You Got Boston Podcast launch: Celtics title run, Summer League, Olympics, and more

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CLNS and SB Nation reporter Noa Dalzell launches a brand-new Celtics podcast: You Got Boston. Noa will go behind-the-scenes on all things Celtics, share stories from practice, games, and in-between, bring on guests, and answer all your questions.  In this first episode, Noa will debrief the Celtics title run, the offseason, and Olympic play, and take live questions from the chat. Tune in and subscribe!  CLNS Media is Powered by:   Prize Picks - PrizePicks.com/CLNS  Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100!   Gametime - https://gametime.co  Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.  Elevate your style game on and off the course with the PXG Spring Summer 2024 collection. Head over to https://PXG.com/GARDENREPORT and save 10% on all apparel.  Nutrafol Men! Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/MEN and enter the promo code GARDEN!   #celtics #NBA #BostonCeltics The CLNS Media Network is the leading provider for video/audio content. CLNS is a fully credentialed member of the media with access to all NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB teams & venues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  CLNS' rebuilt their YouTube community in less than 12 months, during a pandemic that attacked sports. Wondering how? Find out here (and support our channel) - https://www.tubebuddy.com/clnsmedia  Visit the Official Home of CLNS Sports Coverage -  https://clnsmedia.com  Twitter - https://twitter.com/CLNSMedia Celtics - https://twitter.com/celticsclns Patriots - https://twitter.com/patriotsclns Bruins - https://twitter.com/bruinsclns Red Sox - https://twitter.com/redsoxclns Non-Sports - https://twitter.com/northstation Facebook - http://facebook.com/clnsmedia INSTA - http://Instagram.com/clnsmedia INSTA Celtics - http://Instagram.com/celticsclns INSTA History - http://Instagram.com/nbahistoryclns

Transcript

00:00What's up, everybody? Thanks so much for being here. I'm super excited for the first episode

00:24of You Got Boston, my brand-new Celtics podcast that is going to be three times a week, starting

00:30now year-round. And for those of you that don't know me, I'm Noah Dalzell. I cover the

00:35Celtics with CLNS Media and also with SB Nation and really appreciate it. I started this live

00:41from the final series where I was just going live on YouTube every day, just covering the

00:46finals from different places and really enjoyed that and enjoyed being able to give viewers

00:49kind of a behind-the-scene perspective on what was going on with the team and everything.

00:54And so this is an opportunity to go a lot deeper on the Celtics and to go a lot deeper

00:58on everything that's going on in Boston. And it really hasn't been as slow of a time as

01:03it probably should be considering it's late July. And so I'm going to start off, this

01:09is a little bit different just because it is the first episode. And I know most people

01:12will probably be listening to this as a playback, whether on Spotify, on Apple, or on YouTube.

01:17So you can subscribe to this podcast and all of those platforms, depending on where you

01:21listen. But I'll start off with just a little bit of introduction on myself, just so you

01:25get a sense of kind of who I am and why I'm doing this. And then I will just say, this

01:31is meant to be helpful to all of you and be an enjoyable podcast for you all to listen

01:35to. So I'm very much open to feedback, questions, things that you want me to discuss. It's not

01:41going to be as much of a Q&A as the previous ones were. But really, this is an opportunity

01:46for you to basically help kind of create the Celtics podcast that you think is missing

01:50or that you think, you know, you really want to hear from at this point. And so I've been

01:56covering the Celtics for about a year. I started last summer with Celtics blog. And that was

02:00a great experience, a great first year to cover a team is to cover a title run. And so

02:05that was a lot of fun to be able to just cover the team from the beginning of the year where

02:09they looked like a championship team. But obviously, teams oftentimes do and it's very

02:13rare to actually see everything come together and get it done. And so this is an opportunity

02:19now to kind of go into year two with a little bit more resources. I was had another full

02:23time job all of last year when I was covering the team. So I'm excited to be able to cover

02:27basketball full time now, and hopefully be able to get a little bit more sleep too. But

02:33essentially, the kind of the plan is for this summer is to be able to talk about kind of

02:37what happened with the Celtics last year. So we'll be throughout the summer kind of

02:41revisiting key moments, key players, kind of behind the scenes stories from practices

02:47and games and community events from the championship team. And then we'll be discussing

02:51Summer League and discussing the Olympics and then also offseason moves of which there

02:57weren't that many as you probably know. So all of that is to come really wanted to kind

03:04of share, you know, behind the scenes stories, it's not going to be as much of because it's

03:09just me, it's not going to be like a debate format. And I will be bringing in guests

03:12weekly. So of the three episodes, one will be with a guest, one will be like very rapid

03:17fire q&a, where I'll be taking questions and encouraging people to ask questions in the

03:21chat the way that we were kind of doing during the finals. And then one will be a just long

03:28for me talking for 30 minutes, kind of like the one today will be so that's just the plan

03:34right now. I'm sure that'll change a lot, many times. And again, if you have thoughts

03:39on questions or ideas on how to how you want to see this come together, it's very much

03:43still in the early stages, but I'm excited and grateful for CLNS for helping produce

03:47this. And for all but in particular, who's one of CLNS producers who designed everything

03:52made the intro, the graphics, all that. So with that, I'll just start off by sharing

04:00kind of my initial observations on the Olympics, because I think that's the thing that is the

04:05most, you know, front of mind, I talked a little bit about this in the gardener for

04:09yesterday. So if you were on that, you probably heard a little bit about this. But, you know,

04:14in general, I think that Celtics fans should be enjoying the Olympics, the Olympics should

04:19be a really fun opportunity for us all because at this point, you know, you had the year

04:25you had a pretty much perfect season, then you had a playoff run that was pretty perfect

04:28as well. Very stress free, I would say like there wasn't that many moments where the team

04:34was in peril, you know, maybe game one versus Indiana, they could have gone down zero to

04:39one, but they didn't. And so they were always in the lead, they were always comfortably

04:42in the lead. And I think from a viewer standpoint, I'm assuming, you know, I have a little bit

04:47of a different vantage point as media, but I'm assuming that from a viewer standpoint,

04:50it was a pretty enjoyable experience. And I think we have a tendency when things are

04:54really enjoyable to look for problems. That's a person thing, that's a media thing. And

05:00so the Olympics have kind of been that opportunity for people like I think, because the Olympics

05:06are a whole new ballgame and you have players that were left out and then you have Jason

05:09Tatum yesterday with a DNP. I feel like all this angst that people had that would never

05:14really materialize during the season is now there's a place for it to go. And so I'm seeing

05:20a lot of the kind of Olympic stuff that's been happening, a lot of, you know, discourse,

05:25a lot of controversy. And maybe that's just because there wasn't really anywhere for it

05:29to go all year. But I'll just share my initial take on the Olympic stuff, just because it's

05:34front of mind. And then I will be doing questions. So feel free to ask any questions in the chat box.

05:40Feel free to DM me questions on Twitter. If you want them answered next time, I won't see them

05:44right now. I'm not looking, but I will be more than happy to answer next time as well.

05:49But my initial thought is that Derek White and Drew Holiday are two of the best players

05:54on the team. And not that they're the two of the best players in the league or in the world,

05:58but on this team, they're absolutely invaluable. And because they play a role that is

06:02connected, that they play a role where they're able to facilitate, they're able to be kind of

06:07elite defenders. And the biggest thing for me, and I think that's something that even people

06:11don't always think about is that you don't have this transition period for them, that they're

06:16not really doing anything different than what they were doing during the regular season. So

06:19they're in an opportunity to, they have the opportunity to kind of continue the same

06:22basketball they were playing last month. Right. And so it's actually a lot easier for them than

06:27it is for somebody like Devin Booker, who has had to adjust his game and has done so well.

06:31But it has adjusted his game and become more of a three and D guy almost than a ball dominant,

06:37you know, primary scoring option that he is on the sun. So that's just one thing that I've noticed

06:42is with Derek White and Drew Holiday, they really haven't had to make that adjustment. And in turn,

06:46they're doing exactly what they're really good at. And they are doing a great job at that. And

06:50everybody should be enjoying that and celebrating that as self expands. And I think that all the

06:56story so far has been about Jason Tatum's DNP, which is why I wanted to start with Drew Holiday

07:00and Derek White, because I do think that they're both playing just elite basketball. And particularly

07:05Drew Holiday is somebody that offensively was pretty quiet earlier on this season. And yesterday,

07:11he had 15 points first, you know, in the first actually Olympic game versus Serbia. And so

07:16he's continuing to kind of show people that you have to, he has to score, you know, you can't

07:20leave open or else he will score and you can't take advantage, you know, you he'll take advantage

07:24of the fact that he's not, not really perceived as a primary threat out there, because he actually

07:30is a really good shooter, and he has a really versatile game. And there's a reason why he was

07:33a two time all star, right. So my observations from watching yesterday's game, I'll start with

07:37those two things. And then the next thing I will say is the Jason Tatum DNP was very confusing.

07:45Oh, thank you. My mic is pointing the wrong way. I just saw that chance. I just saw that comment.

07:51But okay, I will. I will see if I can fix that later, because I'm not really sure what that

07:56means. But Jason Tatum's DNP was one thing that I think people didn't expect people were kind of

08:02thinking this is going to be a, this is going to be an opportunity for kind of a passing of the

08:06throne kind of Olympics, there's going to be people that go that, you know, it's going to be the Kevin

08:11Durant, LeBron, Steph Curry's, and then there's, he's going to be kind of that bridge player.

08:15And in reality, I think we've seen that Jason Tatum, you know, in the exhibition games was kind

08:20of one of the coming off the bench had a pretty limited role offensively. And then, you know,

08:26obviously, yesterday, the big story was that he didn't play. So I think there's a couple things

08:31there. A lot of people I see are like, I hate Steve Kerr, Steve Kerr sucks. He's the worst coach,

08:35all this stuff. You know, they won by 26 or whatever, which they won by so you can't be

08:41that mad. I think just because at the end of the day, like that's his primary responsibility. And

08:45that was the primary outcome. But at the same time, I think that with Jason Tatum not playing

08:53at all, there is a question around like, even if it is primarily a basketball decision, there's an

08:57emotional human cost to it. And that was the thing that I disagreed with. I think that I understand

09:02like he has a weird fit on this team, because you have Kevin Durant, who was playing like

09:07prime Kevin Durant yesterday, LeBron James has been playing like he's prime LeBron James

09:11as well. So both those two guys really have been at their best, right? So we're not seeing,

09:17we're not really seeing the same drop off that I think people were anticipating a year ago,

09:20when this talks of this team were started the first kind of beginning. And then you have

09:25obviously the bigs, Anthony Davis has been a great fit. Bam, I think he's great, especially

09:28sharing the court with him, and they're creating a really dominant defensive front court. And then

09:33the guards we've already talked about. And so to me, it's like he has this awkward thing where like

09:37the position that he's playing is actually the most stacked right now. And especially when playing

09:42against Serbia, like there wasn't there not like that, that many great wing players that they're

09:45matching up against, that just isn't the nature of this, this pool really. And so I get how it

09:51happened. But I think you can find him eight minutes, because he's not a liability, he's not

09:55going to hurt you. And in reality, I think a lot of people have said this, but in 2028, they're

09:59going to really need him. And so that's kind of the biggest thing for me is that I feel like they,

10:05they, you know, just from a longer term thinking kind of thing that having Jason Tatum on the

10:11roster, you know, he was on the roster last time he was the second leading scorer last time.

10:17Oh, I have a rabbit. That's what's back there. Maybe, maybe she'll get featured at some point.

10:23But going back to Jason Tatum, you know, he was the average 15 points a game in the 2021 Olympics,

10:272020 Olympics, technically. And then this time around, you know, people were expecting him to

10:32have that role. And it's one thing for him not to have that role. But I think to give him a DNP,

10:35you just know, it's going to become a massive story, you know, you're going to want him later

10:38in the in the run as well. And I think already he started to Steve Kerr started to say, you know,

10:43he confirmed that the Tatum will play on Wednesday. And so if you already know, he's going to play on

10:48Wednesday, for sure, then I almost feel like it would be better to just play him for a few minutes,

10:53then it doesn't become this big storyline. And then you don't have to like compensate or

10:57push somebody else out of the lineup. I don't know, I just thought the whole way that he handled

11:00it, you know, became this kind of big media spectacle type thing. And I'm not in Paris,

11:06I wish I was I'd have more more interesting things to say if I was and I will be at pretty much

11:10everything outside of the Olympics. But I think moving forward, this is one of those things that,

11:15you know, is going to be a big story for the time being, and then it won't be moving forward.

11:20And Tatum will probably play 12 minutes and score six points on Wednesday and somebody else will get

11:25the boot if that's the way that you know, Steve Curry's doing it. So again, I think it's one of

11:30those things where it's inevitably going to be a big story, but it shouldn't be the big story of

11:33the offseason, nor should it really be the big story of the week, in my opinion, because I just

11:37think like you have enough, we've enough other things to talk about that are not not really

11:42a controversy, but still kind of more relevant to this team. And that's the fact that there are two

11:47Celtics players that are kind of getting lead guard minutes right now for Team USA, which is

11:51pretty remarkable. And then also the fact that I think we moved on from this title a little too

11:55quickly, honestly, I think there is, because there was the draft, and then there's summer league,

11:59that you don't really get to have all that time relishing and kind of reflecting and what happened

12:03and what you know, the history that was made the dominant performance that it was. And so, yeah,

12:09so that's my initial thoughts. I'm just I just wanted to start with that, because I knew I know

12:11it was the talk of the day right now. I also covered women's basketball. So I just covered

12:15the women's game. And it was interesting, it was a very dominant performance by Team USA,

12:19which is a way more dominant program than the men's side. They haven't lost the game since

12:231992, like any Olympic game. And but all 12 players did play even the player that was kind

12:29of last off the bench played like 11 minutes or even yeah, and Shannon playing more, but you know,

12:34contributed quite a bit. So there's certainly a way to play 12 guys. I think just clearly

12:38Steve Kerr doesn't want to, which is, you know, his basketball philosophy, I definitely am not

12:42one to challenge Steve Kerr's basketball philosophy. But there's so many different

12:47ways that this could go. I think even the starting lineup, there could have been a bunch of different

12:51starting lineups. So anyways, that's just my initial thoughts on the Olympics. But that will

12:55not be the focus of this podcast. The focus of this podcast will be throughout the year to give

12:59you live updates and behind the scenes things. And I know right now is a little bit of a slower time,

13:03not as much talking about not as much going on. Definitely less engagement and things like that.

13:09But I wanted to get started on this because I know a lot of podcasts stop in August. So this

13:13is an opportunity if you are somebody that wants to continue listening to Celtics coverage year

13:17round, I'm not going to stop, I'm going to go all summer. And then heading into the fall, also not

13:22going to stop, we'll have kind of full coverage. And yeah, I'm going to be going live from practices

13:28from games, especially from big games. I'll be on the road a lot this year. So I really will follow

13:34people's like I can't I obviously can't do everything you guys asked for. But if people

13:37are asking me to go live on a certain day, and there's like interest in that, like we can kind

13:40of break the schedule up as well. So very flexible. That's kind of the advantage of being able to do

13:45this with CLNS and be able to do this kind of on my terms and not have a set strict kind of rules

13:51around how this is going to be done. And also guests, I'm going to have guests on weekly. So

13:56if you have people you want on, I already have some people in mind that I definitely want to

14:00bring on both people in the media space, also people who have played former players, things

14:06like that. So we'll definitely be bringing on kind of a whole suite of people, especially in August,

14:10when things are a little bit slower post Olympics. But if you have people you want me to try to bring

14:14on, feel free to DM me. Twitter is the best way to act to find me know it as an MBA is my Twitter

14:19handle. But you can also I'm going to be making a you got Boston email. So for those of you that

14:23prefer email, you can email me as well. And obviously, I don't think I need to explain this.

14:27But the podcast name you got Boston is a reference to the fact that there were all the we want Boston

14:34chance. That's the opener that I played earlier for those of you that weren't on but this is it's

14:39kind of an ode to title 18 and to the Celtics championship season and everything that they

14:44all the kind of doubt and hate or whatnot that they overcame in order to get it done.

14:49So yeah, Brad Stevens would be an awesome guest. So I'm gonna take a pause here and just we have

14:55an ad because now this is a real thing. So we do have a little bit of ads here and there,

14:58but there's gonna be one today. And in the meantime, you can write any questions or

15:02comments in the chat and I'll go through them during the ad and I'll be able to

15:06then it will spend the next 15 minutes after that going through any questions you might have.

15:10So, you know, there's nothing better during the summer than experiencing a sunny afternoon at

15:15the ballpark or maybe a nice summer evening, catching a ballgame live in person, not streaming

15:21not on your phone, not on the radio, not on the TV. You know, I remember driving down from a

15:26every summer, it was a big deal. We get tickets to see the Red Sox at Fenway Park. And I just

15:30remember seeing the green grass as you walk up through the tunnel was like heaven. And I want

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17:10Okay, that was long. But it actually was nice to have a little break. Sorry if that was too long.

17:15And I did switch my mic. So I read that comment. Hopefully that is better. Let me know. But I took

17:21the two minute break to do that. So okay, great. So appreciate it. I'm going to go start going

17:26through comments from the top and I'll pin comments that I'm answering. And then yeah,

17:31if you don't get your comment or question answered today, I'll be doing this again on Wednesday. So

17:37no worries. We'll get through everything. I'm sure at this point throughout the summer,

17:40all questions will be asked because there won't be that many. And appreciate all the

17:44nice comments as well. I'm going to rapid fire through them. So I have not met Larry Bird.

17:49That's the question here. Have I met Larry Bird? I haven't met a lot of former players, honestly,

17:52mostly just current players. Paul Pierce was the one guy that was around quite a bit this year,

17:56and especially throughout the playoffs. I got a question here about do you have hamsters in the

18:01cage? I have a rabbit. You'll probably see her. She free roams around my room like a cat. So

18:07you'll probably see her at some point throughout this year, especially depending on how my computer

18:12is tilted. But right now I see a pretty good access to her. I'm going to skip the ones about

18:19the Olympics just because we just talked about that. So I see some stuff about Jason Tatum and

18:24John Brown. There's obviously advantages to them not playing. I will add that, you know,

18:27as far as injuries and wear and tear, but obviously people want to see their favorite players play.

18:34Question here, will Tatum have another DNP? I mean, Steve Kerr pretty much confirmed it this

18:37morning that he won't. So we expect to see him. I think somebody else might get a DNP. So

18:42curious who that'll be, because certainly the guys that you might expect to have get a DNP,

18:47like Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, the guys that he's kind of competing with,

18:50they played quite a bit. So I don't think that they will. So really eager to see that,

18:54but USA plays South Sudan on Wednesday. Okay, a bunch of stuff on Jason Tatum.

19:03Okay, I'm going to answer this question from Celtics Digest. Who do you think at this moment

19:08in the East is the Celtics biggest roadblock for Banner 19? Yeah, it's a good question,

19:15and I think it's one that has been discussed quite a bit, but one that I also don't have like

19:19a perfect answer to. So I would say that the most, the team, if the Celtics don't make the finals

19:26next year, the team that I think knocked them off was the Knicks. But I also can't really picture

19:33the Knicks in the finals, but I could see them playing, get them getting, but you know, I was

19:38there by the Knicks earlier, and then somebody else being in the Knicks, something like that. So

19:41which obviously wouldn't be great, because that means the Celtics didn't make even the conference

19:44finals. But I think the Knicks just have a very well-balanced roster, and people are kind of

19:50forgetting how good the Knicks were throughout the early parts of the playoffs last year. They

19:54beat a 76ers team that had a prime elite Tyrese Maxey and a Joel Embiid that had some really big

20:00performances, and that was without Julius Randle, and then without Mikael Bridges, who's going to be

20:05a fixture of this team now, and with a whole bunch of injuries. And so I think the Knicks are going

20:11to be really good. I will say, I think people are a little bit underestimating the absence of

20:14Isaiah Hardenstein and what that's going to do, because he was really huge for them last year,

20:19and he's obviously not going to be a part of things moving forward. So you know, he's with

20:23OPC now. But the Knicks are one threat. I also think that the 76ers are going to be better than

20:29they were last year. A, they have another year under their belt as far as just Maxey and Embiid

20:34playing together and Maxey getting better. But Paul George is going to help. I'm not like a huge

20:38Paul George believer in the sense that I don't think he's going to change the game for Boston.

20:43I'm sorry, for Philadelphia, but he's almost being asked to be a role player on this team,

20:48and he's a very good role player. So I think the key with Paul George, at least in this age

20:52in his career, is to not expect him to be a primary option, but he's the third option on

20:58the 76ers team, I would think. So that's a pretty good situation for them, and I think they just

21:02picked up some good role players and have had a really good offseason. But the thing that's weird

21:07with Philadelphia is that they're kind of a brand new team, in a sense, besides for that duo of

21:10Maxey and Embiid. So in the same light that you have, you know, all these other players, you know,

21:17all these other players they signed that look good, like you have Kelly Hubert, who's back,

21:21it's mostly a brand new roster. So it's kind of the opposite of what the Celtics did, where they

21:25ran it back with a completely identical team, which we'll definitely talk a whole lot more

21:29about this summer. So those two stand out to me, but I also think people are a little bit sleeping

21:34on Milwaukee, just because we actually never saw Milwaukee come to form last year, the way that we

21:38might have expected them to. Milwaukee ended up having, you know, no Giannis for the entire playoffs

21:45and missed Day Millard for some of the games as well. But I think those two guys, if they're

21:49both healthy and playing well, will just be a tough out for any team. But yeah, nobody in the East,

21:54to me, is like, wow, look what they did this summer. Like they're looking better than Boston.

21:59I think the Celtics are still the clear favorites. To make the finals, again, doesn't mean that

22:02they'll do it. So hopefully that helps. Question here from Tom Coolidge, did you go to Summer League

22:09and what was the vibe like? So I will talk about this because I was actually there, and I always

22:13think it's more interesting if I can share about things that I was actually at and not just my

22:18opinions on things. So that'll be a common theme you'll see throughout the podcast. I think you

22:22can get a lot of opinions from a lot of smart people everywhere, and I'll definitely share my

22:27opinion as well. But I think that what I can provide that's maybe a little bit more interesting

22:31is things that I'm experiencing and seeing and hearing from behind the scenes. Because I know

22:35before I became a member of the media, I was always curious about how things worked. And so being able

22:40to be at the finals and at Summer League, I want to be able to kind of communicate effectively what

22:44all that was like. So Summer League was a really awesome experience, and I was there for the entire

22:50time. I'll spend a few minutes talking about this, but basically I arrived on a Friday and then I

22:56left on the following Sunday. So I was there for like 10 days, and the Boston media contingency was

23:02actually pretty small. There was like maybe seven or eight of us there, and everybody left like

23:06halfway through. And I think part of that was just like burnout from all of the coverage that we did

23:11during the playoffs. Like whether that was emotional or like physical burnout or just like

23:15the publications that people worked for didn't have budget funding left for them after spending

23:20all that money flying them around to Dallas and Miami and Indiana and all that. So it was actually

23:25pretty cool because while it's always fun to have a lot of media there, the experience of being one

23:29of the only media members, and for a while the only media member once everybody left, gave me

23:34the opportunity to chat with players one-on-one, gave me the opportunity to chat with DJ McClay, who

23:40was the Summer League head coach one-on-one. And so it was just a lot of fun to be able to just have

23:45all that access and to not have to, you know, a lot of times in practice, especially during the

23:49playoffs, like you're in a scrum, there's 45 reporters. If you want to get one question in,

23:53you're like yelling and you're hoping that they hear you. And here I was able to have like actual

23:58one-on-one conversations with players. And so that was awesome. And I think the Summer League team

24:03finished two and three. A team like the Celtics that just won a championship and didn't have any

24:08lottery picks is never expected to be like an elite Summer League team. But I also didn't think

24:13they were particularly impressive as a unit. Like they looked a little awkward at times.

24:17They weren't my favorite team to watch. So I'll admit that they weren't my favorite, but there

24:22was a lot of good things. And my biggest takeaway from Summer League was that Jaden Springer looked

24:25great in the one game that he played. JD Davison looked much improved. Like he just made a

24:31significant leap from last Summer League where he was a little bit disappointing, a little

24:34underwhelming. Overall, I thought the two draft picks, Anton Watson and Baylor Shireman, looked

24:40very solid. In particular, Anton Watson, I thought was the most NBA ready of the bunch, especially

24:44of the guys that played the entirety of Summer League, which wasn't everyone. Namius Keita played

24:49two games looked really good in the second and pretty good in the first. But I don't think that

24:53they wanted to risk his injury or anything like that. But really, the takeaway for me was that

24:58Namius Keita, they really wanted him to practice different defensive schemes and kind of get his

25:04rotations and everything was execution ready for when they play against, you know, when he plays

25:10actual Celtics minutes. And so that was really the intention with him playing Summer League was

25:13giving him the opportunity to kind of like role play what his role will look like on the team.

25:18So those were my on the court observations. Off the court, I think people are probably more

25:24interested just because you couldn't see it on TV. I think this was a weird group in the sense that

25:30the older players were the newer players. And so like Baylor and Anton are both like 23, you know,

25:3623 plus almost 24. Meanwhile, Jordan, you know, multiple years on the team, he's 20.

25:43Jaden Springer, you know, entering his fourth year in the NBA, he's 21. So it was this weird

25:48dynamic where like, there wasn't this normal hierarchy of like the veteran players, and then

25:53like the young lottery picks, like it was just a little bit of a different a different vibe. In

25:56that sense, DJ McClay was it was his first year coaching, head coaching. So he's actually never

26:02been a head coach before this was his first time. And I chatted with him about what that experience

26:06was like. And he pretty much said, you know, I think for me, it was all realizing the importance

26:10of the personal relationships, and the emotional side of things. That was kind of like his biggest

26:15takeaway. So that was interesting. It was cool to he's not someone that I'd ever spoken to.

26:21So it was cool to just get a chance to talk to him. And we had a scrum after every game,

26:24every practice. But I'll just zoom out a little bit and just explain how summer league works.

26:29For those of you that don't know, it's if you're like a fan, like you're like a diehard NBA fan,

26:34it's pretty much your best bet to actually meet a player because you have all 30 teams there

26:39represented at some capacity. And with that a lot of head coaches, a lot of general managers.

26:44So you have like a wide contingency of NBA people. And with that you have Brad Stevens is walking

26:50around you have not Joe Missoula, because he was rehabbing a knee injury. And I don't know if he

26:55would have gone regardless. But everybody you can imagine, I mean, grand Williams is sitting in the

26:59bleachers eating Chipotle bowl, like just like they're everywhere. So you want to meet an NBA

27:03player, like summer league is the place to do it. And I'm not at the place in my life. And I really

27:08never was but that I'm like starstruck by seeing players because obviously, I'm around them every

27:12single day. But I was texting my little brother being like, you have to come to Vegas next year,

27:16because you'll get a kick out of this. So I would recommend that if you're something you're

27:19interested in, I think you get daily passes, and you get to watch all the games. There's two arenas

27:23where games are split up. There's like a main stage almost where all the Lakers games were,

27:27because all the Brawny games had a bigger crowd. And then the Celtics generally played at the

27:31Cox Center, which was a much smaller arena. So that was cool. But I think the biggest thing for

27:36me was getting to talk to people off the record. I never really this might sound dumb, but I never

27:41really understood like what, how people have sources, like how other media members have

27:46sources. And I was always like, why do Woes and Shams like get all the scoops when like it should

27:52be Boston media. So all of that was like kind of a learning curve for me, my first year covering the

27:57team was figuring out like, how do you actually get information? And how do you figure out what

28:01you can report on and what you can't. And at Summer League, I actually had conversations with

28:06people from the Celtics front office, conversations with assistant coaches, conversations with scouts

28:12and agents and members of other teams front offices, which was just really great, because it

28:17gave me the opportunity to learn about like, what goes on behind the scenes, I learned a lot of

28:22insight that I can't necessarily share, like it's not on the record, but it can help inform

28:26how I cover the team and how I am able to understand nuances or things. So maybe next

28:31year, I'll actually get a sense of like who they might trade for in advance. Whereas like this year,

28:35I really had no idea because I was just kind of covering the team from the outside. So I think

28:38the best part of Summer League for me was just the opportunity to develop my network and meet

28:44different people and meet other reporters. It's kind of like a big networking event. And nobody

28:47actually has like that much work to do, honestly, because at the end of the day, like you have a lot

28:52of work to do in, in the sense that you're like talking to people, but nobody really, you don't

28:56have to write like a lot of articles about the games or things like that the way that during

28:59the finals, it's like there's so much going on. So that was something that was pretty cool.

29:05See a comment here about ad reads, though. It's true. Yeah, it's always nice to get paid. So

29:10ad reads means that we get paid for this, which is which was a lifelong dream. So I'm really,

29:13really grateful to be able to do that. I'm going to do a few more minutes, I actually have a

29:19basketball game that I'm playing in at 630. So that's why I have to wrap this up. Normally,

29:23I won't have a hard stop. But this is just a crazy day. And I'm still trying to figure out

29:27the best time to go live. Honestly, I think the biggest topic going into the new season

29:32is the frontcourt. So that's a question here. Horford is going to be a year older,

29:38Christoph is from what I understand, talking to people like I do think he's going to miss a really

29:42hefty amount of next year, like potentially half the season, something like that. So wouldn't be

29:47surprised if that ends up being the case. And then you have guys that are back from last year

29:54that are impactful players, but weren't on the team last year, weren't playing significant minutes

29:58last year, they were on the team. So Luke Cornett, Namias Keita, and Xavier Tillman, I'm really

30:03excited that they brought all three of those guys back. And I'm really curious to see if any of them

30:07in particular can step up and play a really significant role next year. And I think everybody

30:12has like maybe over the three of those, if you are sitting there thinking like, oh, I'm really high

30:16on Keita, but I'm low on Luke, I think people have players that they naturally gravitate towards,

30:20I don't really have a favorite or at least someone that I think is like the best or that should be

30:24kind of the natural backup center. I think all three of them have a unique skill set and a

30:29different ceiling and a different floor. But excited about the fact that they brought them

30:33all back, I thought it was pretty impressive. I can say Luke Cornett left a lot of money on the table.

30:40So I think that's already been speculated on, I can confirm that that's definitely something

30:45that people have shared. And so it's really cool that he is willing to come back, was willing to

30:50come back at this point. Despite that, and to come back to Boston on the minimum, which is all they

30:55can offer, Xavier Tillman on the minimum, Namias Keita on the minimum. So I think that's the biggest

31:00thing that I was really pleased about in the offseason. And then as well as the extensions by

31:04Derek, you know, Derek White, Sam Hauser, both those extensions, I thought was pretty awesome

31:08that they were able to do that and that they were able to bring those guys back, despite the fact

31:12that I think in particular, Derek White probably could have made more on the free market, probably

31:16Sam Hauser too, but you never know, he's in that weird position that like Caleb Martin was in where

31:19he didn't get a huge contract. So yeah, I think I'm curious to see how the frontcourt holds up,

31:24which of those guys steps up. There's going to be a lot of other storylines that we'll discuss,

31:28but I guess I'll pick that one for now. And this is not a question, but it's a comment that I will

31:34respond to from Tom Coolidge about the Celtics offseason, being all about the financial

31:39implications instead of the positive aspect that we got everyone back. I cannot emphasize this

31:44enough. I personally could care less about the financial implications down the road,

31:49A, because we literally don't even know who's going to own the team. B, because we have no idea

31:53what's going to happen in three years, regardless from a health standpoint, from a winning standpoint

31:57to over speculate right now about the payroll 2026. Like, I find that boring, and I probably

32:02won't do it at all. Maybe I should be more educated or interested in this topic. But I think it's just

32:06amazing that they were able to get everybody back and that a championship roster is running

32:10it back completely with the same team. When is the last time that something like that has happened?

32:15I mean, the only two guys that are not under contract for next year are Shae Brissett and

32:18Steve Mihailuk, who I both think were like pictures of the locker room. They were great, great guys,

32:23great bench players. I asked Brad Stevens about it in Vegas, and he said, great guys. I know

32:28they'll find a great place to contribute to, but it didn't sound like they were coming back to

32:31Boston. But one of those spots is now Baylor Shireman spot because he's, you know, he was

32:35drafted. And then the other spot, we'll see what happens. Probably a big, maybe Anton gets it,

32:40maybe one of the two ways. So we'll see. But the fact that we're able to get everybody back to

32:44extend Jason Tatum, Derek White, and Sam Hauser to re-sign all the guys in the minimum contracts,

32:49where they had very little flexibility, is remarkable because this was a team that really

32:52loved playing together. They really loved each other, and they had enormous success on the court.

32:57So that's my biggest takeaway. And I thought that was really cool that they were able to do that.

33:03And it's just really impressive, honestly. It shows the relationships that the front office

33:07has with individual players. So yeah, I'll leave it at that. I'm going to do like two more questions.

33:16Let's see. Oh, there's so many good questions. Okay.

33:25Um, I can quickly say I'm not in Paris because you have to get credentialed like years in advance.

33:33I was like a lobbyist years ago. So I wouldn't have even known that I wanted to cover sports.

33:38But I do hope with the next Olympics, which are in LA, that I'll be able to cover that and

33:41give you guys all the updates in the world, hopefully. Last question that I will,

33:50you know, I guess I'll answer this just because it's a, it's a personal question.

33:54Someone here asked what if I play basketball, I can say I'm a shooting guard, but I'm not that

34:00consistent of a shooter anymore. I used to be a pretty good shooter, like in high school,

34:05I was a really good shooter. And then in college, I played club basketball, Northeastern for five

34:11years. So that was fun, six years, actually, because I did my master's there too. And

34:14honestly, I did my master's so I could play longer was the truth, embarrassing to say.

34:19And now I'm kind of a washed up shooter. So I'll run up and down, I'll chuck some threes,

34:24but I like a normal stat line for me is like one for five from three of these days. So

34:28nothing to brag about definitely a better, a better spectator that I am a shooter. But I'll

34:35leave it there because I do have to get going. But I will say I super appreciate people for tuning in.

34:40You can subscribe, I will say this before we go, you can subscribe are on all platforms,

34:46you can subscribe on YouTube, Twitter, my Twitter is ZoeDalZellaNBA. You can

34:54subscribe on Apple Podcasts, you got Boston, Spotify, you got Boston, subscribe to my YouTube

35:01if you're watching this on Twitter, just because on Twitter, you can't ask any questions. And always

35:05I get by far the most views on Twitter. So do subscribe. Really appreciate everybody for

35:10tuning in. This is the first episode. Sure, we'll get all cleaned up. We'll have a whole

35:14bit of background to like, I got to figure out something better than my like shoe rack and my

35:18bed. So we'll figure that out. But in the meantime, really appreciate everyone tuning in. It was an

35:24awesome first year covering the team. And I look forward to regular coverage this summer ahead of

35:28next year. And I wish you all a great rest of your week, great rest of your day. And on Wednesday,

35:33we'll have way more to discuss. We'll talk I think we'll do after the game. So we'll be able to

35:37discuss the South Sudan game and whether or not Tatum played and all that and kind of do reactions

35:42and everything. So yeah, thanks so much, everybody and have a great rest of your day.

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