Brian Barrett hosts "Off the Pike" on The Ringer Podcast Network. Brian joins the program to discuss the Boston Celtics troubles against the Atlanta Hawks, what's different about Jaylen and Jayson this year, and a quick preview of Celtics-Cavaliers coming next week.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Celtics beat is brought to you by price picks and the game time app.
00:07What's up, everyone?
00:07Happy Friday, at least as we sit here and record it.
00:10Maybe you're catching it over the weekend or the show in obviously
00:14podcast form or video form on the CLNS YouTube page early in the week.
00:18Whichever the case, we thank you for being here, listening, watching.
00:21However, you are consuming the content.
00:23Adam Kaufman, Evan Valente.
00:25We are joined by Brian Barrett host the ringers off the pike podcast and
00:30great to have Brian back here with us.
00:32We didn't even realize it.
00:34Like, I mean, we've done each other's shows and talking to have the other
00:37day.
00:38Who should we have?
00:38Honestly, man, it's been a while from Barrett and my holy crap.
00:41It has been months.
00:42I think since Barrett has joined us.
00:44So while we sit and we wait for the Red Sox to sign one Soto, let's talk
00:49a little bit about no, not going to happen.
00:51Heads are shaking.
00:52Let's talk a little bit about no, no, better than that.
00:58How you doing, Barrett?
00:59What's up?
01:00I'm doing well, fellas.
01:02You know, we all three of us know that Juan Soto is not going to play for
01:06the Red Sox.
01:06I think we all know this.
01:07We can.
01:08Didn't you see that video of him dancing at the wedding or whatever it
01:10was with Pedro Martinez and Jason Veritech?
01:13I mean, if it bread wasn't broken there, I don't know when it will be
01:18better chance Soto to the Sox or John Henry buys the Celtics.
01:22Soto to the Sox.
01:26Soto.
01:26Yeah, I think so.
01:29That's not what I expected that one to go.
01:31I thought it was going to be like Soto to the Sox or Patriots to make
01:35the playoffs, something like that.
01:37Yeah, I don't think anybody wants John Henry to buy the Celtics at this
01:41particular juncture, but the Juan Soto thing, I can't get myself excited
01:46for it, even though they had a three-hour meeting, which I'm thinking
01:49to myself, why do they need to meet for three meetings?
01:52Or for three hours?
01:53What are they talking about for three hours?
01:55Like, hey, this is how we this is how we do not to cut you off.
01:59But I was reading an article and and in there it said that they met
02:02for three hours, but they never discussed money.
02:04So like I want to start with money if I'm Soto.
02:08All right, like let's not waste each other's time.
02:11What are you thinking?
02:12Here's what I'm thinking.
02:13Let's see if this is even realistic.
02:16Yeah, you know, what's hilarious about this whole thing is they
02:19stopped negotiating with Mookie at 300 million and whether you
02:24believe Mookie just never wanted to be here and he wanted to leave.
02:26I mean, people have that perception, but the point being is they
02:29stopped at 300, right?
02:31So Mookie is making around 30 million dollars per season.
02:34These guys, it's unbelievable how poorly they read the market.
02:37Juan Soto wants to deal until he's 39.
02:40It's going to start at 40 million.
02:41Like that's the low.
02:42Like there's a chance he gets 50 million dollars, right?
02:45Aaron Judge has already signed for 40 million dollars on that long-term
02:49extension.
02:50So actually, if you think about it, I know this sounds crazy to say
02:52for a guy that's making 365 mil, but for a guy that most of the time
02:57plays as a top five player in the sport, as long as he's healthy, Mookie
03:00is going to be drastically underpaid once Soto gets his money.
03:04And of course, Judge already got it.
03:07Yeah.
03:07I mean, look, we talk about that in the NBA all the time, you know,
03:10whenever someone gets a big fat new deal when Jalen Brown, you know,
03:14a year ago was the highest paid player in the NBA.
03:18And we had to have the whole conversation again about it's not
03:20about the dollars.
03:21It's about percentage of cap and yada, yada, yada with the TV deals.
03:25And as the money goes up, you're going to look back in a few years
03:27and you're going to say that he's on a bargain contract or like
03:30Peyton Pritchard.
03:31He's on a bargain call that and it's but it's true.
03:34The money only goes up.
03:35The money is never going down.
03:37That's that's not the way this works.
03:38And so yeah, at a certain point in time and we're far enough removed
03:42from someone like a Mookie Beth signing that new contract a handful
03:45of years ago now that you can look at it that way.
03:48It's it's depressing but you know, you can't help but be happy for
03:54him obviously because he probably even had he signed with Boston
03:58stuck around, you know, wouldn't have a couple more World Series
04:00championships in his back pocket.
04:02So, you know, I obviously he chose right but look, it's a basketball
04:06show for people that have either fast-forwarded or already already
04:10turned things off.
04:11Let's let's talk about the Celtics.
04:13The fourth best team in the NBA record wise.
04:16I am giving them that slander that treatment because that's what
04:19happens when you dick around with the Atlanta Hawks and lose a game
04:24that you were favored by like 1516 points going in.
04:28I mean, they've three losses on the year.
04:29You want to lose to the Pacers and overtime?
04:32Okay.
04:32I mean should have won that game but it happens, you know, fall to
04:35the Warriors.
04:36Look Steph was out of his mind and and Golden State is is to be
04:40taken seriously at least at this moment.
04:42We'll see about down the line.
04:44You don't lose that game to the Hawks.
04:46That was irritating.
04:47It was just it was just irritating.
04:49Now.
04:49I know ab does, you know, wants to lie.
04:51I'm not going to bitch about it for the, you know, duration like
04:54you want to though.
04:55I mean might as well get off your chest off.
04:56I want to because it was well, I want to because it cost me money
05:00but putting that aside it it just I want to see.
05:06I don't want to see the playing with the food like you're going
05:08to lose games and you're going to you know, you're going to
05:11you're going to fall it like regular most regular season games
05:15at this stage.
05:16I understand the big picture of it all don't really matter.
05:20It all adds up over time.
05:21You're going to get your seating whatever it is.
05:23They don't care for the number one.
05:24I don't care if they're the number one seed like I don't need
05:27them to win every game and I realize it wasn't a blowout.
05:30They only lost by, you know, one point which credit to me go
05:35For you know, for being a true Celtics employee, but you know
05:39coming on after and doing he mentioned that in terms of the NBA
05:44Cup, like if you're going to lose point differentials important.
05:48They only lost by one yet fine, and I don't care about the winning
05:52the NBA Cup.
05:53That is not important to me at all.
05:55It's like it doesn't even begin to register to me.
05:58I don't even care about the NBA Cup let alone which games are
06:01NBA Cup games and which ones are not.
06:04I just want to see them so like don't look stale, you know from
06:08the jump and have to play catch-up or conversely have a big lead
06:12and then, you know, sort of take your foot off the gas and get
06:16complacent down the stretch and all of a sudden when you have
06:18to snap back into action and take things seriously again, it's
06:22sort of too late.
06:23Yes.
06:23That was a winnable game.
06:24They had an opportunity at the buzzer and they didn't do it,
06:26but it was it was just an irritating loss.
06:29They bounce back.
06:30They demolished the nets.
06:31I'm not worried about Boston or anything like that just to be
06:34perfectly clear to anyone out there watching or listening.
06:37There are just certain games that as you're watching them are
06:40a little aggravating and I think as I am within the right, I
06:43know you do your whole social media thing.
06:45I don't want to hear people complaining about singular games
06:47and but look singular games are going to be annoying.
06:51Yeah, but I alone here Barrett do you feel that way when you're
06:54watching these things?
06:55You're often doing postgame shows.
06:57Well for me, I gave myself 24 hours to kind of be upset about
07:01that game because it was crazy to me.
07:03Joe Missoula always talks about the margins, right?
07:06And the Celtics got outshot by 25 field goal attempts in that
07:09game. It's very difficult to win.
07:11So they gave up 20 offensive rebounds, which Houston is first
07:14in the league at 15.3.
07:16It's almost five more points in the paint 68 Memphis is number
07:19one in 60.3 and turnovers 20 Utah averages the most in the
07:24league.
07:24They're just under 19.
07:26So they were the worst turnover team basically in that game
07:29worst in terms of giving offensive rebounds and worse in
07:31points in the paint yet.
07:33They still had a chance to win at the end of the game and all
07:36these things happened, right?
07:37When you think about the fact that Dyson Daniels has that
07:40shot that he misses and Okonkwo puts it back in to give them
07:43the lead drew holiday throws the ball into Tatum Tatum can't
07:46make the catch.
07:47You have a turnover in that particular situation even before
07:50that Jalen Johnson late in the game loses his shoe yet still
07:54gets his own offensive rebound kicks it out to Larry Nance
07:57who somehow at every three that he took in that particular
08:00game.
08:01So I was upset just because all these things were happening
08:03and they couldn't figure it out.
08:04Just hate one stop right defensively or let's not turn it
08:08over this time or let's not have an offensive rebound and
08:12you win that game, right?
08:13So that was the aggravated part.
08:15I also think that this team that Atlanta team is more difficult
08:18to play without Trey young because there isn't the Celtics
08:21are so good at mismatch hunting.
08:22There wasn't that guy like Tyson Daniels is an awesome defender
08:25like he's got a chance to be in the conversation for defensive
08:27player the area had six deals.
08:29He leads the NBA in sales per game.
08:31But the thing that I look at is how do you respond?
08:34Right?
08:34So like I said, obviously as somebody that wants to see this
08:37team win, I'm aggravated after the game but against the next
08:40those same numbers offensive rebounds.
08:42The Nets had three the Pacers are last at 8.2 points in the
08:45paint. The Nets in that game at 40.
08:48The Celtics are actually less than the NBA 40.8 turnovers.
08:52They gave up.
08:53They had only a UK OKC is first at 11.8.
08:57So basically everything they did wrong the previous night.
09:01They realized like we didn't respect our opponent Peyton
09:04Pritchard.
09:04I love the fact that he like took responsibility for it
09:07saying I need to bring the energy.
09:09So you're going to have these losses throughout the course
09:12of an NBA season.
09:13My whole theory now with it because we've seen what they
09:16can ultimately do win a championship.
09:18I'm only giving myself 24 hours to get upset about one loss
09:22in less.
09:23It's like now we see this trend throughout the season where
09:26it's like, hey, they've lost three or four games like what's
09:28going on with the Celtics at that point.
09:30Maybe I'll be more concerned, but I love the bounce back
09:33against Brooklyn.
09:34And that's the important part.
09:35The important part is they came back and they righted the
09:38ship and they did not going to miss a beat.
09:40And this is why it kills me when people overreact to one
09:44loss and we did it last year and it drove me crazy and it
09:49was a mixture of oh nothing in the regular season matters.
09:52But like when they lose a game, it's like the end of the
09:55world.
09:55Okay, this year.
09:57I'm not allowing people to do this because last year I think
10:00everybody got lost in the you know, they haven't proven it
10:04yet.
10:05So none of this stuff matters and we lost in the on all of
10:07that conversation and it's I've been trying to do a hammer
10:10home between the end of last season the offseason and now
10:14this season.
10:15We just did not acknowledge how historically great that team
10:18was last year until it was done and I am not allowing people
10:21to do that this year.
10:22This is a this I like Barrett's rule, but you get 24 hours.
10:27I gave myself like 12 minutes was like, yeah, you know all
10:31the turnovers really bugged me the offensive rebounding.
10:35I think I had a bigger issue with because that sometimes like
10:38an effort thing and that was it.
10:41I was like you had the next day you had people on our own
10:43network off and saying they have a championship hangover.
10:46Are they like are they just rolling through the season and
10:49I'm like, what are we talking about?
10:50You had people on run, you know, sports talk radio, which
10:53is this is their job.
10:55It works of being like, you know, the Celtics, you know, again,
10:58they have the hangover.
10:59Are they just sleepwalking through the season?
11:01I'm like they lost a game.
11:02They're going to lose probably 19 more of these.
11:05It's going to be okay.
11:07All that matters is the health of the team in the process
11:11of by which they go and do things and the process is mostly
11:16fine. And again having the Nets the next night a good team
11:20like the Nets are good.
11:21That's are fun to watch.
11:22They definitely know who they are.
11:23They right of the ship.
11:24They're great.
11:25Jason Jalen.
11:26Everybody looks awesome.
11:27So I'm not allowing people I will not allow this people to
11:34overreact to one game sample sizes when just like stuff
11:39happens like you're going to like credit the the Hawks for
11:44ramping up their defense Dyson Daniels who I believe had three
11:49straight games of six deals or more, which is pretty awesome.
11:53Like he's been a kind of a game wrecker.
11:55They do done real give credit to the Hawks.
11:58They had a great plan.
11:59Also understand in a seven game series.
12:02They would get smoked.
12:04This team would kill them.
12:06But hey, like also and this is like kind of Joe Missoula
12:09SP.
12:09Like hey, like take the time and say like, oh, this is a way
12:13other teams might try and beat us later in the season.
12:16Let's make sure we have an answer for that.
12:17Next time.
12:18We see a defensive coverage like this like and you have to
12:22take it as that was an opportunity for a team to show us
12:25where we're weak and opportunity for us to make some changes
12:28before like games really actually matter here.
12:30So I am not Kaufman.
12:32I'm not letting you hijack this episode trying to you know,
12:35this is the sky is falling because the team loss of one
12:38falling.
12:38I never said the sky is falling.
12:40Although I do like what Barrett brought up about Peyton
12:42Pritchard because while I certainly do not like it is
12:45laughable.
12:46I don't hold Peyton Pritchard accountable for you know,
12:50a one-point loss.
12:51He's like your sixth most important player or whatever it
12:55is. So that's fine.
12:57But in fairness, he did have a crappy game and it's very
13:00rare that Pritchard has a crappy game.
13:03And I mean he shot two for eight all from three obviously
13:06and he only had six points that was sandwiched in between
13:08games that he had 23 18 20 60 like he is a consistent scoring
13:14presence.
13:15He's averaging 16 points a game off the bench.
13:18And so it does highlight that, you know, look they've lost
13:21a couple of games when Pritchard's been just fine like
13:23they, you know, he had 16 against the Warriors on 5 and
13:2613 shooting.
13:27They lost that game.
13:28He had, you know, 16 points similarly against the Pacers
13:32and that overtime loss.
13:34So it's you're certainly not looking at Peyton Pritchard's
13:36direction when you lose that game, but there is a part of
13:39me and again, don't hold him responsible.
13:41But there's a part of me since Barrett brought it up that
13:44does say man Pritchard makes one more bucket you in that
13:47game like it wasn't uncharacteristically bad game for for
13:50Peyton Pritchard where you know, like these games were normal
13:53for him last year, you know, it was it was a little more
13:56abnormal that he had 16 18 20 points.
13:58That's kind of the norm at this point.
14:00They're there.
14:01He is the leader of that second unit and scoring at a productive
14:05consistent clip.
14:06And so when he has that that blip on the radar of only six
14:09eight points or whatever it may be Boston is sort of in a
14:13situation where oh, okay.
14:14Well, they might win in spite of it and you know, they've
14:17got enough weapons, but maybe that is kind of a difference
14:20making thing just something to pay attention to maybe going
14:23forward. But the other thing the whole championship hangover
14:25thing there are just certain.
14:30Phrases in sports for lack of a better way of putting it.
14:33I don't know about you guys, but I just fundamentally disagree
14:36with like in the NFL.
14:37You probably talk about this all the time Barrett on your
14:39show. Look ahead spots like the you know, the Chiefs aren't
14:44taking the Broncos seriously because they got the bills next.
14:48I don't believe in look ahead spots.
14:49A lot of people out there do I think it's dumb.
14:52You're like you play 17 games in the regular season.
14:54I think you're taking all your opponents seriously, you know
14:57and in the NBA or whatever the sport I don't believe in a
15:01championship hangover.
15:03I certainly don't believe in a championship hangover for a
15:05team that we spent the entire offseason talking about all
15:07the different new things that are going to be motivating
15:10them, you know between the Olympic snubs are not getting
15:13this MVP or that all NBA or that whatever it like it's it's
15:17dumb like either a team and this team this does not apply
15:21just to be perfectly clear about that.
15:22This team, you know, is the fourth best record percentage-wise
15:25in the NBA is off to what a nine and three start this team
15:28is good.
15:29It's great.
15:29It's going to continue to be great.
15:31But if a team comes in and limping into the next season off
15:34a championship, maybe you've made some changes to your
15:37roster or maybe somebody is hurt or maybe you just suck but
15:42I don't think that all of a sudden like they're they offseason
15:47wasn't long enough championship hangover like it's stupid.
15:50It doesn't mean you're automatically going to win a championship
15:53the next year.
15:54It's very difficult to go back to back and have that sustained
15:57run for all of those months and the extra two months in the
15:59postseason and it's incredibly impressive when teams put
16:02those runs together like the aforementioned Chiefs chasing
16:05a third straight championship, but let's like I think if we
16:09could put while we're putting things aside of if we could cast
16:12aside the the notion of a championship hangover Barrett, that
16:16would be wonderful.
16:18Yeah.
16:18Well, I would just say this is look across the league right
16:21now, right?
16:21There is what four or five teams that came out of the gates
16:24where they're ready to go.
16:25Okay sees rolling and they're now dealing with this Chet
16:29injury.
16:30The Cavaliers have been awesome to start the season and Golden
16:33State has sort of been a surprise.
16:34They've been really good.
16:35Look at the Knicks.
16:36They've been a dumpster fire as great as Carl Anthony Towns
16:38is from an offensive perspective.
16:41He's just as bad defensively.
16:42The numbers with him on the court are terrible in the ninth
16:45percentile and he by the numbers is the worst rim protector
16:47in the NBA.
16:49The Philadelphia 76ers have a real situation with what's going
16:52on with Joel Embiid.
16:53Look at Minnesota, right?
16:54A team that just made it to the conference finals.
16:57They just dropped back to back games to Portland and look
16:59at the Dallas Mavericks.
17:01I mean the Dallas Mavericks have not been good to start
17:03the season either.
17:04So I think when you look at this Celtics team in particular,
17:07you mentioned Pritchard.
17:09This is a guy that is averaging more points per game than
17:12the player that the Knicks gave up five first-round picks
17:15for in McHale Bridges.
17:17Okay.
17:17So when I look at this team, we see improvement across the
17:20board. Pritchard is better than he was last year.
17:22Look at Tatum.
17:23Tatum is the only guy in the NBA right now that is in the
17:26top five and free throw attempts and made threes per game.
17:30You look at Derek White and Peyton Pritchard.
17:32There's five players in the league that are taking nine threes
17:34per game and hitting 40% of them.
17:36So two of the five are on the Celtics and Peyton Pritchard
17:39and Derek White. Jaylen Brown, number three in the NBA in
17:42transition points per game.
17:43And how about this?
17:44He is up to eight free throws per game and I know he missed
17:48some critical ones.
17:49He took 4.3 last year.
17:51This is Celtics team that is now in the top 10 in free throws
17:55per game compared to the bottom 10 that they were last year
17:58and they're actually their whole idea of shooting more threes.
18:02It's on a totally different level.
18:03I mean, you look at the attempts.
18:05They're 50.4.
18:06Charlotte's second and 44.9.
18:08It's more than a five attempt gap.
18:10The makes 18.8.
18:12The Warriors are 16.1.
18:14I was talking about this on my pod with Michael Pina the other
18:17day. 244 made threes.
18:20So 732 points, if my math is correct, and their opponents
18:23hit 163, 489.
18:25So we're 11 games in and they've outscored their opponents by
18:28243 points from the three-point line.
18:31This is like historically unbelievable stuff in a league.
18:35Pina made a great point.
18:36Like everybody's now taking threes.
18:38Everybody's trying to take threes and they're still taking
18:39way more for threes than everybody else.
18:41So I've been encouraged by what we've seen from the team.
18:44We've seen improvement from Tatum.
18:45He's much more efficient than he was last year.
18:47We've seen improvement from Jaylen.
18:49Derek White has a legitimate bonafide all-star case.
18:52Not just like, hey, look at the advanced metrics.
18:54Look at the on-off numbers.
18:55Like he's averaging 20 points a game on ridiculous efficiency,
18:58right? Peyton Pritchard plus 6,000 to win six men of the year
19:01before the season.
19:03Now he's the favorite.
19:04My only concern really quite frankly with this team besides
19:06health because of course at some point they're going to get
19:08the Unicorn back who hasn't played a game for this team.
19:11My only concern is like Al at times looks a little bit slower.
19:16I mean the numbers with him on the court defense lane at the
19:19rim have not been good.
19:19That's my only like little concern because we saw what happened,
19:23how good he was in the postseason.
19:24But I truly believe that Al will be able to dial it up when
19:27it's necessary.
19:28I mean, and this is all with Hauser finally hit three threes
19:31in a game because he was dealing with an injury.
19:32He did that against Brooklyn.
19:33So I think if anything this team is not hung over at all from
19:38the championship.
19:38I think they're ready to go.
19:40And I quite frankly think this is a better version of the team
19:42we saw last year.
19:44We're going to take one quick break.
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21:29Let's get back to the show.
21:32Yeah, we don't really know that until KP comes back when you
21:35see this Death Star that's fully operational and we got a little
21:39bit of an update today during some of the press conference
21:43stuff that they've had so far today.
21:46I believe Missoula said today, this is it comes from everybody,
21:51but I'll read Bobby Manning's just because it's just right
21:53in front of me.
21:54Well, Chris Epperson is in advance to some on court work and
21:57involvement in practice.
21:58Joe Missoula said quote from Missoula some reads versus the
22:01coaches some up and down work some five on zero and versus
22:04the coaches.
22:05He's getting there.
22:06So again, I like the fact that yeah, Austin is not putting
22:12a timetable on this.
22:13It's just like he'll be back when he's fully ready to go.
22:15You're seeing a lot of people, you know, just mentioned this
22:19the on-court stuff like before the game.
22:21I think Forsberg was talking about, you know, KP's on-court
22:25workout prior to the Nets game.
22:27And you know, the fact that he traveled them was a little
22:28bit different and a little unusual.
22:30He's been traveling in road games.
22:32I think the fact that Brooklyn is just super close to Boston.
22:35I think probably helps but like that and that's going to be
22:37the really fun part.
22:39Cuz bear and I agree with you.
22:40I think this team in certain areas has stepped up, you know,
22:44you look at and I've been trying to find some ways to highlight
22:49this but I will have to probably put this for like a Twitter
22:52thing later where I, you know detail what I'm looking at, but
22:56I feel like both the Jays have leveled up not just like a little
23:01bit but like considerably and it's more about their shot
23:03profile and how they're shooting.
23:05Like you mentioned Jalen shooting eight free throws a game.
23:08Why is that?
23:08Well, he's absolutely killing matches right now in the post
23:12and in the mid-range area.
23:13This is one of the things that Kaufman you and I talked about
23:16with Brandon Anderson about how like the difference between
23:20McHale British and Jalen Brown is Jalen feasts in an area.
23:23That's usually not common anymore.
23:26He's one of the best mid-range shooters in the league and
23:29he's turned into an absolute low post monster.
23:32And I think that's a credit to working with TMAC and also
23:36working with Sam Cassell and some other things Tatum shot clearly
23:40looks way better this year.
23:41And if as I said last year, if Tatum shoots slightly better
23:46from three-point range, he's probably like hovering around 30
23:49points a game and he's right on that MVP conversation.
23:53Not only that the offense runs smoother with him.
23:56You've seen many times throughout the season scowl Andrew mentioned
24:01whenever Jalen or Jason gets doubled that you're it's just not
24:05a it's not a winning formula because the way that they move
24:07the ball now, I everybody has leveled up a little bit and that's
24:11a testament to like Missoula and everybody in the coaching
24:13staff, you know, getting these guys to come back and work even
24:16harder and then you're going to you're going to throw this
24:18Porzingis thing into it where I don't know if you guys remember
24:21bear.
24:21I know you might Kaufman.
24:22I know you do KP and Jalen were awesome together last year.
24:27It was a revelation.
24:28Like I feel like unlocked Jalen a little bit and so to have
24:33a new Jalen ish to come back to like I'm all smiles.
24:38And again, just like you said Kaufman take your time.
24:41There's no rush here.
24:43Things are going to be fine because the the bigs have sorted
24:47themselves out, you know, little Cornette here a little K to
24:50their little Horford here.
24:51Take your time big guy.
24:53This is going to be I mean if they're already breaking the
24:56mold right now, like with the way they they shoot when
24:59Porzingis comes back people are going to be even angry.
25:03They are now it's going to be great.
25:04I'm loving every second of it.
25:08Yeah, I'm excited for him to come back.
25:10I think they obviously need them in a series against like
25:14say Cleveland in the postseason just because Cleveland's been
25:17so good to start the year.
25:20The one thing that I think when I think about Porzingis right
25:22now, I think they actually miss him more in defense.
25:24Like you look at the rim numbers.
25:25This is cleaning the glass 67.1% opponents are shooting 20th
25:30and last season that was 63.6% which was fifth now.
25:34It is interesting with Kata on the floor.
25:36Those numbers have actually been outstanding Kata on the floor
25:4064.4% which is 4.7 percentage points better than when he's
25:45off the court.
25:46That's in the 79th percentile Kata though does make a lot
25:49of mistakes.
25:49Like the other game where he followed Cam Thomas at half
25:53court.
25:53I'm like, what's the upside here?
25:56And then like two points later, he makes this unbelievable
25:58chase down block.
25:59So I think he's been certainly fun to watch but you mentioned
26:03Jalen and just his ability to sort of like get into that
26:06mid-range game.
26:06Imagine what that's going to be like when Porzingis comes
26:08back because they were playing like Al Horford.
26:11There's a different respect level with Al's three-pointer
26:14compared to Kristoff's Porzingis and Kata is a roller and he's
26:17actually been really good with Tatum. Tatum's always played
26:20well with an athletic big.
26:21You think back to Robert Williams, but obviously when Cornette
26:24plays, Cornette is not a shooter.
26:25He's a roller and then Tillman has just been exiled.
26:29I mean, they thought like maybe he could shoot.
26:31It's crazy.
26:32Like Kata's just jumped all these guys.
26:33So when they get Porzingis back, this is like the luxury of
26:36having this team.
26:37The comparison I always make to him and I'm not saying they're
26:41the same quality of player.
26:42Gronk is the greatest tight end of all time, arguably.
26:45Porzingis is not like the greatest center of all time, but
26:48I always feel like, hey, the Celtics just proved they could
26:50win a championship without Porzingis.
26:51Now, maybe that changes this year with some other teams being
26:55healthy too, but I feel like when they have Porzingis, I don't
26:58think anybody has a chance against them in a seven-game
27:01series because he just unlocks something that nobody else on
27:04this team can.
27:04And I will say this, Tatum right now is leading the NBA in
27:07isolation points per game and they're using them in a very
27:10similar way to remember last year.
27:12Porzingis was the most efficient post player in the league
27:15because Porzingis wasn't posting up like Joel Indy.
27:18He was posting up short guys.
27:19He could just shoot over.
27:20This is why Tatum's isolation numbers are so good right now.
27:23He can go by a like-sized player, obviously, but how many
27:26times do we see inverted pick and roll with Derek White and
27:29Jason Tatum?
27:29Tatum's like, oh, I got a small guy on me.
27:31I'm just going to bully this guy and get to the basket or he
27:33gets, he's much better.
27:34This is one area.
27:35I think Tatum's much better this year.
27:37He's so much better going by big guys.
27:39It always used to be, let me get to my step back.
27:41He still does that and he's obviously shooting better, but
27:43he's so good getting downhill against the big guys.
27:46So I do think that's something that's sort of switched where
27:48they're like, okay, we can sort of have the same impact that
27:51Porzingis had against smaller players with Tatum and mismatches
27:54and the Celtics are the best team in the league right now
27:56going at mismatches as we saw in the finals.
27:58Like, I mean, Luka got abused.
28:01While we're talking about Tatum and you mentioned obviously
28:03the free throw opportunities ballooning for Jalen Brown, Tatum
28:07is also right now at a career-high attempts per game, 8.9
28:13and that is more than two more than last year.
28:18Last year was at 6.7.
28:19So it's a whole extra trip to the free throw line per game
28:23with the nine attempts basically.
28:25Now, excuse me.
28:26The percentage has taken a step back.
28:28He was at 83% and changed last year down from 85% a couple
28:33of years before that and 87% going back a handful of years.
28:3681% right now, very early on, plenty of time obviously to
28:41lift that up.
28:42Numbers jump all over the place.
28:45Why does he take the Ts?
28:46Is this just a superstar thing?
28:48That's exactly where I wanted to go.
28:50Sorry.
28:51No, I'm glad you brought it up.
28:53So part of the reason that the percentage is what it is
28:56is because the man just keeps missing technical foul shots.
28:58He's out there on the floor.
29:00Someone's got to take it.
29:02You know, Joe Mazula was asked about it, said, I have nothing
29:05to do with it.
29:06The players decide who's on the floor, who goes and takes
29:08the shot.
29:09And this is where, this is truly, it may not sound like
29:12I'm leading into it this way.
29:14This is an appreciation of Jason Tatum.
29:16This is a golf clap on maturity, ego, whatever else, that
29:21the other day, he said to Peyton Pritchard after he missed
29:24one, you do it.
29:26You go take it.
29:27I love that.
29:28I absolutely love that.
29:30That's not me saying like, Jason, you keep missing these
29:33things.
29:33Please stop taking them.
29:34I mean, maybe depends on who's on the floor, but him
29:38recognizing that he's in a little bit of a ride.
29:41He's got the the yips when nobody's around him shooting
29:44free throws.
29:44I don't know what it is.
29:46I don't know why he's missing these shots.
29:47It's not like he's a bad free throw shooter, but Peyton is
29:51borderline automatic and for him to, you know, like I, I
29:55don't know.
29:56I can't sit here and say like, oh, would LeBron ever do that?
29:59Because I have no idea if LeBron has ever done that, but
30:01I'll look at LeBron and think of him as someone that would
30:04do that or many of these other guys that are the stars of
30:07the league that, you know, could justify handing it off
30:11like you go take it.
30:12And so I just, I appreciate, again, I think there's, I think
30:15there's a maturity aspect to this that, that should not go
30:21unnoticed or, or, you know, undiscussed that Tatum's, Tatum's
30:27just saying, you know, like Peyton, you, you go handle this,
30:30go, go get us the free point.
30:31Because honestly, some of those in, in, in the past week have
30:36been a little detrimental, you know, they, they've almost
30:38been momentum shifting in, in missing these technical
30:41opportunities.
30:42Hell, the overtime the other day, the, they started with
30:46a technical free throw and he missed it, you know, so like
30:49these, again, I'm, I'm rambling, but Barron, I just, I like
30:53the fact that Tatum is recognizing for whatever reason, mentally,
30:57this is an area of weakness for him right now and he doesn't
30:59have to do it.
31:02Yeah.
31:02Well, I would also say like that sort of goes to his personality
31:05and you can do Derek White too.
31:06Derek White is like never, I don't think he's ever missed
31:08a clutch shot in his life.
31:09So I don't think he's going to miss the fact that technical
31:11free throw.
31:12He's been like a 90% guy for the past two seasons, but that
31:15sort of Tatum's game, right?
31:16Where it's like, you mentioned the technical foul thing, but
31:20think about how often he screens and besides like big guy
31:24superstars, not a lot of wings and guards like Steph Curry
31:28does it.
31:29That's why he's one of the greatest, not the reason, but
31:31part of it, like he's a very unselfish superstar, right?
31:33Like he doesn't care if he's running around and because
31:36two guys chase him, somebody else gets an easy opportunity
31:38at the rim. Tatum's similar in a different way.
31:41Like this guy screens all the time and we think back to the
31:45NBA finals, even though he wasn't shooting the ball.
31:47Well, it didn't distract him from doing the other things,
31:50right?
31:51I mean, how many guys right now in the NBA could play point
31:56guard on offense because that's what he had to do.
31:58He had to be the playmaker so they could bring out the big.
32:01So in that series against Dallas, he had a game where he
32:04had the most drives in the history of his career.
32:06He's been in the NBA for a long time now and in the finals,
32:09he did this right, which is not his game.
32:11He's not really a high drive guy.
32:12He's a very efficient drive guy when he does it, but that's
32:15not ordinarily what he does.
32:18So he's playing point guard and then he's guarding the other
32:20team center.
32:21Like it's one of the most underrated parts of their championship
32:24is because you had this guy because you have this wing that
32:27can guard centers.
32:28I'm not saying every center obviously can't guard Jokic, but
32:31that type of center, like a rim roller, like Gafford and
32:33Lively, it took away the Mavericks best play and prime LeBron,
32:39like he could certainly do it, but who in the NBA right
32:43now could do that?
32:43Giannis won't guard anybody's best player.
32:45That's like not in his DNA.
32:46He doesn't do it that way.
32:47He's better as like a health defender.
32:49I mean, I don't even know if Kawhi can do it because he doesn't
32:52have like really the same height that Tatum has.
32:54I don't know if there's one guy in the NBA that can do what
32:56Tatum did in the finals.
32:58And I think sort of Tatum's versatility as a player, like he's
33:02a much better playmaker as a sister up.
33:04He's one of the best rebounding players in the entire league
33:07for his position.
33:08Like he's probably the best rebounder as a forward in the
33:10entire league right now.
33:11He now can shoot threes better.
33:13He can get to the free throw line.
33:14He like there's really, and he's an elite defensive player.
33:17There's really no holes in his game.
33:19When you look at the other best players in the league, like
33:22Jokic is on a different level right now.
33:23Like he is just carrying that team and he's not the detriment
33:27on defense that people thought.
33:28But like take Luka, we just saw it in the finals, right?
33:30Luka's not a guy that he has a real weakness that can be
33:34exposed.
33:34It's not last night or what I should say Thursday night as
33:38he literally fell asleep and let Jordan Clarkson throw a
33:42pass back door to lose the game.
33:43The final set.
33:46Yeah, I know.
33:47I like even Yanis can't shoot.
33:51You know what I mean?
33:51Like he would legitimately can't shoot.
33:54Okay, so like that that's the concern.
33:56Look at Yanis like the past couple years to like his health
33:58record is not the best.
34:00By the way, I not to go on a digression.
34:02Although I think I just went in a digression.
34:04It's like that thing with Jalen.
34:06I mean that was embarrassing.
34:08Oh, the the childish thing where he called it.
34:10That was embarrassing.
34:11Which aspect of it Yanis's behavior Jalen calling him a child
34:15and get ripped by, you know, not ripped but poked at by Nike
34:19and then Jalen answer it like which part of it is embarrassing.
34:23I thought the Yanis part was the most embarrassing because
34:26okay, you elbowed the guy and like I was okay that happens,
34:30right?
34:30It's it's a basketball game, but either ignore Jalen don't go
34:35up to him or actually shake his hand.
34:37Like I think any of those other things would have been better
34:39than his decision.
34:40Like that was like when you say child that like literally is
34:43a childish thing.
34:44That's like coffee.
34:46I know you have kids like children will do.
34:48Yeah, people do kids do that to each other.
34:50Right?
34:50Like it literally what like Jalen.
34:52I thought explained it perfectly that it was childish.
34:54Jalen's like I don't have any time for this right now.
34:56Like that was yeah, it was a basketball game.
34:59You think?
35:00Yeah.
35:01All right.
35:01We'll take a quick break.
35:02Get right back to the show.
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36:39I will say one of my favorite trends and I'm curious bear how
36:43you feel about this as we've you know, there were 13 games
36:46into this thing and things trends are starting to take, you
36:49know, take shape and take hold and you know shape narratives
36:52throughout the year and one of my favorite things so far because
36:55it's kind of an opposite to what we've been used to with these
36:58two guys.
36:59Normally, it's Jalen Brown starting hot and coming out of
37:03the gates and Jalen kind of like waiting back and kind of
37:05bringing taking what the game brings him kind of a little
37:08LeBron asked right LeBron used to that, you know with past
37:11playoff teams where he would he wouldn't be like totally
37:14involved.
37:15He'd let everybody else get involved in when came the game
37:17started to pick up a little bit and it started to be, you know,
37:20closer to the end of the game.
37:21LeBron would start to insert his dominance a little bit.
37:23But what I like now and bear I'm curious where you're at with
37:26this is I think we all know Jason Tatum leads the NBA in
37:29first quarter points.
37:31One of the things I think a lot of us have noticed is Jason
37:33plays the entire first quarter and then sits to start the
37:37second comes back in usually around like six minutes.
37:40I want to say like six minutes to go in the first half.
37:46I like this.
37:46I actually really enjoy like aggressive Tatum coming out
37:50asserting himself like getting this team moving and then you
37:54know, taking a backseat a little bit until things need to
37:57be, you know, taking care of I think he's done a better job
38:00in the third and fourth like reading when to get aggressive
38:03when he should really like, oh, hey, like we're not playing
38:06well right now.
38:07We're coming out of the half.
38:08Like we need to start fast and let me get this team moving
38:10whether he's like, you know, it's, you know, it's initiating
38:12the offense are actually scoring.
38:14How do we feel gentlemen?
38:16I'll start with Barrett about Tatum playing the entire first
38:19quarter, but in a stark contrast to what these guys normally
38:23did saying like, let me be the guy that starts this thing
38:26and Jalen, why don't you like pick off pick up where I leave
38:28off? Yeah, it's a great point because Jalen obviously has
38:33been frequently up there in the top 10 and first quarter
38:35scoring. I actually love it and I wonder who deserves the
38:39credit for it.
38:39If it's Joe Missoula himself, if it's somebody else in the
38:42coaching staff that suggested this because Tatum last year
38:45as we were mentioning, he did so much playmaking in the playoffs
38:49right and had to basically play point guard and I think about
38:52it this way.
38:53It's like, hey, this is our best player.
38:55We want him to show you who he is early, right?
38:57So he's going to be attacking from the beginning of the game
39:01and I feel like that also gets Tatum going because Jalen is
39:04always going to be aggressive getting downhill.
39:06And when Jalen goes off the court at the end of the first
39:09quarter there, we started in the Brooklyn game Tatum.
39:11It was three straight drives to the basket, got to the free
39:13throw line a couple of times and just a couple of other times
39:15hits him.
39:15He had a crazy shot around.
39:17I forget who the defender was on the nets, but it was one of
39:19their big guys, but I think it was Claxton actually.
39:22But I feel like he's way more aggressive this year than he's
39:25been in previous years.
39:26And when you already have that first quarter that Tatum has
39:29where he's what he's over 11 points per game.
39:31I think in the first quarter at this point.
39:32Yeah, 11.3 and you're like, okay in the third quarter.
39:35I don't have to be like, okay.
39:37This is the time I have to go get going.
39:38He's just like I'm already there.
39:40Like I'm already at that point.
39:41So I thought it was a genius move.
39:42I was surprised because I'm like Jalen has been like the tone
39:45center for so long for this team.
39:47I actually love it that Tatum is the guy doing it.
39:50Yeah, we got so used to the first quarter Jalen shoutouts anytime
39:56we were watching a game and and look it still pops up from time
39:59to time.
39:59We've seen a couple of vintage first quarter Jalen performances
40:02so far this year, but I'm in line with you guys.
40:04I like that.
40:05They're just, you know, right now big picture or big picture
40:08show.
40:09I think they're just sort of in an experimentation phase a little
40:12bit, you know, all right, we know what we're capable of.
40:15We know what we did last year.
40:16We got to the promised land.
40:18People are still in the organization collecting their rings what
40:21feels like on a daily basis right now.
40:23Let's see what we can do a little bit differently before we have
40:28Porzingis and who knows if the guy is going to make it through
40:30the year healthy anyway, and what different looks we can throw
40:33at certain situations.
40:34And so this one is different.
40:36It's, you know, it's a look outside the box, you know, compared
40:39to the way they did it last year and I it's clearly worked out,
40:43you know, it's it's as long as everybody is on board, you know,
40:47keep rolling with it.
40:48Keep doing what you're doing.
40:49I know that we are, you know, relatively tight on time.
40:51So I want to mix in a couple more things, including a big game
40:56seemingly that the Celtics have on the way.
40:58It'll be big regardless but could be particularly big because the
41:02Cleveland Cavaliers are the only unbeaten remaining in the NBA
41:06right now.
41:07They are 13 and O atop the Eastern Conference with a game as we
41:11sit here later on tonight.
41:13I do think it's a game.
41:14They could lose.
41:15I don't think they will but I think this is at least one that
41:19I am entertaining as a possible loss for Cleveland and that is
41:23the Chicago Bulls, but it's in Cleveland probably won't be a
41:25problem.
41:26I don't think Donovan Mitchell will allow it to be a problem
41:28quite frankly.
41:29So in all likelihood they do win and then provided they get past
41:32that I'm not in the least bit worried about the Charlotte
41:35Hornets in their next game.
41:36And so we could be looking at the 15 and O Cleveland Cavaliers
41:41playing host to the Celtics on Tuesday night, which I bring up
41:45this game because it's before, you know, we'll be recording
41:49next and so I'm just curious, you know one if you think the
41:53Celtics knock off the if they're still undefeated Cleveland
41:56Cavaliers or independent of what their record is if Boston wins
41:59that game, but also what you make of what you've seen so far
42:03of the Cavs and exactly how seriously we should be taking
42:07them because you know, the Bucks the Sixers they are a disaster
42:13and honestly, I don't think they're going to climb out of it.
42:15I don't I'm not saying both are going to miss the playoffs, but
42:17even if they squeak in play in tournament playoffs, whatever
42:21it is.
42:21I don't think they're going to do anything when they get there.
42:23So I think we need to start to kind of reassess who the actual
42:27threats in the Eastern Conference are I said coming into the
42:30year the New York Knicks right now.
42:32They're a middling team.
42:33They're below 500.
42:34It's not quite working the way they want it to but it's early,
42:39you know that stuff can take time didn't take time for the
42:41Celtics last year when they brought in their new pieces, but
42:44for most teams when they do bring in new assets, it does take
42:46time look at the Timberwolves who bear brought up before.
42:49So what are you thinking of Cleveland and and just the East
42:53in general?
42:55So for me, I do think Cleveland is the best team besides the
42:59Celtics and kind of an obvious statement based on the fact
43:02that when we're recording this they're undefeated.
43:04But the Knicks they have real issues defensively that we went
43:07through and I would also say I don't think Mitchell Robinson
43:10is securing those issues because how often is he going to be
43:13on the court and Carl Anthony Towns in Minnesota.
43:16They were the reason they traded for go bear is because he
43:19can't play the five defensively.
43:20We saw the Celtics pick on him on opening night.
43:23So unless something unless Mitchell Robinson is like what
43:26we saw last year from Hartenstein.
43:28I don't think that the Knicks are a threat.
43:30I just can't trust the 76ers right now with the health and
43:33be looked awful in the first game that he played and that
43:37team has a lot of defensive issues and the Bucks are a dumpster
43:39fire right now.
43:40I think it's more likely that Giannis gets traded then they
43:43play in the Eastern Conference finals.
43:45So with the Cavs Kenny Atkinson has done a lot of interesting
43:49things.
43:49One was a like Evan Mobley.
43:51We drafted him second overall.
43:52He's really good.
43:53Let's feature more in the offense rather than be concerned
43:56about him taking threes.
43:57Like let's actually like do things.
43:58He's good at that's certainly how it should work with Mitchell
44:02and Garland.
44:03They played better together.
44:04There's two things though that the reason I don't think that
44:07I think there'd be a difficult series and I think that you
44:10would need Porzingis for this one because he can pull one of
44:12those bigs out like you can't leave Porzingis.
44:15But the one thing I'd say about them a the Celtics two best
44:19players are wings.
44:20I don't know if they have the answers for those guys defensively
44:23like I know mobile is a great defender and an awesome defender
44:26probably be in the conversation for defensive player of the
44:28year.
44:28I don't think you cover one of your wings and the other thing
44:30is this guy's they're shooting.
44:33It's not sustainable.
44:34So five guys in the rotation here shooting north of 40% Lavert
44:38his career 34.3 is at 45 Garland career good shooter 38.7% but
44:44he's almost at 45 Mitchell 36.7%.
44:47He's at 40.7% Jerome 36% not a lot of attempts.
44:52He's at 57.7.
44:54He's been a revelation for them.
44:55I actually think he's a good rotation player.
44:57The biggest one is okoro.
44:58He's at 35.2% for his career 48.5% so with Cleveland.
45:04Yes, it's their offense is much better than it's been and give
45:07Atkinson credit, right?
45:08They do a really good job staggering their two guards and
45:12staggering their two bigs.
45:13I just from the way they're made up.
45:17I don't think they have as great as they are defensively.
45:20I don't think they have the right answers for the Celtics
45:22defensively and I don't trust their shooting.
45:24Like I'm sure Garland is going to shoot over 40% the guy's an
45:27outstanding shooter, but the rest of these guys maybe Mitchell
45:30will the okoros the Laverts of the world.
45:32I just I don't buy into it.
45:35Yeah, I don't know.
45:37Isaac Okoro when he got drafted.
45:39He was not a great shooter as we're about defense and he hasn't
45:41really done anything to really bring the offense along from
45:44a shooting standpoint that so it should be comfortable leaving
45:46him alone and just saying hey if Isaac Okoro is going to beat
45:49us in the corner then so be it.
45:51I'm this could be a fun game.
45:53You know, again, this is a this is a game that I think Boston
45:56will be up for so it should be should be a fun one just in
45:59terms of energy and things.
46:01I think Boston will want to go in there.
46:03There's like there's this thing that happens and I and you can
46:05see with Golden State, especially when they ever anytime they
46:09play a big game.
46:10Steph Curry just still like I'm the I'm the baddest guy here
46:14and we're going to win this game.
46:15Like there's there's a real energy to that and you can feel
46:18it every time you play them.
46:20Well, I look up against the Mavericks the other day.
46:22Yeah, I think this is Boston's opportunity to say hey like
46:25it's cute that you're 13 14 15, you know, or whatever but like
46:30we still run this thing man.
46:31Like let's let's like this isn't anything serious.
46:34I want to see that that like that energy and it's only energy
46:38you get from being a champion.
46:40I think and I think you know, and whenever anytime you see
46:43Denver feels that way Boston.
46:46I think some of these big games has to assert that dominance
46:48and that's my one thing that I still love about Steph Curry.
46:51It's like they could be the worst team in the league.
46:53He's still going to walk on that floor being like you ain't
46:55going to beat me today.
46:56There's no way I just love that that confidence and it only
46:59comes by winning and you know, the Cavs are a great story.
47:02I'm thrilled for Kenny Atkinson.
47:04I was like probably both of you like pissed that he got fired
47:08after it was just not fair like at all whatsoever.
47:11He literally built that team like him and Sean Marks went
47:15through the the really tough lean years to build a program
47:20and like culture.
47:21So I'm pumped that he has an awesome opportunities being
47:24the best out of it.
47:24But I really am curious to see just like the attitude that
47:28Boston plays with because that's the stuff that like is
47:32like is generation defining and if Boston can find a way to
47:35play with that kind of swagger.
47:36I think they I think they certainly play with it opening
47:39ring night played with that kind of like for the champs
47:42like we're going to dust you guys.
47:44I want to see that again.
47:45I don't think that I think they kind of let the go of the
47:46rope a little bit on that.
47:47I want to see him pull it back their way a little bit.
47:50Is that game in Cleveland?
47:52Yeah.
47:53Okay.
47:54Yeah, that'll be fun because that building although I can't
47:57stand the PA and I'm sort of like when he announces when
47:59they hit a shot that so loud.
48:00I don't know why it's so loud when he announces anybody that
48:03scores but obviously these guys have played a lot of big games
48:06in that building right go.
48:07Obviously they played in the playoffs last year but going
48:09back to like maybe when we thought we knew today and was
48:13going to be a star when he dunked on LeBron when LeBron was
48:16still at the Cavalier.
48:17So I'm excited for it too.
48:20Yeah, should be a fun one and be a nice little, you know,
48:25you're cute put you in your place kind of opportunity for
48:28the Boston Celtics as well.
48:29We'll see if it winds up happening.
48:31But Brian Barrett again, he hosts the off the pike podcast
48:34part of the ringer network of podcasts and you know, a certain
48:38noted Celtics fan Bill Simmons.
48:40His boss is working on a nice Celtics documentary a multi-part
48:45that people can go out and read about and looking forward
48:48to checking that out when debuts in 2025 as well Barrett.
48:52What what do people need to know as far as how often your
48:55show drops and where to find you and all that at least three
48:58times a week.
48:59We'll have one up after the Patriots.
49:01Of course this weekend when they try to get another win this
49:05time against the Rams will have James White on after that one
49:07on Sunday and then we'll be back again on Tuesday after the
49:11Cavaliers and the Celtics cannot wait to pot after that one.
49:13Hope I'm happy after that one.
49:15I think I will be yeah.
49:16Otherwise, remember give yourself 12 minutes like I've said
49:19and then it's on to the next thing Brian Barrett from the
49:22ringer Evan Valenti.
49:23I'm Adam Kaufman everyone.
49:24Check out the podcast on the regular be it in, you know,
49:28your whatever download form that you subscribe to we appreciate
49:32that or obviously in video form.
49:34If you like looking at us the CLNS YouTube page.
49:37Thank you so much.
49:38We'll talk to you again next week.