Bob Ryan and Gary Tanguay discuss the Celtics' clutch Game 2 win over the Dallas Mavericks while explaining why Jayson Tatum is being severely disrespected by many members of the media. Their conversation shifts to Dan Hurley's rejection of the Lakers' coaching offer, the passing of Chet Walker, and Caitlin Clark being left off the USA Olympic squad.
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SportsTranscript
00:00It's time for the Bob Ryan and Gary Tagway pod here on CLNS Media brought to you by PrizePix,
00:29the exclusive daily fantasy partner of CLNS Media.
00:32Pick more, pick less.
00:33It's that easy with PrizePix.
00:34Okay, Bob, a little bit later on, our friend Jeff Goodman will be joining us, but right
00:40now you're the star of the show.
00:41Coming up on the show, we're going to talk obviously about the NBA Finals and the Celtics'
00:44comfortable position, or is it?
00:46Chet Walker passed away, another great from when I first fell in love with basketball.
00:52Danny Hurley stays at UConn and Caitlin Clark gets snubbed.
00:56So let's start with the Celtics right now.
00:58The time of our recording, they're up to zip.
01:02And I want to start with Jason Tatum because I thought, I think it was Alan Miller, our
01:07old friend from Channel 4, who put this out on Twitter, and he gave Tatum's offensive
01:13numbers throughout his career and through this season.
01:16And basically what he said was the truth.
01:18For two games, Jason Tatum has struggled offensively, two games, and he was still an assist shy
01:28of a triple-double.
01:30So lay off him.
01:31Yeah, I had 12 rebounds.
01:35And it's interesting.
01:38I thought there was a very interesting ex that came out a couple of days ago that asked,
01:44what were we of a certain age saying about Bird when he had some subpar offensive games
01:49in the 81 Finals?
01:52Were we going after Bird the way that people are now going after Tatum?
01:56And I said, no.
01:57In fact, what we did say was, Larry can beat you in different ways.
02:04And I said, I cited, of course, for example, I always remember this game, Garrett, as a
02:12rookie.
02:13He had a game in Oakland on a Friday night when he was nine.
02:17And I called it eight bricks and a block.
02:21And he had 14 rebounds and he won the game and helped him in that way.
02:26So that was Friday, and Sunday we're in Portland.
02:30So I'm anxious to see how Larry is going to respond to the eight bricks and a block.
02:34Well, his response was making his first six shots and scoring 33 points in a victory over
02:39the trailblazers.
02:40Anyway, so no, we did not attack Larry that way.
02:44We appreciated the scope of Larry's contributions, which is what people should be doing in 2024
02:50with Jason Tatum.
02:52You don't discount, I said it and it's getting more and more evident, his rebounding is getting
02:58to be high level, not just rebounds that he ought to get, but rebounds that don't necessarily
03:03belong to him.
03:05He's rebounding in traffic as well as he's ever done.
03:09And that's important.
03:10And so, and you know, poor 11 assists, come on.
03:14And I mean, it's silly.
03:16It's not, you know, we just have to just laugh at these people.
03:19That's all.
03:20But Larry is a wonderful player who can, and who's now proving that he can help you.
03:24Oh, I mentioned defense, that he can help you win games in different ways.
03:28The shot will come.
03:29He'll come.
03:30Of course.
03:31And Bob, he's pressing a little bit.
03:34It's obvious.
03:35Fine.
03:36Fine.
03:37It's not for whatever reason.
03:38Like I thought game two, he was pressing, like when he goes, he missed a couple of layups.
03:42Yeah, he didn't finish it.
03:44By the way, though, he's, he's spoiled us and these people by the extraordinary ability
03:50to finish that he displays on most occasions.
03:53And when everyone's in on that game, yeah, there were two times I remember he got in
03:56after making one of his great moves and, and, and it, they were a little, a little heavy
04:00and it, they came off the rim.
04:02It didn't go in, but he's made so many of them and people apparently just took those
04:05for granted.
04:06It ain't that easy, folks.
04:08The guy can make the game look easier than it really is.
04:11Okay.
04:13You know, that's, that's, let's just realize that please.
04:16Yeah.
04:17I just really, I just appreciate Jason Tatum greatly and I wanted to lead with that and
04:21I don't want to take away from any of the other players cause they're all, it's just
04:25so refreshing cause it's a team.
04:28It's just so refreshing to see cause it is a team and I'm glad you brought up what on,
04:31I need to keep saying X instead of Twitter.
04:34I saw the same X or whatever it is now where the stats where they had Larry stats compared
04:41to Tatum and you're absolutely right.
04:43You're absolutely right.
04:44Steph Curry in the past, remember when Andre Iguodala got the MVP, you know, and Steph
04:51didn't, Steph offensively was struggling or whatever Jason Tatum is pressing a little
04:55bit at the rim.
04:56He'll be fine.
04:57He has become such a complete player and a leader and he has set the tone for this team
05:05and he runs, you see him running the offense, Bob, in no remote sense, is he a liability?
05:11Oh God, no, no, but it's just part, you know, it, the dial, you know, it's part of the world
05:18we're living in, the media world we're living in, you know, it, you need, it's amateurs.
05:23If you, if you think Jason Tatum is struggling as a player, like you could say, okay, the
05:27shots offensively, he hasn't, the shots struggle, fine.
05:31But if you think he's struggling overall as a player, you don't know basketball, right?
05:35Exactly.
05:36You don't.
05:37That's right.
05:38We'll move on.
05:39But Jason Tatum, you go, kid.
05:43Where do we go now?
05:44Okay.
05:45Now, uh, of course the MVP conversation starts, you know, and again, it's on social media
05:51and I chimed in because I'm like, who's the MVP?
05:56I went holiday.
05:57I mean, it could be Jay, but it could be Jalen Brown.
06:00It, you know, it could be drew holiday.
06:03You know, I don't know, you know, who cares right now?
06:05I don't know.
06:06I don't care, but I'll, but to get us into the holiday conversation, I'll go drew holiday.
06:10No, drew holiday would be a very good candidate for the first two games.
06:14And absolutely.
06:15And, uh, the, the second game to replayed is, is you can't ask for a guard whose reputation
06:22was built on offense on defense to come up with a better game than 11 for 14 and all
06:27those rebounds.
06:28Uh, he, he's putting up, that's really funny.
06:30I mean, today in the, uh, it was pointed out, but I think Adam Himmelsbach, one of
06:34them, one of our Boston Globe guys, uh, whether it was Gary or Adam or that, um, uh, he's
06:41his numbers are, Oh, it was Chad Finn.
06:43That's who it was.
06:44I think that, uh, he's putting up numbers that you associate with centers, you know?
06:49I mean, because of the rebounds and, and, um, yeah, he's been great and his backdoor
06:56partner has been great, but his, his shining game was definitely game to, uh, I can't exaggerate
07:02how I'm pressing him with this backcourt and how lucky to Celtics are to have a backcourt
07:06like this.
07:07And, uh, uh, and how lucky we are to have them to watch.
07:10And it's, it's, you know, what am I going to say?
07:14You can't say more than that.
07:15What do you think of what I did?
07:18Cause I didn't see holiday.
07:19We didn't see him play every day.
07:20Right.
07:21I mean, I would see him play.
07:22Oh, I didn't have a sense of him at all.
07:24You know, I'll tell you what I appreciate about him.
07:28And then I'll, I'll ask you what you, what the one thing, cause there's a lot of things
07:32in his game.
07:34What I appreciate about him is his timing to score.
07:38And he reminds me of DJ a little bit, even though I think he's a better shooter than
07:43DJ was, you know, as well as anybody in the playoffs, DJ was clutch.
07:49And I just see holiday now thinking, okay, we need a bucket and he has this move underneath
07:55the hoop.
07:56Yeah.
07:57Right.
07:58That I'm left-handed.
07:59And I, I, I, he's doing it every night now, three of those left hand, uh, up and unders
08:06it's not, they're not, they're not easy folks.
08:09And he makes it look, and it's part of just a basic part of his repertoire.
08:12No, he's a complete player, complete offensive player, as well as a excellent defensive player.
08:18Um, you know, you're right.
08:19That move on the base, I was going to cite that move on the baseline and, and, uh, you
08:24know, guys that just, just, just, we just have to keep keeping praise on this guy.
08:28I didn't have a sense.
08:29I knew he was good, but I didn't have a vision of his game at all.
08:33I didn't really have a sense, a feel for him, you know, that in Milwaukee or elsewhere,
08:37I did not have that feel, but now we understand what we were doing, what we were missing and
08:42why he was such an important part of a championship team.
08:46When I'm listening to sports radio, cause I've been on the other side, it's just so
08:50hard right now because there's very little criticism, it's hard.
08:56You know, I listened to my boys on the sports hub, my, my friends that I can just tell they're
09:01like, what, you know, what am I, what am I going to say?
09:04And it comes down to, um, uh, oh, Felge and Mazz were, Felge was, I laughed, I was laughing
09:11so hard when they were critical of Joe Missoula saying, uh, praising, uh, oh my God, no, I
09:22just went blank, uh, praising little guy off the bench.
09:25Um, oh God, Richard, Richard, geez, Richard for that, that, that half court shot, you
09:32know, that the fact that he took it and he didn't save it for his percentage, but like
09:41that's, that's all anybody has to complain about now, what the coach calls the key play
09:46of the game.
09:47You know, I was like, come on guys, it was a big, it was a very welcome basket at the
09:52time.
09:53I thought the timing was good because it was a little bit of, but let's get one thing straight.
09:58Those shots are pure luck.
10:00Okay.
10:01Yeah.
10:02Literally anybody can do it.
10:03I can tell you that because I made once made one at the end of a first period of a game.
10:09I made one, but, and, uh, it, it, how many feet was it?
10:14It was, it was, they, they said 55 when they put it in the, in the school year in the school
10:18yearbook.
10:19Um, um, but it was just on the other side, you know, one or about mid court, you know,
10:23it was basically, and, uh, I don't think it was 55.
10:26I think it was more like four 45 or 50, but anyway, it was very clutch because it made
10:30the score 19 to eight instead of six, a 17 to eight would have been 20 to eight today.
10:34I would have been a three, you know, but anybody that's those shots.
10:39What a timely basket that was.
10:41I agree.
10:42And interesting that, um, uh, it's the only three-pointer he's made.
10:45That's the one thing that hasn't happened yet.
10:47Neither he nor Hauser has gotten untracked and it's coming folks.
10:54Don't worry.
10:55There were those two.
10:56One of those, one or both of them are going to find start hitting their threes.
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12:19So now I get to what I think is a legitimate concern and that's Porzingis.
12:25Yeah, yeah.
12:26He is.
12:27I think he's a little gimpy.
12:29Does it matter?
12:30He's a rash.
12:32Oh, yeah, it matters to a degree.
12:35It does matter because of the one reason is those two big guys in the lobs and that's
12:41part of their offense.
12:43Once you get beyond Doncic and Irving, the next most important part of their offense
12:47basically is the lobs that they get.
12:50Their field goal percentages are ridiculous, both of them, both Lively and Gafford, because
12:54they don't take shots.
12:56They don't take shots.
12:57They just gunk.
12:58I mean, I'm not being only mildly facetious when I say that, but that's their game.
13:05And Doncic sets them up artfully, obviously, but with Porzingis around, it's a lot harder
13:10and the whole scope of their defense changes.
13:13Yeah, they can win without him, but it's going to be a lot harder to win without him.
13:20Now, I think he's a rational guy from what we see, and if he tells us it isn't so bad
13:27and I'm okay and I'll be able to play and he's saying he's playing a game three, I want
13:31to trust him that he's not going to do something stupid to risk himself, knowing that he's
13:37not...
13:38Hey, if he doesn't play game three and they happen to lose game three, if Dallas is going
13:41to win a game, it's going to be game three.
13:43Right.
13:44Now, although I must say that the Hawks once upon a time against the Celtics averted a
13:47sweep by winning game four, that doesn't happen too often, but it can happen.
13:53But usually...
13:54By the way, I'm going right now, I'm calling the over-under for Doncic on game three, 45.
13:59I wouldn't be surprised if he gets 50, win or lose.
14:03I wouldn't be surprised if he gets...
14:04I agree.
14:05I agree.
14:06Win or lose without Porzingis, but likely without him.
14:10Anyway, it's not crucial that he play, no, especially when you have the cushion lead
14:15that you've got now, you don't want to do anything stupid, and I trust that he would
14:18not consent to doing something stupid.
14:20He seems like a very rational person.
14:22I think if he could just maintain a presence, play conservatively a little bit, he will
14:28benefit.
14:29But anyway, just in general terms, Gary, the whole thing's going according to plan.
14:35Let's face it.
14:37They won two different games.
14:39They won a route game, and they won a game where they had to work for it, and they made
14:45the big plays when they had to make them, and never got into peril.
14:49But that white block saved all, and that ended the suspense of whatever was going to be suspense.
14:57That block ended suspense.
15:00So it's going very much according to plan.
15:03I'll point out to people that, however, I've been there.
15:07I've just been there too many times, and I've seen a series in which not only game one,
15:13but game two was a route, go into the hostile territory in game three, and we're coming
15:17home tied 2-2.
15:18It's not inconceivable.
15:19I want to remind people that the last time the Celtics won a finals in fewer than six
15:26games was 10 championships ago in 1965.
15:31The last nine have been six or seven.
15:38Don't be shocked, folks, if they come home 2-2.
15:40I'm sorry.
15:41I don't expect to, but I wouldn't be shocked if it happened, particularly if Donchik goes
15:46off for a couple of ridiculous games, and then, of course, if Kyrie untracks himself.
15:52And he'll play better, I guess, but the fact is that he's playing against the best defensive
15:56backcourt that he's played against in the playoffs, period, period.
16:01So on the outside looking in, I know you went into game one, correct, I believe, with Mr.
16:05Shelby?
16:06Yes, I did.
16:09So when you guys went in, did they give you the senior citizen press card when you walked
16:13in?
16:14I was just thinking, Dan and Bob walking in together, that's like 90 years of journalism
16:24experience.
16:25Well, no, he was there first when I walked in, but he was there first.
16:29I'm serious, though.
16:30You and Shaughnessy, like, let's just pump the brakes.
16:34I want to pump the brakes and praise my friends.
16:38Oh, it's over.
16:39Well, in my case, if you count me, it's still working, which I'm not, you know, I mean.
16:43Well, yeah, you are.
16:44But 55, it's 55.
16:45Yeah, I mean, I want to praise my friends, Ryan and Shaughnessy.
16:48So you got two legends, I mean, he was there before, but two legends walking in the building.
16:53That's over a hundred years of Boston sports journalism.
16:57Yes, yes, it is.
16:59That's amazing.
17:00That's amazing.
17:01Well, I think I'm the only person in the local court that dates to the 60s.
17:06When did he come in?
17:081960.
17:09Well, I was an intern in 68, but my first became official beat man in 1969, 70.
17:14And Shaughnessy came from Baltimore.
17:15Dan came from Baltimore to Washington.
17:19He started out in Baltimore, then he went to the Washington Star, and when it folded,
17:23he came to the globe.
17:24That was in the 70s.
17:25And the star folded, but Dan began in Baltimore and then Washington.
17:32He covered the Orioles.
17:35And I always say he was so, he's never forgiven the Red Sox teams for not being the Orioles
17:45in terms of the personal interaction.
17:47Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:48He loved that team.
17:49He's always fun to be with.
17:50You know, he's a good, he's friendly with Palmer.
17:53They're good.
17:54I don't say that they're good friends, but he's quite friendly with Jim Palmer, personally.
18:00I know that.
18:01And he looks back with those days, covering the Orioles with great fondness, I can tell
18:06you.
18:07He really, it was a great experience for him.
18:08Yeah, we should have him on this summer.
18:10Actually, we got to get him on and just have you, you know what, I'm going to, I want to
18:15have Dan on and I'm going to get you.
18:18Ray took the torch for me, you know, when I, when I, and, and, and then I got it back
18:24from him when, when he, when Peter Gammons left to go back to Sports Illustrated and
18:29Dan took over baseball.
18:31And of course Dan's written a wonderful book called, I wish it lasted forever, about the
18:3585, 86 season.
18:37But I love to kid him that, yeah, you wrote the book, but I finished the job.
18:42I picked up the team in February, but it's a wonderful book.
18:45I recommend it to all you good Celtic fans.
18:48You really want to get it.
18:51I wish it lasted forever, which is a direct quote from, I believe it was Walton, but it
18:56was one of the Celtics.
18:57Well, we're going to do a, Bob, we're going to get Dan on after the finals when things
19:02are slow before training camp.
19:04And I'm just going to talk to you guys.
19:06So we're going to do that.
19:08Okay.
19:09So another final thing on the Celtics that I want to talk about is an outsider looking
19:16in.
19:17And the point I was making is in game one, you were there and you've been around and
19:20you can kind of get a feel for things, even though you're not there every day.
19:25Yeah.
19:28What impact?
19:29How do you think this happened internally, Bob?
19:31I mean, because, you know, people could talk about Joe Mizzoula, like just rolling out
19:35the basketballs, but I'm going to poo-poo that a little bit.
19:39Joe Mizzoula has coached the team, first Brad Stevens, which is the executive of the decade,
19:44put this team together.
19:45But Joe Mizzoula has got his star NBA player, which in 2024 is really hard to do, to become
19:54a rebounding specialist, an assist guy and a facilitator.
19:59How do you think this team thing happened?
20:02He didn't have to win over Jason Tatum.
20:06Something with, they had to, he had to establish, impress Jason Tatum, you know, in his role,
20:12in his prior role as assistant.
20:14Because if you recall, the very first person that offered public endorsement of Joe Mizzoula
20:20on that fateful day in 2022 was Jason Tatum.
20:26He came out immediately about how he thought that this was Joe Mizzoula, you know, in praise
20:30of Joe Mizzoula.
20:31So, I mean, I just technically, I mean, it's quite clear that Joe Mizzoula has a good basketball
20:36brain.
20:37I mean, he just obviously does.
20:39And we're learning, as we've talked about on this show, he's a shy person by nature.
20:46And he's only slowly, the layers are being peeled off.
20:50We're getting more and more insight into who this guy is, you know.
20:54And, you know, we learned about the martial arts this year.
20:57We learned that he's a soccer fan who got friendly with Pep Guardiola, the legendary
21:02coach of Man City, who came to pay us a visit last week, who was present at game one.
21:06There were a lot of celebrities that they listed, and they were, of course, the Wahlbergs
21:10were both there, and on and on and on and on and on, and all the alumni and all that.
21:14The one that jumped out at me, holy bleep, Pep Guardiola's here.
21:19I mean, to some, I'm sure some of our listeners or viewers appreciate that, but most of them
21:24don't.
21:25But I'm telling you right now, this is like, I'll give you an example, Nick Saban level
21:30of his world.
21:31He's at the top of the food chain in the international soccer.
21:35Okay.
21:36They're friends.
21:37Something's going on here, folks, with this guy.
21:39So I'm impressed.
21:40So to answer your question, I just think he's got a lot on the ball, and he knows the game,
21:47and they trust his judgment about how to play this game and what to do.
21:51But I also think it speaks to Tatum's good heart and willingness to do, you know, ultimately
21:56to do the right thing.
21:58And I think he wants to do the right thing, and I think we're seeing clear evidence of
22:02that.
22:03Well, I have been prone to exaggeration, but we'll see how the rest of the career goes.
22:14But this type of coaching or mentoring is what we have praised Red Auerbach and Phil
22:19Jackson for.
22:20Yeah.
22:21Well, dealing with personalities, not just as the X's and O's.
22:25Right.
22:27Now, Danny and Brad together, you know, we got Danny and, you know, Brad and, excuse
22:35me, Jason and Jason and Jalen are Danny's legacy.
22:38Okay.
22:39Al is Danny's legacy as well.
22:42He was brought back by Brad.
22:45Okay.
22:46And now the backcourt is Brad's legacy, you know.
22:51But so it's a combination of the two.
22:53But they have given him easy people to work with.
22:57They have.
22:58I mean.
22:59Not one person that, I mean, it was difficult because of the nature, everything about him
23:03was, and it was pros and cons and yin and yang, and that was Marcus Smart.
23:07I mean, I was a pro.
23:08I love Marcus Smart, but I acknowledge his foibles.
23:11And I said, you got to live with the whole package, you know.
23:14But there's no yeah, but, there's not a yeah, but guy.
23:17Look at Przingis.
23:18He comes in.
23:19He's a model teammate and loves what he's doing, loves these guys, loves the game.
23:22I mean, there's no, the first eight guys that, man, I don't know, you know, and I'm assuming
23:26that goes, that there's not the Cornets is a team guy.
23:28I'm assuming that Tillman's a team guy.
23:30The Bessette, you know, there's no yeah, but people that we know of on this, you know,
23:35deviance of all, no, no, no sources of discord guys.
23:40So you know, they've, they've scouted their people now.
23:42I'm sure they would tell you we'd like to vet people and, you know, but you don't always
23:46guess right.
23:47But they've guessed right.
23:49And they've got good people who happen to be very good basketball players on this team.
23:54That's the ideal circumstance.
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25:37Moving on.
25:38Now, this is where we get into the history section a little bit of the Bob Ryan Tenguay
25:45podcast.
25:46I remember the passing of Chet Walker, we're discussing now.
25:50My memory of the Chicago Bulls when Bob was on the beat is when I started watching basketball.
25:56The first real season I remember as I was 10 years old back in good old Rumford, Mexico,
26:03Maine, was that 74 Celtic team.
26:05I remember the Bulls in Chet Love, Chet Walker, Bob Love, Norm Van Leer, Jerry Sloan, Dick
26:16Mata.
26:17I remember Mata as the coach.
26:18Am I right?
26:19Yes.
26:20Mata was the coach.
26:26Was there another Love on the Bulls who happened to be the brother of Mike Love of the Beach
26:30Boys?
26:31No, that's Stan Love.
26:32Stan Love.
26:33He played for the Bullets.
26:34He played for the Bullets.
26:36He's a member of the family.
26:39He's Kevin's father.
26:42Kevin's father.
26:43Right.
26:44Thank you.
26:45Okay.
26:46He wasn't on that team as well.
26:47If any comprehensive history of the NBA is written by anybody, it must include, if not
26:53a chapter, a very substantial look at those Bulls teams of the early 70s, which I believe
27:00may very well be the best group that never won a championship.
27:05Had there been no 24-second clock, I'm not being facetious, they would have won one or
27:11more championships.
27:12They were the best possession team with a meticulous offense that was a forward-oriented
27:19offense because of the great forward scoring of Bob Love and Walker, with what the toughest
27:26minded and physical backboard I've ever seen in the NBA, Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Leer,
27:33and an underrated center in Tom Boerwinkle, who not only once had a 30-some-odd rebound
27:39game, but was an excellent passer.
27:42In fact, on the next level, after the Walton-Jokic, we draw a line right there on the greatest
27:49passing centers.
27:50Now, the next tier, which includes Johnny Kerr and if you want, is Tom Boerwinkle.
27:56Boerwinkle is on that.
27:59Those teams, they did what they did.
28:01They ran precision offense.
28:04They exhausted the 24-second clock.
28:06They're pacing the game.
28:09When you played them, I love the whole atmosphere, I'll get to the Chicago Stadium in a minute,
28:14but when the Celtics would play them, it was a battle of which team's will will be imposed
28:19on the other.
28:20Will the Bulls be able to stop the Celtics who wanted to run from running, or will the
28:25Celtics be able to speed up the Bulls and make them get into a running game they don't
28:30want to get into?
28:32It was a battle of wills, and it was fascinating.
28:34Dick Motta was one of the most intriguing guys I've ever known in the NBA, a fascinating
28:40guy, whose background started coaching junior high, by the way, and then he had all the
28:46whole progression, junior high, junior college, college at Weber State, and then he was surprised
28:53hired by the Bulls to be the coach at a point in time when college coaches were just starting
29:00to get a shot at the NBA, and was a fascinating guy, and I firmly believe belongs in the Hall
29:09of Fame.
29:10I'm surprised he isn't.
29:12He went from there.
29:13He's got a losing record because of the Dallas teams that he coached in the beginning, but
29:17he coached them up into something respectable, and then he went to Sacramento, that was a
29:22mistake.
29:23He stayed around too long, okay?
29:26He coached the Bullets to the championship in 78, and went to the finals in 79 with them,
29:32okay?
29:33So he's got a ring, and he launched the Mavericks.
29:38He was their first coach, and he gave them some respectability, absolutely he did.
29:44He belongs in the Hall of Fame, fascinating guy, but those Bulls teams were intriguing.
29:49Chet Walker, when you talk to anybody from that era, any of us who covered him, and say,
29:58give me what you remember to Chet Walker, it always starts with this thing, up fake.
30:04The greatest up faker ever, the greatest, most patient up faker ever.
30:09I used to scream, he should get called for three seconds because by the time he gets
30:14done with the up fakes, but he was an excellent offensive player, excellent forward.
30:18By the way, Gary, plays a role in Celtic history.
30:23Yes, look at that look, folks, the look on his face.
30:28He was the intended target that John Havacek intercepted the pass for.
30:35No kidding.
30:36It was Chet Walker was the target of the pass that John stole, deflected.
30:45So he plays an important minor role in Celtic history.
30:48I don't think Bob Ryan would know that because everybody talks about Hal Greer, Hal Greer,
30:52Hal Greer.
30:53He gets it out.
30:54You can hear, I still heard Johnny, Johnny, it's an up fake and Havacek steals it.
30:57Well, the guy that he steals it from was Chet Walker.
31:00Wow.
31:01He was, everybody wondered how they were going to play that, you know, and what are they
31:04going to do?
31:05They're going to lob the will, they're going to, well, the idea was Walker would get the
31:08ball and hopefully if he missed, they had Chamberlain and Kerr were both on the floor
31:14at the same time, which they seldom did.
31:16And Luke Jackson, they were all, they were going to crash the boards and hopefully get
31:20a putback.
31:21But anyway, Chet Walker is part of Celtic history.
31:26Just a wonderfully efficient offensive player.
31:28And I did not know, did you know about his film producing career?
31:32I did not.
31:33Wow.
31:34You know, and he produced that film about Isaiah Thomas's mom, the mother of 10 and
31:39out of the ghetto, you know, youngest of nine or 10, you know, Isaiah Thomas, the original
31:44Isaiah Thomas.
31:46But there's a documentary that Chet produced about his mom and he also, but he had Hollywood
31:51connections afterward.
31:53And so anyway, but those Bulls teams were, and the Chicago stadium, it's my all time
32:00favorite visiting arena was the Chicago stadium.
32:04Everything about it was grandiose, including a theater organ that, you know, which was
32:10just, it was just wonderful.
32:13And the crowds are great.
32:14I just loved going there.
32:15It was, but those teams, those teams were so much, such an intriguing team, you know,
32:20and Sloan and Van Leer.
32:21I mean, I'll tell you about Jerry Sloan quickly as the thing that would infuriate people is
32:26that Jerry Sloan was a rarity.
32:28He was, he took charges.
32:30He would stand in front of a Mack truck to take a charge.
32:33He also was, as Johnny Moose would say, Stanislavski's here tonight.
32:39He was an expert flopper as well as a gutsy guy standing in front of a Mack truck.
32:46So he would get you both ways.
32:48So he was a flopper before it became fashionable.
32:52Absolutely.
32:53I remember a game, he, he, John Havlicek was called for an offensive foul at a crucial
32:58moment late in the game.
32:59And what happened was Sloan had a technique that he grabbed John and pulled him down over
33:05the hotel room and, and the referee fell for it and called the offensive foul on John.
33:12But Sloan was a character and I mean, an interesting guy, very, very slow guy.
33:15Oh man, I mean, he was coaching in Utah, lived in a hotel room.
33:17Yep.
33:18And that was Frank Layden.
33:20Oh, that was Layden.
33:21That wasn't Sloan.
33:22But Sloan, no, Sloan was, he was a hard-nosed guy, you know, a very, a very good coach,
33:27but you know, he, he, he slowed the game down as a coach completely as he had been taught
33:33by Dick Motta, you know, but I think it was natural for him.
33:37I mean, Chicago, Bob, Chicago has to be right up there.
33:40Well, Milwaukee, there was one bar, but Chicago has to be the best visiting city for, for
33:47bars.
33:48That's a good one.
33:49Of course, you have to go to the Billy Goat if you don't go to the Billy Goat.
33:53Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:54Of course.
33:55Yeah, you gotta go.
33:56I mean, the Billy Goat's a-
33:57For those that don't know the Billy Goat, explain.
33:58The Billy Goat is the source of John Belushi's famous, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, okay?
34:05It's about the Billy Goat and it's a, it's a subterranean bar.
34:09It still exists right there today.
34:11As you're going down Michigan Ave, you have to go down a few blocks south of the Marriott.
34:15You, you, you descend a staircase and there's the Billy Goat because Chicago has this extensive
34:21underground.
34:22If people haven't been there, there's a whole underground world and, and that's, it's part
34:27of it.
34:28You know, they do have the cheeseburgers.
34:29They got the, you know, but it's, it's, it was an, in its heyday was a bar for journalists
34:34and all these clippings of, of, of columnists and pictures of, of famous columnists and
34:39of course, Mike Warricko and, and, and company, it's, it's, it's Chicago to max.
34:45And you know, you go there, you're going to get your White Sox or Cubs game on the TV.
34:48You're going to, you gotta go there, folks.
34:50I'm telling you, you go to, if you don't know, you'll, you'll, anybody in Chicago will, they'll
34:53direct it to the Billy Goat.
34:54So you gotta go there.
34:55I love Chicago.
34:56I love Chicago.
34:57So do I.
34:58Future homework assignment for Bob Ryan, top five bars on the beat.
35:03Top five.
35:04Maybe, maybe we'll get Shaughnessy on.
35:06We'll do that with you.
35:07Oh yeah.
35:08Top five bars on the beat.
35:09All right.
35:10That was a good one.
35:11Yeah.
35:12All right.
35:13One, I, one I loved in Denver was Duffy's and, and Duffy's passed the test.
35:15They had the baseball encyclopedia up, up, up on the shelf.
35:18Oh wow.
35:19Well, that's, that's, that's all you need.
35:21And of course, there was the original Runyon's in New York, the, the late lamented Runyon's
35:24was, was, you know,
35:25Was Toot Shores?
35:26Was Toot Shores on that list?
35:28Without, I'm too late for Toot Shores.
35:30Toot Shores was, I'm too late for Toot, that was the, you know, that in the fifties, fifties,
35:34sixties.
35:35Yeah.
35:36The original.
35:37And it had, you know, that was everything from Sinatra to Jackie Gleason to Leo DeRosier
35:40to Joe DiMaggio to, you know, that I, I would, wouldn't you love to go back to.
35:45Oh my God.
35:46Oh, I, I never, I never got to go to Toot Shores.
35:49Wow.
35:50Okay.
35:51Homework assignment for the Shaughnessy show.
35:53Okay.
35:54So now Danny Hurley has turned down a seven, reportedly $70 million offer or whatever from
36:00the Lakers.
36:01We did look it up.
36:02He makes $38 million, no $32 million.
36:06He signed a $32 million deal in 2023 for six years with UConn.
36:10So he's staying at UConn.
36:12What do you think about this?
36:13Well, we don't know the reason, frankly, you know, we don't know whether it's because he
36:16just could not pass up an opportunity to get the win three in a row and put himself up
36:21there with, you know, the only person who's ever done that is John Wooden and then in
36:25college annals or that, that something in the end told him this maybe is not the proper
36:30time move.
36:31The Lakers at the moment aren't the team I want.
36:33I don't, do I want to deal with a, with a potentially deteriorating LeBron and what
36:38that might mean?
36:39Or we don't know what he, I don't know.
36:43I'm just throwing this out there.
36:44Does his wife not want to move?
36:46That could happen.
36:47I don't know.
36:48I don't know.
36:49But it's, that's a conceivable reason.
36:50I don't know.
36:51He's just going to, you know, have enough to put groceries on the table as it is.
36:55She won't need.
36:56Yeah.
36:57Nobody's starving.
36:58Right.
36:59I don't know.
37:00Uh, he, he, he, and the other thing is this, he's, it's not as if this is his only opportunity.
37:04The boat is pulled up to the dock.
37:06He didn't get on it.
37:07Another boat will pull up.
37:08He's 51 years old.
37:10He's got lots of shelf life left.
37:13And, and so, and we're told that he's always had admitted to people that I got NBA on my,
37:18you know, brain.
37:20I wouldn't mind challenging myself at the highest level and all that.
37:23And I think he might want to, but, but, uh, maybe it's just, he couldn't, it's just the
37:26team he's got coming in and.
37:30What I think is I'm trying to gather the pieces.
37:32Yeah.
37:33I think it's all of the above.
37:34I think what has a lot to do with it is the East coast.
37:36Cause I've heard he's really, you know, I heard that, um, he was interested in the Nets
37:42job at one point.
37:43And you're thinking one, my God, you'd, you'd take the Nets over the Lakers.
37:46And then, well, yeah, because it's in Brooklyn.
37:49You know, it's, it's all, you know, and I think the family is a big part, but yeah,
37:54I mean, it's, it's down the road.
37:56Um, I also think that in Danny has been very open about this, where he went through some
38:01depression in college, um, happiness matters, you know, and we all forget it.
38:08I mean, I mean, I remember that now that's an excellent point, uh, you know, it it's,
38:16and I do think ultimately the fact that it's not his one and only shot at it.
38:20Oh God.
38:21No.
38:22Yeah.
38:23At all at 51.
38:24And, and, and, uh, he will.
38:25So he's, he loves the circumstance he, uh, but we, we don't know for sure.
38:31And then he hasn't articulated it.
38:33I don't know what it was, you know, publicly yet and whether he will or not, we don't know,
38:38but the only thing we do know, and Jeff will certainly verify and Jeff will tell us chapter
38:42and verse who these guys are.
38:44You know, I asked him about, you know, you know, he's got a team coming back that is
38:47consensus top five right now and people, and, uh, and certainly when, if you're that good,
38:53then, you know, getting a tournament and see what happens.
38:55Well, you get the transport portal now, so guys are going to want to play from, I mean,
38:58it's like free agency.
38:59Yeah.
39:00Oh, I know.
39:01It's like everybody wants to play for the Yankees.
39:02You know?
39:03I mean, it is.
39:04Yeah.
39:05No, I, I know.
39:06I said, whoever would have thought 30 years ago, your stores, Connecticut would be this
39:08destination.
39:09But this week Calhoun, Calhoun, you know, in terms of the males and of course in Gino,
39:13the two of them think about it, you know, source Connecticut.
39:16I mean, all these, and yeah, you know, and, and there is no stores really.
39:20It's a mailing address.
39:21It's basically Madison, you know, this party really isn't a real stores, you know, it's
39:26just a, I don't have, I always loved that part.
39:30I was just thinking, uh, is Larry Brown the only coach that made the transition successfully
39:37still?
39:38Well, he certainly didn't make it.
39:40Brad did.
39:41Okay.
39:42Brad did.
39:44Okay.
39:45It's, it's, it's hard.
39:46I'm trying to think off the top of my head.
39:47Uh, uh, well gone, gone way back, but he had an, he had an intervening, um, uh, role as
39:52general manager.
39:53Dr. Jack Ramsey went from head coach at St. Joe's after a decade of great success to become
39:59the general manager of the 76ers.
40:02He was the general manager of that team and they won in 67 and, and then later became
40:08a successful coach with more than one team in Portland, Tripoli and won the championship
40:14in Portland, but he was a good coach in Buffalo, got them off the ground.
40:16And so Dr. Jack, uh, but he did have that transition of being the GM to get a sense
40:22of the NBA if that counts.
40:24But I would nominate him as a, as the most successful.
40:26Yeah.
40:27That's how I'm glad you brought that up.
40:28Coach Van Berdyckhoff didn't get a championship, but he had, you know, he got to the finals.
40:32He was the losing coach, of course, in 69 to the Celtics, you know, the famous scheme
40:36where you wouldn't put Wilk back in, you know, and I, but he was, and he coached several
40:41teams and, and with some, you know, he could get a good job in Detroit.
40:45He, he, he launched the, uh, jazz, um, anyway, Butch Van Berdyckhoff, uh, John McLeod didn't
40:52win a championship, but he was, but Simmons, there's that whole crop that came in and that
40:57spirit of time and which, uh, part of which motto was part of that in the late, uh, in
41:03the late, in the late sixties, early seventies, it became a, a kind of a thing to hire the
41:08college guys.
41:09And, and so, so some of them had some good success, but the only one that ever won a
41:14championship, uh, and that group was, was, uh, Ramsey, uh, although you point out Larry
41:19Brown later.
41:20Larry Brown's extraordinary figure in, in, in basketball.
41:23He's still coaching some.
41:24I mean, I see the last time I knew he was an assistant somewhere.
41:27I know he always said he would coach high school and nobody, no one doubted him.
41:32Oh, no question.
41:33No.
41:34I mean, it's interesting.
41:35He's still coaching high school, including Michael Cooper right now, but, uh, uh, so,
41:39but, uh, yeah, it's, it's, it's the league because the league has changed and the nature
41:44of the people has changed over the years.
41:45It's making harder.
41:46John Beeline, John Beeline, it was a complete flop.
41:49He was, it was, it was, he was just too old.
41:50It was too late for him, but he was a great college coach, but it didn't work at all.
41:55And, uh, uh, it's, it's, it's, it's the best move Shicheski never made was taking that
42:00Lakers job.
42:01Oh yeah.
42:02Yeah.
42:03No, thank you very much.
42:04That's the best.
42:05Yeah.
42:06And as we wrap things up, Kaitlin Clark snub with the Olympic team.
42:11No, not real.
42:12First of all, there's so many, I think one of the things that, uh, the people have are
42:15we're learning now because of the attention that's been focused on the Lakers, how many
42:19excellent players there have been and are that deserve no, no, no commendation.
42:24Well I saw it on television.
42:25I think I was watching ESPN and they ran down the team and I went, wow, that they're loaded.
42:29You're going to knock off.
42:30Yeah.
42:31I know you're not.
42:32Yeah.
42:33Yeah.
42:34Or, you know, she's a phenomenon.
42:35She's a, she's a rock star.
42:37She's a, you know, public knows who she is.
42:39She's popular.
42:40And if you back out to that, at the expense of fairness to legitimate stock players who
42:45should be, who, you know, paid their dues and should be on this team, particularly when
42:49she's 22 years old and she'll be on the 28 team, you know, boring and, and, uh, you know,
42:55it's not her birthright to be in the Olympics.
42:57It's, it's, I mean, I'm sorry.
42:58And she did the right thing.
42:59She cares.
43:00She's taking a public high road, which she really feels, I don't know, but she's as usual,
43:05she's very good and public, taking a public high road.
43:08I say no.
43:09Uh, this is, I applaud them for resisting any impulse could, would her presence of somehow
43:14enable them to sell more jackets and jerseys and, you know, and sneakers and probably,
43:19but, um, they resisted that good for them.
43:22Agreed.
43:23They did the right thing.
43:24She took the high road.
43:25Okay, Bob.
43:26Got it on my list.
43:28Coming up after the NBA finals, we're going to get the, uh, Ryan Shaughnessy memory lane.
43:33I can't wait for that.
43:34Uh, we have exclusive daily fantasy partner of CLN news media.
43:38Pick more, pick less.
43:39It's that easy with prize picks, Bob, I'll talk to you next time with Mr. Goodman.
43:45Okay.