LIVE Garden Report: Celtics vs Raptors Preseason Postgame Show

LIVE Garden Report: Celtics vs Raptors Preseason Postgame Show

Hard hat’s all about showing up to play hard, doing what it takes to win. If you want to cement legacy, win another. He’s your third center. You don’t want to pump him up too much, but it’s hard not to. This is maybe the most I’ve ever agreed with you. Well, well, well. Here we are. Another edition of the Garden Report. Sh Blakeley pinch hitting for the team joined by Noah Dael who is up in beautiful beautiful Canada. How you doing Noah? I’m good. I’ve never been to Toronto before. So, it’s been a beautiful city. I cannot say the same for the game though. This the game was one of the worst one of the worst like displays of like fourth quarter basketball I think I’ve seen. So, uh you know just balancing the city and and the basketball that we just watched. Well, you can’t have everything, Noah. You got T dot great. True. The tradeoff is you got a fairly bad basketball game in every sense of the word. Uh Celtics led by as many as I think it was 21 was what the league peaked or something like 24 maybe. I don’t know. It was a lot. Uh and next thing you know, you’ve got a dog fight at the very end there. And full disclosure, Noah, I was praying for anything but overtime. Uh praying that we would not overtime. It feels as though when overtime in the preseason happens, there’s something that you have done to anger the basketball gods and they’re taking it out on you in that particular moment. So, uh, thank normally I’m pro overtime in every environment. I think this might have been the first time ever in my basketball watching career that I didn’t want an overtime game because I just couldn’t I couldn’t fathom what overtime would bring, honestly. So, um, I’m I’m with you. I’m with you on that one. Noah, welcome to the dark side of of us who are much more concerned about how these games impact our lives in the actual play. Uh Noah, I mean, again, you’re up there in Toronto. What were some of the things Let’s just start at the beginning of the game. Let’s get the fun stuff, the good stuff going first. Uh what were some of the things that kind of jumped out at you in the Celtics 107 105 loss to the Toronto Raptors? So, I think the first thing is one of the things I don’t like about preseason basketball is that there’s like layers of of game. Like the guys that close the game had nothing to do with the first three quarters, right? Like they weren’t even on the floor. So, you can we can talk about like the main rotation guys and guys that potentially are going to wear our Celtics uniform and we can talk about the guys that you know the fourth quarter basketball was kind of more centered around. Um, I think big picture and probably what most people here care about is we saw Anthony Anthony Simon’s debut, so we should definitely talk about that. It was the first time we’ve seen him as a Celtic. Um I thought that he he we were just talking about this postgame, but he had a slow start. He said that he typically has slow starts, which I didn’t realize that that he typically kind of spends the first half more kind of surveying the defense. Um first quarter, it kind of reminds me of Tatum. That’s what Tatum always kind of described it. And then second half, you saw he kind of started picking his spots and uh showed what that, you know, the offensive bucket getting that we know that he is cap very much capable of. Defensively definitely had some tough moments in this one. So, I know that’s the big question mark around him, but uh I think we kind of saw exactly what we expected on both ends in a way. So, he didn’t he didn’t dispel any narratives around him, but he also uh I think he said he was a little nervous honestly going into this one. So, I’m sure it feels good to just get the first one out of the way. Chris Bush, who we also talked to postgame, also said that he was nervous yesterday uh on Wednesday. So, I think it is a little nerve-wracking for these guys to come in, even if you’re a veteran, even if you’ve accomplished it all out in this league and just like wear a new jersey and be exposed to new fans and kind of do it all for the first time in a new system. So, Chris Bush and Anthony were the two kind of like biggest characters that I saw tonight that I have a lot of thoughts on. Yeah. Well, Buchche, you can kind of understand his nerves. And we’re joined by Bobby Manning, uh, just joined us. Uh the thing about Buché, I think his nerves have more to do with just the location than actually being a Celtic and playing, you know, um you know, a preseason game with the Celtics. Having been being a Canadian playing for the Raptors, first time he was back since, uh you know, being on that roster, I think that was, you know, certainly something that was kind of going through through his mind. But uh he I mean, my goodness. I mean, he I mean, I I look up and he’s got 17 points in 17 minutes. Uh, and he was getting buckets in lots of different ways. Bobby, what are some of your uh early impressions of Abushe out there? He’s one of their two steadiest guys so far, I’d say. You know, between him and my nod, those are two guys, at least among the newcomers that you’re starting to sense. Joe Trust, Joe Lean on, Joe Love. Like, I think both those guys are doing a lot of different things. He’s the tip layup for Guushe. May my nuts put back three offensive rebounds quickly to start this one. Those are his energy guys. Those are his defenders. Those are his steady score in different ways other than having the ball offensive players. So that was one of my big takeaways I said to know after the game is those two guys in terms of their role. You know, Mina is the backup wing, let’s say, and Buché is that fourbackup five. They’re the ones running away with their roles right now. And the losers in that are probably Baylor Shyman, right? Who’s been out there with the garbage, you know, minutes and Jordan Walsh, who didn’t even play in this one with the injury. So, I think Buché is in a really good position right now among the newcomers, maybe the best. And I think you remember why he’s, you know, Go ahead, No. Um, I don’t know if it was on my end or not, but um, I think one of the things with Chris Buchet is that he is 32 years old and he has a lot of experience in this league and he had a lot of moments in this game that regardless of basketball, like somebody was on the ground, he sprints over and picks them up. Like kind of Al Horfordes plays that you just need to have in a on a basketball team that wins games and stays connected. Like you need to have that kind of glue guy that is a veteran that has been, you know, knows how to be a great teammate and all these things. It’s not that other guys don’t, but I think he’s going to play a big part of this team culturally as well. And then obviously we saw uh that he can do a lot on the court as well. Like I think he has been one of the standouts through the first two preseason games, but he just brings a lot of like little intangible things. That’s what I noticed from just being in the building that were potentially going to be lacking with with so many veteran players exiting this off seasonason. Like I think he replaces some of that. Uh whereas you get the high upside with guys like Josh May not who you know seems like a great guy as well but like you know he I think he’s assigning more that you you hope that there’s a high ceiling there and that he can contribute a lot more than he has so far in the league. Yeah absolutely and we’ll try to get Fraud back here and it looks like he had some technical difficulties but we’ll keep the Bouche conversation going because you know he’s back in Toronto emotional for him in this one. This this is a game though where I look up throughout and I’m like how how are the Celtics winning because they were they weren’t playing great. They were definitely making mistakes on both ends through the early stretches of this game trying to figure out the lineup they were playing in. No Brown, no Derek White, no Sam Hower in this one. So throughout I’m like, you know, with obviously the Raptors had all their starters, that was a big part of it. But guys like Buché in particular, it just gave them an energy lift throughout this game. And I loved what he contributed there. Um, you know, just early and often the three-point shooting, the touch rebound, like that was one of the my favorite plays of the game tonight was that little tap in he got from a distance. Um, and I like his defense right now, too. and you know whether it’s him stepping up for Ugo in that Memphis game or you know him being I’d say just being around this team so far one of the more vocal leaders talking after games talking you know to us this morning um you know speaking on behalf of the big man room and you know what they’re capable of here I’m enjoying the Bush experience so far and I know you said through a lot of this game you can tell Joe is already too. Yeah for sure. Um and I think he’s a guy that he’s on a one-year deal. It was a bargain contract like he helped them in the payroll sense. You know, they traded Yang and signed him and it was a good financial move and a lot of financial moves I think make you worse, but I think that this one actually probably made them better. Um, and so the big question with him and a lot of these guys like we’re going to have a lot of conversations about a lot of rotation players and the big question mark to me is just the three-point shooting because he had a pretty good three-point shooting season last year. He obviously made them tonight. I don’t think he made them in the preseason opener. if he can consistently stretch the floor. Look, we talked a couple times today. There was pretty poor spacing where you had two nonshooters or somewhat non-shooters on the floor at once. And is he going to be a non-shooter? Is he going to be a guy that teams really respect and can kind of hit from out there? I think for the most part, he’s had some good shooting seasons. And so, if he can do that, then he’s he’s a I don’t want to say he’s a complete complete player because he’d be he’d be making more than a minimum if that was the case. But he did when when I sat down with him for a while last week, one of the things he said was the Selk lost a lot of skills. Porzingis leaving with Jason Tatum leaving with Al Horford leaving. I have a lot of those skills. It’s not, you know, he wasn’t saying I’m Tatum or I’m Al Horford or I’m Porzingis, but a lot of the things that they lost, you kind of being that connector, you know, doing a lot of little things. I think he feels like he can fulfill that. So, I think he’s going to play a really big role this season. Um, and it was cool to see him have such a big game in front of his home home crowd, you know, being from Canada, having released that very moving players tribute article earlier today and then getting like a very warm welcome. You can see that he is just beloved here. You don’t stay a role player for one organization for seven years if you’re not like a great teammate and a kind of beloved guy in the organization. So, I think you saw all of that. Yeah. And the the thing that I I I like about Buché is that he we we we talk about the three-point shooting. Obviously, that that’s something that is going to be important part of his play for the Celtics, but I love the fact of how he moves without the ball. Uh the one thing that this Celtics team, I think, is going to have to figure out is how do you generate offense uh in non-conventional ways from what you’ve done the past couple years? And to me, the easiest way, I call it the Avery Bradley plan. have someone who can run that baseline and get easy layups. There were a couple times where Peyton Pritchard found him cutting along that baseline for an easy easy basket. Those are the kind of plays that I I think even on those nights where Buché may be the non in that nonshooters role, he still can impact scoring the ball by simply moving uh without it. And that’s I I I can’t remember the last guy that they had after Avery Bradley that really made that kind of a central part of what they did in terms of offense. And with Avery, it had more to do with the fact that you’re playing with Kevin Garnett, you’re playing with Paul Pierce, you’re playing with Ray Allen, so you’re not gonna get too many jump shots. Bush can do that, but I still think the way that he can best contribute to this team uh offensively when you know Jaylen Brown might have it going and Anthony Simons might have it going and Derek White is finding ways to score along that baseline and just use his athleticism and his you know from base use that speed that he has without the ball to get open for shots because even though he’s 32 years old, he moves pretty damn good for an old man relative to NBA speaking. Yeah. And I think Mina can help in that department too. Like these two guys I think are almost interchange. It’s probably going to be Buché more on the starting side or at least playing with the starters a lot and might not more with the second unit as this rotation takes shape here. But those are two guys you can rely on for all those things shroud here. And um I want to talk, you know, speaking of offense and where they’re going to find that. I want to talk about Simons because this is the first time we got to talk about him here today. We heard from him just a couple minutes ago here in Toronto and No. and I of course are coming to you live from Toronto, the north up here where I used to root hard for these raptor shrines. A very different group now back in the bubble days. This is actually my first time. I’ve never been to a game up here, so this is my first time and I haven’t been to Toronto in my since like 2019. So, I was looking forward to this. Um, before we continue with Simons though, I do want to give a shout out to our sponsor here on the Garden Report, which is prize picks and it’s the weekend Sherrod. We got football coming up. So, you know what that means. I say it every week, my fantasy team’s a disaster. So, why not build a new one every single week, which is what you can do over on prize picks. Uh, you and I make decisions every day, but on prize pick, being right can get you paid. 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So download the app today. Use the code sealing us to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code sealing us to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. So, what did you think of Simon’s debut? Sherrod. Uh, know we talked a little bit about it earlier. A little slow at first and that’s I guess that’s part for the course for him, but I think overall I wasn’t focusing so much on what he did, but just how is he playing with Pritchard uh because I do think that those two are going to be on the floor at the same time uh on occasions and how can they play off each other? How can they play with each other? And I thought for the most part they were okay. But the the the thing about these preseason games, not only are guys trying to shake off the rust, but they’re trying to shake off the rust from having not played in a while, while also building chemistry with one another. Uh playing with guys that they have never played with or they played sparingly with in the past. And I I thought they were not bad, but I I I think there’s definitely room for both of those guys to grow in terms of their ability to play off each other. Pritchard did what Pritchard does. I mean, there’s nothing that he did that makes you feel, yay, he’s going to be an all-star this year, or oh my gosh, he’s going to have a crappy season. He did what Peyton Pritchard is supposed to do. And so, that was good and refreshing to see, but I want to see him and Simon Del develop a little bit more chemistry because I my gut tells me that both of those guys will be coming off the bench. And if they’re both coming off the bench, that’s some pretty serious scoring punch that you’re going to have if you’re the Boston Celtics. and their ability to play with one another uh and play off of one another while they’re on the floor. That’s going to be really really important I think for this this team to generate points because you know as we talked about before Noah they don’t have Pzen is not walking back through that door. Drew Holiday is not walking back through that door. You don’t have Al Horford to stretch the floor. So you’re going to have to find other ways to get guys buckets. And I think those two, their ability to figure out how to play well with each other and off each other, that’s going to be part of this team’s potential success to exceed the expectations that I think a lot of people have for them. Yeah, I was actually I had the exact same thought process as you, Sherrod, where individually he’s obviously very talented and he had a couple shot a couple possessions where he pretty much just created his own offense single-handedly. And if it was 99% of NBA players, you’d probably be like, “That’s a bad shot.” But I think it’s like actually exactly the shot that he’s looking for. What I can’t quite picture yet, and this is really more on the fact that I haven’t seen enough of him than anything he’s been wrong, but I can’t quite picture how he is going to fit as part of like an offensive system. Um because anybody that is, and I think this is just like kind of true part of the course for bucket getters in general, like guys like him who are gifted scorers and if you ask any Celtics player on this team, you know, how’s Anthony Simons been? They always say like he is a bucket. like that that is it’s like you could pretty much code what their answer is going to be. Um but so we know that piece, but how does it work within a system where you’re going to have other really good scorers around you? We talk a lot about all the offense that they lost in the offseason, but in the first preseason game, you know, we were reminded that Derek White and Jaylen Brown are two stars, I’m comfortable saying. And so you have those two guys, you have potentially Pritchard Simons. Like that’s a lot of offense on the floor. And so it’s going to come down to more than just like, you know, he can get his because that we know. Um, but him as a passer, him as a playmaker, just like that sort of thing I’m curious about. And we didn’t really see much of that today. I don’t know that that was even his fault. I think it was a little bit of a discombobulated lineup. Um, but I I I can’t quite picture what that backboard is going to look like on a on a bigger scale. And honestly, even like the Derek White Pitcher backboard we haven’t seen a ton of. So there’s a lot of backboard combinations. There are three very talented players who can score and can do, you know, can shoot the ball exceptionally well. Um, but how are how are different combinations going to work? Is there going to be a duo that fits best together? Think like time will tell, but I did not get like I think the the stint that they played today did not really show me much. It felt like it was more taking turns than playing off each other, which to be fair like there are stars that play together for years and you don’t really see you see them more taking turns. So, it’s not really much of an indictment that um that was the case on their first time playing together. But, uh, he can definitely score. Like, there were some shots today that he made that I was like, that that’s pretty it’s pretty wild to see, honestly. Yeah, he he’s he’s a I mean, Mike Zarin, vice president of basketball operations for the stuff because he was on the NBC Sports Boston broadcast uh, in the first half and he was asked about Simons and, you know, he said pretty much what we’ve all been saying about him. He is an elite offensive player. Uh, and that that’s true. Uh, but but to your point, No, we we for this team, and I think he understands that you have to show a a more complete game if you’re going to really be in the the circle of Joe Bazula trust. Uh and and I and I think you know it’s going to be a building process for him because he talks a lot about I know he’s talked to the media and he certainly has made it very clear that his the questions about his defense has more to do with his willingness to be a a better defender than anything else. Uh I want to believe him when he says that. That’s a great I actually was I was talking about this during the game because I feel like we always say that defense is effort and that as long as you decide you want to be a good defender like unless there’s something like fundamentally really wrong with you like you’re going to be you’re going to be a good defender. But there were some plays today where I was like I feel like he kind of tried on that but he just struggled. Like there’s a lot of other things that go into it. timing, processing speed, like so I’m I am curious if it’s simply going to be an effort thing because I don’t see a world where after all the hype around this and he’s playing in Boston and he has a bigger media market, he’s just not going to try on that end. Um, but there’s a lot more technique than I think sometimes we give credit for. Um, so I’m curious about that piece. Yeah, I I because I I just I just come to the realization or come to accept that guys who are really good defenders, they’re really good defenders because it’s something that they not just only want to do, but they feel they have to do in order to be a good player. Uh I don’t know if guys who can score the ball like him are ever going to truly buy into the notion that they have to be a really good defender because they know I can get 20 points pretty much any and every night if I really wanted to without putting great effort into doing that. uh to be a really good defender, you have to take. Effort is obviously part of it, but so is understanding the different angles and and and the closeouts and and all those little kind of very very minor things that guys like Drew Holidayiday, guys like Marcus Smart, it’s a muscle memory thing for them. They don’t think about doing those things. They just happen. for guys like I think Anthony Samus he’s gonna have to think about it and that I think might slow down the quickness that he gets to the to where he wants to be defensively but again it does start with effort but it does not end there has to be more uh when it comes to scoring the ball that’s something that you know these guys that come into the league at the age 19 20 21 they’ve been a scorer for the overwhelming majority of their lives uh probably if you’re 19 20 years old you’ve probably been a guy that could score the ball probably for the last decade of your life, you probably in that last decade were asked to be a top shelf defender. Maybe what one, two, maybe three years if that. And even then, there was always a guy whose job was to be the defender while you were the guy that was a primary scorer. So, I’m not sure how long it’s going to take him to not just have the will to be a top defender, but also figure out how to just I think mentally approach the game with the mindset that I have to be, not just I want to be a good defender, but I have to be a good defender. I’m not sure he’s going to get to that point uh as soon as he or the Celtics would want. Welcome back, Bobby. I’m back. Hello. And we have Anthony Simons. Speaking of him in full from the locker room, here’s what he had to say after his first Celtics game. A little nervous at first, but um I think the second half kind of calmed down and uh started to play my game a little bit more. What were you nervous about? Just new team just, you know, nerves of being back out there and also on the new team. Um so that was pretty much it. That was it. Do you feel like you guys were able to find pace that you wanted to play at to start that second half? Yeah, for sure. I think we uh you know, we um wasn’t happy with how we played the first half and uh we want to set the tone this second half and I think we did that for the major first part of that third. Um but I that was the that was the emphasis in the hat going halftime is just playing with a little bit more physicality and a little more uh detail. Come out with three fouls pretty quickly. Yeah. What did Joe say to you? Were you feeling at that? He he ain’t say nothing about the fouls, but um I knew that uh you know, just trying to get acclimated, get active, be physical. Um you know, it’s going to happen sometimes, especially the first time. I knew that uh I need to chill out with the fouls, too. Joe was making a lot of quick subs in the first half. Sometimes the entire lineup was, you know, going into that and what was he saying to you guys when he was making those subs? That was that was the empime is that we wasn’t playing to our standard. So, um, that was just, you know, Jo and Joe, um, you know, making go out there and Joe, here we go. Guys come out. So, um, you know, that time he took everybody out because he wasn’t rebounding in well and, uh, you know, that was pretty much it. And then what are those coaching moments like on sideline with Joe? Like, you know, pulled you sad or like trying to coach you up like what are those conversations like and what does it mean to you? Um, just pushing you to to be the best version of yourself. Um, you know, that’s what I see it as is that he wants the best for for everybody. Um, and he’s going to push you to hope to to the standard that he feels like you need to be at. And so, um, everybody respects him. Everybody respects that, you know, the way he coaches and, um, we know he can he get fiery, but that’s, you know, he wants to bring that out of us. You were the scorer in Portland over the last two years and it seemed like you almost kind of got going offensively, like became more aggressive as the game went on. Do you have to kind of remind yourself almost that like not I don’t want I don’t know if the word shy is the right word just like being in a new environment that you can still kind of get in your bag and do the things that made you that score. Um usually like first half I usually fell out the defense a little bit more. So how you know I always I was taught you know how to play the game but um you know it’s going to vary obviously it’s a different different role in this team and so it’s going to change game to game. So, um, you know, at first, like I said, I was just trying to fill out the game and, um, get over these, you know, nerves and so I think after, you know, kind out of halftime, I think I got a little bit more comfortable and started to see some shots go in. Um, it’s hard to tell right now. Obviously, you know, it’s going to be game to game. You playing with you know, a lot of great players. Um, and so, um, it’s going to be just an adjustment period of how game how they want me to play. Obviously, I want telling me to be myself, but, um, you know, obviously the game changes and what the team needs from me certain night. So, I’m just figuring it out. All right. So, there’s Simons. Um, nerves hitting all these guys as they as they play their first games with the Celtics here. And you know, one thing I’ll say, Shred, too, and you know, I heard you guys talking about Simons while I jumped off there for a sec. The my turn, your turn thing, trying to figure out how to play with Pritchard. That stood out to me in this game as well, the defense, which we’ve talked about over and over again. It’s so hard to judge all this stuff when first game it’s no Prard, Simons, Kada. This game it’s no Jaylen White House, which is an even more substantial impact when you think of the offense. So, I wasn’t surprised to see some awkwardness on that end. And this is what it’s going to be if any of those guys are missing throughout the year. It’s going to be a real struggle. And this might be a guy who benefits. And I think Richard, you could say that about him in this one as well from having the other guys take on that defensive pressure because they’re used to it. And in this game, the Raptors were keying in on these guys. It was really difficult to create offense. And it just ended up being a sloppy game. They turned it over a lot, which is a difference over the last My goodness. And a lot of that was late with the bench unit that did it like nine times. So that was the reason they lost. They played well enough to win and they did it against a team that didn’t play any of their starters. So they’re in a difficult spot when it comes to judging them right now. But in terms of just Simons and what we saw from him, slow start and he figured out a way to pick it up late and play better after foul trouble early. So I’ll give him credit for that. The one thing that I’m I’m still struggling with with him and and this game doesn’t do a damn thing to help me in this regard. And he touched on it a little bit. He talked about just, you know, being the best version of himself, something that Joe wants. But I I I keep finding myself wondering what the hell does the best version of Anthony Simons look like. Cuz if you admit it, if you admit that you have not been the defender that you could potentially be, what does the best version of you look like? Is it being a little bit better defender and maybe not as big a score? Does it mean scoring more points and becoming a better defender? I I have no feel for what the best version of Anthony Simons is going to look like. I think it’s being a passable defender. Like I don’t think I don’t think anybody’s expecting him to be the the stopper on this team. Like they have a few of those guys that are going to take more of that role. Um and being efficient like he’s you know we know he can get baskets. I always get nervous when a guy’s offensive bag looks like his because so many of those shots don’t look like they’re going to be good shots. But then obviously bad shots like bad shots. But it’s almost like the reason I I didn’t really know how to ask him like the reason I asked if it was like he was almost kind of feeling shy because it feels like to to be to come and be on a brand new team and make your debut and wear a Celtics uniform and then to come and basically call your own number and then dribble for 12 seconds and then take a difficult turnaround shot then you you’re probably going to make it because that’s your move. Like it takes a level of guts that I think these guys have. That’s why he’s in the position that he’s in and he’s averaged he’s been the leading scoreer of an NBA team for the last two seasons. But that’s not the role that he’s gonna play anymore. So if he can scale down that down but still keep that, you know, be an efficient player and then be a passable defender, like if he can give you 15 16 a night on high efficiency and not be a massive liability on the defensive end, like even if he’s a little bit of a liability, I don’t think he’s going to just flip the session overnight, but that’s a win. I mean, it would you have wanted to sign him to a $28 million contract? I don’t know. You know, maybe not. But he’s on the, you know, he’s here. So, it’s really not about whether you you feel like this is the best contract in the world or whether it makes sense for their financial goals. Like, I know there’s a whole other storyline there, but just as far as him, the person, the player, the conversation that he’s having with Joe Mazul, like they’re not worrying about that stuff. Think if you can just scale down the offensive production, but and and not be like a black hole on defense. That’s the biggest thing because how many times do you see teams where there’s just one guy that’s being hunted over and over and over again? And if you can hold your own, it can turn into an advantage because I think NBA teams love to over rely on hunting on the worst defender on the court. And next thing you know, they’re actually going away from their own actions because they’re obsessed with with going at Samer and Samer’s holding his own. So like being a being a quote unquote liability defender can turn into an advantage if you are passable. If you’re not, then it’s a disaster. So that’s that’s going to be the biggest thing for him. And I think the early fouls to me were almost like over excitement to to show like I’m going to play hard on the defensive end. Like a little reckless, but I think his heart was in the right place. That’s kind of like probably why he found himself in that position. Yeah. And I didn’t look at those fouls and I asked you guys to I I was like, are they targeting him? Because I, you know, the p fouls racked up so quickly. I didn’t even get to fully grasp what was going on. And it wasn’t like it was just excitement o, you know, overexuberant. You know, a couple plays like that in the early going there. It wasn’t like the Raptors are like, “Our game plan’s going to be to get Simons in every single action and we’re just going to play him off the floor right now.” And it showed too in how quickly Joe went back to him after that. I mean, he was back in the game a couple minutes later, which if he was not given the commensurate effort on that end or um things were going sideways, he would have kept him out of the game. I’m almost certain in a preseason environment certainly. And we had to debate Shrod over whether Joe will even be able to pull him from regular season action just given the depth on this team and at that position. you know, I think there’s a case that you’re not going to be able to keep them out of games for too long if you’re trying to win here. So, um, that was interesting. And I also thought, speaking of guys coming in and out of the game, Sherrod, and you know, Jack, who was here, was asking about this, the subs in that first half were crazy guy, you know, five guys off, five guys on, you know, a couple rebounding sequences where he was just pulling everybody off the floor, look frustrated with them. And he said after the game that that wasn’t like discipline slash frustration with the lineup that was in there. They were just trying to keep fresh guys on the floor to play fast. Which I found hilarious Noah because two weeks ago he was telling us that’s not what they’re doing with the subs now because we were saying it was potentially his frustration with the lineups. He’s like, “Oh no, we’re doing hockey subs. We’re just trying to keep fresh legs in there.” So I don’t know what to believe on that front. Sherrod, what do you think it was? I I I think it was frustration because it I mean and I think Simons kind of alluded to that uh in his comments, you know, that that you know there were certain things they just weren’t doing. Uh and they got they did a better job about of that early in in the third quarter. Uh and I feel and I frankly I’m glad that Joe’s doing that. I’m glad that Joe is is making it very clear that no one should feel comfortable with their minutes. uh if you’re not playing a certain way, if you’re not delivering or producing or giving the kind of effort that he’s looking for, he’s going to yank your ass. And I like that. I think these players need to feel uncomfortable because to me, through that discomfort, they’re going to play with a little bit more focus because and they’re going to need that because when you start looking at this Celtics team, and we’ve done this already, look at them relative to other teams in the Eastern Conference. If you’re going player by player in terms of talent, they’re not going to finish in the top three, top four. uh for them to have a season that exceeds expectations, which to me would be finishing being a playoff team. They’re going to need guys to play with a little bit of edge. They’re going to need guys to make to just frankly uh play as if they are playing for their basketball lives that they their minutes are not going to be given to them. Jaylen Brown knows he’s going to play 30 minutes a game unless he’s getting in foul trouble. Derrick White knows he’s going to play 30 plus minutes unless he gets in foul trouble. Luka Garcia shouldn’t feel comfortable if he gets 15 minutes on Monday that he’s going to get 15 20 minutes on Thursday. Uh Chris Buchchet is probably going to play a decent amount of minutes, but he’s another one that should feel comfortable. Everyone on his roster, not named Jaylen Brown, Derek White, or Pton Pritchard, should feel as though their minutes are going to be potentially wiped out if they’re not giving great effort and focus and producing. And I think that’s to me that’s the only shot this team really has of building a level of play that’s going to be consistent enough for them to compete with the big dogs in the East this year because they’re not one of them. Uh they’re just not. What do you make of the subs though? And again, I I want to 15 in the first half. That’s awesome. In the first quarter. In the first quarter. Not the Boston Bruins, but the Boston Celtics. That’s right. It did feel like anecdotally it did feel like it was specifically centered around rebounding like when when they missed especially defensive rebounds like it Joe kind of like jerked over to the bench and would oftentimes pull the guy who was most most at fault on that miss rebound. So that’s what it felt to me it’s you know I never want to like say for certain because obviously I can’t hear the conversation. If we were in Memphis I might have actually been able to hear because we had courtside media seats. So actually like maybe I would have had I’m not going to stop talking about those. I can’t stop talking about it because it does give you a completely different experience like to be that close and to hear the conversations that are taking place. But um in any case, in Toronto, we didn’t have that, but we did have insight from two players in addition to Joe Missoula because Jack Jack didn’t Jack got multiple opinions on this. Um and I think it was clear that he was frustrated and that’s part of, you know, why he was pulling guys. You know, he described it other there might be a little bit of truth to both, too, because ultimately like it is preseason basketball. It’s a little bit different than regular rotations. Everything’s been different through these two games. So, if he’s actually doing hockey subs like during the regular season, I think that’ll be more noteworthy. Um, I also am curious. We’ve we’ve seen him have a short leash with like a couple of players over the last few years, but it’s not like he’s pulling Jason Tatum when he has a couple of lazy possessions. So, I’m curious with a roster of much many more unproven guys that are on paper seemingly interchangeable. That might not actually be the case, but it feels like they are. Um, I wonder if he’s going to change that approach as well of just pulling guys and using that as motivation or even just not even not even to send a message, but purely like you’re not playing well, so we’re bringing somebody else in because it’s not like you’re a five-time all-star and we’re just going to ride with you to the buzzer. Like I think we’re going to see a lot of different players close out games. We’re going to see a lot of different lineups close out games like kind of whoever has the hot hand whether it’s offensive or just hasn’t been playing well. Like Joe’s probably going to vibe with those players in a way that’s different from previous seasons. So, I think there was a little bit of truth to both perspectives, whether there was the hockey subs or whether it was he was getting frustrated at guys. But, um, it was completely different to watch. Like, I couldn’t even keep track. Like, sometimes I’d be like, “Wait, Ugo’s out? Oh, he’s in.” You know, and a couple times I even watched like is he pulling a guy and immediately telling him something and he didn’t always like there were some times where he pulled Ugo for one minute and nobody even talked to him and then he went back in. So, I I don’t really know what to make of it, but it is it will be interesting just to see what the rotation looks like cuz I don’t really have a good sense of these are the five main guys and these two guys are going to play 20 minutes a night and he’s going to be battling for the last spot and these guys are out of the rotation. Like we’re we’re still really in the early stages of putting the pieces together, at least externally. Maybe Joe knows, but we don’t really know that yet. I don’t think Joe knows. I I Yeah, he he might not. I I really don’t think he knows because as as much as uh there’s uncertainty from what we see, I I I’m pretty confident that there’s uncertainty in what Joe’s seen in practice. Uh I’m the thing I’m curious to see is how does Joe handle those nights when one guy who maybe is out of the rotation all of a sudden gets an opportunity and plays well. Does he give him another shot or does he get the Kada treatment where he’ll play good one night and then just kind of, you know, DMPCD the next? I think you’re going to see more of that. I go back to the game, I think it was in March where Baylor Shyman had a big game and then he hit a bunch of threes and then Derek White closed the game and somebody asked Joe postgame like you know what went into closing with Derek over Baylor um when Baylor was shooting well and he was like Derrick’s our starting point guard like Derek White’s not going to not close a game but besides for Derek and Jaylen and maybe Pritchard it there isn’t that anymore. So there is an opportunity for somebody to close the game or start the next game because I don’t think that’s like it’s not like you’re going to say well Luca Garza is our starting center. Like you don’t have that tagline of like we have all this trust and they’ve accomplished so much in this league and we know what they can do and they’ve carried us to banner 18. Like there just isn’t that. So I think in from a like narrative standpoint maybe this is more as like a media member like it’s kind of exciting because you don’t know like there’s it feels like there’s more of a true opportunity for guys whereas in the past it was like maybe there’s an opportunity to like maybe be in the rotation for a second but there really weren’t opportunities last year even when guys went down like the depth was so ridiculous that it there were still like ways to not really bring in any of the new guys. So you kind of inevitably have to see a different philosophy there. Yeah. And I think the only guys that are certain are Brown and White. And even Pritchard, you know, he’s pretty cemented on this team. And we can talk about him for a minute here because it’s our first time seeing him this preseason. Um, he might have to come off the bench for lineup balance or if the, you know, mix is right with Simons playing with the starters or whatever that might be. I don’t think his spots cemented either necessarily, not through any fault of his own, just because of the roster they have and how they might have to mix and match here. So, um, he started slow. It was interesting watching him go it against some top line defensive pressure from the Raptors. And you know, people don’t forget, I know their starters were out tonight, but this was the number one defense from the beginning of March on. So, you know, starters or whoever was there for the Celtics in this one actually did face some legit defensive pressure from the guys who were out there for Toronto in this one. And I think you could see that with Pritchard early. Like he started four for 11, picked it up a little bit later. Um the five points before halftime were awesome. like that two for one he handled perfectly. But this was his taste. I felt like Sherado facing the bulk of a defense defense’s attention for the first time. Obviously, that’s not going to be the case with Brown and White out there, but he’ll see some extra pressure at times this season, I’m sure. And he should. I mean, if if I’m, you know, preparing to play the Celtics and I know Pritchard is going to play more minutes, uh, if there’s one area of his game that I I I think you would want to work on, you want to pressure him, if for no other reason, just to wear him down a little bit. You know that he’s a tough, gritty guy. He’s he’s not afraid to mix it up around the basket. I mean, he’s one of the best offensive rebounds that you’ll find for a guy that’s under six feet tall. Uh, he’s really good about getting to the places and spaces to to make his presence felt in that regard. Uh, and if you’re able to wear him down a little bit earlier in the game, but by fullcourt pressing, Dan Wright, you’re going to do that. Uh, which is one of the reasons why I like him continuing to come off the bench, but but play starter like minutes. I think that’s what you’re going to see from him. Uh, and that’ll be fine because I think that’s what the Celtics need. They’re going to need uh some guys to give them some juice off of that bench just like they did last season. and Lip Simons. I think the the question that I’m I’m curious about with the South is because we’ve seen them play a couple games now. Are they more comfortable going with a traditional starting five or will they consider potentially having a double big lineup where you might have Brchet, Tilman, and Kada uh in there with Brown and White uh which to me is I don’t like that combination, but can I see Joe Misoula playing that? Hell yeah. I absolutely can see him doing that. Uh, or do you want to have Simons in there with that that starting five and just have either Tilman or uh Buchet come off the bench, although I think Buchchet is pretty much I wouldn’t say he’s the I wouldn’t put him as a starter in eight, but it’s pretty damn dark pencil at this point because I just he just seems like a great fit for what they want to do uh at that position uh with that starting five. But I I’m curious your thoughts on that though. I mean, traditional five or double bigs, which do you think? I mean, do you think Joe will even tinker with that a little bit in the preseason? It’s tough for me. I’ve gone back and forth on it because I feel like Hower deserves to start as well as Pritchard, but maybe Buché makes more sense over how does that leave Hower with the second unit and Simons if they’re left out the bench. So, they might have to compromise a little bit or at least start the season with with Pritchard and Hower out there because those guys are the more experienced group. I know you’ve felt that way. I think Noah that Percher and Power and the guys who have been here are probably more likely to start than Simons and and Buchet, but I think there will come a time where it’s like, all right, maybe that Buché group looks a little better. Maybe the Simons plays better with the starters and you have to mix and match. I think it’s really good that Hower and Pritchard are prepared to accept second unit roles if that makes sense for the team because I do think there’s a world where Pritchard or um White Simons Boucher Brown and Kada is your best five out there. Although I didn’t love what I saw from Kada tonight. You know, Rust or whatever it might be, he didn’t do much. That was one of the more disappointing performances in this one from Noah. Yeah, I don’t know. The starting lineups I think are going to change a bunch. Like I think early on we’re going to see different combinations of different players. You think we’re going to see a lot? Yeah, I think so. I don’t I don’t see a reason why like I don’t know that you necessarily have to stick with the same five early on. Um because you’re going to you’re going to see different guys like you you can’t possibly know at this point like which two guys are going to play well together and which guy might be a little bit more effective coming off the bench. Sam Hower hasn’t started a ton of NBA games. Payton Percher has not started a ton of NBA games. So maybe in theory you’re like, you know, those are two guys are the vets and those two guys are the most proven and so let’s keep them in the starting lineup. But then what if they struggle? Then you know, you you you read you read the room and you you kind of make those adjustments. Um you know, we’ve talked about Kada as like the starting center kind of pretty like as though it’s a it’s a you know sure thing most of the summer. It very well might not be a sure thing. Like Luca Garza I thought has looked better than him. the first night I thought about and it’s one it’s one preseason game of seven like it’s 17 minutes of basketball. I’m not going to like freak out about it but you know it’s not like he’s a proven NBA starting center. So there’s that I think that battle is wide open like anybody could step up in that spot. Um that’s certainly remains the biggest question through two preseason games is what they’re going to do with the center position. Um but I the reason I I I think you’re we’re going to see a lot of Sam Hower and Peyton Pritchard is because they there’s a reason why they’re still in Boston. the reason why they didn’t get traded over the summer. There’s a reason why they’ve been on the roster for, you know, they extended those guys. Like they extended Sam Hower when they could have not for a pretty good contract. They extended Peten Pritchard. Obviously, that was a steal, but I think it’s because they they fit into what Joe was trying to do. Um, and they went out and they got guys that they hope will be able to do that, but we already know that Samer and Peter do on the defensive end as kind of unselfish players. Like, they’re both good rebounders for their position. Like, I think you just don’t want to take those things for granted. So, I’m higher on those guys than the guys that we’re just not sure about yet. Um, but there’s some intriguing combinations. Like, I kind of like Anthony Simons and Sam Hower coming off the bench because suddenly, you know, another team is coming in. You know, you have two elite scorers, elite shooters that are coming off the bench that can kind of give you some instant offense if your first unit struggled. Like, there’s just different ways to look at it. So, um, the only thing I’m certain of is that I think we’re going to see different combinations and opening night’s going to look different from the 42nd game of the season and there’s probably going to be some tinkering there, minus like Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, which that’s like the only thing that it seems 100% certain. And one thing I did think a lot about today is that there are going to be games that those two guys miss because their second night of a backto-back and someone’s knee hurts or they, you know, someone sprains their ankle and misses a month. And that’s when I think things are going to get more challenging for this team because they’re still both elite topend talents. And in the Grizzlies game, I was reminded of Derek White is like a a like a has been a borderline all-star for a couple years now and is one of the most well- reggarded players in the NBA. Um, so those two guys, if they’re on the court, like as long as you have like okay pieces around them, you’re going to be okay. But you take those two guys out and you see some of what we saw tonight. So that’s like the my biggest thing that I’ve been thinking about with these two preseason games is like what happens when they miss some time. Like that’s where things are going to potentially go south a little. Yeah. And I asked Buché and Garza this morning. It you guys are being looked at as almost the weak points on this team. you know, whether you want to call it overlooked or underrated or whatever you want to call it, the center room, they’re definitely facing the most scrutiny going into the season. So, I’m like, you guys talking about that? Are using that as motivation? And they said it’s just pretty much understood that they haven’t gotten a lot of opportunity in their career so far. They’re using that as the excitement, as the motivation to go into this year. And it’s true. Bush, he’s come off this Toronto bench for a lot of his career. He’s probably gonna have to at least play starters minutes in Boston. Kada, we know the story there. Garza hasn’t played NBA minutes, Rod. And you know, Tilman, too, I feel like he hasn’t staked his claim as a everyday reliable NBA player at this point in his career yet either. And those are the four guys right there. And I think we all look at it right now and say, is that enough? How do you look at that position as we see those four guys? I think before you ask the question whether it’s enough, I think you have to ask the question, what exactly are you looking to accomplish? Uh because until you get a feel for that, you really don’t know whether it is enough. I mean, if you’re talking about winning an NBA title, hell no. Not even close to being enough. If you’re talking about being a playoff team, I think there’s I think it’s a coin toss. I think this this group might be good enough to maybe squeak in that five, six, sevenish range. Uh but if you’re talking about uh you know, again, being one of the top four, five teams, no, it’s it’s just not enough. And the only way that they can change that narrative is if guys play above and beyond what we’ve seen up to this point. And it’s one thing to have an opportunity, it’s another to make the most of it. And that remains to be seen. Uh Luca Garza is to me in these first two games, he’s been like the biggest revelation for me on this team as far as the consistency and the effort and the production that they’re getting out of him and not a ton of minutes. I mean, this guy is pretty much getting you double doubles in very low, very efficient uh minutes. You remember that the first game in Memphis, he had a double double and took three shots. Um uh and did a great job on the boards. I think it’s the first time he touched the ball in that Memphis game was on an offensive rebound or a ball that he kept alive. And they’re going to need guys to do those type of things. I know in this game there was a play where he kept a ball alive and and you know, it led to a a ba basket for another teammate. He’s a guy that I’m I’m curious to see what’s going to happen when the competition ratchets up. What’s going to happen when Joe has to whittle the the rotation down to maybe nine or 10 guys. Is he going to be one of those guys? Um I think if you go by what he’s done so far in these first two preseason games, he should be. Uh he I think he’s been your best off thebench big uh thus far. uh he doesn’t he to me he’s the ideal big someone who can impact the game without having the number called and yet still get you some points here and there. Uh I don’t know if there’s anyone else that has frankly shown themselves to be that type of impact player and and we all know that just and Mike Zar against VP of basketball ops for the Celtics he talked about you know he’s an analytics darling uh which is something that you know when you we you start looking at his numbers first 36 minutes he’s a borderline 36 those are my favorite I know Bobby that was a gift from me to you happy birthday uh he loves those numbers. I know. I know. I know. But yeah, he’s he’s a good player and and you know, I think because he just basically fell into that rotational black hole uh in Minnesota, people don’t think he can play. Uh yet, here’s the first opportunity where he’s legitimately got a chance to play. You look at the guys that he played behind in Minnesota. There aren’t a lot of guys that would have played uh ahead of, you know, Carl Anthony and and and the kid, you know, the the sixman of the year uh kid and and R Julius Randall and there there’s some really good players at his position that were borderline allstars or guys that were in the running for accolades throughout the league. So, this is his opportunity and I I give him credit. the first two preseason games, he’s done as good as you can possibly do for a guy who doesn’t have a defined role yet. And I’ll just ped I think it’s not just what we’ve seen like we’ve heard, you know, it’s always a tough question because it’s like guys don’t really like to call each other out as far as like, oh, this guy’s been amazing, this guy’s been bad. But his name has come up a bunch from different players like I think Derek White, Jaylen Brown, a couple guys have brought him up. I can’t remember exactly who, but at least at least two or three guys said that he was one of the the biggest standouts from the weeks leading up to training camp and training camp too. And I’ve heard a lot of good things about just the way that he has battled in those moments as well. So, I’m not saying like this is now your starting center because he played better than Kada in seven a 17 minute stretch. Um, but there are things that he brings to the table that Kada doesn’t and vice versa. Um, and I don’t know if it it might come down to some matchups where one guy just matches up better in a certain night and now Luca Garz is playing for 35 minutes. Um, but this is a slam dunk for him. Like if you are him and you have been in the league for the last few years, you accomplish, we all know he accomplished a ton in college. He’s embedded on the bench in Minnesota. He’s done pretty well in really small stints. Like you you now have like the most blank slate opportunity to prove that you are an NBA player that you could possibly imagine because you’re not just on a really bad team with a bunch of bad players. is that’s going to be the worst team in the NBA and therefore even if you do have a pretty good year, nobody’s going to take it seriously. Like if he has a really good year, he could be a part of the Celtics making the playoffs. You know, he could be a part of playing alongside high-profile players in a big market. Like the opportunity is enormous. He seems like really happy every time we talk to him. Like it seems like he’s energized. Um and he recognizes what’s at stake here. So like I keep thinking if you could just give him like Kada’s hops like this guy would really be so good because you combine Kada. If you combine those Yeah. if you combine every center on the roster, um, then it would be great. But yeah, it does feel like that his vertical is like the one thing where sometimes around the basket, I’m I’m used to whoever the center is for the Celtics just get a little higher than he does. And listen, guys overcome different, you know, height, slowness, whatever it is. So, I don’t think it’s like the biggest issue in the world, but there’s whatever he lacks in athleticism, it seems like he currently has in some other craftiness and um other aspects of his game that again I anytime somebody has the legendary career that he had in in college. Like I know a lot of times it doesn’t translate over to the NBA. It’s a different league and all that, but there’s something within him that is great and you can find a way to bring it out. It’s not going to be the first time that he’s playing high level basketball. So, I’m curious about him for sure. He is one of the most intriguing guys to come out of these first two preseason games. And the funny thing about him though is that a lot of the questions and concerns that people have about him now that he’s in the NBA were the same questions and concerns they had about him when he was in college. Uh doesn’t jump real high, not the most athletically gifted player on the floor. And yet all he did was just find ways to rebound, find ways to score, impact winning in a positive way. Uh, and if you’re the Boston Celtics and you’re looking at what you’re paying him and what he could potentially bring to the table, you’re feeling pretty damn good about him on your roster. Uh, because even if he doesn’t, you know, step up and be, you know, a guy that’s a steady rotational guy, he’s shown enough even in the preseason where he can going to give he’s going to give you something. Uh, he’s going to give you something. It may not be as much as you want, but it’s going to be something and you’re going to feel good about it. And I I love the fact that he’s playing within himself. He’s not really doing anything. He’s not It’s not like he’s trying to do anything out of his skill set range. Uh he is a rebounder. Uh he’s a guy that just has a nice touch around the basket and he is a willing passer uh when the opportunity presents itself. And that’s what that’s all he’s doing. Uh he’s simply playing his game. The only difference now is he’s playing his game for a team that’s actually going to play him. uh versus Minnesota where it was pretty much preseason training camp and here’s a towel, get the waving because that’s pretty much as much action as you’re going to get uh on this team and that’s just not the case with him in Boston. Now, want to give a quick shout out to one more sponsor before we get out of here and then there’s one more player I want to talk about tonight because I think he’s starting to make some real waves and I think he’s going to be one of the more interesting guys on the roster this year. But first, we will give a shout out to Raycon. 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Up to 32 hours of battery life with the case and they got awareness mode so you can see what’s going on or hear rather what’s going on around you while you’re living life and doing your thing. So with over three million customers already loving Raycon. They come with a 30-day happiness guarantee. So if you don’t love them, returns are easy. So you don’t have anything to lose. And right now this is the big thing. If you go to byracon.com bir a y.compcs that’s buyracon.compcs you’ll get 20% off the everyday earbuds classic byracon.compcs for 20% off the everyday earbuds classic byracon.compcs. So can you guess who I want to wrap the show with? No one Josh. Why not? Josh I do want I do want to wrap the show with Sher uh with Corra, but I can’t. It’s my not Josh May not has to me honestly I had just talked to some people like I I didn’t watch him play a lot prior to him signing with the Celtics. So just talking to other people a lot of people were concerned about his defensive discipline and kind of how he can stay locked into a game plan and all that remains a question. It’s preseason basketball. But he’s awesome. like he does so many great things on the court. He plays with so much energy. He crashes the glass. He defends. Like I really like a lot of things about his game. He might be the most He might be the like the number one guy that I really did not factor much into this team and now I feel like he’s going to potentially play like a pretty substantial role in the rotation and maybe jump the rotation over guys we’ve talked about a lot more. I I I will say that that May not is the one guy that even Gary Washburn has invested heavily in. He’s got quite a bit of raving about him on press row. He’s got quite a bit of min stock under under his belt. And you know, I’m I’m slowly but surely getting there. Uh still a little bit burned from Romeo Langford stock that just absolutely went up in flames. Still feeling the sting from that. But the thing I I like about my is he just understands that I’m just going to play hard. Uh I mean it seems that no matter what point in the game he’s at, his effort is at a ridiculously high level. And I think that’s really great for the Celtics, that’s going to be really good. The the thing I only thing I worry about him is uh I I think he’s great when you’re dealing with that second or third option on the team, but when you’re dealing with the offensive assassins that this NBA that this league has, I don’t want to see him, you know, immediately on a guy like Kevin Durant. Um I I want if if there’s a switch, fine. But but let’s not leave him. He’s not ready to be on an island with anyone yet. I I think he’s a great ROR. I think he’s a guy that’s again because he’s so active and engaged defensively, I think he’s going to be a really good helpside defender and he’s a pretty good, I think, straight up defender now as well. Um, with him, I don’t care if he’s not shooting the ball because I think he’s the one guy that they have now who doesn’t need to touch the ball one minute to be a differencemaker on a night innight basis. I think his athleticism, I think his his just ability to be a disruptor. Uh I think that’s those are the qualities that Joe Missoula absolutely loves. And I think he of all the new young guys, I think he might enter that Missoula circle of trust sooner than most. Uh because he does so many of the little things that I know Joe Missoula absolutely loves in young players in any player, but particularly young guys who he can develop and grow to do even more going forward. Yeah. And I’m I’m worried about Walsh with him. Yeah. Injury now missed this game tonight. I don’t know if that was injury related. I think he didn’t dress Noah, right? So I think it was. So yeah, this is a guy who’s here to play the same kind of role Walsh could claim and he’s doing a great job with it. Now I don’t think he can play center. The roaming thing is a perfect way to put it. I think he’s going to be helping a lot with the rim protection, but to get on the floor, he’s going to have to hit the threes probably or find some other way to score, which he obviously did tonight. Um, hit a three as well. So, he’s figuring out how to fit in. And I think on this team, that’s the most important thing. He’s not an ideal fit right now. I still think he’s more of a bench player than a starting caliber player just because of the position he plays. Um, but I like what I’m seeing so far. And someone asked in the chat, which deal did they get him on? Two years at the minimum with a second year team option. So, if this is a guy that they found who can be part of the, as we said, the plan for next year, that’s a huge deal. If they found a guy who’s going to give them rotation meds this year, even if he’s not a huge part of a winning team this season, um, I feel really good about where he’s at right now. And, um, I do want to throw, someone said in the chat, I do want to throw this name in here, too. Unfortunately, Baylor, I didn’t love what I saw again here tonight from him, though. This was another tough Baylor night. Um, I want to Here’s the thing with Baylor. So, I’ve talked to him. We’ve interviewed him about his game and his style, his play style. He’s a player that at his best plays with swag and confidence and freedom, and I think you saw that in the G-League quite a bit. You saw that during that March heater that he was on with the Celtics where he’s coming off the bench and hitting threes and talking trash and acting like he’s a superstar when he’s barely played in the league. Like I think that’s Baylor at his best. And Baylor had a very rough preseason debut after a rough summer league and we had a good vantage point. Joe Misulo was very critical to him. He Gary asked him about it pregame and Joe actually was pretty explicit about like the things that went wrong there which you can watch that pregame press conference on our channel here. But he looked so tight to me today. Like he didn’t want to do the wrong thing. He took a lot of bad shots in game one. This time he drove to those same spots, but then he didn’t shoot and he almost traveled and he forced a bad pass. Like he might not work out. He might not be you might not end up being a great NBA player. Like he might just be lacking the the the shooting skills to make. Come on, Bobby. Middle sentence. I’m not giving up too soon. But regardless of that, I just think what we saw right now is that it’s not about like it’s just not about like the fact that he is now a bad basketball player because he had went two for nine and three for 13 in game one because we’re not seeing him like at a fair shot right now. Like he is so in his own head and all of these guys like you when you’re a fringe NBA player and you’re in your own head, it’s just like it’s not going to work. And so I I don’t I don’t like evaluating these guys harshly and I know it’s like it comes off kind of soft, but I don’t like evaluating them harshly when we’ve seen such small sample size. Like we can have these conversations a few months into the season, but this was a guy that literally overthought every move that he made in this game. And so I don’t know. I don’t like I don’t I don’t really know how to how do you evaluate that from a basketball standpoint? Like I just don’t I don’t know. Well, I I think No, I think you actually No, you hit it on the head. He’s in his He is in his head and that’s the problem. That’s the problem. Uh he’s going through what every NBA player at some point goes through. You go through struggles and that’s just part of being an NBA player. The good ones uh are able to just get out of that funk. The great ones are able to get out of that funk quickly. Uh and so if he’s going to be a good NBA player, he’s going to have to just basically do the things that you know he can do. You’re a shooter. Here’s a thought. Shoot. Keep shooting. Uh you could you could literally see the wheels turning in his head when he was out there. I mean he looks very too much. He’s trying to do too much and he’s and he’s thinking too much. That’s the biggest thing. He’s not so much trying to do too much. He’s thinking about what he’s trying to do too much. Uh basketball and and you all know this. So much of what you do is a muscle memory thing where you’re doing things you’re acting on just simply what you’re supposed to do because you you know this is what I’m supposed to do. this is how I’m supposed to to carry myself and and attack and be v vigilant without giving it a whole lot of thought. I just do it. And he’s not there yet. I think the struggles have almost uh they’ve slowed down his growth and he’s got to get out of it, man. Uh he’s a better player than what we’ve seen. We we know that, but the to me the big question is does he know that? Does he still believe that? Does he still have the confidence that he could be a good NBA player? Uh tonight was a bad ex was a bad night for him. There’s no question about it. Even if his numbers, you know, people say, you know what, four points, six rebounds, six assists, the numbers, those numbers aren’t, you know, the kind that you write home about. And frankly, they were better than his play. I didn’t think his play was that good even with those numbers. So, he’s got to get back to just simply playing the game, doing the things that he is capable of doing, being a guy that can knock down shots, and once teams adjust to that, become the playmaker that we know he can be, and be solid defensively. Uh, I one thing I would like to see him not do defensively is try to draw charges. Um, he it just doesn’t work for him. It just doesn’t work. Leave it to Darth and White. It’s a block and foul 99% of the time when he tries to do it. even if you know foul eye this game right against a team that let’s be honest it wasn’t as if they had you know Scotty Barnes guarding he wasn’t guarding Scotty Barnes out there uh so fing out against Toronto not a good look uh especially when they’re not playing any of their real they’re not playing most of their their main guys certainly their main link guys um he’s just got to get out of his head yeah it’s it’s a tough start for him tough to see him out there in the garbage time minutes, too. I think that says a lot. But I’m not giving up. And on this team, I think Noah said it well earlier, guys get hurt, guys lose their position or start playing poorly. A lot could fluctuate throughout this season. I think that’s where you start to see Shyman back in the mix. But for now, it looks like he’s falling out of favor in the rotation, at least compared to guys like Myon Bouche and other guys at his position. They need some ball handlers. They definitely need some shooting at different points. So, I’m not ruling him out. I still love his game. I still think there’s a spot for him here, but it’s been tough to watch the first two games. So, he’s definitely on the down side of things. Um, what didn’t love Kade in this game, but I liked how Simon’s fit in. I liked how Garz is, you know, and gracing himself even through some ups and downs. And obviously, you like what Pritchard, Brown, White are giving you through the first couple games here as well. And Bouche who’s looking like a nice find from these Raptors. But Raptors steal this game from the Celtics. win 107 105 spare us overtime which was great. You know it’ be midnight right now if that that ended up happening but Mogo hit the game winner here and the Celtics fell to one and one in the preeason. Check out Simons Buchet talked as well and Joe Misoul was reacting to this one which I was curious to see. You can go find that over on the CNS media YouTube channel Celtics All Access for our continued coverage out here in Toronto. will be back on Sunday against the Cavs who hopefully will play their starters in their regulars to give the Celtics a real test here as the preseason winds down. Celtics will see the Raptors again next Wednesday as well. Thanks to Sherrod, thanks to Noah out here in Toronto. We’ll have more from this game over on Celtics All Access, so check that out. Check out the WNBA today page because their season just ended over there on the women’s side with the Aces winning the championship. Did they end up sealing that out? No. They did. Yeah. 40 sweep and I had the other team winning the series. So, oh boy. I wasn’t gonna say it. I was I tagged Ice Gold Takes before people could start dunking on me and they are still they have found other tweets and they’re dunking on those tweets. So, um I’ll own it. I’ll own it. That was that was a bad take. Oh, no. Honestly, in hindsight, you win against the goat. Asia is the goat. How did you Wow. You know why? because they were in overtime in game five against the Indiana Fever without all their best players. So, I was like, I’m not convinced by this playoff run and the Phoenix Mercury, meanwhile, unseated both of last year’s finals teams. But that was that was limited the limited logic. So, I went against the goat. I won’t I won’t do it again. I’m probably going to pick Asia Wilson to win the title the next like seven years uh regardless of circumstance. So they have that Warriors thing, that Patriots thing, that you know, all the dynasties, they just find a way to stay on and keep going even though they lose some pieces and everything else like that. And it helps when your best players there too through all those five Hall of Famers on their squad. They’re deep. And the coach, the coach is great, too, obviously. So I love that team. I love this season. Another great year for the WNBA. And of course, there’s a lot of stuff coming in the offseason. So check out Noah’s work over on that channel. Check out the Pats, guys, on Sunday. They got some good stuff coming up. Uh Saints 1:00, I believe, is the uh game this weekend. And of course, the Bruins are underway as well. So, subscribe to Bruins Ringside for all of that. We got everything covered here on CNS Media. Check out Shad’s Big Three podcast uh with a new episode coming pretty much every week over there. And show show our sponsors some love. Prize picks code gets you $50 in lineups this weekend on the football games after you play your first $5 lineup. and Raycon byracon.com/pcs get you 20% off their everyday earbuds classic. Love it. Uh that’s it for us here and we will be back on Sunday in Boston Celtics Cavs uh with a new cast here on the Garden Report as the preseason continues. I’m Bobby Manning and this has been the Garden Report. Peace. No one’s sneaking a vegan brownie by me. I’ll tell you that. Okay, you know what? We’re going to do it. You have to feel that way too, Bobby. I have to feel that way. fight over and and make Luke your first center. Bobby, we gave you Luke hour earlier. We are not going to end this on a damn conversation about Luke.

The Garden Report’s Bobby Manning, Noa Dalzell, John Zannis and Sherrod Blakely break down the Celtics’ Preseason matchup vs. the Toronto Raptors

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