Fans of the Boston Celtics will finally see star Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis make his season debut against the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden on Monday (Nov. 25) evening, barring any unexpected setbacks. And with that news will come change for the Celtics -- but in which ways?
For one, Boston's frontcourt rotation will immediately be a more talented and diverse one, allowing for the team to paper over some of their weaknesses in the paint. But it will also change the rotation itself, shortening the playing time for some players, and changing which players get on the court with whom. It may also have less obvious but still important impacts, so the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast sat down with cohost of the "First to the Floor" podcast Ben Vallis to talk it over.
We also get into how the East itself has changed since the start of the season and get caught up on some significant news about the sale of the team and plenty more, so be sure you don't miss this important episode of the pod.
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For one, Boston's frontcourt rotation will immediately be a more talented and diverse one, allowing for the team to paper over some of their weaknesses in the paint. But it will also change the rotation itself, shortening the playing time for some players, and changing which players get on the court with whom. It may also have less obvious but still important impacts, so the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast sat down with cohost of the "First to the Floor" podcast Ben Vallis to talk it over.
We also get into how the East itself has changed since the start of the season and get caught up on some significant news about the sale of the team and plenty more, so be sure you don't miss this important episode of the pod.
*****************************************************
CLNS Media is Powered by:
💰 Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS
Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!
🎫 Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Terms apply. What time is it? Gametime!
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00Celtics Lab is brought to you by PrizePix and the Game Time app.
00:00:06All righty.
00:00:07Welcome to the Celtics Lab podcast brought to you by PrizePix, the exclusive Tennessee
00:00:10basketball partner of the CLS Media Network, and by Game Time Tickets, last-minute tickets,
00:00:14lowest price guaranteed.
00:00:15I'm your host, Cameron Tepspy.
00:00:16I'm joined by Alex Goldberg and Dr. Justin Quinn.
00:00:21We are going to talk about a bunch of things on this episode, namely the return of Chris
00:00:25Daft Porzingis to the lineup of the Celtics, and specifically what that means for the big
00:00:28picture.
00:00:30And from there, we'll kind of talk about the state of the Eastern Conference.
00:00:32We're going to do that with Ben Vallis of the First to the Floor podcast.
00:00:35So if you like this podcast, how about the Celtics or First to the Floor, check out the
00:00:40other New England sports podcasts over on the CLNS Media Network.
00:00:44We will talk to Ben in the second half of the program, and in the first half of the
00:00:48program, we'll do the news, which we usually do, and a bit of story time.
00:00:52But Alex, how are things in Brooklyn?
00:00:55Things are okay in Brooklyn.
00:00:57The weather is still being a little wonky, but it's starting to feel like fall, I guess.
00:01:02And yeah, I'm excited to watch the Seas tonight and keep on trucking, I guess.
00:01:09Trucking they are.
00:01:10League best five-game winning streak is on the line.
00:01:12Dr. Quinn, how are things in Mexico?
00:01:15Well, speaking of weather being weird here, what tends to happen is it's like summer,
00:01:21summer, summer, two days of cool weather, winter, and we have just hit winter.
00:01:26It's cold and I hate it, but it could be worse.
00:01:29Aren't you someone who gets bad allergies?
00:01:31Is it good for allergies?
00:01:32Yeah, they're going to follow me anytime now.
00:01:34I'm already starting to feel them.
00:01:36Keep a lookout for me sneezing and blowing my nose repeatedly with a mute function in
00:01:40the coming months.
00:01:41It's always a pleasure.
00:01:42Lovely.
00:01:43So Justin lives in Mexico City for the uninitiated.
00:01:46How was the Capitani's game?
00:01:48Pretty good.
00:01:49They beat the crap out of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
00:01:54I was a little disappointed.
00:01:55I'll tell you a story off air with some of my experience there, but generally speaking,
00:02:01if you are in Mexico City for tourism or for any reason, really, you should definitely
00:02:06check out a Capitani's game.
00:02:07It was like 60% of the arena, which is a full normal size NBA arena, was full for opening
00:02:12night, which is, let's just say, the far and away leader in attendance among G League squads.
00:02:19They don't do like interleague play.
00:02:21The Red Claws, the Maine Celtics, would have to be in the title game to play the Capitani's?
00:02:26Yeah, I tried to find out what was going on with that because, you know, obviously I would
00:02:30love the Maine Celtics to come here, but that is not to be.
00:02:37They told me that it is due to scheduling.
00:02:39That was the best answer I got.
00:02:40I assume that what you just said is why.
00:02:43I have no idea.
00:02:46So anyways, let's do story time, because I think it might be interesting, but also
00:02:51it kind of explains how this episode is going to go.
00:02:55So we here at the Celtics Club podcast, we like to have guests.
00:02:58I actually think we're remarkably consistent in having a guest on, considering it's hard
00:03:04to do.
00:03:05Yeah, it's hard to do.
00:03:06People are very generous with their time.
00:03:07We're very thankful.
00:03:08But also sometimes we forget.
00:03:09So anyways, we book guests and sometimes we have to work around their schedules.
00:03:12We do usually record the way we do now.
00:03:14It's Monday afternoon on the East Coast.
00:03:17We pre-recorded with Ben.
00:03:18We recorded with Ben at the beginning of last week.
00:03:20He's calling in from Australia.
00:03:21It wasn't as easy to line up schedules.
00:03:24And that's how this game is usually played.
00:03:27We stitch things together.
00:03:29And so we ask questions that allow for a little bit of flexibility.
00:03:33So going into our conversation with Ben, recorded on Friday, the trickle of news around Kostep
00:03:37Porzingis was not a full on water spout, but it's a little more than a trickle.
00:03:45It's clear that he is coming back soon.
00:03:48I had heard some things, other people had heard some things.
00:03:51He's posting pictures of himself practicing.
00:03:53So we thought we'd talk to Ben about what it would be like for the impending return
00:03:57of Porzingis.
00:03:59And so the whole conversation is still valid.
00:04:00It's about what happens when Porzingis returns.
00:04:02What does it mean for the Celtics?
00:04:04So we put that on the back burner.
00:04:06Ben has a file somewhere on his computer that we plan to record the news Monday.
00:04:09We're going to go for like 15, 20 minutes and then we'll stitch it all together.
00:04:13And I don't think we've ever been like really distraught or screwed up because of timing
00:04:20like that.
00:04:21Not yet.
00:04:22But this is about as close as we've come.
00:04:24Thankfully, it didn't drop even sooner or we would have been dealing with a very cold
00:04:27lab.
00:04:28Yeah, we got lucky that the Porzingis news came out today as opposed to like yesterday,
00:04:33the day before.
00:04:35Because there is a little bit of timeliness.
00:04:36I mean, hopefully people are enjoying this conversation, like and subscribe to never
00:04:41miss an episode.
00:04:42But if the Porzingis, if we recorded Friday, the Porzingis news came out to Saturday.
00:04:47Yeah, how did the Porzingis news come out again?
00:04:49We'll get to that.
00:04:50That's part of the story.
00:04:51If it had come out Saturday and people started listening to this Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday,
00:04:56whenever people presumably listen to this, it might have not had the same juice.
00:05:00So we did indeed get lucky.
00:05:01So anyways, that's story time.
00:05:02That's a peek behind the curtain.
00:05:05Another peek behind the curtain.
00:05:07I got something.
00:05:11A Latvian television show featured one of Chris Tapps Porzingis's friends who said on
00:05:17air that Chris Tapps was cleared to play.
00:05:20And I think he said something in effect that like he was going to play against the Clippers.
00:05:25So a bunch of like aggregator social media sites that follow the Celtic said this morning,
00:05:30Chris Tapps is back.
00:05:31He's been cleared.
00:05:32He's going to play tonight.
00:05:34And I suppose that's that they got it right.
00:05:37I mean, it sounds like the friend leaked it.
00:05:39So people who listen to this podcast know, like, I go to games.
00:05:44I'm a beat reporter of some consequence, I suppose, but I'm not like so plugged in.
00:05:49I don't break news.
00:05:50But I have worked with Porzingis's camp before, and I'm working on perhaps another story.
00:05:56So I reached out to someone who might know what was going on, and I said, hey, I'd love
00:06:00to help you like, I forget what I actually said.
00:06:05I'm curious if this is true.
00:06:07And if you need help kind of like, confirming the narrative or recontrolling the narrative
00:06:12or something like that.
00:06:14And this person who would be indeed in line to know these things said, yes, he's in fact,
00:06:18he's going to play tonight.
00:06:19So then I WhatsApp Justin, and he says, get out, get it out now.
00:06:26I was about to give vocab quiz.
00:06:27So Justin wrote the story.
00:06:29I did the social, and we beat ESPN to the punch by five whole minutes.
00:06:35So that felt pretty cool.
00:06:36And so for people who were standing up for me, Shams didn't scoop me.
00:06:41I'm sure we heard from the same person, or nearly the same person.
00:06:44We got the same scoop is what is more accurate.
00:06:46But yeah, I've never scooped a story before.
00:06:50I think that's closest I've ever come to breaking news.
00:06:52You broke the news, take that credit.
00:06:55I broke that news.
00:06:56Yeah.
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00:18:51coming from. I also think that the trade was pretty good for the Celtics. So yeah, I'm
00:18:56not gonna not gonna knock the trade trade, I think was one of the better ones I've seen.
00:19:03Yeah. So anyways, we're gonna wrap it up for the news portion of the podcast. We're gonna
00:19:10to the magic of editing, hand ourselves over to the past and Ben ballast, talk about the
00:19:15big picture lens on Chris steps for Zingas. I think I wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving
00:19:21during that segment, just in case have a wonderful, safe, happy holiday. Thanks for listening.
00:19:26And we'll check in with you next week. We will now check in with Ben ballast at first
00:19:31to the floor. But first, let's check in with game time. Because now getting tickets to
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00:19:50I remember going to the 2022 finals with Alex. And the Celtics did not win the game that
00:19:56we went to. But we sure had a lot of fun, didn't we? No, they didn't. But yes, we had
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00:20:37have some fun. What time is it? It's game time. All right, off to our conversation with
00:20:42Ben Vallis of First to the Floor. Thanks for listening. Adios. All right, as promised,
00:20:48we're here in the Celtics lab. And we're going to talk about a couple of things, namely,
00:20:52the perhaps very soon return of Christaps Porzingis and a snapshot of the Eastern Conference
00:20:58writ large. And to do that, we're going to welcome into the lab, Ben Vallis of First
00:21:02to the Floor, the podcast and increasingly popular simulcast production, what would
00:21:08you pitch that to the fans real quick, Ben? Are you talking about the playback streams
00:21:13or live watch parties? Yeah, so that's all hosted by Jake Eisenberg, my co host. He's
00:21:19a writer for Celtics blog, obviously a host of the First to the Floor podcast as well.
00:21:23And he runs the Celtics blog playback room, which if you're not familiar, it's like you
00:21:27said, a simulcast, a live watch party. It's essentially our faces on the bottom of the
00:21:31screen, the main event, which is the game in the middle of the screen. And you can watch
00:21:35along and chat with us during the show. So it's lots of fun. And Jake does an awesome
00:21:38job with that. It's super fun. And First to the Floor is super fun. Actually, I'll embarrass
00:21:42you. I was at the game talking to some of the Celtics writers, and we were gushing at
00:21:45how much growth you guys have seen, how much content you put out specifically on YouTube.
00:21:51So you have fans in the back halls of TD. Well, that's not embarrassing at all. That's
00:21:55awesome to hear. And thank you so much for having me. By the way, I've been a huge fan
00:21:59of the experiments you guys have been cooking up in the Celtics lab for a long time. So
00:22:03it's a little bit surreal to find myself on the show because I've been a long time listener.
00:22:06So thank you for having me. Wow, no one blowing smoke up our asses, right?
00:22:12A bit of a suck up, yeah. Sure. So a couple things of programming note.
00:22:16First of all, it is 5.30ish Eastern Time on Friday, which maybe will be important to note.
00:22:25And also that I'm going to have to leave the lab early. The only reason that that's
00:22:30noteworthy is because we're going to talk about Chris Tapp's Porzingis. And I was saying
00:22:32before we hit record that the way the team is kind of starting to talk about it feels
00:22:37like he's coming back quite soon. In fact, Jason Tatum was asked about his impending
00:22:42return and he said, yeah, it's kind of like a cheat code. He did not say, hey, what are
00:22:46you talking about? Chris Tapps is still keeling. So the Celtics play in Washington. Porzingis
00:22:51is out Friday night. Then they have a back to back Sunday, Monday, both at home. Justin
00:22:56and Alex don't think Porzingis is going to play. I think maybe. But either way, it seems
00:23:02like he is coming back sooner rather than later. Ben, how would you play it if you were
00:23:09Chris Tapps? How would you play it if you were the Celtics? And what expectations do
00:23:12you have? I've always erred on the conservative side when it comes to minutes and particularly
00:23:18with older or injury prone players, which is kind of the case with KP. Unfortunately,
00:23:22I'm interested to see how that turns out, because they've talked about like they've
00:23:25got a number of like physical metrics or bars that they want him to hit before he returns.
00:23:30So interested to see what that version of KP looks like. So I've always been conservative
00:23:35when it comes to bringing guys back, especially through the lens of like we want the ultimate
00:23:39goal is for him to be healthy for the playoffs. On the other side of that, though, is Al Horford,
00:23:44who has defied father time to this point, but he has seen, you know, an increased minutes
00:23:48load in lieu of KP being available. So I kind of would encourage them to bring KP back sooner
00:23:54rather than later just to take the minutes load off of Al Horford. And it seems like
00:23:58we're doing a bit of a dance with like who our preferred backup center is. And Cater
00:24:02is the guy that's favored by the coaching staff at the moment. But Joe Mazzola, for
00:24:07whatever reason, decided to like torture him, willingly torture him by playing him throughout
00:24:11most of the third quarter in the Cavs game. So I think we need a little bit of stability
00:24:14there with our rotation. So I'm hopeful that KP comes back sooner rather than later. Obviously,
00:24:20that's speculatory. But it seems like from what you've said and what the players are
00:24:23saying, he's healthy and ready. Justin, the F5 sub stack put out some like amazing data
00:24:30that showed how often bigs are guarding guards. And we've talked about that kind of connects
00:24:35to why Cater doesn't look great on defense. Sometimes he's being asked to basically guard
00:24:39the fastest players on the other team. But Cater is number one in that metric for big
00:24:43men. Al Horford is number four, and Luke Cornett is number six, which suggests, I think, Porzingis
00:24:49is going to be asked to guard guards when he comes back, unless he's on a severe restriction.
00:24:54Justin, if you're a really eager Porzingis fan, do you have any cold water to throw around?
00:25:02You're on mute. Back to back episodes, Justin.
00:25:07All right. Apologies for that. No, I wouldn't throw very much cold water on that at all.
00:25:12Other than the fact that I think we might see a little Xavier Tillman at the four later on this
00:25:17season, just try to get everyone some minutes and have as many capable bodies for at least
00:25:23the earlier rounds of the playoffs, or we won't even say the other thing. So I do think that
00:25:29there's a possibility we could see some interesting maneuvers in terms of how these players are being
00:25:36used. And I think Mimi being used as much as he was might actually even be a sign that Chris
00:25:42Epps is coming back sooner, because if you're going to get the guy a lot of time, it's going
00:25:47to be hard to do that once you have another center in the mix. Might as well give him some run
00:25:51against the highest level situation you're going to have early in the calendar. We all hated
00:25:56watching it, but it was really valuable in terms of experience that you can improve on.
00:26:01Sure, Alex, anything we missed or do you disagree with our like early assessment of what this might
00:26:07mean? You know, I think the only thing that I would say, and I think you've all covered a big
00:26:14chunk of kind of what the discourse should be around this, but the only thing I'll say is that
00:26:19I do think we're ignoring that the Celtics secret sauce, secret weapon that they used to great
00:26:25effect last year in the playoffs was having Jason Tatum guard fives. And that was a huge part of why
00:26:32their defense was so befuddling to a number of different teams. You saw it in the finals. You saw
00:26:38it in the Eastern Conference Finals as well. When they throw Tatum on the five, you know, he's a
00:26:44pretty big physical guy who can hold his own in the post. And if you're wasting time trying to
00:26:50hunt a mismatch by throwing the ball to your center, supposedly who has a mismatch on Jason
00:26:56Tatum, that's exactly what Joe Mizzoula is kind of hoping for from his defensive scheme.
00:27:04Apologies. I do. We're on fire. I do think. Yeah, no. Can you go to the wrong guy? I'm sorry. Sorry
00:27:10about that. I do think there is something to the effect of maybe keeping KP a little bit more on
00:27:18ice. If you want to reduce that Orford minutes load, you could just kind of go for it with Tatum
00:27:24as the actual five, like have him play that center position and then just go, you know, small ball
00:27:33four out. You can still play guys with size. You can still play Hauser. You can still play,
00:27:38you know, Jalen Brown. You can still throw other guys out there to make up the size differential,
00:27:45but it does feel to me like we've seen less of that than I maybe expected heading into this year.
00:27:50And I wouldn't be shocked if as a way to manage the Horford minutes while also, you know, keeping KP
00:27:58on ice while also trying to get back to that switch everything kind of no, no weak spots defense.
00:28:05You could start to see that Tatum at the five lineup a little more. Yeah, that was something
00:28:10I wrote about preseason. I'd love to see that. Ben, what about you? I think you can play drop
00:28:15coverage with KP kind of similar to how we did with Time Lord where like Al in drop has its
00:28:21limitations. We've seen that with the drop in efficiency in defense around the rim for the
00:28:26Celtics this year, but with the lanky Latvian playing drop coverage, like he's just so big
00:28:30and tall that he doesn't have to come up to the level of the screen. He can sit back and protect
00:28:34himself against the drive from quick guards while also like getting a pretty legitimate contest
00:28:39up. So I think we saw this in the playoffs last year in the regular season when KP did play that,
00:28:44they'll switch one through four. They'll play drop coverage with KP and he just there's so much less
00:28:49effort required from him to contest that shot in drop coverage just because of his length.
00:28:54And like I said, he can provide a legitimate contest on the shot without coming right up
00:28:57to the level of the screen. The other thing, and we did this with Time Lord as well, is just like
00:29:01stick him on like it's matchup dependent, but Isaac Okoro, for example, like you can put him
00:29:05on a non-shooter in the corner and he can roam off of him as well, which also contributes to our
00:29:10rim defense. That's what I'm looking forward to the most is just the defense around the rim.
00:29:13I think we're 21st this year per cleaning the glass. Last year we were fifth overall, so it's
00:29:18just going to be a huge contribution on that end. It really adds to our defensive versatility, but
00:29:23yeah, in essence, one through four switching KP and drop seems to be the recipe for success.
00:29:28So as mentioned, I also need to drop speaking of dropping quickly. Ben, can I profile you as an
00:29:36Australian person while we're talking about defense? Sure. How pumped are you guys about
00:29:41Dyson Daniels? This kid is out of control. What do they call you? The Great Barrier Thief, I've
00:29:46heard, which is unbelievable. It's taking the pun game to a new level. Yeah, look, he's been
00:29:51incredible and like we'll get to the Eastern Conference a little bit later by the sounds of
00:29:55things, but the Hawks defense, unsurprisingly, is just so much better without Trey Young. You set
00:30:02such a low ceiling for your team success if your max player just has such exploits defensively,
00:30:09and they don't suffer from that when Trey is off. So Dyson Daniels, blow up the team,
00:30:15build around the Aussie, Dyson Daniels. Where was that in the Olympics? I have to ask. He wasn't
00:30:20nearly as effective, unfortunately, on the international stage, but as an Aussie, yeah,
00:30:24you love to see it. Cool. Yeah, I used to live in Melbourne, so I'm sensitive to that. Anyways,
00:30:31I am going to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving because this is going to air
00:30:36Thanksgiving week. I'm going to say thanks to Ben because I'm going to leave now, and thanks to Alex
00:30:40and thanks to Justin. Alex, you get to be quarterback now. You're Drake May, Jacoby,
00:30:47obviously. And yeah, everyone have a safe holiday. I don't follow football, so I'm just like, okay,
00:30:53sure. All right. Adios. Take it easy, Cam. Good to meet you. All right. So now that Cameron is
00:30:58going to nurse various injuries and have a 15-year career of just getting crushed behind shitty
00:31:04offensive lines, let's swing it over to the Eastern Conference. So we're going to, I think it
00:31:11was the right call to kind of do this in reverse order, and so that's where we're going to start.
00:31:17I think we're going to try and keep things around the horn. I think everybody's going to get
00:31:2230 seconds or so just to break down. We're going to kind of go one by one,
00:31:27see what the state of the East is, and then I'm going to die. But then after that,
00:31:34we are going to take some time to, I think, kind of briefly sum up as a whole, what are we thinking
00:31:41about the state of the conference collectively after going on team-by-team basis. But then
00:31:46you're the guest. You're going to start us off, and you're going to have the unenviable
00:31:53task of breaking down what's going on with the Washington Wizards for us.
00:31:57So let's start there. What have we seen from Washington? Boston's going to be playing them
00:32:02later tonight. What can the fans expect with this team, and what should we be thinking about
00:32:08for this team's future this season? Yeah, I'll have to preface this with
00:32:12we're recording right before the Wizards game, so everything I say is a high-risk speculation.
00:32:18But the Wizards, they're kind of like the NPC of the league. They just exist to be preyed upon by
00:32:25other teams, like the perpetual gazelle being chased down by the lion of the rest of the league.
00:32:30They're just food for everyone else. When have they really experienced success in the history
00:32:36of their franchise? They're sort of either a perpetually middling team who suffers from their
00:32:42own inaction, or they're a terrible team who is awarded with an appropriately good draft pick,
00:32:49and then messes up the pick, it seems. So they do have some promising aspects. I'm a big fan
00:32:55of Bilal Kulabali. I think that he's a high upside wing who presents challenges to opponents,
00:33:01including potentially the Celtic Solo, who's a little young and inexperienced. But for the most
00:33:05part, this is the longest I've ever thought or talked about the Wizards. They're just kind of
00:33:10a non-factor, I think. I hope I've given you enough there, but they don't inspire a lot of
00:33:15hope or thought or confidence. Well, so then let's put it this way, because I do think you're right
00:33:20that there are some players that are of note on the Wizards. I like Bilal Kulabali. I think
00:33:26this guy, Bob Carrington, that they drafted seems pretty decent by all accounts. There are some
00:33:31other players on the Wizards that might be of note, but I'm not sure they're necessarily going to be
00:33:38wearing the red, white, and blue former Bullets uniforms. JQ, what is the most notable thing about
00:33:46the guys that might not be on this Wizards team, say, I don't know, come February?
00:33:52The most notable thing? Really, the question, I think, is where these players are going to go.
00:33:58I mean, we have Valencia Unas. I think he's going to be in high demand. Kuzma, I think,
00:34:03is going to be of interest to other teams, bless you. Whether or not they're going to be difference
00:34:09makers, I think, really depends on where they end up. Brooklyn is another team to watch in that
00:34:15regard as well. Yeah, we'll get to that. Yeah. Want to get to some of the other teams?
00:34:20Yeah, let's do it. You know, I do think, like, you know, Malcolm Bragdon, Jonas Valanciudis,
00:34:26Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, all those guys are going to be up for grabs, but let's keep it moving. So,
00:34:31Ben, Toronto Raptors are young. They are scrappy. They have some guys on the team. They have,
00:34:39you know, kind of an interesting path for what their season looks like here.
00:34:45What are we looking at from the Washington, sorry, from the Toronto Raptors and kind of
00:34:51where they're headed this season? What's the kind of story of note?
00:34:55They have Drew Carter's favorite player in Grady Dick, it seems, which is exciting.
00:34:59Oh, he loves to set up scales. Interesting comment. No, no, I think you're onto something
00:35:06down here. Yeah, I mean, he's had a great sophomore season so far, which if you watched
00:35:10him at all in his rookie season, I think was pretty, pretty surprising other than his draft
00:35:14suit. I think that's where his rookie season kind of peaked. But he's been really effective,
00:35:19really efficient, both shooting and like cooking guys off the dribble as well. I didn't expect him
00:35:24to have that kind of efficiency like off the catch and drive as well. So he's an exciting
00:35:28prospect. Obviously, Scotty Barnes as well, who's he's now rocking the rec specs as well,
00:35:33coming back from that facial injury, I believe. So they've got some good young talent, high upside.
00:35:39I'm a David Mitchell fan. I know that my co-hosts are not, but I really like the idea and the
00:35:44longevity and the sustainability of like a defense first guard that you can throw out there. There's
00:35:49so much guard talent in the league. So to have someone who can effectively D up on those guys in
00:35:54potential playoff run down the road, I think is really exciting as well. So I think they should
00:35:59stay the course. They've also got potentially some players that they could trade at the
00:36:02deadline and help other teams. Kelly Olenek, for example, is like ever mentioned name when it comes
00:36:08to the trade deadline. So the difficulty there, and this will be the case for a lot of the teams
00:36:13we talk about, is like how difficult it is to make those transactions in this new CBA climate.
00:36:19But they've got some exciting prospects. Absolutely. Justin, what are the odds that
00:36:24RJ Barrett is the most interesting name dealt at the trade deadline?
00:36:30You know, I think there's going to be a big surprise dealt at the trade deadline,
00:36:34particularly with some of the other teams in the lower end of the East, maybe not Joe Embiid,
00:36:41or a very, shall we say, looming example. But the Sixers are not going anywhere, right? So
00:36:49I think there's a pretty good chance that probably a Sixer, maybe a Buck, maybe someone fairly big
00:36:56like Chris Middleton might be on the move. I don't think RJ Barrett's going to be on the move. I think
00:37:02we're going to try to build around him. So let's get into it. We've spent some time talking about
00:37:07the Washington Wizards. We spent some time talking about the Toronto Raptors. I think we all
00:37:11know what is going on there. Young teams going to deal a lot of parts of the deadline. We'll be
00:37:17seeing them in the lottery. We got to talk about the elephant in the room, fellas. Philadelphia
00:37:2276ers, who I at one point believe might be the actual most capable challenger to Boston in this
00:37:30conference, are currently living at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with the worst record
00:37:34in basketball, 2-12. So I'm going to swing it to you, Ben, first. What does this team do?
00:37:44Pray, I think, is probably the right answer there. They are just so in the toilet with no way to
00:37:51scramble out. It's ridiculous. And we have a segment on our show called the Schadenfreude
00:37:57Report, where we just kind of like bask in the glow and the joy in the pain that other fan bases
00:38:03are feeling. And we're just running that segment every show now, and aimed specifically right at
00:38:07the Sixers. Because what isn't going wrong? I've been following the NBA closely for
00:38:12almost 20 years now. I don't think I've ever witnessed a season go down the toilet as rapidly
00:38:18and as brutally as is the case with the Sixers. Where do you even start? This
00:38:25players-only meeting that happened, which was immediately leaked. And then Paul George goes on
00:38:30his own podcast with this clickbaity title and thumbnail, talks about it some more,
00:38:35just adding fuel to the fire. I don't think you can trade Joel Embiid. First of all, there'd be
00:38:40no appetite anywhere to acquire him, just in terms of an X's and O's fit, or even more importantly,
00:38:46culturally, a fit either. Same for Paul George, who you've just signed and can't trade him. Maybe
00:38:51you could look to move off Maxie, but he's kind of culturally the only bright spot, really,
00:38:56and Jared McCain as well. So I think long term, you need to look at moving forward with
00:39:01Tyrese Maxie and Jared McCain. How you unburden yourself of the other terrible aspects of the
00:39:08roster in Embiid and Paul George, I don't know. That's for cleverer minds than me to figure out,
00:39:12but I'd hate to see it. The Sixers are in a tough spot there. Speaking of Jared McCain, Justin,
00:39:18do we believe that Jared McCain is that guy, the guy that he's been this past couple of weeks?
00:39:24He's been the only bright spot, really, for Philly this year, and he's been really, really
00:39:29good. But do we think this is sustainable? I mean, we'll get to some other teams in the East
00:39:36that are experiencing the fact that growth is not always linear. So maybe when people start to
00:39:44understand how he tends to play, you'll see him be a little bit less effective as the season goes on,
00:39:51in particular next season. But from all accounts, he is exactly what that poor fan base needs to
00:39:58have something to hold on to, because that's Tyrese Maxie, which is, by all accounts, a great
00:40:02thing to hold on to. But it's looking like they may be looking at the process starting over again.
00:40:10I have a take on the process I have to share very quickly in that I'm not a religious person
00:40:13at all in any way, shape or form, but you cannot convince me that the basketball gods don't exist.
00:40:19I think that they are being smited for the process, which was the biggest war crime ever
00:40:24committed in the world in history of basketball. And until they rid themselves of anything that
00:40:30came by way of the process... So Tyrese Maxie, he's been so good because he was their first organically
00:40:36non-process acquired player in a little while, and now we're seeing the same with Jared McCain.
00:40:40But Embiid is just cursed by, and we saw this with Ben Simmons as well, my fellow Aussie,
00:40:45cursed by the smitedness that is being bestowed upon them by the basketball gods. So until they
00:40:50can rid themselves of that disaster, then nothing's going to improve for them.
00:40:57I think my overwhelming takeaway on the Sixers is not as sexy as that. I really like that. That's
00:41:02a good one. My main takeaway for Philly is that Paul George, I think we have to TBD. He hasn't
00:41:10played enough games. He's been injured for most of the year. Pretty much all of their vet bench
00:41:16signings have flopped. Caleb Martin can't hit a shot. Kyle Lowry looks like a shell of a shell.
00:41:25He can't play at a serious NBA level anymore. Andre Drummond is Andre Drummond. He's a nice
00:41:31backup center, but he has no offense. And if you're relying on him to single-handedly anchor
00:41:37your defense, you're in trouble. Outside of Gershon Yabasele, pretty much every free agency
00:41:44or trade signing that Philly did this offseason has catastrophically failed up to this point.
00:41:51And it's just tough for a team to come back from that, man. You get your season started brimming
00:41:57with optimism. Oh, we brought in all these new players. We're going to be a defense-first team.
00:42:01We're going to hit a lot of threes. We're going to push the pace. And then every single one of
00:42:05them flops. All right. Well, Philly, good luck out there. We'll see at the end of the season.
00:42:15Let's briefly move on to a team that I think is more interesting than I thought they were,
00:42:23but is still not that interesting in the Chicago Bulls. So what have we seen from the Bulls?
00:42:30Let's reverse it. Let's swing it to Justin and then Ben.
00:42:33So what we are seeing from the Bulls is kind of just like a microcosm of the last several seasons,
00:42:38which is they should be better. They're not. We're not really sure what they're
00:42:40doing and why they're doing it. And who knows what's going to happen next?
00:42:45Yeah. Pick a direction. That's the inactivity. We've talked about it a couple of times with
00:42:51other teams, but they're a perpetually middling team that can't seem to choose a direction to go
00:42:56in. And for that reason, they're never going to really win anything. They're never going to lose
00:43:00to a remarkable level where they're awarded with the appropriate draft picks. And so they're just
00:43:05always a straight down the middle team who can't seem to figure out what their future looks like.
00:43:10That said, Josh Giddey obviously had some off the court issues, but I think he's a very young,
00:43:16very talented player that could potentially bring them some success in the future.
00:43:20But just looking down their roster, it's quite a mess of different pieces that don't seem to gel
00:43:26very well together. That said, on the court this year, they've been kind of spicy. We haven't
00:43:31played them yet, but I sort of view them as a team that we kind of have to be careful around and
00:43:35really get up for that game because they are quite talented. But they've got to get themselves
00:43:40organized because roster-wise, Kobe White is another really talented player that I think
00:43:44could have a future in Chicago. Sorry, as a plane flies right over my head, very noisy.
00:43:49My apologies to the editor. But yeah, sort of a mishmash of talented individuals that don't
00:43:55really sort of coalesce as a team that makes sense. Yeah, the Kobe White thing is interesting
00:44:02to me because I think the other thing with the Bulls is that Zach Levine is still their best
00:44:08player and there are nights where Zach Levine actually looks really good. He can still give
00:44:12you 50. He can still score efficiently. He's still a valuable player in the right context.
00:44:19The problem is that Zach Levine, when Zach Levine went down last year, that's when Cody
00:44:25White blossomed. That's when he really got a chance to shine as an offensive primary creator
00:44:31and with the ball in his hands, really kind of do something. Now that Zach Levine is back,
00:44:37there's not as many opportunities for him to do that. And I think what this all comes down to is
00:44:42the Bulls have too many cooks. They just have too many guys who need the ball in their hands to be
00:44:47effective. Diddy needs the ball. Kobe White needs the ball. Zach Levine needs the ball. All of these
00:44:53guys need the ball and need to be in high usage roles for them to be their best selves. You guys
00:44:59are totally right. It's misfit toys. And this is a team that is absolutely begging for a consolidation
00:45:06trade, folks. Like, yeah. Anyway, let's keep it moving. We'll stay in the Central Division.
00:45:13Another team that I think is a relative disappointment, but there might be a pulse,
00:45:17there might be some signs of life. Ben, we'll swing it to you first. Milwaukee Bucks sit at
00:45:22number 11. How did this happen? What can they do to turn around? And yeah, stay to the Bucks. Let's
00:45:29do it. Yeah. And what's going on with Chris Middleton? He's cleared medically to return,
00:45:33but I guess he needs to get his mind right or something as far as coming back and feeling
00:45:38ready. But that would be very concerning to me if I was a Bucks fan, that if finally he's cleared,
00:45:43you're sort of waiting for that to be the tipping point of the season where you start to appear
00:45:48healthy, start to turn things around. And then this guy is physically healthy, but just for
00:45:53whatever reason, mentally can't get back on the court yet. That would be concerning. And I wonder
00:45:57if from a overall team perspective, if they're like, we know, we feel like Middleton coming back
00:46:03isn't actually going to move the needle for us. And our fan base isn't ready for that disappointment
00:46:08to pile onto the already massively disappointing season thus far. So I wonder if they're being
00:46:12really cautious with their approach in that sense. But I think they'll be fine. Yanis being
00:46:17Yanis, he's having one of his best seasons ever. He's just such an incredible player. He can carry
00:46:22a team, a franchise to a deep postseason run. So if Yanis stays healthy, I think they'll probably
00:46:28still lose in the second round because if you've got guys like Dame Lillard, who's just not who
00:46:32he used to be offensively, who's going to get cooked defensively, there's only so far that
00:46:36you can go. So they'll turn it around. They're no longer in the sixes disaster category,
00:46:41but their ceiling is low because they've just got so many exploitable issues.
00:46:46Last night, Yanis had 41 and 9. Justin, how is this team this bad despite having a player who
00:46:51can do things like that? Well, for one thing, as much of the supposed no-brainer of a trade that
00:46:58this was, I was always concerned for two reasons. And both of those reasons, unfortunately for Bucks
00:47:04fans, have been basically playing out, namely that both of them play very different styles.
00:47:09One of them likes to go very fast, the other likes to go very slow and methodical. That's not
00:47:14a good mix. But more importantly, they don't have any wing defenders. I keep saying this every time
00:47:19we talk about the Bucks. If Middleton comes back and he can defend on two surgically altered ankles,
00:47:27then that would be a huge help even beyond what he can obviously do on the offensive end of the
00:47:31court. What they really should be doing right now is just cycling through as many players as they
00:47:36can that are known good defenders that don't have an offensive game because they have enough
00:47:42offense to get by. They just need to find somebody, anybody who can slow someone down the way.
00:47:48We're going to pause and not, we're going to go the opposite of slow and we're going to speed
00:47:53things up a little bit here. In the Central Division, we got to talk about the fastest team
00:47:58in the 10 seed, the Indiana Pacers. Ben, why is this team that made the Eastern Conference Finals
00:48:04and came in with all of this buzz not better this year? They're 5.1 points per 100 worse with
00:48:10Halliburton on the court, which is crazy. I took a peek at his cleaning the glass profile before I
00:48:16jumped on here. Efficiency-wise, across the board in the blue, which means he's in the lower
00:48:22percentile across the league average for his position. Can I curse on this show?
00:48:28Simply, he's just having a shit season. You hate to see it because he's such a talented player.
00:48:33He's young. He'll turn it around. Without him, he's the straw that stirs the drink. He is the
00:48:39fulcrum of everything they do offensively. Last year, he was just so dynamic. Obviously,
00:48:43offensively, he's got that janky looking shot, but he was really efficient and a threat from three
00:48:48from beyond the arc. We saw that in game one in the Eastern Conference Finals. Obviously,
00:48:52diming up his teammates, he's really good at setting them up for success. He's just simply
00:48:57not doing that as well this year. It's as simple as that. Without Tyrese Halliburton actually
00:49:01playing the way that we've known him to play, then they're just not going to be a good team.
00:49:05I think it also does not help that three of their centers are injured and two of them are out for
00:49:12potentially the whole year in James Wiseman. I'm like an addict. Isaiah Jackson. Isaiah Jackson,
00:49:21you're right. It's been a rough time for the Pacers depth chart. We got to keep the pace going
00:49:30because Justin has a concert to go to. We're going to try and bang these next ones out.
00:49:35I really want to swing to this team because this has been low-key my favorite league pass team this
00:49:41year. Charlotte Hornets, Justin, is this team good? They're better. They are a better coach.
00:49:50They are more disciplined. They are still dealing with some undisciplined players who are getting
00:49:57more disciplined, I guess is the best way to put it. Lomelo Ball is still saying stupid things,
00:50:03as we saw this week. And there's just some nights they look like they could take down
00:50:08a contender and other nights they look like they could barely guard a traffic cone. I'm not really
00:50:14sure beyond just being a younger team who is getting used to their new coach, who is doing
00:50:19a good job with them so far. They can be good. They're on the way to being good. I think they
00:50:25still need a couple more pieces, a little more starter power to actually be good, though.
00:50:31Yeah, go ahead, Beck. You. Well, just quickly, I'm just looking at Cleaning the Glass
00:50:35and 21st ranked offensively, 21st ranked defensively. Again, you can put this in the
00:50:40same category as the Bulls, like talented yet unserious team. And Lomelo Ball, very dynamic
00:50:46offensively, a little bit predictable, though. And then you can predict that he's going to be
00:50:50terrible on defense as well. So he's a guy that teams will target night in, night out. But the
00:50:55bright spot for them is that Brandon Miller looks like legitimately good. And to have that much
00:51:00talent at the wing spot, which is kind of a dry position in the league generally at the moment,
00:51:05especially as guys like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are being phased out to have that much
00:51:09talent at that position. I think that's a more sustainable piece for them to build around long
00:51:14term than someone like Lomelo, who does have those exploitable defects. We got to talk about
00:51:19Trey man, guys. Trey man is coming at the rack with some insane intensity. This guy's trying to
00:51:27kill absolutely everybody in front of him. And you know, Lomelo. I have to say, guys,
00:51:34I absolutely love watching Lomelo Ball play basketball. Because the shots that he take,
00:51:39like last night, he took a shot from near half court with two guys on him on one leg, and he
00:51:45drilled it in the end of the shot clock. And then the next possession, he bricked a three
00:51:51off the front rim with 19 seconds left in the shot clock. He's just a hilarious player to watch.
00:51:57I can't get enough of Lomelo. The real problem with this team is that outside of their guards,
00:52:03everybody else is bad. They don't have center rotation really at all. And when they do,
00:52:09maybe they'll be good, but pretty fun watch. All right. We got some breaking news this past
00:52:15week that the Brooklyn Nets are basically ready to trade anybody and everybody on their roster.
00:52:20And yet some of those guys seem to be playing pretty good basketball. Ben, what should the
00:52:25Brooklyn Nets do here? Should they blow it up? Should they deal everyone? They're currently the
00:52:29eighth seed and playing good. Yeah, like who do you hold on to if you're the Nets, assuming that
00:52:36there will be a bit of a swing, a pendulum swing as far as their rebuilding success and direction
00:52:42next year. I think in the meantime, like they own their pick this year and next year, and then
00:52:46they've got the swap with Houston the year after, I believe. But the answer is play more Ben Simmons,
00:52:52like be more decisively bad. And you can do that by way of putting more Ben Simmons on the court,
00:52:56who is unfortunately, my fellow Aussie, terrible, it seems after the mind fuck playoff series
00:53:03against the Hawks with Philly a couple of years ago. So you need to choose a direction. And they're
00:53:07suffering from their own success at the moment, they kind of need to be bad. And it's a great
00:53:11draft class coming up this year. But they've got that new coach, they've got Dennis Schroeder,
00:53:16like playing out of his mind as well. And Cam Johnson, both cams. So I think they need to
00:53:22choose who they're willing to move off of maybe get some draft capital back while also tanking
00:53:26their own court success, which is just like I said, they're suffering from that at the moment.
00:53:30Um, I completely agree. I think your take about Ben Simmons is enlightened the clear path to this
00:53:36team getting in the Cooper flag sweepstakes. They don't have to make any crazy moves. They don't
00:53:40have to like deal anybody massive, they probably will, but they don't have to. You can keep Cam
00:53:45Thomas, you can keep Noah clowning, you can keep all those guys. The way to get into the lottery
00:53:50is to give Ben Simmons 35 minutes a game. And if you do that, you're going to be fine.
00:53:55Anything to add on the Brooklyn Nets. I was surprised that we were hearing
00:53:59Ken Thomas his name because he's a great parent. To add to Ben Simmons, he's getting better,
00:54:05he can hit shots a little bit more consistently. Now. He isn't like in the 300s for efficiency.
00:54:12But he can have wild nights still. And I think with lots of Ben Simmons that just creates the
00:54:18opportunities for chaos. And he could become a good player when he finally starts to pick his
00:54:23shots and be a little bit more judicious with what he does on the court. I think he might be a
00:54:28player worth keeping. He's young enough. So yeah. Yeah. Cam Thomas's contract. I was just looking
00:54:33up here on spot track is he makes 2 million this year and 4 million the following year. So very
00:54:39tradable and he's got a team option. So a very tradable contract and like he's a very exciting,
00:54:44fun play to watch. But I don't know if he's necessarily like a winning player,
00:54:47like contributes to a winning culture. He's all about him and getting his look. So you might be
00:54:52able to convince a team who's looking for shooting in a scoring punch off the bench to trade for him
00:54:57in exchange for some draft capital coming up to the trade deadline. So I wouldn't be surprised
00:55:00if he's moving. I think correct me if I'm wrong, but that's kind of what was being reported as
00:55:04well. Yeah, I think I'm the right team. He could be super valuable as exactly that. A bench spark
00:55:09plug. All right. We got to talk about what I think has been one of the most exciting stories in the
00:55:14Eastern Conference this year. Guys, as it stands right now, the Detroit Pistons are the seven seed
00:55:22in the Eastern Conference. How did we get here? The league's worst team, the team that lost 20
00:55:28zillion games in a row last year is somehow in playoff contention. They're right in the play
00:55:34and mix. Ben, what is different in the Motor City this year? And is this for real? Tobias Harris,
00:55:41they added. I give roster wise. That's what's different. I haven't watched a lot of Pistons.
00:55:44I'd be surprised if it's a contribution through Tobias Harris. That is the cause for their success.
00:55:50But look, Cade Cunningham is getting older. He's blossoming as a player. He's awesome on both ends
00:55:56of the court, needs to work on his three point efficiency a little bit. But I think he would be
00:55:59an absolute cheat code if he was a legitimate three point shooter at this point. So that'll
00:56:02come in time, I think. But he is excellent at orchestrating an offense. He holds up well
00:56:07defensively, seems to be like a good leader culturally as well, like a good guy on the team,
00:56:12which I think absolutely matters. But look, he's insanely talented. They've got some good
00:56:16young talent around him, which will be their demise in the plane or in the first round of
00:56:20the playoffs if they do make it that far. They're just too young and too inexperienced to really
00:56:24make too much noise yet. But they're becoming a well-constructed, talented team led by one of
00:56:30the league's best young guards. Speaking of a well-constructed and talented team led by some
00:56:35of the league's best guards, the Atlanta Hawks sit at number six, and we're not sure if they have
00:56:41the best guards in the league. But Justin, I want to swing things to you. We talked about the
00:56:46Great Barrier Thief. We talked about, you know, Trey Young's potentially awkward fit with this
00:56:51roster. The Hawks are number six. They seem pretty decent to me, better than expected, just right.
00:56:58What do we think of this team heading into kind of this next chunk of the season? Is this for real?
00:57:03I think it is. I think that Quinn Snyder's imprint is starting to become a little bit
00:57:08more visible, particularly with the non-Trey Young players. And I don't think that Trey Young's
00:57:13future with this team is very likely assured past this season. He's going to be hard to trade in the
00:57:17middle of the season. That wouldn't be mind-blowing to me if they found a way to do it. But from what
00:57:22we've seen from this team, they look better when he is not playing. So why not move him?
00:57:30Yeah, we'll see. Ben, thoughts on the Hawks?
00:57:33Yeah, I kind of shared them earlier, but you're just, your ceiling is so limited when your best
00:57:37player is a Civ defensively, and that's always going to be the case with Trey. Offensively,
00:57:41his efficiency is down from last year as well, and that was kind of his saving grace. He could
00:57:46at least be an absolute killer offensively to make up for his defensive inefficiencies. That's
00:57:51just not the case this year. They do have a fun team, though. I really like Kongroo. I think if
00:57:57they started to prioritize him as the starting center long-term over Capella, who's aging out
00:58:02and not as effective. He's also on a massive salary, $22.2 million. So he's kind of an immovable
00:58:08object trade-wise as well. So they've got some difficult conundrums coming up. But if that
00:58:15ceiling is going to be set by Trey Young, I think we've seen the peak of their success already.
00:58:19Yep. Interesting stuff. All right. So let's bang out the last five teams, and then we'll get out
00:58:25of here. The Miami Heat sit at number five. It's been a weird year for the Heat. Ben Adebayo has
00:58:30been disappointing. Jimmy Butler has missed games, and yet they are still at the five seed because of
00:58:35Eric Spoelstra's dark magic, even though he has also made some questionable decisions from
00:58:40game management standpoint this year. Ben, what's the deal with the Miami Heat? Is this team for
00:58:45real? Is this team frauds? What are we doing here? Frauds. A lot of them, frauds. Heat Culture is
00:58:51dead. Heat Culture died, I guess, a couple of years ago. But Jimmy Butler is just on the wrong
00:58:57side of 35 now. And when Eric Spoelstra is making elementary coaching mistakes, you know that
00:59:04there's big systemic issues there. So they're a blow-it-up candidate, I think. Maybe you can hold
00:59:10on to Bam and try and add the necessary pieces around him because he's a good, legitimate,
00:59:15obviously long-term NBA player, still only 27 years old. Everyone else can go. Tyler Hero,
00:59:20he can go. Jimmy Butler, he needs to go and be traded to a legitimate winning team and try and
00:59:24win something while his career is still in existence. They need to blow it up and move
00:59:28forward with Bam, if not nobody. Justin, no love for the Tyler Hero all-star case this year?
00:59:36I won't be surprised if they go further than we expect in the postseason,
00:59:40as they typically do. But this year, I think that means making it out of the first round.
00:59:45Interesting stuff. I don't know. Maybe Tyler Hero makes it. We'll see.
00:59:50The Orlando Magic, despite missing their best player in Paulo Banqueiro, probably for another
00:59:54month, have had a series of impressive victories led by Franz Wagner, who seems all the way back.
01:00:00How dangerous is this squad now, and how dangerous could they be, Ben?
01:00:05I kind of fear the Magic. They have the ability to make the Celtics play shitty basketball,
01:00:10to play the wrong way. That's the way to beat the Celtics, is run them off the three-point line
01:00:15and then force them into iso-heavy, non-ball movement basketball. They're one of the few
01:00:20teams that possess the defensive personnel to make us play the wrong way. I was really glad
01:00:25to see them not come out of that playoff series against the Cavs last year, because I think they
01:00:30present one of the worst matchups for us in the league. That said, offensively, this year,
01:00:36they're ranked 25th overall, per Cleaning the Glass. Franz has definitely been better. He's
01:00:40had this awesome moment to shine with Paulo out. Paulo will come back and fix some of those
01:00:44defensive issues. They're a team on the up, and they're definitely on my radar,
01:00:48at least in the Eastern Conference, as one of the teams I'd least like to see in the postseason.
01:00:53So the much-Ballyhooed, much-quoted-about New York Knicks made a series of big moves in the
01:00:59offseason, and then got off to what I think Knicks fans here in New York might have said
01:01:04is a slightly disappointing start. And yet, they're 9-6. It seems like they're rounding
01:01:09into form. The advance metrics seem to make the case that the New York Knicks might be
01:01:14better than their record. Justin, do you buy it? I think that when we look back at one of the
01:01:21better teams of the last decade, the Miami Heat, the first season that team came together,
01:01:27they needed time to understand how to play together. I would not be surprised if we
01:01:31were watching something similar unfold. I still have the reservations I've talked about at Infinitum
01:01:36about just how well these parts fit, but I'm willing to say that there is a good chance that
01:01:44they get a better center besides Cat. Cat is not really a center. If they can play him at a 4,
01:01:49that would be even better. If they retool the team, they learn how to play together, they get
01:01:54Mitchell back, Robinson. They'll be in a lot better of a position to be a good team. Whether
01:01:59or not they can actually pull it off with Carlton Towns on their roster, I have my doubts.
01:02:04All right. Ben, we're here now, we're wrapping things up. We got to talk about
01:02:11the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Of course, by that I mean the Cleveland Cavaliers.
01:02:17What did you see from the Cleveland Cavaliers the other night and why are they the second best team
01:02:21and not the first despite having the best record? Well, I think we've talked about defensive or I've
01:02:27talked about defensive exploits a lot so far on this show. Ultimately, when it comes down to
01:02:32not crunching time in the postseason, their guards are just too small. They're going to get
01:02:36targeted defensively and that's going to be their demise and their downfall. As explosive and
01:02:40dynamic as they are offensively, defense is going to be their downfall in the postseason.
01:02:45Interesting for a team that's crafted on defense. I think the downfall is actually going to be that
01:02:49every time Darius Garland plays against Derek White and Al Horford, he goes to jail.
01:02:54Yes, exactly. Justin, did you see anything to dispute that the Boston Celtics are still the
01:03:01best team in the Eastern Conference? Based on what we saw in the incredibly large sample size
01:03:07of one game, no. They very clearly made a statement. They showed that they can play
01:03:14the same way that won them a title when they feel the stakes matter. That was very reassuring to me,
01:03:20but I still do have concerns about habits creeping back in if they keep doing this all season long,
01:03:27which they have to, particularly with the frontcourt rotation being where it is right now.
01:03:32Well, folks, that's the state of the Eastern Conference. We're going to keep doing this
01:03:36all season long over here at the Celtics Lab Podcast. Ben, thank you so much for joining us.
01:03:41Anything to plug before we get out of here? No, really. First to the floor, Google us.
01:03:45You'll find us on all platforms. Guys, thank you so much for having me. This has been fun.
01:03:48Of course. This has been a blast. If you enjoyed this pod, check out the How About Them Celtics
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