LIVE: Team USA vs. France Olympics Postgame Show | Garden Report
The Garden Report crew goes LIVE for an Olympics edition! Join Bobby Manning and Noa Dalzell for postgame analysis of Team USA's gold medal game against France.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Can you say hard hats, folks?
00:07Hard hats?
00:08Lunch pails?
00:09Steel tool?
00:10Boots?
00:11Anything short of a championship this year is a failure.
00:12Look at this boomer right here.
00:13You've just got so much talent here.
00:15Somebody said we need to apologize for Jalen.
00:17Can I close it, John?
00:18What are we apologizing for?
00:19What did we say?
00:20What did we do?
00:21Hey, this is Noah, and I'm here with Bobby Manning, and we are here to discuss the Olympic
00:36win over France and the fact that we had three Celtics performances to discuss as well, but
00:41I think right now the Celtics are not honestly front of mind from what we just saw.
00:44I don't know, Bobby, what are your initial thoughts to the really just astounding last
00:51three minutes there that we just saw from Steph Curry?
00:52I think that's kind of the most front of mind thing for anybody that watched that game.
00:55Yeah, I haven't pulled up Twitter or anything like that, so I don't know who they do an
01:01MVP award now.
01:02I would have to imagine he won it.
01:04I guess LeBron could have, too, so it'll be interesting to see which one of them comes
01:08away with it, but he was the story of the last two games here.
01:11I know I wasn't on last game, but that was a real iconic moment for his career, and then
01:15to follow it up with this tonight, this is exactly what you were looking for from him
01:18because this is his first Olympics.
01:19He hasn't had the opportunity to do this, and a bit of a slow start to the first couple
01:24games there, but just classic stuff from him, the celebrations, the fire, the shooting,
01:31of course, just ridiculous last game, especially nine for 14.
01:35I mean, no one else can do that.
01:36No one else can do the stuff he does, and now it's crazy for a guy who accomplished
01:40so much before that 2022 finals.
01:43Just over the last three years here, we're seeing him get his first Olympic gold medal
01:48and his first finals MVP, so amazing stuff from him late in his career.
01:53Yeah, I mean, that was insane.
01:55Watching him, it was 4-3 in the last two and a half minutes, and after on the heels
02:00of the most recent game where I feel like people kind of counted him out because he
02:04struggled a little bit during the pool play games and just hadn't found his rhythm, and
02:08then I don't think they're here without him.
02:10They don't beat Serbia, and I don't know if they win tonight.
02:13I mean, they probably win tonight, but he was just so instrumental.
02:16It's hard to really talk about anything else considering just the individual greatness
02:19that we just watched.
02:21I was just trying to see if there's anything on that MVP count.
02:24I would imagine it has to be Steph.
02:26I think LeBron might get it.
02:27That would be my vote.
02:29Steph would be your vote?
02:31Yeah.
02:33And I think there were other people that stood out from this game as well.
02:38I mean, I've been so impressed by Devin Booker throughout this tournament.
02:41I know he hasn't been one of the stars, but he has been like the fourth guy to LeBron,
02:46Durant, and Steph that's just been able to be a role player, and I guess he was that
02:50in the last Olympics too, but I don't know that people necessarily would have been able
02:53to count on him as being that guy just doing all the little things, hitting open shots.
02:59He, to me, has been like the biggest star of this tournament from kind of raising his
03:03own stock standpoint maybe, but everybody else has kind of had their moments, but then
03:09they've been quieter.
03:10Obviously Embiid was huge in the last game.
03:12Didn't do much tonight.
03:13Bam had his game.
03:14Anthony Edwards had his game, but I think a lot of those other players had a moment,
03:18but Devin Booker was the other one that stood out just throughout the tournament just being
03:22really, really consistent, and yeah, probably that fourth guy.
03:27Yeah, and he claimed that role pretty early and just rolled with it, which I don't think
03:31any of us were sure he was going to be able to do.
03:33It was pretty amazing to see him do it, and the shooting's just ridiculous, especially
03:39when we talk about Tatum, and we'll get to Tatum pretty quickly here.
03:42The difficulty of making the most of just a couple attempts, two for four for Booker
03:48in this one.
03:49We're only talking about, what, four more shots tonight, so 22 three-point attempts
03:53for Booker over this stretch here, and he's shooting 60% on them.
03:57So that's hard to do, and he's done it.
04:00Durant's done it.
04:02Curry, of course, has the greater volume, but he's maintained this effective run that
04:07he's been on after a slow start over the last couple games here.
04:10That's just hard to do because of how limited your touches are, how limited your opportunities
04:14are to have the ball in your hands and get things going if you are cold, and that's the
04:18one thing I'm going to probably remember most about this.
04:22They definitely got pushed.
04:23I think tonight showed more than anything because I came into this game saying, all
04:26right, are they underperforming a little bit during some of these stretches or, of course,
04:30this last game where they almost lost, or is the world pushing them that hard?
04:35And I think this game, again, confirmed that the world is pushing them that hard, so we've
04:39had to see them figure things out.
04:41There was definitely internal dynamics on this team and egos and roles and minutes and
04:47all the things we've talked about here that they had to figure out, and that made it interesting.
04:51We've watched so many of these teams in the past just roll.
04:54I, of course, was at the women's game the other night knowing that's what the men used
04:58to look like.
04:59It was just a snooze fest.
05:01There was real intrigue in this game.
05:03There was all-time intrigue in that last game, and so much of it came down to the U.S.
05:09just having to figure it out play-to-play, quarter-to-quarter, and they did it, and it
05:13was impressive to watch them do it because it happened on the fly.
05:16Like late in this game, Bam's in that closing lineup, not looking good, and then they shift
05:21to Davis, and he's on the offensive glass, and he's another guy who really impressed
05:24me on this run, just how impactful, consistent, energetic he was.
05:28So it was a fun team to watch.
05:30If you're a Celtics fan, you're pissed.
05:32You're not loving how it went for all your guys for much of this run, but if you're a
05:40fan of basketball, this was really fun to watch.
05:42Yeah, I mean, come on, Noah.
05:43I know we played a little bit tonight, but you don't love how this went for Tatum if
05:47you're a Celtics fan.
05:49Yeah, no, but here's the thing, though.
05:51The one thing I'll say, and I agree, and we can talk, I mean, we'll talk more about the
05:53Tatum stuff, but there was also three Celtics players that were on this team, and I feel
05:58like at a point, Celtics fans were like, I'm now rooting against Team USA.
06:02Like, even if you're just team first and you don't care about the country at all or
06:06whatever, there's still two other Celtics fans that presumably...
06:10Celtics players, yeah.
06:12Yeah, and Drew Holiday, I mean, was really important to this team in particular, and
06:16Derek White had his moments.
06:17Obviously, he didn't play tonight, but he wasn't just like the 12th spot that didn't
06:22do anything all Olympics.
06:23He was important, and Drew Holiday hit a big three down the stretch there, and just
06:27defensively, it was critical throughout this Olympic run.
06:30So, I don't know.
06:31I feel like maybe Celtics fans are Tatum fans, and there is some overlap, and I know
06:36fans take their franchise players really seriously, but there also were other guys that
06:41were a big part of this, but I get it.
06:44I mean, the Tatum storyline just became so insane.
06:49It's honestly hard to fathom how scrutinized...
06:53At one point, I was like, he's standing in the corner, and he's catching the ball, and
06:58the entire world is ready to tweet about it.
07:00You know what I mean?
07:01If he misses a shot right now, it's like everybody's clowning it.
07:04This is why he didn't play.
07:05If he makes a shot, it's like, Steve Kerr, why have you been hiding him?
07:08It's just, you can't have that much scrutiny over every little thing on the basketball
07:12court, because down the stretch there, LeBron had turnovers, Curry had a turnover.
07:17Everybody made mistakes.
07:18Everybody had bad plays, and I feel like with Tatum, everything that he did was times a
07:22hundred the way that it's being received in the world right now.
07:24It's a little bit wild.
07:26Yeah, it's unreal how big that story became.
07:30Because the first time, it was pretty big.
07:32The second time, we're in the knockout stage, and everybody's watching, and everybody's
07:37in Paris.
07:38All eyes turned toward that decision, especially coming off the championship run that he just
07:44had, and the notoriety internationally as a star he's earned.
07:49I tweeted out, and I put in my story today.
07:52I was at a concert last night, and we met this guy from Germany, and one of the first
07:55things he said to us was, can you believe Kerr benched Tatum?
07:59He was pissed.
08:01I know.
08:02And people all over Paris were, and people all over the internet.
08:05Players thought it was stupid.
08:07Bob Cousy weighed in.
08:09WIC was mad about it.
08:11I mean, this was the benching heard around the world.
08:14It truly was.
08:15And I think it says something about Tatum and how people perceive him across the board
08:21in the basketball world, especially, because I feel like it was a lot of players, a lot
08:24of people around the league, a lot of analysts, people who are keyed in, who are like, how
08:28can you not find any time for him?
08:31And so I respect that.
08:32My take has been that he didn't play well enough during the minutes, but when it's,
08:36what is it, Jamal Crawford, you know, Grant's going to have his back.
08:40Cousy, you know, being a Celtics guy, I'm sure that plays into it.
08:43But I feel like a lot of more neutral voices were also looking at this and saying, really?
08:48But of course, you had his mom and dad weighing into here.
08:51But as far as tonight goes, I thought he was OK.
08:55And that's all they needed from him.
08:58He came in, made a couple of nice defensive digs at the ball, disrupted some plays, got
09:03that run out in short order there.
09:05And that was another nice moment from Curry setting him up for that.
09:08And then, of course, just not able to get the shot off in a couple of different situations.
09:12The three missed.
09:13Finishes, what, 0 for 10 in this run here from three.
09:17And that play where you had Yabu lined up was tough.
09:20Those are the kind of plays from this run where I'm like, man, you got to beat your
09:25guy one-on-one in those situations.
09:27There's so few situations that you're going to have the ball in your hands lined up.
09:31He's 10, 15 feet from the basket there and you just got to take Yabu.
09:34I know Yabu has had a magical run here, but that was tough.
09:38But overall, I don't know.
09:40C plus for Tatum in this game.
09:43If I would put a grade on it.
09:46Better, better than what we've seen.
09:48He got to play, but it wasn't anything extraordinary.
09:51No.
09:52And the thing is, is like he's in that spot now where he's not going to.
09:57I don't think he feels like he should be taking the ball and doing a whole lot.
10:00He was very passive throughout this entire Olympic run.
10:03And we're not used to seeing that.
10:06We're used to seeing Tatum the focal point of the offense and drawing all the
10:09attention and being the facilitator.
10:12And I think at the end of the day, like this whole discourse around him might
10:17just come back to the fact that he just wasn't a great fit on this roster.
10:21Like the things that he's good at was a little bit duplicative.
10:24And I'm not saying, I do think that he should have played.
10:26I think the DNPs were a little bit extreme.
10:28And I do think that like, there was no reason.
10:30I felt to me that Steve Kerr made decisions before the game and then just
10:33stuck to them.
10:35Even when things weren't going well, like he was like Tatum's not playing
10:37against Serbia.
10:38And that's, that's what kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
10:39And I think that's what maybe some people didn't like,
10:41but ultimately that he wasn't really needed on this roster and he was needed
10:45on the 2021 roster and he'll probably be needed in a 2028 roster.
10:49And it doesn't necessarily mean that he, you know,
10:51it doesn't reflect on him not being a great player.
10:54We know he's a great player.
10:55He's a great fit on the Celtics.
10:57But on this particular team, he was the odd guy out and hopefully that
11:01doesn't, you know, that doesn't destroy his confidence.
11:03I don't think that it will.
11:04He's, you know, it's, I have, if I had to bet on it,
11:06Isaiah Thomas I saw just tweeted,
11:08I think Tatum's going to win MVP next year.
11:10I don't think he's going to win MVP,
11:11but I do think this is he's going to have a great season next year.
11:13And if anything, he'll use this as fuel and motivation.
11:15And he didn't spend the whole summer celebrating.
11:17He spent the whole summer dealing with all this.
11:19So, yeah, I don't know.
11:20It's an interesting conundrum here,
11:22but I do feel like this whole story might just,
11:25it may just come down to the fact that on this roster,
11:27like there were other forwards that have way more experience with Olympic
11:30play that are more pure scores.
11:32And he was just going to be in this position that he's been in.
11:35And, you know, I hope, I hope he didn't hate the whole experience.
11:38Hopefully he still found some value in it and he won a gold medal.
11:41And, you know,
11:42we don't really have no idea what he's actually thinking.
11:43I think a lot of people think that by his parents tweeting that he
11:46should have played, but that's like him telling them to,
11:49I don't necessarily think that I think it might just be them.
11:51Going, you know, maybe going a little unhinged.
11:53So we don't really know how he's feeling.
11:55And maybe he wanted to hold you a sit down and tell everybody exactly
11:57what this summer was like for him.
11:59Yeah.
12:00I'm interested to hear more about it.
12:02The limited comments we've seen you've cleaned frustration from that.
12:06And he certainly has said the right things in terms of only caring about
12:10the winning here, but there's no way you can be thrilled about it,
12:13especially with how you would have imagined.
12:15He would want to be part of this team going into it.
12:18No one wants to sit for a whole game.
12:20Nevermind two out of the run here.
12:22So that wasn't great.
12:23I think he called it humbling.
12:25So that's good to hear.
12:26There'll certainly be an inspirational factor for it and he needs it.
12:29I do think he's going to have to go back to the lab with some of the
12:32things in terms of his shark creation.
12:34And that's the only thing I think you look at here from this run.
12:38Cause listen, we all know the differences in FIBA.
12:41We all know the situation, the role he's on with this team.
12:44And we've talked about the rhythm thing over and over and over again.
12:47I think the only thing you look at here that extends from the playoffs
12:50is the three point shooting and where his shots are going to come from
12:54this season.
12:55And I'm interested to see how that goes.
12:57Does he work into the mid range a little bit more?
12:59I think that's something that it looked like he lacked here that maybe
13:01he could have found some offense in that area.
13:03The finishing is something I certainly still feel good about.
13:08And the one-on-one play probably isn't going to be a problem for him
13:12because he draws crowds so often and he's able to get the pass off
13:16I think during this run you saw some nice passing from him too.
13:19So I'm not panicking with Tatum here.
13:23But I do think the tough part is, Noah, as I've said a number of times here,
13:28is if you're going to be a fan of his who believes he's the best player in
13:33the world and he's better than his peers and he's the guy in this league
13:39going forward, face of the league, whatever you want to say,
13:42it's tough to look at what he did here and say that's the guy.
13:48Now I also understand that this team was about Curry, LeBron, Durant,
13:52those kind of guys coming in.
13:54And this wasn't just an obligatory gesture toward those guys.
13:58Those guys carried this team.
14:00And it is indicative of where that hierarchy at the top of the league
14:05is right now.
14:06You have your Giannis' and Jokic who are clearly a cut above.
14:09You still have your LeBrons and Curries and Durants trying to hang on.
14:13And those guys can still play at such a high level here.
14:16And then you have your Tatums and Edwards of the world here
14:18who are firmly in that class.
14:21Are they going to shoot up to Giannis' and Jokic's level
14:25in the next couple of years here?
14:27Or are they like 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 guys here?
14:32Which I think is probably the most fair place to put them.
14:35Looking at performances like these for those guys.
14:37And Booker I think you put into that category as well here.
14:42I don't know.
14:43It's disappointing if you love Tatum,
14:46if you want to see this be his victory lap for the Olympics here.
14:50It's definitely not a panic moment for where he's at here.
14:53But there certainly does need to be some work.
14:56And as you said, there's some fuel in the fire here for him
14:58to go into next season playing at a higher level.
15:02Yeah, and I guess maybe part of my thing with it,
15:04because I know obviously we've been asked about this so much.
15:07It's been a big story of the Olympics, honestly.
15:09I feel like thinking about where media coverage was,
15:12where online discourse was,
15:14the Tatum DNP thing was almost as central as anything else.
15:17I just don't really buy into ranking players that much.
15:20I know it's a part of the game, so people do it.
15:22I love it.
15:26So I just find A, it's really just hard to compare players
15:29in different positions and at different points of their career
15:32and different roles.
15:33A lot of the discourse, I think the reason people are frustrated
15:36is because they're like, this is bad for Tatum's top five case
15:40or this is bad for his whatever standing in the league.
15:43And I just don't like the Olympics being used to determine standing
15:47in the NBA because that's not what it's about.
15:49It's about winning a gold medal and doing so with a team.
15:51And that's been my frustration with the entire process
15:54is that it's not supposed to be.
15:55There's a lot of guys that if they were the top featured guy
15:58in the offense would have averaged 20 points in this Olympic team.
16:01There's probably 20 players in the NBA that could have played that role
16:04and they weren't and that's okay.
16:06It doesn't mean that they're not great players.
16:09I think the thing with Tatum is that he didn't fit
16:11into the role player thing.
16:13He wasn't able to excel in the Devin Booker slot of just hitting threes
16:18and being comfortable in that position.
16:20And maybe that's just this particular roster.
16:22Maybe that shows us that maybe he's a guy that's so used
16:24to being the focal point that he's not used to playing alongside
16:27so many stars the way that maybe we expected.
16:30Maybe it's the role that he was told to play in this environment
16:33and maybe he didn't have the buy-in from the coaching staff or whatnot.
16:36So there's a lot of different explanations, but I don't view this
16:39as like this now shows us that Tatum's ranking in the world went down.
16:42I don't know.
16:43That's just me.
16:44I'm sure the whole world would probably disagree with that
16:46and his rankings on all the lists are declining as we speak.
16:50But I feel like we just didn't see much of him at the end of the day.
16:53And you know me.
16:54I don't believe in shooting.
16:55I don't believe in looking at like an 11 game, say 11 shot sample
16:58to like make broad generalizations about someone's shooting.
17:01He's been struggling from the shot like throughout the last six months.
17:04And that's why I do think that's a valid conversation.
17:06But he never got into any sort of rhythm in these Olympics.
17:10Yeah, it's baffling where that's at.
17:12And I'm interested to hear more about where that shot is
17:15at going into next year and see how he gets off in the preseason
17:20and regular season first 10 game stretch there.
17:23Just see where it's at.
17:24Because he'll certainly have many opportunities to get threes off
17:27in Boston.
17:28And he'll take them with confidence and we'll just see where it goes.
17:31Because last regular season he was pretty solid on a high volume number
17:34of threes there.
17:3537 I think is what you're looking for for a guy who's taken as many
17:40as he is here.
17:41So it's definitely perplexing because it's been going on for so long.
17:46You thought it was just a slump he might come out of later in the playoffs.
17:49It never really subsided.
17:51And then he never hit one period during this run here.
17:54So that's the one thing you take from this and say,
17:58all right, where's that going here?
18:00Because on this Celtics team, the style they play,
18:04the way Joe wants them to play,
18:06it is pretty central to who he is as a player here.
18:08And I've said we actually saw it a little bit during some
18:11of the exhibition games.
18:12I'd love to see him playing closer to the basket.
18:14I'd love to see him using his power game,
18:16be a guy who's going to the free throw line eight, nine,
18:1910 times a game as he has in different spots over the last couple of years
18:22here, especially in the finals.
18:24He was so great around the basket in the finals.
18:26And he really is a power forward at this point,
18:29the way he's built, the way he's improved his game around the basket.
18:33So there's a balance that I think he has to strike.
18:37I think embracing a more expansive mid range game, a floater,
18:41especially he had a floater opportunity in that Yabu sequence I mentioned,
18:46it just hit right off the back of the rim.
18:48And I've seen him flash a nice floater at different points in his career,
18:51but last year that wasn't quite there as well.
18:54So it's tough, Noah, because he's, he's more,
18:59he's shifted more toward passing defense, rebounding,
19:04all the little things that keep him engaged in games when his scoring fluctuates.
19:08But at his heart, when you're a number one guy in this league,
19:11your scoring is also so central to what you're doing out there.
19:14And fortunately they do have Brown who's able to take on a lot of that load
19:17when Tatum goes cold from the field.
19:19But you just look back at those playoff numbers, 42 from the field, 28 from three.
19:24It's amazing.
19:25They were able to sustain in spite of that and be so dominant,
19:28but they need him to be a little more efficient than that.
19:32And that's, that's where you can, I think,
19:34criticize him coming out of this one or at least expect him to be better
19:37because the bar is high.
19:39I know, you know, whether you want to do a list or not,
19:43his expectation is to be a guy on that level now,
19:47especially for a championship team.
19:49And he's been a little streaky as a scorer for a decent run now.
19:54Yeah. And I think we'll be fine.
19:55I feel similarly about it as I do,
19:57but the Al Horford shooting struggles of the previous playoffs and how people
20:01were kind of like, Oh, he just can't handle it.
20:03And then he came back and was obviously like a shooter this past year,
20:06but we can talk about it.
20:07Let's take a quick break and let's hear from our friends over game time.
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22:03Pick more, pick less.
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22:08So I do think we should zoom out a little bit on the broader story here,
22:14the broader picture, which is that at the end of the day,
22:16three Celtics players also just became Olympic gold medalists for Holiday
22:20and Tatum.
22:21It's their second.
22:22For Derek White it's his first.
22:23I think that's a remarkable thing in its own right that Derek White is an
22:26Olympic gold medalist after just who he was five,
22:29seven years ago in his career as a player.
22:32And I do think Drew Holiday and, you know,
22:35kind of solidified himself as one of the key guys in this team,
22:38more so than several others.
22:39And, you know,
22:40people deny this now, but when it was first announced,
22:43that Holiday was going to be a priority on this roster and that he was,
22:46they were,
22:47USA was already kind of making sure to get in before a lot of the other
22:49stars were solidified.
22:51A lot of people were like, Drew Holiday, why Drew Holiday?
22:53Like there's a lot of better American, American guards.
22:55And that obviously aged terribly just because of who he is as a player,
22:58who he was all year.
22:59And then throughout this Olympic run,
23:01I thought that he was so important defensively,
23:02but then also offensively,
23:03he just looked super comfortable and just kind of reminded everybody that
23:06he's an offense, you know, he's not an offensive liability at all.
23:09He's an all-star, a multiple time all-star,
23:11and he can be a leading score,
23:13especially when he has so little attention on him as he did in this
23:16Olympic run.
23:17And obviously with the Celtics as well, but he really impressed.
23:19I mean, I watched him obviously the last Olympics,
23:21but it was fun to watch him after having seen him and gotten to know him
23:24and his game so much this past year.
23:26And he, he was one of the most important players,
23:28especially alongside Steph.
23:30I thought that he was able to kind of let stuff get away with things,
23:33you know, get away with defensive mistakes or liabilities.
23:35And we heard from players all year that drew holiday fixes.
23:38So many things on the court that we don't even know that there's things
23:41that just internally, they,
23:42they recognize that if they mess up holiday can fix it.
23:44And I've had to watch half of that stuff,
23:45but I think even we missed it sometimes even looking for it,
23:48but he was really a standout.
23:50And I hope that his performance and just his role in this roster doesn't
23:53get overlooked because winning a gold medal after being traded and winning a
23:56championship within a little metal right after it's a,
23:58it's a pretty amazing way to spend your, your six months.
24:02Yeah. And his steadiness from three,
24:05as much as we make a big deal about the other aspects of basketball,
24:09so much of it does boil down to three point shooting in today's game.
24:12And you look at last year,
24:1443 during the regular season on five attempts a game into the playoffs,
24:19he's still at 40 on 4.6. And on this roster,
24:22I don't have the numbers in front of me,
24:24but I have to imagine he's well over 40 for this team.
24:27And in a game like tonight's where he went in and out of involvement and
24:33moved to the bench in favor of Durant.
24:35So as we talk about your role fluctuating,
24:37that happens for him here too. And still,
24:41despite a bad foul here,
24:44a couple of shaky plays late first half hits a three,
24:49second half hits a three.
24:51And those are just nice pacing baskets for this offense as they're running
24:54sets. I think both of them were in the half court, I want to say.
24:57So those are important.
25:00That's his most important skill because everything else is just such a staple
25:04for him. You know,
25:05he's going to make good decisions with the ball more often than not,
25:07you know,
25:08that he's going to bring the defensive pressure and they needed it at times
25:11during this run. And he was instrumental when he was in the starting lineup.
25:15It's impressive to see just how steadily he produces,
25:19how even with a small role,
25:22as we talk about with some of the other guys here,
25:24his impact still feels large. And you look at the South Sudan game,
25:29especially, I think it was where he and White are playing together.
25:32I think that's, if you are looking back on this whole run,
25:36it's totality, you know,
25:37it's just a couple of Tatum benchings and this gold medal game here.
25:41That was a real moment where again, international audience,
25:45a lot of people watching over the summer,
25:47get a good look in this environment at how dynamic of a guard combo that is.
25:51And speaking of rankings, you know, forget the Tatum debate.
25:56You have a real case here,
25:58especially coming out of this and how impactful they both were at different
26:00points of that holiday White backcourt ranking right up there with any other in
26:04the NBA right now. And that's a powerful tool for the Celtics to have.
26:08It says a lot too that, and I think I said this on an earlier show,
26:13Tatum and Brown,
26:14we've seen them for so many years now do what they do for better for worse.
26:20And we've seen both the highs and lows in their game,
26:22carry the Celtics into constant contention,
26:24but also get them close and not quite there.
26:27It was really this backcourt in many ways this year in holiday,
26:32replacing Smart, doing many of the same things Smart did,
26:35but bringing that shooting element to the backcourt.
26:37White getting his shot to a high,
26:39high level over the last two years here that allowed them to become that
26:43championship team.
26:44And when you look at the way they accentuated the stars on this team,
26:49when they were able to play,
26:51I just think it says all the things in the world about these two and both
26:55extensions. I think you look at them,
26:57White extension more than the holiday one, certainly,
27:00but crucial moves.
27:03You have to keep these guys around involved and hopefully,
27:06especially in holidays cases, he gets into his mid thirties here.
27:09He continues to be as effective as he's been here on this run.
27:13And throughout last post season, because these guys are just essential.
27:17This is stuff you didn't have before both of them arrived and it changed
27:21everything for the Celtics when they got here and you,
27:24you saw it on this team too.
27:25I don't think it was automatic that they were going to have as roles as large
27:28as they did maybe holiday more Southern white,
27:31but both ended up just being staples on this team. And again,
27:34holiday wasn't at his best tonight.
27:36It still has two important threes on four tries.
27:40Yeah. I mean, I thought he was great across the board. I mean,
27:41he had a couple, a couple of mistakes,
27:43like you have to have a foul and maybe a turnover, but just defensively,
27:46the president, the energy that he brings,
27:48like I started watching him just in health and just the way that he,
27:51he was just compensating for the fact that there were defenders in the court
27:54that were making errors.
27:55And so I do feel like holiday was one of the steadiest players of these
27:59Olympics. LeBron,
28:00I think has to kind of give him that that award of the most steady and
28:04Devin Booker would be up there as well. But yeah,
28:07I think you're absolutely right that if you're a Celtics fan,
28:09you're heading off of this Olympic run,
28:11feeling even better about those extensions. If you weren't feeling, I mean,
28:14you should already have been feeling great about them after what we saw this
28:17year and what we saw during this playoff run. But yeah, I mean,
28:21I know that the narrative is going to continue around Tatum.
28:24I know that there's going to be a whole lot of discussion around, you know,
28:28what, what his standing is, what his role is, is he, was he embarrassed?
28:31Was he humiliated? Like it'll go on all summer.
28:33I'm really looking forward to training camp and getting to just hear from him,
28:37hear from others and kind of move forward because I do feel like the story,
28:40he just kind of lasted a very long time and maybe too long. But yeah,
28:45in a way like holiday and white were,
28:48were the difference between this year's team and previous year's teams.
28:51And so the fact that now they're in this role and kind of getting the credit
28:55for it with a gold medal and, you know,
28:57capping off this incredible year like that, it is very fitting. I don't know,
29:01anything else stand out to you that we should chat about before we wrap up
29:03here? It really was the Steph Curry game.
29:06It feels kind of disingenuous to talk about anything else after what we saw
29:09from him. But it also just this whole run to me was just like,
29:13I feel really lucky to be watching and covering basketball at the same time as
29:16the Apex.
29:17It was fun.
29:18His career is an overlap and just, yeah, this roster that they assembled,
29:21as a fan of basketball,
29:22I think you have to have just loved it and just loved being around it.
29:27Yeah. And they came through this and it, it wasn't easy.
29:31They looked done with five minutes to go in that Serbia game and they overcame
29:35it by playing the highest level of basketball you can imagine or all the
29:39criticism he got.
29:40And I'm not going to praise him here because he certainly had mistakes,
29:43but I think her did okay.
29:47Trying to push the right buttons, trying to manage the egos.
29:50I know Warriors fans feel similarly about it too,
29:52despite all their success because I've seen them all rip him left and right
29:56too.
29:57And so they're not feeling any better about her than the U S fans and every
30:01individual players fans are of this team, but they got it done.
30:05And we very easily could have been having a completely different conversation
30:09on all time failure and embarrassment and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
30:13A couple of Serbia shots went down late there,
30:15but they tightened up defensively when they needed to.
30:18As you mentioned, those holiday sequences,
30:20the second unit sequences were really,
30:22I thought just thrilling to watch right from the exhibitions,
30:25especially when they were going to some of those Bam Davis combinations.
30:29I think at different points when guys are struggling,
30:32other guys stepped up last game and bead Curry, the rant, this game, LeBron,
30:37Curry, you know,
30:40I think the holiday at his moments in this game to Booker, of course.
30:44So like there's always this fluctuation on this team of guys getting involved
30:48when other guys were down.
30:50And I think there's just with this team,
30:55a shadow of doubt that they overcame that made it more fun.
31:00And I think you look at all the guys here, especially the front runners,
31:02the guys who made it happen here is a victory lap for these guys.
31:06And they're still at a high, high level,
31:08but this is probably the last Olympic run in particular,
31:11where they're going to be at this level.
31:12And to see them face some adversity,
31:15face some resistance and overcome it and be the guys who led that charge,
31:20I think was really fun to watch.
31:21And then of course, in this game, one,
31:24I think that was my favorite thing about this run here was getting to watch a
31:28little bit more of him after the season he had.
31:30And he pushed it further a couple of upsets for that team.
31:34Not many expected them to beat Canada.
31:37Not many expected them to beat Germany.
31:39And he looked dominant as the central force of that team.
31:42Even at points in this game,
31:44one point finishing right over holiday in the post that second or third chance
31:49point late, they gave France a little bit of a chance.
31:51Some of the shooting from him in this game, rebounding defense,
31:55all the way down the line.
31:56I think his stat line for this Olympic was something close to 20, 10,
31:59three, two, and two.
32:01So I hope he rests up.
32:03I hope he's got a leap ready for the second year.
32:06I hope the Spurs are more relevant around him because man,
32:09he is every bit the player he was hyped up to be.
32:14And it won't be long before he's in the same conversation as all of these guys
32:18here.
32:19He might already be because he carried some serious weight tonight and
32:22throughout this run.
32:23So that was exhilarating to watch, especially in front of the home fans.
32:26That was another element to the last couple of games here,
32:28being out here, some great crowds, some great, you know, bar scenes.
32:34There's a real basketball fandom here that they captivate.
32:39I know their women are going to be trying to beat the U S as well.
32:42So great week out here.
32:44I'm off tomorrow to Spain just to chill before we get back at it.
32:49Celtics will be back at it soon rather than later.
32:52And this was a fun week, a really special week,
32:56not just for basketball, but for sports as a whole.
32:58I think Paris just nailed it here.
33:00This was a great, great Olympic as a whole.
33:03Yeah, absolutely.
33:06Thoroughly enjoyed it.
33:07I've watched literally everything there is to watch in the Olympics.
33:10It was a lot of fun.
33:11And yeah, we'll be, we'll be back.
33:13I think there'll be, there will be no, no more games coming up soon.
33:16I know we've been like,
33:17there was not really ever an off season between the year and summer league
33:20and now the Olympics.
33:22So there'll be a little bit of a break before the remainder of our coverage
33:26going into next fall.
33:27I'm continuing my podcast new at Boston three times a week,
33:30wrap this slow period.
33:31So we'll find stuff.
33:32Well, I know, I know you'll probably go longer on him,
33:36but we do have quick news item.
33:39I want like a minute from you on streamer.
33:42Hi, Luke.
33:44That's a good call Bobby.
33:46Yeah, that was,
33:47I did not see that coming that he had a four year $15 million contract.
33:51I'll say it now.
33:52I was talking to a European scout.
33:56There were people at summer league.
33:57I think that we're thinking he might go overseas.
34:00And so I started thinking that that's where,
34:02that's where he was headed.
34:03And I honestly didn't think we were going to see him in the NBA next year.
34:05And I didn't,
34:06I didn't say anything cause I didn't,
34:08I didn't feel like sufficient sources and I'm glad I didn't because a four
34:11year $15 million contract in Utah is just amazing for someone that really was
34:15not in any rotation last year. And it's not a young guy, you know,
34:17he's been in the league for quite some time now,
34:19but still still got a little bit of game left.
34:23I just want to mean like, he's not a, he's not like a prospect, you know,
34:26he's he's who he is. And we always heard he was great in practice.
34:30He always looked great shooting around, but we just didn't see him a lot.
34:32I mean, he looked good in the minutes that he played,
34:34but pretty cool that he got that opportunity.
34:36And it also kind of goes to show you that this is that the guys that took
34:40pay cuts to stay in Boston, like the better, all the better minimums,
34:43like Steve Ohio got into getting paid way more than a lot of the guys that
34:46came back and obviously they had to, but it just kind of shows you,
34:49there might've been a bigger market out there for some of those players.
34:53Yeah.
34:54And obviously he got a lot of praise for how he handled the last year,
34:57quietly 38% in those 41 games from 30.
35:00So shootings, everything he shot well enough to hang on.
35:04I don't know how much that 15th guaranteed,
35:06but I'd assume at least get this first year out of it.
35:09So credit to him sticking around and it was a tough choice last off season for
35:14him, whether to go to,
35:15I think it was Greece or go to Celtics and Celtics sold them.
35:20Probably not going to play much, but he came and won a championship.
35:23So jazz Celtics be a big ring waiting for speed.
35:29Yeah.
35:30And we're seeing here that LeBron won MVP of the tournament.
35:35I don't, I'm surprised by that.
35:37I kind of knew it was coming, but Steph earned that I feel like.
35:41I wonder how they decide that.
35:43In my core.
35:44So maybe I'm, maybe I'm a little biased here, but a little surprised.
35:48Yeah.
35:50If there was a vote, I would've gone Steph, but not a bad choice for LeBron.
35:54He was special on this run.
35:56Still in many ways,
35:59the best, most consistent player on this team of all stars and the best
36:03players in the world, which is hard to imagine.
36:06What is this his fourth gold?
36:09Oh yeah.
36:11Cause he skipped 2020.
36:12Yeah.
36:13Yeah.
36:14Well, good for LeBron.
36:15Davis look good too.
36:16We'll see what the Lakers can do this year.
36:18Cause those two guys are still at a high level here,
36:21but the team around them we'll see.
36:26Well, let's wrap it up here.
36:27Bobby safe travels.
36:29I'm glad for you that you got to be in Paris for this whole week.
36:32And we'll have more coverage coming up.
36:35Moving forward.
36:36I'll be going live tomorrow,
36:37so we can talk more about this game and talk more about kind of what it
36:39means for Celtics context as well.
36:41But yeah.
36:42Thanks everybody for tuning in.
36:44On to LA.
36:452028.
36:49Wait, Ahmed's got an outro for us, I think.
36:51No, he doesn't.
36:52You said he was going to work on an outro.
36:55He had a phenomenal game.
36:57Phenomenal.
37:01I think it's an option.
37:05That did not sound like a chair.
37:07It was a freaking chair.
37:08It does sound like a chair.