On this episode of the Bob Ryan & Jeff Goodman NBA Podcast, Bob Ryan recounts his recent conversation with Larry Bird about the way the game is changing for better and for worse. Bob and Gary Tanguay discuss the Philadelphia 76ers actually having a player to watch, defense winning games for the Celtics, and take time to remember the great Larry Johnson. All that, and much more!
************************************************
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 NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Terms apply. What time is it? Gametime!
************************************************
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 NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Terms apply. What time is it? Gametime!
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00The Bob Ryan and Jeff Goodman Podcast is brought to you by Price Picks and the Game Timer.
00:19Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
00:21Let's get going.
00:22Turkey Day edition brought to you by Price Picks, the exclusive daily fantasy partner
00:28of SeaLiners Media Network.
00:29Pick more, pick less with Price Picks, Bob Ryan, Gary Tanguay.
00:32All right, here we go.
00:33Listen, no pun intended, but I understand on the week of the bird, you talked to a bird.
00:40What's going on with Larry?
00:41Larry is laying low in Florida.
00:44He's a snowbird.
00:45He spends half the year in Indiana and then they do the winter thing in Naples where he's
00:52had a place for a good, I'd say, 30 years, which includes, by the way, a full movie
00:58screen, a movie house, you know, a studio.
01:04It's kind of cool.
01:05Okay.
01:06We're just chatting because, you know, we haven't talked in a while.
01:09And I had two questions, two things that are on my mind.
01:12And the first one was with this new all-star game format, this nonsense, you know, they
01:20won't play a real, they refuse to play a real basketball game.
01:24And so they've got to find some other way of doing this and they don't care about the
01:29all-star game.
01:30It's all about the dunk contest and the three-point and the game is, oh, shit, we got to play
01:35a game, you know?
01:36I mean, and, you know, they made a mockery of it.
01:38And I say they, I blame these players.
01:41If they wanted to play basketball, we'd have a game.
01:43Sure.
01:44They don't have any sense of personal pride.
01:46I don't understand it.
01:47So they give us 211 to 186 last year.
01:51And you know, it's disgraceful.
01:54It's embarrassment to me.
01:55I mean, they shouldn't be embarrassed.
01:57Well, they're not going to do that anymore and they're going to do some nonsense.
02:00Okay.
02:01So I went to Larry and I said, Larry, what was your attitude toward all-star games?
02:06I wanted to win, period, quote unquote, I wanted to win.
02:10Right.
02:11I said, we played competitive games.
02:13No, you don't want anybody to get hurt.
02:15You didn't go nuts.
02:16You didn't go crazy.
02:17You didn't do stupid things, you know, but you played basketball and you wanted to win.
02:22Gee, how elementary is that?
02:25Well, we've gotten away from that.
02:26So I want to hear it from the, you know, the horse's mouth, if you will.
02:30And a guy who, and that lead me to part B. In his first all-star game in 1980 in Washington,
02:37Larry Bird made history.
02:40What was that, Bob?
02:41He made a three-pointer.
02:42Ah!
02:43I said, A, one, singular, A three-pointer that basically put the game away.
02:51Okay.
02:52It was news where, ah, he hit a three.
02:55Wow.
02:56You know?
02:57Well, then we got into a discussion about the three.
02:59Now here's the revelation that I love.
03:01Larry Bird said, well, hell, we never practiced threes.
03:05He said, the first time I practiced threes was prior to the first three-point contest
03:10in 1986.
03:13I never practiced threes.
03:15I just took them when they were there and yeah, he never, he said, today, high school
03:21kids, you know, it's the game.
03:23Everybody takes threes.
03:25That's the game.
03:26But in his day, it was a bad shot, a bad shot.
03:31He said in KC, one time it was for monies that made him laugh.
03:34He was in New York and KC told him, don't take so many stupid threes in so many words.
03:41Maybe he didn't use stupid, that's mine.
03:44But he basically said, you guys are, you're taking too many threes.
03:48First possession, Danny cranks a three and Larry laughed like hell.
03:53He said, I couldn't believe it.
03:54It was great.
03:55So anyway, but now the game, you know, and I said, Larry, would you take, want to take
04:0010 or 11?
04:02Not really, but you know, he'd adapt and of course, but that's just, so that's the difference
04:08in the game.
04:09Just think about that.
04:10He never practiced a three until he just, just had, he had that, he happened to have
04:14that range.
04:15Right, right, right.
04:16He had the gift.
04:17He didn't, he used the form and he didn't, he wasn't, he wasn't greedy with it.
04:22Oh no.
04:23Every once in a while I would get personally angry at a couple of threes would be taken
04:29early in the game that I said, you don't need that.
04:32And Larry, Larry wouldn't be guilty of it once in a while, not very often, but once,
04:36you know, but that's the way, but even like the greats, if you look at, if you, okay,
04:43I'm going to go, I'm going to say the last four great NBA players, I mean, greats, Bird,
04:50Magic, Jabbar, Jabbar would come before them, Bird, Magic, Michael, LeBron, none are known
04:59for the three point shot.
05:00Well, Larry, I'd say I associate Larry with one, you know, I guess, yeah, but I know your
05:07exponents of it in lab, but here's the thing.
05:08I didn't get into it when, and I should have, he, I thought he used it strategically.
05:16I thought Larry in his mind saved it for late in the game as a rule or a certain, and the
05:22key at certain runs when he thought it was a good strategic weapon that he would use.
05:27And I thought he used to, he was the first great exponent of it into, in a strategic
05:31way.
05:32And there were other, you know, guys that liked it right away.
05:37But anyway, Magic, certainly not, he developed into where he could make them once in a while.
05:42Michael had the famous game in the playoffs when he hit the, you know, when he did hit
05:46the five in a row against Portland, the famous shrug, you know, the shrug things.
05:52Yeah, sure.
05:53And LeBron has made himself into, he had three in a row the other night, right down the stretch.
05:58But none of these guys were.
06:00That's not his identity.
06:01No.
06:02And far, far less in the world from Magic's identity, Magic's identity is passing.
06:07And Michael's in all kinds of scoring.
06:09And that included the capability of making a three, but not a reliance on it.
06:14Yeah.
06:15I mean, Steph's the first guy that you would, he's not in their class, but you know, before
06:20the three point guy was a specialist, it was Chris Ford.
06:23It was Scott Wedman.
06:24You know, Ray Allen was, Reggie Miller and Ray Allen were probably the most complete
06:29players where it was their thing.
06:31But even when like when Ray, and this is no disrespect to Ray, who I think should be in
06:35the Hall of Fame, I'm a Ray Allen guy.
06:38You know, Ray was known as a three point shooter.
06:44Oh, Ray was, that was his identity.
06:46That was his identity.
06:47But he was more than that.
06:49But like, I think Ray and Reggie Miller were the first guys known.
06:53That's their identity.
06:54Yeah.
06:55Yeah.
06:56And I'll tell you another guy that was very good that, and that happened to be Del Curry,
07:00Steph's father.
07:01Steph's dad.
07:02Yeah.
07:03There were a few guys out there like that.
07:05When the merger took place, when the three came into being, one of the first guys in
07:10the ABA to make it an identity was Brian Taylor.
07:14And another guy was, well, Louis Dampier.
07:18But Brian Taylor had an identity of, and he brought it into the NBA because he did make
07:22it through with the Pacers.
07:23But anyway, you're right.
07:24Ray Allen.
07:25No, that's Ray's identity for sure.
07:26And he just got, you know, Harden just passed him for the most weeks and just this week.
07:34And it's funny with Harden though, I still don't, he's done this and I don't see that
07:40as his identity.
07:41No.
07:42You know, his identity is dribbling 22 minutes on the 24.
07:46That's his, to me, that's what, that's his identity.
07:48Now they're in town as we speak.
07:51Yeah.
07:52That's right.
07:53They're in town as we speak, we'll see.
07:55And he's having another good year, but what are you, he's hard to like.
07:59I'm sorry.
08:00He's just hard to like.
08:01I want to like him because I was hoping that the Nets thing would work out when he got
08:07there and I thought, well, okay, with he and Kyrie and Duran, I thought they could do something
08:10because as you had pointed out, somehow, some way he led the league in assists one year
08:17and you don't believe it.
08:19You think that they're a fan of assists.
08:22I want to like him too, and he just doesn't, he just doesn't, I don't know.
08:27He can't get over the hump as far as the passion, like he should have accomplished more than
08:31he has.
08:32But he's got a negative je ne sais quoi, usually you use that in a positive way about somebody.
08:38He's got that je ne sais quoi.
08:40He's got a negative one.
08:41I can't, I can't warm up to him, but you have to give him his due.
08:45He's a Hall of Famer to make for sure, but not a totally likable one.
08:50Yeah, I know.
08:51I like him, but I know what you're saying.
08:52I always wish that he was able to, I don't know, I thought that, I thought he was going
08:57to turn the corner.
08:58I thought he was going to be a dish machine with the Nets, but it just didn't work out.
09:01Bob, when you mentioned, are you good with Bird before I move on?
09:04That's the big thing was that the all-star game and the fact that they played it.
09:10He's disgusted.
09:11You know, he went, he was invited last year, you know, he wouldn't go, you know, he thought
09:16it was a joke and it is a joke and it's awful.
09:20Let me ask you something about Bird.
09:22Has your relationship changed with him since you first met him?
09:26You know, we hadn't spoken in quite a while.
09:30We've texted a few times.
09:32I was texting him last year when, when Indiana State was, was, um, you know, having the best
09:37year they've had since first time I got back to, you know, excuse me, I've got to do something
09:43here.
09:45No, he, he's just consciously removing himself from, from public view for the most part.
09:52He's not going out of his way to be seen, I'll tell you that.
09:54I think we will be speaking more often and we had a very nice conversation and I think
09:58we'll be speaking more often.
09:59But I like to think, you know, that we're still literally, literally we are friends.
10:03I like to feel that way.
10:04And, and he did, he did confirm that for me because that was, that was reassuring.
10:09Yeah.
10:10But what was it like when you covered him or were you a columnist then?
10:12You weren't on the beat.
10:14Oh, no.
10:15I was his first beat man.
10:16Oh, you were.
10:17Okay.
10:181979.
10:19And I had his four years until 80 and then I went to TV for that a year and a half.
10:26And then when I came back, I was a column, I had him, I, I get finished, open his career
10:30and I finished his career as a columnist though, but I opened as the beat man and, and, you
10:34know, I, I was in on the ground floor of Larry and of course, um, had one of the few people
10:38that had actually seen him play in person in Boston before he was drafted, you know,
10:42when I drove, uh, Jason Stark and Mike Madden out there to, uh, terror hope, but I famous
10:48game and we got stopped by the cops.
10:50So anyway, that's another story for another, that's a movie.
10:54That's a movie.
10:55There's a movie there somewhere.
10:57Oh, it was the funniest.
10:59I opened the door.
11:00I got to tell it.
11:01Okay.
11:02So we go to the game and it's behind the beer, Indiana state, Illinois state and it game
11:09at Indiana state.
11:11Larry wins it with a game winning basket and, and puts on a show and, and we're driving
11:16back to Indianapolis about now, you know, hour and a half, whatever.
11:19And, um, we had stopped at a convenience store and we did pick up a couple of brewskis and,
11:24and, uh, I was, uh, uh, in fact taking a sip or two, uh, and next thing you know, there's
11:30a blue light.
11:31Oh boy.
11:32Well, we were able to ditch the beers before the trooper got to the door.
11:36It was in the dark, you know, and boy's gone.
11:39You guys gone pretty fast.
11:40I said, Oh, sorry, officer.
11:42We just came back from the Indiana state game and we were talking and I kind of lost, you
11:45know, got tracked the time and he said, okay, you guys be, you guys drive safe now.
11:52That's it.
11:53That was it.
11:54Once.
11:55So that was it.
11:56Welcome to Indiana justice.
11:57We loved it.
11:58Yeah.
11:59Indiana.
12:00You dropped that Indiana state.
12:01You were good.
12:02Okay.
12:03Anyway, Dan, Larry and I hit it off right away.
12:04The first time I met Larry, it was to interview him for a ready us magazine in the summer
12:11of 1979.
12:12Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.
12:14Timeout, timeout, timeout.
12:16Whoa.
12:17Bob Ryan wrote for us magazine one time.
12:23One time.
12:24That was it.
12:25What?
12:26Tiger beat turns you down.
12:28I don't remember the details.
12:29All I know is that when we went, there was us and the interview, he wanted it to take
12:34place at Bob Wolf's house because he, he didn't want people into his house and he had just
12:42bought this house right around the corner from Bob Wolf and Newton.
12:46So I do the interview and that's where we first met.
12:50And then when the season starts, we, you know, our interaction and, and we hit it off from
12:55day one.
12:56I had, he was, it was always great to me.
12:58So we, you know, and at the end of the year he said something very flattering to people
13:02and he said, Bob Ryan could be a coach.
13:05Well, no, you know, that's taken, that's a bit going a bit too far, but I think he appreciated
13:11my enthusiasm for basketball.
13:12And basically I'd like to think my knowledge of basketball, but we hit it off right from
13:15day one.
13:16Well, no doubt, Bob.
13:17I mean, I don't, you really, when you cover a sport, you throw yourself into it.
13:23I don't know if Tommy Heinsohn, the late great would agree with that, but anyways, that's
13:27another story.
13:28Oh no, it is another story because people have to know it ended well.
13:32I know it ended well, but I always thought that, yeah, I, I just look, you know, I miss
13:37Tommy so much.
13:38I just miss him.
13:39I just, he was just such a big, in so many ways, you know, he could be grumpy, he could
13:45be gentle.
13:46He was, he was just like one of the all time greats.
13:48And I just, the fact that you, you ticked him off at some point, I just find it hilarious.
13:53Price picks the best place to get real money, sports action, 10 million members, billions
13:59of dollars in award winnings.
14:01Price picks as daily fantasy sports accessible to all you just pick more or less.
14:06That's it.
14:07More or less really simple on at least two players for a shot to win up a hundred times
14:12your cash prize pitch puts members first.
14:15So all withdrawals are safe, fast and secure.
14:17You want your money quickly, right?
14:19Absolutely.
14:20When picks hit, you can get your cash as quick as 15 minutes, 15 minutes out of today and
14:26get $50 instantly when you play $5.
14:30That's a good five.
14:31You make 45 bucks, Gary, you can do your math.
14:33You don't even need to win to get a $50 bonus.
14:36Think Stephen Curry will get more than four, three pointers.
14:40I think so.
14:41Anthony Edwards, more than 27 points.
14:43I'll leave that one up to you.
14:45Cook up hot takes with your friends and win real money this basketball season with your
14:49crew as you run your game on Price Picks.
14:54So download the app today and use code CLNS to get $50 instantly after you play your first
15:00$5 lineup.
15:01Again, download the app today.
15:03Use code CLNS50 to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup.
15:08Price Picks, run your game.
15:12Okay.
15:14So I want to, when you talk about the three and I was thinking about this year's Celtics
15:19team.
15:20Oh, why?
15:21I did think of one.
15:22Yeah, go ahead.
15:24But Larry said, we used the three to open up the inside for Parrish and McHale.
15:31Right.
15:32The game was still inside out.
15:34That was the way you played basketball.
15:36That was the orthodox methodology for any successful team at any level.
15:41Inside out.
15:42Right.
15:43Now the game is out Adder and Kaitlyn Clark.
15:47I used to say Steph Curry, but now it's Kaitlyn Clark.
15:51And the inside game is inconsequential in terms of direct leading a pivot, you know.
15:55But he said, think about that.
15:57They used the game, they used it as a weapon to help out the big guys.
16:02So 180 from where we are now.
16:04Oh, totally.
16:05180.
16:06So I'm reading, you know, the Celtics had a win over Minnesota.
16:11We're going to get to that game and Anthony Edwards in a minute, but I just want to talk
16:15about the three.
16:16And Gary Washburn wrote about it today.
16:18It was in the Globe.
16:19James Bach said something, too, about the fact that they're not hitting their threes,
16:24you know.
16:25So we know Jason Tatum won an NBA championship not shooting the three well, OK, which I find
16:32refreshing personally, because he did it so many other ways.
16:36And we've talked about how great he was at nauseam, defensive rebounds, so forth and
16:40so on.
16:41Same thing with Brown.
16:42I mean, they.
16:43So the Celtics right now, I look at them, and especially with the win over Minneapolis,
16:47Minnesota, Minnesota made a run and they hung on and they won at the end with defense.
16:53But the Celtics right now, I think they're the best team in the NBA.
16:56And I don't think they're a great three point shooting team.
16:59And I don't think they have to be.
17:01Well, you might get an argument, I mean, they've had they did something this year that nobody
17:06else does.
17:07Five different guys had multiple threes in the starting lineup and that very few teams
17:11can do that.
17:12Well, yeah.
17:13Oh, think about this.
17:16The first, let's see, five, Pritchard, definitely the first seven guys.
17:23And when they get Przingis, eight guys are all three point capable shooters.
17:28Well, no, you're right.
17:30Right.
17:31Well, your argument.
17:32You're standing.
17:33Yes.
17:34Your argument is they're deep.
17:35They're deep.
17:36Yes, you are correct.
17:38They're deep with decent three point shooters.
17:42Yeah.
17:43That's right.
17:44They're the best team in the league.
17:45They have the most.
17:46Right.
17:47But like, I don't think of like, I don't think Jason Tatum, I don't think of Brown and Tatum.
17:52You know, I think they are finally getting it, that they're complete players.
17:57It's not just about the three.
17:58Oh, no, it's not just although we are speaking after a game in which Brown opens up the game
18:03doing something I've never seen in 60 years of going to the best NBA games, and one person
18:09scores the first 15 points of his team's game points on five threes.
18:14Right.
18:15But then they go south.
18:16They're not consistent.
18:17They went south immediately.
18:18No.
18:19And by the way, nobody else scored for another until about three minutes ago in a period.
18:22But I'm just saying it was bizarre.
18:23But the fact is that he opened up the game with five threes.
18:26Right.
18:27It was Brown 15 and then Minnesota eight, I think, at one point.
18:31And you'll never see it.
18:32You know, I've never seen that.
18:33Now, I know it's not the first time someone had five threes.
18:36Ray Allen did it for the Celtics, and Kevin Love once made eight.
18:41But I'm just saying, being in the first 15 points of a game, I'm wondering if that's
18:46ever, ever, ever, ever, ever happened in either in any league that had the three.
18:52Not one league.
18:53It's a fair point, I think.
18:55But the way I look at the Celtics now is if they're making threes, they're unbeatable.
19:02Unbeatable.
19:03You can't beat them.
19:05But when they're not making threes, they are still pretty damn good.
19:10That's what I'm taking from all of this.
19:12And I think they get it.
19:13I think that, like, they won a game with defense.
19:16They won a game over Minnesota with defense.
19:17You know, they won a game, right.
19:19No, they have to be truly great.
19:22You have to be, you can't be one dimensional, naturally.
19:25And when they are on the threes, since they were an opening night, you know, when that
19:28was devastating, nobody could beat them that night.
19:31Nobody was beating them in the opening night the way they shot the three.
19:34And they had a game recently where they were shooting, you know, 69 percent deep into the
19:38third quarter.
19:39And then, you know, but sooner or later, they stopped falling.
19:42Then you have to go to plan B. And then, not to mention, as you just pointed out accurately,
19:48you know, you have to win games with defense.
19:50And they did last night in the end.
19:52They're not, you know, they're not playing all that well at the moment, but, you know,
19:57by the standards that they've established, you know, they got to pick it up.
20:03They've gotten away with a couple, that is what I'm saying.
20:05They definitely got away.
20:06Right.
20:07So that's actually, thank you for segwaying into my next question.
20:11Despite the fact that they've gotten away with a couple of games and they even lost
20:14a game in overtime to the Pacers, right, in which they did not play well, they still only
20:19have three losses.
20:20They have the second best record next to the Cavaliers, who they beat.
20:24So are we at the point with the Celtics that we can say that when they play awful, they
20:30still find a way to win?
20:32Yeah, they are in concert with the Kansas City Chiefs, I think, who don't have to play
20:37their best game to win.
20:39But that's a universal in all sports, in my opinion.
20:44If I've learned some things along the way is that teams can get to a level where they're
20:51so good that they don't have to bring their A game, you know, they can win with anything
20:56starting with the B plus game and they go down.
21:00And depending on who they're playing and that night and all that, they're good enough
21:04to get away with that kind of performance.
21:06This is not unprecedented.
21:07This is professional sport reality.
21:10I agree.
21:11I think that's a great point.
21:13I think there's no doubt about it.
21:15How many times on the course of the marathon that we noticed the baseball season, do we
21:19know that that was ugly, that the phrase came out of baseball as a White Sox team, Gary?
21:26Was it that somebody first said winning ugly?
21:29I don't remember.
21:30We're going to have to look this up now that I brought it up because it should be able
21:33to look it up as to who gave us the phrase winning ugly in sports.
21:37But it was baseball, I think, somebody.
21:40And it's true of all sports that a really good team can win ugly.
21:46And if you win ugly consistently, you know, that and some teams, right.
21:52So we got to look at winning ugly, but ugly right now and, you know, sooner or later it's
21:57going to.
21:58Oh, oh, yes.
21:59Yes.
22:00Yes.
22:01Yes.
22:02Here we go.
22:03You're correct.
22:04The term was first used by Texas Rangers manager Doug Rader, a reference to the West Division
22:11winning 1983 Chicago White Sox.
22:16You nailed it.
22:17White Sox.
22:18And Doug, he was a character, by the way.
22:20Oh, he was.
22:21Did he catch for the Red Sox?
22:22No.
22:23Is he a catcher?
22:24I don't think so.
22:25He might have passed too quickly.
22:27And I don't remember.
22:28I thought he was a catcher.
22:29But when he was a third baseman, though, when he doesn't.
22:32I got to look it up.
22:33They said they were ninety nine and sixty three winning ugly.
22:36La Russa was the manager.
22:37Yeah.
22:38Yeah.
22:39And OK.
22:40Well, OK.
22:41Well, OK.
22:42I just knew it came.
22:43Well, that's now 40 or 40 years now we've been living with the phrase winning ugly and
22:47winning ugly.
22:48People can relate to it in all four major sports.
22:51I guess you can throw in soccer, which I cannot speak to in that regard, but I'm guessing
22:56that, you know, it's equally true there.
22:59Douglas Lee Rader, the Red Rooster.
23:01That's it.
23:02He had a nickname.
23:03I knew it was.
23:04Third baseman.
23:05You are correct.
23:06Known for his defensive ability.
23:08Five straight gold gloves from 70 to 74.
23:10Wow.
23:11There you go.
23:12No.
23:13Good.
23:14Doug Rader.
23:15Well, the Red the Red Rooster.
23:17Who knew he was going to show up in a basketball.
23:20Nicknames are in baseball.
23:21Best nicknames are always in baseball.
23:23Well, historically, you know, no good.
23:26Yeah.
23:27Anyway.
23:28So but what I wanted to say, you know, about the Celtics was, boy, with Jalen Brown, when
23:33they clamped down defensively.
23:36Yeah.
23:37And I think it's just typical of a team.
23:40I think it's typical of a team that's defending a championship.
23:45To have nights like they did against Minnesota.
23:47I mean, I think that I don't know.
23:49I think it's just hard when everybody's trying to defeat you 82 straight games.
23:54I think it gets.
23:56There's a lot of fatigue with that.
23:58Oh, yeah.
23:59No, it's it's not.
24:00You know, many reasons why teams have trouble repeating and not.
24:04It's true.
24:05This is a test.
24:06All right.
24:07We're going to have these lows.
24:08You're going to have ups and downs.
24:09Correct.
24:10You know who I think is.
24:11And I'm not even looking at numbers.
24:12I am just totally giving you the eyeball.
24:15I have to pick one guy to make a three on the Celtics.
24:18It'd be white.
24:19Funny you mention that.
24:22Watching the game last night, he had a big shot.
24:24And I said to my wife.
24:27I want to adopt him.
24:29I want I'm going to file the papers tomorrow.
24:31I want to adopt him.
24:33He is so eminently likable in every way.
24:36Oh, holiday, too.
24:38I mean, but I'm just something about it.
24:40But you're right.
24:41He is a guy I want taking a big shot on that team.
24:44Oh, Friday night, two big threes at the end of the night.
24:47Was that Friday night?
24:48I watch that game.
24:49Yeah.
24:50Friday night.
24:51I mean, two big threes at the end.
24:52I think it was Friday night.
24:54He's money, man.
24:55That dude is money.
24:58No doubt about it.
24:59So let's talk about I want to talk about Minnesota for a minute.
25:02Everybody talked about, you know, Anthony Edwards and they love to talk about his one on one
25:07style and so forth.
25:10And I don't think that Jason Tatum gets the respect that Edwards gets as an individual
25:15player.
25:17But Minnesota's eight and eight.
25:19And they made that deal.
25:21And I don't know if that deal is working out for either team.
25:25The Knicks are, you know, they're something of a disappointment.
25:28They're they're a big issue.
25:30It's not offense.
25:31It's defense.
25:32And it's and I read the New York Papers faithfully.
25:35I read the Post every day and they keep harping on the defense to defense because they've
25:40had some back to back one thirties this week.
25:42OK, scoring.
25:43Yeah.
25:44It's just been porous and it's not been what it was.
25:48And I don't know that that's because of Randall or DeVincenzo not being there.
25:51They thought they had improved on defense by adding Bridges to go with Ananobi a year
25:55ago at this time.
25:56They didn't have either one of those guys.
25:57And they were specific.
25:58And Bridges specifically was brought in to help guard Tatum and Brown to help them match
26:05up against Tatum and Brown.
26:06He and Ananobi.
26:07Yeah.
26:09So, yeah.
26:10But Minnesota, I'll tell you why I'm glad you brought them up.
26:15It seems to be so much controversy about him in the final analysis, Rudy Gobert is pretty
26:20damn good.
26:21Now, he doesn't have any great individual offense.
26:26He's a putback and right guy and all that.
26:29But boy, he's a rebounder and boy, he can and he scares the crap out of you.
26:33They're guarding that rim.
26:35And, you know, I came away impressed with them.
26:39And Edwards is he's a machine.
26:41He's a he's one machine.
26:42But, you know, I mean, Bob, you know, something like that.
26:44I was checking.
26:45I go, wow, they're 500.
26:47Last year, they got bounced in the quarterfinals.
26:49So disappointing.
26:50Definitely.
26:51You have to, you know, I mean, they look great all year.
26:54I remember throughout the season, we were talking about him.
26:57When are they going to fade?
26:58When are they going to fade?
26:59Well, they didn't fade.
27:00They faded in the playoffs when they faded.
27:02But during the regular season, they were lights out.
27:04Now, give them their due.
27:05They came in here shorthanded.
27:07They did not have a very important part of their puzzle, which is Mike Connelly.
27:12Underrated.
27:13So they can, you know, rationalize if I'm a Minnesota fan after that game, we almost
27:20beat we almost beat the Celtics in Boston.
27:22We didn't have Connelly.
27:24I'm not doing too bad about my if I ever had to play the Celtics again, if I'm in.
27:29So got to give him credit.
27:30They didn't have Connelly.
27:31And he he is an important part of that puzzle.
27:34Yeah, he is.
27:35Even at 36.
27:36He doesn't have to be the Mike Connelly of eight years ago, but he gives them something
27:39they really need.
27:40If you're looking for tickets to see your favorite team wherever you are in the country,
27:44Boston, Chicago, L.A., New York, the best time you will have is if you go to GameTime,
27:50the GameTime app.
27:51It's real simple.
27:52It's got a nice G on there.
27:53Think Gary.
27:54Think GameTime.
27:55There you go.
27:56And all you have to do is download the GameTime app and you just set it up for yourself.
28:00So like if you're in Boston, for example, you have all the Boston games, you have Boston
28:04College, you have the Bruins, you have the Celtics.
28:06If I go to it right now, I know there's some Celtics tickets.
28:08They're playing the Clippers.
28:09I get some Celtics tickets on there for eighty two dollars to see the Clippers Celts Clippers
28:15eighty two bucks.
28:16You're going to have a great time at that game and on the GameTime app.
28:20So here's how it works.
28:21GameTime picks filters out all the fluff that you usually get when you're looking for tickets.
28:25You know, you can look through like thousands of ticket situations.
28:28They'll just deliver great seats to you right away because you punch in what you want.
28:33GameTime knows you.
28:34So when you go to the website or you go on your phone, they know what you want already
28:38when you sign in.
28:39You know, they have the view of your seats just boom, like you're sitting there.
28:42Do I want these seats?
28:43Yes, I do.
28:44Oh, the lowest price guarantee or GameTime will credit you 110 percent of the difference.
28:49Your purchase is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry.
28:54Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime.
28:57Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code CLNS for twenty dollars off your
29:02first purchase.
29:03Terms apply.
29:04Again, create an account and redeem code CLNS for twenty dollars off.
29:09Download GameTime today.
29:11What time is it?
29:12It's GameTime.
29:14Have you had a chance to see what's going on in Houston?
29:16Well, a little bit, and I'm looking at their rosters and, you know, somebody's doing some
29:22good drafting.
29:24If you go back, this is a team you can root for.
29:29I could root for this team.
29:31And, you know, Jalen Green was the second pick in the draft.
29:33He's proving he's worthy of that.
29:36Okay.
29:37Alperin Sengun was the sixth pick in the draft by OTC, but he's averaging 18 points a game
29:45when you're not looking.
29:46And I guess that Fred Van Vliet has been a threat, although did you hear what he said?
29:51It was a dumb thing he did last night.
29:54I didn't.
29:55What did he do?
29:56Well, he got carried away.
29:57He thought he had been fouled at the end, and the call did not come.
30:03We lost the game, and he ran over, and after pointing it everywhere, he got too close to
30:09referee John Connolly and actually made contact.
30:11Yes.
30:12Oh, this is going to be suspension and fine.
30:15Oh, yeah.
30:16It's got to be.
30:17Well, you got to.
30:18This is easy.
30:19You know, you're cubable.
30:21Yeah.
30:22He's not good, but he's still a force.
30:25But here's what I like.
30:26They got seven guys averaging between 11 and 18 points a game.
30:31They have balance.
30:32And it always drives me crazy when people say, well, they don't have a go-to guy.
30:37They got seven go-to guys, you know what I'm saying?
30:42There's two ways to play.
30:43You have an Anthony Edwards, and by the way, we're going to get to the end of that game
30:46and how the Celtics managed to take care of getting him out of the way.
30:53That's good balance.
30:54And also, they got a guy.
30:57You got to love anybody with the name of Amen Thompson.
31:00You got to love Amen.
31:01Amen.
31:02You got to love him.
31:03And of course, they got the infamous Dylan Brooks, you know, who's an agitator, you know.
31:09And they've got a coach.
31:10We knew him.
31:11He could coach.
31:12Well, yeah.
31:13We know.
31:14Yeah.
31:15I mean, obviously.
31:16But they're rootable.
31:17I don't know how far they're going to go, but they're not easy to play.
31:22And you know, once again, it's a team, if I'm a Rockets fan, I got, you know, I like
31:28my team.
31:29Right.
31:30I got a team.
31:31Well, you know, you want to talk about Jaylen Brown.
31:34We'll get back to that.
31:37But the defensive thing against, to me, but even, I get so frustrated.
31:45I get so frustrated with people that don't really understand basketball, because I'm
31:49a basketball lifer.
31:50It's my favorite sport.
31:52I played it forever.
31:54I was with the Celtics for a long time.
31:57And people that don't understand the game or take or don't take the time to understand
32:02the game, because it's not a complicated game to understand.
32:05It's not.
32:06They always, you know, and this I blame David Stern.
32:09It turned the league around, but it was always Magic, Larry, Michael, LeBron, you know, and
32:13the marketing was great.
32:14Don't get me wrong.
32:15But Michael, Michael was scoring 50 a game, but he wasn't winning anything until Phil
32:20Jackson got there and he started dishing the ball to his guards and Kerr and moving the
32:24ball and making big shots.
32:26So like you could talk about that all you want.
32:28Same thing with Magic.
32:29I mean, you talk about the dynasty.
32:30I mean, how many weapons did they have?
32:33So when people talk about Anthony Edwards and the one on one stuff, he ain't enough.
32:37He ain't enough.
32:38You can't do it alone.
32:40Even even LeBron didn't do it alone.
32:42He had Dwayne Wade.
32:43He had Bosch.
32:44You can't do it alone.
32:46And that's the thing.
32:47That's what pisses me off.
32:48When people want to talk about Anthony Edwards versus the Celtics, Jason, they did it with
32:54Jason Tatum in a shooting slump.
32:56Anthony Edwards is never going to win a title until he has a team.
33:00I'm sorry about my great point, and it amplifies what I've been saying about the difference
33:06between Michael and LeBron and in their path to the mountaintops, their respective mountaintops.
33:12And in Michael's case, he didn't win until he learned how to share.
33:16Right.
33:17The 1987 Michael in 88, Michael is not making those passes and Steve Kerr and John Paxson
33:25that won championships for them.
33:26But the 91 Michael and two finally figured it out.
33:29You've got to rely on.
33:30I've got to show faith in my guys, particularly when I had these great shooters.
33:34OK.
33:35And LeBron, in my judgment, did not win until he was the opposite.
33:41The responsibility of being the best player in the world, not deferring.
33:44He quit in 2010 against the Celtics.
33:47I'm sorry he did.
33:49And he did not want the ball the way he should have against the Mavericks in 2011.
33:53And I don't know what got to him, whether he figured it out himself or who got to him.
33:58But that was the moment from that point on, after that series, and now he starts figuring
34:05it out.
34:06But you're absolutely right about Anthony Edwards, because it is very analogous to Michael
34:09in terms of that individual offensive ability.
34:12You've got to have.
34:13You've got to be able to share and you've got to demonstrate faith in your in your,
34:17you know.
34:18And you have to have the guys to share the ball with.
34:19Oh, yeah.
34:21And the other thing about Michael's that always has to be pointed, you know, Scottie Pippen.
34:24Right.
34:25Rather, you know, he was a pretty good Batman to that Robin.
34:29A Robin to that Batman.
34:30Yeah, he was.
34:31Pretty damn good.
34:33And so that was.
34:35But still, Michael was the was the guy.
34:37And when Michael when people knew that Michael believed in them, that team got good.
34:42They were starting winning championships.
34:43There's no question.
34:44But how would your thoughts on how the game closed out with the Celts?
34:48And well, you know, they want to get the ball out of the Edwards hands.
34:53And they did.
34:54And, you know, that that's that's the optimum.
34:56You know, I was worried, you know, seven seconds.
34:58Oh, my God.
34:59We all know how much can happen in seven seconds.
35:01You know, and I was angry with the team for blowing the lead.
35:03You know, I was.
35:04So it's that you guys.
35:06I was.
35:07I won't go so far as to say I wanted them to lose, but it would have been.
35:10I frankly think Minnesota deserved to win as much as they did.
35:14But basketball, the game comes down to that.
35:16And they made the defensive move that they needed to make.
35:19And we talked about defense earlier.
35:21And they they're capable of that.
35:23And they did it.
35:24And they walked off.
35:26They sneaked away with one.
35:27And but as you pointed out, it's because they are a consummate all around thing.
35:32They're not just a one dimensional thing.
35:34In my text, you in our text chain, you wanted to talk about, yeah, one of your old Jared
35:39McClain.
35:40My God, I just sneaked up on me.
35:42Now, last time we met, I was championing Dalton Connect.
35:47And how what a great rookie year he's having and how he's on this run with the Lakers.
35:51And then that later on, somehow I was looking at something and they mentioned McCain.
35:58And I looked up, how come I wasn't paying attention?
36:01I blew it.
36:02This guy is averaging coming off the bench for Philly, by the way, is the 16th pick.
36:06The whole thing was he's the 16th pick in a draft, right?
36:08And connected to 17th.
36:09And they are clearly one, two in the rookie of the year if we had it today.
36:12And by the way, McCain has to do it unanimously when I'm about to give you some numbers.
36:16And McCain is averaging seven to 16.6 points a game in 29, 24 minutes of playing time.
36:23OK, here's his last 10 games.
36:28In starting, yeah, his last 10 games.
36:30Ready?
36:3118, 27, 23, 34, 23, 20, 20, 20, 30.
36:38And then he had a bad night last night.
36:39It was three for 15.
36:40He had 18 points.
36:42He's averaging over 25 points a game the last 10 coming off the bench in 24 minutes a game
36:47with 76ers for a team that's going nowhere.
36:51So no one's paying attention, except perhaps, you know, filling up your press.
36:55But I didn't know.
36:56And Bob Ryan.
36:57And yeah, well, I was alerted to it.
36:59I wasn't like on top of it.
37:00I had to be introduced to it.
37:02This is one of the great.
37:04This is amazing.
37:05So who is he?
37:06Well, he's a guy.
37:07He was the 16th pick of the day.
37:08He was out of Duke one year.
37:10He was a five star player.
37:12He's a 6'6 guy.
37:15But I mean, let's give him some credit here.
37:17That's a hell of a run.
37:19And no one outside of Philly, if anybody in Philly, because all they're drawing about
37:23on this is about, you know, everything that's wrong with Philly, which is plenty, you know,
37:27and that he can't win.
37:28He's not doing it for a winning team.
37:31But my God, these are some staggering numbers, I think.
37:34And no one's even talking about it.
37:36Bob, before we go, I do want to talk about a guy that I was very fortunate to meet and
37:44work with when he would come on television with us.
37:47But you worked with him for many years at the Globe, and that's Larry Johnson.
37:51And I just have to say, before Bob has much more to say than I do, is that since leaving
37:59Sports Talk Radio, I loved what I did, but I'm a much happier person.
38:07I mean, I really did.
38:09You know, doing the whole Sports Talk TV, every night we had to, you know, Larry would
38:14come in and he'd be like, hey, guys, what's up?
38:18You know, it's all good.
38:21And just the best, the sweetest, the nicest, the greatest guy to have on, just so understanding,
38:28so compassionate, so talented.
38:31And I'm just glad that I knew him.
38:33Some people just light up the room.
38:35And you're right.
38:36I echo absolutely everything you said about his personality and his class and his talent
38:42in a field that's dead now.
38:45That field doesn't exist.
38:47Boy, he could go to his grave saying that he was one of the last great practitioners
38:53of that art of sports cartooning.
38:55And you know, it's a sad lost art that there's no more room for it anymore.
39:01But what wonderful stuff.
39:03And Globe had it going for 50 years, the greatest of all time was a guy named Gene Mack.
39:11And the stuff that he did is just phenomenal.
39:13I've got some great examples of it at home, thank God.
39:16And I've got one everlasting souvenir.
39:18Thank you, Larry.
39:19When I retired the first time from the Globe, thinking I wasn't coming back in 1982, one
39:26of the gifts I got was a wonderful, encompassing cartoon of my then Globe 14-year career that
39:35hangs prominently in my office.
39:38And you know, nobody's going to have that again.
39:42By the way, another say hello for our local audience.
39:46One other guy from that era, apparently has just, it's about to turn or has turned 99.
39:51Eddie Germano from Brockton was also a very skilled cartoonist.
39:56He did the Red Sox.
39:57He was always the guy that did the Red Sox game day stuff.
40:00Yeah, Eddie was terrific.
40:01But when I got to Boston in 64, as a freshman at BC, Vic Johnson at the Herald, and they
40:09had another one.
40:11And it was just a whole different world.
40:14But Larry, you're right.
40:15He wasn't a nicer person.
40:17And what a good presence on talk radio.
40:20He kind of got a little antiseptic nature to talk radio.
40:24Well, yeah, I mean, it's that mustard of Johnson.
40:28I mean, a shout out to Craig.
40:30Craig has been talking about Larry in the papers as he should.
40:33I mean, he's not as he should.
40:36I mean, he's he worked with him for 25 years is what I'm saying.
40:39So he knew Larry very well.
40:40And he talked about how Larry, you know, that Saturday morning show with like mustard of
40:45Johnson was kind of like, you know, you go to the dump and, you know, you go to the hardware
40:51store, you know, you make your rounds and you had him on.
40:54And it was like it was like it wasn't, you know, the big O and you guys yelling at each
40:59other or Felgie or Mads, you know, it was like it was the perfect Saturday morning show.
41:06You know, it was perfect.
41:08I mean, we were better for it.
41:09It wasn't a Melissa's bone in Larry Johnson's body.
41:12And you know, he just was he had that's his outlook on life.
41:16And then he graced us with this wonderful art or sense of humor.
41:21It's clever.
41:22And it was it was terrific.
41:23And so I was very sad to hear about Larry.
41:26Well, a life well lived and condolences to his family.
41:31One of the greats.
41:32OK, Bob, we'll talk to you at the end of the week.
41:35We're going to track down Mr. Goodman.
41:37Yes. Yes.
41:38The three amigos will be riding post holiday.
41:41Good luck, by the way, with your Thanksgiving soiree.
41:44I say, well, it's going to be very interesting for us.
41:47So we're looking forward to it.
41:49OK. All right.
41:50Take care, Bob.