's one-on-one. He can't beat the guy.
07:50The shots not falling. Those are on Tatum.
07:53It's on Kerr the fact that he's just floating around mostly just standing in the corner half the time
07:59when he's out there. There's got to be some more direct directly involved in the offense.
08:05I think you can make that case for a couple people though, right?
08:07Like right now Kerr his own guy Curry. He's not sure what to do to get him going.
08:14I mean Curry does what he does which is he runs a marathon by just,
08:17you know sprinting around and trying to you know, get open just the shots not falling
08:21but you can look at him be like he's got to find a way to unlock that,
08:24you know, there's other people you can say that about there.
08:27I think the onus I think Kerr is getting I don't think this is easy.
08:33I think Kerr is getting a lot of crap. You know how hard it is to manage a superstar team like this is
08:38like it's really really difficult.
08:40There's a reason like why college players,
08:42you know used to go on this dream team thing is like just sit there
08:46and be happy for the experience.
08:48You got to figure out minutes for all the things that fit.
08:54It's really complicated and you're right
08:56and then you have to figure out what's working in a game and go to it
09:00and there was an adjustment today
09:02that adjustment was the starting lineup was bad
09:06and he yanked them three minutes and 38 seconds,
09:10three minutes and 18 seconds into the third quarter.
09:12He pulled them all. He went back to that unit two that had Bam
09:17and Holiday and White and KD and Edwards.
09:21He pulled them all in and then you know, they held the line a little bit
09:25but you know South Sudan had come in there
09:27and the adjustment that he made was Tatum didn't come back out with the starters.
09:31He put Durant in so in a weird way Tatum got benched again by Kerr.
09:37He got the deferential start.
09:39He got the start again to start the second half that lineup wasn't working.
09:43When the starters came back in in the fourth quarter Tatum wasn't there.
09:47He got a couple garbage time cleanup minutes.
09:49So now he got pulled again in game,
09:54you know there in favor of in favor of Durant.
09:57So Kerr tried to shoehorn him in and he didn't like the fit.
10:00He didn't like what he saw and he yanked him again.
10:04That wasn't my interpretation necessarily.
10:06I mean, I get what you're saying with the substitution pattern,
10:08but at the end of the day, I think we're I get that.
10:11It's our job to scrutinize Tatum's performance
10:14because he's the superstar on the Celtics,
10:16but I actually don't think he did anything.
10:18I don't think they need to get him going more than he's going right now.
10:21Like this team is dominating right? They won by 17 today.
10:23They won by 24 last game
10:26and I thought that he played 17 solid minutes today
10:28where he did what he needed to do. He played good defense.
10:31He got some contested rebounds.
10:32He grabbed an offensive rebound to find Halliburton.
10:34He had a nice drive baseline drive.
10:36Like we don't it would be fun to see him score 12.
10:38It'd be fun to be a little bit more involved,
10:42but I don't think that this this needs to be like a thing
10:45that Steve Kerr has to worry about or I think that we need to prioritize.
10:49Ultimately like there's going to be four or five guys in his roster
10:52that go from stars to role players
10:54and I think he's inevitably one of those guys.
10:56Devin Booker is one of those guys,
10:58but Devin Booker has done a pretty good job of buying into that
11:01and he's been pretty effective.
11:03You know, those are the two main ones.
11:04I think so far that are clearly having to make that adjustment
11:07from go-to player to role player.
11:09And so the question is just can he just do everything else well
11:12and just take a few shots, right?
11:15But that's the thing though to be fair.
11:17You're right. Like not everybody needs to score 20 points a game
11:20for this team to be successful
11:22and but there's a million players who could go out there in the world
11:27who could grab a rebound and make a good pass
11:30when it was their time to do it.
11:31Jason Tatum's on this team because he's Jason Tatum.
11:33And while we're saying what conversation we need to be having here
11:37because we're analyzing it,
11:38the conversation being had out there in Celtics land right now
11:42is Jason Tatum is the best overall player on this team.
11:45He's the only American-born player on first team all NBA
11:49and Steve Kerr's making a mistake not running things through him
11:52and making him a centerpiece and focal point of this team.
11:56And that's the mistake being made right now.
11:59So we're not having a we could sit here and just talk about USA basketball
12:03and nobody would bat an eye at Tatum's contribution today
12:06and be like, oh, he didn't do a ton offensively,
12:08but you know, who knows next game.
12:10We're having this conversation
12:11because the conversation out there is they're making a huge mistake
12:15not utilizing Jason Tatum,
12:16who's the best player all-around player on this team the right way
12:20and marginalizing him by making him stand around the corner
12:23and having him play off ball and not having him play against Serbia
12:26and somehow that this is disrespectful
12:28or something's being done to Jason Tatum by the powers that be.
12:32And that's why we're having the conversation.
12:33If that wasn't being said,
12:35I don't think we're sitting here scrutinizing every single second that's going on.
12:38It's an Olympic team and there's 12 great players on that team
12:42and they're going to find combinations
12:43and different people are going to flash different times.
12:45It's Tatum's pedigree, his accolades,
12:48and his standing in the league that doesn't is right now.
12:52The way he's being used is not commensurate
12:54with all of the things that make Jason Tatum, Jason Tatum.
12:58And he took one step up the hierarchy clearly here, right?
13:01No way of passing Embiid.
13:03I think that was deserved.
13:04I think we talked about why that needed to happen
13:06and it did to all of our surprise.
13:08I don't think any of us thought Embiid would take the DNP here and he did.
13:12So I think he takes a step in that sense.
13:14Now we're asking, all right, who else in the hierarchy can he move over here?
13:18And I think you've been right actually,
13:20Noah, to point out Edwards at different points
13:22because that to me is where it's going to happen.
13:25Tatum shouldn't be starting on this team.
13:27It should be LeBron.
13:28It should be Durant.
13:29It should be Davis.
13:31And then it should be two guards,
13:32whether it's Booker and Curry or Holiday and Curry.
13:34I think that makes the most sense.
13:36The question to me is whether the guy with the ball in his hands
13:40alongside White or Holiday,
13:42if you're going to keep splitting them up,
13:43at that two-guard spot should be Tatum,
13:46who with the ball in his hands has done great things,
13:48has shown leaps and strides as a passer,
13:51who I think just is going to generate more rhythm from having it in his hands.
13:55Or Edwards, who again was solid today,
13:57but you saw him playing in crowds.
13:59You saw him trying to take on the defense one at four at different points.
14:02And so that to me is going to be the question here on this roster
14:05is whether you empower Tatum with the ball in his hands more off the bench
14:08or Edwards off the bench with the ball in his hands more.
14:11And the tough part for Tatum right now is we're through seven games with this USA
14:17slate and according to the tracking data,
14:20he hasn't hit a single jump shot.
14:23And that's that nothing else matters here.
14:25He doesn't have to be the best player on this team.
14:27He doesn't have to prove himself or become one of the focal points.
14:32I have no idea why he can't shoot the basketball right now
14:36or he's not trying to or he's not looking for it
14:39or they're just not generating those opportunities for him.
14:41It's shocking and it goes back to the playoffs where he shot 28% from three.
14:46I don't know what's going on here with his shot.
14:49It's a story. There's a crisis in confidence right now.
14:52Yeah, it's a tangible thing you look at going into next year
14:55and you're like what the hell is going on here?
14:57Is it mechanical? Is he dealing with something physically?
15:01Is he just not able to generate those quality shots
15:04or they're not able to generate them for him
15:06because he hasn't hit a single jump shot with Team USA so far.
15:11So my perspective on the tandem shooting struggle is A,
15:15it's obviously psychological as 99.5% of shooting struggles probably are.
15:19I think it's rarely something that for this long that is mechanical or an injury.
15:24I don't think he's hurt either, right?
15:25Right. So I think it's psychological, right?
15:28Like anybody that's played basketball knows
15:29that sometimes you just hit a stretch of your career
15:31where you're just struggling to find rhythm
15:33and all of a sudden like being a good shooter feels like a distant memory
15:37and I'm sure that's what it has felt like for a while for him.
15:40But the reality is that to break out of that rhythm,
15:43to break out of that struggle is like you need to find a rhythm
15:45and he's not going to find a rhythm when he's taking four shots a night.
15:49He took what? One jump shot today, right?
15:51So that's not enough to break out of your rhythm.
15:52Yeah, you can't shoot yourself out of slumps on this, right?
15:56Yeah, and that's the thing with Team USA.
15:58Nobody is going to get the right
16:00or the opportunity to shoot themselves out of a slump
16:02because there's just no reason to.
16:03There's somebody else that can go in there.
16:05Like I thought Halliburton came in.
16:06The fact that he hit those two threes is so impressive to be,
16:09you haven't played an entire Olympic run
16:11and you come and hit two threes for, you know, in your first minute on the court.
16:15That's so hard to do.
16:17That's the point though, Noah, and that's where people see it is
16:19you can make every reasonable rational excuse for the tatum
16:22like what's happening here.
16:24There's something mental.
16:24You can't get into a rhythm.
16:26But Kevin Durant doesn't play for a month,
16:28rolls out of bed, comes in and makes every single shot.
16:31Tyrese Halliburton gets dusted off.
16:33He hadn't played a minute, comes in and drains two threes.
16:35And at the same time, Seth Curry went one for nine, you know.
16:38Seth Curry goes one for nine,
16:39but also Derek White's not afraid to pull the trigger when it's his turn.
16:42Drew Holliday's not.
16:43Tatum's actually a little bit gun-shy.
16:46Not in addition to not shooting.
16:48It's not just he hasn't hit a jumper.
16:50He hasn't taken many.
16:53And he should feel empowered to be more aggressive.
16:56Right.
16:56Yeah, no, but my point is that like we're talking about
16:59how do you get him more involved in the offense.
17:00Kevin Durant took five shots today.
17:02Like, I'm just looking through the lineup here.
17:06One player took double figure shots and that was Bam
17:08and they were mostly, you know, he really had it going today,
17:12obviously, right?
17:12Yeah.
17:13So it's just like that's the way that it's going to be.
17:15Most of these guys are going to take four to five shots a night.
17:18And so if you have, you had two of those five
17:20and now we're sitting here being like,
17:21why does Tatum have four points?
17:22But that's just the nature of FIBA.
17:23That's why it's like to me, like I do, I get it.
17:26Like I get the shooting struggles is something that has been a
17:29consistent theme now because it's not just limited to FIBA.
17:31Like he was struggling throughout the playoffs and there is an
17:33outstanding question of like, is he going to be able to turn
17:35it around for next year?
17:36Because next year, you know, they're going to need him.
17:39They're going to need that shot.
17:40But I think for right now, like assessing this team and his
17:43role on it, I actually don't think there's a problem with
17:45how he's being used unless we need him for like an agenda
17:48reason.
17:48Like we need to show that he's the best player on the team,
17:49but he's actually being used as a role player.
17:52He's probably a better fit for that than some of these more
17:54pure shooters.
17:55Yeah, we don't need to.
17:56That's kind of the point is, I agree, Noah.
17:58I don't think there's a, I don't think there's an issue with
18:01here.
18:01It's you're trying to fit pieces and sometimes some guys are
18:04going to have it going and take more shots and sometimes guys
18:06aren't, but what it's not just a, you know, you made the point
18:10about Curry shot poorly, right?
18:12But Curry took the shots.
18:13You expect Curry to take.
18:14He's going around and doing Curry things. Tatum's not doing
18:18Tatum things. Tatum's not doing anything.
18:21That's kind of what's strange here.
18:22But it's a good thing.
18:24And we're not saying force the issue, but there are times where
18:28you know, it's adapting to being a role player is not as easy
18:32for some as others.
18:33And in some cases, it looks like Tatum is kind of standing
18:36which of course there's spacing sometimes and you will, you
18:39know, your role might just be to kind of, you know, sit there
18:42and kind of make sure that there's enough space, but also
18:44he's not flashing.
18:45He's not moving.
18:46He's not, you know, coming to the ball.
18:48There was that second stint that he played.
18:50I think in the second quarter where I tried to count like
18:53five, six possessions in a row, the ball zipping around and
18:56moving. I didn't touch Tatum's hands and he was like, should
18:59I be here?
19:00Wait, let me go over here.
19:01Let me go over there.
19:02He looks like he's still struggling to figure out where he's
19:05supposed to be on this team and in this offense.
19:08So I don't know that he's necessarily doing himself favors.
19:10There's a flow thing here in addition to just oh, let me get
19:14my volume scoring going.
19:17I don't think that's ever going to happen, but I he looks a
19:19little out of place and it moves, you know, things are moving
19:23quick and it's just it's not the ball's not finding him at
19:26all. And I don't think like LeBron, those guys love him.
19:29There's not like they're not intentionally not giving Tatum
19:33the ball because we don't want you here, but it's not finding
19:36him. No, and I think I find that odd, right?
19:41Noah mentioned some of the FIBA factors that play here, but
19:44I do think some of it stems from his role with the Celtics
19:47as well that he's just coming off where he's almost a diversion
19:52for the defense, drawing them all out of their spots or collapsing
19:55it on the drive and keeping it moving and he played such a
19:59deferential role for them throughout the playoffs.
20:01I think as a driver, he really succeeded, especially scoring
20:04through crowds and drawing free throws and finishing strong
20:08at the basket, but his jumper wasn't on in the playoffs either
20:11and he still had to make the most of it and a lot of that
20:14came down to his passing.
20:15His passing helped in large part them win the championship
20:18more than his scoring.
20:20So that he can't do that here, right?
20:22Because he's not drawing double teams.
20:24He's not at the point of attack.
20:25He's not running pick and roll.
20:27So he's mostly on the wing one-on-one and he has to get by
20:30that guy and to go back to Noah's FIBA point, you have three
20:34seconds now, right?
20:35So this is just a big standing at the basket and or you can
20:39pull up from that mid-range area and that's I think he hit
20:42a very short range floater thing.
20:44Maybe they counted as a floater in that fifth scrimmage, but
20:47you haven't seen much mid-range action for him and that's
20:51probably the area where he's going to have to get going.
20:53If the three-pointer is not there for him and again, it's
20:58it's not a huge concern or this crisis about his game right
21:02now, but it's tough.
21:05Noah, if we're going to sit here, if we were having a conversation
21:08right now and saying, all right, where's Tatum rank among the
21:11best players in the league?
21:13And all these other guys who are in that mix for best player
21:16in the league, whether it's Edwards or Durant or LeBron or
21:19all these different guys are here doing all this different
21:21stuff and he's just sort of sitting on the side more deferential
21:26to them.
21:26It's tough when you get into that setting where you're arguing
21:30for him as one of the best players in the league to put this
21:32resume down and say he's third, he's fourth, he's fifth overall.
21:36These other guys were seeing here who have more driving forces
21:39with this team.
21:40So I think from a fan perspective, that's why it's frustrating
21:44to watch him do what he's doing right now because preseason
21:47is going to come around and you're going to say, all right,
21:49he's the fourth best player in the league.
21:51Everyone's going to be like, really?
21:53Daphne, what he just did out there?
21:54I just don't think, I just don't think that we should be using
21:57the Olympics to judge.
21:59But it's the playoffs too.
22:01Well, that's fine.
22:02But that's a different conversation.
22:03And I don't think anybody came away from the playoffs saying
22:05that Tatum was, I mean, he didn't win finals MVP or Eastern
22:08Conference finals MVP, right?
22:09So like that kind of speaks for itself that he wasn't the
22:12best player on the Celtics during that playoff run by most
22:15accounts, right?
22:15So to me, it's just like, I just don't think we should be
22:17using the Olympics to create an NBA pecking order because
22:21by that ranking order, R.J.
22:23Barrett is the next up-and-coming star.
22:25I mean, that's what it looks like, right?
22:28Or yeah, Dennis Schroeder and Daniel Tice.
22:30Like, it just, I think we need to just relinquish this
22:33idea that this Olympic team is going to demonstrate the
22:37new hierarchy of the NBA because the reality is that it's
22:41the old guard, it's the old guard still that's been primarily
22:43running through the offense.
22:44And then you have guys like Derek White.
22:46I mean, Derek White was one of the best players in the
22:47court today, right?
22:48Nobody's saying that he's one of the best players in the
22:50world, but he just won and he has been.
22:51I am, I am, I am.
22:56So I just think, I mean, I don't think the fans are going to
22:58do it, but I don't think it needs to be validated, is my
23:02take on it.
23:03I mean, it's, of course, because it's different.
23:06You're playing under a different set of circumstances than
23:08you would normally.
23:09It's not natural.
23:10No team has this much talent.
23:12No team takes talented players and asks them to change who
23:16they are, the way something like this does, you know, on
23:20Team USA where, because other countries, if you're an alpha
23:24in the NBA, you're probably an alpha on your, on your national
23:27team too.
23:28This is the only team in the world where guys who are stars
23:32are asked to be role players.
23:33So it is very unnatural and I don't think it's fair to take
23:36this and apply it to where is he in the world.
23:39However, it still is an all-world talent showcase and you're
23:43seeing other guys show out.
23:45You're seeing Tatum not.
23:46It affects perception, but it's not reality.
23:49It doesn't really matter, but conversely, I will say people
23:54are applying regular season NBA logic to what Tatum should
23:58be doing on this team.
24:00He was all, he was all NBA.
24:02He should be the man.
24:03He should be playing.
24:04He's one of the best guys and they're not applying that.
24:08They're looking at what they have there and kind of deciding
24:11this is what I think works for this team.
24:13So there's frustration based off of what he is and who he
24:18has been and what he's accomplished in the NBA.
24:21And then he comes here with all of these other players here
24:24and it's not either not translating or it's just not fitting
24:29in the coach's mind or with the players that he's playing
24:32with on the court right now.
24:33So he hasn't quite found a role.
24:35So that's kind of the weird conversation right now is there's
24:39a lot of deserve being thrown around there.
24:42Look, Joel Embiid is the friggin as an MVP two years ago and
24:46would have probably won MVP if he doesn't get hurt this year
24:48and he got benched today.
24:50So I don't want to hear about deserve.
24:51If we're talking about deserve Derek White and Drew Holiday
24:55don't deserve to be here based on regular season accolades.
24:58What's happening right now is I think they're looking at
25:01what's working and what's not and Tatum's not working right
25:04now on this team and that's just this conversation.
25:07It doesn't at all apply and it's how other things aren't
25:10working as well.
25:11Embiid was not working at all.
25:13That's not lineups.
25:14Not really working right now.
25:16You know, there's this he's not the only thing going on.
25:18So they're still figuring stuff out.
25:20It's really more a matter of figuring out how to use these
25:23pieces more than it is a direct indictment on Jason Tatum.
25:26The one thing I'll say going forward is if you're a Celtics
25:29fan, you watch him continue to be reluctant to shoot or not
25:32shoot. And this is a guy who can get in his own head a little
25:36bit. He did have a crisis of confidence.
25:37He said after the NBA finals lost to Golden State where he
25:41was wondering what's his place in the world.
25:43You show up here riding high as an NBA champion thinking
25:45you're number you're the guy and you get marginalized for
25:49whatever reasons here and you come off this and it's a negative
25:52personal experience.
25:53I do wonder how that affects him.
25:55I do wonder how the shooting slumps or the or the reluctance
25:58to shoot right now could affect him going forward.
26:01That's going to be a story that we're looking at when we
26:03get to training camp and beyond is he's all right, right?
26:06You know, like that's that's going to come back.
26:08It's in his head, but he's going to figure it out, right?
26:10Yeah, I want to hear from him.
26:12I don't think we've heard too much from him over the past
26:14week or so here.
26:15I hope there'll be some stories to have his voice in a little
26:18more right now because I do want to hear how he's doing and
26:21I think that's the only thing that matters going into next
26:23year is how does he process this experience because if he
26:27is just sitting back and saying I'm just glad to be part of
26:31this doesn't matter what I do from a stat perspective.
26:34I just won the championship.
26:35If we win gold, I don't care what the numbers are.
26:38I don't care what my role is.
26:40I'm just glad to be here.
26:41Then this is all a wash.
26:43If from a shooting perspective, there's still some lingering
26:46issues there and he's going through it from that perspective.
26:50All right, that's a question going into next season.
26:53The one I keep asking and I actually do have confidence
26:56that he's able to persevere from it.
26:57But we talked about it last show just this fact that he's
27:00coming off a championship as you said John he's coming into
27:03this setting or he's just going into settings publicly where
27:06you're expecting to be affirmed by what you just accomplished.
27:10And everyone's making fun of the way you're celebrating all
27:13of a sudden you're in this role on this team and you know,
27:17whatever else you want to say and he actually talked about
27:18in that sports Illustrated video.
27:20He's like, yeah, you know the internet is going to be the
27:21internet, but it's not just your part of them.
27:24It's not part of them.
27:25Just like what the hell look at ambides Olympic experience
27:29right now.
27:29You think it's you think it's better than tatums.
27:31It's horrible.
27:32He's getting booed wherever he goes and the entire the entire
27:35internet is saying he should be benched outright, you know,
27:38and this is again one of the most dominant forces, you know
27:42in the sport and yeah, he's not looking great, but everybody
27:46so yeah, you think curry is going to have a good run of it
27:49after this game.
27:50Absolutely not, you know, like the internet's going to internet,
27:53you know, like they're going to don't people.
27:55I think people need to take it a little less personally.
27:57They're going to come at him and people are going to go at
27:59Tatum a little bit.
28:00It's how he well, that's what I think that's what I'm I think
28:03Celtics fans have to be appreciative of the fact that he's
28:07able to shake this stuff off so easily at least it appears
28:10and that's that's the what you lean on.
28:13I think Noah coming out of this is even if he doesn't have
28:15the best Olympic experience or output and his shot doesn't
28:20come around by the end of this slate.
28:23I think he's mentally strong enough to sustain that because
28:26we saw it in the playoffs, right?
28:28He'd never found that shot in the playoffs, but he kept making
28:31the right play.
28:32He kept his head in the game for the most part and ended up
28:35being I thought I still think he should have been in finals
28:39MVP the way he passed in that series.
28:41So I have confidence in his perseverance, but man this stretch
28:46where he doesn't have that shot is starting to extend quite
28:48a bit.
28:52Yeah, I mean, I think the other thing is is that you know,
28:55I know I've said this a bunch of times.
28:56I don't want to be a broken record about it.
28:58But like the end goal here is a gold medal and the reality
29:01is is that maybe a couple of people stocks will go up in
29:04the process.
29:05But if you know, most people's won't most people won't really
29:08be that impacted and the question is just like it's really
29:12a question of versatility and like who's able to show that
29:15they can be both they can be a feature guy and also not a
29:18feature guy like it's really easy to be a feature guy and
29:21continue to be a feature guy or surrounded by so much talent
29:23like the guys that have an easiest are like the LeBron's
29:26that are going to come in right now and do exactly what they're
29:29used to doing and now you just have more talent around you.
29:32And so I just want to say like I think Devin Booker, for
29:35example, is somebody that has been super impressive.
29:37I'm not I haven't been really high on him as an NBA player,
29:40but in those limited minutes like today, he had the most
29:42assists of any player in 22 minutes.
29:44You shot four of six six assists.
29:47That's a guy that is used to being the primary option right
29:49now. It's and he's adapted to that role.
29:52Yeah, and he's adapted and looks like he's taking strides.
29:54Yeah.
29:55Yeah.
29:55He's another guy.
29:56I think like we when we're discussing like what the Olympic
29:59play is about.
30:01It's really a lot less about like who's scoring a lot or
30:04who's who's rising up the rankings and it's more about who's
30:07showing that they can be multiple things like who's showing
30:10that they can not sit one game.
30:12I mean, I see a report here that Steve Kerr already said
30:14that Joel Embiid is starting against Puerto Rico.
30:16And so Joel Embiid is probably knew that he probably knew
30:19he's not sitting today.
30:20He's sitting today and he's playing next game starting
30:22next game.
30:23This is this sounds more and more like high school every
30:25day.
30:26Yeah, and so I think you know, we're kind of in this position
30:31now where like we it's kind of our responsibility.
30:34I think to keep the the main thing the main thing in the
30:36coverage in the discussions around this team and that's kind
30:39of the people's willingness to sacrifice and be in and out
30:41of things and be able to play different roles.
30:43Whether you take one shot one game or nine shots the next
30:46game. We're not going to learn whether or not Steph Curry
30:48is a great shooter from this Olympic experience, right?
30:52Like I think most of these guys have already solidified legacies
30:55and so we already know who they are.
30:56We're not going to learn that.
30:58That's the tough balance here John because that always feels
31:02like a given that they're going to win gold.
31:05It's it's predetermined.
31:07I still feel like it's predetermined in this run just
31:09given the field out there, but they can't go about it that
31:12way and in the past mostly in World Cups and whatever other
31:18competitions are they've gotten burned by not approaching
31:24the roster or you know running lineups are doing things
31:27that cohesive way or complimentary way, you know, especially
31:31going back to 04.
31:32So I think that also haunts them and there's a struggle here
31:36because part of it as you said John is a showcase.
31:40These guys are trying to build their brand.
31:42They're trying to show where they are in the bigger picture
31:44of American basketball.
31:46Hell, I think there's an open competition here off the bench
31:49among the younger guys of who's going to be the face of USA
31:53basketball in four years because LeBron's not going to be
31:55back.
31:55The rants probably not going to be back.
31:57You're probably not going to see curry in four years.
31:59So those guys who have been anointed as Noah talked about
32:02they're going to be out of the picture.
32:03And so it's like, all right, is this going to be Booker's
32:05team in four years?
32:06Is it Tatum's team?
32:07Is it Edwards team?
32:08That's an interesting dynamic here too while also making
32:11sure you actually win this thing because there are some
32:13other teams out there that could catch you on the wrong
32:16night and knock you off and at that point 5 million people
32:19out there who aren't paying attention to this at all go
32:21the US lost what a bunch of bombs and that's what they
32:24have to avoid.
32:25You got to be really careful of that and as Noah pointed
32:28out like yeah, what are we here for?
32:30We're here for you know, supposedly the idea is you're here
32:34to win a gold medal and this stuff shouldn't matter but
32:37it does matter because as we said is there's a fan base
32:40out there being triggered by what's happening to their
32:43player or what their player how their players are being
32:45disrespected based on the fact that everybody here believes
32:49that they have a shot and it's interesting like
32:51you know, Noah, you've said you're not a super fan of
32:53Booker, you know or Edwards, but you know people around
32:56the league or you know, it's certainly in those cities
32:59would be like yeah, those guys deserve every opportunity
33:01Tatum's getting in more.
33:02So I mean there's everybody can make a case for their
33:06guys here.
33:07Someone's going to come away from it a little bit pissed
33:09off, but you know, Noah you pointed out, you know, oh
33:13wait, I put the wrong one up here.
33:15No, you pointed out the goal here is to win supposedly,
33:20but this was the this was the poll you put out the other
33:22day and this is just to show you what's going on here.
33:24It's not just Celtics zealots and and and and people out
33:27there who are you know, extreme, you know talking about
33:32it and I lost the poll.
33:33So I'll put it back up here.
33:36It's 3,000 of Noah's followers voted on this thing, you
33:41know, does it bother you?
33:42Yes.
33:43No because they won.
33:44Yeah, it bothered people, you know there and I threw out
33:47there, you know, you know, my little version here curious
33:53what people think the reason Kurt didn't play him.
33:55He's an idiot.
33:55He has an agenda legit basketball decision.
33:59Okay.
34:00So yeah, the discourse is not very intelligent outside
34:04of these talk show circles.
34:05Okay, and what we're talking is just just this extreme
34:07by the way, if you think people are going to go easy on
34:10Mizzou after the championship, he can get to what is it
34:14for titles for Kurt and he'll still get screwed.
34:16Hey, so I don't think people are going to lay off Joe
34:18anytime soon.
34:19I also think that Steve Kerr right now in this moment is
34:22in a position that he hasn't been in outside of last summer,
34:25which I thought he handled really poorly from my perspective
34:28as someone who obviously doesn't know how to coach a FIBA
34:30team, but I think like the idea of how do you balance 12
34:34stars and rotations and minutes like we can all sit here
34:37and say we know we know exactly how everyone should be
34:40used or this should be the starting lineup and we're all
34:42we would be wrong, right?
34:43Because any one of these guys could get a DNP and they
34:46probably win still and the question is, is he keeping
34:48the locker room morale together?
34:50Is Tatum pissed off right now or is he bought in?
34:53We have no idea, right?
34:54And that's what really matters.
34:55If we, you know, if it comes out that he's losing guys
34:59throughout this process and he's losing, you know, buy-in
35:01and all that then obviously then that would be a mistake
35:05on his end.
35:05But there's also a good chance that he's actually doing
35:07a fine job.
35:08I mean, they're winning and we haven't heard anything
35:11about people being unhappy.
35:12But I think that people that are saying like Steve Kerr
35:14is an idiot are also underestimating like there's not
35:18really a good solution here because somebody's going to
35:20be left out, right?
35:21And so I just don't really get that perspective.
35:24The agenda thing is ridiculous.
35:25I mean, I've been seeing people posting like the Celtics
35:28beat the Warriors by 40 this year and like that's why
35:30he's, that's why he's such a, it's ridiculous.
35:32But I don't feel like people are being serious.
35:34Yeah.
35:34It's the notion that Steve Kerr is playing this long game,
35:38not just the short-term revenge.
35:40There's people out there saying that Steve Kerr is playing
35:43a long game, that he's trying to break up the Celtics
35:46in case they face them in the finals or something by leaving
35:49Brown off the team and benching Tatum and sowing discord
35:53but playing white and holiday.
35:55Yeah, give me, nobody gives a shit about you guys, the
35:59way you think they do.
36:00Like not in this way.
36:01The guys out there trying to manage a crap ton of egos
36:05and people out there while working towards a common goal.
36:09It's probably not easy.
36:11It doesn't mean he's going to make every right decision,
36:13but there's no way in the back of his mind.
36:15He has nefarious plans.
36:17Like he might not be playing the best combinations because
36:20it's complicated, you know, to do that.
36:24But yeah, this, this agenda stuff to me is banana land
36:28that that's something that we're talking about.
36:29He has to play by the matchups.
36:31It's a shame.
36:32We haven't talked about what's a bigger story about today's
36:35game, but we will, I promise you.
36:38And that is Derek White continuing to, and again, continuing
36:44to show something that we all learned or knew or have known
36:48for a while, but that was on display throughout the playoffs
36:53and, and, and continues to be here on the largest stage
36:56that Derek White literally can't stop doing everything
37:01right all the time.
37:02Almost every second he's on the court.
37:06The amount of things that he did today that either show up
37:09or don't show up on the stats sheet was mind-boggling from
37:13the second he checked in the game to every minute that he
37:16was out there.
37:17Derek White did something.
37:18He was impossible not to notice.
37:20We're going to get into Derek White's game in a little bit.
37:22Talk about holiday.
37:23Talk about some other things that Steve Kerr may or may not
37:26do as he continues to tinker with rotations looking ahead
37:29to, you know, when the games really start to matter here
37:32into the quarterfinals and beyond. First off, we do want
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38:44first purchase. Terms do apply. Getting back to it.
38:49Let's talk about our guy. It's incredible, right?
38:53You know, Noah, I know, you know, you're on record of
38:57having said that when White was added to the team that
38:59you thought he would play. I thought from the first
39:03exhibition game that he did play in down the stretch
39:05there against South Sudan when he made such an impact
39:08that Kerr would want to have either him or Holiday on
39:11the floor at all times in order to have that type of
39:14player, that disruptive defender out there, the facilitator
39:18guy moving the ball, working in that complementary role.
39:22That got disrupted a little bit today because he and
39:24Holiday played in the same unit and we might want to
39:28start talking about, you know, what's going to happen
39:30to that starting lineup as Kerr probably needs to tinker
39:34with it a little because it's not going great right
39:36now. I don't see how you don't have Holiday or White
39:38in it, and I don't see how you don't have, and I don't
39:42see, Holiday's back for next game. So today was, today
39:47they moved everything around just to accommodate Tatum.
39:49They really did. I mean, he really did, you know, that's
39:53what he wanted to do. But I think these guys have to
39:55go in there. I'm right now. It's just, I don't know
39:57how you don't play Derek White half a game after what
40:00you're seeing here. The second he comes in, it's like,
40:04okay, everything's going to be all right.
40:08Yeah, he's such a steady hand and the combination of
40:11the two of them together, obviously, we've seen it
40:14quite a bit with Boston and it looked every bit as
40:18effective in this game and they actually put them out
40:20there with the starters in the second half for a
40:23significant stretch too. So I wonder if they'll want
40:25to try to keep that combination together as often
40:28as possible. Obviously, we've talked about Curry's
40:30struggles, just feels like he's going to be a staple
40:33in that starting unit. So you could have Booker out
40:36there and play bigger. I think that's what you probably
40:39should do, unless you want to split up Holiday and
40:42White and have a ball handler with each unit. So it's
40:45going to be a tough decision either way. I think you
40:48probably could try both over different kinds of games
40:51going forward here and this Puerto Rico one, who knows
40:54what kind of competition they'll see in that game.
40:57It probably feels like the last opponent that they'll
41:00be able to tinker with stuff against before they
41:03actually get into some, you know, quarterfinal,
41:05semifinal level competition there. So I'm interested
41:08to see which way they're going to go with that starting
41:11backcourt. You could do Curry and Booker and keep
41:13Drew and White together off the bench or you could
41:16put Holiday back out there with the starters who is
41:18way more effective in that role than the role he was
41:20in today and keep White on the second unit and at
41:25that point Booker would be coming off the bench too.
41:27So that might bump Tatum. So it's going to be a tough
41:29decision no matter what you way you look at it. And
41:32honestly, the easiest thing to do looking at the
41:34production so far is just to leave him beat out of
41:37it, but you can't do that going forward either now.
41:40So this is brutal whatever way you want to look at
41:43it because someone's going to get left out no matter
41:44what. So the Puerto Rico starting lineup that this
41:48is out of reporting from Paris. It's Steph Curry,
41:50Devin Booker, Drew Holiday, LeBron and Embiid. So
41:53that's already confirmed and I see here that Steve
41:55Kerr said, Steve Kerr said, this is the fastest team
41:59in the tournament we're going to play. We wanted
42:00to match up the whole game today was going to be
42:02about switching and staying in front of people. So
42:04I think we know that Tatum is a very versatile
42:06defender and the switching is kind of his thing.
42:09And so I don't know that necessarily the starting
42:11lineup today was to accommodate him from an
42:13emotional standpoint. I think it's probably more
42:15likely that he saw the skill set that was required
42:18and thought this is on an Embiid game. This is a
42:19perfect game for someone like Tatum or like Bam.
42:22Sure, but he could have gone Durant or Edward.
42:25He could have done a lot of different things here
42:26if you wanted to and you know, he went with Tatum.
42:29When are they going to get Durant for that? Tatum could have easily been in that second unit
42:32instead and he put him in there. I think as a, I
42:35kind of owe you one here. So I think it didn't
42:38matter as you said earlier Noah, first unit, second
42:40unit, everyone's playing 15 to 20 minutes a game.
42:42It's not really a big deal. Starters in name only.
42:45I mean, it doesn't matter if you're starters when
42:47the second unit is closing most games based off
42:49of the rotations, right? So it's, you know, I think
42:54it was in recognition to Tatum and almost like a
42:57I'm sorry, I sat you. Let's put you back out there
43:00and show the world that we absolutely do value
43:02and respect the fact that you are Jason Tatum.
43:05I do believe that was very intentional and not
43:07entirely matchup based because you could have
43:09still pulled that off versus South Sudan with
43:12different personnel in either unit.
43:15Yeah, I don't know. I get what you're saying.
43:17But I mean, he started with Anthony Davis too.
43:18I mean, the guys that were out there to start
43:20were kind of, that's kind of their defensive
43:23specialty. And I also think. But you could have
43:24started the second unit. Yeah. It would have been
43:27the same. You know what I mean? Is it didn't matter.
43:29It didn't have to be Tatum, but it was. Right.
43:32But I also think that from a psychological
43:35standpoint, like I don't view it as like apologizing
43:37to Tatum necessarily, but it's more of the idea
43:41that you on this team, like we're not worried
43:45about minutes. We're not worried about stats.
43:46We're worried about winning gold. And one day
43:48you're starting, one day you're sitting and
43:50Bede, you're sitting today. You're starting
43:51then. Like it sets a precedent for people and
43:54assuming that he probably felt like based off
43:56of his relationship with Tatum, based off of
43:58what he knows about him as a person, that he
43:59was going to handle the benching. Okay, and
44:02maybe set an example for other guys because
44:03there's going to be more and more players of
44:06his caliber. Like Embiid, you know, like you
44:08said, MVP of a year ago, didn't sit today,
44:10from everything we heard on the broadcast, it
44:12sounded like he was pretty bought into that and
44:13was cheering on the bench and was celebrating
44:16and everything. And so maybe it helped that
44:18he wasn't the first guy to go through that,
44:19that, you know, it's not a huge story that Embiid
44:21didn't play today because the story started
44:23when it was Tatum that didn't play. Think of
44:25it was reversed. So the full story would have
44:26been Embiid came to play on Team USA and now
44:29he's not even sitting, right? And so it
44:31established a sense of normalcy that it's okay
44:33for an All-NBA MVP candidate to sit out during
44:37one of these Olympic games. And their response
44:39today to play him again shows it isn't actually,
44:41it's not an indictment. It doesn't signal that
44:43you're not going to be in the rotation for the
44:44entire Olympic run. The Embiid one is more
44:47curious because you would think that Embiid,
44:49you know, as people have surmised that there
44:52were some promises made, you know, you're going
44:55to come here and you're going to start, you'll
44:56be featured prominently, play for our country.
44:59We don't know that for sure, but it makes
45:01sense that there would be some kind of wink-wink
45:03backdoor sort of stuff. And, you know, Tatum
45:06is a victim of being, based on his stature
45:10compared to some of the other players on the
45:12team, a guy who could take the benching or the
45:16DNPCD. You could not do that to LeBron if you
45:19decided, you know, LeBron, I'm going to go with
45:21Tatum as in your starting role today and I'm
45:23going to, you can't do that to him. You can't
45:25do it to KD. It's going to have a hard time
45:26doing it to Steph. So there's a few legacy guys
45:28here that are absolutely immovable off of that
45:31and that really shrinks the pool of players
45:35that Tatum could play in place of. And as Bobby
45:38said, it's going to be complicated. It's not
45:40just matchup based. You go back to that starting
45:42lineup. What are you going to do? Not play
45:44Bam and AD? Of course you are. Not play Edwards?
45:47I think you probably are. Not play Holiday and
45:50White? How are you not going to play Holiday
45:52and White? Well, there's 10 players, you know,
45:54like you're really struggling here. Booker's
45:56going back into that lineup to fit Tatum back
45:58in to this group here based off of, you know,
46:01the roster composition and who some of these
46:03guys are. So yeah, he took it well. He might
46:06have to take it well again. I wouldn't be surprised
46:08if he gets kind of squeezed in another game or
46:12maybe you get into the medal round and they
46:14start to go with the guys that they think are
46:16really working. It wouldn't be stunning. You can
46:19do this now here. These three games, you know,
46:21you're going to beat Puerto Rico regardless of
46:23who you put in there. It feels inevitable Tatum's
46:25going to get squeezed again based on how things
46:26are trending now and how things are going with
46:28this team. Yeah, and you might be able to do
46:30some load management against Puerto Rico and
46:33sit down and Durant, maybe get him some rest or
46:35something like that to free up some opportunity
46:37for other guys to get going or play more because
46:40it's now or never. Once you get into the knockout
46:42round, you're going to be playing your real
46:43rotation at that point and the only guys who
46:46have struggled enough at this point to warrant,
46:50you know, demotion from the rotation in that
46:53stage is Tatum and Embiid and Halliburton was
46:56in that range too and he comes a little bit here,
46:58but he's probably still out of the mix too. Yeah,
47:00but Curry, Durant and Labrano, they're just anointed
47:04in such a way on the trash. And so is Embiid,
47:06I believe that's the thing is like, I don't think
47:08Embiid's, I don't think you're going in a game
47:11where it's going to be my two bigs or Bam and
47:13Davis and sitting Embiid through the medal round.
47:15I do not see that happening. Whether you
47:17think it makes basketball sense or not. I do not
47:20think they're doing that to him. So Tatum might
47:23have it done to him because he's Tatum and it
47:26could be, there's going to be reactions to it.
47:31Yeah, absolutely. And some of it's going to be
47:35about this closing lineup too. And I don't think
47:37they know what their closing lineup is yet
47:39because they haven't had those kind of opportunities.
47:42Some of the closing lineups there and there's
47:43Germany and South Sudan games were interesting
47:45like White's out there for one of them, Booker's
47:47out there for one of them. So I don't think
47:49we know who's going to be out there final five
47:51if it gets close and based on the way the
47:52tournament's gone so far. No, I think go back
47:54to are they going to win gold or not? I don't
47:58think they're going to lose but I think into
48:00the knockout round there are going to be close
48:02games. They've played moderately close games
48:05so far like this game today was 10-15 for a lot
48:09of it. If South Sudan could have got a run
48:12going or drummed up more stops. They probably
48:16could have got within single digits two possessions
48:20and certainly in the opening round Serbia was
48:23in the same kind of range. So that might be the
48:25kind of range that playing with the rest of the
48:26way, but I could see a close game down the wire
48:30against the Germany against the France. France
48:32stole a game miraculously from Japan that I still
48:35can't believe they did. So yeah, they're going
48:38to have to figure out a closing lineup here as
48:39well as a starting lineup in rotation and that's
48:43the challenge that occurs under here. No, what's
48:47the again matchup dependent for sure, but like
48:51you make the lineup against, you know in the
48:54gold medal game who you're starting who's your
48:56if you got to play 10 play make it. Politics
49:00aside. Politics aside and forget that
49:0498% of your followers are Celtics fans.
49:10Closing lineup. All lineups. Give me your two
49:12lineups that you're playing it. Let's assume
49:15they stick with 10 and they're basically almost
49:18swapping one unit for another as they've been
49:20doing. I'm not saying they would but craft your
49:22two perfect lineups the ones that you think play
49:24well together whether they start or whether they
49:26come off the bench craft your two fives.
49:30Let me think. I mean first of all just say I don't
49:32have an obvious answer because I do think this
49:34is like an impossible puzzle, which is why I
49:36think everybody should give Steve Kerr a little
49:37bit of grace because I agree something difficult,
49:40but I would say you want holiday and white on
49:43the floor probably not Curry based on what we've
49:46seen so far and just based on the fact that his
49:48his shot making is not quite as necessary in this
49:50environment where you have so many offensive
49:52options. So I don't take holiday and Derrick
49:54white. You don't really have any defensive holes
49:56there in the backcourt. Kevin Durant has given
50:00me every reason to think he belongs on the court
50:03based off of his just his whole history of FIBA
50:05play probably Anthony Davis is the big and then
50:10that fourth position. I think it does depend if
50:11you have a bigger team or not. Maybe it's maybe
50:14it's a Bama or Tatum if you need more size, maybe
50:17it's a Devin Booker if you need. Oh, I'm missing
50:23LeBron. Yeah, I don't know politics completely
50:28aside. I don't know all the side forget that LeBron
50:31is LeBron and I'm going to spend their best player
50:34so far. Yeah. No, I don't know if he's been their
50:37best player so far through two games through seven
50:39games. Okay through seven games. Yeah, that's
50:43I need six. I need six. Maybe it's maybe LeBron's
50:47the fifth fine. Okay, LeBron ad Derrick white
50:50drew holiday. Who is my other own Durant? There
50:53we go. Yeah, I honestly I'm sitting Embiid. I'm
50:58putting Bama. I'm putting Bama and Tatum in that
51:01second unit here. Yeah, I'm sitting Embiid and
51:06Halliburton if I have to eliminate two guys, that's
51:08what I'm doing. Okay. I also don't think you have
51:10to eliminate two guys. I don't think you have to
51:13but if I'm going by the logic that it's going to
51:15be 10 and when you get into the middle rounds are
51:16going to tighten it up a little bit and maybe it'll
51:18be eight or nine playing the majority of minutes
51:21in a couple of those guys in the 10 not necessarily
51:24rotating back into that second rotation coming,
51:27you know in the third quarter or beyond like they'll
51:29get their third quarter run but in the fourth they
51:31might really, you know, lock it down with the guys
51:33they want to close or they'll be coming out sooner
51:36to bring the closing lineup back in whatever that
51:38is, you know, if you're just going to stick with
51:4110, those are the two that I would eliminate Embiid
51:43and Halliburton and I would go with Tatum in that
51:45second unit with with with with with with BAM in
51:50the front court. Well, I go back. There's no reason
51:53to sit through though. Yeah, I was going to just
51:56say philosophy. It depends if you feel like that'll
52:00hurt you because if you think you're going to win
52:03this and you just have such a talent advantage
52:05over the field and you can but you might need them
52:07against 1112 guys and and you have these weird
52:10rotations where you just ripping guys out left
52:12and right. I think they have enough room for her
52:17to do that. I do think they'd still win this even
52:19doing something weird like that. But if as this
52:24team's done so far you're saying when you're going
52:26to when push comes to shove and it's the knockout
52:29round and the roles are established here. You're
52:32going to play a real rotation a set role for each
52:39guy. I think it is going to be 10 in a real gold
52:43medal semifinal kind of game. I do too. I don't
52:46think you're pulling guys out left and right. You
52:47just that that isn't how they honestly it's going
52:51to be Booker or Tatum if that's the case and that's
52:53the question. You know what I mean? It's like
52:55you've got a guy who's been who's still going to
52:57have started the first three games as the guy
53:00Tatum needs to supplant to play because it's not
53:02going to be one of the three bigs. It's not going
53:04to be white or holiday based on what they're doing
53:06here and it's not going to be KD or Durant or
53:08Edwards. So like if it if that's the case, it's
53:12going to be get it's going to be Tatum was getting
53:14squeezed in those late games, but we'll see guys.
53:16I'm going to give you the option here because I
53:18have to bolt but if you guys have more you want
53:20to discuss here Bobby, you can take the reins and
53:22continue on for a few minutes here, but I have to
53:25drive my dad to the airport. He's going to the
53:27Olympics right now, which I know and then and
53:32then meeting us in Greece. So I have to boogie
53:35Bobby. Do you want to you guys Bobby know you
53:36guys got more on your mind. You want to keep
53:38going? I think we're good. You're good. We can
53:42wrap. I don't know. Sometimes Bobby likes to keep
53:45it going. Yeah, I think we've I think we hit it
53:48all here. There's another game coming up and then
53:51we got our knockout round. So yeah, we'll see
53:55what happens with Tatum. The one thing I'll last
53:56thing I'll say is if Tatum wants to make himself
54:00a sure fired part of that rotation. He just has
54:03to play better. That's all it comes down to he
54:05got an opportunity today. He didn't play great.
54:08That's all it comes down to. Yeah, and he was
54:10featured before Durant came in there. He was
54:12featured prominently either starting or you know
54:15in there in those first few games and he's not
54:18now. So again, it I think curse kind of reading
54:21and reacting to what he's seeing right now. It's
54:24not Tatum didn't show up and was immediately the
54:2611th guy on the team. I think you know things
54:29are happening right now and what they're looking
54:31at, you know, based on what they think is going
54:33to be successful right or wrong and people will
54:35continue to disagree with that, but it's always
54:37fun to talk about always fun to debate here. But
54:40end of the day the headlines of course are that
54:43USA wins and they beat the they beat South Sudan
54:47here. They're punching their ticket obviously
54:49here to the quarterfinals. The expectation is
54:51that they're going to roll Puerto Rico and they'll
54:53be a one seed and that's what you expect here.
54:56And then things will get interesting as they
54:57start to play teams, you know, and you've got
54:59Canada and you've got France lurking somewhere
55:01down the road here and other teams that can
55:03challenge them in different ways, but no challenge
55:06so far through these first couple days. We don't
55:09we don't suspect that we'll get one on Friday,
55:10but we're going to keep doing these shows because
55:12it's fun and we like to talk basketball and it's
55:15going on. So keep it here. Follow all of us on
55:18Twitter follow Celtic CLNS follow like and
55:21subscribe here the video share it with your
55:24friends. Tell people, you know, if they want
55:27basketball Olympic postgame coverage that
55:29we'll be bringing it to you after every single
55:31game check out Noah who will be writing all of
55:34her Celtics related Olympic stories for Celtics
55:37blog blog Bobby Manning over at CLNS media and
55:42and as we said all of the videos here and Noah
55:44if you guys don't know has launched a new podcast
55:46here on CLNS media called you got Boston. We're
55:49one episode in we got another one coming or
55:51did you do number two? That's a record right after
55:53this. That's why when Bobby said if we go longer
55:55I said I have more words to I'll save so Noah
55:58has many things to say you have to subscribe
56:00to that podcast. If you haven't already to check
56:02that out more basketball talk on the way, but
56:05again, thank you guys for joining us. It's always
56:07a pleasure chatting with you guys. We will see
56:09you. Oh, I got people lurking here. We will see
56:12you after the game. What time is the game Friday?
56:1511 15 in the morning. Yep. It's a Saturday game.
56:21We can do yes. Okay Saturday. It is. We'll see
56:23you on Saturday. Take care. Wait, I'm it's got
56:25an outro for us. I think no he doesn't he said
56:28he was going to work on an outro. He had a
56:31phenomenal game.
56:36Poor for doubt. I think it's an awesome.
56:41That did not sound like a chair. It was a freaking
56:44chair. It does sound like a chair.