Pritchard Shines in Abu Dhabi, Bigger Role Coming? w Dan Greenberg | Celtics Beat - video Dailymotion

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Join Adam Kaufman, Evan Valenti, and special guest Dan Greenberg of Barstool Sports as they dive into the Boston Celtics' thrilling preseason opener in Abu Dhabi, where they edged out the Denver Nuggets in a nail-biting four-point victory! They spotlight Payton Pritchard's standout performance and discuss his potential for a bigger role this season. With the Celtics aiming for their 19th championship banner, they analyze their evolving strategy centered around three-point shooting and the impressive depth of their roster.  They also explore the dynamics between stars Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown as they prepare to tackle the upcoming season with renewed focus and determination. Tune in for insights, analysis, and all the excitement surrounding the Celtics as they gear up for another competitive year!  0:00 - Intro 0:21 - Preseason game recap 2:55 - Celtics shooting threes 5:11 - Importance of shooting 7:10 - Mazzulla ball explained 9:40 - Basketball beauty 15:55 - Pritchard's vital role 19:10 - Last gift from Ainge 21:57 - Pritchard's increased role 24:43 - Growth as playmaker 27:01 - Bigger picture thoughts 29:58 - Brown's potential leap 32:17 - Tatum's playmaking element 34:38 - Tatum's playoff performance 36:20 - Tatum's impact on winning 39:05 - Tatum vs. other stars 42:01 - Tatum's unique role 44:03 - Top five player 48:00 - Stress-free year 51:04 - Enjoyable season ahead 52:48 - Historic NBA season 54:57 - Celtics season opener 57:01 - Knicks' new challenges 1:00:59 - Respect for Giannis   CLNS Media is Powered by:   Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!   Gametime - https://gametime.co 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.  Elevate your style game on and off the course with the PXG Spring Summer 2024 collection. Head over to https://PXG.com/GARDENREPORT and save 10% on all apparel.  Nutrafol Men! Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/MEN and enter the promo code GARDEN!   #celtics #NBA #BostonCeltics The CLNS Media Network is the leading provider for video/audio content. CLNS is a fully credentialed member of the media with access to all NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB teams & venues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  CLNS' rebuilt their YouTube community in less than 12 months, during a pandemic that attacked sports. Wondering how? Find out here (and support our channel) - https://www.tubebuddy.com/clnsmedia  Visit the Official Home of CLNS Sports Coverage -  https://clnsmedia.com

Transcript

00:00:00Celtics Beach is brought to you by Price Picks and the Game Time app.

00:00:07What's up everyone?

00:00:08Welcome in.

00:00:09Happy Friday.

00:00:10Happy weekend, depending on when you are listening to us here on your podcast and always do rate

00:00:14review.

00:00:15Most importantly, subscribe to the Celtics Beach podcast.

00:00:17We are less than three weeks away from the regular season start of Boston Celtics basketball,

00:00:24the quest, the chase for banner 19.

00:00:27The first of five preseason games is now in the books as the Celtics.

00:00:33We know we've been talking about it, the ramp up to it.

00:00:35They are off in Abu Dhabi.

00:00:37Again, if you listen to this show, not Dubai, they're in Abu Dhabi and victors by four points

00:00:42after a confusing scoring situation at the end of the game, four point winners, the Celtics

00:00:47against the Denver Nuggets, which shows you Denver fans who would have won that hypothetical

00:00:52championship.

00:00:53We're of course chatting about that.

00:00:55Dan Greenberg is here with us.

00:00:56Evan Valenti.

00:00:57I am Adam Kaufman.

00:00:58Greeny, where I need to start before we even get into this preseason game, which, you know,

00:01:02nice to see the Celtics on the floor.

00:01:04First time, obviously they're out there playing basketball, not meaningful basketball, but

00:01:08basketball on the, okay, well you can come at me for that.

00:01:12That's fine.

00:01:13On the other side of banner 18, which is lovely, but I need to know, cause I saw a tweet from

00:01:17you yesterday or the day before, I think it was last night.

00:01:20How much Celtics porn have you been watching leading up to seeing these guys on the floor?

00:01:25Yeah.

00:01:26I mean, so I've, I had a work in progress list.

00:01:29Um, I mean, this was, people say it doesn't matter.

00:01:33These games don't count.

00:01:34I can't understand that because I was just, I had the same level of anticipation over

00:01:39this game as I did game one of the NBA five years ago.

00:01:43It's just, that's how, I mean, I, I first want to acknowledge that is extremely deranged.

00:01:48It's not normal.

00:01:49You shouldn't behave like that, but I don't know whether it's like the every dribble

00:01:54of summer league through the NBA finals.

00:01:57Like they just all, they mean something to me, dammit.

00:02:00So last night I did it all.

00:02:02I went through the whole post season run.

00:02:06I ran through all the episodes of the, the all in behind the scenes series.

00:02:10I went through, I've been watching the post title press conferences like once a week ever

00:02:15since I just can't stop watching Al Horford's press conference.

00:02:19It just fills my heart with so much joy.

00:02:22So I, I did the normal six to midnight routine.

00:02:26I woke up charged to, to, for lack of a better term.

00:02:31And I was thankful they got the win.

00:02:33It was everything I could have wanted more.

00:02:36Some people might've attacked that another way, but Greeny response to the six to midnight

00:02:40first thing in the morning, it says, I got to put on Celtics game.

00:02:43It was, it was honestly, I mean, listen, it was a long 109 days highlights have have sort

00:02:49of filled that void, but there's nothing like the real thing.

00:02:52I think we can all agree with that.

00:02:54So I think what we can agree on is first and foremost, because no, I mean, Greeny's wrong.

00:03:00The games don't count, but it is nice to see them out there, but more than anything else,

00:03:05they're healthy.

00:03:06Nobody got hurt.

00:03:07You know, there's no, there's no big storyline to come out of this thing.

00:03:10I mean, the biggest things are again, everyone was available.

00:03:15Everybody looked good in their limited minutes.

00:03:17The starters, nobody played 20 minutes save for Luke Cornette at his 21 among the guys

00:03:23that started, you know, naturally Peyton Pritchard was out there for 24 because you know, pro

00:03:28AMP cannot be stopped.

00:03:29He showed up again, leading scorer in this game on the Boston side, 21 points.

00:03:34And we come to expect that from Pritchard whenever his number is called upon, that guy

00:03:38is, is all guts, all glory all the time.

00:03:42But it was another look at the likes of Jordan Walsh and watching Missoula ball in full effect.

00:03:47And this team putting up, what was it?

00:03:4961 three-pointers in this game, which I think I heard Drew Carter say on the broadcast.

00:03:55Was it a franchise?

00:03:56We had our first Dick Leipstadt of the year, which was the first preseason game.

00:04:02And it was, that would be the Southers have never taken 60 or more threes in a regular

00:04:07season game or a postseason game in the history of the Celtics.

00:04:10So I was out of preseason game either.

00:04:13I don't know if they even considered, I mean, I'm sure Dick's, if he hasn't figured it

00:04:18out already is working on it, but I don't know if they even kept stats for certain preseason

00:04:22games and certain eras of basketball.

00:04:24But what I, what I think is interesting, it's like, yeah, they're going to shoot even more

00:04:28threes probably this year.

00:04:30And what was, it was a great quote.

00:04:32I think it was Pritchard after the game.

00:04:34And some people have highlighted this already.

00:04:35And it was the reason why they shot so many is because they're missing the two of their

00:04:39interior guys, missing KP, they're missing Al Horford.

00:04:42So I'm in those guys shoot threes, like it's also acknowledged that.

00:04:46But the, you know, the, the lack of inside presence in the, you know, lack of conditioning

00:04:51and you know, look, these guys are world-class athletes and obviously they're, they're very

00:04:55good at what they do.

00:04:57But even, you know, being up to game speed right now on October 4th is pretty nuts.

00:05:03So it's, they're not totally in shape yet, so they're not really, they can't get to the

00:05:07basket as easy as they normally would because they're just not in shape yet, but there's

00:05:12a ton of threes.

00:05:13And what's fun to me is I think a lot of guys that are on the periphery of this team know

00:05:18that they can maybe shore up a roster spot if they can show they can hit a couple of

00:05:24threes in a row.

00:05:25So you're looking at Jordan Walsh and Jenny Davidson and, and Baylor Shireman and Lonnie

00:05:31Walker guys at the end of the bench that are going to be fighting for spots.

00:05:34That's a way they can make it.

00:05:35Like we used to talk about defense with Brad Stevens, like this, if you can defend and

00:05:39guard your yard, as they say, you're probably going to, you have an easier time being on

00:05:43the floor of Brad Stevens with Joe.

00:05:44It's like, you're going to threes.

00:05:45You're going to have a spot cause they're, there's going to be plenty of open looks for

00:05:50everybody.

00:05:51Defensively.

00:05:52Yeah.

00:05:53I mean, defensively, you know, this is a pretty good team all the way around, but if you can't

00:05:56like Sam Houser is the what seventh guy in their rotation, eighth guy in the rotation

00:06:02and he's a 40 whatever percent three point shooter.

00:06:04So you gotta be really good at shooting threes and this team is going to lean into it even

00:06:08more.

00:06:09And I love it.

00:06:10I coffin.

00:06:11I absolutely love it.

00:06:12Missoula ball is here to stay brother.

00:06:14You know, greeny with, it's been an evolving conversation on this show for years, how the

00:06:19league has changed and evolved where we are now, where, you know, the Celtics are leaders

00:06:24of the pack, but it is not uncommon across the league for teams to be three point heavy.

00:06:29That is just the style of play now in today's NBA.

00:06:32You know, I'm a, I'm a little bit older than you, not dramatically.

00:06:35I know you're, you know, old enough to remember, you know, kind of the, the, the NBA that we

00:06:40both grew up with where it didn't look like this.

00:06:42And obviously it started to really, you know, it, it, it's kind of casually gotten there,

00:06:48but it really started with Curry and splash brothers and those warriors team sort of sending

00:06:54everything to where we are right now to a, to a heightened degree.

00:06:58Are you, and this is not a question about like a lack of, I've been accused of, you

00:07:03know, old man shaking fist to cloud, not embracing change all of that.

00:07:06And that's fine.

00:07:07That's fine.

00:07:08Like I, I just don't find it.

00:07:09And this is not an attack on the Celtics so much as it is the entire league.

00:07:12But again, the Celtics have kind of become the poster children for it.

00:07:16It's not a really entertaining brand of basketball to me.

00:07:19And I don't mean Missoula ball.

00:07:20I just mean the like three, three, three, three, three, you know, 61, three point tries

00:07:25in a game.

00:07:26Not that I expect that to be the norm during the regular season, but even 40 to 45, you

00:07:31know, where we're half or more of your shots are from long distance.

00:07:35I'm just curious how you feel about it as someone that is so in tune with today's NBA.

00:07:39I mean, I would say this, let's not glorify what was the clogged toilet Celtics offense

00:07:46of years past.

00:07:47Like I think we need to remember, you know, there, the, the always Celtics one finals

00:07:53games like 81 to 78 or something like that, like that's not more entertaining just because

00:07:59they took less threes.

00:08:01And I think even though you guys want to stress that these games don't matter, what today

00:08:05showed was Missoula ball.

00:08:08And this approach very much does matter because the nuggets shot better.

00:08:13They went to the line 10 more times and they lost because they got severely outshot both

00:08:19in volume and in makes from behind the arc.

00:08:22I think the Celts were plus 30 attempts and they made eight more threes.

00:08:27If that doesn't happen, they lose this game.

00:08:31And I don't necessarily think, I think it all depends, right?

00:08:34Like what does Joe say all the time?

00:08:36It's not the total of threes you take.

00:08:39It's the type of threes you take.

00:08:41There is nothing boring about beautiful ball movement, making defenses, getting rotation

00:08:46and taking open threes.

00:08:48That's like, that's basketball porn.

00:08:50That's the spurs.

00:08:51That's the warriors though.

00:08:53That's like, that's what I think everyone wants to achieve.

00:08:56What I think people don't like is the isolation, James Harden, Luka, Tatum at times, like the

00:09:04hold the ball, step back, low percentage looks that, that are boring to watch because everyone's

00:09:09just kind of standing around and watching.

00:09:12Or conversely, the, you know, hurry up and do it with 20 seconds left on the shot clock

00:09:16when you're not moving the ball, looking for that opportunity.

00:09:18Right.

00:09:19But I don't even hate those if they're open.

00:09:21Like if Drew Holliday is open in transition, go ahead and take the corner, take the open

00:09:24three.

00:09:26That was my belief.

00:09:27Even when that guy was Marcus Smart, because if it's an open look, I want you to shoot

00:09:30it.

00:09:31But when you have a possession where the ball is touching three, four or five guys, guys

00:09:36are moving.

00:09:37It's like that is basketball beauty at its core.

00:09:41So I never really understood like, oh, this is so boring.

00:09:44The Celtics shoot so many threes.

00:09:46It's like, are you not watching how they're generating these threes?

00:09:49That's the beauty, you know, but people just see like, oh, they took 40, 50, like this

00:09:54is not real basketball.

00:09:56It's like, what do you mean?

00:09:57The ball touched the paint three times.

00:09:59They swung it to the weak side.

00:10:00Like that's all things that I think if done correctly and when Missoula ball is at its

00:10:05highest power, it's arguably the most beautiful basketball you can possibly come up with.

00:10:11And you know, that was true of the Warriors.

00:10:13Like you said, it was true of the Spurs.

00:10:15I just think, you know, not everybody plays that way, but they still try to get and match

00:10:20that volume.

00:10:22But I think you'll see it similarly with OKC this year.

00:10:25They were right on term on page with the Celtics in terms of three-point volume.

00:10:30But their main guy in Jay lives in the paint.

00:10:34So it's like they don't really get the same flack, even though their volume was pretty

00:10:38similar because of how they generate it.

00:10:41But I don't know.

00:10:42I just shake my head when people think the Celtics play boring basketball because it's

00:10:45like, what are we watching?

00:10:47How they're generating it is pure porn.

00:10:50We'll also have, you know, Greeny shouts out the Warriors, the Spurs.

00:10:54I mean, what's the thing that happens every time that we see one of those 30 second clips

00:10:58or whatever it is floating around social media and the ball movement, like you said, going

00:11:03through the paint three times?

00:11:05It's only it's the 86 Celtics, you know, so like that's that's what we, you know, love

00:11:09to throw it back to more than anything else.

00:11:11The Spurs and Warriors are just the more recent to do it.

00:11:14Yeah.

00:11:15And honestly, I really think if the 86 Celtics played in twenty twenty four, they would take

00:11:19this amount of threes.

00:11:20Yeah, Larry would take a kajillion and he would have a lot of them for sure.

00:11:24But, you know, this is.

00:11:26Again, it's awesome at basketball back, the three of us pre show, we're just nerding out

00:11:30about how awesome it is to have basketball back.

00:11:33We're thrilled.

00:11:34Sunday morning, we're going to wake up to me, basketball is going to be great.

00:11:37But I do want to bring it back to the game for just a little bit, because we have some

00:11:41storylines to talk about come out of the game.

00:11:44And I'm curious to see where you guys fall in terms of what's your favorite.

00:11:47Obviously, I'll start with Greeney because he is our guest, Kaufman.

00:11:50I am also curious what you're where you stand here, because I have my answer for this particular

00:11:55question.

00:11:56But, you know, Greeney, you look at all the things that happen today in the game and sees

00:11:59won this game.

00:12:01Pretty awesome.

00:12:02Love to see it.

00:12:03One of seven, one of three, the final.

00:12:04I don't know if we ever threw that out there, but I'm straight out there again just in case.

00:12:07What's the big takeaway besides all the threes?

00:12:11What's the biggest storyline for you out of the game?

00:12:12Because I have a few I can rattle off my head, but I am curious to see where you fall on

00:12:16this.

00:12:17I mean, from the starting group, honestly, I didn't even think they played all that great.

00:12:22I mean, they lost the yoke each minutes, you know, I think player was cornet.

00:12:27Yeah, I think like, you know, defensively, you can tell they weren't really locked in

00:12:32typical early preseason stuff.

00:12:33I thought they were pretty sloppy with the ball.

00:12:36So really, the only like meaningful takeaway I have from the starting group is Tatum hit

00:12:41a his peer.

00:12:43He looked pure on his contested threes.

00:12:45He hit two of them.

00:12:46Two of his three were contested.

00:12:48Everyone's like freaking out over his jump shot.

00:12:50I think your early takeaway is that's maybe a little ridiculous.

00:12:54You forget he shot 37% last year and, you know, just caught a cold streak.

00:13:00So I thought his his jumper looked good.

00:13:02But my bigger takeaway is the second unit guys, right?

00:13:07Like Jordan Walsh, to me, looked way more ready in this environment than he did in Vegas,

00:13:13where he definitely wasn't playing to his expected role.

00:13:16You didn't see any of those pull up threes, you know, threes in transition, trying to

00:13:21do too much offensively.

00:13:23You saw him play defense first, be active, hit some open threes.

00:13:29Don't turn the ball over.

00:13:30I thought that was really that stood out to me.

00:13:33I mean, Pritchard obviously is ready.

00:13:35He's basically like, you know, a quasi starter just in terms of his talent level.

00:13:40You never have to worry about him.

00:13:41He looked ready to go and sort of backed up what Horford said about him coming to camp

00:13:46ready.

00:13:47For me, I thought Shireman nowhere close.

00:13:51Jaden Springer didn't take a leap like I thought we were expecting based on his Vegas performance.

00:13:57So it's really more just like it was more what we expected.

00:14:01While the starters didn't play too well, Mazzullo Ball saved them at the end of the day because

00:14:05the second unit started hitting some threes, played a little bit more defense, and you

00:14:10didn't have to deal with Jokic defensively.

00:14:12So I don't know.

00:14:13It's like I wrote in a blog.

00:14:14I don't know if it's up yet, but I gave like the starters like a C minus to a C and then

00:14:20the second unit guys like a B minus to a B. This was not the Celtics at their ceiling

00:14:26or at their potential, which is why it's always nice to win when you don't play your best.

00:14:30So I'm curious as to your thoughts, because my thing is a little less about today.

00:14:36It's a little more big picture.

00:14:38Mine is very also kind of big picture and it's really just all about Bate and Pritchard

00:14:43and how necessarily vital he's going to be to this particular group this season because

00:14:51I do think that they're going to try and rest guys a little bit differently this year.

00:14:55I would prefer, I think everybody would if they didn't put so many miles on holiday and

00:14:59white and Jalen and Jason and all that stuff.

00:15:02And you know, Pritchard might be a specialist as you get your way through the playoffs and

00:15:06he might just be the half court he'd guy like, I don't know, like nobody's ever done

00:15:10what he did in the playoffs like ever.

00:15:12It was pretty remarkable.

00:15:13But the one thing that I really liked is that guy's ready to play like right now you could

00:15:17roll the ball out.

00:15:18It could be game one of the regular season and he's physically ready to go right now.

00:15:23And the fact that he's so comfortable navigating everything offensively for this team and getting

00:15:29guys involved and hit shots and just being super confident like he's it's just awesome

00:15:35to see that, you know, he went from asking for a trade two years ago last year, stepping

00:15:41up and this year just picking up the, where he left off and it might be just even better

00:15:45than he was.

00:15:46So as you look at this team and age is starting to become a factor for certain guys and rest

00:15:51is becoming a factor for certain guys.

00:15:54His contributions are going to be massive this year.

00:15:55He's going to have an even bigger role than he had last year, in my opinion, and he looks

00:15:59ready for it.

00:16:00And you know, as they navigate their way through regular season and who cares about seating?

00:16:06I think all, all three of us are at this point, like who cares, get to roll, get to, I don't,

00:16:10I don't care.

00:16:11I really don't care.

00:16:12This needs to go on the road.

00:16:13Come on, man.

00:16:14I know, but now we just saw them overcome their home court playoff demons.

00:16:20I kind of would like to have, Oh, it's way better.

00:16:24It's way easier.

00:16:25Trust me.

00:16:26And this team, the fact that there are questions again, injuries are unpredictable and we already

00:16:32know Porzingis is out for a period of time, probably half the year when all is said and

00:16:36done, but there's, I don't, I don't think anybody looks at this team and questions them

00:16:39having a top four seat in home court advantage.

00:16:42You know, if you're talking about home court advantage all the way through the playoff,

00:16:46yeah, I mean, sure.

00:16:48But again, I don't think I agree with that, but I don't think that's an end all be all,

00:16:52but we've been talking about that on the show for a little bit now, they just, whatever

00:16:56they can do to be healthy going into the playoffs.

00:16:59And at that point in time, respond accordingly.

00:17:01Yeah.

00:17:02And it's funny that you mentioned he looks so ready.

00:17:04Cause I remember, you know, this was in the middle of my deliriousness, early morning,

00:17:09you know, porn session that I remember he was asked in the all in series, like, you

00:17:16know, how do you, you know, are you nervous ahead of the finals, blah, blah.

00:17:20And he was basically like, I play every single game, like it's the NBA finals.

00:17:25And so now to see Pritchard have this type of performance and a very meaningless to you

00:17:31a preseason game, it's like, it's true.

00:17:34He absolutely plays every single minute as if it's the NBA finals.

00:17:41And I think that is just a testament to the mentality of the players that Brad has built

00:17:48this roster with is like, they're just competitive dogs.

00:17:53It doesn't matter if it's practice, preseason, regular season, playoffs, like the compete

00:17:59level is just so insane that like, you know, if Pritchard, if they had lost this game,

00:18:04Pritchard would have been like up all night, pissed off at himself for a random turnover.

00:18:09Yeah.

00:18:10Like that's just, and it starts with, with Missoula and it runs through the best players

00:18:14all the way down to, I think, you know, we hear how competitive all these practices are.

00:18:18It's like, that is what I think makes this team so unique is like, nobody goes through

00:18:24the motions.

00:18:25And if you even think about going through the motions, Joe Missoula will like jujitsu

00:18:29your ass, like to prevent you from ever having that mentality.

00:18:34So I think today was a good example of Pritchard of what that looks like.

00:18:37I like that.

00:18:39It's the killer whale mentality.

00:18:40Oh, we're getting to that.

00:18:41No, we're getting to that later.

00:18:43I want a whole segment on that.

00:18:44I will say Richard, I think Pritchard, it was like Danny Ainge's last gift to the Celtics

00:18:48because I believe that was the last first rounder that they had that year.

00:18:52And I believe Ainge was still at the helm at that particular time that, and I remember

00:18:57we all talked about it.

00:18:58Like, cause I think that that was the knee Smith draft too.

00:19:00I think it was knee Smith.

00:19:01And then Pritchard later, it was like, Hey, if you just flipped them, you know, works

00:19:04out great.

00:19:05He, the last gift from Danny Ainge was, was Pitt Pritchard and he's just, he's a dog man.

00:19:11He is an absolute dog.

00:19:12I'm curious though, when, when you say that you think he's going to take on an even larger

00:19:17role next year, I'm wondering sort of in what, in what context you put that in, because I

00:19:22remember like a year ago at this time after Brogdon was traded away, you know, holiday

00:19:26comes in.

00:19:27We knew the guard rotation was going to look a bit different.

00:19:30Like we were screaming on this show that Pritchard was going to have a larger role.

00:19:35He was going to be more important to the team.

00:19:36He was going to have a better season than Brogdon was going to have this, all these

00:19:40things.

00:19:42And I think largely we were proven right, by the way, just want to mention that.

00:19:45But putting that aside for a moment is Celtic speed.

00:19:48Always first, as we say, but you know, he's coming off a year that he averaged 10 more

00:19:52minutes per game than he had, you know, prior anyway, in the season prior, cause you know,

00:19:57going as a rookie, totally different situation, 2021, he averaged 19 minutes a game, but then

00:20:02it dipped under EMA, you know, on Joe year one, it was, you know, 14 down to 13 and then

00:20:0922 last year, career high in points, almost 10 career high in minutes, uh, or, or pardon

00:20:15me, assists three and a half rebounds at almost three and a half, uh, steals basically matched

00:20:22a career high.

00:20:23The, uh, the shooting percent overall from the field was a career high, uh, three point

00:20:28it, it stepped back a little bit, but the volume was higher, uh, you know, free throws,

00:20:33I guess we're down a little bit, you could say, but generally speaking, that was a career

00:20:37year for Peyton Pritchard.

00:20:39So when you, when you say, you know, I, I think he's going to be even more important

00:20:43or take on a larger role, you know, this year, what does that look like to you?

00:20:46I think he's going to score more points.

00:20:48It might, the, the, the percentages might go down a little bit, um, just because he's

00:20:52going to ask to score more than the playmaking is going to be up.

00:20:55Then the rebound is going to be up cause he's a guy that actually crashes the offensive

00:20:59glass.

00:21:00It's one of my favorite things about Pritchard is oftentimes amongst the trees, he's a six

00:21:03foot one guy pulling down offensive rebounds, pulling it back out, restarting the offense.

00:21:08I just think he's just much more comfortable within the scheme, you know, as you're in

00:21:13it for a year and playing a certain way, you get more comfortable getting everybody else

00:21:18involved in attacking.

00:21:19When you feel like you have an advantage, I think with Pritchard, he has spent an entire

00:21:23year playing in this system.

00:21:25They bring all the same guys back.

00:21:27He knows exactly who he's playing with.

00:21:29He's going to be way more comfortable.

00:21:30I just think everything's going to go up with the exception of maybe percentages.

00:21:34He might not be as efficient, but I just think the comfortability with this guy is going

00:21:36to be unbelievable.

00:21:37And I, and, and again, if I, if he just, the way he carries himself, I'm just like, no,

00:21:42this guy's like ready to rock and roll.

00:21:44And I think he's ready for a little bit more responsibility.

00:21:48And I think Joe was going to give it to him.

00:21:49I think he's proven that, um, whether that manifests in the playoffs, we'll see.

00:21:54Doesn't matter right now.

00:21:55I think the regular season Pritchard is going to have a really great season.

00:21:58I mean, I, I would bet right now that he's going to have average double figures in scoring

00:22:03this year.

00:22:04I mean, last year he just missed it.

00:22:05I think this year he's going to eclipse that 11, 12, 13 per game.

00:22:09Um, and he's going to be counted on to really run that second unit.

00:22:13Um, you know, I, the, the way that Boston staggers their guys because they have six

00:22:19starters essentially, they're able to have a J on the floor at all times with a, a Horford

00:22:24and a white or a holiday and a, and a, you know, a KP or a whore, like they're able to

00:22:29stagger everybody.

00:22:31But I do believe that he'll be handed the car keys a little bit more than he was last

00:22:34year and he'll be way more comfortable with it.

00:22:36And he's just going to facilitate a lot more.

00:22:38I'm really excited for him.

00:22:40I'm, I'm, you know, again, you give someone an opportunity to see what they do with it.

00:22:43He's, he's going to run with it.

00:22:44I'm really pumped for him.

00:22:45Yeah.

00:22:46You know, we don't, we don't talk enough about, you know, he's the only Celtic that played

00:22:4982 games last year.

00:22:51It's like, you would think that would be Derek white, but he, you know, he ended up missing,

00:22:55I think 10 or 11.

00:22:58I think what's interesting when you watch him today, we saw flashes of it last year,

00:23:03but when you think of what are his leap areas, I think what you said about initiating offense,

00:23:09especially with that second unit, he looks so much more comfortable running pick and

00:23:13roll today.

00:23:14His patience is much better.

00:23:16And I think now that drew and, you know Derek's on the other, you know, he's about to be on

00:23:22the other side of 30.

00:23:23I think they were right around 32, 33 minutes a game.

00:23:27Pritchard was right around 22, 23.

00:23:30I wouldn't shock me if they go down a minute or two and he goes up a minute or two.

00:23:36So he's living in like that 24 to 25 minute range.

00:23:40And we'll see when he's sharing the court with one of the Jason, that second unit, instead

00:23:45of it being Tatum that initiates all the offense and Pritchard being off ball, it'll

00:23:50be switched.

00:23:51So maybe that can help save the Jay's legs over the course of 82.

00:23:56And they trust Pritchard to be able to create offense aside from just being a catch and

00:24:01shoot spot up shooter, because really that's it, right?

00:24:04Like if he can't provide other areas of offense aside from catch and shoot, you know, threes,

00:24:12it makes him hard to be on the floor if a shot isn't going on, going in.

00:24:18But if he can, if you can trust that he can generate offense, not turn the ball over,

00:24:23create for others.

00:24:24Those are the areas, like if he averaged three assists, 3.5 assists last year, why can't

00:24:29that be four, four and a half this year with an increase, you know, playmaking responsibility.

00:24:35So it's not like he's going to come in, like, you know, be the Malik monk, 20 point per

00:24:40game off the bench, like six men in a year.

00:24:43But I do think he is the last two or three years really grown as a traditional offensive

00:24:50creating point guard who just so happens to have unlimited range and shoot 40%.

00:24:55So it's like if he was 6'6", he'd be a starter on every single team in this league.

00:25:00And I just think his growth is, you know, being that dog defensively and being taking

00:25:05that playmaking leap, especially at a pick and roll, whether it's going to be with Cornette

00:25:10or Kata or, you know, or Tillman, just making sure that they can generate offense in that

00:25:16second unit that isn't three dependent.

00:25:18That's what I want to see his growth be.

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00:26:59Run your game.

00:27:00So my bigger picture thing, guys, that I feel like we've been kind of teasing on the show

00:27:05for a couple of weeks, but I found myself in watching this game earlier, just thinking

00:27:10about it again.

00:27:11And maybe it's the fact that Jalen Brown, you know, he'll have a flashy block or an

00:27:16emphatic dunk.

00:27:17And, you know, we'll see him with those posters every once in a while.

00:27:21It's not that Tatum doesn't do that stuff.

00:27:23He's just a totally different kind of player.

00:27:25And you know, it's Tatum's team.

00:27:27It's a 1A, 1B kind of thing.

00:27:29We talk about that all the time.

00:27:30But these obviously are, you know, together.

00:27:34The stars, the faces, the guys that, you know, jointly led this team to a championship, don't

00:27:40win it without the other, all of that stuff.

00:27:43We've kind of wondered aloud, I guess, which one of these guys, for lack of a better way

00:27:49of putting it, has more to prove, if not to the world, to himself, you know, this coming

00:27:55year, who is going to impact change, who's going to take that much bigger a leap, a step

00:28:01forward in the growth of their individuality as players.

00:28:06And you could make the case that between the two, it should be Tatum, right?

00:28:13The, you know, he he's perennially in the MVP conversation.

00:28:17He wasn't finals MVP.

00:28:19He wasn't conference finals MVP.

00:28:22He had the, you know, yes, he won a gold medal, but he had some level of embarrassment at

00:28:26the Olympics with the multiple DMPs or limited minutes, even in some of the other games that

00:28:31he played versus Brown, obviously, and everything that he went through, where he snubbed from

00:28:35all NBA and he's, you know, hell bent on being all defensive team.

00:28:40He doesn't get invited to the Olympic roster and even get an opportunity to be a DNP.

00:28:46He's just not even there.

00:28:48He doesn't have the medal.

00:28:49And so each of these guys, they've got the chips on their shoulders, obviously coming

00:28:52into the year, which as you know, Missoula has kind of talked about, just thrills him.

00:28:57He's all about that stuff.

00:28:59I watched them though.

00:29:01And maybe it's just this quick reaction, this, this, like, I don't know the, the trigger

00:29:06of the return.

00:29:07Right.

00:29:08But I, I feel like it's Brown and maybe it's, you know, I'm, I'm sort of falling into the

00:29:13man.

00:29:14He comes back and he, he looks huge and he's on the cover at time.

00:29:18And there's the, you know, all this stuff that he's a lot more sort of transparent about

00:29:24some of the off season workouts and work in the pool and all that.

00:29:27It's like some of that stuff is, is a little less showcased in recent years with Tatum

00:29:33than maybe it is with Brown Tatum used to put all the videos and stuff up.

00:29:37We don't see as much of it in anymore.

00:29:40I don't know.

00:29:41I'm rambling.

00:29:42I'm sorry for all the people out there on YouTube that say I talk too much, my show.

00:29:45I can do that.

00:29:46I just think that Brown is, he's the guy Greeny and Evan, I want to know what you guys think.

00:29:52I feel like if either one is bound to take a bigger leap forward this year, I feel like

00:29:57Brown is the one.

00:30:01It's tough because like, I don't think we can frame it anymore as like, what do they

00:30:07have to prove?

00:30:08Because to me, this is what the title ended.

00:30:12It ended all the questions of if they can, will they do, those are done.

00:30:18Now it's almost a transition of, you know, anything else they do in their Celtics career

00:30:25is basically gravy, right?

00:30:27Like if we get the exact same version of Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum that we just saw last

00:30:32year, we know that's good enough to win a championship.

00:30:36So I think we're, we're always just looking for like, that's what's next, right?

00:30:40Like there's areas of their game they can improve, right?

00:30:43Like Tatum can always work on his ball security.

00:30:46Jalen can always work on his free throws.

00:30:48But what I think the reaction post title also showed us is in the national perception, narrative,

00:30:57whatever you want to call it, it's not going to matter if they repeat as champions, right?

00:31:03This was supposed to be, oh, Tatum and Brown need to show us they can win a title.

00:31:07They need to come through, blah, blah, blah, before we give them their respect.

00:31:11Don't you remember, Greeny, that Giannis and Dame showed more cohesion in one game than

00:31:15Tatum and Brown had shown in seven years?

00:31:18So it's like, then, then they put up arguably a top five, six season in the history of the

00:31:26NBA.

00:31:27They win the title.

00:31:29And even still, there wasn't that acceptance because I think people are so tied to the

00:31:35Celtic, the Tatum and Brown Celtics of the past, where they came up short in these loud

00:31:43moments and that just became their, their moniker.

00:31:47But then last season, they broke through that.

00:31:50And I think people struggle coming to grips with that reality.

00:31:54So it's like Tatum could have another all NBA season.

00:31:59He could be more efficient.

00:32:01He's still not going to move up in the MVP list, right?

00:32:05He's going to be in that four to six range.

00:32:08Jaylen Brown could have another insane year.

00:32:10It wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't make all NBA again, because that's just what happens.

00:32:15But I think the comfort is knowing now that they've gotten the title, it's like, I don't

00:32:21have to worry about any of that shit anymore.

00:32:22It's like, just get me to May and that's when things matter.

00:32:27And we've seen them get over the hump.

00:32:29So it's like they could have 10 times better seasons.

00:32:32And I think you're still going to hear the same bullshit around both of them and lack

00:32:37of respect nationally with Team USA, because for whatever reason, with those two players,

00:32:45people are so honed in, like, I feel like they get more flack for the 22 finals loss

00:32:51than they do for the 24 finals win, which makes no sense, but that's just, that's just

00:32:57their reality.

00:32:59I think they're entering their NBA primes and are mature enough to accept that and to

00:33:03say whatever you can say, whatever you want.

00:33:05We're focused on winning and we're focused on on winning multiples.

00:33:09And that's what we as fans should care about.

00:33:12I respectfully disagree, Kaufman, with you.

00:33:14I think I think it's Tatum over Brown.

00:33:16It doesn't even have to be respectful, by the way.

00:33:19There's a playmaking element to Tatum that Brown doesn't have, and Brown's gotten way

00:33:22badder at it.

00:33:23I'm not saying that he's not.

00:33:25That's not what I'm saying here.

00:33:27As you might recall, I've argued for point Tatum for like several years now.

00:33:32I got it in the playoffs and it was exactly what I was looking for.

00:33:35I didn't realize that this is a team he would need to unleash that side of him.

00:33:39But there's a playmaking element to Tatum that there's still more to come here.

00:33:43I mean, he had 12, six and five in 19 minutes.

00:33:47I mean, come on, he's he can what and to go back to the game, make a top goal.

00:33:53What Tatum showed me today is, again, this is a guy that's going to be just a box score

00:33:58stat stuffer.

00:33:59And if the three point shot is fixed, the people that complained about, oh, he doesn't

00:34:05average enough points.

00:34:06He can't be nearly as good as Luca.

00:34:08If the three point shot comes around, then, yeah, he might not score 30 a game.

00:34:12But if he's scoring 29 a game on average with nine to 10 rebounds a game and like six to

00:34:17seven assists a game, he's just going to take another level.

00:34:21He's going to jump up because the two way play is is is remarkable.

00:34:25And Brown is.

00:34:26Wait, wait, wait.

00:34:27First, let me just build off that.

00:34:28Let me ask you something.

00:34:29Sure.

00:34:30So I, I largely agree with all of that.

00:34:33Like for all the people and I'm sure if you know, if you're listening, watching you, like

00:34:37maybe you are one of them.

00:34:38You remember who you are.

00:34:39But but I know the three of us weren't in this category for all the people that were

00:34:42out there that were bitching about Tatum during points of the playoffs saying like, when is

00:34:46he going to whatever, get more selfish?

00:34:48I don't know.

00:34:49But like what we saw from Tatum, and I know you agree with this, Ev, that postseason version

00:34:54of Tatum, other than having trouble with his shot, I'm just talking about stylistically

00:34:57the way he played.

00:34:59That was.

00:35:00That's it.

00:35:01That's that's the Mona Lisa.

00:35:03That's the perfect Jason Tatum.

00:35:05That is the exact Jason Tatum that I want to exist for the rest of his career.

00:35:10No exception.

00:35:11That is that's the guy that is the guy.

00:35:14And so when when you say that, Ev, I agree with everything you just said.

00:35:18I think he can he can even unlock another version of that where he does that that much

00:35:22better.

00:35:23But I guess where I'm coming from, and maybe in some ways we're saying the same thing,

00:35:27this is how I shape the narrative back to me, is is it possible that the way he does

00:35:33that and does it so effing well and so subtly in some ways that it actually unlocks or opens

00:35:42up Jalen Brown for those kind of louder performances, that it becomes more obvious with Brown than

00:35:47it does with Tatum?

00:35:48I mean, it's certainly possible, but one of the things that drove me crazy about the off

00:35:52season is people continuing to downplay how unbelievably special Jason Tatum was during

00:35:58the playoffs.

00:35:59And I just don't understand why people continue to not see the forest of the trees, so to

00:36:06speak.

00:36:07Right.

00:36:08Like this is a guy that played center on defense and point guard on offense.

00:36:10And I can name a handful of guys that could do that NBA history.

00:36:15I mean, there's not a lot of them.

00:36:17And the fact that he's only 26 is insane because he's just going to keep getting better at

00:36:22these things.

00:36:23He's going to take little small increments up.

00:36:26He's going to become more efficient.

00:36:27He's going to be better at it.

00:36:29For me.

00:36:30Yeah.

00:36:31The first the first team on the stuff is is unbelievable.

00:36:34And again, it gives you a great snapshot of he's been a top five player in the league

00:36:39the past three years in a row.

00:36:41But I don't think in the court of public opinion, people think he's a top five player.

00:36:46And it drives me absolutely bananas because, again, we're sickos.

00:36:52We watch every Celtics game.

00:36:54So we have a different perspective than the average lay fan.

00:36:58Right.

00:36:59Where you see Anthony Edwards, his highlights, he's dunking over cars or whatever.

00:37:03He's he's amazing.

00:37:04But there's so much more to that Ant needs to do to get on the level of the guys that

00:37:09are in front of him.

00:37:10And oftentimes, if you talk to a random NBA fan, they think Anthony Edwards is better

00:37:14than Tatum.

00:37:15And it's like, what am I on?

00:37:17Right with NB.

00:37:18Right.

00:37:19People love NB.

00:37:20They watch hustle.

00:37:21I am not.

00:37:22Yeah.

00:37:23Right.

00:37:24I've I've been the one of the biggest again, I love watching him play, but I just don't

00:37:28think you can move the guy like that.

00:37:29And it's the proofs in the pudding at this point.

00:37:31I think Jason Tabor is better than Joel Embiid.

00:37:33And I will keep saying that because Tatum wins the playoffs and does not wins in.

00:37:39And how you impact winning, to me, is the most crucial stat.

00:37:44And in my opinion, Jason Tatum impacts when and this is like such a stupid argument that

00:37:50we're having.

00:37:51It's like this is like this is like no other team is having this argument.

00:37:56Like which one of our young superstars, you guys, what do you think is is.

00:38:01But in my opinion, like we're sitting here trying to like rank our children.

00:38:04Right.

00:38:05I know.

00:38:06Right.

00:38:07It's my favorite kid.

00:38:08Well, this one does really well at school.

00:38:10This one's the better athlete.

00:38:11Right.

00:38:12I just think Tatum, the way Tatum impacts winning is significantly.

00:38:22You can see it more than you can with Brown.

00:38:25And I'm not, this is not a shot at Jalen Brown either.

00:38:27Jalen is awesome.

00:38:28Again, we saw Pete Jalen last year and it's possible we might eclipse that this year.

00:38:33But all the stuff that Tatum is in charge of, how he impacts winning games on both ends

00:38:40of the floor, to me, is still underrated nationally in this league.

00:38:46And it drives me crazy.

00:38:47And I think with the success of last year, and if he can, because everybody cares about

00:38:52scoring for some reason, if he can find a way to just be a little bit better at shooting,

00:38:59Maybe the national narrative will catch up to the way that the three of us feel about

00:39:03how good Jason Tatum is.

00:39:06The guys, there are not that many guys in the NBA in front of him.

00:39:11People will throw you Jokic.

00:39:13Fine.

00:39:14People will say Shea.

00:39:15I'm cool with that.

00:39:16You want to throw Giannis?

00:39:18Totally fine.

00:39:19That's where I stop because of the defensive stuff.

00:39:23I know Luka's amazing on offense and he's a one-of-one type of player.

00:39:28But defense to me matters, and I think it matters to you guys too.

00:39:32And that's where when you get to the fourth best player in the league, I have Tatum and

00:39:38Luka side-by-side, and I show a little bit of my bias when I rank Tatum slightly higher.

00:39:44But with an incredible year from Tatum, I think he could just cement himself in that

00:39:53category and we won't have to talk about it like this anymore.

00:39:56Brainy, join the pod.

00:39:57What do you think?

00:39:58I look at it.

00:40:00It's a tough topic because in my opinion, there's two different Jason Tatums.

00:40:07There's regular season Jason Tatum and there's playoff Jason Tatum.

00:40:11When you look at other superstars in the league, they usually have the same role and responsibility

00:40:18and production in both the regular season and the playoffs.

00:40:22The Wolves use Anthony Edwards the same way in the regular season as they do in the postseason.

00:40:29Luka has the same role and responsibility in the regular season as the postseason.

00:40:33But with Tatum, and based on how the Celtics are structured, you don't see that.

00:40:40He's a legitimate 30, 10, and 6 guy once you get to the playoffs because suddenly his rebounding

00:40:46is way more important.

00:40:48He now becomes the primary point forward offense initiator so his playmaking numbers are higher.

00:40:54So I don't think we'll ever see from a raw production standpoint, Tatum have the numbers

00:41:00that we saw.

00:41:01I mean, he averaged like 32, 10, and 6 against Cleveland.

00:41:05Another 10 rebounds with double digit assists in the finals for a handful of the games.

00:41:12That's not what the regular season Celtics need from him over the course of 82 games.

00:41:17And I think that's where the disconnect comes as a top 5 guy, top 3 guy, because his regular

00:41:24season numbers are great, 25, 26 a game, 8 assists, 3, 4, 5 assists.

00:41:31Those are all NBA numbers, but they're not MVP numbers when you have these high usage

00:41:37players who have the ball all the time.

00:41:39But once we flip to the playoffs, he is every bit as dominant as any MVP player with the

00:41:46production to match.

00:41:47So for us, it's like, okay, during the regular season, let's work on your efficiency.

00:41:52Let's keep your load relatively light.

00:41:54Let's not burn you out.

00:41:56We know the defense is going to be there.

00:41:58But then once we flip to the playoffs, he checks the box of every all-time postseason

00:42:05performer that you could potentially want from an MVP.

00:42:10He's asked to guard centers.

00:42:12He's your leading rebounder.

00:42:13He led the team in points, rebounds, and assists in every round.

00:42:18You can't physically do more for your team than what Jason Tatum just accomplished.

00:42:24But I think because maybe he's shooting 41% and he goes on a shooting slump, people, again,

00:42:31they have this issue and struggle of coming to grips with the Celtics being as good as

00:42:36we've all said they've been this whole year.

00:42:39And now that he's gotten over the hump, it's like, well, now field goal percentage is the

00:42:43most important thing in a playoff series.

00:42:45Since when?

00:42:46Right?

00:42:47Since when has that ever been a thing?

00:42:48But with Tatum, it is.

00:42:49And I just think because he knows and the team uses him in a way that elevates his responsibility,

00:42:57he's the sun in the Celtics system that everything else orbits around.

00:43:03If you were to give Jalen Brown Tatum's role and responsibility, the Celtics would not

00:43:08be as good.

00:43:10That's not what his strengths play to.

00:43:13With Tatum, you can ask him to play any style, guard any position, play any way.

00:43:19You can adapt him to fit that mold.

00:43:22And that's what makes him extremely, extremely unique.

00:43:25And it's why the Celtics have the most wins in the NBA since he joined the team.

00:43:29That's not an accident.

00:43:31Their success isn't just by chance.

00:43:34He is the guy that he is the main cog of the machine.

00:43:39We saw what happened when he got hurt in game seven against Miami.

00:43:43Everything crumbled.

00:43:44We've seen them win playoff games with Tatum and not have other guys.

00:43:49They didn't win many of them, but they won at least one of them.

00:43:52So it's like, I just think because his games are so different and people see more of the

00:43:5882, that's what they think of him as, as opposed to understanding that, like, you're getting

00:44:05a top five player for 82 games, and then you're getting a guy that's going to be the

00:44:09best player on the floor, regardless of who's on it for the 16 wins that matter.

00:44:15Not every MVP candidate can say that.

00:44:17And I think that's what makes the team so good.

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00:46:24Let's get back to the show.

00:46:26Honest question.

00:46:27This to both of you by all means, like if the answer is yes, don't, don't shy away

00:46:33from it.

00:46:34I list, I, as, as time has gone on, maybe I'm just busy, but I don't even think that's

00:46:39it.

00:46:40I think that would be a weird excuse.

00:46:41I think it's just the interest, quite frankly, I consume less and less national and local

00:46:49coverage of the Celtics.

00:46:50And when I say that, I don't mean press conferences or reading articles about the team.

00:46:54I mean, like the talking heads, right.

00:46:56You know, local radio, local TV, national, the Stephen A's of the world, like perk, like

00:47:01whoever, like I'll see crap on, on social media and see what goes viral and I'll notice

00:47:07it.

00:47:08But I'm, I'm not like, I'm even Simmons.

00:47:10Like I'm not, I'm just not consuming this stuff the way that I'm guessing the two of

00:47:14you are.

00:47:15I know Ev is.

00:47:16And I'm guessing you are as well.

00:47:17Greeny.

00:47:18So what we're talking about here, like, is this a dumb topic?

00:47:22I mean, is this just something that I am interested in that I care about, that I think about,

00:47:26is this stupid or is, is this something that goes through other Celtics fans heads?

00:47:32I don't think you're stupid, right?

00:47:33I think it is.

00:47:34I think it's legitimate to be like, all right, based off a season of disrespect, who who's

00:47:39going to come back with more of a vengeance and stuff like that.

00:47:42But I think now that we've gone through hell and we've reached the top of the mountain,

00:47:47I think the days of the Tatum versus Brown debates, those are dead.

00:47:53Those are deader than dead.

00:47:55Now it's like, I think this is going to be a really interesting year because we've never

00:48:02had a season where they've accomplished what we all wanted them to accomplish, right?

00:48:08The pressure to win is gone.

00:48:10The uncertainty, can they play this style and win?

00:48:14Is Missoula the guy?

00:48:15Do Tatum and Brown work?

00:48:17Those are all gone.

00:48:19So I think it's going to take people maybe a little while to come up with a new set of

00:48:25things to doubt because, did people have those debates during the Warriors dynasty?

00:48:30I don't know.

00:48:31I wasn't in Golden State, but it's like, at some point it's okay to just say, after 16

00:48:38years of infighting and pitting them against each other, maybe it could be nice to just

00:48:45enjoy the ride and be like, holy shit, this is the most dominant team in the sport.

00:48:50And they're set up for success for a long time.

00:48:53So I think it's going to take, we're so conditioned to view them in a certain way where this is

00:48:59all new to everybody, right?

00:49:02I've never entered a season with less stress than I have this year because while it would

00:49:08be awesome if they went back to back, if they don't, whatever, I've already seen them do

00:49:13it.

00:49:14And I know they can do it.

00:49:15So maybe they just got a bad break, who knows?

00:49:18Whereas if they had come up short again last year, think of the pressure and how uneasy

00:49:23we would all feel with Porzingis now being hurt, you know, with Bejula.

00:49:29I'm not even sure Tatum and Brown would still be on the roster.

00:49:32That's what I'm saying.

00:49:33So it's like, we've never entered a year where it's like, we don't have to worry about Tatum

00:49:39and Brown.

00:49:40We don't have to worry about the coach or the system.

00:49:42The only thing we have to worry about is health, right?

00:49:45Did you guys see Jalen on the Hot Ones?

00:49:47They said, the Celtics will repeat if, and he said, if we stay healthy.

00:49:52That's literally the only thing we have to worry about, debate, and we can't even control

00:49:58that.

00:49:59So it's like, I don't know.

00:50:00I'm excited just for a stress-free year of just, you know, because last year they crushed

00:50:05everyone and it was awesome.

00:50:07But you also had that underlying fear of like, oh Christ, what if they're the only team in

00:50:12NBA history to do what they've done and not win the title?

00:50:15Well then they did.

00:50:16So now it's like, we can just go bell to ass and enjoy it and not have to have that underlying

00:50:21uncertainty.

00:50:22Yeah.

00:50:23I mean, I, in terms of the national stuff, I, again, I think I don't listen to a lot

00:50:29of talking heads.

00:50:30I listen to, I try to consume smart people and, you know, talking about things.

00:50:35And unfortunately now that JJ's gone and coaching the Lakers, that's one asset that we don't

00:50:41have anymore.

00:50:42Cause I did enjoy JJ's pod, but you know, if you listen to the people that are smart

00:50:45about things and, you know, I would consider JJ, one of them, Tim Legler, another one like,

00:50:49you know, Simmons has great guests on and Simmons has great opinions himself.

00:50:53Back low eventually again.

00:50:54Yeah.

00:50:55So like, you know, a lot of the people that really dive deep into things know how good

00:50:59this team is.

00:51:00And, and, and I'm like with Greeny, like this is going to be the most enjoyable season probably

00:51:04of my life.

00:51:05Like, this is going to be so great.

00:51:06And again, to go back to last season, it was none of this matters.

00:51:11It was the regular season.

00:51:12And I was, this definitely matters.

00:51:13Like it's crazy to me that we're just going to poo poo literally everything they're doing

00:51:20because we'll see what happens to the playoffs.

00:51:22Now, again, it's, it's green.

00:51:23He said, we don't have to worry about that anymore.

00:51:25And all I have to do now, Kaufman is worry about, you know, the, the killer whale offense

00:51:29as they attack seals all over the place.

00:51:31And I think the, my favorite thing that has come out of the past couple of days is like,

00:51:36who was the biggest seal in the NBA for this something to see here, who'd they pick out?

00:51:40Who do they hunt the most on offense?

00:51:42And that just gets you back to Missoula too, where I'm just like, that guy's my favorite

00:51:45maniac of all time.

00:51:46Like the fact that he's looking at soccer and, and the, the killer whale you know, they're,

00:51:53they're feeding habits.

00:51:54Like this is a guy that's just next level.

00:51:56I love everything about this team.

00:51:57I love everything that's come out about this team the past couple of days and today's game,

00:52:02Friday's game just emphasized everything.

00:52:04This is going to be a fun year.

00:52:05I'm thrilled.

00:52:06We're getting started boys.

00:52:07It's going to be a good time.

00:52:08I will say we should all set the expectation.

00:52:11Like last year, Celtics essentially touched God.

00:52:15Like we may not see them to the level that we saw last year.

00:52:21I think it's possible they could eclipse it, but I don't think they're going to have more

00:52:26virtually, virtually nothing went wrong last year.

00:52:30Right?

00:52:31Like that's, I think if you were to go three games, the entire season, they only lost two

00:52:35games in a row.

00:52:36Like forcing his missed time, but he came back like 12 and two on back to backs with

00:52:43no Al Horford, no more than two losses in a row.

00:52:47Most playoffs were never stressful, like enrolled the best, like they'll be dominant, right?

00:52:53Healthy.

00:52:54But I just think what we saw, you go your entire life and never see statistically a

00:53:00season like what they just accomplished, like in the history of the NBA.

00:53:03So I think, you know, that's important off the jump, but everything else in terms of

00:53:07just like how they stack up compared to the rest of the league, there's still a huge gap

00:53:13no matter what anybody else did this summer.

00:53:16Okay.

00:53:17You went from a 14 game lead to a nine game lead.

00:53:20Like that's still a freaking Grand Canyon, you know, size difference.

00:53:23So I just, I'm interested to see barring health.

00:53:27It doesn't sound like they're going to be complacent, but you know, what happens if

00:53:32their owners successful, like they were 31 and six or something crazy without Porzingis.

00:53:37What if that's 23 and 13 or something, you know, like how did they handle that now they

00:53:44very well may show up and be just as dominant and we are truly witnessing like a top three

00:53:50team of all time.

00:53:51That's all possible.

00:53:52But I just think it's more going to be my interest is if they aren't as historic and

00:54:00they're not up by 20 in the first quarter of every game they play, what's the adjustment

00:54:06going to be like, how, how is their mentality going to shift and everything we've seen and

00:54:10heard from them says it'll be fine and there's no reason to worry.

00:54:14But if I were to come up with a list of concerns, given how stacked they are, it's things won't

00:54:22go as smoothly as it did last year.

00:54:25And you know, now with this added motivation of them being the champs and teams giving

00:54:30them their best shot, like, you know, no two seasons are ever alike.

00:54:34And I just think we're very quick to assume that it will be.

00:54:38And maybe this is just my PTSD of Celtics seasons past, but I'm just, you know, the

00:54:43Celtics were rolling until KG went up for an alley oop in Utah and then it ruined their

00:54:48season.

00:54:49So like, you're always one of those moments away from things being drastically different.

00:54:54But other than that, I mean, they're going to be a wagon reading before we wrap this

00:54:58show up.

00:54:59And I do want to wrap it up in a couple of minutes.

00:55:00Cause we've been going for a little while here.

00:55:02People have attention spans and, and you know, you have a life that we want to let you get

00:55:06back to here.

00:55:07Obviously the Celtics open up their season on October 22nd at home, their garden versus

00:55:14the team from the other garden, the New York Knicks, the new look, New York Knicks who

00:55:18now have Carl Anthony towns.

00:55:20We were talking about it because it was right after the trade with Adam Himmelsbach last

00:55:23week.

00:55:24What are your impressions of what New York is going to look like?

00:55:27Because I had just the ultimate respect for that team last year, you know, especially

00:55:33had they been healthy, which, you know, just decimated by injury after injury as that season

00:55:37went along in the playoffs, that ultimately was their downfall against the Pacers.

00:55:41But now they've changed things up a bit.

00:55:44You know, there's no Randall, though he had trouble staying on the floor.

00:55:48There's no DiVincenzo, you know, the Villanova boys thing has taken a hit and you have towns

00:55:53who's arguably a really good fit and a guy who's, you know, I'm always weary of what

00:55:59sort of the year one grass is always greener, new scenery, narrative situations.

00:56:05And so he's going to be looking to prove something to people, obviously.

00:56:09What does this look like?

00:56:10Are the Knicks unquestionably to you the biggest threat in the East?

00:56:15No, I still respect a healthy Giannis more than than any other, you know, adversary in

00:56:22the East.

00:56:23I just, you know, he's done it.

00:56:25We've seen it.

00:56:26His motor is insane.

00:56:27So if if he's healthy, then, you know, there's still there's still a formidable opponent

00:56:32with the Knicks.

00:56:33It's interesting because offensively, I think everyone can like we all see the spacing advantage.

00:56:40The three point shooting is going to help.

00:56:42It's going to help create more ways for Brunson to get into the paint where he's probably

00:56:46the most effective paint scorer since 2016 Isaiah.

00:56:51He just doesn't matter whether it's white or holiday, like he's still got off against

00:56:55them and went for 30 plus.

00:56:57So with added spacing, I think that's really going to help them.

00:57:01But when I think of what made playing the Knicks so tough, it's not stopping Brunson

00:57:04offensively.

00:57:06It's their toughness and their offensive rebounding.

00:57:09And they lose Hartenstein, which was who was an insane offensive rebounder.

00:57:14They lose DiVincenzo, who was just a tough, hard-nosed player.

00:57:18And I think for them, it's going to be the question of, is this going to be a season

00:57:23where chemistry ends up being more important than talent?

00:57:27I think we all remember the 2018-19 Celtics that were loaded with talent, but their chemistry

00:57:33wasn't, wasn't it just did not did not give you what you needed to win at a high level.

00:57:40On the flip side, we now saw this Celtics team with elite talent and elite chemistry

00:57:45and what that did for them.

00:57:47So I worry that they may be harder to stop defensively because now you have to worry

00:57:53about one of the best shooting big men and the legit low post scoring threat in towns.

00:57:59But defensively, I now see two guys that you can attack, right?

00:58:04What makes the Celtics so good, and if you're going to beat them four out of seven times,

00:58:09you have to find a way to attack a defensive lineup that has zero holes.

00:58:14Pick a name of who you want to attack on the Celtics defensively.

00:58:17You can't.

00:58:18Whereas with the Knicks, you now have to hide Brunson and you have to hide Towns.

00:58:23Well, why wouldn't I just put the both of them in pick and rolls until they prove they

00:58:28can stop it?

00:58:29And the playoffs when things slow down are all about, can you present a challenge that

00:58:35your opponent cannot solve?

00:58:37And it's not a, it's not a, a strategy or a system thing.

00:58:43Jalen Brunson is 5'10", 5'9".

00:58:46That's never going to change.

00:58:47It's the same issues we see with Peyton Pritchard.

00:58:50He's in you defensively and he's a dog, but he's 5'8", 5'9".

00:58:54You're just going to shoot over him.

00:58:56So if I think of in a playoff series, there's more ways to attack the Knicks than there

00:59:01was pre-trade.

00:59:03And then you have to factor in all the chemistry issues of, you know, did they just get rid

00:59:07of their toughness, their energy, their guts, their grit, the things that made them like,

00:59:12they're kind of like the Bridgie Celtics were like, they were good and they tried

00:59:17hard as shit for 48 minutes, over 82 games.

00:59:21And you can win 50 games like that during the regular season.

00:59:24But in a playoff series, what happened when it came time to win and get over the hump

00:59:28talent Trump saw?

00:59:30And I just don't know if they still have the talent.

00:59:33Wanted on the record.

00:59:34I'm at clip it for June.

00:59:37I'm not worried about the Bucs at all.

00:59:39I have entered year after year with the Bucs being the number one fear for me in the Eastern

00:59:44Conference.

00:59:45Overall, it's been Denver, but in the East, specifically the Bucs.

00:59:49Talked about it a little bit, a little bit with Himmelsbach last week.

00:59:52It's it's no, I'm not.

00:59:55It's it's the Knicks.

00:59:57Even to some degree, it's the Sixers, depending on how it looks with Paul George there.

01:00:00I have my skepticism of Embiid, which is well-documented on this show.

01:00:05I'm not worried about the Bucs.

01:00:06Love and respect Giannis.

01:00:08Really do.

01:00:09I just don't think he and Dame are a good fit.

01:00:11I think there are two alphas that that, you know, can't necessarily coexist.

01:00:18And I, I certainly don't believe in Doc in in guiding that ship to the promised land.

01:00:22And you know, Middleton's getting old.

01:00:24I just, I don't, I don't, I don't like it going to play to start the year, which is

01:00:28I think the bigger issue here.

01:00:30But I, to Greeny's point, Giannis 50 burger is always on.

01:00:34I have to respect it.

01:00:35Like if you have a Larry, I have to respect you by default if you have a Larry and he's

01:00:41got one.

01:00:42So he's as good as it gets.

01:00:44And I'm with Greeny a little bit on that.

01:00:46Like I, I don't care what the roster looks like.

01:00:49He's still capable of going for 50 every game and the way he gets officiated is like torture.

01:00:54So I'll never, never stop fearing Giannis.

01:00:57I will never stop fearing that deer.

01:00:59No question.

01:01:00All right.

01:01:01Well, we're going to step aside and let everyone get back to whatever you're doing with your

01:01:05day, your night, your morning, whenever you are listening to us, we greatly appreciate

01:01:09it.

01:01:10Again, search the Celtics beat podcast, wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Pandora,

01:01:14you name it.

01:01:15We are there.

01:01:16We thank you very much.

01:01:17Obviously the one and Oh, preseason want to know Celtics get back at it Sunday morning,

01:01:2310 AM Eastern one more with the Denver nuggets on MBTA TV or NBC sports, Boston from Abu Dhabi.

01:01:30And then it's Stateside for three more beginning October 12th against the Sixers back-to-back

01:01:36with the Raptors.

01:01:37And then October 22nd at TD garden, they're home for now until a new owner decides to

01:01:42move them out to the suburbs to face the New York Knicks for Evan Valenti.

01:01:47I'm Adam Kaufman.

01:01:48Of course, Dan Greenberg, barstool sports, barstool, Greeny joining us, Greeny.

01:01:52Thanks so much, bud.

01:01:53We'll talk again soon.

01:01:54Hi guys.

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Pritchard Shines in Abu Dhabi, Bigger Role Coming? w Dan Greenberg | Celtics Beat

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