The Boston Celtics and the rest of the league are supposedly in their summer doldrums period of the NBA's 2023 offseason, yet a surprising (and not always entirely positive) flow of news is still percolating.
From rumored injuries and withdrawals from FIBA World Cup play to the long arc of justice finally connecting with some very poor decisions made by Celtics alumni with regards to insurance fraud and new NBA 2k ratings getting dropped, there's plenty for Boston fans to think about this week. And with the Celtics Wire's annual fan survey results finally in, we even have our own thoughts on the Boston season to come, the one that just was, and what was done in between them to consider.
So for this week's CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast, the hosts reached out to "First To The Floor" podcast host Wayne Spooney for some help sorting through an unexpectedly busy week for Celtics news in early August as we see just how much we agree with you about this Boston ball club, and whether it's got the goods to deliver Banner 18.
The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Fan Duel.
Fanduel Sportsbook is the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook! Because right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON!
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From rumored injuries and withdrawals from FIBA World Cup play to the long arc of justice finally connecting with some very poor decisions made by Celtics alumni with regards to insurance fraud and new NBA 2k ratings getting dropped, there's plenty for Boston fans to think about this week. And with the Celtics Wire's annual fan survey results finally in, we even have our own thoughts on the Boston season to come, the one that just was, and what was done in between them to consider.
So for this week's CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast, the hosts reached out to "First To The Floor" podcast host Wayne Spooney for some help sorting through an unexpectedly busy week for Celtics news in early August as we see just how much we agree with you about this Boston ball club, and whether it's got the goods to deliver Banner 18.
The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Fan Duel.
Fanduel Sportsbook is the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook! Because right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON!
21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Celtics Lab is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS
00:05 Media Network.
00:06 All righty.
00:07 Welcome to the Celtics Lab podcast.
00:10 This episode of the Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering
00:13 partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:15 I am Cameron Teptebai.
00:16 I am your host for today.
00:18 I'm joined by Dr. Justin Quinn and Alex Goldberg, per usual.
00:22 We got a bunch of stuff to get into, so let's just intro our guests before we even intro
00:27 the topic.
00:28 We're talking to a man you might know as Wayne Spooney.
00:30 He also goes by Mike, but we might call him Wayne from here on out.
00:34 Wayne, Mike, how are you?
00:37 Good, man.
00:38 How are you guys doing?
00:39 It's a pleasure to be on.
00:40 I'm looking forward to it.
00:43 Yeah, our listeners will know you probably best from first to the floor.
00:47 A sister podcast, a brother podcast, a rival podcast.
00:52 We're related somehow.
00:54 Yeah.
00:55 Yeah.
00:56 We're all cycling from the same teat.
00:58 Is it true to say that?
01:03 FanDuel teat.
01:04 What a teat it is.
01:05 Off to a relevant start.
01:06 Yeah.
01:07 I'll just come out and say my dog just pooped everywhere, so I'm more frazzled.
01:18 Peak off-season content.
01:20 I'm loving it.
01:21 This is peak off-season content.
01:23 Justin, Alex, how are you?
01:24 Better than me?
01:25 I'm all right.
01:26 I have power.
01:27 Yeah.
01:28 That's good.
01:29 Nice.
01:30 Well done.
01:31 Alex, penultimate episode before you move to Brooklyn?
01:33 I believe so, unless we schedule something between, well, it would have to be between
01:38 now and next Friday, because that's when we're rolling, folks.
01:43 Yeah.
01:44 No, for you, dear listeners, your co-host here, Alex, is making his pilgrimage to Brooklyn
01:49 to get way too many weird tattoos and join DSA and vote for candidates who will come
01:55 in fourth in a ranked choice ballot and all sorts of fun stuff like that.
01:59 So you can find me there.
02:00 I will still be on the lab.
02:02 I will still be watching Celtics games.
02:04 That is not going to change.
02:05 They are still my ride or die team, but I'll be doing it from a Brooklyn apartment this
02:09 time.
02:10 We'll allow it.
02:11 Okay.
02:12 In this episode, Wayne, you're here to talk about insurance scams, among other things,
02:20 people who work for Bain Capital, injury risks at FIFA World Cup, and most importantly, over
02:25 at Celtics Wire, we hosted a fan survey, and we're going to talk about what the fans think
02:29 of the Celtics and tell them whether or not those are valid feelings, because we like
02:33 to gatekeep here at the Celtics Lab.
02:34 Of course.
02:35 It's our job.
02:36 How is that?
02:37 All right.
02:38 Let us do the news, because that's what we do, and then later we'll hop into the lab.
02:41 That's where we'll talk about the fan survey.
02:43 It is the off season.
02:45 There's not that much to talk about.
02:46 We can talk about the 2K ratings, but I would also just say hang tight, because I just talked
02:51 to someone who knows more about that than we do.
02:52 Look into that next week.
02:55 How is that?
02:57 Wick, our dear, I guess we call him governor.
03:00 He co-owns the Celtics.
03:02 Wick Grousbeck, the governor of Boston.
03:07 This is a crazy episode.
03:08 The Boston Celtics talked to Adam Himmelsbeck of The Globe.
03:13 He talked about Mark Smart.
03:14 He talked about not selling the team.
03:16 He talked about a few other things.
03:17 Mike, I'll go to you first, but you can be honest if you didn't catch this one.
03:22 Any thoughts on Wick's interview with Himmelsbeck or just Celtics ownership writ large?
03:27 Yeah.
03:28 I thought it was really interesting.
03:29 He came out and said something like, "We all decided a change needed to be made."
03:34 We've talked a little bit about on First to the Floor, but if you're choosing to make
03:39 a big change to this team or its identity and you're keeping Jalen Brown, really the
03:45 only way to do that then would be to trade Marcus Smart.
03:49 I thought that was cool that he was being candid about, "We knew we needed a big change
03:54 and that change led to the Marcus Smart trade."
03:57 He seemed pretty hyped about Porzingis.
03:59 I just read it, so who knows?
04:01 Maybe he delivered it extremely deadpan.
04:03 My guess is he's pretty excited.
04:07 I thought that was pretty cool.
04:08 That was the big thing that jumped out to me.
04:11 Otherwise, he's saying all the normal owner stuff.
04:14 I'm in it to win a championship.
04:16 It's not a business thing for me.
04:18 It's like, "Well, why are we dodging the second A for that if that's what it's really all
04:21 about?"
04:22 It was interesting.
04:23 Himmelsbeck always does great stuff.
04:25 It was an interesting interview.
04:27 It's interesting that you mentioned that because I'm thinking back now to the playoffs where
04:31 Wick was on the sidelines.
04:33 I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen Wick more visibly frustrated and angry than
04:39 during the Eastern Conference finals.
04:42 He's seen a lot of playoff losses and a lot of disappointing finishes.
04:46 Even in the finals, I don't think it came anywhere close to how visibly upset he was
04:52 during the East finals.
04:54 To hear it and to read him talking about how the Celtics needed to make a change and how
04:59 there was a collective agreement, if we're buying that, which I think is reasonable.
05:06 It's definitely one of those things where it's easy for there to be a collective agreement
05:11 when you own the team and are visibly pissed off and everybody else works for you, if that
05:15 makes any sense.
05:16 Yes, it does.
05:17 He went out of his way to go into the locker room and yell at the players, which is a very
05:24 irresponsible manager, a thing that you never have heard him do before.
05:29 It's not that surprising that this all happened the way it did.
05:32 Yes, I appreciate that Wick is hands-on.
05:35 I fear the day where he is one of the owners whose personality and celebrity becomes the
05:41 story and we'll see.
05:44 Mike, to your point, maybe his pockets aren't deep enough for that.
05:48 I feel like it's the opposite of the Red Sox, where the Red Sox have all the money in the
05:52 world and they're just refusing to engage with the product.
05:55 The Celtics, it's not like they're not billionaires, but it's not the wealthiest ownership group,
06:01 but they seem quite involved and passionate about the sport.
06:04 I guess what I'm trying to say is I hate the Red Sox so much right now.
06:08 They won yesterday.
06:10 They did.
06:11 They're 8-1 in those yellow jerseys.
06:14 It's madness.
06:15 They are.
06:16 They're always good in those.
06:17 Weren't they great in them last year or two years ago as well?
06:21 Back of the napkin math is they're like 27-4 in those jerseys or something like that.
06:24 I just wear them.
06:25 Those should just be the jerseys.
06:27 Yeah.
06:28 Wait, real quick.
06:29 You said that you're afraid Wick might ... It's like the Mark humanization of ownership.
06:35 Do we think he has that type of personality?
06:37 Because I thought before these playoffs, I would have said absolutely not, but he kind
06:42 of mixed it up with Mazzuolo on the bench too, didn't he?
06:44 Am I misremembering that?
06:45 A little bit.
06:46 No, yeah, totally.
06:47 We definitely chirped him a little.
06:50 I would be very surprised if Wick becomes that type of guy just because frankly Wick
06:56 doesn't really have the personality or notoriety.
07:01 Wick Grosbeck is known very well by Boston Celtics fans.
07:04 I don't think anybody outside of that group of people knows a whole lot or cares a whole
07:10 lot about Wick with all due respect.
07:13 I will say at games when he shows up, he mixes it up with fans.
07:17 He's always wearing a championship ring.
07:18 I mean, it's your point.
07:19 I mean, I think his lane is well-defined, but I don't think he's going to be a Shark
07:25 Tank host or something like that, but I think he wants to.
07:29 Maybe, I don't know, maybe that run in with the Royal Family really got to his head.
07:33 Okay, anyways.
07:34 It's the tequila.
07:35 It's the tequila.
07:36 Easy out to blame, always.
07:37 Way to move the product.
07:38 Okay.
07:39 It is the off season.
07:40 We just got the preseason schedule.
07:45 It's the usual lot of Sixers, a lot of Hornets.
07:49 Justin, anything I missed from that summary?
07:51 Well, we were talking a little bit off air about whether or not we think some of those
07:57 teams might be the opening night team.
08:00 I think that is a lot more interesting than a bunch of meaningless games.
08:03 The most remarkable thing, I think, honestly, is that there's five games this year, which
08:08 means that they probably want to play a little more, which means they probably want a little
08:11 bit more of a look at somebody, some buddies.
08:15 So something to keep an eye on.
08:17 I like that.
08:18 Okay, fair enough.
08:20 Yeah.
08:21 It's not on our schedule, but Alex, on Twitter, you have the artist formerly known as Twitter,
08:26 you have a poll out right now.
08:28 Mike, if you had your pick of the litter, what team would the Celtics tip off for their
08:35 first game of the season, just for funsies?
08:37 With the quick addendum that it cannot be the Lakers, Nuggets, Suns, or Warriors as
08:42 they are already scheduled.
08:43 That's not true.
08:44 They're already scheduled for their first.
08:45 I guess you could blame on a back to back, but I don't see that happening.
08:50 That's okay.
08:51 I've got my answer and it's down to them.
08:53 I love beating Philadelphia so, so much.
08:55 I was in the house in Philly for the Tatum game winner this past season, and that was
09:00 one of the best experiences of my entire life.
09:03 There was grown men screaming, "We'll never beat them!
09:08 Jason Tatum!"
09:10 As we're walking out of the stadium, I know we're going to be playing them in pre-seasons
09:14 twice, so I think that takes a little bit of bite out of opening the season against
09:19 them, but we opened it up this year with them, got that nice, comfortable win.
09:25 Give me the feed me the Sixers on opening day, man.
09:27 And not the heat.
09:28 Anyone but the heat.
09:29 It seems like we almost always get the Sixers on opening night.
09:33 I mean, it makes sense.
09:35 Apparently, they're most storied rival.
09:38 I'm cool with it.
09:40 I mean, I guess the preseason thing, I hadn't thought about that.
09:43 That kind of does take the shine off the apple, but I don't know.
09:47 I guess I don't know how tuned in people are to the preseason.
09:49 I bet a lot of people who would be in-house for that opening game couldn't care less.
09:56 Shout out to Anna Horford, because I bet those same men crying in Philadelphia doesn't like
10:01 that person.
10:02 We like Anna Horford.
10:03 You're at the Celtics Lab podcast.
10:04 Okay, a few more things in the wave news, and then we'll talk about the fan survey.
10:09 Justin, I'm just going to go to you on this insurance thing.
10:12 I'm sure people tangentially know that a few former Celtics players were pinned for a health
10:17 insurance scam.
10:18 Can you fill in our knowledge graph there?
10:21 So just a real brief recap, a bunch of former NBA players, some of whom had money, which
10:29 makes it even weirder, got involved with a scam that was led by former Celtic Terrence
10:35 Williams.
10:36 If you don't remember him, he wasn't that big of a Celtics member, from the 2010s, I
10:42 believe.
10:43 And he basically roped in a bunch of people to do some fake doctor's visits, dental work,
10:52 all this other stuff.
10:53 And they ended up getting caught because they submitted some of the same dental reports
10:57 with the same teeth on the same day, which tipped insurers off about the issue.
11:05 And it ended up going to trial.
11:09 As far as I know right now, the only Celtics who are going to be doing jail time for this
11:14 is Terrence Williams.
11:16 And I think Keon Dooling is getting about a year if I remember right.
11:20 Big Baby pled not guilty, and Tony Allen paid the money back that he got and is now on probation.
11:27 So a brilliant moment in Celtics alumni history.
11:31 Keon Dooling, more like Keon, what are you doing?
11:36 I don't understand.
11:38 Like just this whole thing is a crazy story.
11:42 And none of it makes any sense because all of these guys have millions of dollars.
11:47 Why?
11:48 Like, can you go ahead, Cam?
11:51 I'm sorry.
11:52 For the thrill.
11:53 What's more thrilling than dental fraud?
11:55 I got a crown that was $30,000.
11:58 But I saw that like they didn't have a fraudster who knew what they were doing.
12:02 Like Terrence Williams was literally the ringleader.
12:06 And apparently some of this stuff to justify it to insurance, you need like a letter of
12:09 medical need that accompanies the bill.
12:13 And I saw a quote.
12:14 It was like, we started raising red flags because the letters had lots of misspellings
12:19 and wasn't on letterhead.
12:21 Oh, jeez.
12:23 Come on, man.
12:24 Like, how did it take them this long to like discover it?
12:27 They did it for like four or five years.
12:28 So I mean, I guess they were getting away with it.
12:32 And they were like, wow, easy money.
12:33 But man, yeah, I was shocked.
12:35 Bassie Telfair, like tons of Celtics were involved, man.
12:38 Like what are we doing to these guys that they feel like they need a defraud health
12:42 insurance afterwards?
12:44 A substantial portion of the 2010 Celtics bench and 2012 Celtics bench.
12:49 I didn't get that much playing time because the team was good.
12:54 This is what they were talking about.
12:57 Before we move off, I would just like to say that the only bigger scandal in the world
13:01 of dentistry is dental insurance itself, because that shit is garbage.
13:06 I'm sorry.
13:07 But let's move on.
13:08 Nobody even takes it anymore, dude.
13:10 Like I can't.
13:11 I know.
13:12 You know what?
13:13 I stand with the former Celtics players.
13:14 This is a Robin Hood situation.
13:16 And dental insurance.
13:17 Guys, guys, just come here to Mexico.
13:19 I needed a $7,000 impact and molar removed at a dental clinic, which is like two thirds
13:24 the price of a normal dentist.
13:25 I come here to Mexico, 150 bucks.
13:29 Come on down.
13:30 I'll hook you up.
13:31 You've been in Mexico, have you?
13:34 Mexico City.
13:35 Oh, nice.
13:36 I've been there twice.
13:37 Cool city.
13:38 A lot of fun.
13:39 Yeah.
13:40 Okay.
13:41 I'm going to blow a gasket if we keep talking about health insurance in the United States.
13:43 So let's keep it moving.
13:45 Or pen insurance.
13:46 Oh my God.
13:47 I'm sorry.
13:48 Okay, pausing the action to talk about our friends over at FanDuel because football season
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14:08 That's bonus bets on spreads, player props, over-unders and more.
14:12 Justin down in Mexico, do you have any team that you're eyeing either for the Super Bowl
14:15 or just in general?
14:16 Well, you know, I don't really know all that much about the NFL.
14:21 I do know that the Patriots were bad when I lived in Connecticut and good when I left.
14:27 So seeing as I don't live in Connecticut, I will keep betting the Patriots.
14:33 Who else might be a good idea?
14:35 Yeah, I don't know if the Patriots are realistically a good Super Bowl bet, but I mean, the Chiefs
14:41 feel safe until they prove otherwise.
14:44 I personally am just going to root against the Jets all season long, but I don't think
14:48 that's the best way to get in on this specific action.
14:51 But if you do, you should head to Fanduel.com/Boston and you can start earning bonus bets with
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14:58 FIBA is around the corner.
15:04 It's taking place in the Philippines, East Asia, and I think Australia gets like a game
15:08 or something that that region of the world.
15:12 Increasingly, there are very few Celtics involved.
15:14 Al Horford withdrew from the Dominican Republic team, not with any overt injury, but he's
15:21 going to be 38.
15:22 So why not?
15:23 O'Shea Brissett, Mike, your guy, has enough knee problems that he's going to hang it up
15:28 for Team Canada before things get off the ground.
15:32 And it's Thursday evening.
15:34 There was a report that Chris Hapsburg-Zingas was going to be sidelined with an injury and
15:39 the Latvian team came out and said that's not true and that they will later decide.
15:45 I think the date was August 12th, whether or not he's going to play.
15:49 So I guess we're going to take the Latvian team at its word that as best we can tell
15:54 at the time of this recording, he is not injured.
15:56 But Alex, I know that you have some trepidation about poor Zingas' trip to FIBA straight up.
16:03 Yeah, I mean, I think it's mostly lingering trauma from Danilo Gallinari from last year.
16:09 I just am generally in favor of no Celtics going abroad to play basketball.
16:15 I'm pretty, pretty OK with that position.
16:17 I think Jason Tatum won his gold and that's all I need.
16:20 I'm fine with this just not happening anymore.
16:24 No, I think in reality, the main thing is that for Zingas already has a history of lower
16:29 body injuries.
16:31 Given that the Celtics front court features three very talented players who are all reasonable
16:38 risks to miss time this year, I just kind of am not thrilled about the idea of poor
16:45 Zingas going abroad to potentially risk that in what is ultimately like a pretty physical
16:51 international basketball environment.
16:52 These guys are these guys are no joke.
16:55 They really throw their bodies and weight around.
16:59 But that being said, you know, I'm not in control of these things.
17:02 Hoopers want to hoop.
17:03 I understand that instinct.
17:05 And I would not be shocked if poor Zingas is out there for Latvia, but we'll see.
17:10 Yeah, Eastern European nationalism is like one of the strongest forces on planet Earth,
17:14 I think.
17:15 So if he wants to suit up like I just can't tap into that.
17:18 But if he gets injured, it's going to have been the most obvious thing ever.
17:23 And I will not feel great about it.
17:25 So good luck to I mean, the horse we have in this race, at least I don't think Iran
17:30 has a team.
17:31 So it's the US Latvia for Cameron.
17:34 Good luck to all who celebrate FIBA World Cup, I suppose.
17:38 Speaking of the international stage, Peyton Pritchard played for the select team, which
17:42 is not quite the US team, but a team of up and comers and talented people.
17:48 They played a scrimmage and Pritchard played a lot of point guard in terms of heads.
17:54 Maybe he'll earn a spot in Joe Mazzola's rotation because of that performance.
17:58 Maybe it's good for his trade value.
17:59 I don't know.
18:00 I don't think we need to linger on that one, though.
18:04 Okay, a few other things.
18:07 We don't yet know whether or not Blake Griffin will be a member of the Celtics.
18:12 There's been plenty of commentary around he doesn't want to go to training camp, so he
18:16 doesn't want to sign a deal before training camp.
18:19 I'm sure Boston is holding out at this point.
18:22 They have two open roster spots and a two way spot and Luke Cornett.
18:28 And who's the other non guaranteed contract, Justin?
18:31 There is no non guaranteed contract anymore because he was cut.
18:34 That was your man from Pitt, Justin Chiampagne.
18:37 So it's just Cornett who's the lone?
18:39 Yes, the sole unguaranteed.
18:42 So Boston has a few loose ends on the roster and in fact, they'll have to sign a few people
18:47 between now and when the season starts.
18:50 Mike, would you take Blake back and do you have any names off the cuff that you would
18:56 add to the Celtics team?
18:57 Yeah, I would absolutely take Blake back like other than he seemed to be an awesome locker
19:03 room guy and I didn't I didn't see the report that he didn't want to go to training camp,
19:06 but that is absolutely hilarious and I totally believe that's part of the reason, but he
19:11 was pretty good when he actually did play last year.
19:14 I mean, he did his job.
19:15 He like hustled, made some open threes, had like two dunks that got everybody in the on
19:21 the planet Earth like super hyped when he actually did it.
19:24 So I don't really see how you can do much better than Blake right now on a veteran minimum
19:29 contract.
19:30 He knows the team.
19:31 He knows the players.
19:32 He knows the system.
19:33 So I think that makes a lot of sense.
19:34 The scheme high Luke rumors were getting me a little pumped.
19:38 I'm a West Virginia fan, so I watched a lot of Big 12 basketball and Sve was a killer
19:43 in college and like whenever I see him in the NBA, he's doing good stuff.
19:49 I mean, he can't really defend, but you're talking about your 14th 15th man like yeah,
19:53 obviously he's not going to be this great two way player or he'd be not a 15th man,
19:58 but he could shoot the ball.
19:59 He's got a little bit off the bounce and he's going to get killed on defense, but you could
20:03 do a lot worse for that deep in your bench.
20:05 So I would be all aboard this V train if if we could sign him up.
20:10 Dude, if you need a corner three for sure.
20:12 Yeah, if he plays the two and they play as much zone as the length of the people they
20:17 have signed this offseason suggest they're interested in, it could work.
20:21 Yeah, plus you want you want a little razzle dazzle off the bench.
20:26 I think Blake coming back would be a very fun vibes move.
20:30 I'm all in favor of that.
20:31 And if that's listen, you know, 14th 15th man, I think at that point it's a vibes choice
20:37 for the most part.
20:38 So if the plan is to bring Blake Griffin back in for locker room chemistry vibes, I'm all
20:43 for it.
20:44 Another guy that would fit that bill is of course my man, Javante Green, close friend
20:48 of Jason Tatum, who I'd be more than happy to welcome back onto Boston.
20:52 It's still bizarre to me that Terrence Davids has not been signed by anyone anywhere.
20:58 And that guy is actually good and played meaningful minutes for the Kings in the playoffs and
21:03 yet doesn't have a home.
21:04 I think if the Celtics are concerned about guard depth, which I am, then that would be
21:10 a pretty reasonable ad.
21:11 But what do I know?
21:14 I'm just holding out hope for a tsunami poppy, but we will see.
21:19 I was sure you're going to say Carmelo Anthony, but I guess that's my main assistant.
21:25 My new Carmelo is retired and Kelly Uber Jr. isn't.
21:33 Okay, last bits of news.
21:37 Some things Jalen Brown got named to the first Boston 30 for 30 or 30 under 30 list.
21:43 Pretty cool.
21:44 Well deserved.
21:45 Paul Pearson, Dwayne Wade are feuding.
21:49 Whatever.
21:51 Let's see what happens at Hall of Fame this weekend.
21:54 And then I'm not going to talk about 2k ratings.
21:57 I'm going to break a podcasting rule, which is to promise something that hasn't been published
22:03 yet because you never know what could happen.
22:05 But I talked to Ronnie 2k today about player ratings, specifically Jalen and Jason.
22:10 So next week, you can check that out.
22:12 If the file is corrupt, I will monologue for 30 minutes about 2k ratings.
22:17 Oh, man.
22:18 Just can't wait for that.
22:20 45.
22:21 How's that?
22:22 Okay.
22:23 And that's the news.
22:24 Thank you for pronouncing Sfee's name because I didn't know how to pronounce it.
22:28 Mike.
22:29 All right.
22:30 Wayne Spooney, aka Mike Spooner, a first of the floor podcast replay game as we enter
22:35 the Celtics lab.
22:37 So put on your safety goggles and your little lab coat.
22:40 We went to Celtics Wire, USA Today's Celtics Wire, to talk to the fans by way of a little
22:48 poll.
22:49 And we have a bunch of questions.
22:50 And what we'll do is I'll read the question, I'll read the result.
22:53 You'll tell us what you think.
22:54 And then Justin, Alex, I will take turns chiming in, but we won't do like a whole roundtable
22:59 panel.
23:01 But to establish your credibility, can you tell us how you got started with first of
23:04 the floor?
23:05 How you got started with Celtics Blog?
23:06 Like, give us your bona fides so we know that you're a worthy judge here.
23:09 All right.
23:10 Okay, absolutely.
23:11 So you probably will not think I'm worthy after this, but Ben started the podcast.
23:16 He's like the host, the creator, like five years ago, and it was originally the Celtics
23:21 Reddit podcast.
23:23 His thinking was the Reddit has a couple hundred thousand users.
23:27 Like I'll start a podcast about it and I'll get all of those people to listen, which is
23:31 not exactly how it played out.
23:33 But him, Jackson and Joe and Jackson and Joe are kind of part time members like they'll
23:37 be on once in a while.
23:39 And they were like the three that did it weekly for three years, I think three, four years.
23:46 And then I was on paternity leave and babies sleep a lot at really inopportune times.
23:53 And I wasn't working.
23:54 So I was like, you know what?
23:55 I'm just going to start writing like posts on Reddit like I'm a writer for Celtics Blog
24:00 or something.
24:01 And I did that for four or five months.
24:04 People really seemed to like them.
24:06 And then Ben posted like, hey, I'm looking to add more members of the podcast, hopefully
24:11 in the Eastern time zone so we can be a little more U.S. friendly.
24:16 Is anyone on Reddit interested in joining?
24:18 I was like, yeah, man, I'm happy to.
24:20 So he had me on, did a test show.
24:22 I joined.
24:23 That was two years ago.
24:25 And then, you know, we did it for a year.
24:27 I'm still writing this whole time.
24:30 We added Jake and it's kind of the three of us who do it a little more often.
24:34 And then Jackson and Joe are still part time members.
24:36 But we added Jake before last season.
24:39 We got picked up by Celtics Blog in SB Nation.
24:43 And with that getting picked up, I was like, hey, I also write if you guys are interested
24:47 in that.
24:48 And so they picked me up as a writer then right before last season.
24:52 And then about two months later, SB Nation dropped like all of their podcasts except
24:56 two or three.
24:57 And we were one of the podcasts that got dropped.
25:00 But we right around when we joined Celtics Blog, we rebranded from the Celtics Reddit
25:04 podcast because we felt it was kind of like it's not super inclusive, right?
25:09 You think like, well, if I don't go on Reddit, I'm not going to listen to these nerds talk
25:12 about basketball.
25:13 So we were hoping change the name and you'll listen to non Reddit affiliated nerds talk
25:18 about basketball.
25:20 So that's when we moved to first to the floor.
25:22 And then Jeff from Celtics Blog was like, reach out to Nick Gelsow, CLNS.
25:28 Like they might be interested in you guys.
25:31 And we had been going growing pretty good the last year or two.
25:34 And then we jumped on with you guys.
25:36 And here we are, man.
25:37 We've been doing it for like I said, I've been on it for two years.
25:40 Jake's been a year and Ben's at five.
25:42 So it's been fun, man.
25:44 I can't believe even, you know, a couple hundred or 1000 people want to listen to me talk.
25:48 My friends don't even want to listen to me talk about the Celtics.
25:52 It's a lot of fun, dude.
25:54 I feel that my bones.
25:55 Oh, my God.
25:56 That's so funny.
25:57 I'm glad to I hope I'm pronouncing his last name correctly.
25:59 Trevor Hawes, who writes for Celtics Blog.
26:01 I ran into him last night at a restaurant.
26:04 And he and I started talking about the Celtics.
26:05 And then I turned back to my friends and they didn't want to talk about the Celtics.
26:08 So I totally get that.
26:11 Um, okay, so in our notes, it says you guys are one of the few podcasts with international
26:15 members as if Justin doesn't live in another country.
26:18 But how does that impact your guys's process?
26:22 And do you feel the international fan base at all?
26:27 I would definitely say that when Aussies find us because Jake and Ben are both Jake, Ben
26:33 and Jackson are Australian and Joe is New Zealand.
26:36 So when folks from that area find us, I think they immediately like, Oh, I'm in there's
26:41 Aussies doing a podcast.
26:43 And I'm just like the token American that tags along.
26:46 So definitely in that sense, definitely scheduling wise, I have to have Sydney as on my world
26:53 clock app on my on my iPhone, because otherwise, it's like Charlie Day, you know, with like
26:59 lines and numbers, it's way too hard for me to figure that out.
27:02 But we we communicate exclusively exclusively on Slack.
27:07 And so like, when it's nighttime here, it's the morning there, they work from home, so
27:13 they can like block off or take lunch a little early.
27:16 And we can record so we've made it work.
27:18 It works out pretty well.
27:19 Once in a while, we'll have some scheduling issues.
27:21 But other than that, man, it's the internet 21st century, you know, makes these things
27:26 work somehow.
27:27 So but it is cool with the international people kind of, I think, feeling a little kinship.
27:32 And I have nothing to do with that.
27:34 I'm just along for the ride.
27:35 As someone who used to live in Australia, I'm going to just chime in and say, Australian
27:41 Daylight Savings Time is different than American.
27:44 So it's not so easy as to say, like, they are exactly 14 hours ahead.
27:49 It is every ask, like every few months, it changes to something, something between like
27:54 15 and 12 hours.
27:55 So it's very confusing.
27:58 When I lived in Australia, I got it wrong all the time.
28:01 So I agree, like just having the clock, even us corresponding with Justin, who is two hours
28:07 behind, sometimes unless I'm one, unless you're one, someone, because you we don't do daylight
28:13 savings time anymore.
28:14 So I'm usually one hour, the happier I'm one hour away, the other half to and like y'all
28:19 in Australia, I have that weird, the dates don't quite line up.
28:23 So like, there's these like chunks of time where like, well, it's too complicated.
28:29 Don't worry about it.
28:30 It sucks.
28:31 I'm ideologically opposed to daylight savings time.
28:33 I just keep my clock the same time all year.
28:36 Same, same in Arizona.
28:39 Okay, we have our notes and why not?
28:45 What is your 30 second advice you give to people who want to get into?
28:49 I'm going to actually expand it either podcasting and or writing and or just like being a more
28:54 active post poster on social.
28:57 I would say just do it.
28:58 I find that what hinders a lot of people is they do like 10 or 20 and then they just stop
29:05 because it doesn't catch on.
29:07 I mean, like, we have grown so much and it took Ben 3456 years to really get and it's
29:13 not like we have a huge following or anything like that.
29:16 But you know, we've got a decent amount at this point.
29:18 So doing it because if you get discouraged, like it's really hard to get people to listen
29:24 to you and follow you.
29:27 And but if you continue to pump out content at a consistent pace and it's good, people
29:32 will find you.
29:33 Yeah, I'd echo that.
29:34 The only thing I would add is do it on your own terms.
29:38 Like don't do it to be popular for the clicks.
29:40 Like just be honest and be yourself and it'll land.
29:45 It just takes momentum and time.
29:47 And get weird.
29:48 Yeah, well, get weird.
29:49 Oh, if you're weird.
29:50 Oh, yes.
29:51 Okay.
29:52 And be okay bringing in weird guests like people who are just like random folks that
29:59 are interesting.
30:00 It doesn't matter if they actually know anything about basketball.
30:02 If they're interesting, they're worth having on.
30:05 Such a cheap shot at Mike, what are you doing?
30:07 Also, if you're cool, you can be cool.
30:10 Like maybe cool people listen to this podcast.
30:12 I don't know why people listen to this podcast.
30:14 Yeah, definitely not ours.
30:16 I can tell you that much.
30:17 Yeah.
30:18 No one's cool.
30:19 All right, Mike, you have established yourself as a credible source.
30:24 You are our Randy Jackson.
30:25 And so you're going to judge for us this fan survey we put out on Celtics Wire.
30:30 Thanks to anyone who took a look at it, clicked on it, engaged with it.
30:35 I will say Thunder Wire's fan survey cleaned our clock in terms of fan engagement.
30:39 But that's not our lane here at the Celtics Live podcast.
30:43 Mike, I'm going to read you the question and the results you give us a fair foul or it's
30:50 too close to call.
30:51 And then Alex, Justin, I will take turns hopping in mostly to the benefit of celerity so we
30:56 don't like get too bogged down.
30:58 But I suppose if it gets heated, it gets heated.
31:00 All right.
31:01 Question one was what grade would you give the Celtics this offseason?
31:05 And the overwhelming Alex, actually, I as a teacher, this is hilarious.
31:11 The overwhelming answer was a B. 61% of people said B. The next closest was an A, which got
31:18 16%.
31:19 And a C got 13%.
31:20 A small minority of participants gave it a D or an F. So a pretty reasonable bell curve
31:27 here or a very sharp one anyways.
31:29 Mike, fair foul on that B.
31:33 So I think when I filled this out, I also went with a B. So I think that's fair.
31:37 If you look at the Porzingis trade in a vacuum, like that's pretty insane value for Marcus
31:42 Smart to first round picks that turned into 35 second round picks in a first and Chris
31:48 Stapps Porzingis for him.
31:50 But the problem is I think it's also pretty high risk, right?
31:53 He's got a lot of injury problems.
31:55 Orford's old.
31:56 Rob's got injury problems.
31:57 Brogdon's got injury problems.
31:59 So it's a it's a boom or bust offseason.
32:01 And I think it's either going to be an A plus or a D. And that probably averages out to
32:06 a B if that is so fair is where I would go.
32:10 I think that's a really good way of putting everything you said.
32:14 For me, if it goes very right thing, it will be because as much as I love Marcus Smart,
32:20 he's a very high variance player.
32:23 We all very strongly remember the times he saved the game and memory hole, the times
32:29 he lost the game.
32:30 He does that less now, but he's also aging.
32:34 So overall, I do think that, you know, like a very weak B is about where I would fall.
32:41 I think I gave it a C because I was still a little bit unsure of it.
32:46 But if it does end up working out, I think it's going to end up looking like genius.
32:51 The problem is that Chris Stapps Porzingis is not not a high variance player for a different
32:56 reason, which you just basically broke down for us.
33:01 I largely agree with the sentiment of B, and I think it mostly boils down to that.
33:08 The Celtics kept Jalen Brown and kept a contending roster in place.
33:12 Ultimately, this offseason for me, the most important thing that Boston could do is make
33:18 sure that Jason Tatum is happy so that next year he signs his big fat monster extension
33:24 with Boston and doesn't think about leaving.
33:27 And so to that end, a number one priority for me was re-sign Jalen Brown.
33:32 They did that.
33:33 The market smart trade, I think it just has to be a TBD.
33:37 Like I don't think there's any way that we can know until we see the on court product
33:41 whether that's going to be a good trade or a bad trade.
33:43 There's too many variables.
33:46 I am genuinely concerned about their guard depth and about the injuries with the front
33:51 court.
33:52 I do think that's a real problem.
33:55 But at the end of the day, the core is intact.
33:57 I think that as long as Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, and Derek White are on the team, there's
34:04 a floor to this team and what they're capable of that is still a great bit higher than most
34:10 other teams in the NBA.
34:11 So for me, it's a solid B with a chance to become an A and a chance to get worse.
34:17 I'm just going to chime in and say, Alex, that's a really good transition to our next
34:21 question.
34:22 And as a teacher, sometimes you see C work that is so ambitious, you give it a B. And
34:30 I'm just going to let that flow in the air.
34:32 I'll also remind myself, Justin, Alex, that all three of us don't need to chime in on
34:37 each question, but I thought I'd give that peek behind the teacher curtain.
34:42 You can use my last answer for my next answer since I basically answered that too.
34:47 Yeah, it's a little redundant.
34:49 The question was, how do you feel about Boston's trade for Chris Steps, Brzezinkus?
34:52 The options were like it, love it, dislike it, hate it, and wait and see.
34:57 And 50% of people liked it.
34:59 21% of people loved it.
35:01 19% of people want to wait and see.
35:04 And then a small minority disliked it or hated it.
35:06 Again, we've sort of already touched on this, but Mike, 50% of people like it, fewer people
35:12 love it, just as many people are cautiously optimistic or pessimistically optimistic.
35:18 I don't know.
35:19 What do you think?
35:20 Yeah, so I think I said like when I filled out the survey.
35:24 I think I'm going to disagree with myself.
35:26 I think I'd love it if we're just evaluating the trade itself in a vacuum, because like
35:32 I said, that's great value for Marcus Smart.
35:34 And Justin, you're right.
35:35 Like Brzezinkus is high variance.
35:37 Well, so is Marcus Smart.
35:39 So if you're basically turning a high variance player into a probably better high variance
35:44 player and you get assets back, that's a pretty damn good trade.
35:49 So I'm going to go with love on that one.
35:51 So fair.
35:52 Is that right?
35:53 That's how I'm evaluating it.
35:55 Yeah.
35:56 At the end of the day, the vast majority of people are in favor of the trade or waiting
36:01 to cast their judgment.
36:05 I mean, that goes into the quality of the methodology.
36:08 I mean, as someone who clicks on a self-explored poll and fills it out probably has a certain
36:13 feeling about the team.
36:14 So maybe these are, it's not a great representative sample.
36:18 Maybe that's a very great representative sample because this is the fan survey.
36:23 This is true.
36:25 And self-expired fans are, they speak for us all.
36:28 Okay.
36:29 Yeah.
36:30 We don't need to rehash the poor thing.
36:32 At least what she might come back from World Cup damaged.
36:36 So it doesn't even matter.
36:37 Okay.
36:38 So the self-expired fans, the self-expired fans, how they feel about Jalen Brown's super
36:44 max extension.
36:45 Again, the options were like it, love it, dislike it, hate it, or I want to wait and
36:49 see.
36:50 And in order 44% of people like it, 34% of people love it.
36:54 11% of people want to wait and see.
36:56 7% of people dislike it and 1% hate it.
37:00 Mike, you have the floor.
37:03 I was bouncing between like, and wait and see, because I was afraid that ownership was
37:10 going to get too cheap and start losing assets.
37:13 And we've already seen that with Grant Williams on his way out the door.
37:17 So ultimately I think like is probably where I would land just because like Jalen Brown
37:23 is really, really, really good.
37:25 You got to pay him his money.
37:26 It's sort of sticker shock right now, but there's already people signing bigger contracts
37:30 than what he's got.
37:31 Like I just got to, I have to get over the fact that these guys are going to be making
37:35 like $300 million on their contracts.
37:38 Like all the stars are going to be making that much money.
37:41 It's just Jalen was first.
37:42 So it's sort of shocking, but ultimately you have to keep him.
37:46 He's that good.
37:47 He's a great second banana.
37:49 And I think he works really nicely with Porzingis when Tatum's on the bench.
37:52 So ultimately it is a lot of money though.
37:55 So just a like for me.
37:57 Yeah.
37:58 I mean, we've talked about this before at the very least the thought experiment of like
38:04 what else could have gone down is hard to run for very long.
38:08 I mean, they're, they're really awesome golden handcuffs, right?
38:12 You would end up in basically the same place later on.
38:17 I mean, you'd have different complications and whatnot, but I mean like splitting Jalen's
38:22 contract up into smaller parts, you still want more cap space to do that in because
38:26 then you get more players.
38:28 So it's like no matter what you ended up doing, you'd end up at the same place.
38:32 And this is, this is the path to wherever you want to go with more assets.
38:36 So yeah, I feel like if anything, the more interesting experiment or thought experiment
38:41 is Porzingis extension.
38:43 I feel like we didn't really hash out like whether or not that was prudent or smart or
38:48 clever or whatever, which is just like, oh, it happened.
38:52 Okay.
38:53 So as such, let's keep it moving.
38:54 I actually, I'm going to ask everyone to chime in here because I think this is fascinating
38:57 and Amit if you're listening, clip this.
38:59 This is good for, this is the video we want to promote the episode.
39:03 Who should be the fifth starter alongside Derek White, Jalen Brown, Jason Datum, and
39:07 Chris Tapps Porzingis next year?
39:09 Mike, the people strongly want Robert Williams, the third 59% of people picked Robert Williams,
39:15 the third, a third of people picked Al Horford.
39:18 Just 7% of people said Malcolm Brogdon and 0% of people said other.
39:23 Mike, who should be the fifth starter for the Boston Celtics next year alongside Derek
39:27 White, Jalen Brown, Jason Datum, and Chris Tapps Porzingis?
39:30 I think I got to agree with the majority here.
39:34 Al I think has a compelling argument, but I just want his minutes down next year.
39:38 And that's a lot harder to do if he starts.
39:41 I guess you could make the same argument with Rob, but I can see a world where Porzingis
39:46 is guarding the center in the pick and roll.
39:48 And Rob is in that off ball, Romer defensive destroyer role, or we go zone with, you know,
39:55 Tatum and white up top Brown and Rob in a corner and Porzingis like floating around
40:00 the rim.
40:01 That just seems like an absolutely absurd defensive lineup.
40:04 And I think that I want to see them get back to the defensive identity defense first that
40:09 they had on that finals run, because the offense is going to be crazy good no matter what,
40:13 when you have the Jays and Porzingis and Derek White, like you could throw me out there,
40:18 we're going to score a hundred points.
40:20 So yeah, I think it's gotta be Rob just for the defensive versatility and the fact that
40:25 like, I want to see Rob's passing get used a little bit more.
40:28 And I think there's going to be a lot of opportunities for like big to big stuff, high, low stuff
40:33 with him and Porzingis.
40:34 So, and you think long-term Rob's going to be a much bigger part of this team for the
40:38 next three, four years than Horford.
40:40 So like, let's throw them in the deep end now, get him used to playing with these guys
40:43 and let's go win a title, man.
40:46 - Cool.
40:47 I like the thinking.
40:49 I'm afraid that, I agree with you too.
40:52 And the question is who should be the fifth starter?
40:55 I am afraid that the coach and his patented Missoula ball is going to be so attracted
41:04 to the idea of having Al Horford out there shooting threes, that we may not see that
41:08 at least to start, or maybe it will be situational.
41:11 We were talking about this a little bit off air, Alex, and you actually brought that point
41:15 up and I think I'm sold that at least a third of the season, roughly, we're going to be
41:20 seeing Al Horford start.
41:21 I really hope it's less than that.
41:24 - It's going to be interesting.
41:25 So I also voted for Rob.
41:27 I think that would be my preferred outcome.
41:29 And I think there's a couple of reasons why that are actually a little bit kind of seemingly
41:33 contradictory, but I think everything that you said about Mike, about Rob and kind of
41:40 the passing and the different dimensions that he unlocks on defense, I think is really accurate.
41:44 And I think the idea of having Robert Williams back in that Rover role is probably the best
41:51 use of him defensively.
41:53 That works better in the starting lineup.
41:55 That doesn't work as well on the bench.
41:58 And that's not to say that, like, I think the Celtics are going to be going too big
42:01 on the floor as much as possible.
42:04 That's a lot of the logic behind the trade, but I do think that's the best role for Rob.
42:09 And to that end, I actually think in a kind of weird contradictory way, Robert Williams
42:16 is better suited to being in the starting lineup, even if I think Al Horford might still
42:20 be better at basketball than him, if that makes any sense.
42:24 I think that Horford has a really important presence on this team, particularly defensively,
42:31 where if you look at all of the advanced metrics, Al Horford is still one of the 10 best defenders
42:36 in the league, which is kind of crazy.
42:39 And I think he will be out there in crunch time when it matters.
42:43 But to preserve Al Horford's minutes for the playoffs, which is where we really need him,
42:48 and in large part because I trust Al Horford on the bench to just kind of get out there
42:54 with anybody and find ways to be effective in a way where I feel like Rob is a little
43:01 more dependent on having other really talented players on the floor to fully unlock his game.
43:07 I actually am pretty okay with the idea of Rob in the starting lineup, even if I think
43:13 that Al Horford might actually be a little better than him in terms of overall impact
43:17 on the game.
43:20 I'll be a little different.
43:21 I guess I'm curious enough about Mizzou-Laval that I wonder if Hauser or Brissett could
43:29 come in and be a starter, not that they necessarily have starter talent, but as the fifth guy
43:33 that spreads the floor and allows for Missoula's platonic ideal for an offense, kind of keeps
43:40 the depth rotation a little preserved.
43:45 And if Horford's not going to play back to backs and Robert Williams is not going to
43:50 play more than 60 games, and obviously that last bit isn't guaranteed, I just truly don't
43:56 know how to answer the question because I think there's at least 20-25 games where it's
44:02 going to be atypical.
44:03 So then there might not be a typical starting lineup.
44:05 So I actually don't like the Rob Porzingis fit.
44:10 My priority is Rob plays with Tatum as much as possible because they seem like they have
44:13 good synergy.
44:14 And if that's starting, great, but I worry about Rob's legs and conditioning enough that
44:20 like Horford, I actually don't need to see him start that many games until the postseason.
44:25 So I'm going to punt and say, but reset would intrigue me.
44:31 But thank goodness I'm the one who's not the one who's to actually make the call.
44:34 Speaking of which, we asked what grade would you give head coach Joe Missoula's tenure
44:39 thus far?
44:40 I, unless someone like really needs to get something off their chest, let's not dwell
44:43 on this one.
44:44 5% of people gave him an A, 61% of people gave him a B, 22% that's a healthy number
44:49 gave him a C, and then a small minority give him a D or an F.
44:54 Mike, you going with the B here?
44:56 Yeah, I was between a B and a C. I think I ultimately B minus would probably be what
45:01 I'd give him.
45:02 Super talented team that played well, there's no surprise there, took over in very difficult
45:07 circumstances.
45:08 So you got to cut them some slack with that.
45:11 But ultimately this team was good enough to at least make the finals if not win it.
45:15 And they fell short man, and in sort of embarrassing fashion in some ways against Miami.
45:20 So I think a B is fair taking all the context.
45:23 Cool.
45:24 Yeah, we've done this one before.
45:28 The next question, how many games will the Celtics win in the 23-24 season?
45:33 No one has taken under 41 wins.
45:36 2% of people say 42 to 49, which is not that many wins.
45:42 30 people said 50 to 54.
45:44 These were arbitrary cutoffs.
45:45 30 people said 50 to 54.
45:48 85% of people said 55 to 59 wins, and 8% of people said 60 or more wins.
45:55 It's a little pedantic because sometimes you get the second item in a back-to-back and
45:59 it's a snowstorm and that's it.
46:01 It's a scheduled loss.
46:02 But regardless, Mike, how many wins will the Celtics earn next year?
46:07 I think if you could guarantee me 70 games of the bigs and Tatum and Brown staying relatively
46:13 healthy, I would go with 60 plus, but I think the chances of that are just about zero.
46:19 So I went with 55, 59, probably shading towards 55, closer than 59.
46:25 So I just think they're not going to take the regular season super seriously.
46:30 They're planning for something else.
46:32 This is a team that cares about the playoffs and they're fine if they're the two seed or
46:35 the three seed.
46:36 They're not going to be gunning for the one.
46:38 So I think that mid-50s is a good spot for them.
46:42 Yeah, I'm in agreement with you.
46:44 I actually have them at 50 to 54 in that same vein.
46:49 And I think my thinking on this is that there's also going to be an adjustment period.
46:54 The lack of Marcus Smart, the integration of Christoph Sporzingas and all of these new
46:57 players, that's going to take some time to really hammer that out.
47:01 And I don't think the Celtics are going to get off to the same scorching start that they
47:05 did last year.
47:07 I have them at 50 to 54.
47:10 I think that their regular season win total is going to be lower than last year, but I
47:14 do think their playoff ceiling could be higher.
47:18 I think they won 57 games last year and were two seed for anyone playing the home game.
47:24 What regular season game are you most excited for next year, Mike?
47:28 And Marcus Smart's return to Boston ran away with it at 54%.
47:32 And then I just picked a few games I thought were intriguing.
47:36 The first teat at Celtics' game, 21% of people picked that.
47:39 Only 9% of people picked Lakers at Celtics.
47:41 And despite the conversation we had before, only seven people said first sixers at Celtics'
47:46 game.
47:47 Justin, did you add this note?
47:49 Why no grant game?
47:50 Yeah, I did.
47:52 So once upon a time before I did this, when I was a graduate student, I worked as a survey
47:58 designer.
47:59 And one of the things that we have to watch for is this thing called satisficing, where
48:04 people, maybe they want to answer something else, but because they see something that
48:09 seems to be more obvious and not the thing they're looking for, they pick that instead.
48:14 And you get a satisficing rather than a satisfying answer to your question.
48:19 You don't get the answer you were really looking for.
48:21 And for me, whoever designed this survey, we have to fire the intern because, I don't
48:27 know, man, that seems like kind of an important thing between the Missoula tension and his
48:31 teammates arguing why isn't Grant playing and then him thinking, well, he's gone, then
48:37 we're like, oh, he's coming back, and then he's gone for sure.
48:40 There seems like there's some good tension built into that.
48:42 I don't think it quite has the gravitas of the smart game, but I felt like it should
48:46 have been on the list.
48:47 Yeah, hold on.
48:48 Hold on.
48:49 I just got fired here.
48:50 Let me speak up.
48:52 Point taken about methodology and speaking as many truths as we can, if you were taking
48:59 the survey 100 times, would you ever pick the Grant game?
49:02 Maybe.
49:03 I like Grant.
49:05 I think, Justin, with all due respect, that you are not a representative sample of the
49:12 standard Celtics fan base in this.
49:13 I like Catan.
49:14 I like Catan.
49:15 What can I say?
49:16 I'm a nerd.
49:17 You got to think the Kyrie stuff is baked into the Grant game, too.
49:22 So there's a little extra juice there.
49:24 And Luca's a good...
49:25 Okay.
49:26 Okay.
49:27 I'm going to throw out the data.
49:29 It's incorrect.
49:31 Yeah, that smart video package.
49:33 I hope they're working on it already because that's going to be beautiful.
49:40 Can we not dwell on this, but I don't think they should retire Marcus Smart's number.
49:45 Does anyone think they actually should?
49:46 No, I don't.
49:48 Wrong organization.
49:49 Maybe the Grizzlies will.
49:51 I think he has the opportunity.
49:52 If he gets into the finals...
49:55 They should retire Marcus Smart's number after he wins a title when he comes back in three
49:59 years.
50:00 There you go.
50:01 All right.
50:02 A few more.
50:04 And I can't believe how I'm going to anchor this.
50:09 So the question was, how will the season end for the Celtics?
50:14 65% of people said they're going to win a title, which I thought was a little zealous.
50:20 12% of people think they'll lose in the finals.
50:23 11% will lose in the Easter Conference finals.
50:25 10% think they'll lose in the second round.
50:27 Over on FanDuel, maybe you've heard of them.
50:30 Boston has the number one odds to win the title, squeaking out just ahead of the Nuggets
50:35 and they're plus 470.
50:38 Next Eastern Conference team is the Bucks at plus 600.
50:40 So I saw this data and I thought we have some very eager fans participating in our polls,
50:47 but the gurus over at FanDuel would back it up.
50:52 Mike, where'd you put it?
50:54 I picked title and the only reason is that I'm a massive homer.
50:59 There's no analysis.
51:01 It's like superstitious here.
51:03 Yeah.
51:04 I'm not superstitious.
51:05 I'm like, I'm a little stitious, but you guys, come on.
51:11 The Boston Celtics are winning the title this year because Dunkin Donuts is coming out with
51:15 a line of spiked coffee and tea beverages.
51:18 There's no chance we're winning.
51:21 That's true.
51:22 I forgot about that, that we have that coming for us.
51:29 Everyone designated driver, for goodness sake.
51:31 Okay.
51:32 Mike, do you live in Philly?
51:34 No, I live in Morgantown, West Virginia, but I grew up in Massachusetts.
51:39 I was there for 25 years and then moved down here.
51:42 Well, first of all, don't sleep on Appalachia, beautiful part of the country.
51:49 But this question might not be for you.
51:50 The question was how many home games you personally plan to attend.
51:54 And I borrowed this from Clement over at Thunderwire, but zero was the choice for about a fifth
52:00 of people.
52:01 One to three, 42% of people picked one to three, which speaking of methodology, we have
52:07 no idea who these people are and how far from the city they live, et cetera.
52:12 Three percent of people said three to 10, 1% of people said 10 plus and 28% of people
52:18 said they can't go because they're out of town or so.
52:20 Maybe that's you, Mike.
52:22 But actually, I guess I don't know.
52:23 How many Celtics games do you go to a year?
52:26 Recently I've been doing one or two.
52:29 I went to DC two years ago and then Philly this past year, and then I went to a finals
52:34 game.
52:35 So my whole family still lives in Mass.
52:37 So I'll be up over the Christmas holiday.
52:40 So I'll probably try to get to a game then.
52:41 Are you closer to DC or Cleveland?
52:45 So they're about almost exactly the same.
52:47 They're both about three and a half hours.
52:48 So we'll probably do Cleveland this year.
52:51 Actually, that becomes a boring drive so fast.
52:55 As beautiful as West Virginia is Eastern Ohio is all of Ohio.
53:02 I saw my first Amish drunk drivers there.
53:05 That was, they were just drinking on the horse, the horse drawn carriage.
53:09 It was very interesting.
53:12 I'm going to go out.
53:14 I feel like the horse drawn carriage DUI should not be an arrestable offense.
53:19 Those things are moving at two miles an hour.
53:21 Like a golf cart.
53:22 And the horses want to get home.
53:23 They're not going to collide with other horses.
53:24 I'm going to guess that we don't have any Amish listeners to the podcast.
53:32 Mennonite perhaps.
53:33 Mennonite perhaps.
53:34 Maybe, maybe.
53:35 Well, to quote Robin Williams, if you're in Amish country and you see a man with his arm
53:38 inside a horse, just remember that's a mechanic.
53:40 Okay.
53:41 Anyways, our second to last question.
53:43 How do you enjoy Celtics games at home?
53:45 The options were cable streaming, but on a television, watching it on a computer or tablet
53:51 on your phone on the radio or social media.
53:54 And I'm pretty surprised by these results.
53:56 34% of people say by way of cable, 45% of people say streaming on a television.
54:04 Only 16% of people said computer or tablet.
54:07 Only 2% of people said a phone, which is shocking to me based on the number of ads that I get
54:11 about watching the NBA on my phone.
54:14 1% of people said radio, which is, I guess, lower than I was expecting.
54:19 And 1% of people said social media.
54:21 Mike, how do you take your Celtics games?
54:24 So I'm going to drop a hint for some people, for your listeners here.
54:27 If you have YouTube TV, buy your league pass through YouTube TV and not the NBA.com or
54:34 NBA app.
54:35 It works a thousand times better.
54:37 So that's how I do it.
54:38 Fascinating.
54:39 Yeah.
54:40 It works way better.
54:42 So I do YouTube TV streaming with League Pass since I'm out of market and no complaints
54:49 except for the stupid blackouts.
54:51 But I get those, I get them on TNT anyway.
54:54 I just miss Mike when it's a national game.
54:57 No blackouts here in Mexico, but 2000 miles away from a game.
55:02 So win some, you lose some.
55:05 Only above board for you, right, Justin?
55:07 Alex, how do you take your games?
55:09 I stream, but I don't use a TV or a computer.
55:13 I have a projector because that's the sophisticated way to watch things.
55:16 Bad methodology again.
55:17 Oh my God, are you kidding me?
55:18 I'm satisfied or whatever.
55:19 I have a projector.
55:20 I have a projector.
55:21 Throw this whole survey out.
55:22 What are you talking about?
55:23 We missed the projector people, damn it.
55:24 I have a projector too, but I'm not allowed to use it.
55:25 In all seriousness, what was the term?
55:26 Not satisfying.
55:27 What was the term?
55:28 Satisficing.
55:29 It's like satisfying, but with icing at the end.
55:30 Sure.
55:31 Yeah, at this point I feel like every time I read a political poll, I'm like, this is
55:45 witch magic.
55:46 This isn't real science.
55:47 Yeah, most polling, like if it's not from like Quinnipiac for political stuff, don't
55:52 trust it.
55:53 It's probably, or Michigan.
55:54 Michigan's got a good, good, and US.
55:55 Or Celtics Wire.
55:56 Yes, them too.
55:57 If Celtics Wire starts.
55:58 Actually, we're terrible.
56:00 Did I say that out loud?
56:03 Oh God.
56:04 We're getting better by the day.
56:07 I stream by way of apps where I like a lot of people who work at these apps, but goodness
56:12 gracious, they don't work well at all.
56:16 When I used to drive Uber, I love listening on the radio.
56:19 Sean and Max do it better than anyone else in the business.
56:23 I don't care that it's only 1%, but I guess I'm shocked that more people aren't out about
56:30 listening on the radio because it's such a good product.
56:34 And last and not least, because it's just like kind of randomly the last question, what
56:38 was your favorite social media app for Celtics content?
56:40 We asked the people and 60% of them picked Twitter.
56:44 I'm just going to call it that.
56:46 5% said Facebook, 10% said Instagram.
56:49 No one said TikTok.
56:52 I think we really screwed up the intern.
56:53 We got to fire the intern who did this part of the survey.
56:57 Why?
56:58 What did they do?
56:59 That was me.
57:00 I forgot that part.
57:01 I'm going to go out and say that I think the average Celtics blog reader is not part of
57:09 the hugest TikTok audience in the world.
57:11 I'm just throwing it out there.
57:12 Yeah, but Celtics Wire is hip, so they're on TikTok.
57:15 Well, 20% of people said other.
57:17 Maybe that was they were looking for TikTok.
57:19 They were not satisfied.
57:22 That was a weird note to end on.
57:25 I don't know, Mike, have you got anything?
57:27 I'm about to bring this full circle.
57:30 You know, Celtics Reddit podcast is how we started.
57:33 Always been a Reddit guy.
57:34 So even though I'm on there a lot less these days, Reddit is I'm in the minority there.
57:40 I'm a Reddit guy.
57:41 Got a solid 4%.
57:43 Yes.
57:44 Yeah.
57:45 I'm a Nikki Haley of Celtics social media.
57:49 That's just pulling out less than 4%.
57:51 How dare you slander our guest like that?
57:53 One time Nikki Haley retweeted.
57:54 You did not call him the Ron DeSantis of blah, blah, blah.
58:00 So that's...
58:01 One time Nikki Haley retweeted me and I almost deleted the tweet.
58:04 I was so embarrassed.
58:05 Oh, God.
58:06 Yeah.
58:07 And on that bombshell, Mike, who are you voting for?
58:13 Yep.
58:14 I'm Spoonie of First to the Floor podcast and Celtics blog.
58:20 I told the people where they can find you, but plug anything you want to plug and in
58:23 advance.
58:24 Thanks for coming on.
58:25 Yeah, dude, guys.
58:26 Thank you.
58:27 This was super fun.
58:28 Yeah.
58:29 You can find me on Twitter at WSpoonie and then just check Celtics blog and subscribe
58:33 to First to the Floor.
58:34 Thank you guys again.
58:35 Yeah.
58:36 And Celtics Reddit, you're a good community.
58:41 We thank you for keeping us in your thoughts sometimes or keeping us honest.
58:47 Justin, in terms of like legally, when we write about Twitter, we have to call it X
58:52 now?
58:53 We can use the colloquial terms for things that people use if it's used colloquially.
58:59 And let me tell you, despite Elon's brilliance, it's used colloquially.
59:04 I've just been saying social media now to avoid it, but...
59:08 Yeah, you can do that too.
59:09 I saw the AP put out a new style guide.
59:11 Anyways, Mike, Wayne Spoonie, thank you so much.
59:15 First to the Floor, our sister podcast, our brother podcast.
59:18 That's right.
59:19 Part of the CLNS mafia.
59:21 Everyone go check them out.
59:24 Go check out Mike on Twitter.
59:26 And like I said, next week we will at the very least be back with a conversation, hopefully
59:30 with Ronnie 2K or my big, wonderful monologue.
59:34 So until then, we'll catch you later and adios.
59:37 [Music]