Bobby Krivitsky, Jack Simone, and Sam LaFrance assess how the Celtics Stack Up Against the 76ers, how Boston will try to slow down Joel Embiid, and Sam Hauser Leading the C's Second-Unit Surge.
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00:00 And we are back with another episode of how about them Celtics. But this time it is talking
00:16 sees Sam and I are here with Bobby Kravitzky of inside the Celtics of Sports Illustrated
00:21 with a new show. I think we're aiming for three times a week here. It's going to go
00:25 up on Sports Illustrated and all of Bobby's work. And this is not going to take away from
00:29 the normal how about them Celtics programming. We're still going to hit you with daily videos.
00:32 Just you get more of us. Don't care if you ask for it. You get more of us. So I hope
00:36 you enjoy. And obviously Bobby is with us as well. How you doing Bobby? Jack I'm excited
00:40 to run the three man weave. Me you and Sam. So let's get after it. Yes sir. Well let's
00:45 jump right in. So Sam and I posted a podcast yesterday where we talked about this a little.
00:49 Curious to know your thoughts Bobby and we can expand upon it a little bit and recap
00:52 some of ours. In season tournament Celtics just took down the Bulls a couple of days
00:57 ago as we're recording this beat them by 30. But when they were up by 30 through the
01:02 starters back in sent Andre Drummond to the free throw line made sure to really really
01:06 dig it in there. They needed the point differential and they ended up getting it. But it caused
01:10 some controversy. Jalen Brown Andrew Holiday were a little bit upset after the game. They
01:13 said it was weird felt a little awkward and just the whole thing you know ended up causing
01:18 a bit of a what. I can't think of the word for it. People were upset. A lot of criticism
01:23 about the in season tournament. Curious to know your thoughts on the whole situation
01:26 Bobby. So I wrote about this for SI and inside the Celtics the other day. I think that it
01:32 is flawed but successful. We haven't even reached the knockout round let alone gotten
01:37 to Vegas yet where I know the two of you will be for the tournament. And at the same time
01:42 the NBA which takes not even a backseat it's not even on the top of the vehicle in football
01:48 season. That's how far behind it typically lags. And yet for just a few nights during
01:55 the week right now in late November they are dominating the headlines and sports talk shows
02:00 generating the most buzz. It is because of this in season tournament. So does point differential
02:06 the electricity that it captured matters and they need to continue to harness that. But
02:11 some form of change extending from putting more in season tournament games into the mix
02:17 as they go on. And this is only the beta test right now with this being the first year of
02:21 the experiment. So you understand there's wrinkles that need to get ironed out for sure.
02:26 But again the attention that they're grabbing and spicing up the monotony of an 82 game
02:31 regular season which for younger generations in particular is going to continue to pay
02:36 dividends down the line. I think that so far it's safe to call this tournament a rousing
02:40 success. Yeah if you want to talk about the tournament itself as a whole whether it's
02:46 going to be successful or not. OK. All the points Bobby made on the head. It's been fun.
02:53 People have opinions on the courts and the uniforms whether you like it or not. I don't
02:57 like any of it but I do like the games. I love the point differential. I had the most
03:01 fun watching the Sully's game on Tuesday compared to any other November game against Chicago
03:07 that you could ever ask for. I was laughing. You're paying attention to other games which
03:11 a lot of people won't do if they're a fan of one team. I don't care what the Nets are
03:14 doing but I did on Tuesday and you got just hard nose basketball. The Sully's had to play
03:20 hard for 48 minutes. You saw them not blow a lead which is kind of rare. I think they
03:25 snapped like a seven game streak where they let a double digit lead get down to like at
03:29 least one possession. Didn't happen against Chicago. They just stopped it. It was awesome.
03:34 And then from a main point standpoint on the tournament it's been fine this year and it's
03:42 only going to get better. They'll make tweaks. People are confused about the point differential,
03:47 the tiebreaker, maybe they add more games to group play. But the more years that this
03:51 goes on the more prestige it will have. It will become some sort of event whether it's
03:56 considered to be a respected competition or it's more of the hey the season's getting
04:01 underway but this thing's going to happen to get everyone into it kind of competition.
04:05 Regardless it's going to be fun. It's going to be around for a while and it absolutely
04:09 has got everyone into the season. People are having fun.
04:14 Yeah I think the point you made about the third quarter is I mean something else we
04:17 wanted to talk about throughout the season so far the Celtics have been a bad third quarter
04:22 team but not just that they have been one of the worst third quarter teams around the
04:27 league. I remember looking a couple games ago and I have to double check the stats now
04:30 but a couple games ago before this you know solid third quarter against the Bulls they
04:34 had the second worst offensive rating in the last 10 games in the third quarter of any
04:38 team. It was a real problem against Charlotte real problem against Memphis a real problem
04:42 against Milwaukee when when the Bucks came out of the half ready to start a comeback
04:46 and you finally saw them right the wrongs of the Bulls. I think my question is and I
04:51 know Sam you mentioned this too was the solid third quarter against the Bulls a sign of
04:56 progress or a sign that they wanted the in-season tournament points that much more than just
05:00 a regular game because I think it's good that it helped them play better in the third quarter
05:05 but I'm curious to see if it translates to a normal regular season game too.
05:08 Yeah I think that goes hand in hand with two conversations that I had with Joe Mazzola
05:12 one being about the third quarter against Chicago. OK what were the roots of it. So
05:17 forget the opponent the in-season tournament context what key that result in that productivity
05:22 all of a sudden in a frame that's been a year's long problem where the roster turnover had
05:27 coaching changes. It doesn't matter. They tend to struggle coming out a half time. But
05:32 I think that what happened on Tuesday is you saw the importance of having a mindset where
05:36 defense is at the forefront of this team's identity. What flipped was they started stringing
05:41 together stops and getting turnovers that allows you at least makes it easier to play
05:46 in transition to operate up tempo when this team like most are at their best and that
05:52 allows better ball movement. It keeps everyone in rhythm and involved in the offense and
05:56 tends to produce better opportunities points in the paint trips to the free throw line
06:01 all these things that tend to dissipate when the Celtics struggle in the third quarter
06:06 which feels like almost every night for them. And then secondly Jack to the other point
06:10 you brought up I talked with Mazzola about the importance of the in-season tournament
06:15 and how it's helping this team maintain its focus that it's human nature. There's going
06:20 to be ebbs and flows when it comes to the energy exerted but they're really working
06:24 hard this season on OK. We need to supply this team with the tools necessary to quickly
06:30 come out of when the other team goes on a run and we're playing lethargically. And I
06:35 think the in-season tournament because of point differential is helping with that.
06:39 Yeah I'm with you. I think you may have gotten a fix to a problem because of a single
06:48 game goal. They realized they had to stay locked in for the entire game. They had to
06:53 stop Chicago and it worked. They got the lead up to what 35 points I think was the biggest
06:57 lead they had and it never dropped back below I want to say 25 after they eclipsed the 23
07:02 mark which took them forever by the way. They couldn't do it in the first half. They
07:06 came on the third quarter and they actually did break the mark that they needed to hit.
07:10 And hopefully going forward they're able to keep that same killer instinct because it's
07:14 not something they've had all season. They've struggled in the third quarter for years.
07:18 Even going back to the finals against Golden State it was a very good third quarter team.
07:22 They weren't able to keep their opponent at bay. They weren't able to hold on to a lead.
07:26 This Celtics team hates a double digit lead and if they're able to keep any of the focus
07:30 that they found in the in-season tournament game against Chicago it's going to be awesome.
07:35 Yeah I agree. I mean it's tough for me because I am very much of the mindset that other NBA
07:41 teams are good. Teams aren't just going to roll over if you're only up 10 or 12. Well
07:45 they are. I look at the Bucs scorching hot take from me. Some of them sure. The Hornets
07:53 maybe you have an excuse. I look at the Bucs.
07:55 Pistons in a run to win November?
07:59 Pistons are a different level. I look at that Bucs game. Giannis and Dame are Giannis and
08:03 Dame for a reason. A 12 point lead is not the same 12 point lead it was X amount of
08:08 years ago. As much as you want to blame the Celtics for giving it up I don't think double
08:13 digit leads are as safe. That said the problem comes when it's happening in the same exact
08:18 spot every single time and that's what has been happening. I think that's more of the
08:21 problem in my eyes. Yes, because Joe Mizzoula says it all the time. He's like other teams
08:27 are good. It's a natural instinct like you talked about Bobby. But when it's happening
08:32 at the same time I feel like it should be easier to identify and correct and hopefully
08:37 the Bulls game was a step of progress towards that.
08:43 Speaking of late in games, as the flow of the games, second unit this year was a big
08:47 topic coming into the season. We knew the Celtics starting five. Effectively we knew
08:52 they're starting six if you want to call it that. And that would also be the closing six.
08:57 But in the mix there you're going to have your Sam Hauser's, your Peyton Pritchard's,
08:59 your Luke Cornette's and then the rest of the guys. Delano Banton's been getting more
09:02 minutes. Nish Keita got some run recently against the Hawks. So you've got all these
09:07 guys fighting for these same minutes. Bobby what do you make of the bench so far? Do you
09:11 like you know we'll talk you can talk about the top three of Hauser, Pritchard, Cornette
09:14 but also like have you seen anything else from those other guys that says okay maybe
09:18 they should earn some more chances here?
09:20 So in the regular season which is always the point of having players like Banton and O'Shea
09:25 Brissett shout out Syracuse, Lamar Stevens. That's what these guys are there for. They're
09:29 82 game players not 16 necessarily which isn't to say they can't contribute and make a meaningful
09:35 impact in a given playoff matchup you know for one night in a series for example. But
09:41 at the same time what I've been most impressed by with the second unit is their defense.
09:47 They're allowing the fewest points per game of any team's bench and they stayed locked
09:51 in even when this group was not shooting well to start the season. But Missoula talked about
09:56 in mid-November the sense that they're starting to figure out their identity and what it's
10:00 supposed to look like when this group is on the floor especially when there's more of
10:04 them than there is members of the starting five out there. And now Sam Hauser has lit
10:10 it up to the point that Jack you made a great point conversationally to me a while back
10:14 about will the Celtics be able to afford him when his contract comes up under this collective
10:19 bargaining agreement. Maybe not. But Peyton Pritchard there's been an uptake in his shoot
10:23 an uptick rather in his shooting. Same goes for Al Horford. So I don't know if this group
10:28 is finalized and this is who they'll end up having come playoff time. But for right now
10:34 they're playing really well at both ends of the court. Yeah. The Hauser part of that is
10:39 the big glaring one to me. I mean as a team a collective unit they were horrible to start
10:45 the season. He was through the first week or two. They were only averaging like 15 points
10:49 a game. The shooting splits were terrible. But Hauser as an individual has stepped up
10:54 big time is three point percentage through the roof. He's averaging a career high in
10:58 points and both his shooting splits and he's playing a more versatile game. He's not only
11:04 settling for three point shots. He's moving with the ball. You saw him hit a step back
11:09 three against what team was that Jack. We went we watched the clip. Who was it. He loves
11:15 to step back. He's got three now. He hit a few against the Bulls. Right. So his game's
11:19 evolving and now he's doing super cool dunks. Five dunks on the season. Put back dunks.
11:25 All you dunks. He has all dunks. Whole package. So he has been a revelation to the bench.
11:32 You know Al Horford is another guy that's kind of stepped it up even though he's been
11:36 doing it in a starters role. So I'm interested to see how he translates that back to the
11:40 bench. He's not somebody they necessarily need a lot from but he's certainly a guy that
11:45 they can get a lot from. They can live without it but when they have it it's awesome. As
11:50 for Pritchard would love to see him be a little bit more consistent but he's better than he
11:56 was to start the season. The shots are falling. He had a good game against Chicago and helped
12:00 them get going early. And the surprise guy to me is Benton who's earned himself a little
12:06 bit of a niche with Missoula. He got some real minutes against the Bulls. Curious to
12:10 see how it carries over. I think they like his defense. They like that he's versatile
12:15 and he can cover multiple positions. My thing and I've said this to Bobby a bunch of times
12:20 so we've been watching the games. I don't mind Benton but I don't fully understand why
12:24 he's getting the minutes over a shaper set in Lamar Stevens. In theory I understand that
12:28 is getting an extra ball handler on the court. Somebody who's more comfortable with the ball
12:31 in his hands. But he's not doing that. Like he's not handling the ball. That's just not
12:36 what he's been doing on the court and he's rarely going to be asked to do that with Peyton
12:39 Pritchard drew holiday Derek White and the Jays on the court all getting more touches
12:42 than him. And so at that point he's on there for on the court for his rebounding his hustle
12:48 and his defense. I would argue Lamar Stevens and O'Shea Bursett are probably better at
12:52 all three and a little bit and I don't dislike Delano Banton. I just don't fully understand
12:59 why he is getting this many opportunities and Lamar Stevens hasn't seen the court all
13:04 year and O'Shea Bursett who is getting opportunities to start of the year hasn't seen a real run
13:08 in X amount of games. So that part's a little weird to me. I don't really I don't really
13:12 get it. You guys Jack I wonder if it's a way to keep Banton invested that yes I totally
13:18 agree with the points you just made but I think that it's more likely because those
13:22 guys are better in those areas. They get more opportunities throughout the course of an
13:28 age 82 game campaign whereas this probably seemed to the staff like a natural opportunity
13:33 to reward Banton for a good week at practice. I believe it. I like that. Yeah. It is funny
13:40 you mention that in like Lamar Stevens who is notoriously a dog. I mean Jack wrote about
13:45 all the grit that he has his Penn State wanted to be the guy holding that belt at practice
13:51 and meanwhile he's getting out minutes by Delano Banton who was reamed for not diving
13:57 after a loose ball in the preseason and he got benched but he all of a sudden has all
14:01 these minutes. I don't know. I think he's been fine. I think they still need that extra
14:06 guy. I don't know where they're going to find it. There was the report about the buyout
14:09 market for John on car. Oh big difference there. It's a beautiful segue Sam. You read
14:19 my mind. Michael Scott of Hoopsite recently put out a report where he's detailing potential
14:26 trade candidates for every team for the Grizzlies. One of the guys was John Conchar and he labeled
14:31 the Celtics as a team that has been keeping tabs. For those wondering John Conchar has
14:34 appeared in 13 games for the Grizzlies this season averaging three points four point two
14:38 rebounds one point seven assists shooting splits aren't there. Thirty five from the
14:41 field. Thirty two from three. But he is a 37 percent career three point shooter so he
14:45 can shoot and he makes two point four million dollars this year meaning he can fit into
14:50 the Grant Williams TPE and on top of that he has three more years on his contract passed
14:55 this year each for six point one six five million. It's the exact same every year. So
15:01 if the Celtics did excuse me did want to go out and get John Conchar he would be on the
15:05 books past this. So maybe that's a reason they would be interested because it wouldn't
15:08 just be a one year rental. They could get him and have him and something that we talked
15:13 about this in our last podcast as well something we didn't even mention Sam. If they do make
15:17 this trade that's six million dollars could probably be useful in trades down the line.
15:21 So I think that's another thing to keep note of. So Bobby any thoughts on John Conchar
15:25 you you're John Conchar fan or is this just you know someone maybe you'll help. Well you
15:29 nailed it right there. The trade exception is going to expire. John Contras extension.
15:35 That's a three year contract that you can play with. They're obviously or presumably
15:39 at least not going to get him this season and then flip him even though it's possible.
15:45 I would think that he's here because one of the positives of Conchar is that he doesn't
15:50 need touches or to be a rotation fixture to stay in rhythm. So you add more shooting off
15:55 the bench at a low cost and someone who can capably fill the small role that you would
16:02 ask of him. So it certainly makes sense. It's just a question of are we giving up assets
16:07 that would take away from a more meaningful addition. Like do we feel we need to upgrade
16:11 what we have in the front court in case God forbid that Chris stops or Al Horford goes
16:16 down. I guess that depends on what you think of Cornette at this point because he's got
16:22 a little bit more of an opportunity. He played pretty well against the Hawks. But Kata on
16:26 the thumbnail. Kata did have a good debut. He was all over the glass. Six offensive rebounds
16:35 absolute menace. As for Cornette he's gotten a lot of run over the last week and a half.
16:40 He's done an okay job especially on offense putting the ball in the basket when he's around
16:44 the rim. The problem with him is he can't really defend. He's not doing a great job
16:48 of staying on these guys on the perimeter. He got attacked and I want to say the magic
16:53 loss that was the worst one for him where he was just the target every single time.
16:59 And it was part of the reason why the Celtics melted down that second half among everything
17:04 else too. I mean you name it it was wrong. But that was a big part of it. So are you
17:10 going to find anybody else that can fill that gap? Maybe not. Not for that money. But it
17:15 probably doesn't hurt to try especially with an open roster spot.
17:20 Yeah I agree. Contra is fine. I feel like I would have to talk to Grizzlies people to
17:27 get the full run down the same way Grizzlies people would have to talk if they want a full
17:30 run down on Delano Bitton or on Lamar Steen. He's a guy who's played real minutes for them
17:35 in past years. He played 21 minutes a game in 72 games last year averaging 5-4, 1.5 and
17:42 1 steal a game. He is a fine player. He plays a role. The guy I likened him to on our podcast
17:47 Bobby, was sort of like a not as good of a shooter Kenrich Williams. That's kind of what
17:51 it feels like. He can pass a little. He can rebound all right.
17:54 I don't think he brings the same energy as Kenny Hustle but I like the comp.
17:58 Sure. I think outside of that then maybe that is what I see him as. Last thing I think we
18:03 wanted to talk about today was as you guys are listening to this 76ers coming to town
18:10 coming to Boston to play the Celtics first time in Boston this year Celtics have gone
18:13 to Philly twice. They're one and one against the 76ers and as much as it might just feel
18:18 like another you know it's a cool rivalry game if anything in November but these are
18:23 the games that matter when you get down to the playoff seating in terms of tiebreakers
18:26 and stuff.
18:27 Joel Embiid did not play last night. I don't know his status heading in to the game against
18:33 the Celtics. Something to keep an eye on. However it should be a good matchup no matter
18:37 what because Tyrese Maxey has burst onto the scene as an all NBA player this year. Bobby
18:41 what do you make of the 76ers Celtics matchup.
18:44 So there's three things in particular that I'm monitoring in this game. I thought that
18:49 the Celtics did an excellent job in their most recent matchup in Philly. Jack and I
18:53 were there where they kept Embiid hesitant and off balance with their double teams and
18:59 they've consistently been really good at that over the years. But I think given the personnel
19:04 change with the Sixers Embiid is showing more capabilities as a passer than ever before
19:10 in his career. And part of that is willingness and a part of that again is due to the change
19:15 where the ball is just moving better within that Philly offense compared to when James
19:19 Harden was there naturally. So that's one is those double teams and how effective they
19:23 look against Embiid. Secondly I thought that was some of the best defense the Celtics have
19:29 played in. You know it might not have been exactly within five points but crunch time
19:33 per se in the final five minutes of that game. It was the ability to help the helper. And
19:39 so when someone's rotating for example they had a turnover against Embiid that all came
19:44 from being able to have Derek White cover for Al Horford as Horford had to rotate to
19:49 the rim to take away a cut of Tobias Harris. That type of synergy right there and just
19:55 playing on a string. That's what you need to win against the best teams in a playoff
20:00 pressure and atmosphere. So does that continue especially if it's close late. And then thirdly
20:05 like we talked about earlier the third quarters can they build off the momentum of what allowed
20:10 them to be successful against Chicago coming out of halftime. Yeah I love the Embiid piece
20:16 of this obviously. This is a big boy game for Al Horford. Are we going to see is Al
20:21 Horford for real. Now we know he's been for real and he had a great game in Philly last
20:26 time these two teams played but he's going to have to do it again. It's it's it's a proven
20:32 thing as you continue to age. We all have to be reminded that you can play ball and
20:36 beat is the main purpose for Horford on this team. It feels like sometimes not to say he
20:41 doesn't contribute in other ways but the one mandatory category that he needs to step up
20:46 and is defending that guy. He's been huge for them in the past. Needs to keep it up.
20:51 I'm also interested to see if Porzingis does suit up for this one. You guys were at practice
20:56 today. I wasn't but he had that super cool cap sleeve on. He was out there playing ball.
21:01 All he's playing in that game tomorrow. I'm interested to see how do they use him. Is
21:05 he going to have to cover and be shy away from that. They put Drew back on Embiid. That
21:10 way Porzingis is out of foul trouble. I think the Drew Howdy thing really works. And we've
21:14 talked about this plenty Jack where that's a different type of defense you have to deal
21:18 with as a big guy. Somebody with quicker hands more awareness. You're not getting the body
21:21 to body stuff as much. It's more of a skilled type defense. Yeah definitely. I think it's
21:27 also important to note about the Al Horford thing like he was great in that second Philly
21:31 game. He wasn't as effective in the first Philly game like he wasn't necessarily bad
21:36 on Embiid but Embiid did find ways to beat Horford. He was making those little hook shots.
21:40 He found his touch around the rim a little bit. And I think the Drew Holiday on Embiid
21:45 definitely had that success in the first game. But I am curious to see how the Celtics manage
21:51 that coming up against the Sixers tonight as you guys are listening to this Friday.
21:56 Did we get it all. Did we cover it all. Are we is that everything we ran through the tape.
22:01 Awesome. Well I'll be on my back. No I was I was going to go in that order anyways. It
22:07 was just made sense. You know contract could help the bench will slow down. Good. All right.
22:11 They have shut out. We think it was an effective three man weave. Absolutely. Absolutely. But
22:15 yeah thank you all for listening. Bobby if it's OK with you. Sam wraps up our videos
22:19 or you're OK with him handling the outro. We can we can rock there. Yeah. Put down on
22:25 this wasn't in the car. But yeah. Thank you all for listening. Subscribe to have them
22:30 Celtics check out inside the Celtics read all of Bobby's work and yes Sam you got some
22:34 new acts to hit in the outro so I'm gonna let you try to figure that out. All right.
22:39 Well thank you very much for hanging out today. Make sure you subscribe to the YouTube page
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23:41 (upbeat music)
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