LIVE Garden Report: Celtics vs Nets Postgame Show on CLNS Media
Always has to be a shot at somebody. They’re never clean. They have to run. That’s the only shot they have. They do it for 82 games. We’re about to find out. He already has shown what he’s capable of. Did surprise me. I thought we were going to hang in there. This makes me think that we do need to be humbled. I actually think you’re the only one who deserved that. Yeah, we’re back. above 500. Couple days off, Sher odd. But you know what? Like you said, the Celtics are above 500. It doesn’t matter that it came against the worst team in all of the land. The Brooklyn ever. The Brooklyn Knots. Amit, we lost the lower third, dude. Damn it, Amit. Give me that lower third back. Try to get the score of this game. What was it? What was the lower What was the final score? 11399 was the final 11399. The Celtics improved to above 500. The Nets, God knows, but subscribe to you Got Look at Amit putting this. Subscribe to you Got Boston on CNS Media, YouTube, Apple, and Spotify. Damn it, Amit. You know, it was a Nets game and it felt like maybe the Celtics treated it that way, Sherrod, at the beginning. Maybe Amy’s treating it that way, too. But it felt like it was an uncharacteristic game for the Celtics in terms of ball security. I know in football ball security is paramount, right? You got to limit the turnovers. You got to control that aspect of the game. There you go. We got the score up there now. 11399. Sellers with I think 11 turnovers in the first half, something like that. And I think they finished with close to 18, if not 18 exactly, but uncharacteristic performance from them, but they shot great from three, close to 50%. Ultimately, that was the reason they they pulled this one off because they weren’t getting out in the break, scoring in transition, fast breakwise. They were they were kind of sloppy with the handle, but the usual suspects uh came through when it mattered most in the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown got you 29 points tonight. I think Derrick White had 20. Dwight had 15. Dwight had 15. Okay. Who had 22? Pritchard. Pritchard had 20. Pritchard had 22. Dwight had 15, but he had like a big 15. like what he did for you late in that fourth quarter defensively and offensively with a big three-pointer in the corner there. That’s the D White that, you know, the Celtics have kind of have their fingers crossed that would would show up more often than not this season and feels like after a slow start to the year. We’re not we’re not completely there yet obviously, but we’re we’re getting signs of life. You know, we’re we’re we’re doing the CPR on this team. We’re above 500 now. Scratching there. finally have a pulse. And as bad as it could be, Sherrod, it can be. The Nets The Nets show you that it can be a lot worse. They can. They can. And Right. And but the big thing about this game, and I think it’s really when you look at the last, I’d say four or five games with the Celtics, their big three of Jaylen, Pritchard, and Derek White are looking more and more like a legitimate big three. And by that, I simply mean the three best players on the floor for your team night in night out, those guys have to be. And it doesn’t matter the order. They just have to be your best three players. Uh and they were again tonight. You know, as you pointed out, Derek White hit some big shots. Pritchard got them off to a great start in the first half. And aside from the turnovers, Jaylen had a had a strong game. 29 points, four dimes, four rebounds. Uh and and defensively, you know, wasn’t great, but didn’t suck. Uh this was a sol this was a pretty par for the course Jaylen Brown kind of game. And again, this game, even though they didn’t play their best basketball, they still when it mattered most, kept Brooklyn from making this game more uncomfortable. Uh, you know, and that’s what you want want to have happen. You know, it was uncomfortable for for a minute though. We’re talking early. You know what? I it never felt as though Brooklyn was going to like just run away with this thing and take it over. It almost it just felt that you know the Celtics at some point you figure that they’re just going to say okay look y’all ready to win and get this thing over with. Let’s go. And they kind of did that in the fourth quarter. There’s like four teams they can do that too. And I think the Nets are definitely one. Obviously Memphis last week was abysmal. So, I think, you know, the one thing fans can, you know, you can say whatever you want, whether or not you believe in this team or you think they’re real or you think they’re they’ve got an actual chance, you can at least say that they that they even on the nights where they’re a little sloppy, where they’re maybe uncharacteristic, it still feels like they show up, bring it, and you can definitely tell that they’re a team that, and Joe said it last week, that they care. And so I’m not saying that like nobody on the Nets cares or or whatever, but there’s a clear difference. Like there’s levels to like people want to talk about tanking. The Celtics aren’t tanking. Like they’re not bad enough to be anywhere close to the Nets. They’re not bad enough to be close to the Grizzlies. They’re not bad enough to be close to, you know, like the Charlottes and some of those teams that are Pacers right now. I don’t think you’re going to get a team like that. I think you are going to end up with a team that, you know, right now they’re a game above 500. They’re playing the Nets again later this week. most likely gonna be two games above 500, right? So, you know, and they just each went out against the Clippers that could have gone either way at that depending on how James Shardan’s shot fell. So, on any given night, you know, you could get it’s a m it’s a mixed bag, but I think the one thing that’s consistent is that these guys are going to, you know, leave it all out there, whatever that is that they can leave. Yeah. and and playing teams like Brooklyn puts that to the test because Brooklyn because of just what they lack in overall talent. Uh aside from Michael Porter Jr. and Terence Man, but pretty much the rest of the cast is just like uh they’re going to play hard. Uh and and they’re they’re to make you play hard if you’re going to beat them. Uh because they’re not going to beat you with talent. They’re just going to beat you with effort, which is why the Nets only have two wins this year because, you know, most teams are playing them, you know, legitimately hard. But this was, again, I like the fact that the Celtics did a lot of the things that you are supposed to do against bad teams. Uh, but I don’t like the fact that the Celtics made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes that I’m not I’m not sure whether it was they simply just didn’t take Brooklyn serious enough as far as Brooklyn’s defense or whether they just were sloppy and and just once they figured out that this team is that good and we can beat them even with our B or C game, we’ll just play our B or C game and get the win. Uh, so, you know, mixed feelings about this one, but but certainly if you’re the Celtics, the fact that you’re above 500 after 15 games, which I don’t think a lot of people outside your locker room or outside the Celtics payroll thought they would. Uh, so they definitely have every reason to feel good about where they are right now uh, in terms of their overall record. Could be better, but obviously eight and seven, you’re above 500. So, you’re you’re officially kind of in the mix now as a team that could do some things. sneaking back into that like playin area, right, that we I think a lot of people thought they might find themselves in. I mean, there was ups and downs tonight, too. You know, I you know, and one of the things we seem to talk about on the show a lot is, you know, who should start, you know, should it be Walsh? Should it be May not should it be Simons? U It was Walsh again tonight. And, you know, if you want to talk pros and cons, I guess one of the cons would be, you know, Walsh probably had a bit of definitely had an off game and picked up a foul like seconds into this game. it just never really felt like he got into any rhythm at all. And then and then Missoula benched him straight up in the second half um somewhere in that third quarter relatively early on. I think it was after he picked up his fourth foul or something like that. It just wasn’t a sharp game for Washington. He actually ended up a minus 12 uh tonight which you know again you know you’re not he’s not in there for his offense. two two for two for four points, but you know, the four fouls, not really giving yourself an opportunity to contribute and get into any sort of rhythm. You know, not that they needed uh this, you know, locked down defender to shut down anybody on Brooklyn, but there were a couple, you know, moments tonight where like Michael Porter Jr., you know, he he was hitting some outrageous shots, you know, and and he was one of the reasons why um he was the biggest reason why Brooklyn even had a prayer in this game. So, you know, that was probably one of the negatives if you wanted to look at one um from this game. I don’t think you’re going to get, you know, in the grand scheme of things, Sherrod. This is a game against a team that really has no business really even being in the league this season. So, I don’t know how much you’re going to get out of it. I will say it was good to see Pritchard kind of catch fire early in this one. Early on, it felt like Pritchard and Simons actually at the same time. I thought I thought they were your two best players in the first half of this game, but Pritchard specifically, um, now that it feels like that three-point shot is falling, uh, a little bit. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, that’s that’s a Bobby thing, but it just feels like whatever he changed out there is working. And I know that on the broadcast they talked about, well, he’s assuming more point guard duties now than he was prior, you know, earlier in the season. That’s one of the reasons why he just feels more feels like he’s probably more comfortable and in his role again, even if it isn’t a starting position. Um, not that he wasn’t in that role before, but for whatever reason, it feels like now the shots are falling. You know, maybe it’s just that simple, less thinking, less overthinking. And, um, obviously they’re going to need Pritchard to be a guy that’s going to get you up to that, you know, right around that 20 point per game number. Mhm. Again, not against a team like the Nets, but against any team that you really are going to need to win, it’s need to beat at some point. You’re going to need Brown, White, Pritchard to be getting you up 20 plus points, you know, to get where you need to be. Yeah. And and the thing about Pritchard now with the ball more in his hands is that with the ball more in his hands, he actually has to do more thinking and do more play playmaking, getting guys involved. You know, tonight had 22 points, 10 boards, five dimes. Uh this was a really good Payton Pritchard game uh because he was able to really make his impact in a multitude of ways. And yes, the three-point shot is looking a lot better. I think he was like five for 12 or something like that tonight. But the thing that he does as good as anybody in the league is just frankly he plays significantly bigger than he is. I mean, he’s one of the best players in the league at getting points around the basket. And he’s not doing it with speed. He’s not doing it with, you know, floaters. He’s just simply bullyballing guys, which is the weirdest thing for a guy that’s like maybe a whisker over six feet tall, if that, who’s able to just get you on his hip, give you and and uses his body to create space to get his shots off around the basket. Uh he did that multiple times against Brooklyn and almost every time the defender was a little bit bigger, but it didn’t matter. Uh and that’s just understanding having enough self-awareness to know what you can do in this particular matchup to get the shot that you want. Uh, and that’s really what having that three-point shot falling more will allow him to do because now all of a sudden you can’t just play the three-point shot. You can’t worry about him bullyballing. You got to worry about both. And the minute you lean one way or the other more than you should, he’s going to go the other way and take advantage of it. If you close out too tightly on a three-point shot, he’s going to simply try to bully ball his way down or beat you off the dribble. And if you definitely back off and give him the the shot to take away the dribble penetration, he’s just gonna knock the midi down. Uh so he is becoming a matchup problem for a lot of people. And to your point earlier about uh Simons, uh do that 11 points on four shots. Um I know that’s what professional scorers do though. They get points without having to make a point of getting lots of shots necessarily to do that. Uh so this was a good game for him and and again you start going down the line they had a lot of guys that played well but the biggest thing uh for them was that their big three of Derek, Jaylen and Pritchard all played well all had significant roles at various points in the game where they had to make plays for this team to get the win. And Hower had a nice stretch tonight too in that um second half stretch there, fourth quarter I think it was where you know defensively they got the steal. I mean, again, eight points, but seven rebounds and three assists for Hower, two of five from three. I mean, technically, okay, 40% that’s where you want him to be. So, we’ll definitely take that number there. Um, talk about a guy who kind of had a really not kind of, definitely had a really slow start to this um to this season, start to come around here, you know? I mean, that’s that’s kind of what you want. So, again, the fact that these guys are above 500 and you can go down the line and say, well, he hasn’t really played up to his level. He hasn’t played up to his level. He hasn’t, you know, you can kind of almost go down the line. I would say everybody but like maybe Jaylen, you know, as far as like a real starting lineup here, you know, starting lineup players. Obviously, I think, you know, you’re gotten a lot out of Kada as your center. I don’t know where the ceiling is with him, I think until he gets his cardio up a little bit more. I think that’s kind of looking at what you’re getting. And then you’ve had flashes, right? You’ve had flashes from May not you’ve had flashes from you had flashes from from Gonzalez who you know didn’t see the court tonight. So again, similar to last year in a way there’s some rotate there’s some rotating going on towards the end of the uh death chart or the end of the rotation there where they’re trying to figure out now obviously that’s moved up. It’s like well who wants that starting role you know who wants that seventh eighth ninth spot in the rotation. Mhm. So, I wouldn’t say to this point, you know, Shyman has been, you know, really hot, really, not really hot, but really hot and cold, you know. Um, so I wouldn’t say to this point there’s been somebody that’s stood up, stood out from start to where we are now. I think there’s been es and flows to this, and I think that’s what you kind of have to expect with this roster. You know, it’s it’s it’s this is how it was designed. And after you get through Brown, White, Pritchard, it seems to me like it could really go anywhere. Now, again, Kate has been a guy that Joe’s turn to more often than not. Um, but after that, I mean, Simon’s on any given night could see the bench, right? Even if he does have a strong offensive performance. I think he had 11 points in the first half and, you know, nothing after that, you know. So, is that more to do with him? Is that more to do with the style or or or what the Celtics were looking for changing in that second half? But the consistency is something that they definitely have been lacking from that part of the, you know, roster. So, again, stuff they’re going to work there. I thought Garza tonight thought he was definitely hit and miss. I mean, I I’ll never question the effort from Garza. And again, five points. He took one shot. Um, and he got to the line four times. And you know, plus 14, you know, I’m not the plus minus tonight from the bench was really good. You had Hower at plus 22, Garz at plus 14, Mina plus 15. I’m not sure. I think there were some points tonight where Gar just looked, you know, and he’s not the mo most athletic guy out there. So, you’re going to moment, but he’s got a motor. You know, he’s he’s he’s going to be a pest out there in the ways that he can, but he’s he’s not an above the rim player, right? He’s not a guy that’s going to shut you down on the defensive side of things. But I think as the season goes on, he’s spelling Kada a bit and he’s giving them at least something uh at a position that they didn’t really have much. Yeah. Yeah. And and that’s all you want. I mean, you you I I constantly find myself reminding myself that look at what these guys are doing. Look at what their pay is and look at what that’s relative to the whole NBA e you know, economics. And Celtics are getting significant bang for their buck with a lot of these guys, you know. And and the thing about, you know, Luca and and Kada, uh Luke, he he’s not he’s just a good reserve big. Uh who’s that? I think you said Luke. I I know. And then I said Luca. Okay. Okay. Because in our hearts, we’re all thinking we’re all I I was trying to suppress my inner Bobby Manning there for a second. Um yeah, because you know when you’re talking about that third Santa, that’s it. It’s hard it’s hard to think about that and not think of Luke, but uh no, with Luca and and and Kada, you know, there’s going to be nights where Luca is going to give them a great lift off the bench when Kada may be okay and not great. Uh and at least, you know, that’s in him. You know, he’s a guy Luca on any given night can go out there and get you a double double. Uh and no one should be surprised when that happens. But to, you know, his defensive deficiencies are very problematic in in terms of long-term benefits. Uh and and that’s again the Celtics haven’t ran into too many teams that have made them pay in that regard. But that’s that’s one of those those issues that they’re going to have to, you know, just navigate and and iron out at some point. But right now, they’re getting really good play out of Kada. Uh Luca is making the most of the minutes that he gets. Uh and that’s all you really want. I mean, you you knew coming into the season that you were going to have a multi-head monster in the middle where you’re going to have, you know, Tillman and Kada and Luca all just trying to figure out how are they collectively going to give you what you need at that center position. And right now, you know, when you look at what Kada’s doing out there, you look at what Luca’s doing out there, they’re probably the two guys that are going to give you as close as you’re going to get to a serviceable big uh this season. So, um, this was a, like I said, a lot of good things that the Celtics should feel good about with this one. Uh, and we’ll see if they can just continue to build off of that against, uh, against seeing this Brooklyn team again on Friday in a game that they should they should win that one even more convincely with with it being back at the TD Garden. Yeah. Um, Celtics are feeling good. We’re feeling good, too, Sherrod. Just in case, you know, everybody watching isn’t aware, the Garden The Garden Report is moving, Sherrod. Not not moving the way you think. But if you’re watching this show on Celtics’s All Access’s YouTube channel, head over to our main channel, CLNS Media, and subscribe there as well. Soon, CLS CLNS Media’s channel will be the exclusive YouTube home of the Garden Report postgame show. Right now, some people might know this, but we we go live on the Celtics All Access YouTube channel and we go live on the CLNS main YouTube. We’re gonna we’re going to cut the cord on on that. We’re not getting rid of the channel, but our show, Sherro, is going to air exclusively on the main CLNS YouTube channel. That’s where honestly I think the majority of our of our subscribers are on. But we’ve really built up this Celtics um the Celtics page over the years. And that’s going to continue to be an unbelievable place to get all your Celtics content postgame, pregame, you know, a number of different podcasts and and exclusive interviews and content like that. But our garden report where where I call home, Sher and where you call home, uh we’re going to be on the main the main page. So if if you’re subscribed to the main page, and you should be because the Patriots are going off right now. You know, the Red Sox are going to have a great hopefully knock on wood off season and really hopefully be a contender going into next year. And the Bruins are are are I don’t know what the Bruins are, but I like it. I like what I’m seeing out of the Bruins. I think we’re all a little bit surprised by the run that they’ve been in been on. And so head over to that main page for all the Boston content and and even more so than than just that, but our show is going to be going live there eventually exclusively there. Um and so we really want to subscribe to both channels. So um I think Bobby Manning, uh speaking of uh subscribe, we’re all subscribing to Bobby Manning. I’m I’m buying on Bobby. He is ready to go. Thumbs up. We’re gonna bring him in on it to uh the show here live from Brooklyn. Where Brooklyn at? Bobby, I was scared. Jimmy, really scared. Bobby, you’re a rap guy, though. You’re a rap guy. I know you’re a rap guy. Are you Are you East Coast or are you West Coast? Are you Brooklyn or are you are you LA? I gotta go east coast. You know, Boston, New York, as far as the rap scene goes, it’s pretty pretty connected. You know, I feel like they love Biggie in Boston and yeah, JC Cole and, you know, a lot of interchange there. You know, it’s a lot of crossover. They love Jakus and uh Boston. Jay-Z, who’s playing Jay-Z on the radio in Boston, so I’d love to meet Jay-Z. I’m Jay-Z might be my might be my Jay-Z might be my all-time favorite rapper. Now, I I I don’t really have the I’m not like going to go toe-to-toe with anybody on that, but I’m a That’s a blueprint guy through and through. So, how about you, Shride? Who’s the guy? JCole. JCole. JCole. Big JCole. Wow. Big JCole fan. Okay. Okay. I still love Tupac though, don’t get me wrong. I’m just I’m going to go with Jay-Z on this. But anyways, let’s get to the game. Bobby, you were there. This was like one of those games where we were all kind of sitting on our hands for a bit because we didn’t want to No one wants to be that team to to you know Well, let me start there. Yeah, because remember what I said the other day. 0% chance the Celtics will lose these games. That’s what I set it at. So when they went down by So when they went down by 10 early, I’m sitting there dirty look. Noah’s giving a dirty look. It was It was scary for a minute there. And it was scary throughout, right? It was a tough game to win. We said if they lost you were going to be on the apology cam as soon as I wasn’t even going to be here. I think I’d have to take this one off because you know everyone was saying drinks and it’s going to be tough Friday, right? That was what I expected. It’d be back-to-back game games against the same team always seemed to be difficult. But you know as the afternoon went on I I I did start you know getting worried because I think Jordan said this morning like we’re prepared for a lot of threes which sometimes can send things haywire. That was the story early this game. and that’s were hitting all their threes, getting a lot up. Uh, and then the fact that they won by like 17 on Sunday had me worried too cuz maybe that carries over. They were tough. I I thought they forced the Celtics to change their lineups throughout. Um, look for something that worked here. There were a lot of rotations for Boston that just didn’t have it in this game. And uh, that’s something Joe talked about after too, like can you tell on a given night who’s going to be the guy, who isn’t? and he said you kind of can just based off what you need against a certain opponent here. And obviously tonight it was Sam after they went through Jordan who’ started again and Josh who had some moments but wasn’t super effective and then they settle on ironically the same lineup with Garza at center and Sam at the four or three whatever you want to call it that uh blew that game against Detroit on the boards. There was a pretty big rebounding meltdown with those five on the floor against uh the Pistons in that third game of the year. So uh they came through late tonight. Sam was awesome and he needed that, right? He’s been struggling just about as much as anybody since moving to that bench. Some good stuff from Simons here tonight as well. This was a good bench game. Again, the bench came through and saved the starters who were pretty sluggish. Yeah, I would agree. I mean, we talked we talked briefly about the bench and just the fact that, you know, you got that second half kind of jolt from Hower there, which was huge. You know, we got that turnover that kind of changed the momentum in the way play of the game. Joe called it. I felt that way too. That was critical. It extended the lead a little bit. Then he hits a three right after. I think it was like a one or two point game at that point. Y um so big play by him and a defensive play at that. Right. Yeah, I know. Exactly. And then defense turning into offense. Now, um sticking with the bench for I couldn’t get a read on Garza’s game tonight. I mean, overall I thought he played well. I thought at first a little Garza-esque, you know, he’s not the he’s a little on the clumsier side, I guess, out there. Fumbling in the ball, a couple out of bounds issues, but yeah, he’s giving them good, you know, he’s giving them good wind. You know, I think he’s spelling Kada on nights where Kada doesn’t necessarily seem to have it completely. And I think the they’re making do with, you know, kind of what they have here at that position as best they can. For sure. And they were searching there, too. Right. Kate is in foul trouble. He he gets the early hook in the third. They tried Garza and I agree. He was active in this game. This how I described it when we were talking up on on press row. Active but not super effective. Like he had his hands on a lot of offensive rebounds. He they were hitting him on the roll a lot and it didn’t turn into much. So he gave them some solid minutes out there. I’d say I mean when he finish I wouldn’t be surprised if it was like a plus zero. That’s what it No. No. It was a plus 15. That’s why I couldn’t get a good read on it. But like Okay. Yeah. I mean the bench the bench had the the big push, right? So, he was probably out there for a lot of those hower minutes down the stretch that turned that around. But, you know, I thought his minutes were active. Only one shot. They they missed them a lot or threw him bad passes. So, a lot of those weren’t his fault. Um, but the Nets were super active tonight. I thought they blitzed, Joe said. They played up. They got in the passing lane. So, they were pretty prepared for what the Celtics were trying to do. Um, it was a good game plan by them to try to disrupt what Boston was doing. I think they had a good sense that the Celtics are trying to win the turnover battle every night. So, we’re gonna have to turn things up and try to, you know, push that back back against them. And I thought they really frustrated Jaylen. I thought they, you know, made it difficult to get the entry passes inside. There was one awful Simon’s turnover where they were trying to queue something up for Garza and Simon just tossed it right to the guy in front of Garza. So, this is the first. Can’t help himself, Sh. He really can’t. Bobby cannot help him. Everybody turned it over tonight. Oh, but only one guy gets gets the the crown turnover from Bobby. I mentioned I mentioned Jaylen’s Jaylen had eight, right? We had eight. It’s hard not to mention it. Yeah, it is. It’s hard. So, yeah. What do you feel like was up with him tonight, Sh? The other thing I noticed, too, 10 first half minutes, 22 in the second half. Joe said they were trying to disperse it for the second I I feel like he just didn’t like the way Jaylen was playing in the first half. No, I I think that was part of it, but I I think Joe is again he’s he’s trying to figure out how can I get the most out of these guys uh when they’re on the floor. And Joe is is very much in experimentation mode right now. I think he’s he’s searching for that that lineup that he’s going to feel good about. And some days I think he feels better certainly better than he does others. Uh Jaylen I didn’t think was as impactful as he needed to be in the first half. Pritchard going well in that first half and you know it’s hard to have them both in there sometimes. Um so I think he was just rolling with that and yeah I don’t think Jaylen really did anything to like he kind of had a hot start. I think we had a what did he have the first basket or first couple baskets for the Celtics but yeah he was getting into the mid-range there then he started missing those a little bit. It just felt like they were knocking him off his dribble when he tried to get to that spot. You could see some guys creeping over to him and to try to you know throw some extra bodies at him. So again, they were pretty prepared for his tendencies. They’re pretty prepared for what a lot of the Celtics were trying to do here. So certainly a more um disruptive effort, uh you know, tougher oppos, you know, opposition than I expected to see from Brooklyn given their record here. Why don’t we hear from Joe since we do have some postgame from Joe and then we’ll we’ll chat a little bit about what he had to say. I know you were there for that, Bobby, so we’ll get your take on on what he had to say after the game. You want to toss Joe up there? There you go. A lot of times put stress on defense for seven turnovers, holding 14 points. What did you do? Yeah, I thought we got good looks in that stretch. Uh I just thought we missed a couple of them. Uh but like you said, it didn’t um you know, I thought the difference in the game was that the second half defense uh and our offensive execution. You know, you take a look at the tail of two halves and really how the game’s connected. So they had 25 points in transition and we had 12 first half turnovers. Uh and so you know when you give them that uh you know they’re a good team and they beat only had eight turnovers in the second half. Uh did a much better job in that department. Kept him out of transition and we were able to execute. You talk about players not being defined by one trait. Felt like Sam was a good example of that tonight. What did you see from him overall? Yeah, I mean uh he’s great and it’s a credit to him and you know we all know that he’s been in a little bit of a shooting slump, but he’s not defined by that. And uh you know I thought his defense was great. I thought his rebounding was really good and he he had a big time steal at half court that I thought kind of changed the game. So, uh it’s a credit to him just continuing to chip away at it. Kind of on that note, Sam’s used to being in the rotation and kind of playing similar minutes. He played seven minutes last game and came tonight and closed with him. How have you seen him handle those fluctuations and in general like as a coach? Is it hard to see some nights you have to go with one guy and plays five minutes? Like how how does it just kind of play out for Yeah, I mean he’s handled it well. I think I think at the end of the day, we all have an understanding of the the type of team we have. We said it before the year, we have a lot of depth. Um, you know, when when everyone’s at their best, we can go to different things. And, you know, like you said, we finished with him tonight. Uh, you know, a couple nights ago, we finished with a different lineup. Uh, you’ve seen him handle it just by being positive, by working hard and and having an understanding of it. So, it’s a credit to him and it’s a credit to the guys. You know, at the end of the day, we got 12, 13 guys that could really impact winning. I think everyone on on the roster has helped us uh win a game or get us, you know, being in the game and so that’s important and uh he, you know, he’s handled it really well and it kind of showed tonight. Uh Joe, it sounded like you guys had the crowd on your side for a lot of the night. Uh what does it do for the team’s confidence if anything to have that sort of vocal support even on question? Uh, I mean I’m not I mean I think that’s just really it’s a testament to the Celtics fans that we have regardless of where we play uh to carry that name forward. That’s really what it’s about. Who’s the thinking behind the Jaylen rotation 10 in the first half and then he was able to give you 22 second half get to the free throw line. What were you looking for in terms of his minute distribution? Yeah, he played well. I mean you take a look at what he did in the second half for us. uh 9 for 19, had 23 at the end of the third, I thought, but he had a huge um offensive rebound there, you know, crashing from the corner, which got us that paint and three in the corner. So, uh you know, he played well. We we wanted to disperse the minutes. We wanted to make sure we were in good shape heading into halftime and, you know, he handled it great and I thought he had a great second half. Joe, I would say with that little Daron sharp runs in the last couple minutes, they only had one field goal and that’s in the fourth quarter. I know you mentioned you felt like it’s tail, two halves in that fourth quarter in particular. What do you think went right for you guys that wasn’t going on that like helped you close out this to start? We didn’t turn the ball over. So, they weren’t able to get out in transition, you know, which I said we had 12 in the first half. So, they had 25 points in transition. I mean, I don’t know how many points they had off our turnovers, but there had to be a correlation there. So, it started there but didn’t turn over. Once we got it into a five on five, we took away a couple of things that they do really well in the half court. Uh, and we held them to one shot. So, um, you know, I still think they they crushed us, um, you know, on the shot margin, but I thought we did a better job in the second half of kind of getting that up with the turnovers and, uh, limiting them to one shot and then us getting some rebounds. Was there anything particular you saw with the turnovers, especially in the first half, or was it just split? No, they did a good job of of blitzing and being up and and, uh, you know, we made some good reads, but they they they test you. You got to do it all the time, you So if you have to throw uh you know 50 passes, you got to be able to be great on on 48 to 50 of them and we just weren’t on some of those. And so it just left us for an area to get better. Coach um about Luca Garza’s rebounding uh in general offensive rebounding looks great. I mean he has during the season I guess one per six minutes which is like great. Um, defensively, however, it seems like he just blocks people out and he doesn’t get as many. Yeah, yeah, he does a good job of that. I think, uh, he had a couple good ones tonight. Uh, he just does a good job with leverage. He’s got good leverage. Uh, gets good positioning. Yeah, he does a good job of reading where the miss is going and he’s kind of in the right spot there. So, uh, you know, I think it’s something that he he pays attention to. He works hard at it. But you see, he has a great reaction to the ball, has good leverage. And as far as his uh way back in college and you know whenever he was getting a chance in the NBA to play uh charges taken his guards something that you think contributed to self assigning him just you know um I mean what contributed to us signing him is kind of what he’s been for us uh which is his effort uh his care factor his competitive character uh his willingness to to be a great teammate and do whatever it takes to win. What have you thought of starting Baylor’s season? Uh, like I said, he’s given us what we needed. Uh, we got multiple guys that can impact the game each and every night. He’s got a great attitude, worked at it every day. Uh, building trust with him and, uh, you know, I think in the times that we’ve called on him, he’s delivered. You just got to keep getting better. Joe, you mentioned the depth uh, the season. Just felt like tonight was a good reflective of that. What did you think of the collective effort? Yeah, again, uh, guys being able to do different things. I thought Ant was more aggressive tonight. Um, you know, I thought Jaylen was great in the second half, but I thought, you know, like I said, I think Josh played better. I think Baylor played better. I think Sam played better. So, it’s just getting guys, uh, you know, just as consistent as possible in the roles we need him to and picking each other up on. Because you so many options, does it feel like within a few minutes you can tell, okay, tonight this guy has it. He has the energy. I’m just going to go with him and it doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past. It’s not necessarily energy. It’s just you could just tell and we got we got guys that can bring different things to the game. uh you know so I think uh just that flexibility and that um you know like I said that depth we have to take advantage of as a team I think gives us the best chance uh to win every night be able to go to different stuff gives us the best chance to be successful over the long run and and the guys are uh doing a good job of it thank you Joe players will be thanks Joe thank you Joe all right so there you have it with Joe we lost Bobby we don’t know where Bobby went around the streets of Brooklyn looking for Luke looking for Luke Yeah, he he ain’t gonna find a Luke in Brooklyn, but um we’ll get him back on here and I think Noah might jump on too hopefully. They’re wrapping up the player post games uh press conferences. But uh Sher, a couple interesting nuggets uh out of that press conference. Um the one that I guess I’m remembering the most is the last one, maybe because it’s just how my brain works, but seems like Joe basically just admitted that like he and we kind of saw this and see this all the time. He’s quick to give the hook uh to some of those guys and and you might not see him again after that. And it felt like that was Jordan Walsh tonight. I’m not saying that he looked to Jordan Walsh and said, “You don’t have it.” And yanked him, but you could probably connect the dots and and think that that could possibly be how he felt because I mean, he answered Noah’s question and she basically said, you know, “Can you tell early on if a guy has it?” He said, “Yeah, and if they have it, yeah, he’ll go back to them. And if he doesn’t think they have it, well, he’s got like four guys that are kind of just like the next guy waiting to, you know, give it a crack, right?” Whether it’s I mean, you know, the list, Walsh, Sherman, Gonzalez, May not uh there’s probably a couple. Yeah, Sam I think probably has more of the benefit of the doubt there, but but sure. um he’s not really willing to let these guys like play through it as we’ve seen in previous seasons with like the proven vets as you know would we’d see him go 10 minutes into a quarter without calling a timeout even if the guys were struggling the whole way through because they’re you know Jaylen Jason Drew KP and you know Al right so like what do they really need to prove other than they just need to work their way through things in this case. Jordan Wallace doesn’t get that benefit of the doubt, right? Baylor Sherman doesn’t get that benefit of the doubt. These guys need to know that when the ball is tipped, it’s go time, right? There’s there’s no there’s no easing into this thing. And maybe that’s and and the one guy that probably fits this bill perfectly is Simons. Yeah. Um, you know, we’ve we’ve been pretty we’ve been pretty vocal on this show about the way that Joe treats uh Anthony Simons out there on the court at times and how he could go from, you know, 15 points and in, you know, five minutes to finding the bench, right? Why that is, only Joe could answer that. But if Joe sees something or if he doesn’t feel like Simons’s I’m just saying Simons for example, but I think there probably are some examples. doesn’t feel like Simons is bringing it or if he doesn’t feel like he’s engaged enough in that moment, he has no qualms about telling him to hit the pine and, you know, somebody else is going to take a take a stab at it. You know, that seems to be the mentality. It it is. It is. And and Walsh tonight was that guy. Walsh does doesn’t give you anything on offense. Maybe once in a while a prayer goes up for three, but if he doesn’t give you that thing which is intens intensity on defense and you know shut down defense and all that stuff, see you later. That’s how Joe’s going to treat it. Yeah. Yeah. And and and I and I you know he he’s like a lot of young players, he’s trying to figure out exactly how do you do that? How do you be consistent when your minutes may not be consistent? We’ll bring Bobby in too by the way since he’s back. But come on, you can continue. Yeah, but that’s but that’s that’s the challenge. I mean, it’s just figuring out how do you be consistent and get and get guys to play consistent off your bench when they know they’re not going to get consistent minutes. Uh, and it’s, you know, tonight Jordan certainly was not one of his best hours on the floor, but, you know, he picked up four fouls and there were other guys that kind of had some things going on and and I think that’s to me that’s the blessing and burden of this team where you can have guys that you can turn to and that supporting cast role who can give you a great lift for 10 or 15 minutes tonight and they may not see the court for another two or three games. And as a player, you often wonder how are they staying locked in mentally when the minutes are just such are just going to steadily fluctuate the way they are. Uh so those are some of the things that I think this the Celtics really, you know, they’re going to be challenged by as we go deeper and deeper into the season and figuring out how to really manage that that kind of stuff. All right, I want to go to Bobby since he’s on since he jumped back on. Before I do, let’s talk briefly about our good friends at Price Picks and Bobby, then I want to jump to you. But first, yes, folks, it’s basketball season. The Celtics are eight and seven now, above 500. But don’t sleep on the Patriots. Don’t sleep on, you know, football season and and the fact that we might have a playoff run here. Um, what what only way to make it a little bit more fun than it already has been, including prize picks in the mix. This episode is brought to you by prize picks. You and I make decisions every day, Sherrod, but on prize picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement this basketball season on Price Picks where it’s good to be right. Um, you know, we we we talked about uh, you know, how this Patriots season is gone and I’m going more more more on Drake May and and you know, the fact that uh, they got a game coming up against the Bengals and it seems like the Bengals might be without their their offensive threat. We’ll see. 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But download Prize Pick app today. Use the code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. Uh and don’t forget guys, they offer stacks, meaning you can pick three players up to three times in the same lineup. pick more uh on, you know, three different stats of that player or less if you’re a hater. Uh and now you can pick all three of them in the same lineup only on prize picks. Anyways, Bobby, I’m I’m more on Bobby right now. I need more Bobby. So, Bobby, you just jumped out. Popped in for uh Pritchard. Popped in, I think, for Jaylen Brown. It sounds to me like Jaylen Brown went pretty quickly. Um Yeah, I thought that was of those two guys. I’m I’m glad you said that because I do think that was pretty revoly to what we saw from Jaylen tonight. He just didn’t look super energetic. Obviously, we talked about the, you know, shorter first half stint there. Does seem like he was a little under the weather. Um, only talked for a couple Yeah, only talked for a couple minutes after this one. I think that was the reason why. So, um, again, he’s pushing through, right? Playing, not missing a game with illness like a lot of guys do there. So, credit him for that. And he did turn this game around in a big way in the second half. Um, you saw Joe talk about that when I asked about the, you know, minute distribution there and he said it was dispersing the minutes. Um, I’m sure they were just trying to save him for when it mattered most given his status tonight and the fact that he wasn’t super effective in the first half. But he he powered through nine of 19. I mean, another efficient game and and you know, seven three-point attempts a little bit higher than what we’ve seen, I think, as of late, but he got to the line, but some decisive ones in that second half. huge shots from from behind the arc for him and you know to give them this level of productivity uh in a night where they didn’t have it across the board in a lot of different cases offensively I thought it was important and you know the big factor for them and we keep talking about it Jimmy just being available this year I mean you look across the league every day there’s another big injury every day someone’s missing a game and this team their superpower to this point has been availability Jaylen’s played in every game’s playability fight, you know, and we’re what, 14 games in now. That’s pretty good. Like, this has probably been the most durable team in the league so far. And more recently, it’s Jaylen with this illness. Beginning of the year, it’s Jaylen with the hamstring playing through that. Even on the back toback where it looks like they had him lined up after, remember 0 and three, Jimmy? It looks like they had him lined up in New Orleans for a night off. They could have been 0 and4 if he misses that game, but he just played and got them that first win and here they are above 500 a couple weeks later. So, credit to him. I didn’t love the way he played, but you know, knowing the circumstances here, it’s it’s huge he showed up for this game. Is it worth playing this post game or should we just play like Hower instead? I don’t really want to play both. I want to hear from Hower after a big game. He’s been struggling for a little while. Okay, let’s listen to Hower. Jaylen, get well soon. Maybe we’ll see you Friday. Got a couple days to uh shake the cold. Um I don’t know if Amit’s gonna toss it up. I’ll do it. Particularly that fourth quarter more field goal before that day on Sharp Run. What changed for you guys from the first half to second half? Oh, we definitely took care of the ball a lot better. Um, and that led to better offense and um got a lot of steals. It felt like we were way more active on defense which led to easy buckets on the offensive end which kind of opened up a lot of things for us. And then yeah, I think overall just started on the defensive end though. What sparked it for you? For me? Yeah. in the fourth. Oh, I mean, I don’t know, just playing hard. Try to be at the right place, right time, and um communicate, talk, just play hard, and usually a lot of times good things work out for you if you’re given all your effort. Sam Joe’s constantly talking about how players are defined by more than just one trait. Felt like you were a good example of that tonight. Even when you’re not shooting well, how important is it to just focus on your ability to impact the game in more ways? Uh, yeah. I mean, just be a basketball player, I guess, at the end of the day. Um, you know, you might be here for one for a specific trait and you might be really good at it, but how can you impact a team in a different way when that trait’s not, you know, to its normal standard. So, um, yeah, just I guess just be a basketball player. Sam, is it hard to have inconsistent minutes? Like you played seven minutes last game, you closed out, played 22 tonight. A lot of you guys have been in that position. How are you, how do you handle that? And is it something that you guys kind of all understand is just the plan for this year and you just kind of roll with the punches? Yeah, of course it’s hard. Um, but you kind of just have to, like you said, roll with the punches and take advantage of the time you are out there and still try to help the team win and try to try to be external and don’t be internal. Um, it’s hard in the moment. What do you mean by that? Does that mean Yeah, like don’t think about yourself. Think about the team first. Um, if you’re thinking about yourself, then your head’s not in the right place. Um, and yeah, I mean, it’s it’s going to be a lot of that this year. I feel like just changing lineups, rotations, um, just trying to figure out what works. And the other the other game, a different lineup was working, so you roll with that, and that’s cool. You just have to trust it. And, um, and then like tonight, we played a whole different lineup um, for a good chunk of that third quarter that maybe hasn’t played together a lot, and it works, so he just roll with it. So yeah, just making the most of the time you’re out there. Is that like a mantra you guys have or just like that? I mean, he’s kind of preached like everybody’s going to play this year. Just got to be ready ready. You just never know when your number’s going to be called. Has anything felt different about the way you’re getting your three-point shots this year with the flow of the new offense? Okay. Yeah, I mean a little bit. I mean, it’s a whole new offense. You’re We got a lot of new faces. Um we’re what are we 14 games in, 15 games in. still trying to get used to playing with each other a little bit and sometimes you’re getting different shots, sometimes you’re getting the same looks and uh I think all of us have kind of battled a little slump this year at some point. Just All right. No, Sam, how tough night it Celtics, right? Yeah, it we do a show anyway. The game wasn’t the most entertaining and the post game isn’t that much better, but it was interesting to to hear a couple things that Hower had to say. Let’s bring Noah in to get her take on this game. And she was in there for Hower. We heard her ask a couple questions there. Noah, welcome in. Um, I guess I was holding cord for Hower. I couldn’t get anything in with anybody else, but at least I asked 11 questions about his mantra. At least somebody showed up to ask questions tonight. Um, what what was your take from I guess we’ll start with Hower. It seems like he was kind of like I mean if we do play uh the Brownie award later which we might I have a feeling his name might come up. So give us your take on on his performance tonight I guess that second half and I thought it was interesting you know somebody I think it was you asked him how difficult it was or how difficult it has been not knowing your role this year and I thought his answer was pretty interesting. Yeah, I mean I think Hower’s been one of the interesting cases for this year because he doesn’t fit into this defensive system in the same way that guys like Josh May not and Ugo and Jordan do because he’s not a natural I mean he’s obviously a great athlete. He’s in the NBA. He kind of joked at the end of his presser like I’m not a great athlete but he’s he’s that’s not going to be his edge on the floor, right? And I think last year’s system worked better for him because he held his own defensively but it wasn’t a lot of like fullourt pressure and things like that. Um he’s also not getting the same kinds of looks that he was getting last year for the most part. Um but a night like tonight he was one of the pivotal players in the win and I think at one point in the fourth quarter I was like okay obviously I have to write about Tim Hower um for the my postgame story because I feel like he was the story tonight. And so what it kind of comes down to to me is that it’s going to be a different player every night. We’ve really realized that it’s so different from the last few years of covering this team. And even Sam who I don’t think the system is like made for him. he can still thrive in it and he made big plays. I asked him about the tip out rebounds, something that I think he does a ton of uh that doesn’t show up in the box that he doesn’t get a lot of credit for, but it does create kind of extra possessions. And he hit a few threes that I felt were just like the basketball gods rewarding him for his hustle and his effort. So, it’s interesting because I asked I don’t know if you guys play Joe, but I asked Joe like how do you know which guy you’re going to be going with? Because it really does feel right now like any every single night a different guy in that wing position could close out the game. could be Jordan, it could be Baylor, it could be Sam, could be Ugo. Ugo has gotten two DMPS now, but like it really could be anybody. Um, and I’m sure it’s hard for those players, but it’s also kind of an advantage because if Jordan doesn’t have it tonight, Joe can just turn away from him. And that’s not a normal position as an NBA coach where it’s like you have your guys and you play those guys. Like this is a very interesting dynamic and it’s very unusual. Bobby, thoughts on Yeah, this is this is gonna be the debate all year, right? like is this a strength? Is it a hindrance on this roster? And I from the start was skeptical to the notion that it’s a strength because again, you’re just you’re going into these games, you have a plan, you have to divert from that, you have to adjust on the fly. Like that was a big reason. Last game, the stretches were inconsistent, and in this game, you’re searching throughout the whole middle portion of the game to figure out like what’s the lineup going to be tonight. Um, you asked Noah a good question to Joe about like do you know? and he said, “Thank you so much.” We actually talked about it earlier in the show, too. Huge praise for that question. Um, but I found his answer interesting because he said, “Yes, you know, right away.” Do they know right away? I think so. I mean, he said it wasn’t. They knew it was Sam’s night tonight. No, I just think he knew it wasn’t Walsh’s night. Yeah, that’s kind of that’s what I was going to say. Um, so yeah, it’s not like it’s like Sam two minutes in it’s like Sam’s closing tonight, but I think he has like four or five guys that feel somewhat interchangeable in the rotation. And to his credit, I don’t know if you guys talked about this yet, but Jaylen Brown played 10 first half minutes. And at halftime, Celtics fans were asking me, “Is he hurt? Is he sick? Can you go check? Like I have I’m worried. Like what happened to Jaylen?” And I think he just wasn’t playing well. And I was thinking to myself, this is really unusual. He’s on pace to play 20 minutes. Obviously, he ends up playing 32, so he played 22 minutes in the Oh, did he only play 29 minutes tonight? Um, never mind. Well, he played the majority of the second half. Um, and he said I was just playing bad. Like, so Joe pulled me like he said I was playing like [ __ ] Like that’s that’s in his words. And so I don’t know that last year Jaylen would have gotten pulled if he wasn’t playing the first half. 32. Okay, that’s what I thought. Um, yeah. So to me, like there’s just a level of you’re not it’s not your night. Like there’s no attachment to anything. And overall, I think it’s going to serve them well. Like how many times have we seen guys just not have it, but the coach kind of has to keep going with them because they’re the guy that makes all the money or the guy that is the all-star or whatever. And this is just like last years. We’ve seen the last two years. Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. Like I I do think the notion of um that being a strength is a little overrated or overstated by Joe, but I will give him credit in terms of his ability to make the change quickly on the fly, figure it out by the end of the game. And then more or less closed with the right group. And I don’t know, was tonight a crunch time victory? I can’t even keep track of that. Like it’s it’s all about whether it starts in that, you know, five under five inch. But, um, the fact that they’ve lost in a lot of those circumstances does make me say, “All right, they’re not putting the exact ideal group out there to close some of these games.” So, again, I think there’s some truth to it. I think they’ve made the best of it. Uh, but I don’t think it’s something that is throwing off their opponents necessarily or is a case where these guys are hugely impactful. So, there’s been a couple circumstances where Walsh or Ugo or maybe even Garza down the stretch are giving them like that interchangeable unpredictable impact. Hower tonight certainly like I’ll give them credit on that, but I think it’s been a mixed bag. I I do think there’s been some nights where the rotations have cost them. There’s been some nights where the rotations have benefited them. And that’s part of figuring it out, right? Like that was never not going to be the case this year where they, you know, had something said and we’re just going to roll with it. It looked like maybe that would have been the case with my not but here they are again. We thought even this morning though like we were on Jordan Walsh savior you know storyline and second sound you had the sound too. You had the interview like is that like are we sitting here today saying that might already be over after this hower development? I think that that if we want to be like the best analysts we can as it relates to this team right now, we just can’t overreact to a young guy having a couple of good games and then Bur another young guy because they had a couple bad games. Like Josh May not is not bad now and he wasn’t the greatest player on earth a week and a half ago and Jordan Walsh was not out of the NBA and going to China a week and a half ago as a lot of NBA fans on Twitter, Celtics fans on Twitter were saying and he’s not like the savior of the future Celtics, you know, defense now. Like I it just there’s a reason why these guys are young and unproven. It’s like they’re young and unproven and and it’s going to reflect in their play at times, but but they’re the ones making those switches. Like who do you think will start on Friday now after this? Maybe Sam. I don’t know. I mean, right now it’s been like literally the most recent guy to have played well gets the start of the That’s what I’m saying. It’s not us, it’s them. Well, I think I think you made a good point. I was gonna say the same thing. I was gonna say something similar is that Sorry, Noah. Go on. No, I was going to say something similar, Bobby. It’s like, are we overreacting or are we just reacting to what Joe’s doing? Because I mean, who’s to say he’s I mean, and if that’s the case, then is Joe overreacting by completely benching Gonzalez? Should Gonzalez get some burn? I think Ugo is dealing with an ankle thing. Joe would never say, but I I think that if you look at when his play his minutes dropped, that ankle was like I saw that was in Philly. He walked past me in the locker room that right after that he was limping, his ankle swollen. So, I think I think that’s part of it, but we’ll never get back in. What would be the reason to not just say he’s dealing with an ankle injury? What are we This is just the life that we lead covering the Celtics. I don’t know. I mean, maybe it’s not that. Um I I’ll try to do I agree with you guys. That’s just my intuition. That’s not That’s speculation, not fine. Okay, then Josh might not or whoever. Pick a different pick Baylor Shman for example. I mean, if you feel like these guys I I understand when a guy’s not playing well that you kind of maybe go with somebody else, but we’ve seen these guys completely get, you know, dogged in in in a way. So, in that sense, you could argue that Joe Mazul is overreacting. If fans are overreacting to the player not playing for a game or two, well, why isn’t he playing at all? Um, you know, I understand that they haven’t been given they haven’t earned the playing time. And so Joe might give them the quick hook and say, “I’m going to go with this guy tonight.” Sure. And I know that, you know, a week or so ago, you know, John was debating whether or not uh Simons should be in that category. He doesn’t think he should be. I don’t think he should be either. I think Simons has done enough in this league that, you know, I don’t know if Joe Missoula can say, “Oh, he doesn’t have it tonight. He’s, you know, we’re going to sit him.” Even though he’s deep down we all know that Simmons is capable of giving you 30. Yeah. If you know given the opportunity. This is the question we have right now and we had the same exact debate last game though. Yes. These decisions are leading to wins and I think that’s Joe’s mindset right now is how can we win every single game every single night? And I’ll take whatever measure it takes to get to that point. And listen, I don’t think anyone’s going to complain about that. Like if they have a great season and this is the way they do it by switching up the lineups and rotations almost every night, I I don’t think people will be pissed about that. But does it impact each young players’s individual ability to carve out their role, play through some things, and have consistent time? Like what if Walsh after this game completely, not to say that’s going to happen, but what if he does completely fall out of the rotation after this game? Then I’ll have to read on it. Like here’s the thing. Wall should be used to not playing, right? I mean, we can say like it would be nice and tidy if you know they had their nineman rotation and then they had the four or five guys that are just cooked from day one and they’re not they’re out of the rotation. Like that would be easy to cover. It would be easy to for us to predict who’s going to play. But is that really better? Like in the past the reason there have been four or five guys that don’t play is because those guys are worse than the nine guys in the rotation. But I don’t know that we really have that right now. So, it’s going to keep cycling through like kind of like a high school basketball team where it’s like you’re not or some high school basketball teams, but like you’re you’re not necessarily buried. It’s just depending on the matchup, depending on the night. I mean, we’ve seen it. Some nights Jordan’s looked like a much better player than Josh and some nights Josh looked like a much better player. But but does that lend itself to development? That’s my question. I mean, you can either choose to say this is the year of Jordan and Jordan’s our future, so we’re going to play him every single night and play through his mistakes. But then would that be fair to Baylor? Would that be fair to Josh? You know, like we don’t there’s not an easy answer here. If there were more, if there were seven guys on the court at all times, you could invest in all of their development together. But there’s not. So, I think it’s only fair to see put the guy out that’s earning those minutes. And everybody’s maybe right now it’s really it’s really difficult to be pulled from the starting lineup after nine games and Josh is like having to figure that out. But maybe in game 65, he will have actually have the experience of the es and flows of a season and and that’s probably going to be a big part of his development as a professional, too. So, I do think Josh looked a little rattled when he got moved to the bench, but he looked a lot better tonight. And maybe in the long run, that’s like the best thing that could have happened to him instead of just saying, “Well, Josh is our starter. We’re going to stick with him even if he’s not playing with all the energy or kind of the best rebounding or whatever else it might be.” Sherrod, is there somebody who’s stood out to you above the pack, you know, when it comes to the Walshes, the Mayauts, the the the Yugos, the Balers of of the Celtics here? Is there somebody that you would if you’re Joe and you got to put you know game on the line or or you know one game win or take all who’s that fifth starter type situation is have has anybody emerged really? No. No, because they’ve done they there’s a reason why these guys have been at the end of the bench or not playing. Uh and the reason for that more than anything else because there’s a multitude of reasons but the biggest reason is consistency. Uh it’s the one thing that these players have shown an inability to do. That’s why they’re in and out of the lineup as if this is musical chairs. The the Celtics NBA starting five version of that. Uh and you know, you you look at the you know, when Josh was starting, we love the things that he was doing. Hower 2, right? But again, they did enough to remind you why they’re in that position, but but the flip side to that, they do enough to remind you why that’s not their day in dayout job. That they’re doing it basically because Joe Missoula is having almost like a casting call for starter number five. Uh, and you know, Hower got the first, you know, audition, did some good things, didn’t do some good things. next May not did some good things didn’t do some good things and now Jordan is getting that opportunity. The one difference though with Jordan is that Jordan has a skill that and I talked about this before that’s different than pretty much everyone else on the team and that is the ability to make life at least a little uncomfortable for super quick guards. Uh yeah, he’s the only one. He he and when you look at the things that Josh Minot does, uh you can kind of cut and paste, you know, and patch that together from other guys. And when you look at the things that Hower does as a shot maker, you got Peyton Pritchard who does a lot of the same things, not as well as Sam, but not that far removed. But when you talk about defending really quick guards, everyone on this team gets toasted. Uh other than Jordan. Uh and again, that’s I’m glad you say that because because we we talked to Jordan this morning and he he said something interesting about how he ended up getting more minutes here potentially saying that he and Jaylen were talking on the plane and you know Jaylen wanted to find someone who could defend with pressure you know do those things against guards and it sounded like we didn’t get to follow up with Jaylen and and Joe didn’t say a ton about it pregame but it sounded like Jaylen actually might have went to Joe and been like we need Jordan for this stuff here and he’s done a great job with it, right? So, I I feel like I want to see that dynamic because it it’s been a great one, right, over the last week or so here continue. Obviously, it wasn’t the case tonight where that was what they needed, but I would like to see him get another chance on Friday. And just based off this conversation now, I am actually with you. I think Joe’s mindset is look at what Hower did tonight. He really battled. He’s been do, you know, being been a stand-up professional through this benching and he’s had some ups and downs in minutes and shooting and all this, but he came through tonight and since he did that, I’m going to reward him for it on Friday and start him. That’s where I feel like that goes. Um, and again, that’s not the wrong decision here necessarily. It might be the right thing for this team at this moment. So, no one gets complacent and no one takes for granted that they’re starting necessarily, but I just feel like that’s such a quick hook on Walsh. one game where he’s a little down and all of a sudden he’s back on the not that he can’t impact off the bench, but it’s a quick hook in my mind. Yeah. And I think the the key is how do you respond to a quick hook if that’s what you get? You know, I don’t think Josh responded as best as he could. I mean, there could have been other things going on, but like he he did struggle a little bit, but Jordan could come in next game and the second he checks in, play the same defense that earned him those three starts, and then I think you’re right back in it. So like they deal with, you know, NBA players deal with more adversity than getting their minutes pulled, you know, like this is a guy who wants to one day make a big defensive play in in a final series, right? Like that’s the aspiration here. So in that standpoint, like I think this is a psychological like experience that is challenging and it might be a little deflating at times, but you’re kind of like building towards being the kind of player and professional that you want to be. Um, at the same time, I do want to echo what Sherrod said because being in Philly last week when Jordan was guarding Maxi, I was like, I think this is the first time in my time covering this team and maybe my time just like being around, you know, watching the Celtics that they’ve had a guy who can guard a Maxi. Like I feel like even when they’ve had like great defensive players and they have not had and again one game I don’t want to overreact, but like he does have something that stands out to me right now over the other candidates in the pool that each kind of bring their own thing. So, I don’t think we anybody should be writing off Jordan. And I guess to my earlier point about like us being dramatic in our analysis. I think the key is that even if Josh starts nine games, we’re not hailing him as the next great thing and saying that means that they’re going to sign him to a four-year extension and if Jordan gets has three great games in his starts. We can’t say now like, okay, he was the greatest draft pick in of the Brad Stevens era, etc. Like, the starting doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re you’re now all set forever and everything’s all great and rosy. Like it just means that for right now that’s the guy that Joe trusts the most and we can we can accept that and we can write about it and talk about it but also not extrapolate too much from it because we’ve already seen this season we had a Ugo era, we had a Josh era and we had a Jordan era, right? And it was none of those guys this night. Well said. But let me ask you this. You asked Hower, I mean, I don’t know, I’m not going to I don’t want to quote you on this, but he basically asked him, “How difficult has it been not to know what your role is going to be on any given night?” And he gave a good answer. He said, you know, but he gave an honest answer. I thought he said it was it’s hard, but he has to remind himself that, you know, basically it’s about the team. It’s not about himself. Are you worried at some point though, not maybe not him, but maybe some younger players, maybe some players with a different mindset that the seessawing of playing time or the the unknown of whether or not they’re even going to touch the court? Is that going to weigh on guys, especially if we get into the season here? And you know, obviously winning cures everything, but let’s just say they win and lose around the same rate as they are now. Is anybody on this panel, not just you, Noah, but is anybody concerned that this could have an adverse effect at some point? I was I was thinking today with Simons, I do worry about him a little bit because he’s been so set on being the good soldier Noah, like handling the tough coaching and the way that they’ve tried to improve his defense and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, he is playing for a contract here potentially. He does want to regain his standing in the league. I’m sure. So, I don’t know which way this is going to go. I don’t know Anthony Simons well enough to guess which way that’s going to go. And obviously, credit to the Celtics again making a concerted effort to try to involve him and, you know, bump up his minutes in that first half. But, is this right? He only ended with 11 minutes at the end of this one. Credit to the Celtics. No, he played he played 19 minutes in the first half. He had 11 points. Yeah, he had 26. So yeah, I I thought they he had 11 points in the first half. I don’t believe I I think I think he had 11 in the first half and he didn’t score in the second half. So again, I was saying first half they they did a good job trying to get him going and involved in all that. They were swapping his minutes out with Jay. He he was like the benefactor of Jaylen. I thought I thought Simons and Pritchard were the only reason this was a game in the first half. You know, those two guys, you know, the guard position carried them. Right. But to your point, Jimmy and Bobby, about like the the psychological thing of like how is it, you know, what if it does mess with your psyche? Like Jaylen just got benched. That’s a finals MVP. That’s your the faith of the team right now. Yeah. But like he could have sat there pouting at the end of the first half. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jaylen get benched. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tatum get benched. And Jayen could be sitting there being like, you know what, like I’m the guy. Like I’m averaging 28 points a game. I was carrying this offense when nobody else could score. Now I have a couple bad minutes and you’re going to pull me. And that wasn’t at all his his mindset. like I saw his body language on the bench. He seemed completely fine with it. And then postgame, he just owned up to it. I played terrible, you know. So, it starts there. As soon as it cracks, as soon as you see Jaylen’s going to start being like, “Why am I getting benched now?” Sam’s going to be like, “I’m the vet here. Why am I playing seven minutes against the Clippers while Jordan’s playing 33?” Like, but right now, everybody is on board to what they’re sharing because they’re winning, right? Cuz they’re winning. And I think honestly, they’re not even really winning that much, but they’re bought into what Joe is selling. And that’s the key, right? That’s the key in this league is that the star players have to be bought into the coaches. Like that’s pretty much what being an NBA coach is. Not to boil down too much, but he has buying from everybody right now, which is why it’s so important that he doesn’t lose Jaylen because you lose Jaylen, who knows what happens next. So to me, like right now, if if if you’re Jordan and you’re feeling sorry for yourself because you played 11 minutes tonight, like you don’t have it. Like you got you got to snap yourself out of it because there’s going to be many more of those roller coaster moments this season. I just don’t think they need to be baby. Like these are these are professional players. Jordan maybe was more of a baby when he got into the league, but part of why he was able to get to this position when starting three games in a row is because he became a pro and a pro handles that well. And I I haven’t seen any sign from anybody that they’re not handling this well, acknowledging that it’s difficult and Sam was honest about that. Uh but you know, it’ll be interesting. I’d love to know actually because he hasn’t played in weeks. The Yeah, go ahead, Travis. No, I was just going to say that the guys that I worry about, I was going to say Buché and and Simons because they’re veterans and because they’re new to the team and because we don’t we’ve never really seen how they handle the the ups and downs. Whereas Jordan, he’s been on the bench pretty much his entire NBA career. So, when he gets a chance to play a little bit and he has to go back to the bench, he already has the perspective and wherewithal to know what that’s like and know how he has to stay ready and prepared for his opportunity. because if it came around once, there’s a pretty good chance it’s going to come around again if it goes away at all, which I don’t think it will. I think he’ll stay in that lineup uh on Friday at least. Uh but some of those other guys, you you you wonder how they’re going to handle the ups and downs because they’ve never been through that and with us getting a chance to see them do that. So, um I’m Simon’s more than anyone else I’m most worried about because I think he’s the one guy who is being asked, I think, to make the most dramatic change, uh in their game, the role that they play, and the minutes that they log. Uh and none of those things is, I think, to his benefit. Uh you’re playing fewer minutes, your role will be diminished, and you’re going to get a quicker hook. Uh, and it’s great to see Jaylen and how he handles when, you know, when he doesn’t play his usual minutes, uh, for deficiencies out there. But that doesn’t change the fact that if you’re Anthony Simons, I’m a I’m a 20 point per game score in this league. I get buckets. That’s literally why I’m here because I get buckets. And I’m logging seven minutes here and 19 minutes there. I’m all over the map. Uh, it’s got to be difficult for him. uh because he’s never done anything like this. Because at least when you were in Portland and you weren’t playing as much as you wanted to, there’s some dude named Dame Lillard that was playing ahead of you. He’s pretty damn good. There’s no there’s no Dame Lillard at the shooting guard spot on his team. You’re not playing behind Jaylen Brown. You’re playing with Jaylen when you’re out there. So, you know, and no disrespect to Peyton Pritchard, who’s a damn good player, but but Peyton Pritchard is not Dame Lillard, uh, by any stretch of the imagination. So, at least not Young Dame, not Young Dame. Now, today, different story, obviously. But bottom line is this. Simons is the one guy who if you’re trying to figure out who is having the who is being going who is going to be challenged the most to figure out how to find their place in space with this team. I think it’s Simons. Uh and the fact that his minutes fluctuate that they the way they have I I don’t h I don’t know. I don’t feel good that this is going to end well. Put it that way. Listen, I we’re gonna have this conversation. I’m with you. Every single game like it’s it’s going to get frustrating after a certain point. But I think to some degree we just have to accept that it’s the reality and that there Why do I have to accept it? I think cuz all we’re going to do, Jimmy, is sit here and yell about it every single night. Guess what? And listen, I’m fine with We’re doing it again, but I don’t think it’s going to change. Do you know it? I don’t think so. But it’s a long season and he’s going to have plenty of 20 plus point games in the future. But yeah, I don’t think it’s going to change. I think we’re gonna find out. We’ll find out soon enough. We’re just just like with the rotation thing, we’re debating is it right? Is it wrong? I think winning is the the wrong phrase, Jimmy, because they are still floating around 500. They’re not losing yet. So, I think that allows the buyin to continue among young players in particular, right? Like Walsh isn’t going to go off here. It’s early. Everyone’s still figuring it out. I give them some grace. Like I I’m not This isn’t criticism. They they are where they are in terms of the roster as Alex Cor likes to say, right? So this is stuff that they have to do. Like they there’s no choice. There’s a lot of things that they just have to do this year because of where the roster at, because Tatum’s out, because they don’t know who these guys are yet. Um, and none of them might even be like, I don’t know how you feel about this, Noah, but none of these guys might necessarily be a high enough caliber prospect where you have to invest in minutes in them every single night. And like Ugo will be an interesting case as the year goes on. And obviously, we talked about whether Maine’s warranted for him a little bit early this year. And that’ll be a good question as the next couple weeks here pass. But no one among these young players has separated themselves. And even Simons hasn’t done enough to say like, “All right, they they have to invest in this guy. have to emphasize these guys minutes. So, I’ll be patient, right? I I don’t fully believe in the fact that shifting the rotation and and pulling guys around this much in terms of their roles and changing things this rapidly is the best for any single player or anyone’s long-term outlook here. But, as long as it keeps them competitive, as long as it continues to win games, and it has, I’ll trust it to some degree. I’m skeptical, but Joe’s been a good coach through his tenure here. Feels like he’s getting a lot out of a lot of different guys, and they’re about 500, so I will trust it, but I have some questions about the approach. Trust the process, he says. Okay, we’re going to end it as we typically do on a win with a gimmick. If I’m hosting, I’m a huge gimmick guy. Always have and always will be. One of my favorite gimmicks is the Brownie Award. We talked about Jaylen Brown. So, of course, we’re going to play the Brownie award game. Amit, hit me with the [Music] All right, ladies first. Noah, we’ll start with you. Who gets your brownie award? This was an easy one for me. I don’t know if you guys talked about it before I joined, but Derek White had mentioned all game. We haven’t mentioned it was perfect for the bounty award. He was huge down the stretch. Had some big shots in the fourth quarter. I thought defensively he was the difference in the second half and part of why they got off to a bad start is because he picked up two early fouls and then he was benched early on. And when Dererick’s on the floor, bad things happen. Off the floor, bad things happen. He finishes with a very nice, well-rounded statline and still has not been his usual efficient self, but he impacted the game in so many ways, especially on the defensive end. And that was really the story of this one. I mean, they they held the Nets to 38 points in the second half and I’m going to give Derrick a lot of credit for that. He set the tone on that end and it also hit some big threes. So, shout out to him. Yeah, he came up huge for them in the fourth. Sherrod, that was a good one. That was But I’m gonna go with Sam Hower. Um I I thought I thought Sam was just absolutely clutch in this game. Yes, Derek White made some big plays, but so did Sam. and and Sam, the thing that I liked about Sam is that he he once again showed that he’s more than just a catch and shoot guy. Uh I thought, you know, some of the one of the biggest plays he made was a dribble drive into the paint and a kick out to Derek White for a three-pointer that I think put him up by 10 at at that point. Uh and he had a couple other plays like that and he fit he shot the ball well. And maybe, you know, one of the, I think, most important stats in this particular game was who was on the floor when the Celtics began to pull away. And more often than not, it was Sam Hower, who was plus 22 when he was on the floor. So Sam, he that’s my brownie guy tonight. Love it. Bobby, I’m gonna go, it’s not a perfect choice, but I do want to give him a little shout out because I don’t think we have all show. Shyman, who’s surviving, and I I’m sorry, who? think Shyman he survived. We even have Do we have a play after wins? Bobby, we play Brownie. This is like a player that affect. You don’t think he affected the game? He did. He absolutely did. He did. He did. He did. So, I saw a couple things Brownie level. Jimmy, that’s the thing. Impact the game. Brownie level impact. Yeah, Bobby. His You get 10 seconds. No, I’m just kidding. Bobby, this was an interesting game because they won late, right? They went on the run in the fourth quarter, but there was a lot of stuff that kept them above water uh in the first half, and he was one of them. I thought solid, excuse me, the defensive numbers are good from him to begin the season. They put the ball in his hands, which I like, and he made some good passes. He uh, you know, went out and made a shot, I believe, as well. So, listen, subtle impact. It was plus three in 13 minutes. I just want to give him credit, Jimmy, because this guy’s been hanging on by a thread in terms of getting minutes here. Okay. And I am a little worried about him. But this might be one time we can give him credit. Is that what you’re saying, Bobby? This isn’t the pity pie, Bobby. This is the Brownie award. No, but it’s not pity. He played well. Pity pie, man. He didn’t necessarily deserve the award. You think that you giving him this is going to like maybe earn him a couple extra minutes next game? Is that is this the participation? I just want to point out the Clippers. Baylor played Baylor played 18 minutes against the Clippers and Sam played seven. So there’s something that he’s doing that is keeping him on the floor. And honestly, when I watched it in real time, I didn’t know what it was. But he’s actually playing really good defense. It just doesn’t look as good as when Jordan and Ugo do because he doesn’t have the length and the athleticism, but the Yeah, the stats back it up and he’s defended really well and he is a a threat to score and playmake a little bit more than those guys. doesn’t necessarily translate it, but he should play. Yeah. And I and I I found that interesting coming out of that game, though, because we were talking about, all right, why wasn’t Simon’s playing in that second half of that game? And I think a big reason is that Harden’s just going to hunt whoever the best or worst defender is on the on the floor. And they obviously didn’t feel comfortable putting him in that position, but they did feel comfortable putting Shyman out there for, as you mentioned, a lot of minutes of that game. So, he’s just hanging in there. And he’s in a difficult spot, right? It’s a whole conversation we’ve had all show here. Guys getting lost, guys not having consistent roles. They’ve continued to give him just a couple minutes here and there every night. He’s do making the most of those. The offense, I still have concerns about what his role ultimately is in this offense. But if it’s going to be rebounding and defense and hustling that keeps him alive in this rotation and that gets him at least a few minutes every night, that could build into something. And like we said, who knows how health goes throughout the course of this year. Who knows how ro like would a week from now or two weeks from now would our minds be blown if Shyman starting a game. I think that’s probable, you know, I think it’s within reason that that could happen. So the key to that is just hanging in there and he has. So credit to Baylor. The first ever Brownie award for like hanging on by a thread came out to Bobby tonight. Um, we’re going to wrap it up, but before we do, I’m going to give my award. Sherrod, the professor himself, understood the assignment. Sherrod, I’m going to piggyback on your Sam Hower pick for the Brownie award tonight. I think this is a guy that, you know, in the spirit of the Brownie Award, showed up exactly when you needed him to most. Huge for uh huge, you know, clutch moments for them with the steel. I think was it Missou who said it was the play of the game, Bobby? I think he mentioned that. He mentioned it after the game. So, I think there was a turning point in the game and again, it’s great to see Hower kind of getting back into a little bit here and and Noah, you mentioned it. It was a defensive play that, you know, really actually stood out to him or stood out for him. So, how gets my award. Um, I think overall great picks everybody. Bobby, you can work on yours for Friday a little bit more maybe. But, um, we we’ll see if if Hower gets I like Bobby’s pick. If if if Shireman gets an extra burn on Friday, we’ll give you we’ll give you some credit for that. Um and speaking of Friday, you guys will be back in Boston. Celtics Nets rematch at the TD Garden. Uh Bobby and No will be there. We will have you covered from start to finish. And uh once again, Celtics above 500 after beating the Nets 11399. It’s a party in Boston, K. That was That was the Bobby Woo actually. I don’t know if you guys recognize. Yeah. Woo. What do you got, Bobby? Bobby, I do not have a woo in me tonight. I do not have a woo in me tonight. We’ll wait for Friday. Sorry. This game was not This game was not woo worthy. I did say off the top, no. And you know, I was very nervous as this game started that we were about to get a Bobby, there’s a 0% chance the net the Nets win one of the next two games. Manning. Yeah. Was tough when they were down by 10, huh? He was sitting on his hands. He was He was He couldn’t even look at me. If If the Celtics win on Friday, then it just means that they won two games. It doesn’t mean they had beat the worst team. You You better pray, Bobby. You better pray. All right, we’re out of here, guys. Thanks for everyone for watching. Thanks, Noah and Bobby, for jumping on. Thank you, Sherrod, for starting the show with me. And we will see you guys all on Friday. Deuces. [Music]
The Garden Report goes LIVE right after Celtics vs Nets as CLNS Media’s Jimmy Toscano and A. Sherrod Blakely break down the game right after with Noa Dalzell & Bobby Manning joining from the the Barclays Center with postgame reaction.
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8 comments
Why are we winning games this season…..🤷🏾♂️…..How does this help?
If Celtics aren’t going to play Simon’s they need to build him up for a trade. Let him cook for a month and trade him in a package for sabonis or someone from that kings team
This Celtics team will somehow get the 5 seed and rush JT back for no reason.
Never thought I would be annoyed for winning games
Celtics a lot of errors ,they should minimize sloppy past,avoid more error..
That's d problem
Apology cam for Jimmy and Sherrod when Baylor starts a game
Pritchard is the one that saved them in the first quarter.
EVERY time Noa starts talking she says “ YEAH”. Once you notice you can’t in-notice😂
no big deal how she talks as she is young and pretty sure she hasn't gone to any broadcasting school..at least she's knowledgeable her presentation will improve