Cedric Maxwell: Josh Minott Has Become KEY PLAYER for Boston Celtics
Uh, all right, Cedric. Uh, the great Celtics great and the, uh, color analyst on the 985, the Sportsub Celtics radio network. Uh, now, okay. Uh, the style of play the Celtics are doing this year, and I know it’s something that we continually go back to, but they’re not they don’t seem like are they don’t seem like a great shooting team. Is that true? Yeah. Well, I’d give you that. When you lose a Porzingis, when you lose Holiday, you lose all the players you lost. Yeah. You You aren’t. But what I think about this team is that Joe Mazula is going to make him play hard. And I think people are going to love Minot. May not has played really well. He’s a He’s a hustler. He’s, you know, just runs up and down the floor. He and use one of Joe’s words the other day. He just plays with a certain uh urgency, a sense of urgency. And that is that’s how this team is going to win games. They’re not going to be more talented than some teams out here, but they’re going to win because they’re going to bust their ass and they’re going to play hard every night. So So you think Minard isn’t kind of like a a flash in the pan? You think he’s going to be this good or something approaching this good for a long period of time? I t I talked to Joe about it uh yesterday because I saw at the game Joe uh jumped on him in the last game came off the court and Joe was all in his face yelling and I said man you really impressed me by doing that because I remember Bill Fitch one things my coaches have always told me said when I’m yelling at you that mean I’m concerned that mean you can get better. Uh, Bill Fish used to tell me, he used to tell me all the time, he said, “I was the,” he he looked at me in the eyes and he told me this. He said, “You might be the dumbest player I’ve ever had in my life.” And then I looked back at him. I looked at the other guys. I said, “No, I can’t be dumber than these guys.” Who are you referring to, Max? So, the whole group, the whole group, everybody except Larry. Kevin used to get it all the time. Kevin and Robert. um my not and when I was talking to him about it, he said he think he thinks he’s going to be really good because he he gets it. He’s he’s coachable, he plays hard and he plays with emotion. And that’s one thing that Boston fans have always love. Players who play with emotion, not robots who who get out. That’s what was so I think contagious about Kevin Garnett, the fact that you could see the raw emotion on his face. I’m not saying he’s Kevin Garnett, but I’m saying emotionally when you see him out there making plays and pumping his fist, that’s something you don’t see a lot of times with players because sometimes I think players are too cool for school and they don’t show you that side. I would like to see more of that from Jaylen Brown. You know, the the emotion of pumping his fist and getting people up, but that’s not his style. Okay. But when I mentioned shooting earlier, it’s like when you watch these games and you see the style of play and look, we’re going to talk about it, I guess, for as long as Missoula’s coach, but you see the amount of threes that they put up and the problems that they that can put them in. Do are you of the opinion that maybe they should change philosophy a little bit, even tweak philosophy a little bit? Well, I think they have tweaked philosophy a little bit because I don’t think that you don’t have the volume of shooters to shoot it that way. I think if you look at uh Peyton Pritchard, if you look at Derek White, you look what they’re shooting right now from the three-point line, they’re not shooting well at all. Derek White, who’s been unconscious here. The first game he was unreal, but in the last two and a half weeks, three weeks, whatever it’s been, he hasn’t shot it well. Now, is that because of the talent level around him has changed? Because when you think Derek White, uh, and you look at those four other guys he was playing with, he was more wide open. Now, the defense is starting to focus on Derek White and on Pton Pritcher a lot more, and their shots, the ones they’ve gotten, haven’t been as good or they’ve been contested a lot more uh, this year. Yeah, I just I don’t know that I see the philosophy change. I mean, just the other night against Utah, they attempted 51 three-pointers and Pritchard, you know, tried for 11 of them that night. I I I mean, maybe and and I and I think there’s probably been an emphasis on rebounding and defense more so in the past, but in terms of the three-point shooting, I’m going to have to see it a little bit more before I believe that the actual philosophy has changed. I think the thing that we look at and I know look you you’re you’re preaching to the choir. I’m not I didn’t I made one three-pointer for my my whole career. So I I’m not a three-point specialist, but I know the game has changed. I am the I am that grandpa sitting on the porch. I remember they didn’t shoot. I remember we played in the championship game and we only attempted five three-pointers for both teams in 1981. So, I I I get where you’re going, but I just I I think we’re going to have to understand that the game has changed and it is a three-point shooting game. And even if you watch it, even the little wallet kids who are out there playing right now, when they’re in the backyard, they’re chunking up threes all the time. I talked to Steph Curry’s dad, Dale Curry, and I said to him when I was in Charlotte, and I was, this is really kind of cool. It reminds me of Johnny Moses. I said, I saw him. We were in the men’s urinal together, you know, and don’t don’t take it that far. But I was I was saying I said I said your son has destroyed the game. Uh Steph Curry I said destroyed. And then Granny came out of his stall and had destroyed the bathroom. I said, “Your son has destroyed the game.” He said, he said, “There are a lot of three-point takers, but not a lot of three-point makers.” Uh, so I I I just believe the game is never going to go back to where we we thought about it. When you were grinding and bumping on the inside, everybody was rough throwing everybody down. The game has become a game of three-point shooting. So, I don’t think I think we’re going back that way. Well, one thing you can say about Jaylen Brown, he understood that he was not making threes and in the last game he made an effort to get to the basket. I mean, that’s one way of doing it. He’s got a very good mid-range game. Well, his mid-range game is something he went to. He was I think in in the game before that he was 0 for nine. So, yeah, I wouldn’t take any more threes. I’d be trying to get to the basket. High percentage shots to me are really the key to to winning games to for me when I think about winning games. And I and I agree with you guys. A mixture would be much better for me. But the philosophy that they have right now and most teams have is they’re going to shoot threes. Okay. Well, listen, uh Cedric Maxwell, it’s uh exciting uh as we watch this team come together and see how this season will turn out as we are very early. Uh the magic is where things are going on now in beautiful Orlando, Florida. Yes, if you want to tour the campus of Rollins College, my alma mater, feel free. It’s I’m Excuse me. I’m sorry. I’m out here at the Four Seasons right now and I’m thinking about uh the Disney property. I’ll be here for the next four days and in John’s uh uh for John John Wall. I’m thinking about, you know, going outside later on and I’m g start doing the running man. Okay. Yeah. John knows how to do that dance. If you like that clip, check out more videos from Toucher and Hardy here. For more Celtics analysis and opinion, hit this playlist.
Cedric Maxwell joins Toucher & Hardy to discuss the latest news and notes surrounding the Boston Celtics
Thumbnail Image Courtesy USA Today