Boston Celtics SURPRISES and DISAPPOINTMENTS | Can Neemias Queta stay CONSISTENT?

Boston Celtics SURPRISES and DISAPPOINTMENTS | Can Neemias Queta stay CONSISTENT?

We’re opening up the mailbag for surprises and disappointments so far this season. Nimish Kada’s consistency and Jason Tatum’s routine right now on the Lockown Celtics podcast. Uh-huh. Y ready to see. Who else could it be? What they going to say now? Screaming like JT coral. We kept the madness every game, every practice. Prime time white on the sideline. Raining Jace. How we started raising business. How we finish. Lock on Celtics. Home of the winners. Hey there. Welcome back to the lockdown Celtics podcast right here on the lockdown podcast. Now record is your team every day. Your team is the Boston Celtics. I talk about them Monday through Friday bonus podcast when they play it on the weekends. So you just missed two. I got another one on Friday night when they play the Orlando Magic. They’re all free. They’re all everywhere podcast exists. They’re on YouTube. So go ahead and watch or listen, however you want to do it. Get into the comments section on the YouTube page. Share your thoughts with me. John Corales, beatw writer for Boston Sports Journal. I’ve been covering the team for 20 years. I have written a couple of books. I’ve been hosting this show for 10. We just actually we just had the 10th anniversary of the original show Locked On. Uh it was Rain and Jay’s with me and Jay King beforehand. So, been doing this show for 10 years. Anyway, I’ve been doing this whole thing for a long time. Uh, today’s show is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Celtics are off. They play Monday against the Utah Jazz at home. So, I thought, haven’t done a mailbag in a little bit. This is a great time to open it up at johncorales.com/mailbag. johncorales.com/mailbag to get your questions in. Go ahead and get those in. I will try to answer them uh when the Celtics have time off. So, let’s get to it later on. Third segment, Jason Tatum’s routine. What does he do when the team is practicing? We’ll get to Nimish Kada’s consistency, the problem with playing fast. But let’s just start off with uh a question from Chris K from the Netherlands. A couple of questions. Uh first, at almost 10 games in, who surprised you the most and who has disappointed you the most? Uh my surprises have to be like new guys. Uh I think Josh May not surprising that he is getting starts and that it makes sense to start him. I like him in certain matchups. I actually I didn’t talk about this uh in the aftermath of the Rockets game because it probably didn’t matter. But I I I appreciate that Jaylen Brown wanted that matchup uh against Kevin Durant, but I think it would have made more sense for Josh Minott to get the Durant the Durant matchup and just because of his size and maybe the size and the length would have bothered him a little bit and Jaylen could have picked up one of the other. Like there are a lot of guys that are very worthy of Jaylen Brown’s defensive attention. And I very much appreciate that Jaylen wants to go at the number one guy, but I thought maybe the matchup could have been different that he could have gone on I I don’t even know. Pick a guy because they were all good and my not would have been just more on Durant’s length. Not that I expect my not to do anything with Kevin Durant. Might not have made any difference at all. They got smoked. But I bring all of this up to say that May not has been a great surprise. And I think his effort and energy and his relationship with Joe Mazula like Joe is hard on Josh Minot. There was a play I think it was in the Philly. Yeah, it was in Philly because he ended up guarding Joel Embiid and Embiid kind of grifted a foul on Minot. Minot swiped down and you you got to know that Embiid is going to be trying to do that thing. He swiped down. He got a foul. It was like his second foul. He came out and Joe just ripped into him. But they have already developed that chemistry where Joe can rip into him and Josh is like, “Yeah, cool.” Like I understand, I get it. I process it. It’s It’s good. Uh because afterwards Joe will say something like I mean probably tell the guy that he loves him and and mean it. So I think that relationship is is a good one. So Josh stands out right away as a guy who’s surprised me the most. I am surprised that Ugo Gonzalez has kind of emerged as a guy that’s just straight out getting Celtics rotation minutes. Uh right now there there hasn’t been any mention of a plan to get him to Maine at all. I stand strong in my belief that even if it’s just occasionally, I still want to see Ugo go to Maine and get 35 minutes of continuous play, handling the ball, moving within the offense, and being kind of a just a more hands-on guy in that regards because of his development. I just want to see him get a couple of stints here or there. It could be a situation. The season hasn’t started yet for Maine, but let’s just pretend that they have this off day and they want to send him to to Maine to get a a day. Then you can say, “Look, you played you played yesterday against the Rockets. It didn’t go great. You know, you got three fouls on Kevin trying to guard Kevin Durant. Ugo got a match up on KD and it didn’t go well. He had three quick fouls and out he came. So you didn’t get a ton of minutes. So you could go play in a game hypothetically if there was one Monday night in Portland. Go there, play your 35 minutes and then if you want to consider, hey, he’s going to sit the game against Utah. Probably don’t need him, but you could use him situationally if you want. I just think that would be a great way to get him the playing time. I don’t care about him missing a game or two in Boston. I don’t want to take him away from the NBA development either, like he should be getting NBA minutes. I think he’s he’s proven capable of playing NBA minutes. I I just want to get him that offense just that higher level, higher rep, higher usage offensive stuff that he’s not getting because why would he? He’s sitting next to Derek White, Jaylen Brown, Pton Pritchard, Anthony Simons. He’s not going to get the same level of touches. I want him to go and learn how to make some of the reads and learn a little bit more hands-on stuff in Maine. So, uh I am very pleasantly surprised by Ugo, but I still want to see him get those developmental minutes uh moving forward. I I I I’m not going to say Jaylen Brown has surprised me necessarily because I know that he’s capable of of doing a lot, right? I I started out the first few years of his career, I I’ve said this a million times on my podcast. First few years of his career, I was critical. Um I I put him in the these boxes where like after his second year, I was like, “Hey, this is a great 3 and D guy. that’s probably all he’s going to end up being and he obviously has broken well way way out of that. So after like two three years of doing that I’m like look I’m not putting him in a box anymore. So when it came to this season and him being the main guy I never questioned his capability of doing that. I want to see what it looked like. I wanted to see what it looked like but I always thought that he had the ability to step up and be more than he has been. So, it’s not surprising necessarily, but it is impressive. So, if you know, I labeled this surprises and disappointments, and that was what the how the question was framed, but I’m going to do surprises, impressive, and disappointments because Jaylen is not surprising, but he is super impressive. I think he’s he’s done really really well to to start this out. Uh, a tough night against Houston, but that’s Everybody had a tough night. I’m not really worried about that. Uh, but I I always say that like I still think that Jaylen is even capable of doing more. So I I I look forward to his progression even as he’s playing great. I look forward to his progression moving forward. So those are the the positives. The negatives, the the disappointments at the top of the list has to be Derrick White because I I love how Derrick White plays basketball. Uh I’ve been very vocal about that. I think Derek fundamentally is just one of the best basketball players in the league. Uh he doesn’t rely on, you know, elite athleticism. He just is a like he’s a great basketball player. He’s just having a tough tough tough shooting season. Now, he is doing other things. It’s not really affecting him in other ways, but I want to see him get that shot going. I want to see the game slow down a little bit. so he can start doing the other things that make him so great. More on the assist side, more of the shot creation, more of the, you know, even more defense, you know, all of that stuff. So, I think I think D White obviously has been very disappointing. Um, and there’s not much that you can not much else you can say about that. He’s we’ve we’ve all seen it. Um, as far as other disappointments, I mean, I I I talked yesterday about Baylor Shyman. Um, I’m not disappointed and he’s seems to like over his last few games kind of broken through something like he’s starting to stack up some good stuff. So, even the stuff that over the first three games that I would have said or the the preseason or the summer league, I think, okay, let’s let’s give Sherman a little bit more time. And all of these guys need more time anyway. So, this is through seven games. All of this stuff could be irrelevant in, you know, by the end of the week. Three three great games, three bad games, whatever it is, can change everything about the, you know, what this season looks like for some of these guys. So, it’s not that big of a deal. But, um, no one else has been truly disappointing. Um, and even Derek has not been like the shooting has been disappointing. Anthony Simons is taking some time to get going. Um, I every, you know, Chris Bucher has had a couple of DMPs. I never had high the highest expectations for him. So, disappointments not not so much. Not so much. Uh, another question from Chris was, “What is Brad during Brad doing during the season? Is he talking to other teams about trades for uh, the near future?” General managers are always on the phone. They’re always talking to people. They the conversations like he he is having what you can qualify as exploratory talks with everybody all the time. Every front office is having exploratory talks with everybody. the he, you know, he he and another GM from another team will talk on the phone. How’s your team looking? What do you what are you looking for? What are you thinking? How what do you think about this guy? They’re they’re always talking to one another about, hey, what do you think about this guy? You know, is is that some what do you what’s your what’s your plan there? All of that stuff is always happening. So, if like last season or the season before Brad be like, “Yeah, you know, this is not much to talk about.” But you could always call about players and always kind of gauge the league’s temperature on certain guys you want to get a sense for like, hey, what do you think’s going on with the situation? Maybe you call up some Western Conference GM be like, hey, you know, what’s what’s your read on this? What do you what do you think? Um, all of that stuff is always happening. So Brad, you know, plus there’s scouting, there’s college scouting, there’s international scouting, reviewing, you know, internal scouting, right? There’s having conversations with all the coaches, all the the the, you know, players, kind of just getting a sense of like how’s the team looking? How what are you thinking of the coaching staff? How what do you think of the developmental stuff? What do you think about the the training staff? You know, talking to the training staff, what do you think of the players? just constantly constantly getting a read on are there any problems? Are there who who has impressed you? Who’s disappointed you? Who’s like, you know, how’s this player, this young player, how’s he doing? How’s his attitude? What’s he look like? It’s a daily just constant evaluation. So, internal evaluation, players, coaches, staff, you know, asking each other. There’s external evaluation. You’re looking at the league. You’re looking at other players. You’re trying to gauge the temperature of the league. And you’re going to start going to college games. You’re going to start reviewing international film. You’re talking to college coaches. It’s just a constant conversation. You just want to be aware of everything. So when the the time comes when there’s a surprise Luca Donich trade, you can decide, oh, we’re, you know, we’re going to try to get in on this. We we’ve Hey, I’ve talked to this guy about this. Maybe we can get in on this. Giannis trade, Trey Young trade, a John Morant trade, whatever it is. Like is if you’re if you’re up on the league, if you’re up on everything that’s happening, then you can quickly jump in. The last thing you want to be doing is playing catch-up when something like the John Mar situation happens and there’s tension between him and the coaching staff and you’re like, “Oh, hm, that’s this is this is surprising. I got to I got to go scramble. You you probably want to be aware of a lot of that stuff ahead of time. So, uh that’s it’s it’s a it’s a big big job. All right. When we come back, we’re going to talk about playing fast and a potential problem with that and Nimish Kada and his consistency. That is all coming up next. Today’s show is brought to you by Robin Hood. Your ambition just met its match. With Robin Hood, you play for the win. Not just on game day, every day. Locking in on every opening, beating your PR, beating it again. Channel that drive into your money. Robin Hood puts you in control of your money. Trade stocks and ETFs, options, futures, and crypto all in one platform. You can now build and execute your own trades from a desktop with Robin Hood Legends advanced tools, or take advantage of the new Robin Hood strategies with a tailored portfolio managed by a team of experts. You expect more from yourself, expect more from your money. Get started today at robinhood.com/yyourmoney. Again, that’s robinhood.com/yourmoney. Your money, your move. Today’s show is also brought to you by Game Time. Basketball season is here and nothing beats being in the arena for these games. I can tell you I’m there. The arena is still great. Uh but there are people who can’t go and there are seats to be had and getting real tickets can be a total headache. like you know, you wait in cues. There are surprise fees. There are prices that jump right before checkout. It’s very easy to get frustrated. But Game Time is the app that gives you the advantage. It’s your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NBA tickets fast, easy, and stress free. I can’t tell you how easy it is. I’ve used Game Time plenty. Uh I don’t buy NBA tickets, but I’ve bought in WNBA tickets on on Game Time, and it’s very simple. 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I’m going to do a special appearance on this Monday’s show. Uh going in and talking about a lot of things that have happened in the NBA. Uh as of right now, Victor Wimbeyama is really really struggling and the Spurs are going to lose. The Bulls have already lost. The um the Thunder have won. Is there a coaching change coming in New Orleans? All that stuff is going on on Locked on NBA game night and locked on NBA the afternoon show which you can uh catch on the same feed wherever you found this podcast. All right, let’s get back to the mailbag which you can find at johncorales.com/mailbag to get your questions in. Adam says, “Is there a problem with fullcourt press and playing fast and steals uh where the whole rest of the league saw the Pacers too?” Adam implying that it’s the the the entire league is starting to shift to fullcourt press, trying to play fast, and it’s not like this big secret. Uh, okay. And the point is well taken. The Celtics aren’t exactly playing super fast. They are playing fast at times, but they are also playing very slow at times. And so their their overall pace numbers are kind of not where we expected them to be. Uh especially after the preseason where Josh Min was like we’re going to be the fastest team in the league. The way they were practicing is not exactly how they’re playing. Uh so that’s a work in progress. But to the point of the question, yes, the whole league is starting to press more and the league is starting to play faster. Is it because of the Pacers and like we all like to say the Pacers cuz they pick up full court? But uh also the OKC Thunder, both teams, the champion, both teams that were in the finals, they both had similar aggressive styles and yeah, the whole league saw them and the league is starting to move that way. I would also add that this is not just a copycat, Pacers, thunder, all of that stuff. It is also, I think, a function of the second apron where you can’t afford like teams can’t afford to do what the Celtics just did very often. The the Celtics with, you know, Tatum and Brown and Porzingis and Holiday and all that stuff and and giving everybody extensions and Derek White and extension and all of that. That’s not how teams are going to be built very often. Every once in a while, you know, like team will go into the second apron for a little bit and they’ll have like high-end talent. Maybe they’ve drafted well. OKC is going to get there at some point, but the whole league is operating on a different financial plane as well. And that’s where I think this style is is really being pushed. It’s not just, wow, the Pacers and the Thunder were in the finals. It’s we can only afford to pay like one real true superstar, maybe two. Uh, but to do that, you got to find a lot of cheap talent. And what do you do with cheap talent? You got to work hard. You got to defend. And I And I think the league is going to look like what the Celtics are going to look like. One big superstar, a a 1A type superstar or a a definite like a second superstar. The Celtics are going to be a little bit unique because Jaylen is is going to be better than the the second star on most teams, but the point stands. Two two main guys and a bunch of kind of supporting players. And the further down the list of supporting players, the more those guys are going to have to go out there and play defense and press and go crazy. That’s I think where the league is going. So, I don’t think it’s that the league saw the Pacers and the Thunder necessarily. It’s also that the league is seeing the financial re reality and a lot of guys are going to be trying to earn money by doing all of these things. And and those are your pressers, right? your minots, your uh the the guys that are trying to earn the contracts, trying to earn their spots, they’re going to be the ones that are doing a lot of the pressing. So, that I think is all combined. Uh let’s get to Thomas quickly here. Do you think Nimish Kada is improving his consistency day in and day out mostly because he’s starting? uh is Kada seeing an improvement solely because he’s now a starter and not the third or fourth option where he never knows he’s getting a spot start five 10 minutes in garbage time and so on. Uh so I do think there’s some of that the consistency we haven’t seen enough yet. It’s only been seven games and even within the seven games like earlier the beginning the first few games he he wasn’t great all the time. the last three four games he’s played much much better and the plus minus numbers with him on the floor are pretty good especially in the last four games. So um we’re seeing it start to look like consistency but four games or seven games it’s that’s not that does not qualify yet as consistency but it’s a good sign. It’s a really good sign that he’s progressing in a certain direction. Um, is it because he’s starting? I think I think starting does put a little extra pressure on a player to say, “Hey, you’ve got to step up. You’ve got to be part of this on a daily basis, which means you have to focus.” Excuse me. And I’m not saying this because I don’t I don’t know what what Kada’s routine was or is, but I’m saying in general when you go from third or fourth string to starting, you start to become more aware of your sleep, your diet, your routine, the consistency of getting to the gym a certain time, your shooting time changes, all of that. Like that is I think that is part of the mental aspect. Like you’re a starter. It’s like oh oh crap I’ve got to be I got to okay I got to be better about this. Uh so I I think I think there’s some of that playing. Uh but some of it could be that he’s just growing as a player. He’s 26. Uh if you look at the numbers and and for Kada, you got to look at some of the the leveled out numbers like the per 36 or the per 100 possessions. And I think like with the per 36, his his scoring number is up a little bit uh from per 36 from 12.9 points to 13.4. His rebounding’s up uh pretty pretty nicely. I think the numbers show that the added minutes are are leading to added production. I want to see when we talk about consistency, like let’s get through more than seven games. Let’s get through 20. I think you’ve got four 20 game segments to look at when it comes to that. So, the first 20 games, let’s get a nice little sample size and see where he is. right now it’s encouraging that he is playing better. Uh and let’s see if he can avoid some of the stretches or I think the more telling thing will be how does he react to having a bad game because he probably will have a bad game at some point. How does he react? Does he come back the next game and play well or does it lead to a a funk and things that we’ve seen in the past? That’s going to be the test. Can he can he stack the better games and make the bad games a little bit less frequent? Everybody’s going to have bad games. So, that’s not the issue. I don’t care if he has a bad game. Can he come back the next day and be better and go back to what he is uh or what what we think he can be, what Joe thinks he can be. So, that’s when we talk about his consistency. That’s what I want to see. We’re going to come back. We’re going to talk about Jason Tatum’s routine and what’s he doing while the team is playing and practicing. That’s all coming up next. Today’s show is brought to you by Rouette. 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Stop making excuses. Start making moves. Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. You want to win your fantasy league, go make locked on fantasy basketball your second listen. Josh Lloyd will tell you who to start, who to sit, who to trade, who to bench, all that stuff. Uh sitting and benching is the same thing, John. Uh all of it is on locked on fantasy basketball. Josh Lloyd is the absolute best and he’ll help you win your league. Let’s continue here and finish off the mailbag. johncaras.comag. Shout out to the everydayers, people who are with me Monday through Friday, every day submitting these questions on a regular basis, like Trevor, who asks, “What do you think Jason does with his time while the team is doing oncore practice? Is this an opportunity for him to learn more uh of other aspects of the game from the coach and GM perspectives?” From the little that I’ve seen of the Celtics practicing and postgame stuff and like I mean post-practice stuff, he has been in the weight room. It’s an opportunity for him to get weight room work done. He has been on the floor in shooting, you know, doing some shooting stuff while guys are at stations doing individual drill stuff. And he has been seen sitting next to Joe or sitting next to coaches, sitting next to Brad for sure. So he’s on the he’s on the bench, he travels with the team. So he’s he’s maintaining this routine which is good. Uh so while the team is doing like fullcourt encore practice stuff, he is either watching or he’s going through his rehab, he’s going through his weightlifting, he’s going through whatever treatment he needs to go through. And when he’s done with that stuff, he’s talking to the coaches. He’s talking to I’m sure Brad is part of it. Uh but he’s he’s around he’s around the entire time. So he’s taking everything in. Um I think he just wants to be a part of it. I think he just wants to be part of the whole process and he wants to see the coaching. He wants to be uh around the players and see what the players are doing so he can give his kind of for lack of a better term coaching right he can you know he has the cache to say to from everybody like Jaylen Brown like hey JB you know you’re doing this when you see this blah blah blah like you know talking things through like hey that kind of those kind of conversations are happening like players all talk to each other like, “Hey, I I noticed you’re doing this.” Um, and oh yeah, I’m I’m trying to work on something or I didn’t realize I was doing that or and it goes it’s a back and forth like that happens all the time. And so yeah, I love that he’s involved. I love that Tatum is involved and uh wants to be you part of the the team while he’s rehabbing. You know, a lot of guys don’t travel with the team when this they don’t feel like they have to. He can Jason can sit home and watch the games. He doesn’t have to be at the arena. He doesn’t have to be on the road. It’s not a requirement, but he’s doing it for good reasons, too. You know, he’s he he wants to be a part of it. He wants to be out there signing autographs for fans. So, good for him. Finally, we’re going to end on Ira who says, “Very personal question.” All right. I’m intrigued, Ira. You say you’re no longer a fan as it would impact your coverage. So, is this just you or perhaps an NBA thing? I listen to some MLB lockdowns as my team is still involved or this is from a question from like a couple weeks ago I guess and I like to hear both sides takes on the games and they are 100% huge fans of the team on which they are covering compare and contrast. So, my fandom and me putting it aside comes from my other job of uh like I’m a like I said, I’m a beatw writer for Boston Sports Journal. When you’re on the beat, you can’t be a fan of the team. And I think for me, this goes through like the journalism the journalism ethics classes that I’ that I’ve taken, you know, that I took way back in the day. There is a a journalistic responsibility. And I know it’s all kind of blurry right now. The internet has made it all because I have to have opinions and I’m doing a podcast where fans are listening. you are listening and when they win you want me to be you I I need to match the energy of a win. When they lose I need to match the energy of a loss. Like I have to have some kind of emotional connection here so I can properly communicate with you, right? I want to I want to be connected to what you’re feeling somehow. But because I’m covering the team, I have to be fair and you need to know what’s happening. This is something I truly believe in. And I know that things have changed. There are a lot of people covering the team now uh in general covering the NBA who are fans. They’re they are they work for fan sites, right? They run fan sites and they are very much like still in in like a fan mode which is its own kind of brand of thing but it’s different than what I do. So the answer to the question is it it’s always a mix. People who do podcasts uh very often do podcasts because they are fans of the team and they want to start talking about the team. When I started this podcast 10 years ago, I was working in New York City as a producer and a reporter and I was, you know, I had Celtics gear. I was very much a Celtics fan back, you know, 10 years ago even. Um, you know, I I have not like I don’t hide any of that stuff. But as my job kind of grew and as I got into the the beatw writing stuff, I have to evolve. I have to take that part out of me and cover the team objectively. And this way when I’m when I’m talking to you, I can tell you I think as objectively as possible, I think this guy’s playing well. I think this guy’s playing poorly. And I see what people say about me. I see people say, “I have no faith in the team.” Well, my job isn’t to have faith in the team. My job is to say, “God, this front court looks awful. I think we’re going to get crushed on the on the boards, and when I see a blowout coming, I this Houston game is going to be a mess.” And if I’m right, I’m right. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. And if I’m wrong, I I I look for reasons why I’m wrong, and I try to explain it. So when I say things about Nimish Kada, I I get into conversations with Kada fans all over the place. You’re being so unfair to Kada. Like actually, no. I’m telling you exactly what I see. And I have no personal stake in this. I have nothing personal against the Mish Kada. When he plays well, there are people who are like, “Yeah, see, haha.” I’m like, “Yeah, great.” Like you’re not I’m not upset when I say something about Kane to be like, “I don’t think he’s good.” and he starts playing well. I’m not upset about that. I’m like happy. Excuse me. H I’m happy about that because that means things are going well. The basketball is good. My number one priority is good basketball. And so that’s that’s where I come from. That’s where that’s where my mindset is. So if I think a guy’s playing well, he’s playing well. Like I I’m I I hold Derek White in the highest regard. He’s playing like absolute crap right now. At least shooting wise. He’s shooting like crap. And it’s getting in his head and I think it’s affecting him. And I think it’s it’s it’s leading to some, you know, onc court stuff. Like he’s just his head’s not where it needs to be. And I can say that because I think the one thing I am is I try to be is fair. I try to be fair and some people don’t like it because when I’m critical of a a player that they like, you say, “You’re not being fair.” I’ve been accused of being a Jaylen Brown fan and a Jaylen Brown hater. I’ve been accused of being a Jason Tatum fan and a Jason Tatum hater, which I guess means I’m doing my job right because when these guys play well, I’ll say it. When they don’t, I I I’ll I’ll say it. I I I’m not the fan person, but fans do these podcasts. There are fans on the NBA network that do podcasts and and are more fans than they are analysts. That’s totally fine. So, it’s just an individual kind of thing, but that’s where I am. That’s where I choose to be. And that’s it. That’s how I do it. But feel free to ask me more like that. I love having these conversations with people because I want I want people to understand. I I’m very much the type of person who likes explaining obviously and I like people to understand where my head is at because that mean that means when I say something at least the context is there so you know what I’m what I mean like I when it comes to on a personal level I truly think like all of the guys in that locker room are are really good dudes like I have nothing personal against anybody I I don’t talk to a lot of the guys because I’m a 52-y old beat writer and these guys are professional athletes. So, we’re not sitting there having like a ton of conversations, but I hope they all succeed. I hope they all do well. The Celtics like I want I want to see them win four in a row. I want to see them overachieve. I don’t I didn’t want them to go 0 and seven. The three and four is great. I wanted them to go seven and 0. Like I want them to win every game because that means they’re playing good basketball to and and they’re doing all the things that they should be doing. My expectation is like Joe Misoula says, the standard. There’s a standard and I want to hold guys to that standard the same way Joe Misoula does. So I can go on and on and I’m going to stop myself because I can go on and on and on. But thank you for the question, Ira. Thank you everybody for the questions. johncaresis.com/mailbag to get questions in. Send them in. I don’t I don’t do the mailbags as often during the regular season just because there’s a a crush of games and there are other things to talk about. But you got to become an everyday and listen to the shows every day cuz sometimes I go back and look at questions that have come in. I’m like, “Oh, I answered this in this podcast two days ago.” And so I’m not going to go I’m not going to answer that question specifically because I talked about it two days ago. So, you got to be on board here Monday through Friday because sometimes you submit a question on a Tuesday and on Thursday I’m answering it and when Monday rolls around I’m past that topic. So, become an everyday or join me Monday through Friday bonus podcast in the weekends. Get into the comments section of the YouTube page to share your thoughts and share the podcast. Tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Seldics podcast here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. It’s your team every day.

Josh Minott’s surprising emergence as a starter has Boston Celtics fans buzzing about the team’s early season rotation decisions. Is his defensive intensity and developing chemistry with Joe Mazzulla enough to secure his spot long-term?

John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal tackles listener questions about the Celtics’ first seven games, breaking down Hugo Gonzalez’s rotation role, Derrick White’s shooting struggles, and Neemias Queta’s consistency concerns. The discussion covers Brad Stevens’ behind-the-scenes GM activities, league-wide trends toward pressing defenses, and Jayson Tatum’s injury rehab routine. Karalis also offers an extensive look at his journalistic philosophy, explaining the balance between objectivity and covering a team for two decades.

Discover why the entire NBA is shifting toward faster, more aggressive play and what it means for Boston’s championship defense.

1:15 Intro and mailbag preview
2:03 Surprises: Josh Minott and Hugo Gonzalez
7:10 JaYlen Brown’s impressive but not surprising play
9:13 Disappointments: Derrick White’s shooting struggles
11:17 What Brad Stevens does during the season
17:25 Is the league copying the Pacers’ style?
22:02 Neemias Queta’s consistency and starting role
27:11 Jayson Tatum’s routine during team practice
30:46 Fandom versus objectivity in coverage
36:23 Holding players to the championship standard

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Locked On Celtics is a daily Boston Celtics podcast by Boston Sports Journal beat writer John Karalis. It’s an inside look at the C’s from a former professional basketball player who is at practices & games.

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