No more "pushing panic button" for the #Celtics ? Have Tatum and the Celtics turned a corner? #NBA Celtics insider Mego joins!
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00:00pretty loud. Let's go Celtics chant in Miami on Monday night. Yes. Um, which I think bodes well
00:07for this team. They are popular certainly on the road. Uh, it used to be that way for the
00:11new England Patriots, uh, and for the, and for the Boston Red Sox. I don't know if it still is or not.
00:17Um, but it seems like certainly, uh, we were talking about Jason Tatum and the night he had
00:21a Monday night. And it seems like maybe if you were somebody who was, uh, close to panic or
00:28concerned, like I was, it seems like they've turned things around a little bit. Were you
00:32close to panic? I was, wiki kept telling me, don't worry about it. Doesn't matter. It's regular,
00:37regular season. And so I, I don't know. Uh, I, I, the injury thing, they keep dealing with it. Now
00:44they're without, uh, drew holiday and Jalen is questionable for tonight, I guess. But, um, there's
00:50no worry on, on your face whatsoever. No, it was cool. I was at this event last night that Jason
00:57Tatum, his personal basketball skills coach, who's he he's worked with since he was 13, 14 years
01:02old. He released this book that he wrote about, you know, kind of motivating people because he
01:07works with Halliburton. He works with Joel Embiid. He works with Bradley Beal. His coach has from
01:14St. Louis and has worked with all these NBA stars for the last decade and a half at least. And he
01:21had Tatum as a guest there. And so they were sharing all this footage from back when he was
01:26in high school. It was really cool. They had like 16 year old Tatum playing in his high school gym.
01:31And then they had all this stuff at Duke. And then they showed his pre-draft workout in front
01:36of Danny Ainge with the Celtics. They showed an exclusive footage of his workout with Kobe Bryant
01:43that we've heard so much about the late Kobe Bryant. It was really cool. And listening to Jason
01:48talk, it was just a reminder that Celtics fans are very lucky and the Celtics are very lucky to have
01:55somebody who is maybe you think he's boring or maybe you think he doesn't, you know, talk all
02:03the stuff on the court that you wish that he did or he doesn't have beef with other guys like on
02:08other teams like you wish that he did. But his dedication to his craft is so ironclad. It is so
02:15set. And I just think that we take it for granted. We take for granted that he has some of the highest
02:21usage in the league, that he plays some of the most minutes. He's a top 10 minutes recorded every
02:26single year that he's been in the league. He's a perennial all-star. And I think as long as you
02:31have somebody like that in the center of your core, Jalen, you know, props to being on the
02:37Tonight Show last night. He's awesome too. But Jason is the North Star of this team. And as long
02:42as he continues to develop, he's only 26. He's stepping into his NBA prime now. So think about
02:49what the Celtics have done up to this point. He's stepping into his prime now. So you can say, oh,
02:54like he hasn't done what I wanted him to do in the playoffs. I want him to be more like Kobe.
02:59I want him to be more like Paul Pierce in the clutch. He's turning into that. The time is now
03:05for these next four or five years. And I just think Celtics fans should allow themselves to like
03:12breathe easy a little bit more, even if you're 16 and 10 at home and you wish you had a better
03:18record at home than that. I get it. They're not playing to the level that they were playing last
03:22year, but that's your North Star. And last night was just a cool reminder of that.
03:25Right. And you know, we complain about load management and guys taking nights off. It
03:29sounded like he really insisted on playing Monday night.
03:32Yeah. And that's who, that's who he, look, he takes nights off. Like all NBA players take some
03:38nights off. But I think between him, the only two stars, all stars who are in top 10 minutes played
03:45this season. And I'm not talking about minutes per game. I'm talking about overall minutes and
03:49all the games that they play are Jalen Brunson, who's still relatively new on the scene compared
03:55to Jason Tatum and Jason Tatum. Everybody else is further down.
03:59Cause that's because of his mom's. Cause if you watch starting five,
04:02she talked about where she couldn't really afford that basketball coaching. She said,
04:08listen, if you're going to go there, I want you to put him through hell.
04:12And if he continues to show up, then it's obviously worth me, you know, coming up with
04:17the money to pay for it. And that's what you see as far as his work ethic. Um, I just look at this
04:23team and when you start to see, like, even in the games where his ability, when he comes out,
04:29he's not shooting great early in the game, but his ability to like, when he puts his mind to it
04:34and just to say, all right, I'm going to take over. I think that's what we're getting a little
04:38bit more with him now, especially the past couple of games. If you watched it, his ability to say
04:44I'm taking over quarters. Yeah. And there's something about it where it's, I do think that
04:49his all around play style just is not conducive to some of the headlines that a Luca or even
04:57Giannis will get where he drops 40 and it's like against the Knicks and everybody up to that game
05:05is saying, oh, the Knicks, they're right on the heels of the Celtics.
05:09The Celtics aren't who they were last year. They can't catch Cleveland. Even though they beat
05:12Cleveland, they can't catch them in the Eastern conference standings. And everybody's panicked
05:17and they're, they're not, you know, they're, they're vulnerable. And then he drops 40 on the
05:22Knicks and there's nothing. It's like, there's no follow-up. It's like, oh, that's nice for Jason.
05:28All right. Keep it moving. All-star weekend. Okay. You bring up Jalen and the tonight show.
05:34Does it bother you? Cause I've seen a few people say that it's bothering them, that he's been
05:37questionable for, you know, game in game out and then to be on the tonight show. Some people don't
05:42like that aspect of Jalen. I mean, is he hooping on the tonight show? I don't think so. Like what
05:47you think his knee is going to get inflamed by sitting in the low chair. It's right before all
05:52star break. I think, I think that's ridiculous. Like that's so goofy. You, you think that that's
05:57going to affect, he shouldn't, he should just sit at home in a cold tub for 24 hours a day.
06:03I think people hate on him just to hate on him. Yeah. And then there's, you know, Courtney,
06:08I know. Yep. We all got haters. I don't mind that. Like, you know, that you can get some of
06:13these guys some rest if they need it, because the most important thing, and we we've kind of talked
06:18about this all year long is the most important thing is the playoffs. So they're not, you know,
06:24the expectations for us in all in Greg said a joke at the beginning of the year as his team,
06:28all right, they go undefeated. Like, yeah, we had great expectations,
06:32but I still look, he was kind of serious. If we're going to be honest, but that wasn't it. Yeah. So
06:37we were like, you know, they, we thought they would have a really good season. And as far as
06:42record, could they really contend for the golden state 74 wins? Would you want them to? Cause
06:48remember what happened to that golden state team, they burnt out and they, and Steve Kerr,
06:54whether you like them or not, after the fact said, I think that became somewhat of a
06:59distraction. I think that burned us out being focused on that historical goal. I'd rather have
07:04a championship. If I am part of the Celtics, then have the regular season record as the 2007 Patriots,
07:13which they'd rather have asked the Bruins from a couple of years ago, you know, whatever that was.
07:18Yeah. Two years ago, that's the Bruins historic season. But yeah, I just, it, it, to me, it's more
07:23about get to the playoffs, keep everybody healthy. And then that's where you're going to be able to
07:28do what it is. I think they can do again and repeat. Uh, texter would like to know,
07:32Mego, any concern when it comes to the drew holiday injury, it's a shoulder, but it's lingering.
07:40Yes. So I think with that, it's something that I would be surprised if it goes away this season.
07:46So I think what they're doing, like my perspective, what they're doing with him right now
07:51is managing that he's 34 years old. The style that he plays is extremely physical. What he does is a
07:57perimeter defender is just takes a toll on you. And I don't think that that shoulder is going to
08:03get much better. Hopefully it doesn't get much worse, but it's part of the wear and tear of the
08:09style of play as a defender that he has, that is going to get to a point where, okay, take him out
08:16a little bit, you know, pay some and then get them back in the playoffs and let them be the guy that
08:20we've seen them be in the playoffs. How did Luca look in a Lakers Jersey for you? And I, that was
08:24going to be my other lead this morning was I hate to say it, but I'm kind of turning into
08:30conspiracy Kurt a bit after seeing the numbers after of the super bowl and how it's the most
08:35watched super bowl, whatever. It's like this nostalgia that these leagues are trying to bring
08:40you back to the fact that it was Casey Philly, two years later, can they, can they, you know,
08:45write the wrong now trying to get Celtics Lakers back into action. I saw the Curtis, the first
08:51article written on NBA's website after his game was this is now appointment TV. Luca on the Lakers
08:58is appointment TV. I mean, I said six straight for the Lakers and he spent a half million to help
09:04people victims of the fires and fans in Dallas are being kicked out of the arena by the new owners
09:09were saying to fire the GM. It's all coming together. The Dallas reaction to everything
09:13is bizarre. That's the Dallas reaction to everything after this trade. What did you expect?
09:20The reaction from ownership and everything down there is bizarre. I'll say for the Lakers,
09:24I maintained that the Lakers are just an annoyingly positioned franchise. Like they are
09:31not just one of these tent poles of the league, the way that like the Dallas Cowboys are in an
09:37annoying fashion for the NFL, but they're also in LA. They're also at such a desirable spy.
09:43And so I think that this is a little bit different than say having LeBron come there
09:48because obviously LeBron wants to go to Hollywood and he wants to be near his kid playing at this
09:52great Academy and all that stuff. Like that just works in LA's favor, but I'm not at the point
09:58where I'm looking at the league and going, they want the Celtics Lakers dynasty years to come back
10:04like them battling it out. But I mean, yeah, I don't think it's bad for the Celtics either.
10:09Right. Good. All right. Get more eyeballs on the Celtics. Everybody was complaining about Celtics
10:12maps in the finals last year. So if this helps get more eyes on the Celtics, that's not a bad thing.
10:17The problem is the Lake is just got to get by OKC. Yeah. I mean, I don't, I don't know that
10:23anybody is like enthralled about having a market like OKC in there. I mean, it's like, that's a,
10:28that's a tiny market. Believe me, if it's OKC Lakers in the conference final in the West,
10:34it'll be like Sacramento Lakers, whatever that was. There will be calls like you read about
10:39Donaghy. You'll come out of retirement and ref with Foster in that game.
10:43There's no way in hell Oklahoma City, if the Lakers are there, is going to be playing the
10:47Celtics. Well, didn't they? Wasn't the, weren't the Lakers in the Western conference finals?
10:52What? A couple of years ago against it might not have been OKC. It might've been Denver, right?
10:56Right. And so then we're a much bigger market than OKC.
11:00I guess. I mean, do you think the nuggets get back to the playoffs?
11:05The Western conference, I would agree with, I think, Michael, you might've said this before.
11:09I would think that it is OKC. Then the Denver's been playing well. They're another team. They've
11:13won like maybe six or seven in a row. They're playing well. Any team that has the Joker on it.
11:19And then who's the, who's the third team in the West? Is it, it's not.
11:24I mean, Houston's hanging around.
11:26Yeah. Houston's hanging around, but I think there's another team. I don't, I'm,
11:29for some reason I want to say Minnesota, but I don't think it's Minnesota.
11:32But yeah, I would say that, you know, it definitely is the OKC, like the Celtics.
11:37They're the team in the East. OKC is the team in the West. I don't know who can beat OKC.
11:43Denver 18th media market. OKC 45th.
11:4645th. Wow. Wow.
11:48Okay. Well, I mean, we'll see.
11:53And at the same time, OKC has some big stars over there that are going to be rising. So sometimes
11:57it's like, Hey, where was everybody complaining when OKC was going against the Warriors and it
12:02was Durant and Westbrook. Like, I don't think, I don't think people look down their nose at that.
12:07I think a lot of the problem is it's kind of like, I, you know, I kind of make it similar to
12:12the NHL with like Connor McDavid. I think a lot of the problem is those teams are on so late. So
12:19you like never watch OKC. Like, so we never get to see SGA play when, when the Joker was kind of at
12:25his height, we really didn't get to see him play that much. So you might be shocked if you actually
12:31get a team like OKC when you actually now, because people talk about him as being MVP and then you
12:36get to watch him play. I think we were excited to see the Joker play. And we were like, wow,
12:42this guy is really as good as advertised. You'll see it this weekend, all-star weekend. They got a
12:48funky new format. I'm done with the all-star games. Yeah. They're trying to make it like a
12:52mini tournament. So first team to 40 points in each of the games and there's two rounds.
12:59You do work at NBC sports, Boston. Great job. Do you know anything about the TV ratings this year?
13:04I haven't seen them written about, I know nationally are down. I haven't seen anything
13:07locally. Do you have any idea of what? I don't, I don't, I don't, I'm not privy to that information,
13:13but I will say like we talked about, there were a bunch of headlines about the November TV ratings
13:18compared to the year before. And then Christmas did really well. And I know that it's not NFL
13:23numbers, but the NBA is not going to be the NFL. Nobody is the NFL. And so that's the latest that
13:29I've seen. I don't know what the lag time with this stuff is, to be honest. Yep. All right.
13:33Well, great to see you. Good to see you guys. What are you writing about? Have you decided
13:37what you're writing about this week? Let's see. I just wrote about three trade options for the
13:42Patriots and then I'll be at the game tonight. So you're going to be there. I'll be there in
13:46a work capacity. Where are you at trade options? I want to hear about trade options, Patriots.
13:51So people will not like this probably, but my number one trade option right now is Cooper cup.
13:56And then I explore Debo Samuel and Miles Garrett as well. I think Miles Garrett is,
14:02if there is any way that you could get him here and repair him with Rabel because
14:06Rabel worked with him last year in Cleveland, that would be incredible for you, especially
14:12after what you just watched Philly be able to do with their defense against Patrick Mahomes.
14:16I just. Would you give up the fourth overall pick for Miles Garrett? I would. Miles Garrett is a
14:21beast. I'm on board for that one. Rich yesterday was also Cooper over, uh,
14:28Debo all day long because of the veteran presence and the willingness to work with
14:35young wide receivers. Why not both? He's also just, he's got great hands. Like, so there's
14:44some stuff that's going to break down. It doesn't bother you though. I mean, he's going to be 32.
14:49Um, I mean, yeah, Debo's younger, but their production is kind of the same, right? Like,
14:55I feel like you could go either way. If you could get Cooper cup. Great. If you could get Debo,
14:59great. I feel like if you get one of those two, you're still going to need another guy. Yeah. I
15:05think those guys, those guys are good. They would be like your one a or one B, however you would
15:13want to say it. But I feel like there's still like, if you've got Cooper cup with T Higgins,
15:18great. I'm with you all day long or Cooper cup. And I wouldn't say that you would draft a
15:24receiver at number four, but I just think Cooper cup by himself or Debo by himself is not enough.
15:30I would rather, and I think Jones has said this before, I'd rather go after DK Metcalf.
15:35Oh yeah. If you could, but here's the thing is I think that you're right. That you should at
15:39least start with one of those guys. You have to be really bullish in the trade market because I
15:45just don't have that much confidence in free agency. Look what's happened the last two years.
15:49There's like one prime target in terms of wide receivers. And that guy goes and everybody else
15:55either gets tagged or retained by their teams. Like the, these guys just don't shake loose.
16:00So I think you have to at least go for one of those guys in the trade.
16:02And don't you think based on what happened Sunday, the chiefs are going to be in on all of
16:06these guys? They should, but who knows? But I think the chiefs like Sean said this. And I,
16:11you know, as I started to think more, I kind of agree with him. I think the chiefs are happy with
16:16uh, Xavier worthy and Rashi rice as their two young stud receivers. So I think they're pretty
16:23happy with those guys. I would be, I would be all over. I know you talked about the free agent
16:27market. There's not many out there. I would be more aggressive in the trade market. This, this,
16:34uh, this kind of off. What I do, what I do wonder though, Greg is the chiefs have been the old
16:40Patriots, meaning like Deandre Hopkins, the best players on bad teams have gone there for less.
16:46Yeah. I wonder if that's now shifted to balance out with the Eagles a bit. You know what I mean?
16:50Like they won't have the corner, the market cornered on that kind of guy. But I also am
16:55worried about Clark spending a ton of money. Like the chiefs have never been a consistently high
17:02paying team. They were with the Patriots and the NFL PA grades for like worst facilities,
17:06worst everything. Meaning you don't think he's willing to spend a lot of money.
17:10See, I think they're going to look at it and go dynasty possibility slipping away. We got X amount
17:15of years with my homes overspend. They're going to owe my homes. I think $60 million this year.
17:22That's the cap number. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that sadly when teams make it to a super
17:27own lose, they still make a ton of money. There isn't quite the heartbreak that the fan base.
17:32I think they might go the Philly direction, the chiefs a little bit and say, we need to go and
17:37get one of the higher priority running backs. Cause I feel like they have the wide receivers.
17:42They can, they they'll be able to find the tight end that will fit with my homes.
17:46Their biggest thing, obviously, you know, maybe a few Lyman hair there, but they need a legit
17:51running game where at least you're willing to give the ball to the running back. Like they
17:57don't even do that. Yeah.