On this episode of the Bob Ryan & Jeff Goodman Podcast, Bob and Gary Tanguay cover all the biggest stories around the NBA. The Celtics' defense is offensive, the Knicks find their groove and the Lakers make a move. Plus, who was the best ex-Celtic coach? All that, and much more!
0:00 - Celtics in trouble
2:57 - Holiday's impact
5:41 - Correctable issues
8:01 - Heavy reliance on starters
12:10 - Brunson's 55 points
13:52 - Five starters scoring
17:00 - Don Chaney's nickname
19:40 - Best former Celtics coach
21:34 - Nelly's innovative approach
24:31 - Surprising coaching paths
26:24 - Casey's coaching impact
28:25 - Lakers' veteran pickups
30:11 - Anthony Davis concerns
31:50 - Tribute to LeBron
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0:00 - Celtics in trouble
2:57 - Holiday's impact
5:41 - Correctable issues
8:01 - Heavy reliance on starters
12:10 - Brunson's 55 points
13:52 - Five starters scoring
17:00 - Don Chaney's nickname
19:40 - Best former Celtics coach
21:34 - Nelly's innovative approach
24:31 - Surprising coaching paths
26:24 - Casey's coaching impact
28:25 - Lakers' veteran pickups
30:11 - Anthony Davis concerns
31:50 - Tribute to LeBron
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!
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SportsTranscript
00:00It's time for the Bob Ryan Gary Tangway podcast here on CLNS Media brought to you by Price
00:23Picks, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of CLNS Media Network.
00:28Pick more, pick less with Price Picks. Okay, Bob, we've got a lot of work to do, my friend.
00:35The Celtics are in trouble. They really are. And boy, what a difference a year makes. I'm
00:40going to, can you pinpoint one specific area? Well, if you had this, if I had to weigh my
00:47magic wand and say, the, well, defense, I'm working, I know the people are concerned about
00:55the shooting. And, you know, we have learned to live with the three point emphasis. It,
01:02it gave it to take it the way one night against Indiana, they're, they're hitting them next game,
01:06they're not. And, you know, you have to have a plan B and without Prazingis, your, your,
01:13your original plan B is, is not possible. And they haven't had Prazingis. But what concerns me is
01:19defense concerns me. When last we met, I was yelling about them not getting back on defense
01:26times or two or too often. And lately, it's, it's just every aspect of defense.
01:35Man on man defense ball, pressure defense, helping out too many teams are scoring too many easy
01:43points. I agree with you, Bob. And quite frankly, I was shocked. I thought in the Philadelphia game,
01:48which they lost, I thought the Sixers simply wanted it more. And especially in the Indiana
01:54game, the second loss, it's bad. The defensive, they are getting, they are a step or two behind
02:02when players are going to the basket. There's, that's a problem.
02:06Now, Holliday's been out. And he's an important part of that aspect of the defense.
02:12Granted, and without Prazingis, you don't have the rim protector, granted. But you're right,
02:18the rest of them have to pull themselves together. It's effort, Bob. I mean, you know,
02:22it's effort, you know what I mean? It's not there. Whether they, they,
02:26they think they can outscore people and live on that, or if that's it, or something. Now,
02:31this is Joe's got a crisis. Mazzoli's got a, I don't know about crisis. He's got an issue,
02:35major issue. And it's all correctable. That's the thing. It's not like, I think it's all
02:41correctable with the personnel that they have. And so I want to say, I'm concerned. And the
02:49thing that they better get in their heads is they got some serious competition in the East this year.
02:53Yeah, we'll get to that in a minute. But you mentioned, I want to stick on the defense for
02:57a moment, because you mentioned Holliday being out. And there was discussion, you know, who would
03:00you rather have at the end? This is just all talk minutia. You know, who would you rather have
03:05Holliday or, God, I just blanked our little friend. Pritchard. Pritchard, God, sorry,
03:15Holliday. Holliday brain fog. You know, it was like, well, you know, Pritchard's making threes,
03:20and it's a fun topic. But at the end of the day, it's Holliday, and you just mentioned it.
03:24He's a better defensive player than Pritchard, you know, and he can set the tone for the team.
03:31And they're not good enough at the three to outscore people, I think, my opinion.
03:39You know, some nights, it is.
03:41Some nights they are, but you know, they're not the Golden State Warriors.
03:45They go into serious droughts. And that's when you need to, that's when you need the defense.
03:52First of all, you got to get stops and prevent the other team from taking full advantage of that.
03:56And then you have to have a plan B, and not just the three. So yeah, there's a concern here.
04:02I mean, I thought in the second inning of the game, which all of a sudden in the fourth quarter,
04:06they got blown out. I thought, okay, I'm starting to see some moves to the basket. I mean,
04:11there was some inside out stuff. There was some motion. And that was specifically in the third
04:19quarter. And then the defense just let him down. There was a terrific article in The Athletic.
04:26That talked about the Celtics three point shooting. And as you know, the world of statistics
04:32now is just at another level. And this particular stat was they were shooting 55% of their shots
04:40were threes, which was by far the most in NBA history. The second alarming number was
04:48threes not off the catch, one on one, not inside out. Most of their threes are off the dribble.
04:57It's not off of ball movement or ball motion. And to me, that was, as we get to the offensive
05:05side of things, to me, that was telling the story offensively.
05:09And that didn't used to be the case.
05:11Agreed.
05:12If you were to take an overview of last season, if you had a sampling, a major sampling of last
05:19season, you would see that that was not the case, that they were exemplary. They were very similar
05:24to what the Warriors were during their run and their ball movement. And the threes were coming
05:28out naturally and unforced. And yeah, so that's a very good point. Once again, those things are
05:35all correctable. We don't need, once again, we don't need a talent infusion. We need something
05:42infusion. We need an effort infusion. We need an IQ infusion or something. But these guys,
05:47we still have a talented bunch of players. Now they're down two runs. And if this were,
05:53you know, April 15th, I'd be a little more concerned, but it's all correctable.
05:59But, you know, it's annoying. It's not what we've come to expect. And to me, I keep coming back to
06:07the fact that there's more competition this year in the East. And they're going to have to get,
06:13get this. All I can think of is share and snap out of it. And I've been yelling at the screen,
06:22snap out of it. And so that's my, that's my admonition.
06:25All right, Bob, let's, let's get your thoughts on the rest of the East where Philadelphia did
06:29show against the Celtics that they have a talent. They, you know, if they're big guys healthy.
06:33And then also you're New York next.
06:36Well, the next, our good story, this starting five is really good. What the trade,
06:42the moves they made starting last January by picking up Ananobi and then in the off season
06:48picking up Bridges. And of course the trade, the trade looks great. Leon Rose looks like
06:53executive of the year at the moment for the trade had towns to fit in. He's giving them what they
06:59wanted and what they needed. And, and, and once they get in, if they ever get Mitchell Robinson
07:04back they're going to have a nice one, two tandem of a, of a, of a, a scorer and a rim protector.
07:12They're going to be, they could be very good at that point, but that's starting five.
07:16Now Thibodeau is famous for his reliance on starters and he's living up to it again this year.
07:21Uh, all five starters are, are averaging between, uh, uh, uh, minutes and minutes.
07:29You're averaging between 34 and 39 and, uh, uh, towns at 34, Brunson at 35, Bridges at 39.
07:40He's number one, Ananobi at 36 and Hart at 37. Uh, and off the bench, uh, then McBride 25,
07:49Payne 15, and Precious Achua is getting some time cause they have to have a backup center
07:54at 19. But that starting five, that's a very heavy reliance on the starting five,
07:59but they're giving them, but look at the distribution. Uh, they range from Hart at 14
08:04points a game to towns at 25, uh, and Brunson at 25. Um, and they've got four of those five starters
08:13have had a 40 point game this year. And Brunson is one game removed from a 55 point game.
08:20Um, you've got to take this team very seriously offensive. You think back, by the way,
08:24did I, what I said opening night when the Celtics beat them handily, but by having a big three point
08:31bombardment, but I said, but if the Knicks play offense, the rest of the 81 games, the way they
08:37played offense tonight, they're going to win 55 games. And guess what? They're playing that
08:42offense. And they're even, uh, and it took a while for bridges to get rolling and he has,
08:47and, uh, that is a very, very potent offensive team. And, uh, the, so I think that I think they
08:54should be taken serious. Yes. Well, you have mentioned that they need to spread the ball
09:02around because in the past they've been a one man team, which has been a great story,
09:06but now that's not the case. And that seems to be what the Celtics need to do.
09:11Yeah. Well, so when they got it, they need a soul searching here and, and, and, um, it's,
09:17um, but we knew it was going to be a team ball.
09:23One thing you hear everybody, you know, every defending champion has the, has the thing to
09:29fall back on. Everybody's gunning for us. Everybody's up for us. You know? Yeah. Yeah.
09:33Yeah. Yeah. Fine. I want to hear that one. I don't care that that was a given, you know, and it's,
09:38it's, it's not just that, you know, in any case, if you do believe that you got to meet
09:43will with will, you gotta, you gotta match them with intensity.
09:47And yeah, you would want that. Plus the other note in that athletic, um, article was
09:54they have an easier schedule this year than last year. So there's no, you know, there's no excuses.
10:02Yeah. They're gunning for you, but a lot of their wins have come against subpar teams.
10:07Yeah. Right. The Wizards times already, right? What's that?
10:12Wizards three times already, right?
10:14Yeah. So, I mean, so, um, yeah, that's a very good point.
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11:52games as we speak, four games behind Cleveland, and only one ahead of New York. One game ahead
11:59of New York. New York, by the way, has won eight in a row and 15 of their last 18. And they are
12:06trending stock upward, boy, I'm telling you. And by the way, Brunson, 55. Who would have ever
12:13thought that Brunson coming out, you know, the Brunson we saw going back to Villanova,
12:18right, 55-point score. I did ask Jay Wright. I contacted Jay Wright after that 55-point game.
12:25I said, did you ever dream or think when you recruited this kid that he could score 55 points
12:31in an NBA game? He said, no. What I did think is that he could be the point guard on an NBA champion.
12:37Oh. And so, I'm just saying, and that's what, so, but how, Jay's got to be beaming. I mean,
12:45these are, three of those guys are his guys, you know? By the way, have you seen him on television?
12:50Yes. He's phenomenal. He's a natural.
12:54Phenomenal. He's good. No, he's very good. And I'm happy for him. That's good.
13:01That's good. And of course, Cleveland, nothing new to say about Cleveland. They're playing well.
13:06And they're rolling the roost in the East right now.
13:10Now, you said you want to talk about that Denver box score.
13:13Oh, you know, I'm a...
13:15Are you talking about the 132-121 win over Utah?
13:18Sure am. Did you notice something about the starting five?
13:22For Denver?
13:23Yeah.
13:2720, 21, 36, 16, 20?
13:30Four of them scored 20, and the fifth had a triple-double in which, and that's Westbrook,
13:36in which he scored 16 and shot seven for seven. And, you know, I love box scores. I love baseball
13:43box scores. I love basketball box scores most of all. And I'm always learning to look out
13:48for something. We have discussed this in the past, I think, as somebody else flirted with this.
13:52I've seen in all my years of going and covering combined in the NBA, going back 60 years now,
14:01two games in which all five starters for a team had 20 points. And here's a team that missed it
14:06by four with a guy who shot seven for seven. Those two teams were the Boston Celtics in the early
14:1270s. I got to pin this date down, who beat the Bullets one night with all five starters having
14:1820. And the thing that made that, you know, happen was Don Chaney had 20. That was very rare.
14:24Duck would never get 20, but he had that night. And the other was the 84 sons in a playoff game
14:31in Los Angeles at LA. They beat the Lakers. And the starting five was Alvin Adams, Maurice Lucas,
14:38Larry Nance. He was only, he didn't know he was senior then. He was senior.
14:43Right. He was senior then.
14:44Senior to be Walter Davis and Kyle Macy. And those are the five 20 point scorers.
14:54So I'm always on the lookout for a game in which there would be five 20 point scorers on the team.
15:00But the Nuggets came very, very close. And of course, I mean,
15:05did you see Jokic's line? 36, 22 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals, two turnovers.
15:15Two turnovers.
15:16Call that, that's a Chamberlain line. Some of the numbers that he put up in the mid 60s,
15:22you know, were ridiculous. And when he went into his middle phase, I call it his real team phase.
15:28Like the night they beat the Celtics in 1967 in game five to win the Eastern Conference
15:33Championship. Wilt had 29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists.
15:3836 rebounds.
15:39So that was, but Jokic threatened that.
15:44God, 30. I can't even imagine. 36 rebounds. I can't even, I can't.
15:50He and Russell put up numbers like that. I mean, they would average in a great,
15:55great years, they averaged 20 plus rebounds.
15:58Oh, I know. Oh, I know they did. Yeah. I mean.
16:02Once again, I have to point out rebounds were easier to get because there were more
16:06shots taken and more shots missed. Somebody had to get the rebounds.
16:10Right, right, right, right.
16:11It's like what Oscar Robertson's triple doubles, as opposed to Westbrook's triple doubles.
16:15Oscar's day was easier to get rebounds, harder, much harder to get assists.
16:20And today, the sister, you know, you pass the ball to a guy for a three pointer,
16:25he makes it, you get an assist. You know, I mean, that didn't, that was remotely conceivable
16:31in the 60s. And they were harder to get rebounds because the shooting is, you know,
16:36more shot, fewer shots are going or are missing, you know, percentage wise.
16:40And so it's harder to get the rebounds. He's much, much easier to get the assist.
16:45I've always wanted to know this. How did Don Chaney get the nickname,
16:51Duck? Donald Duck.
16:54That's it? I think so.
16:58He wasn't the only duck out there. There were a couple other ducks around sports, I think.
17:03But I think it's very simple. I think it was from Donald Duck. And that's a very good question.
17:07I haven't thought about it, obviously, much in the last 40 years. But there's no other reason.
17:12He didn't walk duck footed. He didn't have any other.
17:14Well, that's what I wondered if he walked up.
17:16He didn't go quack. I don't know. I think it was just, you know, and it stuck.
17:22He was Duck. Yeah, we know him as Duck.
17:25When you covered him, because we've talked about how many coaches from those 70s teams
17:29have gone on to become, I mean, players went on to become coaches and Silas and Chaney,
17:33Cowans did it. JoJo and Havlicek didn't do it.
17:39Nelson, of course, you said Nelson, right?
17:41Oh, Nelson. No, I forgot about Nelly.
17:43All of them, Nelson, yeah.
17:47How did, did you think Chaney would be a coach?
17:50Never thought about Chaney, not that dismiss the idea. He was intelligent and all that.
17:54But I just didn't see him having the desire to, you know, give orders in any way, shape or form,
18:03you know, that fooled me. I didn't see that coming with Duck. No, I did not.
18:07You know, you could see it, you know, in Nelly, you could see it in Silas, you could see it.
18:12Havlicek, of course, if he wanted to be, you know, he would have been, there would have been a line,
18:17but he had no desire to live the life or to do it. He was, it just didn't appeal to him.
18:23But, boy, I'll tell you, Honda was a coach. He was so meticulous and so demanding of himself
18:31in the way he lived his life. And I knew him a little bit. But from what I've read,
18:36I think he would have been a hard guy to please as a coach.
18:39He would have been. And I think he knew it about himself, see. He knew it about himself. And
18:46nothing about it appealed to him. And I think that's a very good point. I think he,
18:50and I'm quite certain that he knew that he was going to be hard to please. Because I remember
18:55his immediate exasperation with the 70-71 team that, well, the first team, not, well, actually,
19:06no, I'm sorry, the 69-70 team, excuse me, the first team post-Russell, you know, and Tommy's
19:12first year coaching Tyson. And, you know, and JoJo and Chaney and Kiburski are getting up,
19:19playing time. And there were some nights with, they did some, you know,
19:25lunkhead things. John was, John had a hard time dealing with that. And he, so I think that's one
19:31of the reasons why he decided, I'm not going to be a coach. But I think there were several.
19:36Yeah, he would have had a tough time with it. Interesting. Who do you think of those
19:41former Celtics? And I don't even know if we want to go by success. Who is the best coach?
19:50You know, Tommy was interesting. And one of, Tommy, I thought, did a great job in player
19:57development. Like Chaney, for example. He worked with Chaney individually at before and after
20:02practice to help him on his shot and his technique. And Chaney, when you average 13 points a game,
20:10it would have been unimaginable at the beginning. You never would have thought he could have done
20:12that. And one of the reasons was fast break basketball. And he did get some transition
20:17points. But he actually started making some jump shots. And Tommy is the one who made him
20:21into a shooter. He was good at that. And he had a great scheme to maximize both Cowans and Finkel
20:28as offensive players. That's 3-2 offense that he put in. Tommy's problem was he thought too much.
20:36Tom and Joe, a couple of, John crazy a little bit and it drove Cowans crazy at times in that
20:42he'd start changing things up before the team, in anticipation that the other team was going to
20:47catch on instead of waiting until they actually caught on before they had to worry about changing
20:51it. And too many of his practices were talking, talking, you know, because he fancy himself as
21:00a master psychologist. I'm well aware. I'm well aware. I had so many discussions with Tommy
21:08watching a game when he when he wasn't on the road, he would stay in the studio and he would
21:12just talk. He you know, he would Tommy was fascinating to watch a game with because it
21:18wasn't Tommy point stick. You know, it was just watching. He would be three plays ahead and he
21:26wouldn't tell you this is going to happen. But he was very big on the psychology of it. Very big
21:31mental aspect. Yeah, I mean, and he was, you know, he fancy himself as an intellectual and he was
21:38Oh, he was a renaissance man. No doubt. I always kid about his he used the word all the time when
21:45he would give talks. I used to go to with him to talks, you know, luncheon talks in the old days
21:49were very important. You would your job included inherently being an ambassador to the game,
21:55going into the next town and speaking at the luncheon that the local team would have to get
22:01interested in the game in the sport. And, and believe me, Tommy, the word he loved was inculcate.
22:07And how many people use the word inculcate? I don't remember him using that one. But I do.
22:13I love that word that he used. But so anyway, he got Tommy won two championships. So you can't,
22:19you got to give him the prize. And he's in the Hall of Fame as a coach. Nellie, though, Nellie
22:25was a mad scientist of a coach. You know, I mean, Nellie made new ball into a three point shooter.
22:32Talk about being ahead of your time. Think about that. Right? What a controversial thing that was
22:37at the time when he was encouraging bowl to take three point shots at seven feet seven. And today,
22:43of course, it's the way of the world, you know, but not the way it wasn't 40 years ago. Now,
22:48Nellie was and Nellie had the, the, and Golden State, he had the, you know, the famous street,
22:54the little guy offense had the nickname, run DMC. And see, he put that Nellie was was the master
23:02mad scientist of a coach. He never won a championship. But he won a lot of games.
23:08And his teams, his best Bucks teams, I said they were the ultimate B students. They they drank
23:13their milk to the bottom of the glass. They they looked both ways before crossing. They stayed up
23:17late at night studying for the exam. And they got a B. They got a B, B plus, they couldn't get that
23:23a, they just weren't good enough. Oh, it's the holiday season. Yes, it is. A game time is focused
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24:27off. Download game time today. What time is it? It's game time. When in hindsight, I always felt
24:34that it was a surprise that Dave Cowens became a coach and I had a chance to talk to him a number
24:39of times. I really enjoyed Dave a lot. He would come in studio and who knows maybe he's watching
24:44our our up there in Maine to us up on Sebago Lake in Maine, but I was always surprised he was a
24:51coach and he did it a couple times. He coached Charlotte he coached yeah he coached the Warriors.
24:56I mean Warriors of course. Yeah. They say Charlotte. Yeah. No, he was in Charlotte.
25:02Yeah. And Cowens. I mean Silas coached Charlotte also. Right. Didn't he? Yes.
25:08Yeah. I didn't see it. Especially after this. I don't know. It's funny because you know,
25:11he got blessed in the coaching as the player coach in that disastrous season of 77, 78.
25:18And after Satch got fired 12 games into the season. And there's another coach by the way you
25:25know of the coaching tree Satch Sanders. And of course KC. My God. It was something. So anyway.
25:32Sure. KC with Washington. But I wish that I'd love to talk to Dave about what his reflections
25:39are on that on that player coach thing. But we knew that they needed a real coach you know that
25:44at that time it was not wasn't best for him as he and his game. And they did get one. They got Fitch
25:49and that that you know we had immediate success with it. But anyway. No. I would have been
25:54surprised that he would have continued on as a coach. But with Dave you never knew
25:59what area of life he was going to focus on it. Oh no. No. No. He was great. But yeah. He but
26:07you mentioned you mentioned KC. He doesn't get enough credit because everybody feels he just
26:11rolled out the balls. KC was a people person though as opposed to a question. And I can I
26:18mean you know I'm I think he was the perfect guy for the 85 86 Celtics. No question. He was the
26:25perfectly wrong guy for 86 87 Celtics. And and he his thing was was he knew he got he understood the
26:33psychology of jocks and stars. He knew how to win games. He knew how to win games. He just wasn't.
26:40I mean he just knew there's something about him. And guys wanted to play for him. You know he's
26:44a wonderful human being. I mean everybody sweetheart. Everybody tell you that KC Jones
26:48was a wonderful human being. But he was not a master of detail. I'll tell you that at all.
26:55And I used to say if you gave every coach in the league a yellow legal pad and a minute or two
27:02and said just name as many players in this league as you can. He'd finish last. He would finish last
27:10and he'd be lucky to know who they were playing next. I mean I'm serious. And he just you know
27:16and this was after I was used to Bill Fitch who was Mr. Mike will manage. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.
27:22It degree you know. And you can understand that there was friction between those two a lot.
27:29Yeah. Two different ways of doing things. Well it's. But anyway KC. Yeah. The compliment the
27:34red for making the move because it seemed like he made the coaching change at the right time.
27:38Oh he did. Well he did. And that had to happen. Well they all quit. All but Dave. Oh excuse me.
27:45All but Larry quit on Fitch when they got swept in 83. Now granted Larry was hurt. He missed game
27:51one on route to the sweep. And they just weren't equipped physically to play the Bucs that year.
27:58But they quit on him. And the only one who didn't was was that far as I'm concerned
28:04was Larry because Larry Larry didn't mind authority. He didn't mind. Larry respected
28:09authority and sought authority. And he didn't mind all pitches quibble of foibles the way
28:16most of the others did. All the veterans that mattered did other than him. Moving on now to
28:24the Lakers. What did you think about the Lakers deal. They picked up veterans. I think what
28:31I tell them is they think that they can do something now. They've been trying to address
28:36their problems going back to last year. It's shooting. You know they they picked up shooters.
28:41They think they drafted connect. They they got Hachimura who can shoot. They got now they picked
28:49up two veterans who know how to play. You know Schroeder off coming off arguably as good a year
28:55as he's ever had Schroeder. Now how he's fit on with I should be fine. Finney Smith one of those
29:01guys Gary that he's been around and around and we don't pay any attention to him but apparently
29:07he's acquired. I don't I never have except that I learned now you know he's he's a poised quiet
29:15solid locker room kind of good locker room guy. And they think they can make a you know some waves
29:23in the west and they don't they don't see anything insurmountable. Obviously OKC is the class right
29:28now but I think they haven't given up on the season at all in any way. And the best name in the league
29:34Shake Milton. Shake. Anybody named Shake. Shake. Well we love Shake. We love that name because we
29:39did have Archie Clark who was nicknamed Shake and Bake by by Senator Hill. But this guy apparently
29:46it's on his birth certificate or not. I don't know. We have to check. Who knows. I have to check. I
29:51don't know where the nickname came from. But I just think it shows activity. We're trying to do
29:58so. We think we can do something you know. And they could be a problem for people if big if for
30:06them is it will be able to play enough. You know that's always been the question. You know he goes
30:12out for two or three games. He comes back. It's a big numbers a couple of nights ago. He had big
30:16numbers 31 and 90. Yeah. I mean if he's look if he's healthy for the entire playoffs. Yeah. Why
30:22not. But that's always the thing with them. And meanwhile you know I continue to be
30:30annoyed and perplexed at the LeBron haters. I don't know. I think manufacture these
30:37these you know charges against LeBron. Do you think he's anything but a team player
30:44when the game starts. You think he's anything but a team player when the game starts. He's always
30:49been a team player. Go back to St. Vincent St. Mary. Well that was the criticism earlier. He was
30:53too much of a team. That's what I'm telling on him for sure. It's he wasn't he didn't become a
30:58champion until he recognized oh hell I am the best player. I got to take over. And it wasn't in
31:04his nature to do that necessarily. You know the polar opposite of Michael you know. And Michael
31:09didn't get to the mountaintop of hit that he ascended until he learned how to share. And LeBron
31:13didn't get to his mountaintop until he learned how to take over when it's time and how to take over
31:19and which was great. Many skills as he's exhibit when. And so anyway I what he's doing at 40. It's
31:26just it's just phenomenal. It's phenomenal. And you know now the first guy to be a teenager and
31:31a 40 point 40 year old guy in the league. And it's I I continue to admire the game that he
31:40played. And you know and people are still hanging on the decision. You know that was 2010. Oh my
31:46God. Forget about it. Forget about it. He said he's me. You know so. So I just want to pay tribute
31:50to LeBron at 40. And you know I'm looking forward to seeing him. You know yet yet another time when
31:56they come to Boston. All right Bob. Listen any New Year's resolutions.
32:03I know I think the folly of New Year's resolutions right. The only question is when. How soon are
32:08they broken. You know. No I just got to just do the things that I need to do to stay healthy.
32:15And you know and not slack off. That's all you know. And that's all I'm saying. And I
32:21then got to not get lazy. So that's my resolution. Don't get lazy.
32:26Hopefully the Celtics resolution is to return to form of last year
32:30because of the Celtics aren't there for us. Pickens in New England.
32:34Yeah it is. It is. Although I am getting you know I'm not. It's too early to get excited. But
32:40I'm projecting down the road. I want to see spring training. I these these this new crop right.
32:47The Campbell and Montgomery and I want to see these guys. And I'm a big because I love it.
32:53But I'm a big Cassius believer too. So I think they could for some people. And you know and
33:00they have tried to address the pitching situation on paper. It appears that they you know set
33:06themselves up to be far better than last year. However we'll get to that when we get to March.
33:12But right. The Celtics. They better have some resolutions about getting back and playing some
33:16defense first. And and then we'll go from there. All right Bob. Bob Ryan Gary Tang. We're brought
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