Join Jack Simone and Noa Dalzell for the LIVE postgame show of the thrilling matchup between Team USA and Serbia, where the USA narrowly clinched a 95-91 victory! In this episode of the Garden Report, we dive deep into the standout performances from stars like Steph Curry, who scored an impressive 36 points, and LeBron James, while also addressing the concerns surrounding coaching decisions and team chemistry. With Jayson Tatum's absence raising eyebrows and the coaching strategies of Steve Kerr under scrutiny, we discuss what this means for Team USA as they gear up for their next challenge against France. Tune in as we analyze the implications for the Boston Celtics and the broader landscape of international basketball, setting the stage for an exciting gold medal game ahead!
0:00 - Intro
2:54 - Embiid's crucial role
7:01 - Serbia matchups discussed
9:01 - Tatum's offensive struggles
12:30 - Edwards over Tatum debate
14:15 - Tatum's limited role
19:12 - White's performance
21:02 - Jrue Holiday's performance
24:40 - Reminder of basketball unpredictability
29:56 - Jaylen Brown's Twitter
32:49 - Team USA implications
35:01 - Celtics championship hangover
36:44 - Boring playoff run
39:40 - Tatum's leadership growth
41:15 - Tatum's future outlook
46:11 - Gold medal game preview
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0:00 - Intro
2:54 - Embiid's crucial role
7:01 - Serbia matchups discussed
9:01 - Tatum's offensive struggles
12:30 - Edwards over Tatum debate
14:15 - Tatum's limited role
19:12 - White's performance
21:02 - Jrue Holiday's performance
24:40 - Reminder of basketball unpredictability
29:56 - Jaylen Brown's Twitter
32:49 - Team USA implications
35:01 - Celtics championship hangover
36:44 - Boring playoff run
39:40 - Tatum's leadership growth
41:15 - Tatum's future outlook
46:11 - Gold medal game preview
The Garden Report is Powered by:
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
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SportsTranscript
00:00Can you say hardhats folks? Hardhats, munchpails, steel-toed boots?
00:09Anything short of a championship this year is a failure.
00:11Look at this boomer right here.
00:13You've just got so much talent here.
00:15Somebody's saying we need to apologize for Jalen.
00:17Can I pull the John? What are we apologizing for? What did we say? What did we do?
00:30What's up everyone? This is Noah DelZell and I'm here with Jack Simone.
00:34And that was a hell of a game.
00:36So I will definitely say I feel like after the last one we recapped, after Brazil,
00:40there was not a whole lot to talk about.
00:42And I don't even know where to start, honestly.
00:44Might have been one of the best basketball games I've ever watched.
00:48I don't know, Jack, initial reactions here.
00:50USA defeated Serbia 95-91.
00:53Yeah, I mean, that was awesome.
00:54I was sitting here in my chair, like, I was standing up.
00:56LeBron had that layup at the end. Curry hit the shot.
00:59I was like, yeah, I was sitting here, like, fully just like rooting for Team USA, as you do.
01:05That was awesome, dude. Curry and LeBron were incredible.
01:08Joel Embiid looked great in the game as well.
01:10The rest of the team was kind of bad.
01:12Like, almost the entire roster was really bad, except for those three guys.
01:16KD strung together some OK possessions at the end.
01:18He had a big rebound that he stole away from Serbia.
01:20Devin Booker hit some big shots as well.
01:22But it's just bad other than those three.
01:25But it didn't matter because Curry decided to go nuclear and just drop when he had 36 points against Serbia.
01:30Is that the record? Did he break Melo's record? Did he tie it?
01:33He didn't break it. Melo's 37 and Curry finished with 36.
01:42So, yeah, I mean, I think that's the first thing you have to talk about is what Seth Curry did today.
01:48Because I feel like, yeah, he was one point off.
01:52I feel like what we saw from him was what everybody was waiting to see.
01:56Everybody was kind of like, is he washed?
01:58Which, again, I feel like we have such short term memory on players.
02:02Like he just had a couple of bad weeks, a couple of bad games, honestly.
02:06And it wasn't even that many shots.
02:07And the second that this game started and he hit his first few shots, like it was the only reason why he was even had, you know, USA was even in this one.
02:15And they weren't even really in it.
02:17But there was a point where the offense just looked terrible.
02:20It was painful to watch.
02:21I mean, it was worse than it even looked in the early exhibition games as far as just the lack of chemistry.
02:26People were passing to where they thought they were going to be and not where they were.
02:29And then Steph just kind of bailed them out time and time again.
02:33And, you know, and down the stretch, I mean, there was obviously several players that we'll talk about that were huge in this game.
02:38Joel Embiid is one that I think people are going to have to suck it up and just give him his flowers.
02:44But that was obviously, I mean, Joel Embiid was instrumental.
02:50I don't think they win this one without Joel Embiid, without Steph Curry.
02:54Even KD, who wasn't, you know, he wasn't his usual self throughout the game.
02:57And he honestly, he did have kind of a weird rotation in and out.
03:00Bad.
03:01Don't say weird, say bad.
03:03It was bad.
03:04Steph Curry had a really bad rotation.
03:06I've been holding back in the rotation.
03:08It was so bad.
03:09It was awful.
03:11Not only is it bad rotations, it's bad, like, game plan.
03:14Like, it's just been bad coaching.
03:17It's been embarrassing the way he's coached this team.
03:20The only reason they won is because exactly what Pizza Man said in the comments.
03:23Curry bailed them out from embarrassment.
03:25LeBron James bailed them out.
03:27Joel Embiid bailed them out.
03:28Joel Embiid was great on both ends of the floor in this game, right?
03:31There were some spurts in the first half where he was getting a little turned around on defense or a couple of weird turnovers.
03:35But then second half came around.
03:36He was just scoring in the post and doing whatever he wanted.
03:39Steph was making every single shot.
03:41Devin Booker was making some big shots.
03:44KD was all right.
03:46LeBron James did LeBron James things.
03:48Like, they said it on the broadcast in the second half.
03:50They're like, oh, my God, different look in his eyes.
03:51And I was like, what does that even mean?
03:53And then I was like, oh, that's what it means.
03:54He's just going to do whatever the hell he wants now.
03:56But the rotations were just bad.
03:59Like, they were playing bad defense.
04:01They were, like, trying to fight through screens and run around when they clearly weren't capable of doing that.
04:06They were putting out three guard lineups against a Serbia team who was killing them with threes and on the glass instead of playing long wing defenders who can help them on the glass and close out better.
04:16Like, it just made zero sense the way they did the rotations.
04:19The fact that Tatum didn't play was embarrassing.
04:22It was malpractice.
04:23Anthony Edwards was not good in this game.
04:24Devin Booker turned it around because of his shot making.
04:26But his defense hasn't been good the entire Olympics.
04:28KD turned it around at the end.
04:30Devin Booker's been fine on defense.
04:32But when you're getting killed.
04:34He's an anthropologist, honestly.
04:35I think he's a little underrated defensively.
04:38It's not the main story here.
04:42I get it.
04:43In general, in the general grand scheme of things, yes.
04:46He's not like Trae Young.
04:47He can hold up on that end.
04:49But in these Olympics, it just hasn't been, like, it's been like whatever.
04:53But the point is when you have somebody who is clearly a better defender than him and Edwards, and for what it's worth, Anthony Edwards is a fine point of attack defender.
05:01Not good in rotations.
05:04He was losing the ball at the start of the game.
05:05The Anthony Edwards thing was the biggest one for me.
05:08Yes.
05:09Yes.
05:10The kinds of mistakes that Jalen Brown used to make more.
05:12But, I mean, there's a lot to talk about in this game.
05:15I think we need to talk about, obviously, the Jason Tatum DNP thing is going to be a story because, A, I could not believe just how many NBA players on my Twitter feed were talking about Tatum not playing.
05:27Like Miami Heat fans, like all these big fan accounts from different franchises are like, okay, why is Tatum not playing?
05:33I don't really get the whole matchup thing.
05:35And this is something that I think is a little bit of a bailout for coaches.
05:38I mean, how many times this year did we ask a question to Joe Mizzoula and he answered with matchups?
05:42And, you know, it doesn't give us any information or really contextualize things, but it just kind of gives the coach an out in these conversations.
05:49You know, when Steve Kerr was asked about why Jason Tatum didn't play earlier in, you know, earlier in the Olympics against Serbia, he said it was a matchups thing.
05:58And so that was obviously the front of mind heading into this game.
06:01And then you get outmatched.
06:03Yeah.
06:05And so the big thing I actually did, I actually was a little bothered by the Tatum DNP discourse last time around, just because Devin Booker was lights out.
06:13Kevin Durant was on fire.
06:16Yeah.
06:17Everybody that played in was everybody that played, you know, that was kind of the people that he was fighting for minutes with was without their best.
06:23And today it feels like it felt like even though guys were struggling, there was a game plan.
06:28And this is Steve Kerr's thing that I know Steph Curry fans have been complaining.
06:31I mean, Warrior fans and Curry fans have been complaining for a long time that it almost feels like he has his preset rotations and he's not really willing to go with the flow and kind of go with, you know, what's going on, you know, otherwise.
06:43And so, and that was, I mean, John Moran was like blowing up Twitter being like, why is Kevin Durant not playing?
06:47Like, I think everybody's going to look at it.
06:49There's just so much, there's so much talent on this team that nobody's going to be sitting there being like, this is the perfect rotation because you can't possibly do that.
06:55But it does feel like Steve Kerr is a little bit too calculated as far as like, I'm not going to play, you know, decent Tatum in the Serbia matchups.
07:03And now you're seeing guys struggle and like, he's still not, you know, he's not willing to adjust that.
07:08My biggest problem, I don't think it was with, with what's it called?
07:12D book in general, it was that you had to play Curry in this game because he was on fire, obviously.
07:17And so if you're playing Curry, that is already one defensive relative weak point, right?
07:21He's not like a bad defender.
07:23Like when I'm talking about bad defender to contextualize it, it is with the context of you have so many elite defenders on this roster that Steph Curry is one of the worst defenders on the roster.
07:35That doesn't mean he's necessarily bad.
07:36So when you're playing him, but then also playing book and Edwards in the rotation, Edwards, who's a good point of attack defender, but struggling a little bit in the rotations and book who is again contextualized with the rest of the roster, not one of your strongest defenders.
07:50That's not only three guys who probably aren't the best, you know, rotations wise.
07:55It's also three guards on a team where you have Bam out of bio and Jason, like, let's even extend this past Tatum.
08:00Why wasn't out of bio on the floor more?
08:02You're getting killed in the glass and in rotations and you're not playing that length.
08:05Like what?
08:06That doesn't make any sense to me.
08:07So I get it.
08:09And when Devin Booker's hot and I absolutely understand Devin Booker over Jason Tatum in the rotation in general, because he's objectively a better shooter and you need that offense next year.
08:18Right now, especially.
08:19Exactly, exactly.
08:20But in this game in particular, where you're getting beat on the glass, when you're getting beaten rotations, when you're getting beat and you need the length of the three point line, you're just going to stick with it.
08:31And it worked out in the end because he got bailed out by Curry and LeBron.
08:33But, oh, my gosh, it was painful to watch the entire game.
08:36And I've seen this and I don't think Tatum will care in the grand scheme of things, but like, like, what are we doing?
08:42Like, he's very clearly one of the best players in the world.
08:46He's an elite defender.
08:47And all I saw on Twitter is, oh, he's been bad this Olympics.
08:51He can't find a rhythm.
08:52He's been good on defense.
08:53He's been one of their best rebounders.
08:54And at the end of the day, he's made some solid connected passes.
08:57Why is NBA discourse boiled down to can't score the ball, scoring, scoring or a bullshit?
09:02It doesn't make any sense.
09:03It's the most disgusting line of discourse I've ever seen.
09:08Well, here's my thing with the whole Tatum offense struggles piece is there was a number of guys that came into the Olympics and were struggling to adjust to the fact they were playing a wildly different role or at least even a slightly different role than the role that they were playing on their NBA team.
09:22I would say Joel Embiid was one of those guys.
09:24And he looked, people were like, people were like blowing up, blowing up Twitter, freaking out that Joel Embiid was missing.
09:31Yeah.
09:32Steph Curry, another guy, right, who was, it was so uncharacteristic to watch him game after game struggle with his shot.
09:38And I feel like the coaching staff, Joel Embiid did get that one DNP.
09:43But generally speaking, the coaching staff continue to basically be like, we're riding with these guys.
09:49So it didn't matter that Steph Curry and Joel Embiid were struggling because they were going to be a part of what USA accomplishes here.
09:55And, you know, Steve Curry knew that he needed them for this game in particular, right?
09:59And that paid off because you saw Joel Embiid and Steph Curry were two of the most important games today.
10:05I don't think Tatum was in that category of players that they were going to be like, even if he's struggling a little bit, we're going to work through this.
10:12He was in that category of like very dispensable.
10:14If he had had it going and hit his shots from the beginning, he probably would be in this position.
10:19But I just don't think he was in that category.
10:21And I think that's where maybe self-explanatory frustrated is people feel like he should have been in that category where he's not accomplished enough of his career to warrant being like a non-negotiable player.
10:29Other people don't feel that way.
10:31I think that's kind of what it comes down to at a point, though.
10:33And for what it's worth, I get him not being in that category on this specific roster.
10:37Like, you need to give the respect to Curry and LeBron and KD especially to be above that.
10:43And when LeBron and KD are in that group of guys, they're going to play no matter what.
10:46You can see why Tatum falls down to the ranks a bit, right?
10:49Because he the way he plays is very, you know, offensively dominant.
10:54Like he needs the ball in his hands usually because especially when his offense has been off and his shots been off.
10:58But in a game like this, we're so clearly struggling in areas where Tatum could have helped.
11:04That's where I don't get it.
11:05That's where I don't get the inability to change the rotation.
11:08That's where I don't get Anthony Edwards.
11:10Anthony Edwards was the worst one to me.
11:11Anthony Edwards was so bad.
11:12And then it's not like he just got benched the entire second half and they still didn't play Tatum.
11:16Like, you get another chance.
11:17You get another look at the game.
11:18And everyone on Twitter is like, Anthony Edwards barely played.
11:21He only played.
11:22What did he end up playing in this game?
11:24He only played 13 minutes.
11:25Like, it doesn't matter that much.
11:26But he was bad.
11:28And adjust.
11:29And I get playing a closed rotation in the NBA when the next option is like a Baylor Shireman or Jaden Springer.
11:34But if your next option is Jason Tatum, maybe try it.
11:39Maybe try the first team all NBA three years in a row guy.
11:42Right?
11:43Like, just the inability to be flexible is stupid.
11:46Yeah.
11:47And that's one thing.
11:48And the Anthony Edwards thing, you know, this was definitely his worst game of the Olympics.
11:51I think my frustration with him historically has been, I think, at the international level.
11:56And this is less of a criticism of him with Minnesota.
11:58But, you know, you don't want to ride with him too much because I think he's just very much of an isolation style player.
12:05I don't have the same faith in him that I have in like a Steph Curry to figure it out ultimately.
12:08Like, he just doesn't have the resume or whatnot.
12:10And I thought that last year with FIBA, it was a little bit of a, you know, he wasn't the reason they lost necessarily.
12:15But he was one of the reasons why I think the team overly relied on his offense.
12:18And at points during this Olympics run, I started getting that same feeling of like there's way too much talent on this roster for the outcome of this game to depend on whether or not Anthony Edwards is feeling it.
12:29Like, he should be a guy that comes in and maybe hits a few shots, maybe doesn't.
12:32But I felt like the team was a little bit too like whenever he checks in, you know, Anthony Edwards is kind of where his ball is.
12:37He's kind of controlling the offense.
12:39He's the most heavily featured player.
12:40He was the leading scorer on the team heading into this game.
12:43That's crap though.
12:44It probably is.
12:45Because half of that was garbage time.
12:46Over half of it was garbage time.
12:48No, no, I'm not saying that as like a good thing for him.
12:50I know, I know.
12:51That kind of describes like how much he's been featured in this offense.
12:54Yeah.
12:55So, I don't know.
12:56I mean, it's pretty remarkable how close they came to losing this one.
13:00And I do feel like the coaching staff was a little bit bailed out by the sheer amount of talent on this roster.
13:04100%.
13:05Because what we saw today was like, you know, Steph Curry, Katie, and LeBron, and Joel Embiid really just showcasing like why they've been the greatest players in the world.
13:16And particularly those first three.
13:18Yeah.
13:19Edwards being in the rotation over Tatum doesn't make sense.
13:21And everyone's going to say, oh, he's scoring, he's scoring.
13:24Like, who cares?
13:25I don't care.
13:26He's not as good of a defender as Tatum.
13:27He's not as good of a rebounder as Tatum.
13:29And, like, realistically, when your goal is to put role-player type guys around LeBron, Steph, and KD, I'd rather have Tatum than Edwards.
13:38Now, Tatum has struggled to adapt to that role, so maybe I get it from that perspective.
13:42But if you're looking on paper role-player to put next to those guys, having Edwards over him doesn't make sense, especially if the threes aren't falling for either guy.
13:49Right?
13:50So, I don't get that.
13:51And this team doesn't need a Steve Kerr coach.
13:54This team doesn't need a Joe Mizzoula coach.
13:55It doesn't need that.
13:56It needs a Spoh coach.
13:57It needs somebody willing to make those in-game adjustments, regardless of the talent.
14:00So, that doesn't make any sense to me.
14:03Steve Kerr doesn't make any sense to me, the way he handles things.
14:06And I saw somebody say it earlier in the chat, Tatum will probably start against France because this guy just does whatever the hell he wants.
14:12It's so stupid.
14:13I wrote something for Houdini right after the game.
14:15I said it's embarrassing that Anthony Edwards played over Jason Taylor.
14:19Like, it was an embarrassing display of coaching and got bailed out by a legendary Steph Curry performance.
14:24How many times can you say that for Steve Kerr?
14:27I wish John was here because I think you guys would be on the same team.
14:30I don't usually get this fired up either.
14:32No, no.
14:33And listen.
14:34I mean, I just don't really get why he wasn't given more of a chance to find a space in this team.
14:41And the reality, this is what's frustrating, especially being in America right now and in Boston, is that we're not even really able to see some of the behind-the-scenes things that normally we can give a perspective on.
14:49But I don't really understand how he seemed.
14:53I haven't seen a whole lot of reporting on him in particular over these past few weeks.
14:57You know, they rarely show him on the bench because normally if it was like the NBC broadcast, it would be like the Jason Tatum camera.
15:03So there's a lot that's, you know, question mark.
15:06I'm sure there's going to be plenty of interviews on this topic moving forward.
15:09I'm sure RB is going to ask Tatum about this in the fall, regardless of what happens in the gold medal game.
15:15And I'm sure at one point there will be a deep dive feature article about this topic, you know, on a six-month reflection.
15:21So we'll get a better perspective on this than we have right now.
15:26But yeah, it's a pretty remarkable thing that we saw.
15:29What we saw today was, you know, this team was down, I think, 17 at most.
15:33And I don't credit the coaching staff necessarily.
15:36Maybe the coaching staff in the sense of like they kept the guys engaged and positive.
15:39And that was the big thing that was emphasized.
15:42You know, from a morale standpoint, I think that's important as well.
15:45But ultimately, I think this came down to just the sheer talent of this roster just being too much for Serbia to overcome down the stretch.
15:53And that's kind of what everybody's been banking on with this team, I think, throughout this run.
15:57Is that like at the end of the day, even if it's poorly coached, even if the rotations aren't figured out, like this is the adventure.
16:02It's right. That's been the story this whole time.
16:04Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Sam Elias said in the chat, Edwards has been a frontrunner.
16:09Or not him. Who was it? Lexis Hall? Somebody.
16:12All of his points, like I remember watching the why am I blanking on who they played the game before this Brazil when they blew him out?
16:18Anthony Edwards led the team or second of the team with like 17 points.
16:21And I was like, oh, look at this. Twelve of them were when the game was over, like up by 20 points.
16:26And I said this on the last garden report, I think just because Tatum is now in a place where he plays more passive on the Celtics and waits for the best pass and isn't going to, you know, just ball hog and do whatever he wants, which for what it's worth, people begged him not to do for years when he was that type of player.
16:41Everyone's going to praise Anthony Edwards for all the scoring.
16:43I just I just hate that. We're at the point in NBA discourse where it's more points equals better player.
16:48And Mac made a point. Anthony Edwards has been better than Tatum this tournament.
16:52Like he just has Tatum has struggled to adjust to his role.
16:54But on paper and especially what you needed in the Serbia game, there is absolutely no reason Anthony should have been in the game over Jason Tatum.
17:01It made no sense. It was stupid coaching. It was predetermined.
17:05And I think that's the knock on Steve Kerr.
17:07A lot of times, you know, I think a big qualm of warrior fans is that when, you know, Steph Curry's feeling it and when he's just hit three threes in a row, Steve Kerr takes him out of his usual slot because that's what he does.
17:19And I think people, you know, people think Steph Curry's frustrated by that. It's never been an openly discussed thing.
17:24You know, Curry's never called out his coach, but there were even moments today where I was like, I cannot believe he's subbing out Steph right now.
17:29And like Steph's like has this going so much. And at the end of the day, like he played 33 minutes today.
17:33So he did play quite a bit. But, you know, this is it. This is crunch time. You got one game left after this.
17:38So no reason I don't think it was a reason for unless Durant can't play more than 24 minutes.
17:42I was surprised he wasn't in there more at a point.
17:45Let's talk briefly just about the other Celtic performances. Obviously, we did not see Jason Tatum today.
17:50We did see Derek White for six minutes and 46 seconds.
17:54So it was definitely his least minutes on the court. And we also saw Drew Hall.
17:58Let's start with Derek White. I thought that he had a couple of unusual mistakes.
18:02Like he had that three point play, that four point play.
18:06And then in the last game, there was twice that he fouled at the end of quarters.
18:10So I think he has made a couple of mental lapses that are not necessarily, you know, what we're used to seeing from him.
18:16Don't think that he had a major impact on this game.
18:19What did you think, Jack? Any takeaways just on Derek White's small stint in this one?
18:24I think Jug Artist is the first person I've ever say anything negative about Derek White in my life in the chat.
18:29And that's insane. He wasn't good in this game. He was just kind of what's it called?
18:34A non-factor. Like he made a couple of mistakes. He didn't play Ron.
18:39Steve Kerr just cut his minutes after he made a couple of mistakes.
18:42If only he could do that with the rest of rotation.
18:44It is what it is. Like just not a Derek White game, I guess.
18:48You kind of needed somebody to push the pace a little bit more on offense to be a little bit more aggressive.
18:53And that's not really Derek White's style. And with him making those defensive mistakes,
18:57you can't really trust him to do the rotations and the closeouts.
18:59And maybe you wanted him in a little longer to chase around some of these guards on Team USA.
19:03But it is what it is. You kind of needed the balance of the scoring on the other end.
19:08So I'm not worried about Derek White. Like it is what it is. It just it just really wasn't a Derek White game.
19:12And it's kind of same thing for Drew Holiday. Like he had some nice assists in this game,
19:16but it just felt like a game where they wanted to go to book more.
19:20Holiday was definitely better than Derek White. He played a lot more minutes, but only two shots.
19:25Seven assists was huge, but yeah.
19:30Yeah, I quiet seven assists. I honestly didn't realize that Drew Holiday.
19:47Am I frozen?
19:49Chat? Hello?
19:55I can't tell who's frozen. I don't think I'm frozen, chat. I think Noah's frozen.
19:58Okay. Okay. I thought I was the frozen one, chat, but it's not me.
20:04I'll talk. Yeah, Holiday was fine.
20:06I think what Noah was about to say was didn't really feel like he was dishing out that many assists.
20:11It just kind of felt like he was there, which is fine.
20:14Sometimes it's not your night and you kind of needed a bit more scoring aggressiveness in this one
20:18because everyone was so cold from the field outside of Steph Curry and LeBron.
20:22Again, maybe you want to leave Drew Holiday in so he can chase around some of those
20:26some of those shooters who are getting hot for Serbia.
20:30But sometimes it's just not your night and you kind of needed the potential scoring of Devin Booker
20:35and definitely needed the scoring of Steph Curry.
20:37And when Steph Curry is taking up 33 minutes of guard time,
20:39you're just not going to have as much room for Drew Holiday, Derek White combo.
20:42Welcome back, Noah.
20:44Sorry, it was actually because I was opening up my ad read,
20:48so my computer couldn't handle all of that all at once.
20:51Apologies, but thanks for jumping in there.
20:55I think what I was going to say was just that Drew Holiday,
20:58I thought this wasn't one of his more impactful games.
21:01Even just looking at the plus minus, you know, plus one for him has been a little out of character.
21:05He did have seven assists.
21:06I actually didn't realize that until I was checking out the box for later in the game.
21:10But the thing is, the Drew Holiday and Derek White, they weren't necessarily a big factor today.
21:15That's a little bit unusual.
21:16I think throughout this tournament, they've both been important in making time and plays.
21:20Drew did hit that one corner three.
21:22I felt like that was an important one from a momentum standpoint.
21:25I forget exactly how much they were down by that moment,
21:27but that felt significant when he hit it.
21:31I don't know.
21:32I think Drew have more confidence in his team now seeing this.
21:36They were able to pull this one out, despite the fact that Serbia played so well.
21:40I think that's maybe one component that we should touch on,
21:42is that Serbia played so well in this game.
21:45I think we oftentimes always see things from the lens of the team that we're covering or we're watching for.
21:50But the performance that Serbia put together, I mean, the guys that were hitting everything,
21:54playing connected, playing aggressive defense, making life difficult for USA.
21:58I don't know.
21:59Do you feel like you've come away with this feeling discouraged about this team or feeling more encouraged?
22:04I think I feel more encouraged.
22:06I think I said this in the last Garden Report, too.
22:08The only way you're going to beat Team USA is getting red hot and they have a cold night.
22:11And outside of Steph and LeBron, if Steph and LeBron even had good nights instead of great nights,
22:16Team USA loses this game by double digits.
22:18So Serbia was red hot.
22:20USA was as cold as they can probably be outside of those two guys.
22:24And they still found a way to win the game.
22:26Maybe it was good, too, but the point is those guys were on fire.
22:30And they still managed to grind out a win.
22:32You saw the resilience.
22:33You saw the reason these guys are as good as they are.
22:35They outscored Serbia 32-15 in the final period.
22:39It was just a dominant performance at the end of the game in a time where they desperately needed something to happen.
22:46And so I think you walk away from this being a bit more confident because realistically, France is the better team overall.
22:54And they've had guys who have been hot all tournament.
22:56I watched the game earlier.
22:57Cornier has been insane, not missing any shots.
23:01Wemby's defensive impact is incredible.
23:03And I still think if there was a team in the Olympics who could beat them, it would be Serbia or France.
23:07That's what I said going in, even over Canada, realistically, just because the big man size differential.
23:13You don't think Canada is going to beat USA?
23:15I said before the Olympics.
23:16I said them over Canada.
23:17Come on now.
23:19But I would feel more confident after this game for the USA moving forward.
23:25Yeah, I think so, too.
23:27Not because I wasn't impressed by what we saw for most of the game.
23:31And I do feel like they were bailed out by talent.
23:33But the fact that they pulled this one out, like if I'm Serbia, how did you lose this game?
23:39Like you had this one.
23:41And again, it was just a couple of minutes there.
23:44It was a couple of minutes.
23:45And that's what we've seen time and again with this USA team.
23:47It's like a normal NBA team is capable of going on a run.
23:50Everybody knows a 12-0 run is like this now in basketball, right?
23:53But I feel like this USA team, it's like times two the way that they can make a run and the way that they can cut a deficit.
23:58And it's always punctuated by like a LeBron slam dunk at the end and a scudacurry three.
24:02Like it's just once they get it going, it's like you have no chance.
24:06And I do feel like Serbia had some chances there.
24:08That was a weird play down the stretch where Bogdanovich fouled, like let all the time go off the clock and then fouled.
24:14Yeah, that was dumb.
24:16They had some opportunities.
24:17But I do think like walking away from this game, it does feel like I don't see USA getting beat by France.
24:25But again, I think this game was a reminder to a lot of people that have been talking huge about USA and it's impossible to beat them.
24:32I heard Draymond Green talking about this on his podcast.
24:35He was like, there's a 0% chance USA loses.
24:37I think this kind of game is a reminder that it's basketball and literally anything can happen because, you know,
24:43there are guys that nobody's heard of who actually were standouts from the World Cup.
24:47I remember some of these players from last year's, you know, silver medal winning Serbia team.
24:51But these guys, you know, just look like superstars and that's what can happen.
24:55Basketball was fun.
24:56So you never know.
24:57I do think France has had things that have been encouraging for them.
25:02And obviously the path that they took to get to the gold medal game has been really impressive in its own right.
25:08But let's do some quick ads and we can talk more about kind of what to expect for this next game and more.
25:13I do think there's some more takeaways here on the Celtics front too.
25:20Yes, I agree.
25:21Did you say we're doing ads or did I miss that?
25:23Yes, I was going to have you go first.
25:24Oh, I'll go.
25:25Yeah, why not?
25:26It's my pleasure.
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26:53Have you been to any Red Sox games this summer?
26:56I haven't been to any yet, but me and my buddies said if they make the playoffs, then we're going to go to plenty because I'll be in Boston by then.
27:02So I'm very excited.
27:03And will you be using GameTime? That's my transition.
27:06Absolutely. Great. Great. Everyone clap it up for that transition chat. Come on. Give her a hand.
27:11GameTime actually is one of my favorite apps because before I was a reporter and I had to buy tickets to the Celtics games, I used to use GameTime every single time.
27:18And what I would do is I would go to North Station.
27:20I would download the GameTime app and then I would refresh it and refresh and refresh and wait for the price to go down.
27:25And then I would buy the ticket. So GameTime is the best way to get tickets to any event.
27:30You can get last minute deals. You can get flash deals.
27:32You can save up to 60 percent off buying last minute deals for sports, concerts, comedy, theater, literally any event that you can think of.
27:39You can put in your location, see what's around you and watch the best deals you can find on the GameTime app.
27:46It's $20 off. Use code CLNS for your first purchase. Terms apply.
27:50All you have to do is create an account. Redeem code CLNS for $20 off.
27:54So long as it's your first purchase. I can't do that anymore because I've already used GameTime lots of times in my life.
28:00Download GameTime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price guaranteed.
28:07Love that. Love GameTime. Shout out GameTime. We'll be using for the Red Sox games we go to.
28:11If they make the playoffs. I don't know if they got that done.
28:14I thought they were out of the playoffs. I don't follow Red Sox.
28:16They've been all right. They've actually been surprisingly good. Let me look it up.
28:19I have baseball and football both muted on my Twitter. And NFL and any keyword associated with those two sports.
28:27So I live in a world where those two words don't exist.
28:29Why? Wait, why?
28:30Because otherwise I feel like around football season my entire Twitter feed becomes all football.
28:35Fair. Fair.
28:36And I don't want to see football. I want to see niche summer league analysis.
28:39The Red Sox are 61 and 52.
28:44Let's see. They are one and a half games out of the wild card right now.
28:48So they actually they got a chance.
28:49Yeah, they're there. They're right there. No problem. I got you.
28:52So let's go back to talking about kind of about the Celtics implications here.
28:57Because I do think there's a whole lot to consider.
29:00I was thinking during this game, if they lose this game, are we going to see a Jalen Brown tweet?
29:04Like, what do you think?
29:06Oh, definitely.
29:07Oh, yeah.
29:12I would have wanted him to tweet the three monocle emojis again.
29:15Just the same exact tweet that he did when he didn't make the team.
29:18Just like the eyebrow raise. Yeah.
29:21Same thing. That would have been that would have been sick.
29:23Well, did you see what Grant Hill said the other day?
29:28Yeah. At the day after it was revealed that he unfollowed USA Basketball.
29:31I can hear my headphones dying. So if they do die, I apologize.
29:34But they're chugging along for now.
29:36But yeah, like one day after, like on Twitter, it came about that Jalen Brown unfollowed USA Basketball.
29:41Grant's like, yeah, we'll consider him. Like, will he consider you?
29:44Like, is he going to come play for you anymore?
29:47I don't think Jalen Brown helped his case here with USA Basketball.
29:51Definitely not. He's been going.
29:52I think at the end of the day, you go against an institution in the way that he has.
29:57Even if you're in the right, like you're not helping your case with that institution.
30:01I don't know if you saw Pete and Pritchard in an interview with Evan Turner on the Point Forward podcast.
30:06And he talked about a couple of things as it relates to the Olympics.
30:10One thing he said was that he is actually hoping to be on the five on five team eventually.
30:15I thought that was interesting because it's like, obviously, there's a lot of players that are.
30:19Yeah, but I guess he had been approached about playing three on three.
30:23That was in the, you know, that's something that he mentioned.
30:25So for those of you that don't follow the three on three team, like USA didn't even make the semifinals.
30:30They don't have any NBA players or anybody that's close to an NBA player on their roster.
30:35Pete and Pritchard, to me, is somebody that's like a perfect fit for three on three, but he's been asked about it.
30:38He said that he would play on it eventually, maybe, but this time around, his wedding's coming up this weekend.
30:44It wasn't a good time. But his ultimate goal is to be on the five on five team.
30:48And the other thing that he said was that he kind of validated this idea that Tatum will be really pissed off
30:54about the fact that he got this DNP, which now it's two DNPs.
30:57But like we talked about this, this singular DNP for a while now.
31:01And so now the competition pivots from the DNP to Tatum's now been benched for two of the five games that have been in the actual.
31:11Four games. Four games. Half. Right.
31:14Because they went Serbia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Serbia. Am I missing a game?
31:20Germany. Oh, I'm missing a game. They didn't play Germany, did they?
31:24No, no, that was the West. This is where I'm covering the women's and men's. I'm merging all the countries.
31:28Wait, no, Brazil was the quarterfinals. I'm missing a game.
31:31Yeah, there was another pool play game. Who did they play? Why am I blanking?
31:35They killed South Sudan. South Sudan. They played South Sudan. Yes.
31:40So two of the five, these women. She's been benched for 40 percent of their games.
31:44I mean, that's that's a huge story now. And again, I haven't loved the story in the past,
31:49but it is going to be a big takeaway from the summer is that, like, regardless of what happens on Sunday,
31:54when they play in this upcoming game, you know, Tatum was not who people thought he was going to be in this run.
32:00Jalen Brown obviously spent the summer, like, largely beefing with Team USA.
32:04I think regardless of what Drew Holiday and Derek White do in this game, I don't think much changes for them.
32:10But Peyton Pritchard kind of talked about how going into this game, you know,
32:13that this is going to fire Tatum up going into next year and that he's going to prove people wrong,
32:17because clearly people are still doubting him. He also really stood by Jalen Brown and said,
32:21you know, this has nothing to do with Derek White. We're all boys. Like, Derek White doesn't care about this.
32:25So it was a good, from a PR standpoint, Pritchard nailed all of his points, I think.
32:29It was a very non-controversial, supportive interview.
32:32But what implications do you think this Olympic experience does have for the Celtics?
32:36Is there an implication when this is over, you come back and you're back to the team you won a championship with
32:40and this doesn't really matter? Or are there extra fire to some of those guys that have been,
32:45in one way or another, scorned by Team USA?
32:48I think it'll light a fire under them. I think Joe Mazzullo will make sure it lights a fire under them.
32:53I think Joe Mazzullo comes into camp with, like, a giant USA banner over something,
32:57like, getting in their heads, messing with them, being like,
32:59Hey Jalen, remember this? Hey Tatum, remember when you got benched? Like, use that. Use that.
33:04When we play the Warriors, use that. When we play Grant Hill's Pistons, use that.
33:08He's going to do whatever he can to make sure that this fuels the fire.
33:11He's going to use this as coal to throw in the furnace to help ignite the Celtics because of Team USA.
33:17I think Joe Mazzullo will make sure of that.
33:21I don't think they'll overdo it. I don't think you'll see Tatum come out and be Kobe with the Celtics anymore.
33:28I think they'll harness it in the correct way, which is the way they won a championship this past year.
33:32But I do think we might get some funny... Joe Mazzullo came in with a picture of Steve...
33:38Joe Mazzullo's going to put a picture of Steve Kerr on a dartboard and just have them throw darts at him.
33:42Or put Grant Hill's picture on the backboard until Jalen Brown makes 100 free throws in a row.
33:48Something stupid. We're going to get some silly Joe Mazzullo stories about Team USA that I think will be funny.
33:53I do think we're going to get something eventually. So it'll be funny to watch.
33:57We got Brad Stephens' very diplomatic answer about Jalen Brown being left off Team USA when we were in Vegas.
34:04I think you weren't there for that anymore, Jack, but we basically asked him...
34:08Bobby Manning actually asked him, were you surprised? Is this going to fuel him?
34:13And he basically was like, Jalen Brown is good enough to be on any team in the world at any point.
34:17Who said this?
34:19Brad Stephens did.
34:22The last day, right before he left Summer League, he answered a couple of our questions.
34:27So I'm sure the organization is going to stand by them.
34:29But I do think it's a little weird that what could have been a summer of just relaxation and celebration
34:34turned into a summer of very mixed press for both of them.
34:38A lot of highs and lows. It hasn't been just like, let's relish the run and watch highlights of the Celtics winning Banner 18.
34:45It's been a lot of, not serious controversy, but some sort of controversy.
34:50And on one hand, that's kind of unfortunate because if you win a championship, you deserve to just enjoy it
34:55and enjoy all the good press and good feelings that come with it.
34:58But on the other hand, teams don't usually repeat, right?
35:00They come back and they chill all summer and they enjoy it and they relish in the celebration of it all.
35:06And then they come back and they're usually a little bit worse than everybody else that spent all summer motivated.
35:10So a part of me is like, maybe this weird situation that Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown are in
35:16is actually going to prevent that championship hangover that happens sometimes to stars after they lead their team to a championship.
35:22I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking this whole thing.
35:24I think you're so right. I think the Celtics are the most hated on champion since the KD Warriors.
35:31And it's just because of how boring they were. And they were objectively boring.
35:36If I lived in any other market and covered any other team but the Celtics, this season sucked.
35:40This season was terrible.
35:42Any other team around the league, this was the worst possible outcome because you just knew it was going to happen.
35:47There was no surprise. There was no shock. There was no whatever.
35:49They were the best team throughout the entire regular season.
35:52They played injured teams all throughout the playoffs.
35:54And then they dominated a Mavs team that didn't deserve to be in the finals in the first place in the finals.
35:59It was boring.
36:00From a national storyline perspective, from a watching fun basketball perspective, this season was terrible.
36:05So the fact that there was no like, oh my gosh, Jokic got his first title, the Nuggets won their first ring,
36:10or Giannis won his first title, Bucks won their first title in 50 years,
36:13or oh my gosh, Steph did it again, he finally won finals MVP.
36:17It didn't feel like there was a bow on the season.
36:19There was nothing to wrap it up in a nice way for the national media.
36:22And so they just carried on all of the crap that followed the Celtics all year into the offseason
36:28because there was no conclusion. There was no satisfying end.
36:32And so they just are continuing all the...
36:35I mean, hell, we heard, can Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum be good teammates together after they won?
36:39Like, it doesn't make any sense. Just the storylines around this team.
36:42And I think a big part of it is this season is so boring that people feel like they have to find storylines about the Celtics
36:47other than, wow, they're just really good at basketball.
36:50And so whenever you find a chance to pick on one of those guys, it is what it is.
36:54Because people don't like the Celtics. They don't like how good they were.
36:57And I get it. If I was anywhere else, I would not like it either.
37:00So people just want to find stuff to talk about because they're so boringly good that there is nothing to talk about.
37:07Yeah, I think you're right. I do think that some of it comes down to, like, it was a very non-controversial playoff run.
37:13And, I mean, the zero game sixes even kind of summarizes that well.
37:17And all the excitement around Jason Kidd's comments about Jalen Brown being the best player.
37:21Like, I feel like the national media... I mean, I remember being in that room.
37:24He tried. He tried so hard.
37:27But, like, there was so much national media in the room and people were, like, filled with joy.
37:32And there was, like, something to talk about. I remember everybody was, like, thank God that this was said.
37:36Let's go!
37:37And so I do think this Olympic run has had no share of issues.
37:41We've talked about this question about is anybody worried about Taten shooting quite a bit on this show.
37:46So I don't want to drive it too into the ground because ultimately, like, we don't really know what's going on there.
37:51I think there's some mechanical things that appear to be a little bit off.
37:56Funky.
38:02Drew Hanlon will fix that.
38:03Yeah, I'm not...
38:04I mean, it looks weird.
38:05It does look weird. The way he, like...
38:07Yeah, but a lot of that is just confidence.
38:10Like, I was thinking about not to bring up... I feel like I bring up my own pick of basketball, like, once a week on this show.
38:15But, like, I feel like if you're overthinking it and you're not, you know, quick, patch, shoot, zero hesitation, your shot looks weird.
38:22The last time we played on the same 2v2 team, I had to scream at you to shoot the ball.
38:27I know. I've been in a slump since, like, January. I'm like, Taten.
38:31I was like, please. There's two people. Let me shoot the ball.
38:34I'm sorry. You might have mismatched.
38:37But that's the thing. I think that, you know, with the shooting struggles, it's probably 95% a confidence thing.
38:43And maybe it's a little bit mechanical. It's a little bit his legs.
38:45He's in his head.
38:46It's a little bit... Yeah, but to me, it's confidence.
38:48And I don't know how confident he feels on this team because, again, why would you feel that confident when you're on the brink of the rotation?
38:56One thing that Adam Himmelsbach had in his Globe article a couple of weeks ago, because there's been very little quotes from this.
39:02It's killing me that I can't watch pressers the way that we normally get access.
39:07Like, usually we hear from everybody every single day.
39:09And so the one thing that was an interesting quote from Tatum a couple of weeks ago was that, you know,
39:14the experience of being at the end of the bench and getting a DNP was actually what, you know,
39:21gave him some perspective on what it's like for his Celtics teammates that are out of the rotation,
39:25for the O'Shea Brissettes, for the Xavier Tillmans, you know, for the Pritchards and the Sam Haugers.
39:30And it's not something that he's ever experienced before. And I do think he's a good leader.
39:34Everything we've seen out of this year was the locker room was great and all that.
39:37But there was something to me that I was like, this might be a really good thing for him in the long term,
39:41to have had this lived experience of what it's actually like to have to stay ready and not know when your role is going to come
39:47and then still be confident. Like Peyton Pritchard, we see him in like program runs. He's unreal.
39:51But it's like, how is he going to feel confident in his shot and not hesitate when he's checking in after two DNPs?
39:56And we saw at times that really did impact his shot and his human nature.
40:00So if nothing else, that's like a silver lining from this Olympic run is just the fact that he'll have this experience
40:06and I'll have this like grown mentality that he didn't previously have.
40:10Yeah, I don't think this will do anything but help Tatum in the long run.
40:13I don't think it's going to affect his confidence with the Celtics because he knows his role in the Celtics and he has a great team around him.
40:18Like the Celtics have done a phenomenal job of lifting each other up, building each other up.
40:22And I think that'll continue in the next season, regardless of what happens with Team USA.
40:26Also, Gary did tweet out a quote after this game from Steve Kerr.
40:28He said, one of the greatest games I've ever been a part of humbled by being a part of it.
40:33And all the replies are how much a part of it were you Steve Kerr?
40:35What did you do?
40:36Tell me what you did in this game for Team USA.
40:44All of the things are just like they won in spite of you.
40:46LOL.
40:47Ask why I didn't play JT.
40:48It was only close because of his dumb rotations.
40:51Homie got a front row seat to watch Steph's whole career.
40:53Nothing's changed.
40:54It's just it's but as far as the Tatum thing, like if anything, I saw this take earlier in the chat.
41:01Like maybe it's good to give him a little rest because he has been playing basketball consistently.
41:04I don't think Tatum is the type of guy who needs or wants a rest.
41:07So I don't know.
41:08Like it is what it is.
41:09It just I don't think it's going to affect his confidence or anything moving forward.
41:15I think he'll be the same player he was.
41:16And if anything, I think he'll be better next season because the weight of a title is off his back.
41:19And he's going to be motivated by this as well.
41:21But I don't see Team USA or the Tatum situation having any sort of negative impact on him moving forward.
41:28I think it'll just be like, all right, let's put it behind me.
41:30Use it as motivation, if anything, and just move on.
41:32Take my gold medal, maybe silver, and run.
41:36So let's wrap it up with just like what are we expecting for it's Saturday, correct?
41:42I have to say this.
41:43Covering for both the men's and women is really throwing me off from all the scheduling and team standpoint.
41:47But what are we expecting?
41:48I mean, I watched France's win earlier today.
41:51There was a lot to take away.
41:52I mean, Rudy Gobert literally didn't play.
41:54So that's fascinating in and of itself.
41:56I never would have guessed that.
41:59You have a sailor?
42:00Big body?
42:01At the end of the day, it wasn't the NBA players that were the reason why France was able to pull away.
42:06Germany, Canada, two teams that I thought the USA was going to probably have to get through this tournament.
42:11Ends up not being the case.
42:12Feels a little bit like Puppets playoff run.
42:14Like these like really hype matchups in my head didn't actually pan out.
42:17So now we get Serbia and we get France.
42:19But what do you think is kind of the key right now for USA actually coming away with a win?
42:23And hopefully in a little bit less dramatic fashion.
42:26Although, actually, that was thoroughly, thoroughly entertaining.
42:29I think it's just playing the same way.
42:31I think trusting that the shots will fall like giving the book the same shots, giving Katie the same shots,
42:36maybe trying to play a bit more of a free flowing offense because it does feel like a lot of isolation.
42:39And I think the reason they weren't able to dig themselves out of the hole against Serbia sooner was because they just went to way too much isolation.
42:46I think it's going to be harder to get to the rim with Victor in the game.
42:49So you really need to rely on the shooting and just driving and kicking a little bit more, which maybe Tim can help us a little bit.
42:55I think you need to focus on guarding the drives a bit better.
42:59It felt like he sent a lot of pressure to.
43:01I think Tatum will play more than Rudy in the championship.
43:04I'll put my foot down there because Steve Kerr has been very.
43:08It's just a matchup thing against Serbia, guys.
43:10Don't worry, it's just because the matchups don't make sense.
43:13Right, but I need a reporter on the ground to be to get some specifics here.
43:19Yeah, what are we doing?
43:20I'm holding myself accountable next year when Joe Mazula brings it says matchups is the answer to my question.
43:26And it doesn't explain anything.
43:28I'm going to have to ask a follow up question because this is such a pet peeve for me at this point where it's like it's just not a real answer.
43:33And I get it. You're not going to you're not going to point out to us like Tatum's flaw.
43:36What are you going to say to Joe? What matchups?
43:38I'm going to say, could you elaborate on that?
43:40And he's going to say no.
43:42No, he's just going to say no.
43:43He's just going to say no to your face.
43:46I'm going to work on it all summer, Jack.
43:47I'm going to work on my follow up question all summer and then training camp.
43:52I specifically remember with Keita and Luke Cornett.
43:54I used to ask about that back in the day.
43:56I would ask, like, what, you know, what made him play Keita one game and then Keita didn't play for 10 games.
44:01And he only ever said matchups.
44:03Nothing more, nothing less.
44:05What kinds of matchups? Talk to me.
44:07Talk to me like I'm five.
44:09No, because then you're going to get screwed because you'll be like, did you watch the game?
44:12What do you think?
44:13And then you're going to get frozen.
44:14You're going to get frozen on the spot.
44:16Can you elaborate on that by saying the matchups were not favorable?
44:21Well, we'll be back at some point next year when I had my humiliation moment of the year and I asked my follow up question.
44:27You got to go viral.
44:28You're going to go viral on NBC Sports Ball.
44:31I didn't have any low moments with Joe Mizzoula this year.
44:35Me neither.
44:36I'm saving it for next year and I'm saving it for that question in particular.
44:39Yeah, couldn't be me.
44:40I don't know.
44:41Anything else you want to touch on, Jack, before we wrap up here?
44:43I feel like we got most of it done.
44:45J. Eric White, Drew Hall didn't knock huge factors here.
44:48I'm like refreshing my Twitter because I want quotes.
44:51I want quotes from Beat'em.
44:52I've only seen that one, yeah.
44:54I've only seen that one.
44:55I'm like, come on, guys.
44:56I bet Gary's saving it for an article.
44:58I bet it'll be in an article on The Globe tonight or tomorrow.
45:02Yeah.
45:03That's my guess.
45:04I don't think it is.
45:05Yeah, always.
45:07All the quotes.
45:08Need the quotes.
45:09He's the only one that has quotes right now.
45:11Yep.
45:12Yep.
45:13Yep.
45:14Yeah.
45:15No, I don't think I got anything else, though.
45:16I don't think it'll affect the Celtics next season.
45:17I think it's whack that Anthony Edwards played over Tatum in this game.
45:20And I think Drew and Derek just had off nights and I think that's fine.
45:24But just incredible performance by Steph and LeBron and that should be the lead.
45:27Those two and Embiid, like I said at the start of the show, I was sitting here
45:31like pumping him.
45:32I was like, let's go.
45:33I was like maniacally laughing as Steph Curry was.
45:35Dude, that started the game from Steph we didn't even talk about.
45:38That was insane to watch.
45:40Turned around to the bench.
45:41Oh, my God.
45:42That is incredible.
45:43He's one of the best.
45:44But my dad, my dad texted me before the game being like, watch Steph Curry's body language.
45:51Yeah.
45:52And I was like, dude, we didn't even get to see any warm ups.
45:54We didn't even see him on TV.
45:56I mean, I had like NBC running all day.
45:59We got one glimpse of him and he was like, he's about to go off.
46:02And then he did.
46:03Shout out.
46:04Shout out.
46:05Thanks.
46:07We'll be back on Saturday after the gold medal game to recap what I think will be a gold medal victory for Team USA.
46:15And hopefully we get to see some Jason Tatum in there.
46:17Hopefully Derek White and Drew Holiday have someone more impactful game than they've had.
46:21But it's not the end of the world if they don't.
46:23I'll also be going deeper into some of my perspectives on this game on my new podcast, You Got Boston.
46:28So check that out.
46:29I'll be recording right after this.
46:30That'll be out tomorrow morning.
46:33Jack, do you want to plug anything before you go?
46:36You can follow me on Twitter at JackSimonNBA and go watch How About Them Celtics.
46:40Go subscribe to us on YouTube.
46:41We appreciate it.
46:42Videos every day.
46:44It feels like more than every day.
46:45Every time I open YouTube, there's like 12 new videos.
46:47You're not checking up every day then.
46:49It's every day.
46:50You're just not checking every day.
46:51But if something happens in the Celtics world, you will see How About Them Celtics breaking it down.
46:57So thanks, Jack, for joining.
46:59Thanks, everybody, for tuning in.
47:00I hope you enjoy the rest of your week slash weekend.
47:03Women's basketball all day tomorrow.
47:05Very dominant team.
47:06We're probably not going to see anything like what we saw today.
47:08But if you're interested in that, I'll have some coverage on that for SB Nation.
47:12And with that, enjoy the rest of the week, and we'll be back to discuss things after the last Olympic game.
47:21Wait, Ahmed's got an outro for us, I think.
47:23No, he doesn't.
47:24You said he was going to work on an outro.
47:26He had a phenomenal game.
47:29Phenomenal game.
47:32Forfeit's out. I think it's an off.
47:37That did not sound like a chair.
47:39It was a freaking chair. It does sound like a chair.