On this episode of the Big 3 NBA Podcast, A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani Lunis dive into all the biggest stories surrounding the Boston Celtics and around the NBA. Plus, where does Joe Mazzulla rank among NBA head coaches? And could he climbs the ranks even more this season? All that, and much more!
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SportsTranscript
00:00The Big 3 NBA Podcast is powered by PrizePix, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the
00:23CLNS Media Network.
00:25Hello everyone, welcome to this episode of the Big 3 NBA Podcast.
00:29Your usuals are here, A'Shawn Blakely, Gary Washburn, I'm Kwanye Lunas.
00:33Let's start off the top, we're going to get into the NBA GM survey.
00:39Brad Stephens, of course, the GM here for the Celtics, but the Celtics overwhelmingly
00:43the 83% favorite to repeat.
00:47Only OKC, 13% in Dallas, 3% got votes besides Boston.
00:51Let's just react to that off the top, which I mean, there's not really a question as to
00:55why that is, but what do you think that means?
00:58I was surprised it was that lopsided.
01:01I thought that there would be, you know, some folks might have a little bit of love for
01:04the Knicks.
01:05Some folks might have a little love for what the Sixers are doing, but for them basically
01:09to say, you know, the rest of y'all, you know, fight for number two.
01:15I did not think the Celtics would be viewed as that lopsided a favorite, but if you start
01:21looking at what they've done with their roster, you start looking at the fact that they are
01:25the defending champs.
01:28It's understandable that they're the favorite, but again, I'm just, I'm a little surprised
01:31that it was as decisive as it was.
01:35Yeah, I didn't think it'd be 83%, but I just think people have now seen the light in terms
01:44of the Celtics finally got it done and they brought the entire team back except Sherrod's
01:50buddy O'Shea Brissett.
01:51Why you gotta bring up O'Shea?
01:52O'Shea, can't you see, you should have opted in, that's what I said about O'Shea.
01:58He should have opted in.
01:59O'Shea, can't you see, you should have opted in, bruh.
02:03No, O'Shea can't, oh my gosh.
02:06Stop it, man.
02:07That might be the worst.
02:09That might be the worst.
02:10That's one of your bottom 10, bruh.
02:14Anyway, the fact that I think they have ultimate confidence, they're, besides poor as English,
02:21they're mostly healthy.
02:24They're playing with a chip on their shoulder with Jason and Jalen, they seem to, they made
02:29a good move.
02:30I think adding Lonnie Walker, we'll see what happens there.
02:33Peyton Pritchard looks good.
02:35We're talking about Sam Houser looks good, Derek White, Drew Holiday, there's no reason
02:40not to believe this team can't get it done.
02:44And if you look at the other teams, there's always questions, Oklahoma City, are they
02:47too young?
02:48Did they make enough moves?
02:50Is Caruso and Hardenstein going to put them over the top?
02:53We don't know about Cat now and going to New York Knicks, is that going to work?
02:57Is Cat going to really toughen up and be that guy that they need him to be?
03:02What about the Sixers?
03:03Are they a little longer than two?
03:04So everybody's got questions.
03:06The Celtics don't have as many questions.
03:09And I think that the rest of the GMs see that, and let's be honest, guys, like, it's also
03:14probably to put a little bit of pressure on, like the GMs are like, yeah, let's see in
03:17Boston how they do with being the favorites.
03:22Let's see, I don't think guys like Sam Presti in Oklahoma City or Leon Rose in New York
03:28are like, yeah, my team going to win it, like, yeah, Boston, let's see what y'all do as the
03:33favorites.
03:34Yeah, Boston, yeah, put them down, don't talk about us.
03:37So I think that might be a little mind games going too.
03:43You mentioned Sam Presti, though, in OKC.
03:48Why are we still, I'm glad that folks are finally not sleeping on them like they did
03:54last year, because even though they're ridiculously young, they got ballers.
04:00I mean, I think they are the best team out West, if you look from top to bottom.
04:06And then you look what they added.
04:07They needed one more, like, physical, rugged, thuggish type, and they got that in Isaiah.
04:15So they're going to be good.
04:16They're going to be really, really good.
04:18Really good.
04:19I agree.
04:20So, Jason Tatum, is he the best shooting forward in the NBA, tied for three for the league
04:27MVP with Jokic and Embiid?
04:30Hmm.
04:31Interesting.
04:32Is that your favorite small forward, Garrett Washburn?
04:36Is he your favorite small forward in the NBA?
04:41I think he's one of them.
04:43Do I think he's the best?
04:44I think he has the potential to be the best.
04:47I think what he showed in the playoffs, being that playmaker, adding the assists, adding
04:55the passing ability to his rebounding and his scoring, yeah, I think he's a top.
05:00Because if you look at the other candidates, Luka, I didn't know Luka was a small forward.
05:05I'd kind of call him a point guard, but hey, whatever.
05:08They want to call Luka a small forward.
05:10KD, we all love KD.
05:12Prolific score.
05:13Doesn't, you know, not a great playmaker, but still one of the prolific scorers.
05:19And then fifth, Jalen, 3% said Jalen.
05:22The same amount percent said Jason last year.
05:25So the pressure again is on Jason, but I do think he's a top small forward in the league
05:29if you're considering Luka.
05:33I don't know.
05:34Where does LeBron sit in there?
05:35Is LeBron not a small forward anymore?
05:38Or did LeBron not get a lot of votes?
05:43I don't know.
05:44LeBron, I still think he's kind of in that top five at least, right?
05:49Nah.
05:50I don't know.
05:51Nah.
05:52I think at best he might be fifth, four for fifth, maybe.
05:55But to me, Tatum is that guy.
05:59I think when they're judging these players, I think you have to look at what they do in
06:04a regular season.
06:05Because you can't control what happens in the playoffs.
06:07What do they do with the games that you know they are absolutely going to be able to play?
06:11Playoffs, you don't know.
06:13Injuries or whatever it may be.
06:15But regular season is, I think, what you judge that on.
06:18And Tatum, regular season, best small forward.
06:21To me, it's really not that close.
06:24When you look at what he's able to do in terms of scoring, as you pointed out, Gary, his
06:28playmaking is dramatically improved.
06:30He's rebounding his ability to score on the block.
06:33And to me, the one part about his game that people so often forget about is what he does
06:39defensively.
06:40Remember, the reason he got burned early on as a Celtic was because of what he did on
06:44a defensive end.
06:45The fact that you could put him out there and he was not a defensive liability.
06:48The fact that you can play him and he may not be locking kids up, but he's going to
06:53make folks work harder than they probably thought they should for shots.
06:57And then he's able to get you 25 points at the other end of the floor.
07:00To me, he is the best small forward in the game.
07:04And the guy that I'm a little surprised doesn't enter that conversation that I've always liked
07:12but never really loved is Paul George.
07:15There's so much about Paul George.
07:17But the problem I have with Paul George is that the more I watch him play, the more he
07:22leaves me wanting more.
07:24You see him do a lot of really good things, but there just seems to be something that
07:28he's not giving you that with his skill set, he should be bringing.
07:32And I don't see that as much with Tatum.
07:34I see some of that with Tatum, but not as much as I see with Paul George.
07:38And this season, I think, was just the rubber stamp on his status, and that is winning a
07:45championship.
07:46And as much as Jalen Brown, I thought, was the better player and deserved to be NBA Finals
07:51MVP, Tatum, even playing less than at his best, still put up pretty damn good numbers,
07:58which is scary when a guy can play at maybe 67% of what he's capable of and still put
08:03up the numbers that he did and still help his team win a game.
08:08So yeah, to me, I'm all in on Tatum as the best small forward in the NBA.
08:15There we go.
08:16There we have it.
08:17Also, I just realized I said shooting forward.
08:18So disregard.
08:19Scratch that from the record.
08:20Finally, a Celtic-
08:21But he do shoot now.
08:22Huh?
08:23Make no mistake about it.
08:24He do shoot.
08:25Oh, no, he still shoot.
08:26For the record.
08:27But formally, that's-
08:28Technically, technically, he is a shooter, and he does-
08:32A small shooting forward.
08:34Good.
08:35I got you, boy.
08:36Yeah, Gary's just like, nah, she wrong.
08:37I'm like, I'm trying to help her out.
08:38Loud and right.
08:39Gary's looking at you like-
08:42She doesn't even go here.
08:44Okay, finally, defensively, the Celtics, best team in the league.
08:49Drew Holiday, best perimeter defender.
08:51Do you think they can sustain that this season?
08:54I think they're going to take a step back defensively.
08:58Interesting.
08:59And I think they're going to take a step back not because of anything other than father time.
09:04He will impact, I think, at least two, maybe three of their guys.
09:08And I'm thinking more about Drew Holiday.
09:11I'm thinking about Al Horford.
09:13And when you look at the roles that those two guys play for this team from a defensive standpoint, they need them.
09:20They need them badly.
09:21And I'm more worried about Al than I am Drew because if Drew's not at the top of his game defensively, you got another all-NBA type in Derek White who's just-
09:30You just put him in positions where he has to be a top-tier defender more times than he was last season.
09:36But if Al Horford's game isn't where it needs to be defensively, they have no options.
09:41I mean, Xavier Tillman, he doesn't suck, but he ain't Al Horford.
09:45Luke Cornett is Luke Cornett.
09:48I mean, Kato, he's got some potential, but he ain't Al Horford either.
09:55So defensively, I think their frontcourt might be exposed a little bit.
10:00And that's why, to me, their perimeter defense is going to have to be everything this year because when those guys on the perimeter get beat off the dribble, lights out, buckets, the seas will part for this guy.
10:10Because I just don't think that they are going to be able to hold it down around the basket as well as they've been able to in the past.
10:17In large part, simply because father time is just like, yo, here's my bill, pay up time, because it's going to happen at some point.
10:26So I think it'll start happening this year, unfortunately.
10:30No, I don't think they'll miss a step.
10:34I think with Porzingis, they'll have to adjust.
10:39But I think Drew Holliday is a guy who's taking great care of his body.
10:43Obviously, he was a top defensive player in the Olympics for Team USA.
10:47So to me, I don't think they'll slip.
10:50Derek White's hittering his prime, so I don't think physically they'll slip much.
10:55Obviously, you don't want to put too much on Al Horford's plate because he is 38 years old and he's 18th year.
11:05But I think the other guys will step up.
11:08Jason will step up.
11:09Jalen will step up.
11:10Remember the defense Jalen played against Luka Doncic in the finals?
11:14I think they'll be even a better defensive team because now they've got a system.
11:18Remember, I remember watching this recent interview with Damian Lillard saying how he got thrown into the fray right before training camp.
11:28Didn't catch up with a lot of stuff. It was a tough year.
11:31Well, the same situation with Drew Holliday.
11:33He helped him win a championship.
11:35He didn't have a full training camp.
11:37He barely got there before preseason.
11:40He didn't have a full summer with the Celtics.
11:42Full training camp.
11:44Family settled.
11:45Everything's good.
11:46Coming off the Olympics.
11:48Now, does Drew have five years left?
11:51No.
11:52He's pushing 34.
11:54But I do think he does have another couple of years in him as a high-level defender paired with Derek White.
12:03I think that's a great combination with Jason being a plus defender now, Jalen being a plus defender, and Al being a plus defender.
12:11So you got nothing but five plus defenders on that starting lineup.
12:16Now, like Shiraz said, are they going to have slippage with Luke Cornett in the game or Xavier Tillman or Nemius Keita?
12:23Of course, they're going to have a little slippage, but I think they know the system enough.
12:28And especially Tillman, a guy who's made his money in this league as a defender.
12:33Obviously, he's not going to be scoring.
12:35He's going to be an enforcer or defender.
12:37I think they'll be fine.
12:39The funny thing about Tillman, though, is you're right.
12:41He ain't a scorer.
12:42But, damn it, that brother be looking for buckets when he get in the game.
12:45He be looking for buckets.
12:48And I respect that about him because at least he keeps the defense relatively honest, whereas Luke Cornett, if he gets an offensive rebound, he's in hot potato mode like, who got it?
12:58Who got it?
12:59I don't got it, which I hate that.
13:02But I just, Gary, I can't imagine.
13:06I'm struggling with the idea that they're going to be as good defensively around the basket as they've been in the past.
13:13Now, the one thing that might change my mind on that is if they start dabbling with Tatum as a small ball center because Tatum, with his length, his ability to space the floor, that could be that will pose a different dilemma for opponents if all of a sudden you got to deal with him.
13:31At that five spot, because he's strong enough now to where there's not a lot of guys that play to five that can easily manhandle him.
13:39They're going to be certain nights where they can literally get away with playing Tatum at the five spot and it not hurt them around the basket.
13:46And if you can't abuse him when he's on defense, you know you're not going to abuse it at the other end of the floor.
13:53And so I'm curious to see how your boy Joe Missoula, your boy, Gary, Joe Missoula, how he goes about utilizing Tatum and multiple positions other than just a traditional wing.
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15:47Well, I'm glad you brought up Joe Mazzuola because I actually we're going to start with Eric Spolstra,
15:53who was named like 67% of the GM's voted him as the best head coach.
15:59We'll get into what exactly the results were from Mazzuola.
16:02That's a tease. But Eric Spolstra being considered the favorite, OKC's 17%.
16:10So what did you two make of those two coaches being considered the best in the league, despite the fact that the Celtics literally just won?
16:19Talk about your boy Spolstra, Eric. I know that's your boy.
16:23Everyone's his boy.
16:25Everybody's my boy.
16:28That's my boy.
16:30I think Spolstra is a mastermind, but I think this is a real proven year for him.
16:38Miami, they made the finals as the A-seed a couple years ago, so it's not like they slipped.
16:44Last year was a disappointing year. The Celtics smashed him, injuries, the situation with Jimmy Butler,
16:50Tyler Harrell getting hunted on defense, Terry Rozier getting hurt.
16:55This is one of those proven years for Eric Spolstra.
16:58I think he's going to really have some things to do and say and some new wrinkles for the Miami Heat.
17:05I like Diagonal as a coach in Oklahoma City. He was the second best head coach.
17:11I think I need to see more out of him.
17:13Obviously, them losing, being the number one seed and then losing to Dallas in the second round,
17:20I didn't think he coached his best series.
17:24I don't know why, in all honesty, why Missoula did not get any votes.
17:32He got five coaches. Budenhoser got votes.
17:36I mean, really?
17:38Disrespectful, to be honest.
17:40No championship. Budenhoser has not won a title.
17:45Sorry, he did win a title with Milwaukee.
17:49Now he's in Phoenix, but he's just coming back.
17:52He was fired in Milwaukee.
17:54Chris Finch, solid coach.
17:57Minnesota got smashed by Dallas in the Western Conference Finals.
18:02If Missoula wants to use that as fuel, I would not blame him.
18:08I know he got ranked with another poll as the 11th best coach in the league,
18:16which he could see as being flattered that he's pretty much a top third of NBA coaches.
18:22But leading a championship, he doesn't get one vote.
18:25If I'm him, I'm upset. I'm annoyed, at least.
18:27He probably doesn't think it too personal.
18:29You know what I'm saying?
18:32I'm not a...
18:35Obviously, he's Celtic Hunk, but I do think Missoula is a real top five.
18:39He's entering the top five in the coaches, the way he motivates his team,
18:43what he did to break down.
18:46Everyone thought, oh, Jason Kidd's going to out-coach him in the finals.
18:49That didn't happen.
18:51He created his own culture, too, in Boston, I think.
18:53Yeah, but he should use that as fuel.
18:56But Chris Finch, Steve Kerr.
19:02Okay, we expect that, I guess, but not like that.
19:05Okay, I think Steve Kerr's a great coach.
19:07Right.
19:08But look at the talent that he's gotten.
19:11We'll see.
19:13I don't think he's a great coach.
19:16And, yes, I do look at the talent that he's had.
19:18I mean, when you have that many Hall of Famers on your squad at one time,
19:23I mean, you're not exactly up late at night trying to figure out,
19:28how can I figure out a way for my team to beat Charlotte on Tuesday?
19:33How am I going to make that happen?
19:36What can I do with Kevin Durant and Steph Curry and Clay Thompson
19:40and Draymond Green to get them to play well enough to beat, like, you know.
19:45Champions?
19:46Yeah.
19:47No, well, back to Eric Spolstra.
19:49He is the best coach in the NBA, in my opinion.
19:52And I say that because his track record has shown his ability to win
19:58with lots of different styles.
20:00He just figures out what's the best way for my team to win.
20:04And the thing that's the one thread that binds all his teams is they're just tough.
20:09They are some tough SOBs from top to bottom.
20:12And that's why the last couple of years have been surprising,
20:15because they're not nearly as tough.
20:17It seems that they have traded in that trademark toughness for shooting
20:23and talent, and the drop-off in toughness just ain't there anymore.
20:28So I'm curious to see whether we're going to start seeing Miami this year
20:32go back to being that kind of grind it out, beat you 107 to 102.
20:38You know, they have five, six players in foul trouble,
20:41but they don't care because they're not giving you no layups.
20:44They're contesting shots.
20:45They're being physical.
20:47I'll be curious to see whether they revert back to that style,
20:51which has worked time and time again.
20:54Now, to Missoula.
20:58The disrespect is palatable for him to not get a single vote.
21:05I mean, this is the same dude.
21:07Remember when he was asked about teams having a target on your back?
21:12He said, forget about the target on the back.
21:14We want the crosshairs right between the eyes.
21:16When he said that, I was like, oh, my God.
21:20I want that man as my coach.
21:23That man, he sees the game in a way that if you are a competitor
21:30and that's all you give a damn about is how are we going to win this game,
21:34you want a cycle like that calling the plays.
21:36You want someone with that kind of just way to hell out
21:40and left deep, deep, deep left field mentality running your ship.
21:44And the fact that he scores so high in terms of motivation,
21:48motivation can only take you so far.
21:51You have to have the ability to have a system,
21:54whether it's offensive or defensive or both,
21:56that leads to winning that guys buy into that has the receipts to show that
22:01this stuff works.
22:02And Joe did that this year.
22:03And the fact that not a single GM thought he was the best.
22:09If I'm Joe Missoula, that GM survey is on my front door.
22:14It's on my alarm clock.
22:15I got it on the watch that when I have like notifications,
22:20it's going to be the notification every single time.
22:23If I need to be in a meeting at two o'clock,
22:25it's going to meeting at two o'clock.
22:27By the way, no votes, coach, best coach in NBA.
22:30I'm not going to let that ever,
22:33ever leave my mindset because it's going to motivate me.
22:36And when I tell my players, guess what?
22:38They're going to be motivated too because they like, damn,
22:41he led us to a chip and not one of your GMs.
22:45Listen, Tatum and Brent and Jalen already had,
22:48they suck a list folks that they're going to get that.
22:51They got payback to Joe Missoula now has a sucker list as well.
22:55Every single team,
22:59exactly. You got that, that, that, that, yes,
23:01the crosshairs that Joe wanted on his team. He got it.
23:04Oh, he got something for that.
23:05Something for that. And again, just a level of disrespect.
23:10Not a single GM thought he was the best coach,
23:13even after he led this team with championship.
23:18I mean, that is, that is mad disrespectful.
23:21What more do you want from the man?
23:25And it's not like,
23:26it's not like them winning a championship was like this incredible offset.
23:30They had the best record of the damn week.
23:33Literally did in the post season what they had done all season long.
23:37So you telling me best record in the NBA,
23:41winning NBA championship and I don't get a damn vote. Come on, man,
23:47please.
23:48Which really tells you that they're all haters though.
23:50Cause the Celtics when in the most fun to watch, they were tied.
23:54They were not tied. They were fifth place.
23:56So I feel like people were just general haters.
23:59All the general managers are haters.
24:04There may be some, I mean,
24:05there may be some truth to what Gary was saying was that, you know,
24:07they're trying to put the pressure on the Celtics and all that,
24:10but there's a problem with that though.
24:12They went through that all last year.
24:13Why would you put pressure on a team that's your competitor though?
24:17And they brought the whole game back. So it's like, you can't even like say,
24:20well, you know what they want this dude. So that means we can, nah,
24:23they brought the whole game back. It's craziness.
24:26And I should add for Missoula though.
24:28He did place second for best offense,
24:31third best motivator and fourth best running of defensive schemes.
24:36And yet, even though he's in the top tier of those categories,
24:39not one of your GMs thought he was going to be best coach in the league.
24:42Damn. Second best office, fourth best defense,
24:45third best motivator. No votes.
24:49That makes sense.
24:51That is like some electoral college nonsense right there.
24:57That is some electoral college nonsense. It just don't make sense.
25:00I want to see the popular vote.
25:03I got the popular vote in office. I get the popular vote in defense.
25:06I get the popular vote in motivation and I don't get the, I don't win.
25:12I'm not the best.
25:14And that was your civics one-on-one with Asher.
25:17I'm just saying, Hey,
25:19civics is more than just a type of car. All right. Let's just,
25:23cause there's a lot of folks act as if they don't,
25:25as that's the only thing they know about civic. Oh yeah. That's a nice bar.
25:28Nah.
25:30Side plug. Make sure you vote November 5th. Doesn't, I mean,
25:34just vote for somebody vote for the ballot questions. That's the whole other rant,
25:37but I want to remind you, yes, you might like sports,
25:40but your civic duty is also just as important.
25:43Summertime is winding down,
25:44but the college football season will be in full swing before you know it.
25:48There's no better way to get your college football fixed in game time,
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27:05Moving on facts. Abu Dhabi. We talked about them last week, Dubai,
27:11the Celtics coming back to the U S with two wins under their belts still
27:17doesn't really need anything. But what did you guys make of it?
27:22Praying Pritchard standing out Tatum and Brown.
27:24We got to see them back on the floor as well,
27:26but what really resonated for both of you from that trip?
27:30Go ahead, Gary.
27:32Um, I thought that they were impressive. I thought that, I mean,
27:37when you're looking at the preseason games,
27:39you're looking at what kind of flow and rhythm does the starters have playing
27:43together. The Celtics look fine there.
27:46Obviously yo kick was able to get his, but they,
27:48I thought they played strong defense. I thought they took control.
27:51And then I thought they, I mean,
27:52they had kind of embarrassed him in the second game, the first game.
27:55Um, they kind of came back and then the,
27:57the second teamers or the third teamers came out there and it played well and
28:02they eat out a win, but that's that second game wasn't even close. Um,
28:06and I just thought that was a good sign. Like, you know what?
28:09If they're keeping score, you're trying to win. Now,
28:10obviously Tame and Brown, they go,
28:13they play 19 minutes exactly what they wanted to play in the preseason.
28:16I'm sure they'll play maybe a game this weekend coming up with back to back
28:21games. And then they got Toronto,
28:24they got three and four nights to be honest with you.
28:26And then the preseason is over.
28:28I think the stars are playing two of those games.
28:31They might miss one of those back to back and then play the final game, uh,
28:36against Toronto. Um, but you got exactly what you're wanting out of it.
28:40Like you want it didn't look crisp.
28:43Jason's three ball was going down. Jalen looked like, you know,
28:47just that extra gear, the muscles, you know,
28:50he put on the off season look like that's, that's kicking in the athleticism.
28:53Um, no Al Horford.
28:55So we'll see how that goes, whether he's going to play in the preseason
28:58or he'll make an appearance here and there.
29:00But I just thought is exactly what you want.
29:03Two dubs. You come home. We did what we supposed to do.
29:07We beat a quality team that's trying to find, you know,
29:10a team that's trying to figure that themselves out too.
29:12In terms of life without continuing to call a Pope,
29:15entering Russell Westbrook, playing some new guys,
29:19dodgy, some guys who are having played before,
29:22played much before getting them minutes, Hunter Tyson,
29:24guys that, that they're going to depend on.
29:26Um, so it wasn't like Denver came out there to mess around.
29:30Denver was trying to win the game too.
29:32So, uh, you know, as much as you know,
29:34two and always better than only two, you know what I'm saying?
29:36I mean, I just think you got to feel a little bit better coming back
29:40from a 14 hour flight to an open.
29:43You would tell it over to an on campus, the preseason or not.
29:46You just want to straighten things out, get everything's tight.
29:49Make sure that you are ready for two weeks,
29:52a little less than two weeks.
29:54Uh, you know, 13 days from now, the opening night against the Knicks.
29:58So I was impressed. I just thought they, they, they handled it.
30:01Right. They got the guys in. I was a little disappointed.
30:04I didn't see more Lonnie Walker. Lonnie didn't play great.
30:07He didn't shoot the ball well, but he definitely was.
30:10He might be with that second unit trying to fit him in more and more.
30:14I see maybe he's going to head to the G league,
30:16which I just think is a stunning development for me.
30:19I just don't think he's a G league player. I think he's better than that.
30:21So maybe in the next three games with three games left,
30:25you give them some more burn and you get them a long look to see
30:28if you want to add them to that 15th and final roster spot.
30:31So I think, but a lot of good things coming back.
30:35I don't, you know, everybody stayed healthy.
30:37Uh, everybody felt good.
30:38Now you get a nice break.
30:40Now they get to practice, um, and they'd be back on the floor Saturday.
30:44Yeah. And Gary, with that great mathematical tutorial,
30:47two and O is better than O and two. Appreciate that.
30:49Wait, wait, wait. Love, love that. Love that.
30:54The preseason for the Celtics really has to be about two things really.
30:58And that is developing chemistry with your core
31:01and the development of your non-core players.
31:04And I think in those first two games, they absolutely nailed both of those things.
31:06You look at a guy like JD Davidson is probably not going to play a ton,
31:10but when you look at what he was able to do in some crunch minutes
31:13in that first game, he was one of the reasons why they were able to win that game.
31:16Uh, and, and so getting guys like that,
31:19the confidence to go out there and do some things, uh,
31:22in a real game is huge.
31:25And he's a guy that, again, you're not,
31:27if you're the Celtics, you ain't counting on him to win you a championship
31:29or nothing like that, but you want to make sure he's ready.
31:32If his number is called.
31:33And I think he's one of those guys that has to understand that
31:37and embrace that you ain't going to play much,
31:39but when your number's called, you better get out there.
31:41You better ball out.
31:43Uh, to me, Peyton Pritchard is a great example of that.
31:45Hey, I mean, remember it was,
31:47it was only just a couple of years ago where we weren't even sure
31:49if they're going to keep Peyton Pritchard around.
31:51When you had Marcus Smart, you had, uh, you had Brogdon.
31:54And then you had, he was like the third, he was the third wheel.
31:57And the next thing you know, both of those cats are gone.
32:00And now Peyton is like, what you going to do?
32:03And, you know, Peyton balled out.
32:06He would write pro and Peyton for, for a hot minute there.
32:09Ball it out.
32:10And we saw that, you know, in the first couple of preseason games.
32:13So for the Celtics, again, it's important that they keep the momentum
32:18that they were able to generate last season going.
32:21And that momentum starts with your core guys playing as well or better.
32:25And you still have to develop that next way because you're not going to have a,
32:29but you're not going to get a hookup like you got from Brooklyn
32:31when you were able to get Jalen Brown and Tatum, you know,
32:35and not really give up anything of significance in that moment.
32:38You're going to have to develop guys who are late first round picks,
32:41early second round picks, guys like Lonnie Walker,
32:44who for whatever reason falls through the cracks that you're able to bring
32:47into the fold for little to no cost who are clearly worth way more
32:53than you're paying them. And you know that.
32:55That's the way that you develop a dynasty.
32:57You got to get some breaks along the way that you, frankly,
33:00are smart enough to take advantage of.
33:02And I give Brad Stevens a lot of credit for that.
33:04But for them in this preseason, it's about making sure you get that chemistry
33:07right that you had a year ago.
33:09And you start developing some of those, those backline players.
33:12And the other point, and Gary, it's a really good one.
33:15It's about Al Horford. I get why you don't play him now.
33:19I wouldn't want to play him much if at all,
33:21but you need to get him out there because he's part of what your chemistry
33:24as a team has to be about. And I don't care how many years you play together.
33:29Every season is a separate entity in itself.
33:32Guys don't move the same way in 20, 22, 23, as they move now.
33:36Some guys are a little quicker. Some guys are a little slower.
33:39Your timing, your chemistry, all those things have to be aligned.
33:43And the only way you can work that to its perfection or near perfection
33:47is you got to play together. And so they need to get Al out there,
33:51even if it's only for five, 10 minutes here and there,
33:52but they need to get him playing with that core group.
33:55So they can't rely on what he's been able to do in the past
33:58because we don't know where he's at.
34:00And we don't know where the guys around him are at as it relates to Al.
34:03So I was impressed as hell with what they did against Denver.
34:07That first game, it felt like a lot of games we saw from the Celtics
34:11last season where good team, Celtics not really winning.
34:15And then they hit like a three or four minute stretch where they just ball out.
34:17They put the ass whipping on you in like three or four minutes.
34:21And next thing you know, you going home with a fat Al,
34:24even though you led for most of the game or a significant portion of it.
34:27And then the second game, it was just like, all right, y'all.
34:29We ain't letting game one happen again.
34:31We just taking it to them from the jump.
34:33We're not going to play around.
34:35We steal their lunch money and eat that lunch in their face.
34:38And they did. I mean, Denver looked like Charlotte.
34:42Hmm.
34:44Yikes.
34:46Oh, by the way, that might be one of his best.
34:50Like, I didn't come up with something real catchy,
34:54but damn, I came up with something real catchy moments.
34:56No, that was all right.
34:58Absolutely.
35:00So looking ahead, they have three more preseason games.
35:04They're playing Philly and Toronto back to back.
35:07Then they go to Toronto for that final preseason game.
35:09But looking at Philly, what are your expectations for that game?
35:12And honestly, what are your expectations for Toronto as well?
35:15Even though we'll reconvene before then.
35:17Toronto is going to be garbage this year.
35:20They're just not going to be very good.
35:22So I'm not even thinking about them as far as preseason.
35:25To me, the purpose of playing Toronto is to get it,
35:30get a workout against guys that don't put that on the payroll.
35:33That's all you're looking to do.
35:35You just try to get the cardio up.
35:36Just get the cardio up.
35:38Make sure you don't want to get hurt.
35:40And just give your guys, again,
35:42developing your younger players.
35:44Give them some opportunities against some real NBA players.
35:46And get your core guys just working on chemistries,
35:49working on the chemistry,
35:51and just kind of get out of there with a win.
35:53Now, Philadelphia, that's a little different.
35:55Because that's one of those teams that feels they can beat you.
35:59That's one of those teams that feels that they are on your level.
36:03And you're not going to play your guys major minutes,
36:06but you're going to do enough in that game
36:08to just remind them that you do know we're the champs.
36:10And you do know that if we were to play this flight
36:13for a good 40 minutes, we might beat you by 40.
36:16So if I'm Tatum and Jalen,
36:19just do what you've done the first couple games,
36:21knock down some shots, play good defense,
36:23and get out of there with a little bit of a sweat
36:25in 19 minutes and call it a day.
36:27For Philly, I think it means more.
36:30I think if you're Philly, you want to send a message
36:32that, look, we're here. We ain't going nowhere.
36:33And like I said, the Celtics are the team to beat.
36:37Everyone knows that. Every damn GM pretty much said that.
36:40And Philly is one of those teams that feels this is their time
36:45when you go out and get a Paul George.
36:47You've got Joel Embiid back in the fold.
36:50And they feel as though they're moving in the right direction.
36:53And if you're the Celtics, you want to make sure
36:55that you may be moving in the right direction,
36:57but you ain't with us yet.
36:59And this game isn't going to mean anything
37:01in the grand scheme of things,
37:03but it means a little bit to us.
37:05It's a reminder game of where you are, where we're at,
37:09and that's that.
37:12Yeah, I mean, I think,
37:15I don't know how much Philly's going to show.
37:18I mean, they don't play them, I think, until Christmas.
37:21So I think Philly's just worried about themselves right now.
37:24They're just worried about keeping everybody healthy,
37:26getting some rhythm and flow,
37:28because they've got a lot of new guys in their locker room.
37:29They want to keep Joel Embiid on ice
37:32to make sure he's healthy.
37:34Tyrese Maxey, make sure he's fine.
37:38Paul George, get him into the system.
37:40So I don't think it's going to be
37:42some kind of message game for Philly.
37:44I think that Philly will be like,
37:46they'll just play their guys 10, 15 minutes, 20 minutes,
37:48and they take a look at their bench,
37:50and it might be a battle of just two benches eventually.
37:52I think the Sixers know
37:55that they've got to worry about the Celtics.
37:57And they also want the Celtics to worry about
37:59them, and I think that they'll,
38:01I think Nick Nurse will be like,
38:03hey, we'll see y'all later.
38:05Like, we're not going to,
38:07you ain't going to have to mess with us until April.
38:09You know, we're going to get our stuff together.
38:11You know, we're going to make sure we're there
38:13in the playoffs to meet you,
38:15and that's all we're concerned about.
38:17We're not concerned about trying to send a message in October.
38:19I don't think they are.
38:21I think that, now you're talking about the game,
38:23opening game against the Knicks.
38:25Yeah, I think the Knicks are going to try to send a message.
38:27But I think these two preseason games
38:29like you said, Toronto is struggling.
38:31R.J. Barrett's out for a while.
38:33Their team kind of been rebuilt
38:35with some young pieces or whatever.
38:37So if you're the Celtics,
38:39you just, like Sharron said,
38:41you just get your exercise,
38:43make sure you're in shape,
38:45and you get out of those two games healthy,
38:47and then you look forward to the opener.
38:49If you're Philly, though,
38:51what you don't want to have happen
38:53is for Tatum and Jalen to play like 10, 15 minutes,
38:55and then you get a lot of Sam Hauser,
38:57a lot of Peyton Pritchard, a lot of Keita,
38:59smashed by like 30.
39:01When the end of the bench guys on the best team
39:05are smashing you to pieces,
39:07I don't give a damn how early in the season it is.
39:10It is going to send a message in the back of your mind
39:12like, damn, they're not even playing hard.
39:14They're not even playing.
39:16They're best players,
39:18and they're beating the snot out of us.
39:20It may not affect how you fare all season,
39:23but when you see them in December,
39:25you're going to have just a little bit of a flashback
39:29like, damn, last time we saw them, damn.
39:31Keita had like 17 points
39:33and didn't take a single shot outside the paint.
39:36Damn, Lou Cornette had a double-double.
39:38Damn!
39:40That was the only double-double he's had all season.
39:42Damn!
39:44All I'm saying is this.
39:46If you're Philly,
39:48you want to stay healthy and do that,
39:50all that stuff Gary said is right,
39:52but you don't want to get embarrassed.
39:54Even if it's a preseason game,
39:56you don't want to get embarrassed
39:57because the Celtics,
39:59they did that to a lot of teams last year,
40:01and to me, you know, folks,
40:03if we're being honest,
40:05it might be a little bit triggering
40:07because now all of a sudden you're thinking like,
40:09damn, they did this last year.
40:11They brought everyone back.
40:13They're doing it again.
40:15Oh, hell, what are we going to do?
40:17I think Philly just needs to play a good game.
40:19You don't have to win.
40:21Just play a good game.
40:23For those who want to watch those games
40:25are this weekend,
40:27we're doing a podcast.
40:29Any final words from the two of you?
40:31Bye, Gary's book.
40:33We're already talking about Gary's book.
40:37Actually, I have something.
40:39I interviewed Gary Washburn,
40:41the Gary Washburn,
40:43and that interview.
40:45How did you get that interview, Quanie?
40:47Connections.
40:49Very well connected here in Boston.
40:51That will be dropping,
40:53actually, by the time you listen to this,
40:55it will be online.
40:57Or YouTube and find our NBC 10 Boston channel
41:00and watch it.
41:02Let me know what you think.
41:04You can learn about journalism and the Celtics
41:06and Gary's whole journey from LA to Boston.
41:08Not sure I'm literally walking away.
41:12I just went to Gilbert.
41:14Oh, there we go.
41:16That's the book.
41:18That's what it looks like.
41:20This is why we're talking about Gary today.
41:22Yeah, it's a good book.
41:24It's a beautiful book.
41:25Well written.
41:27Great job.
41:29Again, if you're looking for holiday presents
41:31for your favorite NBA fan,
41:33you might want to put that on the list.
41:35Yeah, put it on the list.
41:37If you're well connected,
41:39maybe we could get Gary to autograph it for you.
41:41You got to go to his book signings,
41:43which you can find on his social media platform.
41:45I got my Sharpie ready.
41:47He's not paying me to be his publicist.
41:49There we go.
41:51We need to work on that contract, Quanie.
41:55Know your worth.
41:57If there's anything you leave this episode with, guys,
41:59know your worth.
42:01Well, we appreciate you tuning in
42:03and listening to the Victory NBA podcast.
42:05Subscribe, share with a friend.
42:07For HRI Blakely and Gary Washburn,
42:09I'm Quanie Lunas, and we appreciate your time.
42:25♪ ♪