Is Josh Minott the next diamond in the rough for the Celtics? | SOUND OFF

Is Josh Minott the next diamond in the rough for the Celtics? | SOUND OFF

[Music] Sound off with me, folks, on the Boston Celtics. Absolutely smacking teams during this preseason. Are you kidding me? With what we are seeing out of this team, three games so far. And in all three of those games, this New Look Celtics team has led by at least 20 points. And the most recent one comes tonight against this visiting Cleveland Cavaliers team, who by the way, they did not play all of their guys. Okay, I will preface it with that. The Celtics did, but still Boston leads by as many as 37 points in this game. Winds up winning 138 to 107. Just a dominant performance from start to finish. Cleveland never led this game. Literally never led this game. So Boston did lead from start to finish and they ran away with an absolute blowout win. And within that win, there was a whole lot that the Celtics could take from this game and be really happy about as they go into their final preseason game Wednesday night here at TD Garden. The list is long. Let’s go through a bunch of the things that happened in this game. And first and foremost, I just got to say this team continues to be a lot of fun to watch. If you were worried about what the Celtics were going to look like this season without Jason Tatum, without Christos Porzingis, without Al Horford, you go down the list, Drew Holiday, if you were worried about what they were going to look like, don’t worry anymore, okay? Because Joe Missoula is making sure priority number one is that this team is going to bring the energy and play incredibly hard every single time it takes the floor. And when you play hard, entertainment just inherently comes out of that. And as we saw tonight, I mean, three monster dunks during this game from the Boston Celtics. Josh Minot, who we’re going to talk about a lot more in this episode to sound off. He had two huge dunks in this game and one in transition, one in the half court. Wendell Moore Jr. during the final minute of the game. I mean, everyone’s kind of just, you know, typing away or half the crowd had probably already left by that point. Wendell Moore Jr. rose up and threw down one of the best dunks I have ever seen at TD Garden in my 17 years here covering the Celtics. An incredible dunk by him in the final minute of this game. So again, it just goes back to what Joe Mazula is preaching to these guys this year. You are going to play hard and if you don’t, I’m going to take your ass out of the game. Okay, we’ve seen it in three preseason games so far. You give up an offensive rebound, he looks down, go get him out. It happened tonight. When guys did not make the hustle play or the the play that Joe Mazoula wants you to make physically, he’s going to take you out of the game. And knowing Joe Mazula, I don’t think that’s going away. I don’t think that’s a preeason thing. I think he’s going to do it going into the regular season. And inherently as a result of that, he is trying to build in their brains what needs to go through them throughout these games that oh I better give that effort right now. I better play this hard. I better be this physical. It’s fun to watch. And by the way, when you add in the skill that the Celtics have, Anthony Simons, we’re going to talk about him in this episode. Derek White, Jaylen Brown, Pton Pritchard, Sam. Like there’s a lot of talent on this roster still. They’re going to surprise people just like they have so far during this preseason. We named off a few guys here and we’re going to talk about them. Let’s start out with Josh Minot. This guy looks like a steal. An absolute steel tonight. finishes the game with 16 points, six rebounds, an assist, a steal. As I said, those two monster blocks, which you’re going to be watching here right now, excuse me, not monster blocks, monster dunks, as you’re watching right now, just I mean, did anyone expect this guy who has barely played, right? He came over from the Timberwolves, did not get much action with them. Did anyone expect him to come out and look like this? I mean, maybe the Celtics who have been seeing him work out at the facility for the past couple of months as he learned the system, learned the players, etc. But he looks like he’s going to be top seven, eight in the rotation the way that he is playing. And again, he feeds directly into what we just talked about about playing hard. He calls himself the lawn mower cuz once he gets going, he never slows down. like we’re seeing it in person, right? His his motor is so high. He’s constantly giving effort. He plays great defense. He’s long, lanky, athletic. These dunks, you can see the athleticism coming out there. And then tonight, he actually started making threes. Two for five from long distance. Four of his five free throws he made. And by the way, this guy’s about a 90% free throw shooter for his career. hasn’t taken a lot of free throws, but the number is there. Almost 90%. Okay, so he’s got a little bit of touch on his shot. We’re see we saw that come out tonight with a couple of three-pointers. Five of nine from the field. Just an excellent performance from him. I am excited to watch what this guy can become as the season goes on. Could be one of those diamond in the rough guys. Listen, I’m not saying he’s going to become at Luke Cornet level or or whatever, but Luke Cornett is just the the perfect Sam Hower. Like, these are guys that no other team was going to give the opportunity, but Brad Stevens and the Celtics saw something and they brought them in and they developed them into starter level players in the NBA. Is that going to become Josh M? I I don’t know. But the early returns sure certainly show us that there is a lot of talent there and there is opportunity there for him to grow into a real impactful player. Doesn’t have to be someone who scores 20 a game, grabs 10 rebounds, whatever. Those other guys haven’t done that. Luke Cornett didn’t do that. Sam Hower’s not doing that. It just has to be a quality, impactful NBA player. And Josh Min early on is showing that he can be exactly that. Another newcomer here in Boston who was showing off and showed off tonight, Anthony Simons. I mean, I sat right next to him on media day and I was like, Anthony, I feel like similar to when Derek White came here from the San Antonio Spurs, I feel like you’re really going to benefit from your shot quality increasing this year. You’re probably not going, and this is no, you know, knock on him, but probably not going to be number one or two on the opposing scouting report going into this season. That’s going to be Jaylen Brown. It’s going to be Derek White. Peyton Pritchard, six man of the year. He’s going to be up there. Okay. Inherently, by dropping down on that list, you’re going to wind up with better shot quality, and we’re starting to see that happen during these games. Tonight, he winds up scoring 21 points, was excellent shooting the ball, six of nine from distance. Had some really good looks from three-point range. They don’t. Last year, half of his shots from three-point range were pull-ups. Essentially, an isolation play pull-up. That’s like Jason Tatum status right there with taking that many pull-ups. Tatum can do it because he’s one of the best players in the world. Anthony Simons is one of the best shooters in the world. And we’re going to see that this year because he’s going to get many better shots than he got in the past. that 50% of pull-ups versus uh catch and shoots, it’s going to sway in the direction. The percentages are going to sway in the direction of catch and shoot this season. And that’s going to make his three-point percentage go higher. He shot about 37 38% on catch and shoot opportunities last year. Only about 34 to 35% on pull-ups. So, as he takes more catch and shoots off of the plays that other guys make who are drawing attention from the defense, he is going to benefit off that. We saw that tonight. An excellent performance from him. So, great to see a coming out party from a couple of these new guys who uh who are joining the team and are going to play critical roles on this team this season. Now, one last thing I I I just want to pose a question to you all is who’s going to average 20 points per game this season? Is it going to be Derek White for the first time in his career? Is it going to be Payton Pritchard for the first time in his career? I’m nearly certain one of these guys is going to break the 20point barrier for the year. Tonight, we saw Derek White score 16 points on only nine shots in 22 minutes in this game. Pton Pritchard, meanwhile, 14 points on 11 shots in 23 minutes of this game. I really do feel like one of these guys is going to do it. So, I want to hear from you out there. Everyone commenting below on this YouTube page, who do you think is going to average 20 points per game this season? Is it Pritchard? Is it Hower? Is it both? I don’t know the answer to that question. Part of me feels like it might wind up being Pritchard because I think his his uh shot his the amount of shots that he takes on a nightly basis is going to be higher than Derek White. I feel like Der Derrick White’s going to see a bump in his assist numbers this season. Uh but if I had to choose, I would predict that it’s going to be Peyton Pritchard, but maybe it’s both of them. I want to hear what you guys have to say uh down at the bottom. Get leave leave the comments right now. Let’s hear what you have to say. All right, we’re going to dive in. We only have a couple comments from our fans tonight. First and foremost, we are going to hear from Worst Briar uh about seeing the Celtics back on the court uh the announcer here at TD Garden making some noise and really what he started to see tonight. Brian uh from from Anthony Simons and the confidence that he’s building here in this Celtics team. And then secondly, we’re going to hear from uh JB uh who talks about how excited he is to see such a strong performance from this team here early on as I mean remember this this is not last year. This is not the title team coming back and running it back and having another year. This is a very new team. There are a lot of new pieces. They are learning each other on the court, off the court. And JB talks about how excited he is to see what this team is becoming already. So, let’s dive into the first comment here. Again, this one is coming in from Worst Briar. All right, let’s dive into it. Worst Bryar says, “Nothing screams happiness like seeing the green and white on the parket and Eddie Paladino on the PA system.” That is the in arena announcer calling out all the three-pointers, all the names, all the starting lineup. That’s Eddie Paladino, longtime voice of the Celtics inside TD Garden. Continuing on in this post, like what I’m seeing from Simons as his confidence builds with this team. He could be dangerous. Really enjoying Buché and May not they’re bringing energy. Uh I’m going to one up you here. Uh worst by far. You said Simons could be dangerous as his confidence builds. I’m going to tell you he will be dangerous. Like I guarantee you he is too elite of a shooter. Look. He played in Portland. All of us on the East Coast and Celtics fans around the country probably haven’t watched a lot of Anthony Simons. I am telling you right now, he is one of the elite sharpshooters in our game in the world. He’s going to benefit, as I talked about in the open. He’s going to benefit from the talent on this team. His shot quality is going to increase. His percentages are going to increase and he’s just going to keep leveling up. He is going to be dangerous for this team. I actually said during the game today, I had Taylor Snow sitting on one side, I had our Celtics social media sitting on the other side, and I said, “Guys, this is like having another Sam Hower on the floor.” Like, that’s how great of a shooter he is. I know Hower has shot 40% plus from three-point range in basically every year of basketball he’s ever played, which is insane. Simons hasn’t done that because he’s had a lot more of the target on his back from the opposing teams while he was playing in Portland. But I’m telling you right now, his numbers are going to be strong this year and he’s going to get so many good looks and he’s going to make them. He’s going to make them in bulk. He’s going to take them in bulk. He’s going to be a critical component of this offense for the Celtics. I’m really excited not only for me to see him, but for all of you to see him throughout this season. He’s a great shooter. He’s going to light it up. And his confidence, you can see him getting more and more comfortable. Remember, this is the first time this guy’s been traded in the NBA. This is the second team, the Celtics, that he’s ever played for. First time he’s ever switched to a new organization. Training camp just started a couple weeks ago. Okay. So, he’s still early in the process of getting acclimated to the Celtics team and organization and city. As he goes along, he’s going to get better and better and better. He’s get his reads are going to get better and better and better. His understanding of the offense better and better and better. He’s going to understand his teammates better and better and better. And as a result, his numbers are going to keep creeping up. I’m telling you, he is going to be a great acquisition for the Celtics this season. And uh here the other comment on Buchche and Minot. Yeah, they are always bringing the energy. Bush. I mean, he started tonight and I I do think that that starting lineup could wind up being the starting lineup that we see on opening night. That was Jaylen Brown, Sam Hower, Chris Buchet, Pton Pritchard, and Derek White. Very small, ultra small. I don’t even know who you would call the power forward. I think it was listed as uh Sam Hower was the power forward. Whatever. Chris Buché was playing center. Not a big guy. Long, lanky, tall, not a big guy. So, I I do think the Celtics are going to switch up their their lineups on a nightly basis depending on who they’re playing. But that could be the most consistent starting lineup that we see this season. It worked really well tonight. All five starters a plus 12 or better. Four of them were plus 23 or better. Um so, just a great performance from the starters, but Buché an energy giver. Like this guy, every time he’s out on the floor, uh he he is taking advantage of it. uh he he’s he’s going to give you his all 247 while he’s on the court. And the same can be said for Josh May not who is finally getting an opportunity in the league. Chris Buchet got that opportunity a few years ago. He seized it. He took advantage of it. Wound up having a really nice career with the Toronto Raptors. Now he’s here in Boston. Josh Minot is getting his first opportunity and he is hungry. He is hungry to prove that he belongs in this league. And these two guys are going to be two of the top energy givers throughout the entire season for the Boston Celtics. Mark my word on that. All right, second and final comment of the night. We’re keeping it tight here in the preseason. Only a couple comments from our fans. This is coming in from I I I misspoke earlier. It’s not JB. This is actually J5 who sent this in. My eyes, I’m telling you, I’m losing my eyesight. Anyway, J5 says, “Hey, Mark. It’s definitely exciting to see such a strong performance early on. It’s got me hopeful for a great season ahead. I could not agree more with you here, J5. As I said, we’re early in this preseason, right? Like, training camp just started two weeks ago. This team is really coming together. They took the court for the first time this preseason. I could not believe. And by the way, only half the team played. But with so many new guys that did play in that, I could not believe how they were moving in unison already. Like it it just felt like they were on the same page. Brian Scallabbrini talking up Luca Garza making reads on his screens uh with some of the key players on the Celtics. Like that stuff is very interesting to me to be seeing already. It’s like this team is really understanding each other already. uh they’re already coming together as a group and as a unit. Usually that takes a while, especially with so many new players, but it’s happening here early on. And I think that’s exactly what J5 is getting at here. Like we’re seeing these strong performances. Again, I’m going to repeat what I said at the start. The Celtics have led by 20 plus points in all three games this preseason. They haven’t played against the other team starters in every game. Whatever, you know, take it with a grain of salt, but they’re still playing well enough to build those leads. And I think that’s what we need to concentrate on because it easily could have gone in the opposite direction where this Celtics team and these new guys trying to fit in and maybe they’re just not understanding the system and maybe they’re just they don’t have a rhythm with their their new teammates. No, that’s not the case. Like they do have a rhythm. They are giving the effort. They are executing the offense and the defense at a pretty strong level. Like is it perfect? No. Is there room for growth? Absolutely. and they’re going to get better, but leading by 20 plus points in all three preseason games so far. And you’ve got scattered lineups like some guys in and some guys out before tonight. Everyone played tonight pretty much. But it’s promising. It’s encouraging. I think it’s got us all excited to see what this team is going to do during the regular season. And I am I I said this on media day. I’m sure you guys have heard me through whatever channels you listen to us on. I strongly believe that the Boston Celtics are going to surpass expectations this season. They have way more talent than a lot of people are giving them credit for. Like yes, they’ve taken a step back in that category. Two Hall of Famers are gone in Al Horford and Ju Holiday. Christos Porzingis, a 7 foot3 unicorn, three-point shooter, shot blocker is gone. We understand it. Luke Cornett gone. We get it. like the talent level has dropped, but Jason Tatum in a boot, but there still is a ton of talent on this team and guys who can really shoot the lights out, guys who can win games and plays and make winning plays simply by how hard they play, how physical they play. So, I really do think that this team is going to surprise a lot of people and surpass expect outside expectations this season. Now, is it still the preseason? Yes, we got a long way to go, but I sure have liked what I’ve seen so far, and it sounds like J5 has too. We have one more opportunity to see this team take the court before the regular season comes. That opportunity arrives Wednesday night. A rematch with the Toronto Raptors, who just a couple days ago, the Celtics led by 20 points up in Toronto, wound up giving the game away. There might be a little bit of revenge here in the preseason finale. Wednesday night, 7:30 at TD Garden. I appreciate you sending in your comments. For those of you who are giving us a watch on YouTube, thank you. We’ll be here all season long for every single home game. And we’ll be on uh on all of your podcast platforms for every game this season. So, make sure you send in your comments after every game. Next one coming up Wednesday night, 7:30 tip against the Toronto Raptors. Have a great night. [Music]

Josh Minott is proving that he might be the next diamond in the rough for the Celtics, and Anfernee Simons is starting to lock in and show that he’s one of the most dangerous shooters in the NBA. There’s a lot to discuss after the Celtics upped their preseason record to 2-1 with a 37-point blowout win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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