Garden Report: Celtics vs Magic Post Game Show on CLNS Media
for Joe. Beginning with Bobby. What’s up, guys? How’s Nene doing with the ankle? Uh, I don’t know. I’m going to see him after this. And you had to play smaller through the course of this game or you you did play smaller through the course of this game. What do you see from the looks with Josh at center and even threw Jordan in there late? What do you feel like those looks gave you? Yeah, they’re just continuing to get reps. Uh, different possessions. I thought Josh gave us um, you know, some great stuff. uh just his ability to to to shoot tonight and and also he did a great job screening. I think Jordan’s getting better and better regardless of where he plays. So, uh we just got to keep chipping away at at those two guys. You know, they got a chance to really help us and uh you know, they’re getting better and better each game. Joe, the uh the fourth quarter, was that a case of couple guys getting hot, can’t shut the water off. Was that, you know, how did the defense play into that? What went into what went into the that fourth quarter? Uh yeah, I say a little bit of both. I mean, there’s obviously again whether you win or lose, there’s always possessions you can get better. So, 15 or 20 of them. Um, so, you know, a couple of their guys played really well and there’s obviously possessions that we could be better defensively. You guys went very small for for much of the game after Nimi got injured. What do you have to manage with those lineups and and what are the advantages to to going that small? Yeah, always advantages, disadvantages. The advantage is the speed that we could play with on the offensive end, the dribble drive, the pace that we can create. Defensively, we could pressure a little bit more. Obviously, disadvantages, but you know, I think you play faster, so you’re just managing the sub patterns because I think you’ll obviously exert more energy. Jack, you talked about, you know, you said a little bit of both for the second half there. After the the last game, you mentioned individual defense as a point of contention or something that went wrong. Did you see that happen in this game that led to some of that second half down? I mean, I think when both teams are playing small and it’s just a dribble drive, you’re just creating a ton of indecisions on reds and staying square and driving angles. And so, uh, you know, that that’s the one of the advantages of us. And both teams were doing it to each other, you know, so we have to just, uh, continue to work on, uh, reds, angles, communication, individual defense. Um, you know, that’s the the disadvantage advantage of playing smaller. And, you know, when you have 10 guys out there, you can do it. It just becomes a track meet. So, you know, you just have to adjust to that. Exactly. Uh what went well for you guys in that 48 point second quarter? Uh got stops, got out and ran offensively. I thought, uh, you know, Josh did some good things turning defense into offense. Uh, you know, I it was good to see Sam get going as well, and I just thought we had some good possessions off turnovers and misses, uh, getting out in transition. Joe, what have you seen from Anthony over the last three games? He’s had some of his most efficient scoring nights. Yeah, he’s doing I mean, he’s he’s playing his role really well. I think he’s given us uh, you know, everything. He’s he’s trying to understand the system. He’s learning. He’s competing. But, uh, I think the guys are doing a good job. I think he’s just getting more comfortable coming off the bench and being aggressive right away. You know, I think in the first few games, he’s kind of easing into it. I think, uh, the last few he’s just kind of like, you know, that’s what we need him to be. And so, he’s done a great job of that. Uh, and just scoring in a bunch of different ways. So, uh, it’s good to see him do that. Joe, you said there’s not really a sub pattern. Um, do you feel like the guys are getting more comfortable with that being the reality where like Josh tonight comes in, gives you guys great minutes, but he might not have a, you know, 20 minutes the next game? Like, do you feel like at the beginning maybe it was a little harder for guys to adjust to the fact that they didn’t know when they’re going to go in and do you see that changing at all? Um, we just always give the game what it needs. I mean, that’s the most important thing. Like you said, we’ve talked about the depth that we have and guys can bring different things. So, uh, you just have to give the game what it needs. Uh, you know, I think our team has an understanding of that and we just got to continue to get better at that. you know, you have to give the game what it needs every single night. Uh, and that could call for, you know, whatever the case may be dependent upon lineup situations, sub patterns, foul trouble, uh, matchups, all kinds of things. So, uh, I think that they’re they’re learning and understanding, um, you know, what the responsibility is regardless of what the minutes are. They’re always going to continue to get better at that. Joe, were you kind of glad or you know, in a sense that you guys were pushed like that that that you guys didn’t cruise that you guys had to kind of eke this one out? Um, I mean, at the end of the day, I feel the same as I did as if we, you know, lost or won. I mean, you have to keep it to those 20 possessions that you can get better at. You know what I mean? And I think it’s important when you’re in the situation that we’re in is you can’t get too high, you can’t get too low. You have to have understanding of this is where we’re at. This is where we have to get better. This is what we did. And so, um, you know, I think that’s the that’s just the most important thing. um you know the season will present a bunch of different challenges but uh I feel as if I did you know any other game uh you know we did some good things and we have to get better at the same time you know and I think that’s a really good place to be. Is is the talent in the league getting better? I mean 30 question. I think talent’s being redefined you know I think it’s really the question I think we talk about that talent uh you know in the past used to just be kind of what it still is of like you could just get a bucket anytime you want. I think talent’s being redefined by um you know the the the effort, the the the ways you can impact the shot margin, the ways you can impact the game. Can you play full court for 40 minutes? Can you be better conditioned? Can you play faster? Can you get to the free throw line? Like I think it’s just kind of slowly being redefined as more than can you just score? Uh you know, and so I think uh that’s where the league is headed and you’re seeing the pace of that today. You know, that whole second half there was no bigs on the floor. So like um being able to impact the game in a bunch of different ways and and positionless it’s uh it’s definitely growing in that area. Thanks Sorry, I’m muted. Uh uh waiting for Jimmy Tuscano to get on here. Anyway, you you saw Joe Missoula there. Uh Celtics go on to win 138 129. Uh interesting game here for the Seas uh who uh you know were healthy but lost Neimada early and the uh the Orlando Magic uh were down a bunch of dudes all game long and it got close and it got a little sticky there uh for uh you know for a while as Orlando kind of went nuclear in uh in the fourth quarter uh to make a game of it even though they were kind of uh you know kind of considering like I feel like they almost mailed it in in that fourth quarter uh and They still just shot the lights out. So, it was something we didn’t fully expect. Anyway, we are going to start the show officially with me and Jimmy Tusano coming up right now. 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 beating. I’m here. Jimmy, just so you know, while I was scrambling trying to get you on, trying to get everything on, I I I did the first 15 seconds of the show muted and there was no one to tell me I was muted. So, it it wasn’t even that I was muted. That there was nobody there to call me on it. Damn it, Bailey. No, listen. I had to do an emergency computer change. I can’t get the camera to work or you know what? I couldn’t get the It’s something to do with the hardware of the laptop that I was using. It wasn’t reading the camera. Not only was it not reading the camera, it wasn’t reading the builtin camera. So, I had two cameras that the computer StreamYard, whatever it was, wasn’t reading. I had to get a new laptop. Nobody wants to hear that anymore. John, I’m sorry that I couldn’t yell at you for being muted. I know. I know. And the chat did, but for me, the chat has no voice. Um, so they just yelled. Uh, but nobody nobody heard them either. Anyway, the chat should be happy tonight. the Celtics, you know, made it interesting, but they ultimately, you know, they came out on top, I think, uh, too, too interesting, uh, certainly down the stretch there. But yeah, I know. Sorry, Zach. That was a really bad story, but that was No, it was a cool story. It was It wasn’t that cool. But he’s here. Can we just Can we just enjoy that? Maybe we can enjoy it. I again I This isn’t like Again, this isn’t going to be me. Well, whatever. You know, it’s not, you know, it’s not gonna be me either, but it’s Sunday night, John. Like, I think it’s windown time. I don’t want you Monday. I don’t want you a week off all angry. I am going to enjoy all of the positive things that happened in this game that I liked seeing, and there was quite a few of them. And that includes Sam Hower getting out of a teeny bit of his funk uh there and knocking down some threes. It’s something that you have to see uh him do. Um them surviving without Neus Kada surprising. I thought when he went out early this was going to be a uh tough if he’s out an extended period this stretch is going to be particularly tough. Josh May not back from the dead looked like the most confident guy I’ve ever seen in my life. The way he was stroking threes and going to the baskets. Yeah. The whole night he looked terrific. Uh Anthony Simons again in his in his in his you know limited minutes. Talk about him. John was was awesome. Uh, you know, uh, the Celtics scored 48 points in the second quarter. Simons was a huge part of that. Didn’t earn him more than nine minutes in the second half. That makes total sense. Um, but whatever. Um, so be it with that. Jaylen Brown, uh, outstanding. One of his best passing games, I thought, uh, of the season. Hit two threes late after starting 0 for four. That was really good, uh, as well. And, uh, I like positionless. I like small ball lineups. I like multi-guard lineups. I like energy lineups. So, like I didn’t mind seeing that. I actually liked it as an experiment because you could survive it here uh with uh with what happened tonight. And you know, Joe was asked about it a couple of times and um Joe. So, yeah. And uh you know, asked about having having to do it. An interesting thing tonight. I don’t know if I missed something and Bailey, you can tell me if you if you have information. I don’t have, but Garza didn’t play. No, he didn’t. He didn’t play. Was he supposed to not play? No, it was coach’s decision. That’s interesting. On a night that um Yes, he’s confirming he didn’t play. I know he didn’t play, Bailey. I’m asking, was it planned or he was uh he was like I’m looking at the box. I don’t see any injuries. I don’t see any injuries attached to it. So, yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, if Celtics want to play small ball, bingo. Uh go for it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think a lot of I think a lot of us thought they weren’t going to have a choice, John. They were going to have to play small ball this year. Now Kada has been a a breath of fresh air. No pun intended because he’s he’s a heavy breather out there for sure. But I think because Kada’s had some success in this role of his and they’ve gotten something from Garzog and they didn’t get anything tonight, but they get a guy who’s been able to come in and kind of spell Kada. They’ve been serviceable, I would say, at that center position. So it’s allowed them to at least have a center. But when Kada goes down, I have no problem with what Joe did. You have to pivot. Um, and against a Magic team that’s been kind of struggling and kind of going through a bit of an identity crisis on their own. I think you were afforded that opportunity. Now, all the things you said, I’d have to I you know, I I again, Jaylen Brown, you know, say what you will about him, but he willed the team. He he he was not going to let the Celtics blow this game. That much we can say. And he was the guy that really came out hard on Friday night and really criticized the team, the players, the guy, you know, the guys for not being ready, not playing hard, kind of challenge them and said, “Hey, you know, you’re getting paid to play. Get out there and, you know, show show why you’re in the NBA, right?” So, uh, I’d tip my cap to Jaylen Brown for, you know, putting a stop to that Magic run as best he could. Of course, he got a little bit of help, but I think it was obviously Brown for the the bones of that fourth quarter. The only guy that was really putting the bucket, you know, putting the basket in the bucket there. And so, that’s where I first go with it. Now, of course, everyone’s been hanging on every Hower shot because I think every Celtics fan knows that if that three-pointer isn’t falling, you know, there’s not much not much that you’re really looking for otherwise, right? I mean it they need all the offense they can get and Hower is a guy that we know what he’s capable of. We know that when he is on he’s one of the best three-point shooters in the league. So that’s why Noah would just argue the numbers. You know the the stats say he’s going to come out of the slump. He’s going to shoot at a higher percentage. He’s going to come back to where he is. So she wins that argument tonight certainly um to good to see Hower back uh in that capacity. I’m not going to say, you know, the hower like Hower’s back, like there’s no issues, no concerns, but um you know, you got your 14 points for him tonight. Four of seven from three. You’ll take that any single day of the week. So definitely some good things tonight. Um those are the two that stuck out to me. And then my not it’s just funny because we were talking about how my last on Friday night John, we were talking about how May not, you know, has been banished to, you know, irrelevancy. And tonight it’s a completely different story. So, I don’t know how many times we can seesaw back and forth on these guys and say, “Oh, tonight he tonight he was the guy and tonight he was the guy and oh, now he’s the guy.” Just feels like that’s how it’s going to be. I don’t know if that means like if you have like, you know, if you have eight stay ready guys, you have no stay ready guys. You know that old saying like if you have three jobs, you have no jobs. something like that where it’s like I don’t know if any of these guys are actually good enough to keep the role but on any given night one of them seems to you know on a good night one of them seems to at least uh step up to some capacity in tonight. Well, so that was the question Joe was asked and I I was going to say my long preamble about saying nice things was so I could say what I actually wanted to say which is um like e even Scallabbrini is saying it like the homeiest homer of all we are we have we just can’t learn anything about these guys playing games like this it’s impossible like you can’t Orlando landing at 1:00 a.m. in Boston for for a 6 pm game on the second night of a backtoback, you know, on the road with four of their top seven rotation players and three starters out of the game and basically mailing it in in the fourth quarter. Like I just don’t know what this like I don’t know what we’re supposed to glean from this. So, like it’s nice, but we’re back in preseason mode where it’s like, “Oh, they look good.” But like, uh, so again, I I really want to see this stretch, not like to be like, “Look, they’re bad.” I want to see this stretch to see like how can they their best, how can they hang with other decent to good teams? Where are they in that world? And you just can’t see it. Orlando had been playing better lately, but they’re just down a zillion guys right now. Uh, and it’s so hard to get a read. So, it’s so hard to like formulate an opinion and stick with it and we’re stuck, right? Um, and we kind of end up going back and forth because and we’re back and then yeah, those other guys moment like Bobby’s, you know, like how he’s the moment they’re going to fly in there and tell us how awesome it was and look at offensive rating and the 60% shooting tonight and here’s another stat padding night where their offensive rating is going to look obscene and off off we go. the 138 138 points tonight, you know, points purpose. All all these stats are gonna that are gonna they’re gonna meld into the previous games where they sucked. Yeah. And they’re gonna end up with, you know, top offensive rating andoop. That’s what like the stat people are going to say, but just watch the game, see who they’re playing it against. take out the, you know, I don’t want to say take out all the games that gave them, you know, high offense, high offensive rating, but in some capacity, you got to take out the highest, you got to take out the lowest, and you got to find like what makes sense, right? I mean, and to your point, John, yeah, I mean, you’re playing up a banged up Magic team. This was a schedule lo them for the most part. So, it’s not so much the wins and the loss. I mean, yeah, it’s good that they that they got the win, but you’re you’re trying to pull things from it, right? Isn’t that what we’re going to do? Yeah. And it’s hard. And and like I said, you know, someone on the other, you know, the other day I was Noah or Bobby said like, well, you know, you you know, you have the other side of the coin, the Houston game. And I’m like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The Houston game was very indicative of what it would be like. They had their guys, you had your guys, you played, they ran you off the court. That’s not fluky. That was emblematic. We’re talking about playing decent teams that have all of their players. That’s all I’m asking for. not outlier results. I’m not going to judge them by Brooklyn loss the other day any more than I’ll judge them by the Houston loss. Those were games that happen. You get blown out by a good team, you you lose to a bad team. All both of those things can happen in a season. Absolutely. You can get blown out by a mid team or a bad team. The Houston was just one game, but it’s not an outlier performance in the sense that there wasn’t like fluky gimmicky things coming off. You’re on a backtoback, you’re sitting players, yada yada. You tried, you failed. It was bad. That’s why I want to see this stretch. Play good teams. See how you stack up. Get a true sense of who’s who belongs out there. You know, who’s earning those minutes, who can do it against good competition, what rotations might look like when you actually have to worry about what the other side is bringing uh here. There’s just been so many of these crap dud games against crap opponents or opponents that just have nobody going for them. And and it’s just making it hard. It’s just making it really hard to get a sense of uh who these guys are. So, we’re spinning our wheels a little bit in terms of our analysis uh with these guys. That being said, I liked all the things that we saw. I did. Yeah, I did. Guys, I know they played a lot of games and a lot of nights, but they’re healthy and a lot of these opponents are terrible. When you’re talking about Memphis without Jaw and New Orleans without Zion and then the Wizards, like this is bad. These are bad bad teams. Brooklyn twice. You’re playing the five or six worst teams oftentimes without even their best players. Like, it’s really, really, really hard to get a feel for this team. You know, you’ve got the games against Philly. I feel like the New York game, you know, you got a few where you can look at it and be like, “Okay, these these count towards my like, you know, towards how I rank these guys.” That that’s that’s how I look at it. Do you also do you kind of even though you’re not getting it against the teams that you want, John, like don’t these games also tell you something in the sense of who they are? Like if this is the games that they’re they are winning, how they’re winning regardless of the fact that they can do this is good. Yeah. No, but on the other on the other end, like look at losing to Brooklyn, like does that does that tell you anything about them on Friday? No, I don’t. It was it was an off night like Noah was saying like we’re giving Bobby crap. I actually don’t put much stock in that game like at all. Like we saw the NBA champs lose games like that. You know that two years ago they they they could lose a game like that. They just didn’t show up and play a depleted team and lose and we’ be like what’s wrong with these guys? You know, right? That [ __ ] happens. I actually don’t place a lot of stack in that either. Stock in that either. I really don’t. So you just need 40 games is basically I got Yeah, you got to see more. You got to see more. That’s all that that’s that’s that’s that’s where I’m stuck. That being said, I really did like a lot of what we saw here and I’m actually pretty happy that May not uh bounced back looking this way because part of my fear uh with Joe and Joe was asked about this twice. Are play Noah asked it at the end actually. Um are players getting used to your pattern of not really knowing when they’re going to play, when they’re not going to play, and how they’re going to go? and he didn’t really answer it uh much, but it was like, you know, we’re just giving the game what it needs. And I believe that that’s true, Jimmy, on a nightto-ight basis. Like, tonight I think I need this. And Joe is just he’s in the kitchen and he’s just reaching for the ingredients that he think is going to make the best meal. I get it. But from the long view, does it hurt these guys psyches or do they does it help them? Are they still ready to go? Tonight would be a night where you would say, “Hey, it it doesn’t look like it hurt them because May not and Simons both looked confident that they were back in there.” But there were other nights where they looked completely lost. So, I don’t really know on that front either. That’s my concern though is you’re jerking around guys rather than just counting on them and living with them being imperfect from time to time. I don’t know what it is that you know you’re going to get from those guys because they’re going to be tight. You know, Brad Stevens, one of our beefs with him, Jimmy, was like he gave everybody a green light for better or for worse. And the philosoph, yeah, but that’s giving bad shooters a green light. But his philosophy was, I don’t ever want to tell a guy not to do something because then the next time they have a chance to do it or not do it, they’re just going to be thinking about all the time, am I supposed to shoot this? So, I just let him play, you know? And so Joe is a quick hook guy, you know. He’s a He’s a I I don’t like your energy guy. I don’t like what you’re giving this game guy and he puts people on the bench and he looks mad when he does it. So like I you know I some people I don’t know I don’t know how they respond. He does it to the young guys though. I mean I know he did it to Jaylen Brown earlier this year and that was that was really different and I don’t know how often you’re going to see that. But in the past couple seasons, John, we haven’t seen that. You know, he’s stuck with the veterans. He stuck with the guys that he trusts out there. I just think that none of these guys have Joe’s trust. They haven’t earned it. They haven’t earned the playing time in his eyes. I think they go through stretches, but Joe, it seems pretty obvious that Joe looks for like from the second unit, he looks for guys that look like they want to be out there and look like they’re engaged mentally checked into the game. Meaning what they’ve gone over in in practice, what they’ve gone over in pregame, what’s on the whiteboard. Yeah. He wants to see that being executed. And if it’s not, he has no patience. He has no time for that because he probably knows just as well as anybody that his job is on the line just as much as these players are these players jobs are on the line. Some of these guys in the you know 8 through 12 let’s call it right. So he’s not [ __ ] around. Excuse my pardon my French. You know waiting for these guys to snap out of it. He’s going to go to the next guy understanding that the same thing we understand. We don’t know what the hell we’re going to get from half these guys on any given night. I think neither does he until he puts him out there and sees what he’s got. And then obviously he’s going to adjust on the fly tonight, which he did with Kada going down. Um, did we get like I I I missed the update on Kada. Was there one? No. Joe Joe doesn’t know he’s going to talk to him after. I mean, he didn’t give it to him. Jimmy, let me ask you this. I because I said this. Um, I got a comment like this the other day when I’m talking about playing players without their best players. And this is the second time I’ve gotten a comment like this. Do we really need to address does this have to be answered? I don’t think so. This is their team. Jason Tatum’s This is the Celtics. Jason Tatum’s not part of this team. You can’t factor him into them being injured. We’re not judging this team with Tatum. This is a non Tatum team. Without Jason Tatum again tonight, so we’ll see how it goes. Yeah. Geez, we caught a break. Caught a break on the schedule. Tatum didn’t play tonight. These other guys are the they one sat for rep. Suggs sat for rest, man, you know, rest, you know, like some of these guys were managed tonight. You know, it that’s different. You know, uh, Tatum’s out. He’s out. He might not play at all this year. Like, we’re we’re talking about if you’re without Brown or white, then yeah, that’s something that we can Yes, we’re talking about the Celtics is currently constructed as a team that does not have Jason Tatum, might never have Jason Tatum. Um, but yeah, on your Nimi thing, I don’t know. They they are without him, the onoff numbers we’ve seen, the stats want to bring this these stats in there. Mhm. Um like about offensive rating and defensive rating and this and that. Well, bring me your Nimi numbers and tell me how you think it’s going to go if he misses any time. And he walked off on his own power. I’m guessing he just rolled something and it was okay. So, I’m not super anxious about it. But yeah, any extended time the the the the drop off is position by far is absurd. Yeah. Is absurd. Finn position. Yeah. They have no room for that. What’s up? None. We We talked about May not um and how he’s feeling. I got some people in the chat telling me that like May not seems mad at Joe. I don’t know if Minet seems mad at Joe. He definitely seems in his own He definitely seems to get on get on himself when he’s not playing well. Uh but he played great tonight. He really did uh in his minutes. I liked him as a small ball five. I like the energy he had right off the bench. If he was shook by some of the recent benchings, it didn’t show at all. He came out there confidently shooting. Jaylen Brown found him for a couple of threes early. Those things fell. He looked great. Here’s mine out after the game. Josh, I know you talked about it before decision, the conscious decision to just go get a rebound. Joe just said it like you guys have to wake up and make that choice. Was there any shift or message change from the first three games these last two? Cuz it looks like there’s been like a pretty significant improvement. Um say just as a team, you know, we just turn that switch on. Um, you know, collectively we’re all trying to make sure our, you know, man doesn’t get it. And then after that, it’s like a team effort to make sure like, okay, now my man doesn’t have it. Now it’s like, which one of us is going to go get it? You know, so um, I mean, it’s just a collective effort on that rebounding for sure. Josh, this is your first time experiencing a win at TD Garden as a member of the Celtics. What was it like walking out of the tunnel afterwards? What was that feeling like? Like I can’t even can’t even explain it, man. Like just thanking God, thanking the fans. um just for the energy. I mean, it’s like, you know, my teammates, you know, everyone just everyone here associate of Boston just empowers me. Um it’s just just a blessing to be here truthfully. Um I mean, from the coaching staff to the training staff to the equipment managers, my teammates, you know, it’s just like everyone just helps me to be the person I’m trying to be. Nice. We talked about the three-point shot so far. Is that something you take over the summer at all? And where do you feel like you’re at with it? Um really just getting repetitions. Um I’m just trying to hit an above break three on time, bro. Um I don’t mind the corner ones, but um yeah, I mean just over the summer just, you know, continue to sharpen tools. Uh my three ball was definitely one of them. What works well you and Ne playing together? Um say just respecting space. You know, he’s seen as like a trigger to our offense. So he’s like initiating a lot of it. Um I’m seeing as just like um some of that can help to you know get our targets like you know JV and the motive um just continuing to space the floor trying to get second chance opportunities. I mean it’s a it’s a good little forgot the word for it but like just a good like codependent relationship. What kind of things are are you looking for? All right removing Josh May not um anyway good game from May not tonight. Yeah, good good game for May not. Yeah, and by the way, I mean, just to answer the question you brought up, I I don’t see any anger in Josh Min. It seems like a pretty emotionally like intelligent human like with controls his thoughts and feelings. I don’t think he’s mad at Joe Moula. I think if anything, he should probably uh be happy with Joe Misoula for giving him allowing him the opportunity to play when he does. I mean, May not didn’t come from a good situation in in uh Minnesota and he’s been given an opportunity to play here. And I think Joe, the way this is how Joe tries to get the most out of his guys, out of these, you know, out of these stay ready guys, if you will. And so, I don’t think May not is upset at all. I think he’s just, you know, credit to him for being ready for the call. you know, these guys, it’s a mental game, you know, because they’re all, all these guys before they get to the NBA have always been the best players in the league, in their teams, and in their, you know, leagues most likely. They come in the NBA and they sit on the bench and it’s probably hard for them to figure out when they’re going to start, when they’re going to play, when they’re going to come off the bench or if so, I give them a little bit of I give them a lot of credit for being ready today. And, you know, again, plus 15 you see coming off the bench, that’s that’s huge for them. um 16 points and you talked about earlier, John, hitting threes, scoring from the inside, grabbing boards. He had seven rebounds tonight. So maybe these guys do need the seesaw, John. Maybe just to just to keep it keep them engaged and keep them from getting complacent. I don’t know. Um yeah, if not was giving you this every game, I can tell you what, he’d be starting every game. Yeah. Uh so I was hoping the I was hoping the fans wouldn’t get wouldn’t figure it out, but they did. Um, what they definitely did. I was like, let me see if I can play that off. I tried. Was it the wrong interview? Josh Mard after tonight’s game. Not all I was. How much more comfortable are you with this team? What’s expected and what your role is at this point? Uh, I think I understand it. Um, just a matter of consistency at this point. uh trying to do what my teammates expect of me. Josh, you talked after having the career high 21 points against Washington about understanding that being in the starting lineup was something that could change immediately. How did you handle just going from being in the starting lineup to coming off the bench again and filling a different role? Just not forgetting who I am, um where I came from, what I’m capable of, and um you know what I mean? Just give it, you know, great group of guys, great team. uh so much depth to this team and uh I understand that you know uh we’re mad interchangeable especially with that that defensive versatility that we all have. So just uh staying true to myself know what I can do. Was it hard at all to not be upset about it at the beginning or to feel like I made a mistake or like I did something wrong to move to the bench or is it from the beginning you knew it was going to be like fluctuating? Uh if you were poor and I gave you 20 bucks and instant took 20 bucks, you never really felt like you had it, right? So, it’s kind of like I don’t know. Um, like I said, it was just like Yeah, it was nice, but um I don’t know. I mean, I kind of am used to, you know, his position, so it’s not like anything uh insane. When you started, that’s a great quote. Half and got got a lot of time at the five. What’s your approach in those minutes? How do you feel like you impacted the game at the five tonight? Uh, I’d say just the understanding the switch from, you know, being a four to going to the five. Um, defensive coverage wise, stuff like that. uh understanding, you know, when to switch, remember, touch, drop, all that. So, um just that mental switch. That was so much better than the old interview. Um one of the one of the somebody suggested in the chat, we should play one old interview per show and see if people get it. See if I get it. I like when he said the above the brake line, I was like, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that same same line. Oh my god. So funny. Gracias at the end. I love that. That was a great quote, by the way. He’s asked about, you know, what was it like starting and then not starting and you know, he says, you know, to paraphrasing like, well, if you were poor and someone gave you 20 bucks and then took it away, it’s like you didn’t really have it. You didn’t miss it. You know, like it just is what it is. You know, I’m still the same guy though, right? Um, but it’s he knows it, right? Like, you know, know thyself. He’s a ham and eggar. He’s a guy who’s like fighting and clawing every minute. He’s out there to prove that he belongs in this league and belongs, you know, with his minutes. I think someone’s coming to the podium here. I see a little shuffling shuffling. People getting ready people getting ready to ask Jaylen questions. Um Bobby’s gonna be Jaylen out there tonight, you know, in the fourth quarter. I see him. Bobby Bobby’s due for a home run question. I know it’s Bobby’s due. He’s gonna freaking He’s g and he’s gonna it’s g he’s gonna feel it. It’s gonna you know when you catch it clean like you right on the sweet spot. You don’t feel a thing, right? It just explodes. He’s just going to know it and he’s gonna have an aura and he’s just going to get up and just freaking take a lap around that room. Uh and it’s all good. Drop the freaking recorder after that. Yeah. Boom. Out of here. Maybe. I don’t know when, but Well, we do wait um for Jaylen. Prize pick. Yeah, I might do that. I might do a little prize picks. I can’t find it. Here it is. Prize picks. Wow. All of that stuff. Jimmy, no talking for you, though. You can talk a little. I will say this. I was pretty certain. Uh oh. We were we were absolutely in for the biggest Drake May more more more performance. Yeah, you jinxed them because you can stack them. Um and and it didn’t happen. But yeah, we we’ll get into that stuff later. We’re all holding our breath right now waiting on the Will Campbell news, but doesn’t seem good. Anyway, download that app. Use code CLNS50 in your lineup. Play your first $5 lineup. You know how this works. Number one daily fantasy sports app in all of North America. Pick more, pick less. It’s that easy. I’m going to finish telling you about this as soon as we hear from our guy Jaylen Brown. Pretty frustrated after the last game. How did you feel the team responded to that in this one? Um it was a good win. I think uh I give credit to some of those guys on Orlando. We had the game, you know, had a good lead and those guys came in and just play hard. um on Orlando side, you know, they uh got some shots to go down and they felt good. Um obviously we got to do a better job of that. Don’t let kind of human nature kind of seep in, but uh I think the first three quarters I thought we did a good job. It feels like you guys have been in that situation a few times this year where you guys are up, other teammates run, you guys have to sort of play, you know, just hang on. How have you felt you guys have responded in those situations and what goes into like fending off another team’s run like that? Yeah, you can’t take your foot off the gas. I feel like, you know, young teams, you get up by a comfortable margin, they think the game is all sewn up. You know, I know have enough experience to know that anything can happen. Teams can come back, get back into the game. Um, you know, 20 points is not really anything. Um, so you can’t go away from what we got us to lead. You got to keep playing the same brand of basketball. I feel like um when we get up, you know, sometimes we veer and try to get into our own, you know, um you know, thought process of what we need to do. And I feel like that’s how you open the door for a team to come back. J, did you feel like last game was an aberration compared to the effort you guys have had this season or did you feel like there have been kind of moments or more than you would like to see of those kinds of like going through the motion stretches? Yeah, I think for the most part we’ve had good effort and energy about oursel. Um, so I think last game, you know, I want to say hopefully it’s an anomaly. You know, more times than not, we are we’ve been the harder playing team or been playing just as hard as the other team. Um, so we just got to maintain that and also keep that humility that it’s hard to win in this league. Um, and we can’t take anything for granted, especially, you know, this year. So, we just got to be focused. And I thought, you know, today, first three quarters, we came out and took care of business. Jay, this was um Jordan’s fifth straight start. He was mentioning in New York that you know, you kind of advocated for him went to Joe saying we need like a defensive stopper and you know he could be that guy. What made you think that and you know how did that conversation go about getting him into more minutes initially and then the starting lineup? Just uh Jordan has the body type to do it, you know what I mean? He’s athletic. Um, you got a 67 frame, long arms, and I’ve seen him in practice be, you know, defensively uh very active. It’s uh, you know, some those 67 wings that they give trouble to smaller guards and stuff like the the Brunsons, the Maxis and things like that, putting a bigger body on them. Um, we have a lot of small guards on our team, so you know, we have to bring that level of physicality. But I think Jordan, Hugo, and Josh, you know, they’ve rotated between who’s gotten minutes, who’s started, and I think their mindset has all been the same. So, we just got to continue to empower that and uh and continue to encourage like, you know, depending on the matchup, depending on who we play that, you know, whoever the the best player is, we got to come out, take them away, not let them get to to what they want and be better um defensively. Um, and I think that’s what those guys are trying to do. Jaylen, when they were making their run in that fourth quarter, you scored, I believe it was 12 straight points. Is that Are those the moments you feel like that’s when you show a little extra leadership that they need me more now? Uh, yeah. I mean, when my team needs me, I would like to be there, but it’s a it’s a team game. So, um, tonight, uh, when they were when I was drawing help, I was trying to find guys in rhythm, um, for some shots, even when they double in the post and things like that when they brought somebody over. Just trying to take my time and make the right read. I’m still growing and and, um, just coming out and managing the game, especially when it gets into the fourth quarter. But, you know, these are all good good information for me down the line. So, just keep getting better as the season goes on. I think that’s the key. Jaylen, you talked about human nature. You talk about a smaller margin for error in this year’s team. The second quarter, you guys when you showed when you’re fully connected, you can you can play really great. And then the second that kind of waines it, you give up 40 point quarters. Exactly. How how do you knowing that in a lot of these games this has happened? How do you get away from letting that human nature seep in and and letting these long things continue to happen? Honestly, I think it’s experience. You know, I think that being in that position enough times, I’ve known that if you kind of change your mentality or you let your your foot off the gas that a team could come right back. You know, I think we have a bunch of guys who are in that position for the first time and kind of learning that just because you’re up 20 points going into the fourth quarter does not mean the game is over, you know, and I think that is something that just through experience, you know, people who’ve been in who played in the league or played on teams winning teams know that, you know, so you can’t change your mentality. You can’t think, oh, now it’s time to to, you know, play around or now it’s time to go away from the game plan. You got to no matter what the score is, you got to treat it like it’s zero zero. And that’s the mentality. But you can see that when you have u less experience, that mentality wains. And I don’t want to call anybody out specifically, but this is a different group where there are guys fighting for minutes. They’re in competition with each other. There are guys there are contracts. So those moments you’re talking about where they have to think a certain way, those are the moments where it’s like, “Hey, I can go get mine. and I can go earn a spot. I can go earn maybe maybe they’re auditioning they think for another team, another opportunity. How do how do you fight that where this is a job, this is their their profession. How do you fight that thing that they they might want to do for the good of the team? Just holding each other accountable. I think being stepping up, you know, having voices, you know, being a leader, me being able to like uh speak to that. But even guys that’s been in the league for a while. Derek’s voice is important. You know, even Xavier X, his voice is important on the sideline and our coaches as well being able to reiterate that. You know, sometimes we all get caught like just watching the game, but we need to be able to empower and speak to each other and communicate to make sure we keep the same mentality. Last two questions, Abby, Gary, and then Justin. You spoke about Jordan, but what have you seen in the evolution of that bench unit? I mean, those guys obviously hitting shots tonight and scoring, but just kind of coming being able to come together and help this team win. They’re taking steps forward. I think they’re they’re growing and taking steps forward. And I think that’s the most important thing defensively taking steps forward. You know, trying to play without fouling, but being able to be aggressive and then offensively being able to be in the right spots at the right time and uh being able to make some plays. So, uh I’ve seen growth and improvement, and we just got to continue to empower that. Um it’s not going to be perfect, but um we just got to continue to develop. Um our coaching staff and and stuff like that got to continue to develop, watch film, and then come out and be confident in to make plays. Jaylen, uh you picked up a tech in the second quarter. Was that one you meant to get or was that just kind of I mean, what can you take me through that? just kind of getting that tech and but it just seems like you’re getting your uh tolerance is is kind of getting lower on the maybe the the whistles. How many texts do I got this year? Three. Uh I’m not a guy. I don’t know. I don’t know what my career number for Texas is per season, but like it’s probably the most I’ve gotten early in the season, you I’m going to try to I’m going just try to keep my mouth shut. Jaylen, Joe was talking about how he sees Anthony kind of getting more comfortable coming off the bench and being aggressive right away. Just what have you seen from him spec specifically in these last three games? Yeah, that’s what we need. Anthony is capable offensively. We got to continue to find spots and space for him to be a playmaker for himself and for others. Be aggressive. Um and um yeah, he’s capable. So that’s what we got to continue to empower and finding that rhythm for him. It’s not easy, you know, it’s coming off the bench, a new role for him. But I think he’s been adjusting well, you know, so I’m finding ways um I think the coaching staff is finding ways specifically to, you know, get him in some actions and get him going a little bit because uh you know, he he could he could fill it up if you give him if you give him space. That’s Jaylen Brown advocating for Josh May not for Anthony Simons. Definitely little bro little bro relationships going on with those guys for sure. Um in a good way, you know, like Yeah. Yeah. Um I I I like that a lot. I actually, you know, I I actually I like Jaylen’s like leader vibe this year with the with this group uh a lot. Um the way he is particularly with that, you know, with that group of guys um and the way he’s been there and like, you know, advocating for them and not afraid to say it, you know, even publicly, you know, go to Joe and be like, you know, play this guy. But I think he’s I like Jaylen’s energy uh this year a lot in that in that in that regard. I really do. Um, I think I think he’s I think he’s taken accountability on the bad games. I think he’s you know called it the way he’s seen it afterwards. He’s like been like a really good spokesman for the team uh you know after games and the way that he’s handling those other guys I think is really good. But yeah, you wonder with Simons too. It’s like I think that’s like the unspoken thing. I’m trying to read a little into what Jaylen wrote here and I do think that there’s definitely a you know it’s coded a little. We we need him to be aggressive. kind of sort of means he’s not always aggressive. And again, I’m not sure whether that he’s putting that entirely on Anthony or on Joe, you know, empowering Anthony, but he’s trying to will it to happen, right? You know, and because I think he thinks it’s important. I think like as a scorer, he’s like, “Yeah, other guys who score kind of help take the heat off me, and I like that. So, you know, let’s let’s let’s get more of that.” But also, he might be looking at him and be like, “This guy’s lost sometimes.” or sometimes he comes in there. I don’t know what he’s doing. I don’t know if it’s, you know, Joe, you’re just messing with his head or Anthony, you got to grow up, you know, and and and and get in there and just play, man. Stop pouting. Stop getting in your feelings. So, yeah, what whatever it is, you know, I I I I give I definitely give Jaylen a lot of credit. I think it’s both when it comes to Simons. I mean, he even said it in his quote just then, you know, Anthony has to find ways to, you know, Yeah, I like that. Going offensively, and we and he said, you know, and we do, too, right? So, he’s kind of putting uh the responsibility on both sides. So, I think that is like a nice indirect way. And again, will it will it even get back to Simons? Who knows? These guys might be going at each other in practice. Jaylen Brown might be 10 times as vocal in the locker room than he is, you know, on the podium. So, I have a feeling there are no uh or not many if any secrets uh amongst the players on how they want uh what they expect from each other and what they expect and you know from the what the coaching staff expects from them. I think when Jaylen Brown speaks to the media, I I bet you he’s giving the G-rated version of what he gives to the players because if you’re Jaylen Brown, you know, Derek White aside, I mean, you are the alpha on that team by far. I mean, it’s really not even close. You are in a position to say what you want. Um, you are also in a position to lead by example. And I think Jaylen Brown does all those things. He’s always, you know, been a vocal leader of this team, John. I think we can we can all ad over the last few years. He’s always been like kind of the guy the the voice of, you know, the current state of the Celtics, if you will, after a tough loss, he’s usually the guy that’s going to hold people accountable. um obviously carries himself uh really well and and I think that he is a good represent representative of the team and yeah to your point I do think he’s kind of taking on that big brother role and taking some of these players under his wing and trying to get them to see what it takes to be a you know role player be a star be somebody that we are going to take with us into the next season or the next couple seasons this is what it takes and you either do it and I think Joe Missoula is in line I think Missoula and Jaylen Brown are probably in line in a lot of ways. I do still go back to that whole weird first half benching that Missoula allegedly gave Brown for sucking last week, but other than that, I feel like they’re in line with or aligned, I should say, with how they feel this team needs to play and how these younger guys uh need to act in order to to contribute. And so, I have absolutely no problems with what Jaylen Brown’s been saying over the last or over this season. Uh and and listen, it could get harder for for him, you know, just with the way the season could go, you know, physically demanding. Uh, you know, depending on how the outcomes of these games go, you got to hope that Jaylen Brown can stay as engaged as he has been these first whatever is 15 or so games because, you know, I have no I have no complaints about his effort or his, you know, leadership. And I think there’s a lot of play I think honestly, John, you look around the league, there’s a lot of guys in this league that would sour on this situation pretty quickly and make and make it about 10 times worse. And at the very at the very, you know, at least we’re not seeing that from Brown. We’re not seeing that from white. We’re not seeing it from the from the guys at the top. Yeah. That says a lot about the character because there’s a lot of guys in the NBA, John, that would sit, that wouldn’t play, that would would have a bad attitude that would, you know, we’ve seen it. Call it the coaching staff. I mean, look at Memphis. That was the risk. That was the risk if they came out of the shoot here like five and 15, you know, be like, “All right, you know, are people going to start checking out?” That hasn’t happened. They’ve been competitive and you know, you got a lot of guys out here fighting hard uh for minutes and to prove themselves. So, I think that that’s been good. Uh we’re going to get to Noi and Noah Noi, Noah and Bobby uh in just a minute. Before we do, we want to tell you about another one of our sponsors here at the Garden Report, and that’s our pals over at Omaha Stakes. Um it’s you’re I don’t want to say you’re running out of time, but I I would I would get moving. It’s a Black Friday sale. 50% off sitewide, 20% off on a few additional items. terms do apply, but when you go there to omahastakess.com, you see it on the screen, you use the code Patriots to get $35 off, an additional 35. So again, 50% off, possibly 20% more, and then 35 guaranteed when you use the code Patriots to check out. It’s an absolutely terrific deal. Yeah, terrific deal here. You can get burgers, steaks, chicken, desserts, sides, USDA certified tender steaks. It’s the chef. It’s the choice of all chefs and restaurant tours around the world. Personally, I I already ordered. I grabbed myself a bunch of ribe eyes. I also grabbed a rib roast. Working my way through the ribe eyes right now. And the rib roast comes just ahead of the holidays. And you can do that, too. Again, you see it on the screen. 50% off sitewide sale going on right now. And this makes a terrific gift. you could send it out and it’ll arrive about a week or 10 days prior to Christmas once you use uh the code Patriots. That’s an additional $35 off your order. So, make sure you check that out. The Beast, huh? The roast beast like in the Who’s and who belong. The roast beast. Who Who carved the roast beast? Uh before we get to Bobby and No, we did want to mention uh that Anthony Simons had a good game. Don’t tell anybody. Um but he did. He played relatively well tonight uh here. Was a big spark plug offensively coming off the bench. Lit it up early which was good to see. Jaylen Brown just talked about him. Here’s Anthony Simons in the locker room. What got you guys going in the second quarter? Uh I did. Just walk off a faster pace. I got us going, you know, getting the ball down the court quickly and just getting to our actions quickly. So, I think uh obviously we knew they was on the second night of back to back and so we just wanted to play faster and um you know use that to our advantage. Without Nim going small, what did that do for you guys? Just made us play even even faster. Um I think they went to a couple small lineups as well, but um for us, we just play the same exact way. Um like I said, play even faster than we were before. Joe was saying felt like you were easing into things the first few games here and now it feels like you’re this is the one Bobby place like what was the turning point you feel like if there was one for you in terms of getting comfortable and just being yourself here? Oh yeah. I think you know just honestly just keeping it simple. Um you know previous years that uh you know that was kind of my thing was just to ease into the game and see how they guarded me and then kind of started to be more aggressive in the second half. And so here obviously I don’t have that much time to be able to ease into the game. So just taking taking the um the opportunities that’s there um just being myself aggressive and also you know making the right plays as well. So um I think simplifying that way has been it’s been easy for me for the past couple games. What went into them making that run in the second half and and how were you guys able to sort of hold the tide and like hang on? Yeah, I mean um you know like I said second night of batt for them they started to put you know some fresh legs out there and guys that are hungry and you know want to want to prove something that you know normally don’t play. So, uh, they, you know, use that to their advantage as well. And, uh, we kind of had to, you know, adjust to maybe some players that, you know, wasn’t on the scout report we didn’t, you know, necessarily prepare for, but, uh, you know, they started, they hit, they was hitting a lot of shots and, um, we hold steady, um, through all that and come out the win. How big is the adjustment coming off the bench and knowing that you have to be aggressive right away? Um it’s a for sure an adjustment like I said before like you know the past couple years when you know you started and you’ve you know teams are guarding you aggressive from the from the jump and so now you got to take your time and read the game and see the best way you can attack it. So that was my my thought process going to each and every game and now everything is kind of flipped. So, um, it’s just a change of, you know, how you’re going to approach each and every game and kind of how you going to do the small things as well, what Joe wants me to do and the whole coaching staff want me to do and also just being myself as well. You’re starting to feel more comfortable. Yeah, for sure. Game by game. Game by game. How do you roll there? The fact that there were some games where you played fewer minutes than you’re kind of been used the last few of your career. Is it hard like from an emotional standpoint to be like a what did I do wrong or like how do I get back to playing those heavier minutes or was this kind of your expectation? Yeah, I mean obviously human side is not it’s not easy you know what I mean just um feeling like you know what I could have done better in in those times but also like I said before just controlling the controllables and um living with the results after that and I think that’s what I’ve been um trying to hammer down over the past couple games um is just controlling the controllables and letting everything fall, you know. fall into place. And so, um, I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of, um, dealing with every all that and dealing with the, you know, emotional side of it and, um, just knowing that, you know, if I’m playing 15 minutes, as long as I did what I had to do in those 15 minutes, then and we coming out with wins and that’s all that matters. How’s all of that affected your preparation? Like your your off day stuff, your, you know, your practice stuff. It’s a different There you go. Um, nothing really changed. What’s up, mama? Um, nothing really changed. You know, just doing the same stuff. Doing the same stuff I’ve past couple years. And uh just uh you know sometimes you just you got like as you get in the league somebody ask what you need on certain days and what you don’t need. So Anthony, who is this? Do you have do you have a kid? Final question. Let the guy go. His kids there. Don’t ask the final question. Thanks. I can totally see why Joe hates that guy. Yeah. Look how happy he is. Makes makes total sense. Uh uh speaking of people Joe hates, let’s bring in uh Bobby Manning. God has too much fun. John Bobby, we were rooting so hard for you to answer to ask the biggest walk-off question of all time. We’re like, it’s coming. Bobby’s gonna ask the greatest question of all time. I think you do, man. With who? Simons. Anybody? With Joe. What I will say what I will say before we get into it is that I do think that you guys uh definitely kind of hit on you know what it was one of the themes we’re talking about because this was like you know the Lost Boys game so to speak like and I know nobody’s going to get that reference because you’re all that reference it’s a famous movie but anyway you had a bunch of people here who we’ve talked about Joe kind of not jerking them around but they’ve been yo-yoed uh you know up and down and we’ve wondered how does it affect their psyche and for the people who think Joe’s got a master plan and he’s a genius. This is a great night for you because it’s like, hey, look, May not and Simons played well. Um, but when you talk to them and you guys all ask them those questions kind of over and over, what’s it like the adjustment knowing if you make a mistake, are you going to come in? You’re going to feel weird about it. You can see Simons is still kind of like, I don’t I don’t love it. I don’t love that I have to like fight for my minutes and earn it every single time. But I guess I get it. It is what it is. It’s an adjustment. Not to make this whole thing about him, but you know, you’re looking at Hower, May, not you know, uh, and, uh, and and Simons all showed up today. Uh, and they’ve all kind of these are the guys we’ve been talking about like there’s been a quick hook on some of these guys. If if Joe hasn’t liked what he’s seeing, and they all acquitted themselves really well. Um, so I don’t know if that’s your kind of number one takeaway from tonight. We’ll just kind of hand it off to you guys and you go whatever direction you want to go with. Yeah, interesting answers across the board on the reservebench role that these guys are taking on. For Simon specifically, what do you take from that answer he gave? I mean, I think they all when I asked them because I think I’ve asked Sam now too about this like the emotional side. They all acknowledge that it’s it’s emotionally challenging for a basketball player to not know when you’re going to get your minutes, when you’re going to get your opportunities. And yet at the same time, I think they all seem to understand it. Like, you’re not I don’t I haven’t sensed it all from Simons. Maybe he’s just like exceptional with saying the right thing, which maybe he is. You know, he’s been in the league a long time. But I think he is kind of understanding that he has to play well in those minutes or those minutes are not going to just be there guaranteed every night the way that they used to be when he was in Portland. Um, but it’s hard. I mean, how could it not be hard? I was looking at Josh like Josh looked completely different for a week or two there, you know, and I don’t think that he had to look completely different because, you know, he still had opportunities to come off the bench and play with a ton of energy. Now, he didn’t always do that. Um, but tonight you saw, okay, he gave you 20 minutes off the bench, they were great, and Jordan played 24. Like the starting thing doesn’t have to be this like you’re you’re done for the night and you’re going to have 35 minutes. Like they they ended up having similar opportunities tonight. It’s just a question of like how do you handle that adjustment? And I was hoping Joe would give me a little bit of insight on on that. Like are guys getting more used to the shuffle? But he kind of dodged that. But I think in general, I do think they are getting more used to it because the results are getting a little bit better. We should mention Bush, too, who hasn’t played all year and ends up in a reserve role tonight. So, a bunch of different guys found new opportunities as well as increased opportunities in this game. And that just keeps happening. And I think the fact that it continues to come around for everybody, even Hower after starting the year in the starting unit, got the big uh roll down the stretch against Brooklyn, there has to be some sense that it’s gonna come your way even if you don’t play for a stretch. I mean, I thought Walsh was going to the bench after they played him 90 seconds in Brooklyn, and he came back to the starting lineup for the next two games, including this one tonight. So, everybody has to feel involved to some degree here. And now, as injury strike, beginning with the Kada one here, that’s only going to open up opportunities for guys up and down this roster throughout the year. So, I’m sure initially when guys got starting roles and went back to the bench, there was some feeling of, oh, what’s going on here? Simon’s the biggest emotion among anybody compared to what he had last year in terms of a role. But how can everyone on this roster not look at one the situation, two, how they’ve handled the rotation throughout this year, and three, the fact that injuries can happen at any time and think, “Oh, I’m never playing again if they don’t play for a half or a game or whatever it might be.” Even Shyman, as I’ve said, they keep finding the pockets to play him, and he’s been as diminished as anyone on this roster in terms of a role. So, you do wonder what goes on there, right? because there’s contracts, there’s, you know, mentality of taking a backseat to, you know, different guys. Maybe you feel like you’re playing well and then you’re on the bench the next game. Like, there does have to be a mental challenge to dealing with that. But if these guys are looking at it from any realistic standpoint, how could you feel like you’re getting lost or, you know, diminished in this rotation or not getting what you deserve potentially here? Maybe Shyman and Buché, but that’s it. if if anyone right I mean this is this is kind of a dream scenario for there’s a reason why a lot of these guys picked to come to Boston is because there was going to be a vacancy in minutes I think the thing maybe is a little surprising is that we all thought there were going to be winners and losers and these are the guys that are in the rotation and these are the guys that aren’t and that just hasn’t been the case I mean the only guy that’s consistently not played are Chris Buchet and Xavier Tilman and Luca Garza didn’t play tonight when he very well could have come in and filled in those Kada minutes so even those guys are not like totally out of the out of the realm of possibilities. But again, like I think you can see in in spots it’s it has looked like a strength. I hate to like parade Joe’s talking point for him, but there’s a narrow line between the positives of it and the negatives of it. And I think even Joe’s acknowledged that to some degree. Like you don’t form a ton of consistency this way night to night. But but Josh that just got taken his $25 or $20 from him is is different than Josh in game 60 when he’s kind of dealt with ups and downs all season. he starts nine straight games and he gets yanked from the starting lineup of like what did I do wrong? Is it over for me? Did I did I fumbled this like once in a lifetime opportunity? But if he gets, you know, if he gets reinserted back into the lineup for two weeks and gets pulled out again and and it es and flows all season long, I don’t think it’s going to feel quite as dramatic and it’s going to impact guys’ mentally quite as much as it does in the beginning. That’s my theory. I mean, we’re not there yet, but tonight was certainly a night where you saw that these guys are not these guys can still contribute quite a bit just because they’re not getting maybe their preferred rotation or their preferred opportunities. And and you’ve said it, John, the buyin’s the most important thing. And that how they’ve handled this does seem to be developing buyin. There doesn’t seem to be any stragglers from what they’re doing here. And that’s huge 20 games in. There’s good fortune around around around the way. And I’ve talked about it. See you later, Jimmy. We’ll see you buddy. I’m here. He deserves out. Hold on. Stay right there. Let me ask Jimmy’s armpit real quick what he thinks. All right, we’re gonna get him out of there. We have We have like technology to like not do that, Jimmy. Um, so um there’s some good fortune. People go back and forth, guys, and we’ve talked about it a ton like is it has it been a hard schedule? Has it been an easy schedule? And we’ve debated it. uh the amount of games, you know, the the lots of games in a short period of time has been demanding on the Celtics. The caliber of opponent, particularly again, you know, you talk about it with Orlando tonight sitting three starters, four regulars, you know, not playing really anybody outside of Bane in that fourth quarter there. This was a I don’t care if we lose game for Orlando on the second of a back-to-back fly, landing at one. I’ve mentioned Memphis. I mentioned New Orleans. you know, like you’ve got a bunch you two cupcakes versus Brooklyn, even though you lost one of them. I I personally think it’s been a friendly schedule from the competition standpoint, not in terms of the thing. And that’s allowed them to be able to compete and guys being able to excel and like play big roles in in wins, which matters a lot. if they had started with a different slate and you’re running May not out there against the Houston and Detroits of the world and these physical teams are and they’re just getting killed that that confidence might be shook a little bit more and the fact that they’re able to get back in there and have success I think does make a big difference here. There’s this gauntlet coming up now and again I think I really think that this next five game stretch here is going to tell us a ton but we’re right back to where we were. It’s like what did we learn tonight? I still don’t know. Like what can you take? Even SC even Scal who’s like the biggest homer you’ll find said multiple times on the broadcast not a lot we can take away from this game which is which is too bad. There’s a lot of things you can celebrate because the performances were good. I liked seeing the small ball lineup excel and them not getting you know super beat up by doing that. I liked seeing them survive without Kada. We’ve seen what the onoff numbers look like. So there’s positives but I don’t know what we’ve learned about the team yet uh you know with games like this. The one thing I’ll say about the non-CAD stuff because I know a lot of people asked about it postgame as well is that this was a really bizarre game because and Joe kind of alluded to it towards the end of his press conference but they there were basically 10 guards on the floor for most of that second half and so I don’t know that they survived without Kada like as far that did that like 60% shooting in the fourth. Did that but did that show did that show us that you know they didn’t have somebody else go out and and match up with an opposing team’s big which has been the big question Wednesday night with Darren’s coming to town right so that’s why I was like I was a little bummed obviously was very bummed to see Kada go down I would imagine if I had to guess that he’ll miss some time at least a week or two I mean an ankle sprain and he was hobbled he was in pain and to be honest with you he was a little hobbling before that impact and Jack and I were talking about it on press row and then it was like then he actually heard it but that’s the one thing is I actually don’t think we got any insight about how this team can fare without him? And it’s possible that it’s going to be pretty bad because as you mentioned, John, like the onoff numbers have not been forgiving for when he’s been sidelined. And tonight was like it was like street ball. I mean, there was literally no positionality on the floor whatsoever. And that’s because the Magic didn’t have any centers. So, it was the perfect night for something like that to happen. Um, and it’s part of why guys got hot. It’s part of why the defense kind of collapsed from a perimeter standpoint is because, as Joe explained, it was like all driving kicks and just threes and just kind of chaos. And this is this is the bummer to start this year is you got so much out of Kada, right? And last game like we didn’t talk about it a ton, but that fourth quarter effort from him, the way he played and wasn’t getting the ball a ton, chasing down put backs all over the place defensively, like he’s been out of this world. So it stinks to see that momentum halted by whatever degree of injury this is going to be here. But it also is concerning because Garz has been okay. Like I think the fans get on him a little too much, but he hasn’t developed a ton through this opening stretch here largely because Kada has been so good in front of him. Buchchet I mean this is a good opportunity for him tonight and he’s just sort of going up and down the floor. I didn’t see a ton from him and my not I love the idea of him at center but against a Jaylen Dur I don’t think it’s going to work and then you get to Tilman who is just lost out of the rotation again for the most part here. So, any amount of time that you’re going to be without Kada here is extremely concerning. And that’s where you do get to some of the scarier thoughts about this season here, John, because like we’ve said, and I didn’t want to jinx it. I don’t think I jinxed it. Kada is the first real injury this team has gone through this year, and it’s at a significant spot where he’s been a mainstay. I mean, he has started all 17 games for this team. Yeah, that’s that’s honestly probably my biggest thought from this game is that they they might have lost their starting center for What do you do? Is it guards? I think you’re going to have to deal with a little bit of everybody. I think you you are going to go to Tilman a bit defensively. I mean, this Detroit team is not the team you want to you want to give this a shot against for the first time, but hey, you know, that’s life. It happens. Maybe it’s not as significant as an injury as it looked too. Um, I just think an ankle sprain like that, like it’s especially because he’s a big guy, like it’s kind of inevitable you’re going to you’re going to need a few days, but we didn’t see him postgame. Joe hadn’t Joe didn’t even say like he’s fine like he normally does. He said I haven’t even talked to him. So we we didn’t get anything on on on Kada, but I mean it’s concerning, but it’s part of the part of what we knew was going to happen. The thing I’ll say about Josh, besides for whether or not he’s able to actually match up against opposing team centers, which remains uncertain, he’s shooting lights out. That’s like an underrated thing about his season so far. He entered tonight shooting 38% from three and I think he had both of his attempts. The second one was like a heat check and he was joking around in the locker room with some of the guys afterwards about how like he took that one. Maybe maybe it was a little bit erratic, but like he was really feeling it and and I think he’s looking for his three. He’s he’s confident and that’s a really interesting development because I don’t know that we knew at all that he was going to be a reliable shooter and I’d heard that he was shooting well in practice in Minnesota, but like we it had not How many practice shots did he take? Bailey, tell us if that’s true. Bailey. So, I’m glad you say that about him, the the energy in the locker room and and just how light-hearted his mood was in there because when they moved him to the bench, I wasn’t thrilled about it because I do feel like he became this team’s X factor through the stretch that he was starting there. And whether he’s at the four next to Kada or the five where we’ve seen him only a little bit so far. He’s so important because he brings a shooting element, rebounding element, defense along with uh you know, the length and everything else that they need at that position. um Walsh and he I don’t know who’s the better shooter there. Probably Walsh by a little bit just based offers. Yeah, I don’t know. We don’t have enough sample on either guy. But to me, when Minard has played and been involved, it’s been a different team. And when he’s out of the mix and not doing a ton, it’s not the same team to me. It’s just small sample sizes. The problem with May not this is the first year he’s he’s shooting any threes at even any kind of volume. And again, what are you going to threes? How many threes are you going to get up when you’re averaging 6 minutes a game? So, the percentages mean nothing what he’s shot over his life. What what he was shooting 38% coming into uh tonight uh averaging 2.8 attempts per game. So, yeah. I mean, and Walsh has Yeah, it’s not bad. Walsh was Walsh was around 50% a couple days ago when I checked, but he shot so few um that I’m not even sure um you know, it stayed there. Yeah, he’s still over he’s over 40% on 1.6 six attempts heading into tonight’s game, too. So, again, the sample size, the sample size is really small. I don’t know if either one of those again, you want to see that’s why I really think I really think you need 30 40 games to get a sense, you know, where’s it going to be, but you know, those guys are never going to jack more than a couple of threes a game. So, if they fall, that’s great. It’s you need the Howers and the Whites and the Pritchards to make sure that they’re hitting consistently and Shyman because it’s supposed to be a calling card of his. I’m He’s been shooting really well this season, too. and he’s been shooting well. Yeah, exactly. It’s interesting because this team hasn’t shot well as a whole from three and they’ve played bigger. They’ve played fewer shooters. Kada doesn’t shoot threes obviously, right? So, I wonder what they’re going to do here, John. Like, are they going to go to Tilman and try to play big and replicate what Kada was doing or are they just going to put Why was Garza benched, guys? Why didn’t Garza bench as Noah said, Orlando didn’t play a center. They’re running up and down the floor. They wanted this was an all guard lineup. Like I don’t think there was any that’s it straight back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think honestly I think that’s what it was because I don’t think he’s been playing poorly. I mean against this or Orlando team last was his kind of breakout game where he had that 16-point game and you know when they they get the victory that this was not the same Orlando team. Like I think if Wendell Carter was out there you had some of those guys like I think you you probably get a little bit of him. Not not that he’s like a defensive stopper necessarily but like just with that size like they did not have any size out today. I mean, like you said, Jordan one point I think Sam was playing the five like it was kind, you know, it was just this was just not conventional basketball. So that’s my thought. I mean, maybe Joe wants to wanted to also give Chris a chance too because it has been quite a bit of time. Like I think Chris has only appeared in seven games so far this season. He’s been pretty relegated about that. As I mentioned, like when I spoke to him in preseason, I think one of the things that drew him to Boston is that he thought he was going to have somewhat of a consistent role um team or Yeah. And so that has not been the case. We haven’t spoken to him. Um we haven’t heard from him in a while. So I maybe Joe was thinking, you know what, this is a small small ball lineup. Kada just went down unexpected. Let’s give the vet a chance who hasn’t really got much of an opportunity. Whereas his minutes have been pretty consistent. I didn’t see anything. Yeah, I I don’t understand why his minutes went the way they at one point he had like the Tony Snell uh stat line of like 1 0 0. Maybe he just reached a point where he’s like, I don’t I don’t think I’m even going to be out there this year. And then he’s like, oh, I’m in the game. And didn’t I mean, he didn’t play poorly. It was just it’s he he didn’t come in and give them like a bolt of energy or like do anything spectacular, which is fine. Like that’s not it’s not always going to be the case, but you certainly want to capitalize on those opportunities as much as possible. I don’t think he really like made a case for himself in this game that he warrants more minutes, but it’s a small. So, what do you think, John? Just go and run or you going to tell me? Look, I I like I said, I I think Joe’s actually probably doing it the right way in terms of like you got to give the game what it needs and sometimes you got to put your energy line up in there and just let them go berserk. And so like I I always celebrate the May not and the guards and the uh and the Ugo minutes because I like what those guys bring. You know, Walsh to an extent as well. And sometimes it’s just fun to see them go berserker, apply the pressure, change the momentum of of a game. And I think that that can work in periods of time. We’re we’re talking now about who’s locking down 25 plus minutes a game as a solid rotation player, whether it be as a starter or in that top eight. And I don’t actually know which of those guys is best suited um to to to take that role uh there. I I think it is I think it is fairly interchangeable. Jimmy, anything you want to hear from these guys? No, nothing specifically. I mean, as far as I situation, I think they’re going to end up just having to play small. I mean, they we thought they were going to be small, I think, a lot more this year than they were to start the year anyways because of how well Kada played. So, they obviously were able to go with a traditional center a lot more often. I mean, I’ll speak for myself. I’m not going to speak for you guys, but I was surprised by how effective Kada was to start this season. So, I think you go back to just playing your best guys. And yeah, there’s going to be games where the match mismatches just suck. Absolutely. And you are going to see a little bit more Garza. You are going to see maybe you’ll see Amari Williams get a little burned now. Ah, I was watching I first thing I did when I woke up this morning is I put on the main What were the odds of Jimmy mentioning a main player first? I don’t think he’s ready yet. Who who didn’t do that? No. Um, apparently nobody because the game wasn’t on TV and I find it on YouTube. I had to go to glee.com to find wake up, hydrate, stretch, watch main Celtics highlights. That’s what I do every morning. It’s non-stop. I actually do none of those go, but I wasn’t going to make it back in time. So, Noah, speaking of I think I just heard you under your breath say he’s not ready. You don’t think Williams is somebody that I don’t think I I don’t think they’re going to pull him up like this early in the season. I haven’t seen him like he’s he’s had some good moments in Maine so far, but nothing that’s screaming like, okay, this guy’s ready for the next step at this point. The one guy that looks like he’s overqualified to be in Maine is Ron Harper, who’s spent a little bit of time bouncing back from Boston. I don’t think it’s I don’t think it’s Amari at this point. Yep. You know, you guys seem to have an inn with the with the with the family members. It would I would recommend getting in touch with Ron Harper’s dad. That Ron Harper Junior’s dad. That might be a fun interview. Yeah, I don’t know about that one. I like Ron Harper Senior. Ron Harper was the man on the court. I don’t know anything about who he is or anything like that, but good player. Yeah. Um, anyways, yeah, I don’t have much to add. I mean, me and John kind of riff on this game for 50 minutes before you go. Yeah. Yeah. We’re gonna we’re it’s we’re going to wrap it in a little bit, but yeah. What do you guys What some leftover thoughts. What else did you guys want to talk about? Only thing I’ll say is they could not get a stop in the fourth quarter, which I think Anthony kind of acknowledged that part of that is when it’s Jed Howard who you were probably not game planning against much and now he’s scoring 20. What did he finish with like 30 something points? He scored 22 in the fourth or something crazy like that. He was a lot of 38 points maybe. Yeah. the NBA like that this is when the NBA is at its best when these guys get like unleashed and they find rhythm. You know, it doesn’t it doesn’t matter if you’re a nobody. I mean, not that he’s a nobody. He was a number 11 pick, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not like the guy. When you get in a good flow like on the NBA court, there’s a reason why you’re there and it happens. But Jaylen scored 12 straight points for the Celtics. If he doesn’t do that, I think they lose this game because they were not able to get stops. You got a big rebound. Yeah, he had two two threes from the corner. He had a mid-range. He had a drive. Got a big rebound like you mentioned. like that stretch kind of saved them because they were quite literally unable to get stops and then the offense was kind of at a halt like there was they had some some misses there. So, it was one of those moments where it’s like okay it it’s the difference between having like a real star on the floor and not and it’s not like every single time he’s going to be able to do that and certainly amazing great players like go through stretches where they cannot do that but tonight I felt like he bailed them out a little bit when they really needed it and it showed the value of like at the end of the day there is an allNBA player on the court here and the other team doesn’t have one. Did the Magic have a 0% chance? No. entering the fourth. No, I’m not doing this. Down 20. Don’t Don’t do this, Bobby. Don’t do it. Anyway, we have a we have another game coming up and a and a fun one against uh you know, the hottest team in the Eastern Conference here, the Detroit Pistons. That comes up on Wednesday. Uh we’ll also talk about all of our favorite vegan Thanksgiving dishes and pies and all sorts of different things there. Detroit could be going for their franchise record win streak on Wednesday, which is pretty crazy. If they win tomorrow, they’re going for 14. Yeah. So, that’ll be a fun one. Uh Detroit going into the year, Bobby. Did you? Oh, I was a little lower on them because of Beasley being out of the mix, but man, they’ve been unreal. And I did say last year like Cade’s a guy I could see winning MVP one day and he he’ll be in the mix this year with what he’s doing. What’s been amazing is how they’ve survived without him. Like it feels like they have something really real there. that’s extends beyond just one or two guys. So, and the Celtics played them uh third game of the year. That was a really interesting up by double digits early in that game. They were up huge early. They blew the lead almost immediately. Then they regained a lead late and couldn’t grab a rebound down the stretch and now they could be playing them without Kada. So, yeah, we’ll see what happens there. I’m surprised. I I I thought, you know, he hobbled off. I I figured, you know, maybe a game or two and you guys are saying a couple weeks that would be bad given the the stretch of opponents they have coming up. So, we’ll see. Hopefully, we’ll have some updates in in the next day or two. Hopefully, fingers crossed, we get some good news on Will Campbell of the Patriots as well, though. I I am dubious. There’s like a there’s a there’s a wishy-washy report that it’s a sprain. No, no, no, no, no. Garbage. Garbage. Non non nonsourced report. Anyway, um quick shout out uh report. Big news over here, I guess. Garbage. Yeah, I’m I’m I’m annoyed that that thing got got uh got aggregated. Anyway, uh just give a quick shout out to our sponsors. Download, you know about it by now. Uh Prize Pick, number one daily fantasy sports app all in North America. Download that Prize Pick app, code cls, get 50 in your lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize Pick, it’s good to be right. And uh Omaha Stakes, go to omahastakkes.com. Order yourself something for now or for the holidays with a 50% off sitewide sale, additional 20% off on select items. Plus, this is the cherry on top here. $35 off in addition to all of that when you use the code Patriots at checkout. Once again, omomas.com. We’ve told you guys, but you’re still there. The stream is moving. Get out of there. Here now. Get out of there. Do people know what that means, though? Celtics All Access, we’re going to shut it down. Start watching the show on the other one. Get used to it. There’s a bigger party over there too and there’s a bigger chat and it’s more fun but we’re gonna shut it down. That Celtics live stream chat after Thanksgiving it’s gone. Okay, so let’s get it going to be finally to be clear the the page lives. We’re just not airing the show on it. The page lives and I’ll have ton of content where the show will no longer be live streaming there. Also subscribe everywhere our all access channel for content all our Celtics podcast garden report on the CLNS media network Patriots press pass Bruins ringside whatever have you if you’re interested in Boston sports this is the place for you so please check it out thank you guys again for hanging out with us you didn’t make my didn’t make my my g my No he didn’t Amit don’t worry about it we’re working on it we’re going to say goodbye to you guys thank you guys for hanging out we’ll see everybody on Wednesday. Good night all.
The Garden Report goes LIVE following Celtics vs Magic. CLNS Media’s Jimmy Toscano and John Zannis provide instant reaction after the final buzzer. Then CLNS reporters Noa Dalzell & Bobby Manning joins from TD Garden.
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6 comments
Joe understands need. I’m sure he understands players’ mindsets.
Best part of the show was Zannis on mute. Blessed, sweet relief.
Zannis, did Joe fix #4? 🤣
Can you believe the luck of this team! They play the Mag on a b2b and Suggs, Banchero, Carter, and Goga don't play. That's their first and second string centers and the third string, Isaac, is on a minutes restriction. The basketball gods love this Celtic team. The Mag had players on the court I've never seen before.
another episode of goofin with joe 😢
Fact is Orlando had 3/5 of their starters out but, effectively, so do we. Can't expect any more out of this team than we're getting. Could easily have a much better record and could also be much worse. That said, hoping against hope that this coughing up huge leads theme resolves itself sooner than later.