The Garden Report crew goes LIVE for an Olympics edition! Join Bobby Manning and Noa Dalzell for postgame analysis of Team USA's gold medal game against France.
The Garden Report is Powered by:
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying MLB 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. Go to https://gametime.co !
The Garden Report is Powered by:
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying MLB 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. Go to https://gametime.co !
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Can you say hard hats, folks?
00:07Hard hats?
00:08Lunch pails?
00:09Steel tool?
00:10Boots?
00:11Anything short of a championship this year is a failure.
00:12Look at this boomer right here.
00:13You've just got so much talent here.
00:15Somebody said we need to apologize for Jalen.
00:17Can I close it, John?
00:18What are we apologizing for?
00:19What did we say?
00:20What did we do?
00:21Hey, this is Noah, and I'm here with Bobby Manning, and we are here to discuss the Olympic
00:36win over France and the fact that we had three Celtics performances to discuss as well, but
00:41I think right now the Celtics are not honestly front of mind from what we just saw.
00:44I don't know, Bobby, what are your initial thoughts to the really just astounding last
00:51three minutes there that we just saw from Steph Curry?
00:52I think that's kind of the most front of mind thing for anybody that watched that game.
00:55Yeah, I haven't pulled up Twitter or anything like that, so I don't know who they do an
01:01MVP award now.
01:02I would have to imagine he won it.
01:04I guess LeBron could have, too, so it'll be interesting to see which one of them comes
01:08away with it, but he was the story of the last two games here.
01:11I know I wasn't on last game, but that was a real iconic moment for his career, and then
01:15to follow it up with this tonight, this is exactly what you were looking for from him
01:18because this is his first Olympics.
01:19He hasn't had the opportunity to do this, and a bit of a slow start to the first couple
01:24games there, but just classic stuff from him, the celebrations, the fire, the shooting,
01:31of course, just ridiculous last game, especially nine for 14.
01:35I mean, no one else can do that.
01:36No one else can do the stuff he does, and now it's crazy for a guy who accomplished
01:40so much before that 2022 finals.
01:43Just over the last three years here, we're seeing him get his first Olympic gold medal
01:48and his first finals MVP, so amazing stuff from him late in his career.
01:53Yeah, I mean, that was insane.
01:55Watching him, it was 4-3 in the last two and a half minutes, and after on the heels
02:00of the most recent game where I feel like people kind of counted him out because he
02:04struggled a little bit during the pool play games and just hadn't found his rhythm, and
02:08then I don't think they're here without him.
02:10They don't beat Serbia, and I don't know if they win tonight.
02:13I mean, they probably win tonight, but he was just so instrumental.
02:16It's hard to really talk about anything else considering just the individual greatness
02:19that we just watched.
02:21I was just trying to see if there's anything on that MVP count.
02:24I would imagine it has to be Steph.
02:26I think LeBron might get it.
02:27That would be my vote.
02:29Steph would be your vote?
02:31Yeah.
02:33And I think there were other people that stood out from this game as well.
02:38I mean, I've been so impressed by Devin Booker throughout this tournament.
02:41I know he hasn't been one of the stars, but he has been like the fourth guy to LeBron,
02:46Durant, and Steph that's just been able to be a role player, and I guess he was that
02:50in the last Olympics too, but I don't know that people necessarily would have been able
02:53to count on him as being that guy just doing all the little things, hitting open shots.
02:59He, to me, has been like the biggest star of this tournament from kind of raising his
03:03own stock standpoint maybe, but everybody else has kind of had their moments, but then
03:09they've been quieter.
03:10Obviously Embiid was huge in the last game.
03:12Didn't do much tonight.
03:13Bam had his game.
03:14Anthony Edwards had his game, but I think a lot of those other players had a moment,
03:18but Devin Booker was the other one that stood out just throughout the tournament just being
03:22really, really consistent, and yeah, probably that fourth guy.
03:27Yeah, and he claimed that role pretty early and just rolled with it, which I don't think
03:31any of us were sure he was going to be able to do.
03:33It was pretty amazing to see him do it, and the shooting's just ridiculous, especially
03:39when we talk about Tatum, and we'll get to Tatum pretty quickly here.
03:42The difficulty of making the most of just a couple attempts, two for four for Booker
03:48in this one.
03:49We're only talking about, what, four more shots tonight, so 22 three-point attempts
03:53for Booker over this stretch here, and he's shooting 60% on them.
03:57So that's hard to do, and he's done it.
04:00Durant's done it.
04:02Curry, of course, has the greater volume, but he's maintained this effective run that
04:07he's been on after a slow start over the last couple games here.
04:10That's just hard to do because of how limited your touches are, how limited your opportunities
04:14are to have the ball in your hands and get things going if you are cold, and that's the
04:18one thing I'm going to probably remember most about this.
04:22They definitely got pushed.
04:23I think tonight showed more than anything because I came into this game saying, all
04:26right, are they underperforming a little bit during some of these stretches or, of course,
04:30this last game where they almost lost, or is the world pushing them that hard?
04:35And I think this game, again, confirmed that the world is pushing them that hard, so we've
04:39had to see them figure things out.
04:41There was definitely internal dynamics on this team and egos and roles and minutes and
04:47all the things we've talked about here that they had to figure out, and that made it interesting.
04:51We've watched so many of these teams in the past just roll.
04:54I, of course, was at the women's game the other night knowing that's what the men used
04:58to look like.
04:59It was just a snooze fest.
05:01There was real intrigue in this game.
05:03There was all-time intrigue in that last game, and so much of it came down to the U.S.
05:09just having to figure it out play-to-play, quarter-to-quarter, and they did it, and it
05:13was impressive to watch them do it because it happened on the fly.
05:16Like late in this game, Bam's in that closing lineup, not looking good, and then they shift
05:21to Davis, and he's on the offensive glass, and he's another guy who really impressed
05:24me on this run, just how impactful, consistent, energetic he was.
05:28So it was a fun team to watch.
05:30If you're a Celtics fan, you're pissed.
05:32You're not loving how it went for all your guys for much of this run, but if you're a
05:40fan of basketball, this was really fun to watch.
05:42Yeah, I mean, come on, Noah.
05:43I know we played a little bit tonight, but you don't love how this went for Tatum if
05:47you're a Celtics fan.
05:49Yeah, no, but here's the thing, though.
05:51The one thing I'll say, and I agree, and we can talk, I mean, we'll talk more about the
05:53Tatum stuff, but there was also three Celtics players that were on this team, and I feel
05:58like at a point, Celtics fans were like, I'm now rooting against Team USA.
06:02Like, even if you're just team first and you don't care about the country at all or
06:06whatever, there's still two other Celtics fans that presumably...
06:10Celtics players, yeah.
06:12Yeah, and Drew Holiday, I mean, was really important to this team in particular, and
06:16Derek White had his moments.
06:17Obviously, he didn't play tonight, but he wasn't just like the 12th spot that didn't
06:22do anything all Olympics.
06:23He was important, and Drew Holiday hit a big three down the stretch there, and just
06:27defensively, it was critical throughout this Olympic run.
06:30So, I don't know.
06:31I feel like maybe Celtics fans are Tatum fans, and there is some overlap, and I know
06:36fans take their franchise players really seriously, but there also were other guys that
06:41were a big part of this, but I get it.
06:44I mean, the Tatum storyline just became so insane.
06:49It's honestly hard to fathom how scrutinized...
06:53At one point, I was like, he's standing in the corner, and he's catching the ball, and
06:58the entire world is ready to tweet about it.
07:00You know what I mean?
07:01If he misses a shot right now, it's like everybody's clowning it.
07:04This is why he didn't play.
07:05If he makes a shot, it's like, Steve Kerr, why have you been hiding him?
07:08It's just, you can't have that much scrutiny over every little thing on the basketball
07:12court, because down the stretch there, LeBron had turnovers, Curry had a turnover.
07:17Everybody made mistakes.
07:18Everybody had bad plays, and I feel like with Tatum, everything that he did was times a
07:22hundred the way that it's being received in the world right now.
07:24It's a little bit wild.
07:26Yeah, it's unreal how big that story became.
07:30Because the first time, it was pretty big.
07:32The second time, we're in the knockout stage, and everybody's watching, and everybody's
07:37in Paris.
07:38All eyes turned toward that decision, especially coming off the championship run that he just
07:44had, and the notoriety internationally as a star he's earned.
07:49I tweeted out, and I put in my story today.
07:52I was at a concert last night, and we met this guy from Germany, and one of the first
07:55things he said to us was, can you believe Kerr benched Tatum?
07:59He was pissed.
08:01I know.
08:02And people all over Paris were, and people all over the internet.
08:05Players thought it was stupid.
08:07Bob Cousy weighed in.
08:09WIC was mad about it.
08:11I mean, this was the benching heard around the world.
08:14It truly was.
08:15And I think it says something about Tatum and how people perceive him across the board
08:21in the basketball world, especially, because I feel like it was a lot of players, a lot
08:24of people around the league, a lot of analysts, people who are keyed in, who are like, how
08:28can you not find any time for him?
08:31And so I respect that.
08:32My take has been that he didn't play well enough during the minutes, but when it's,
08:36what is it, Jamal Crawford, you know, Grant's going to have his back.
08:40Cousy, you know, being a Celtics guy, I'm sure that plays into it.
08:43But I feel like a lot of more neutral voices were also looking at this and saying, really?
08:48But of course, you had his mom and dad weighing into here.
08:51But as far as tonight goes, I thought he was OK.
08:55And that's all they needed from him.
08:58He came in, made a couple of nice defensive digs at the ball, disrupted some plays, got
09:03that run out in short order there.
09:05And that was another nice moment from Curry setting him up for that.
09:08And then, of course, just not able to get the shot off in a couple of different situations.
09:12The three missed.
09:13Finishes, what, 0 for 10 in this run here from three.
09:17And that play where you had Yabu lined up was tough.
09:20Those are the kind of plays from this run where I'm like, man, you got to beat your
09:25guy one-on-one in those situations.
09:27There's so few situations that you're going to have the ball in your hands lined up.
09:31He's 10, 15 feet from the basket there and you just got to take Yabu.
09:34I know Yabu has had a magical run here, but that was tough.
09:38But overall, I don't know.
09:40C plus for Tatum in this game.
09:43If I would put a grade on it.
09:46Better, better than what we've seen.
09:48He got to play, but it wasn't anything extraordinary.
09:51No.
09:52And the thing is, is like he's in that spot now where he's not going to.
09:57I don't think he feels like he should be taking the ball and doing a whole lot.
10:00He was very passive throughout this entire Olympic run.
10:03And we're not used to seeing that.
10:06We're used to seeing Tatum the focal point of the offense and drawing all the
10:09attention and being the facilitator.
10:12And I think at the end of the day, like this whole discourse around him might
10:17just come back to the fact that he just wasn't a great fit on this roster.
10:21Like the things that he's good at was a little bit duplicative.
10:24And I'm not saying, I do think that he should have played.
10:26I think the DNPs were a little bit extreme.
10:28And I do think that like, there was no reason.
10:30I felt to me that Steve Kerr made decisions before the game and then just
10:33stuck to them.
10:35Even when things weren't going well, like he was like Tatum's not playing
10:37against Serbia.
10:38And that's, that's what kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
10:39And I think that's what maybe some people didn't like,
10:41but ultimately that he wasn't really needed on this roster and he was needed
10:45on the 2021 roster and he'll probably be needed in a 2028 roster.
10:49And it doesn't necessarily mean that he, you know,
10:51it doesn't reflect on him not being a great player.
10:54We know he's a great player.
10:55He's a great fit on the Celtics.
10:57But on this particular team, he was the odd guy out and hopefully that
11:01doesn't, you know, that doesn't destroy his confidence.
11:03I don't think that it will.
11:04He's, you know, it's, I have, if I had to bet on it,
11:06Isaiah Thomas I saw just tweeted,
11:08I think Tatum's going to win MVP next year.
11:10I don't think he's going to win MVP,
11:11but I do think this is he's going to have a great season next year.
11:13And if anything, he'll use this as fuel and motivation.
11:15And he didn't spend the whole summer celebrating.
11:17He spent the whole summer dealing with all this.
11:19So, yeah, I don't know.
11:20It's an interesting conundrum here,
11:22but I do feel like this whole story might just,
11:25it may just come down to the fact that on this roster,
11:27like there were other forwards that have way more experience with Olympic
11:30play that are more pure scores.
11:32And he was just going to be in this position that he's been in.
11:35And, you know, I hope, I hope he didn't hate the whole experience.
11:38Hopefully he still found some value in it and he won a gold medal.
11:41And, you know,
11:42we don't really have no idea what he's actually thinking.
11:43I think a lot of people think that by his parents tweeting that he
11:46should have played, but that's like him telling them to,
11:49I don't necessarily think that I think it might just be them.
11:51Going, you know, maybe going a little unhinged.
11:53So we don't really know how he's feeling.
11:55And maybe he wanted to hold you a sit down and tell everybody exactly
11:57what this summer was like for him.
11:59Yeah.
12:00I'm interested to hear more about it.
12:02The limited comments we've seen you've cleaned frustration from that.
12:06And he certainly has said the right things in terms of only caring about
12:10the winning here, but there's no way you can be thrilled about it,
12:13especially with how you would have imagined.
12:15He would want to be part of this team going into it.
12:18No one wants to sit for a whole game.
12:20Nevermind two out of the run here.
12:22So that wasn't great.
12:23I think he called it humbling.
12:25So that's good to hear.
12:26There'll certainly be an inspirational factor for it and he needs it.
12:29I do think he's going to have to go back to the lab with some of the
12:32things in terms of his shark creation.
12:34And that's the only thing I think you look at here from this run.
12:38Cause listen, we all know the differences in FIBA.
12:41We all know the situation, the role he's on with this team.
12:44And we've talked about the rhythm thing over and over and over again.
12:47I think the only thing you look at here that extends from the playoffs
12:50is the three point shooting and where his shots are going to come from
12:54this season.
12:55And I'm interested to see how that goes.
12:57Does he work into the mid range a little bit more?
12:59I think that's something that it looked like he lacked here that maybe
13:01he could have found some offense in that area.
13:03The finishing is something I certainly still feel good about.
13:08And the one-on-one play probably isn't going to be a problem for him
13:12because he draws crowds so often and he's able to get the pass off
13:16I think during this run you saw some nice passing from him too.
13:19So I'm not panicking with Tatum here.
13:23But I do think the tough part is, Noah, as I've said a number of times here,
13:28is if you're going to be a fan of his who believes he's the best player in
13:33the world and he's better than his peers and he's the guy in this league
13:39going forward, face of the league, whatever you want to say,
13:42it's tough to look at what he did here and say that's the guy.
13:48Now I also understand that this team was about Curry, LeBron, Durant,
13:52those kind of guys coming in.
13:54And this wasn't just an obligatory gesture toward those guys.
13:58Those guys carried this team.
14:00And it is indicative of where that hierarchy at the top of the league
14:05is right now.
14:06You have your Giannis' and Jokic who are clearly a cut above.
14:09You still have your LeBrons and Curries and Durants trying to hang on.
14:13And those guys can still play at such a high level here.
14:16And then you have your Tatums and Edwards of the world here
14:18who are firmly in that class.
14:21Are they going to shoot up to Giannis' and Jokic's level
14:25in the next couple of years here?
14:27Or are they like 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 guys here?
14:32Which I think is probably the most fair place to put them.
14:35Looking at performances like these for those guys.
14:37And Booker I think you put into that category as well here.
14:42I don't know.
14:43It's disappointing if you love Tatum,
14:46if you want to see this be his victory lap for the Olympics here.
14:50It's definitely not a panic moment for where he's at here.
14:53But there certainly does need to be some work.
14:56And as you said, there's some fuel in the fire here for him
14:58to go into next season playing at a higher level.
15:02Yeah, and I guess maybe part of my thing with it,
15:04because I know obviously we've been asked about this so much.
15:07It's been a big story of the Olympics, honestly.
15:09I feel like thinking about where media coverage was,
15:12where online discourse was,
15:14the Tatum DNP thing was almost as central as anything else.
15:17I just don't really buy into ranking players that much.
15:20I know it's a part of the game, so people do it.
15:22I love it.
15:26So I just find A, it's really just hard to compare players
15:29in different positions and at different points of their career
15:32and different roles.
15:33A lot of the discourse, I think the reason people are frustrated
15:36is because they're like, this is bad for Tatum's top five case
15:40or this is bad for his whatever standing in the league.
15:43And I just don't like the Olympics being used to determine standing
15:47in the NBA because that's not what it's about.
15:49It's about winning a gold medal and doing so with a team.
15:51And that's been my frustration with the entire process
15:54is that it's not supposed to be.
15:55There's a lot of guys that if they were the top featured guy
15:58in the offense would have averaged 20 points in this Olympic team.
16:01There's probably 20 players in the NBA that could have played that role
16:04and they weren't and that's okay.
16:06It doesn't mean that they're not great players.
16:09I think the thing with Tatum is that he didn't fit
16:11into the role player thing.
16:13He wasn't able to excel in the Devin Booker slot of just hitting threes
16:18and being comfortable in that position.
16:20And maybe that's just this particular roster.
16:22Maybe that shows us that maybe he's a guy that's so used
16:24to being the focal point that he's not used to playing alongside
16:27so many stars the way that maybe we expected.
16:30Maybe it's the role that he was told to play in this environment
16:33and maybe he didn't have the buy-in from the coaching staff or whatnot.
16:36So there's a lot of different explanations, but I don't view this
16:39as like this now shows us that Tatum's ranking in the world went down.
16:42I don't know.
16:43That's just me.
16:44I'm sure the whole world would probably disagree with that
16:46and his rankings on all the lists are declining as we speak.
16:50But I feel like we just didn't see much of him at the end of the day.
16:53And you know me.
16:54I don't believe in shooting.
16:55I don't believe in looking at like an 11 game, say 11 shot sample
16:58to like make broad generalizations about someone's shooting.
17:01He's been struggling from the shot like throughout the last six months.
17:04And that's why I do think that's a valid conversation.
17:06But he never got into any sort of rhythm in these Olympics.
17:10Yeah, it's baffling where that's at.
17:12And I'm interested to hear more about where that shot is
17:15at going into next year and see how he gets off in the preseason
17:20and regular season first 10 game stretch there.
17:23Just see where it's at.
17:24Because he'll certainly have many opportunities to get threes off
17:27in Boston.
17:28And he'll take them with confidence and we'll just see where it goes.
17:31Because last regular season he was pretty solid on a high volume number
17:34of threes there.
17:3537 I think is what you're looking for for a guy who's taken as many
17:40as he is here.
17:41So it's definitely perplexing because it's been going on for so long.
17:46You thought it was just a slump he might come out of later in the playoffs.
17:49It never really subsided.
17:51And then he never hit one period during this run here.
17:54So that's the one thing you take from this and say,
17:58all right, where's that going here?
18:00Because on this Celtics team, the style they play,
18:04the way Joe wants them to play,
18:06it is pretty central to who he is as a player here.
18:08And I've said we actually saw it a little bit during some
18:11of the exhibition games.
18:12I'd love to see him playing closer to the basket.
18:14I'd love to see him using his power game,
18:16be a guy who's going to the free throw line eight, nine,
18:1910 times a game as he has in different spots over the last couple of years
18:22here, especially in the finals.
18:24He was so great around the basket in the finals.
18:26And he really is a power forward at this point,
18:29the way he's built, the way he's improved his game around the basket.
18:33So there's a balance that I think he has to strike.
18:37I think embracing a more expansive mid range game, a floater,
18:41especially he had a floater opportunity in that Yabu sequence I mentioned,
18:46it just hit right off the back of the rim.
18:48And I've seen him flash a nice floater at different points in his career,
18:51but last year that wasn't quite there as well.
18:54So it's tough, Noah, because he's, he's more,
18:59he's shifted more toward passing defense, rebounding,
19:04all the little things that keep him engaged in games when his scoring fluctuates.
19:08But at his heart, when you're a number one guy in this league,
19:11your scoring is also so central to what you're doing out there.
19:14And fortunately they do have Brown who's able to take on a lot of that load
19:17when Tatum goes cold from the field.
19:19But you just look back at those playoff numbers, 42 from the field, 28 from three.
19:24It's amazing.
19:25They were able to sustain in spite of that and be so dominant,
19:28but they need him to be a little more efficient than that.
19:32And that's, that's where you can, I think,
19:34criticize him coming out of this one or at least expect him to be better
19:37because the bar is high.
19:39I know, you know, whether you want to do a list or not,
19:43his expectation is to be a guy on that level now,
19:47especially for a championship team.
19:49And he's been a little streaky as a scorer for a decent run now.
19:54Yeah. And I think we'll be fine.
19:55I feel similarly about it as I do,
19:57but the Al Horford shooting struggles of the previous playoffs and how people
20:01were kind of like, Oh, he just can't handle it.
20:03And then he came back and was obviously like a shooter this past year,
20:06but we can talk about it.
20:07Let's take a quick break and let's hear from our friends over game time.
20:12I love going to MLB games during the summer.
20:14I love going to concerts, games, sporting events,
20:16and there's no better way to get tickets to all of those events than the game
20:19time app.
20:20Game time is an authorized ticket marketplace of major league baseball,
20:23which makes getting tickets faster and easier.
20:25Prices on the game tab actually go down the closer it gets the first pitch.
20:29You can download the game time app.
20:31You can see any event that you search and put the location in where you're
20:34based, see upcoming concerts, sporting events, whatnot,
20:37and get the best deals, best prices guaranteed.
20:40So take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with game time,
20:44download the game time app,
20:45create an account and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.
20:49On top of the fact that it's already a really good deal,
20:51download the app, terms apply, redeem the code CLNS for $20 off,
20:55download game time today, last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.
21:05PrizePix is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million
21:09active members.
21:10PrizePix is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports.
21:13Unlike other apps on PrizePix, it's just you against the numbers.
21:16All you do is pick more or less on two to six player stat projections and
21:20watch the winnings roll in.
21:21Get in on the daily action with your friends and become part of the
21:24PrizePix community today.
21:26You can now win up to 100 times your money on PrizePix with as little as
21:30four correct picks.
21:31With PrizePix you could turn $10 into $1,000 while watching Team USA
21:35rack up the gold medal of the summer.
21:37You can make a PrizePix lineup of players across basketball, soccer,
21:40tennis, golf, and more in as little as 60 seconds.
21:43Just pick more or less on two to six player stat productions and you're
21:47locked in.
21:48So personally, I'm excited to watch Team USA compete in these next few games.
21:53So download the PrizePix app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit
21:57matchup to $100.
21:59That's code CLNS on PrizePix for a deposit matchup to $100.
22:03Pick more, pick less.
22:04It's that easy.
22:08So I do think we should zoom out a little bit on the broader story here,
22:14the broader picture, which is that at the end of the day,
22:16three Celtics players also just became Olympic gold medalists for Holiday
22:20and Tatum.
22:21It's their second.
22:22For Derek White it's his first.
22:23I think that's a remarkable thing in its own right that Derek White is an
22:26Olympic gold medalist after just who he was five,
22:29seven years ago in his career as a player.
22:32And I do think Drew Holiday and, you know,
22:35kind of solidified himself as one of the key guys in this team,
22:38more so than several others.
22:39And, you know,
22:40people deny this now, but when it was first announced,
22:43that Holiday was going to be a priority on this roster and that he was,
22:46they were,
22:47USA was already kind of making sure to get in before a lot of the other
22:49stars were solidified.
22:51A lot of people were like, Drew Holiday, why Drew Holiday?
22:53Like there's a lot of better American, American guards.
22:55And that obviously aged terribly just because of who he is as a player,
22:58who he was all year.
22:59And then throughout this Olympic run,
23:01I thought that he was so important defensively,
23:02but then also offensively,
23:03he just looked super comfortable and just kind of reminded everybody that
23:06he's an offense, you know, he's not an offensive liability at all.
23:09He's an all-star, a multiple time all-star,
23:11and he can be a leading score,
23:13especially when he has so little attention on him as he did in this
23:16Olympic run.
23:17And obviously with the Celtics as well, but he really impressed.
23:19I mean, I watched him obviously the last Olympics,
23:21but it was fun to watch him after having seen him and gotten to know him
23:24and his game so much this past year.
23:26And he, he was one of the most important players,
23:28especially alongside Steph.
23:30I thought that he was able to kind of let stuff get away with things,
23:33you know, get away with defensive mistakes or liabilities.
23:35And we heard from players all year that drew holiday fixes.
23:38So many things on the court that we don't even know that there's things
23:41that just internally, they,
23:42they recognize that if they mess up holiday can fix it.
23:44And I've had to watch half of that stuff,
23:45but I think even we missed it sometimes even looking for it,
23:48but he was really a standout.
23:50And I hope that his performance and just his role in this roster doesn't
23:53get overlooked because winning a gold medal after being traded and winning a
23:56championship within a little metal right after it's a,
23:58it's a pretty amazing way to spend your, your six months.
24:02Yeah. And his steadiness from three,
24:05as much as we make a big deal about the other aspects of basketball,
24:09so much of it does boil down to three point shooting in today's game.
24:12And you look at last year,
24:1443 during the regular season on five attempts a game into the playoffs,
24:19he's still at 40 on 4.6. And on this roster,
24:22I don't have the numbers in front of me,
24:24but I have to imagine he's well over 40 for this team.
24:27And in a game like tonight's where he went in and out of involvement and
24:33moved to the bench in favor of Durant.
24:35So as we talk about your role fluctuating,
24:37that happens for him here too. And still,
24:41despite a bad foul here,
24:44a couple of shaky plays late first half hits a three,
24:49second half hits a three.
24:51And those are just nice pacing baskets for this offense as they're running
24:54sets. I think both of them were in the half court, I want to say.
24:57So those are important.
25:00That's his most important skill because everything else is just such a staple
25:04for him. You know,
25:05he's going to make good decisions with the ball more often than not,
25:07you know,
25:08that he's going to bring the defensive pressure and they needed it at times
25:11during this run. And he was instrumental when he was in the starting lineup.
25:15It's impressive to see just how steadily he produces,
25:19how even with a small role,
25:22as we talk about with some of the other guys here,
25:24his impact still feels large. And you look at the South Sudan game,
25:29especially, I think it was where he and White are playing together.
25:32I think that's, if you are looking back on this whole run,
25:36it's totality, you know,
25:37it's just a couple of Tatum benchings and this gold medal game here.
25:41That was a real moment where again, international audience,
25:45a lot of people watching over the summer,
25:47get a good look in this environment at how dynamic of a guard combo that is.
25:51And speaking of rankings, you know, forget the Tatum debate.
25:56You have a real case here,
25:58especially coming out of this and how impactful they both were at different
26:00points of that holiday White backcourt ranking right up there with any other in
26:04the NBA right now. And that's a powerful tool for the Celtics to have.
26:08It says a lot too that, and I think I said this on an earlier show,
26:13Tatum and Brown,
26:14we've seen them for so many years now do what they do for better for worse.
26:20And we've seen both the highs and lows in their game,
26:22carry the Celtics into constant contention,
26:24but also get them close and not quite there.
26:27It was really this backcourt in many ways this year in holiday,
26:32replacing Smart, doing many of the same things Smart did,
26:35but bringing that shooting element to the backcourt.
26:37White getting his shot to a high,
26:39high level over the last two years here that allowed them to become that
26:43championship team.
26:44And when you look at the way they accentuated the stars on this team,
26:49when they were able to play,
26:51I just think it says all the things in the world about these two and both
26:55extensions. I think you look at them,
26:57White extension more than the holiday one, certainly,
27:00but crucial moves.
27:03You have to keep these guys around involved and hopefully,
27:06especially in holidays cases, he gets into his mid thirties here.
27:09He continues to be as effective as he's been here on this run.
27:13And throughout last post season, because these guys are just essential.
27:17This is stuff you didn't have before both of them arrived and it changed
27:21everything for the Celtics when they got here and you,
27:24you saw it on this team too.
27:25I don't think it was automatic that they were going to have as roles as large
27:28as they did maybe holiday more Southern white,
27:31but both ended up just being staples on this team. And again,
27:34holiday wasn't at his best tonight.
27:36It still has two important threes on four tries.
27:40Yeah. I mean, I thought he was great across the board. I mean,
27:41he had a couple, a couple of mistakes,
27:43like you have to have a foul and maybe a turnover, but just defensively,
27:46the president, the energy that he brings,
27:48like I started watching him just in health and just the way that he,
27:51he was just compensating for the fact that there were defenders in the court
27:54that were making errors.
27:55And so I do feel like holiday was one of the steadiest players of these
27:59Olympics. LeBron,
28:00I think has to kind of give him that that award of the most steady and
28:04Devin Booker would be up there as well. But yeah,
28:07I think you're absolutely right that if you're a Celtics fan,
28:09you're heading off of this Olympic run,
28:11feeling even better about those extensions. If you weren't feeling, I mean,
28:14you should already have been feeling great about them after what we saw this
28:17year and what we saw during this playoff run. But yeah, I mean,
28:21I know that the narrative is going to continue around Tatum.
28:24I know that there's going to be a whole lot of discussion around, you know,
28:28what, what his standing is, what his role is, is he, was he embarrassed?
28:31Was he humiliated? Like it'll go on all summer.
28:33I'm really looking forward to training camp and getting to just hear from him,
28:37hear from others and kind of move forward because I do feel like the story,
28:40he just kind of lasted a very long time and maybe too long. But yeah,
28:45in a way like holiday and white were,
28:48were the difference between this year's team and previous year's teams.
28:51And so the fact that now they're in this role and kind of getting the credit
28:55for it with a gold medal and, you know,
28:57capping off this incredible year like that, it is very fitting. I don't know,
29:01anything else stand out to you that we should chat about before we wrap up
29:03here? It really was the Steph Curry game.
29:06It feels kind of disingenuous to talk about anything else after what we saw
29:09from him. But it also just this whole run to me was just like,
29:13I feel really lucky to be watching and covering basketball at the same time as
29:16the Apex.
29:17It was fun.
29:18His career is an overlap and just, yeah, this roster that they assembled,
29:21as a fan of basketball,
29:22I think you have to have just loved it and just loved being around it.
29:27Yeah. And they came through this and it, it wasn't easy.
29:31They looked done with five minutes to go in that Serbia game and they overcame
29:35it by playing the highest level of basketball you can imagine or all the
29:39criticism he got.
29:40And I'm not going to praise him here because he certainly had mistakes,
29:43but I think her did okay.
29:47Trying to push the right buttons, trying to manage the egos.
29:50I know Warriors fans feel similarly about it too,
29:52despite all their success because I've seen them all rip him left and right
29:56too.
29:57And so they're not feeling any better about her than the U S fans and every
30:01individual players fans are of this team, but they got it done.
30:05And we very easily could have been having a completely different conversation
30:09on all time failure and embarrassment and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
30:13A couple of Serbia shots went down late there,
30:15but they tightened up defensively when they needed to.
30:18As you mentioned, those holiday sequences,
30:20the second unit sequences were really,
30:22I thought just thrilling to watch right from the exhibitions,
30:25especially when they were going to some of those Bam Davis combinations.
30:29I think at different points when guys are struggling,
30:32other guys stepped up last game and bead Curry, the rant, this game, LeBron,
30:37Curry, you know,
30:40I think the holiday at his moments in this game to Booker, of course.
30:44So like there's always this fluctuation on this team of guys getting involved
30:48when other guys were down.
30:50And I think there's just with this team,
30:55a shadow of doubt that they overcame that made it more fun.
31:00And I think you look at all the guys here, especially the front runners,
31:02the guys who made it happen here is a victory lap for these guys.
31:06And they're still at a high, high level,
31:08but this is probably the last Olympic run in particular,
31:11where they're going to be at this level.
31:12And to see them face some adversity,
31:15face some resistance and overcome it and be the guys who led that charge,
31:20I think was really fun to watch.
31:21And then of course, in this game, one,
31:24I think that was my favorite thing about this run here was getting to watch a
31:28little bit more of him after the season he had.
31:30And he pushed it further a couple of upsets for that team.
31:34Not many expected them to beat Canada.
31:37Not many expected them to beat Germany.
31:39And he looked dominant as the central force of that team.
31:42Even at points in this game,
31:44one point finishing right over holiday in the post that second or third chance
31:49point late, they gave France a little bit of a chance.
31:51Some of the shooting from him in this game, rebounding defense,
31:55all the way down the line.
31:56I think his stat line for this Olympic was something close to 20, 10,
31:59three, two, and two.
32:01So I hope he rests up.
32:03I hope he's got a leap ready for the second year.
32:06I hope the Spurs are more relevant around him because man,
32:09he is every bit the player he was hyped up to be.
32:14And it won't be long before he's in the same conversation as all of these guys
32:18here.
32:19He might already be because he carried some serious weight tonight and
32:22throughout this run.
32:23So that was exhilarating to watch, especially in front of the home fans.
32:26That was another element to the last couple of games here,
32:28being out here, some great crowds, some great, you know, bar scenes.
32:34There's a real basketball fandom here that they captivate.
32:39I know their women are going to be trying to beat the U S as well.
32:42So great week out here.
32:44I'm off tomorrow to Spain just to chill before we get back at it.
32:49Celtics will be back at it soon rather than later.
32:52And this was a fun week, a really special week,
32:56not just for basketball, but for sports as a whole.
32:58I think Paris just nailed it here.
33:00This was a great, great Olympic as a whole.
33:03Yeah, absolutely.
33:06Thoroughly enjoyed it.
33:07I've watched literally everything there is to watch in the Olympics.
33:10It was a lot of fun.
33:11And yeah, we'll be, we'll be back.
33:13I think there'll be, there will be no, no more games coming up soon.
33:16I know we've been like,
33:17there was not really ever an off season between the year and summer league
33:20and now the Olympics.
33:22So there'll be a little bit of a break before the remainder of our coverage
33:26going into next fall.
33:27I'm continuing my podcast new at Boston three times a week,
33:30wrap this slow period.
33:31So we'll find stuff.
33:32Well, I know, I know you'll probably go longer on him,
33:36but we do have quick news item.
33:39I want like a minute from you on streamer.
33:42Hi, Luke.
33:44That's a good call Bobby.
33:46Yeah, that was,
33:47I did not see that coming that he had a four year $15 million contract.
33:51I'll say it now.
33:52I was talking to a European scout.
33:56There were people at summer league.
33:57I think that we're thinking he might go overseas.
34:00And so I started thinking that that's where,
34:02that's where he was headed.
34:03And I honestly didn't think we were going to see him in the NBA next year.
34:05And I didn't,
34:06I didn't say anything cause I didn't,
34:08I didn't feel like sufficient sources and I'm glad I didn't because a four
34:11year $15 million contract in Utah is just amazing for someone that really was
34:15not in any rotation last year. And it's not a young guy, you know,
34:17he's been in the league for quite some time now,
34:19but still still got a little bit of game left.
34:23I just want to mean like, he's not a, he's not like a prospect, you know,
34:26he's he's who he is. And we always heard he was great in practice.
34:30He always looked great shooting around, but we just didn't see him a lot.
34:32I mean, he looked good in the minutes that he played,
34:34but pretty cool that he got that opportunity.
34:36And it also kind of goes to show you that this is that the guys that took
34:40pay cuts to stay in Boston, like the better, all the better minimums,
34:43like Steve Ohio got into getting paid way more than a lot of the guys that
34:46came back and obviously they had to, but it just kind of shows you,
34:49there might've been a bigger market out there for some of those players.
34:53Yeah.
34:54And obviously he got a lot of praise for how he handled the last year,
34:57quietly 38% in those 41 games from 30.
35:00So shootings, everything he shot well enough to hang on.
35:04I don't know how much that 15th guaranteed,
35:06but I'd assume at least get this first year out of it.
35:09So credit to him sticking around and it was a tough choice last off season for
35:14him, whether to go to,
35:15I think it was Greece or go to Celtics and Celtics sold them.
35:20Probably not going to play much, but he came and won a championship.
35:23So jazz Celtics be a big ring waiting for speed.
35:29Yeah.
35:30And we're seeing here that LeBron won MVP of the tournament.
35:35I don't, I'm surprised by that.
35:37I kind of knew it was coming, but Steph earned that I feel like.
35:41I wonder how they decide that.
35:43In my core.
35:44So maybe I'm, maybe I'm a little biased here, but a little surprised.
35:48Yeah.
35:50If there was a vote, I would've gone Steph, but not a bad choice for LeBron.
35:54He was special on this run.
35:56Still in many ways,
35:59the best, most consistent player on this team of all stars and the best
36:03players in the world, which is hard to imagine.
36:06What is this his fourth gold?
36:09Oh yeah.
36:11Cause he skipped 2020.
36:12Yeah.
36:13Yeah.
36:14Well, good for LeBron.
36:15Davis look good too.
36:16We'll see what the Lakers can do this year.
36:18Cause those two guys are still at a high level here,
36:21but the team around them we'll see.
36:26Well, let's wrap it up here.
36:27Bobby safe travels.
36:29I'm glad for you that you got to be in Paris for this whole week.
36:32And we'll have more coverage coming up.
36:35Moving forward.
36:36I'll be going live tomorrow,
36:37so we can talk more about this game and talk more about kind of what it
36:39means for Celtics context as well.
36:41But yeah.
36:42Thanks everybody for tuning in.
36:44On to LA.
36:452028.
36:49Wait, Ahmed's got an outro for us, I think.
36:51No, he doesn't.
36:52You said he was going to work on an outro.
36:55He had a phenomenal game.
36:57Phenomenal.
37:01I think it's an option.
37:05That did not sound like a chair.
37:07It was a freaking chair.
37:08It does sound like a chair.