• 2 weeks ago
Celtics reporter Noa Dalzell goes LIVE from Charlotte to debrief the first Celtics loss of the season, which came at the hands of the Indiana Pacers. Neemias Queta had one of the most impactful performances of his young NBA career - we'll talk about what worked for him, and how the Celtics almost completed an incredibly improbably comeback. Join LIVE for a brand-new episode of You Got Boston and get all your Celtics questions answered.


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Transcript
00:00What's up, everyone?
00:27This is Noah Dalzell.
00:28And I'm here with a special edition episode
00:31of You Got Boston, live from Charlotte.
00:35I'll be in Charlotte over the next couple of days
00:37covering the Celtics back-to-back.
00:39They play the Hornets tomorrow and then again on Saturday.
00:43So we'll get two road games here.
00:45It's my first time here in Charlotte.
00:47And I figured I'd jump on just to talk
00:48a little bit about last night's loss, first loss of the season
00:52to Indiana.
00:54Kind of what went wrong, what went right.
00:56If you caught the Garden Report last night,
00:57you heard some of my thoughts.
00:59But I figured I'd jump on here and just answer any questions
01:01that people might have.
01:02And then also, I really wanted to spend some time talking
01:05about Nias Keita and just what we saw from him.
01:07Because I do think that ultimately, that
01:09is the most important thing that we
01:11learned in yesterday's game.
01:13And so I'll spend a little bit of time about the game,
01:15a little bit of time about Keita in particular,
01:17and kind of just what we saw from him
01:19and what I think we can come to expect from him
01:21and what the expectations are and what the ceiling is
01:24for him as a player, which I do think is quite high.
01:28And then we'll talk a little bit about Charlotte coming up
01:30in these next few days here.
01:32The Celtics were supposed to have practice today,
01:35and they canceled practice, which
01:36I was a little bit bummed about.
01:37Because it's always a good opportunity
01:39to talk to players on the road.
01:41But ultimately, this was an opportunity.
01:44It wasn't a huge surprise that they canceled just
01:46because of the fact that the game went into overtime.
01:49They were in Indiana last night.
01:50So it would have been a long trip to Boston.
01:54I'm sorry, to Charlotte right away.
01:56And then to have turn around and have practice the next day,
01:58and then you have back-to-back games.
02:00And so the reason I want to talk about Keita
02:04is because I do think he's going to get another opportunity here
02:06because we have a back-to-back, first back-to-back
02:09of the season.
02:10And Al Horford is ultimately, he's definitely
02:13not going to play both games.
02:14He didn't last year.
02:15He's certainly not going to do it this year.
02:18And so no Porzingis, no Al on at least one of these two nights,
02:22there's going to be a big opportunity here for just
02:25the Celtics backup bigs to play.
02:28And so I think what we saw from Keita last night,
02:30that's the big story.
02:31He was a plus 18 in 13 minutes off the bench, nine rebounds,
02:36a block, a massive block, two points, one of two field goals.
02:40So it was just, to me, he was really the big reason
02:44why this game shifted and why the tie turned.
02:46And that's why Joe Mizzoula stayed with him,
02:48even when he was, when it had been the entire fourth quarter stretch
02:53and now you're heading into overtime, they never really
02:54wavered from that group, minus just going off
02:56in defense with Sam Hauser.
02:58And so, yeah, I felt like it was really,
03:01it showed a sign of confidence, but it also really kind of spoke
03:04to the whole idea of stay ready, because the whole idea with Joe
03:07Mizzoula and the Celtics organization is they're always saying,
03:10the guys that are on the bench that aren't playing,
03:11they're staying ready.
03:12And this was the perfect epitome of that,
03:14because after playing 13 minutes in Washington,
03:18he came and didn't play at all in Detroit.
03:20He had a good game in Washington, too.
03:21He had 12 points in 13 minutes, five of seven shootings, seven rebounds.
03:25Like, he stuffs the statute when he plays.
03:28But then he didn't play in Detroit.
03:29He played a single minute in Milwaukee.
03:30So two consecutive games, he's out of the rotation.
03:33It's looking like it's going to be three consecutive games.
03:36And then here he goes, ends up being one of the most important players
03:39in a comeback that just fell short, which in the scheme of things,
03:43I don't think it really matters that they lost that game yesterday.
03:46I think there's a lot you can take away from the fact
03:48that they were in position to come back.
03:50Because ultimately, like, Siakam misses that three,
03:52and Tatum hits that three.
03:53Like, it doesn't really change things.
03:55So that's kind of the reality here.
03:59But I felt like Keita was, you know, showcase
04:03what it is that I think makes a lot of people really excited about him.
04:06And it's his ability to grab offensive rebounds.
04:08It's his activity level.
04:10It's just he's just a disruptor.
04:12He looks like a nightmare for the opponent.
04:14Like, nobody wants to deal with him, basically, is kind of how it appears.
04:18And so I think just watching him play and watching, you know,
04:22there was kind of this lackluster energy from this team all night yesterday.
04:26And it came in spurts.
04:28Like, Derek White had some good moments.
04:30You know, Luke Cornett in the first half had some good moments.
04:32Tatum and Brown came alive at various moments.
04:34But for the most part, it was a team that was a step behind.
04:37And everybody spoke to that postgame.
04:39You know, Jason Tatum spoke to that.
04:40Jalen Brown, Joe Mizzoula.
04:42And so the fact that you can dig now and go to one of your last bench big spots,
04:47you know, a guy that basically was headed to three DNPs in a row.
04:50And he is the turning point.
04:52I think it epitomizes the culture and everything that this team,
04:55you know, preaches and wants to be.
04:57And Keita really showed that yesterday.
05:00And I really do wish they had won so we could kind of put a nice bow on things
05:02and call this the Namias Keita game, because, you know, the story doesn't
05:06it doesn't hit quite the same with a loss.
05:07But I think ultimately in the scheme of like what he's been able to accomplish
05:11this year and what we, you know, in the trajectory of his career,
05:14like it doesn't really matter what happened, you know, as far as
05:17the final score was concerned.
05:19And it was pretty remarkable that he was able to stay out there
05:23and not really make any critical mistakes.
05:25And they kind of shifted their defensive coverage
05:27to play to his strengths and it panned out.
05:29And so I'd love to know more about what Joe Mizzoula was thinking
05:32behind the scenes when he realized that Drew Holiday had not been playing.
05:36You know, Drew not to have to not have Drew Holiday down the stretch
05:38is a pretty big move, even though I don't think he was playing
05:40right yesterday and Pritchard was the hot hand.
05:43So I like the decision to go with the guys that got you back.
05:45But I'm curious what kind of conversations were taking place
05:47and kind of how he felt behind the scenes as well, because it's always a lot of
05:51I'm sure there's a lot of things that he was kind of juggling and considering there.
05:55So I'm going to start going through the chat here and acknowledging
05:58some of these questions and comments and continue to feel free to put in
06:01comments, questions, whatever else, as always.
06:04And I'm going to continue doing these every couple of days,
06:06usually on off days, because on days where we have games,
06:10we do the Garden Report on CLNS Media, which you can subscribe to
06:13if you're not watching this on CLNS.
06:14And you can hear some of my kind of takeaways and analysis there.
06:17So I'm going to start at the top comment here on the Cornette Tillman lineups.
06:24I just want to acknowledge the fact that Cornette and Tillman
06:27lineups have been statistically quite bad so far.
06:31I think everybody has seen that with the I-Test.
06:34I think the advance numbers show that as well.
06:36And at this point in the season, we've, you know, we've seen five games.
06:40Like part of the part of the thinking and part of the plan
06:43is trying out different things and kind of seeing what lands.
06:46And ultimately, I think that this was one of those things where
06:50I don't know that we're going to see much more of the Cornette Tillman combo.
06:53Like, I think you're just giving up a lot on both ends,
06:56or at least more than you need to.
06:58I've liked it better when they've gone with a single bench big
07:01and Jordan Walsh, for example, than two bench bigs.
07:05And I think the numbers back that up as well.
07:07And it just from a comfortability standpoint,
07:09like you could just see doesn't throw people off at all.
07:11So I don't think we're going to see them that much.
07:13I know people haven't been happy with them.
07:14I was joking yesterday on the Garden Report, but literally like people
07:18that I have not spoken to in months were texting me about
07:20how how much they do not enjoy those minutes.
07:23So it's clear that it is how the fan base feels.
07:27That being said, I think early on, the value of seeing things
07:30and trying things on the court versus, you know, not not experimenting
07:34and just going with the things that, you know, work in the playoffs.
07:36Like I would say, try everything.
07:38And even if you come, you know, even if you finish with the second seed
07:40because of it, like it's probably worthwhile.
07:43This isn't a team that struggles on the road.
07:44So, you know, obviously you want to win as many games as possible.
07:47And we know that Joe Mazzola is is that's his mindset.
07:49And that's what these players are thinking as well.
07:51But I think from a schematic standpoint, like there was
07:53there was an element of like, let's just try stuff yesterday that I did like
07:57and that I've just like throughout the season,
07:58like they could just go with no Jordan, but they're going with Jordan.
08:01So stuff like that.
08:04So. And thank you, Tom, for continuing to me,
08:07I'm starting to recognize some familiar familiar names, which is always fun.
08:10It was such a crazy game.
08:12And to be honest with you,
08:13yesterday was my first time doing the postgame show after a loss.
08:16And I was thinking to myself, like, oh, this is going to be so
08:18so kind of demoralizing to just talk about like everybody played bad.
08:22And yes, it was still a loss, but it did give us
08:25it was a completely different tone to our postgame show,
08:28because I think that there was actually a lot to think about and break down
08:30and consider around like, well, and well, it didn't go well.
08:34Who was key in the comeback?
08:35Derek White was huge.
08:36I mean, and when going eight for nine from the field, five or five from three
08:39did so much of the damage in the fourth quarter and overtime.
08:42So like there were some good things to consider, certainly as well.
08:47So, yeah, it was it was it was fascinating.
08:49I think that in a sense, they hadn't played great in a couple of games.
08:52Like Detroit was not a great, consistent effort.
08:55Milwaukee, I think you saw good moments, but there was also the first half,
08:57which they weren't quite themselves.
08:59And so sometimes a loss can be good, I think, from a mindset standpoint,
09:02because it just wakes you up and realizes, like, OK, the bad habits
09:04that you're getting away from, like they're they're inescapable.
09:07You have to actually change those things.
09:09You're not going to always be able to plot a win.
09:10And so I think there's something to be said about like sometimes
09:13it's good to lose in a way,
09:15although I don't want to I mean, obviously you're always going for the win.
09:20So I'm going to talk Charlotte.
09:21I see this question here about Charlotte and just kind of what we're anticipating
09:24there. These are just comments while I was talking about Kata.
09:26But I do think like the, you know, part of why Kata was successful yesterday
09:32is because the Pacers were shorthanded and they were largely relying
09:36on a small ball lineup.
09:37And that's why, you know, even Luke was able to exploit that.
09:40So I don't know that it's transferable to every single matchup.
09:43And in fact, we know it's not.
09:45We know that he's going to struggle at times versus different coverages and things.
09:48But I guess my point would be is I would love to see him.
09:53I would love to see him, you know, focus,
09:56you know, be thrown out there in these environments and be thrown out here
09:59in these different moments where like maybe it's going to cost them a little bit.
10:03And probably it's not.
10:04But maybe it is.
10:05And give, you know, give me a Kata guarding Dwell and beat for five minutes.
10:09Like, just let's just see what happens.
10:12I think that it's, you know, he has played so few NBA minutes,
10:15you know, in totality compared to a guy like Luke Cornett
10:17and compared to most of these bench picks that we're talking about.
10:20So, you know, Kata, I think that the only way he's going to be able
10:23to kind of iron out some of the things that he struggles with
10:25is by actually being on the floor.
10:26So that's my thinking.
10:28Last night was a great opportunity for him to play really high stakes minutes.
10:32And this comment here by Steve, like this is absolutely what I think
10:35when I watch him, like he he just has fire and passion.
10:39And there's just this energy about him that is it's really fun to watch.
10:42At least I think that you're talking about Kata here.
10:44Maybe I'm wrong, but that's regardless.
10:46I stand by that.
10:47I think that he's a yeah, like totally resonate with this, too.
10:50He's an energy high motor player.
10:52And you just versus younger, faster teams like those are
10:55you know, teams that sometimes have struggled with.
10:57Like I do think that you can give them another dimension
10:59that at least from like a game planning standpoint,
11:01like just makes things a little bit more challenging to go up against Boston.
11:05So it is hard because I think that like people get low on Luke
11:09in those moments because all of a sudden Kata is really explosive
11:12and there's things that he does really well that Luke doesn't do as well.
11:15And so it is I think it becomes this like Kata Luke thing.
11:18And I don't think it needs to be a Kata Luke thing personally.
11:21Like they're both important to this team.
11:22They both played important minutes yesterday.
11:24There's actually space for both of them to get minutes
11:26and there's going to be matchups where one is preferable over the other.
11:30And so I think there's like this natural desire, you know,
11:32among the fans, among the media to say like Luke versus Luke versus Kata.
11:36And I actually don't think that it needs to be like that,
11:39because there is a space where maybe Al's playing fewer minutes,
11:42really preserve his legs.
11:43You know, Porzingis is still a little bit of a ways away from coming back.
11:46Tillman has struggled a little bit here in these early days,
11:48although, you know, all of these are small sample sizes.
11:50So you don't want to you don't want to run with any of these assumptions right now.
11:53But I think that, you know, when you watch Kata,
11:56you remember why they were high on him, why they took his two way
11:59and made it a full guaranteed deal last year,
12:01and then ultimately why they brought him back for a multi-year deal.
12:03Like there's there's a reason that for all those things.
12:07So oh, and thank you so much, Nate, for for the contribution.
12:11Happy Halloween. I totally forgot it was Halloween.
12:13I was just walking around.
12:16I was walking around Charlotte trying to grab some food
12:18and people were in costumes and I was like, why?
12:20And then I realized that that's the one thing about covering an NBA team
12:25is that your schedule starts to not be like a normal person's schedule
12:29that is based off of like weekdays and weekends and holidays.
12:31And it's more just like when are the Celtics playing
12:34and when when are the WNBA games?
12:36So I forgot, but I appreciate that.
12:40Let's talk Drew Holiday.
12:41I got a couple of questions here about Drew.
12:44Drew wasn't playing good.
12:45I'm sure he understands.
12:46I definitely don't think Drew has an issue with being benched.
12:49I think that he is one of the fewer lowest ego guys on the team
12:53and probably in the NBA considering his talent level.
12:56And then question here from Nelson.
12:58What have you thought about Drew's start to the season?
13:03So the thing with Drew is that I felt like last night
13:06he was uncharacteristically like a little bit out of it,
13:09like he made some plays on both ends defensively, just like backdoor
13:12cuts, things that you're just not used to seeing.
13:15I've rewatched most of last night's game, not the full thing in its entirety,
13:18because I had to fly here this morning and had other work to do.
13:23But I watched, I rewatched most of the game.
13:27And yeah, as I rewatched, I kind of realized, like, OK,
13:29there were some things here that some plays here
13:31that just don't look like Drew Holiday level plays.
13:34I don't think that that's been consistent throughout these last few games.
13:37Like, I actually think that he's had a pretty solid start to the season.
13:40And so I guess my to answer the question, Nelson, like
13:43I haven't really thought too much about Drew's start.
13:45It hasn't caught my attention in the way that like Derrick's
13:47whites have, where Derrick White feels like he's taken almost another leap.
13:51Peyton Pritchard feels like he's taken another leap.
13:53Jalen Brown has had like some moments of struggle and some highs.
13:56Kate, I'm the same.
13:57Drew's just kind of been in the background a little bit.
14:00And I think that's completely fine for who he is at this point in his career.
14:04And after seeing him in the playoffs last year, I feel like everybody
14:07should have confidence in what he can do on both ends when the pressure is high.
14:12But certainly I think like once there's 10 games, I feel like you can start
14:15to draw conclusions or at least talk, you know, these guys that we have
14:19a really large sample with their careers.
14:20Like I can't even talk about like Tatum's shot after two or three games
14:23because it's just like, you have no idea.
14:26I can't talk about Jalen Brown and like how he's looking this year, you know,
14:29after two or three games, just because we've seen these guys
14:31play hundreds and hundreds of games.
14:33So I'm more comfortable, like jumping on, you know, these guys
14:36that we don't get to see very often, like Jordan Walsh and Mia Skater,
14:38because this is like all we know.
14:41But yeah, it wasn't a huge surprise when I rewatched
14:44why Drew Holliday did not check back in.
14:46And I kind of thought in lifetime, OK, this is because this is the group
14:50that brought the back and they wanted to make sure that they stuck
14:52with that group and rewarded them.
14:54And then as I when I rewatched, I was like, OK, this group actually
14:57just like was playing a lot better.
14:58And Pritchard actually just had a better game last night.
15:01He was just seemed more more locked in.
15:02And that's like that happens.
15:05I think Drew will bounce back well here.
15:07It'll be fun to see him with Charles Lee.
15:09Charles Lee was the assistant that he was probably the closest to,
15:11or at least he appeared to be.
15:13A lot of times last year they would get their shoot around together.
15:15Charles Lee was in Milwaukee with Drew as well.
15:18And so he was one of the first guys that we kind of asked
15:21when Charles got the job.
15:22And he said, you know, I'm obviously really happy for him and everything.
15:24But it'll be cool to see those two guys get reunited tomorrow.
15:27I'm sure they're spending some time together, maybe this weekend even.
15:30Or this. Yeah, I'm sure they'll see each other kind of off the floor.
15:34So and yeah, this is Tom just reiterating what I was thinking.
15:38You know, Pritchard played so well all game yesterday.
15:41I do feel like part of it was part of the Drew thing was just like
15:44Pritchard was playing really well.
15:46And I noticed the offense.
15:47He had 15 points.
15:48And this has like been a such a good stretch of offense for him.
15:5119 points, 28 points, 15 points.
15:53Like if he he's kind of showcasing what I've long believed,
15:56like if you give this guy an opportunity, he's going to show you
16:00that he's capable of of of putting up numbers and putting up
16:05like lead guard numbers.
16:06And I know people it's a controversial opinion a little bit still.
16:09But I do think that I do think that ultimately, like Pritchard is somebody
16:15that, you know, give him the chance, give him the chance to close out
16:17this game yesterday.
16:19He doesn't get as many chances as other guys.
16:21He doesn't have the same leeway as other guys.
16:22And yesterday he was one of the better, best two guards in the game.
16:26And what stood out to me on the rewatch was defensively.
16:29He made some big plays defensively, and he was actually really bothering
16:31Tyrese Halliburton and whoever else he was switched on to.
16:35And so he actually wasn't a liability.
16:36Sure. You know, obviously Drew can do things that Pritchard can't.
16:39That's always going to be the case defensively with just a size limitation.
16:42But yeah, I was really impressed by what I saw from him.
16:47And yeah, I was I was really hoping we'd have practice today
16:50so we could talk to Joe about kind of his thoughts on Pritchard's game
16:52and what some of the considerations were.
16:55And I feel this is common here.
16:56Drew should have finished was bad the other day and clutched at the end.
16:59I totally understand that piece.
17:01And I think there's a certain school thought of like,
17:03let's just put the stars in at the end.
17:05We're kind of regardless
17:07because they're the stars and they're the guys that, you know, you can count on.
17:09But I think in this kind of game, this is a regular season game.
17:13It was a very unconventional comeback.
17:15Like it was Tatum and the bench really that ignited that.
17:19Cato hadn't played the whole game.
17:20Like, I kind of like what Joe did.
17:22And I like the fact that Pritchard just got to ride it out.
17:25And I think if they win, it's an obvious call.
17:28And when you lose, you think like maybe they could have benefited from Drew there.
17:30And, you know, guarding the last few possessions.
17:32Like, you know, obviously there's there's something that he has there
17:34that, you know, you can't make up for.
17:36So. So, yeah, but it's an interesting dilemma.
17:40I'm always fascinated by the substitution patterns
17:42because there's so many different ways that these things can go.
17:45And ultimately, Joe kind of stuck to the group that brought them back.
17:48I mean, they were down by 21 at one point.
17:50So it was it was a pretty excessive deficit.
17:53And it just looked kind of lifeless.
17:54Like at one point, they were down by, I think, 17 in the fourth.
17:57And I was thinking to myself, like, just take just end the misery.
17:59Like they just they just looked so tired and so out of it.
18:02And it looked like they had just finished a long road trip.
18:04It was kind of surprising just how early in the season it was.
18:07And Jalen Brown said postgame, like, I didn't have my legs under me.
18:10I didn't have a burst all game.
18:12And I thought that was interesting because it is early in the season.
18:15You know, it sounds like a long term fatigue thing.
18:17But he said, you know, sometimes it just happens.
18:18And it's a long road, long season of ups and downs.
18:21And so you see that go up and down and all and all of those things.
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20:01So I see some questions here about Tatum.
20:04I think that Tatum is always going to kind of dominate the conversation
20:06just because he is ultimately, you know, he's the guy.
20:09He's the guy that I think probably dominates the headlines
20:11more than anybody else or maybe maybe Jalen too.
20:15I felt in general that Tatum actually looked really good this season.
20:19I know the 3.1 numbers are back down to approximately what they were last year.
20:25Let's see, actually.
20:26Let me see if my computer can pull these up without crashing.
20:29So right now, he's averaging 30.2 points per game,
20:32seven rebounds, 5.2 assists.
20:34He's shooting 48.6% from the field.
20:38And from three, he's now at 37.7%.
20:42So that's literally exactly what he was last year.
20:44Last year, he was 37.6%.
20:47So all those numbers are pretty comparable.
20:49A couple more shot attempts, a couple more points,
20:52slight increases in assists, slight decrease in rebounds.
20:56So he looked pretty similar.
20:59What I liked yesterday was everything that, like, we saw from this game.
21:05You know, even when he was struggling and when he was off,
21:08like, he didn't pack it in.
21:09He didn't say, you know, this is just not our night.
21:11He was a big part of that comeback.
21:13As with everybody that was on the floor,
21:15it kind of requires a full-team effort in those moments.
21:18But I think that it showed a certain level of level-headedness, of maturity.
21:22And, you know, there were some snippets that were caught,
21:24you know, that were miked up, I think, on ESPN of the guys just being like,
21:27listen, we're the best team in the league.
21:29There's plenty of time left.
21:30Like, we can make this happen.
21:31And you could just tell that there was a cool about him
21:33and about other players as well that is just encouraging to see.
21:39And so, generally speaking, like, no major takeaways from Tatum's
21:43individual performance of three or five games that's that different
21:46from what we've seen in the past.
21:47I think the people that were worried that he was going to come in
21:50and he forgot how to shoot, like, that didn't happen, obviously.
21:52He's at the same rate that he was last year.
21:55But the 8 of 12 start in opening night, like, that was not going to be sustainable.
21:58And it's not sustainable because that's not a normal shooting pattern.
22:04Or maybe it was even with 8 for 11.
22:06I can't even remember now.
22:06But, yeah, I think that that's the one thing I'll say is, like,
22:09the Tatum three-point shot is still a little bit of a question mark.
22:11It's a little bit of an X factor in the sense of, like,
22:14is it actually much better than it was in previous years?
22:16He's a 37.5% career three-point shooter.
22:20That's, you know, that's a big sample size at this point.
22:22He has been in the league for, what, eight years?
22:24One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
22:26This is year eight.
22:27So, like, that's, you know, we don't really need to be worried about can he shoot?
22:31I think that people were starting to get excited about, like,
22:33is he going to suddenly be a 40% three-point shooter again?
22:36I don't think so.
22:37I mean, the thing that stands out right now is that he's averaging 12.2 attempts per game.
22:41His career average is 6.8.
22:43So this is a substantial jump from previous seasons.
22:46I don't think it's going to maintain.
22:47I mean, he took 18 threes last night.
22:49But other than that, like, I felt like he has been pretty,
22:53he has been pretty, you know, attacking in the rim.
22:56He took a lot of free throws yesterday.
22:57He seemed pretty engaged.
22:58I really liked his passing when he's kind of made it, you know, gone pass first.
23:02So I think he looks very dominant.
23:04He looks like he is going to be starting the season again,
23:07kind of in the MVP conversation.
23:08And he probably won't get it.
23:09But, yeah, kind of what we've come to expect from him these last few seasons.
23:13I feel like he gets off to these better starts than maybe he was earlier in his career.
23:17But, yeah, I'm curious.
23:18You guys can feel free to put in the chat what you thought about,
23:20what you guys have been thinking about his performance so far.
23:22I've seen the Jalen concerns.
23:23I know everybody's freaking out about Jalen.
23:26I would love to stress for people, like, if you're really freaking out about Jalen,
23:30like, at least, you know, he just won finals MVP, like, three months ago.
23:34Like, I feel like he should deserve, he deserves a little bit of leeway here
23:37to have a couple of tough nights.
23:38I think he owned up to these last few games that just he wasn't up to standard.
23:41And especially yesterday, he was, should check out his post game.
23:44If you haven't, you know, he really took accountability for a lot of the things
23:46that went wrong and the energy and that he didn't have bursts and things.
23:49And I think it's, I don't extrapolate anything more than just a couple of tough nights for him.
23:56But, yeah, Tatum was a big part of the comeback.
23:58Jalen made some big plays too, he had a big steal down the stretch.
24:01And then the one thing I'll say here is, you know, Philippe, I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right,
24:06comment here about Porzingis will level up the team in December.
24:09It's very possible that Porzingis is actually closer to coming back than we may have realized.
24:13I think that from the beginning, Brad Stephens, Joe Mizzoula, Porzingis himself were pretty
24:19conservative with just talking about his minutes and when he might come back.
24:23And the reality is, is that Shams has reported that he's pretty close, is that it might be, you know,
24:28could be Christmas, it could be sooner even, which again, it's November tomorrow.
24:32So we're talking really soon here.
24:34And then obviously, like, second to that, there's this whole idea of, you know,
24:37we've been watching him warm up and he's been moving really well.
24:40And he's been doing that, those kinds of like shooting drills for weeks now.
24:44So it's not like he just got cleared to do that.
24:46So I would not be surprised if now that, you know, he ends up coming back sooner rather than later.
24:50And I think they're going to put him on a very restrictive plan.
24:55But yeah, you know, we'll see, you know, he's going to make them a lot better.
24:59I feel like even I forget sometimes how much of a better team this is when Porzingis is on the roster,
25:03because just from a room protection standpoint, just he was so efficient offensively last year.
25:08He bailed them out so many close games where he was just able to draw fouls.
25:12He was able to just get easy baskets shooting over people.
25:16I think we're going to get the same guy back that we've seen in the past.
25:19He's come back from so many injuries.
25:20So I feel like when you're somebody who knows you can come back from injuries,
25:24you've come back from injuries before, it gives you this sense of like almost confidence in yourself
25:28that maybe somebody that has never suffered a serious injury wouldn't have.
25:33So we'll see.
25:35Um, Tom question up here about, you know, should we split Cornette and Keita minutes based on matchups?
25:41It seems like Cornette is great against slower paced teams, but Keita was okay dealing with Indy's fast pace.
25:46I think that's kind of what it ends up being a lot of times.
25:49Um, so I don't think that, you know, I don't think that that's, you know, anything completely new.
25:57Um, but I think maybe sometimes people get frustrated because they want a certain player out there
26:01just because that's what they want to see.
26:02And like, you know, you're not thinking about who's the, who are the opponents that are out there.
26:06I'm going to start keeping track of when each of them are playing and who the matchups are,
26:09because I think that there is exactly as you laid out, like the more physical, faster paced teams, um, tend to bring Keita out.
26:17So we'll see how it plays out.
26:20I also just think that Keita right now, he's higher risk, higher reward.
26:23And so it's a certain mindset of playing him more minutes.
26:26Like if he's playing more minutes, he's going to make more mistakes,
26:28but he also might get a spectacular block that Luke's just not going to get.
26:31And so you have to kind of think about how much risk you want at this point.
26:35And maybe in a playoff game, you're going to take the lower risk, lower reward option,
26:39but maybe in November against the Hornets, you do the reverse.
26:43So we'll see.
26:44Um, I think that it self-expansive should be grateful that we have both of these guys on the roster,
26:48because ultimately, like, these are both players that are, are good, are good backup bigs.
26:52Like they really are.
26:52And I know that they're not perfect.
26:54If they were perfect, they wouldn't be minimum players.
26:55But, um, there's still a lot of good things that they're doing and, you know, ways that they've contributed to this team
27:00and that they're, you know, they're 4-1.
27:02So they're 4-1, and Al's pretty limited his minutes.
27:05And Porzingis has not been in the lineup.
27:12Yeah, and I see Tatum's shot seems better.
27:15I think the mechanics have looked better to people.
27:18I really try to steer clear of mechanics as much as possible,
27:21um, unless it's super, super obvious to me,
27:24just because I think that it can become a little confirmation bias.
27:26I saw Mikael Burgess' shooting, his true shooting percentage right now is 62%.
27:30So for all the discussions around how ugly his shots looked,
27:34he's been pretty much normal.
27:36Um, so, yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty funny just to see,
27:40like, sometimes the eye just doesn't always match up with the analytics.
27:43Um, I thought that as Tatum was kind of getting more tired yesterday,
27:46he was, his shot was looking a little bit wonkier.
27:49Um, but the big thing is the hitch, and the hitch is mostly gone.
27:52I haven't seen many flashes of the hitch since he's been, since, you know, since the season.
27:57Um, so I'm going to just, we're just going to have a quick message from our friends over at Game Time,
28:02and then we'll talk other teams, um, and just kind of who other threats might be right now.
28:07Uh, again, very early on, but just, you know, at this point in the season.
28:11There's few things I prefer doing than attending an NBA game or sporting event live,
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29:02Download Game Time today.
29:03What time is it?
29:04Game time.
29:07Awesome.
29:08So I've been catching a bunch of these games.
29:10I try to watch as much as possible.
29:11Um, I will say it's never, it's, yeah, it's never been, you know, I'm never able to catch everything,
29:18but I think so far OKC's look really good, um, and Cleveland's look really good.
29:22They're obviously the two undefeated teams, um, but I think, you know, it's just hard.
29:30I always feel like there's like the fluky teams that look really good at the beginning of the season.
29:33And you look at the standings and it's like, when were the Pelicans in first place?
29:36But they were for a while, you know?
29:37So, you know, Cleveland, I think it's, again, it's a small sample.
29:39They haven't had too many difficult battles just yet, but it looked good yesterday.
29:43They've looked good, uh, through five games.
29:45OKC is the team that I was the highest on coming into the season.
29:48And they have totally matched my expectations of kind of what we saw.
29:51And that's without Hardenstein, which who I think is, remains one of the most underrated players in the league.
29:57Um, so just thinking Eastern Conference, I will say like Pacers were not the number one team that I was listing as a threat to Boston.
30:04Um, and I think in general, people are sleeping on the Pacers just because they, they don't have,
30:08they didn't have like a bunch of splashy signings.
30:10You know, they kind of, they're in a smaller market.
30:12Uh, but ultimately they were the number two team in the East last year.
30:14They were in the Eastern Conference Finals.
30:16And so they deserve a little bit more respect.
30:18They've always played the Celtics well.
30:20Last year, they beat them twice during the regular season.
30:22They were one of just two teams that beat the Celtics twice last year, uh, the Nuggets being the other.
30:28And then again, last night, like regardless of how low energy in the Celtics, all that, like there was a reason why they got ahead by so much.
30:35Um, and sometimes it takes another team forcing you to be low energy and best up behind.
30:38So I think Indiana is a team that I know I've been tuning into them.
30:41Halliburton hasn't played like himself yet.
30:42And if that happens and everything else kind of continues to materialize, you know, Siakam, um, you know, I thought, you know,
30:50Nembhardt really didn't even play yesterday and he, he has been huge against Boston at points.
30:54Um, and so they are, they are a team that I'm just going to like put a little bit more respect on their names.
30:59Um, I think that at the same time, I don't, I would be very surprised if they meet the Celtics in a seven game series, but I think that if they face off again, it wouldn't be a sweep because it really shouldn't have been a sweep last year.
31:09Um, and Joe's mentioned that we all felt that way being in Indiana.
31:12Every one of these games was crazy.
31:14Um, and I also just love watching Indiana play.
31:16Like I think they're just a fun basketball team to watch.
31:18They make the most of the talent that they have.
31:20Uh, they play basketball in a way that just makes sense.
31:22Like they're getting easy baskets.
31:23They have constant cuts, constant passing.
31:26It's like, they're making it as easy as possible.
31:28Sometimes you watch these talented NBA teams and you're like, what, like, what is running?
31:31What are they running right now?
31:32You know, it feels like they're not, they're not capitalizing on all the talent they have on the court.
31:35And so Indiana gets a bump for me.
31:38Um, OKC stays probably number one is the threat to Boston.
31:41I just think that they, they might be a year away.
31:43Like they might still be a little bit too inexperienced and too young, but I don't know.
31:47I feel like between SGA being older than people think and the fact that they now have Alex Caruso,
31:51who's obviously won it all and he's a great defender.
31:54So, um, we'll see, you know, we'll see about, about that and about whether they need more time.
31:59Um, but I'm a, I'm a fan of OBC.
32:01I'm a fan of kind of what they have going on over there.
32:03I think the way that they've kind of built this team through the draft has been pretty cool.
32:05And then this past offseason, I thought it was really shrewd.
32:08Um, so yeah, we'll see.
32:11And then I resonate with this comment here.
32:12I think the Cavs have shown flashes and they did last year as well.
32:16Um, and again, it was weird because last year we never saw the full strength Cavs, you know,
32:20with Jared Allen, Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell all together.
32:23Um, and so they are one of the many teams that were not at full strength last season.
32:27Didn't have the space in the post season.
32:29Um, I'm going to need a bigger sample from Cleveland before I can get excited about them.
32:33Five and O's starts great.
32:35Um, you know, they looked good in the games they've played so far.
32:38Um, but do they have enough offense?
32:40Do they have like, like, can those bigs, can Jared Allen be like a dominant guy who
32:44actually squares up with a, you know, or another really good NBA all-stars, you know,
32:48post player and, and do what he's been doing these last, these first few games?
32:51I don't know.
32:51I'm not saying I don't believe in them, but I just think we need a little more sample.
32:54So we'll get back to them.
32:56Um, I'm going to be out in, I'm going to be out in, uh, Cleveland in November to
33:02catch the Celtics in Cleveland.
33:03So, uh, I'll have some, some updates from on the ground there.
33:06I'm trying to go to as many of these road games as possible.
33:09Um, just to give you guys a perspective of kind of what I'm hearing and seeing on the
33:11ground, nothing much yet.
33:13I only got here today, but I'll be here all weekend.
33:15So feel free to message me if you have questions, things you want to see.
33:18I'll be posting videos and things from on the ground, from Charles Lee, from players
33:21talking to one another and all that.
33:23Um, I did see that we got Boston banner that the Pacers hung.
33:27I thought that was pretty funny.
33:28I don't, I, I was going to co-tweet it.
33:31And then I think I asked around and it sounds like they do that for every single
33:34game.
33:35Um, but it is pretty funny because I always hear the expression of like, Oh, winning,
33:39like, you know, beating the Celtics was your championships just to actually see
33:41like the banner rise.
33:42I don't know if that was postgame, pregame, whatever it was.
33:44If anybody has context on that, I'm curious, but, um, it was pretty funny to
33:49see, um, because it felt like it was like a, a meme manifested.
33:53Um, but my biggest takeaway from yesterday was just the team has fight.
33:56This team has players on the bench that are ready to go.
33:59It just shows you good organizational culture.
34:01Um, and Indiana is really good.
34:03And Indiana is a tough, tough matchup for any of these teams to play against.
34:05And certainly they've been, they've put up a hell of a fight against Boston this
34:08last year, you know, between the in-season tournament, between every one of those
34:11conference finals games that came down to a point flip.
34:14It felt like, um, and then obviously starting with the win here, you know,
34:18first loss of the season for the Celtics.
34:19So I'll wrap it up here.
34:21Thank you all so much for tuning in.
34:23Uh, please subscribe on Spotify, Apple, whatever it is you watch your podcasts
34:28on YouTube, uh, tell a friend, leave a comment, leave a like, leave a review,
34:32whatever it is, all the support helps.
34:34Um, as I can kind of continue to get this off the ground, but it's been so
34:37fun to just be able to go live from different places and answer your
34:39questions, um, and I'll have a lot more coming up over these next few days.
34:42We'll have the garden report postgame tomorrow, and we'll have, uh, more
34:46coming up in the next few days.
34:47And if there's questions that I didn't get to feel free to leave them on the
34:50YouTube in the comments, and then I can answer them in the comments as well.
34:53Um, but thanks everyone.
34:54Have a great rest of your night, happy Halloween, and I
34:57will see you all tomorrow.

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