- 2 years ago
Wyc Grousbeck made a crazy exciting declaration on Wednesday afternoon, that the Celtics are extremely committed to raising banner 18. This came at the same time as the formal introduction of Jrue Holiday. On this episode, you can expect 60ish minutes of extreme giddiness and excitement for the season to come. We'll get to all of the latest coming out of training camp, Joe Mazzulla's appearance on JJ Reddick's podcast, and much more.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:13 [Music]
00:21 [Music]
00:34 Welcome in to First to the Floor, Ben Vallis here.
00:37 Thank you for joining us.
00:38 Hope you're doing well.
00:39 Alongside me, as he often is, it's Mr. Wayne "Spoonie" Spoons.
00:42 How you doing, man?
00:43 I'm doing good, man.
00:44 From the content desert to the content tsunami.
00:48 There's overwhelming amounts of content.
00:51 It's the best.
00:52 It's insane.
00:53 It's a super storm of content out here.
00:55 We're swimming in it.
00:57 Look, we've got a lot to get to, so let's just get straight into it.
01:00 The Celtics, the preseason game one is in three days.
01:03 We'll be doing the countdown.
01:04 It feels like, I think we started in what, triple figure days.
01:08 We've got three days to go.
01:09 We are going to be hosting a live watch party, playback.tv/firsttothefloor.
01:15 So, sign up to our playback room if you haven't already.
01:17 Come and join us for that.
01:18 We're also running a promotion known as 5 Star Walshie,
01:22 where if you log into Apple Podcasts and leave us a 5 star rating and a review
01:27 and tag yourself in some way so we can get into touch with you,
01:30 you will go into the running to win your very own Walshie jersey.
01:34 That was the starting point for the prize.
01:37 In order to drum up more interest, we've decided you can nominate
01:41 whatever Celtics jersey you would like to win if you are lucky enough
01:45 to win the 5 Star Walshie jersey.
01:46 But that's there for folks to enter as well.
01:49 Wayne Spooney, now, our guy, Wayne Spooney has his very own column
01:54 on Celticsblog.com called the Three Leaf Clover.
01:58 And if you're watching on YouTube here, you can see as we scroll through
02:01 the debut column there for Wayne Spooney.
02:04 Spooney, can you tell us a little bit more about it?
02:06 Yeah, so if you've read anything I've written, I have a tendency to run
02:12 a little long, I would say.
02:13 That's probably fair.
02:15 And I want to find a way to get more content out that doesn't take me
02:21 two weeks to write.
02:23 So I did what all the best writers do.
02:27 I'm stealing from someone else.
02:29 And in this case, I'm stealing from Zac Lowe with his
02:31 "10 Things I Like and Don't Like."
02:33 So basically, every week it will be a stat of the week, a play,
02:37 or like a set of the week that I break down to like kind of a mini
02:41 breakdown.
02:42 This week I did Drew Holiday's pick and roll game.
02:44 And then just like a goofy, funny thing of the week.
02:48 And this week it was Brad Stevens being absurdly happy.
02:52 Every appearance he's just giggling like a schoolgirl.
02:56 So I'm going to do that weekly, Three Leaf Clover.
02:59 Check it out.
03:00 Hopefully I will keep it under 1,000 words.
03:03 That's the plan.
03:04 That's the goal.
03:05 So we'll see.
03:06 But I'm very excited, man.
03:07 Thanks for plugging it.
03:08 I appreciate it.
03:09 No, no.
03:10 I'm really excited as well.
03:11 I was very excited to plug it.
03:12 I read through it this morning.
03:13 I was very absurdly happy as well, seeing that gif of Brad Stevens
03:16 grinning ear to ear.
03:17 And with the Drew Holiday pick and roll stuff, I had a decent idea,
03:20 obviously, of how that would integrate into the Celtics.
03:23 But reading through it and all those clipped examples that you showed,
03:26 I feel like I'm well studied on what to expect and what to be excited for
03:29 in that vein coming into this season.
03:31 So on this show, and speaking of Drew Holiday, we're going to get to the
03:35 Drew Holiday press conference.
03:36 We're going to get to the amazing vibes coming out of Celtics training
03:39 camp up to day three now, I believe.
03:41 As well, Joe Mazzuola, he made an appearance on JJ Reddick's
03:44 Old Man and the Three podcast.
03:46 We're going to break that down.
03:47 We're going to also construct the ultimate argument for you to use
03:51 against the Celtics hater in your life.
03:54 There's a lot of hate swirling about towards the Celtics, as there often is,
03:57 and now that they've made this epic tectonic plate-shifting trade to put
04:02 themselves back up to the top of the league in terms of title contention.
04:05 A lot of hate flying around, people trying to knock us off our pedestal.
04:08 So we're going to construct the perfect argument to throw back in the faces
04:11 of those haters.
04:12 As well, we're going to get to the Schadenfreude report, and we're going
04:15 to talk about Drew Carter, the new Celtics play-by-play broadcaster.
04:19 So a lot to get into.
04:20 We're going to start here with a clip from Drew Holiday's press conference.
04:25 I feel like coming here is definitely my best chance of winning and being
04:29 able to help the guys here that have made big moves and done great things
04:35 in this league.
04:36 So I'm here to really just help set up that game and become a champion.
04:40 So right when I got traded, Joe was the first person sending me clips on what
04:44 to do on pick-and-roll defense or how to run the offense and things like that.
04:49 So it's been very, very welcoming, and I'm really just glad to be here,
04:53 a part of this championship-caliber group.
04:56 And not only that, what this stands for.
04:59 I mean, a Boston Celtic.
05:00 And, again, growing up in L.A. as a Laker fan, I know a lot of my family's
05:05 probably hurt, but I know this is a blue-collar town.
05:09 They love people that work hard, and they put their heart into it.
05:12 And that's just the type of person that I am is every time I step into the court,
05:16 I give you my everything.
05:18 So, Spoonie, have you had a chance to watch the press of that for Drew Holiday?
05:22 What are your overall thoughts coming out of that one?
05:24 Yeah, it gives you a lot of the same first day of practice vibes where it's just
05:30 everybody all smiles, incredibly happy.
05:34 And Drew is like -- they kept bringing up like four teammates of the year.
05:38 Like that stuff's kind of goofy, but he is legitimately the perfect, like,
05:44 fourth star on a team because he can do everything.
05:49 He really -- sorry.
05:52 He really embodies like that mindset.
05:55 He's like Derek White in that way where he's willing to do anything and everything.
05:59 And he kept saying, like, I'm just here to basically make the Jays better.
06:02 I want to make their jobs easier.
06:04 And you could just tell from the way he presents himself, he really means it.
06:09 So, incredibly encouraging.
06:11 Joe is a maniac.
06:13 Like, that's hilarious that, like, the second the trade goes through,
06:17 Drew's, like, phone just pops up.
06:18 Like, here's how we're defending high pick and rolls on the left side of the court.
06:22 Study.
06:23 You'll be grilled when you arrive in Boston.
06:25 Yeah, the Joe Mazzuolo PR campaign is, like, in full effect so far at the
06:29 beginning of the preseason here.
06:31 But some of the craziness is still kind of leaking through the cracks there as we
06:34 get some comments from folks around the team.
06:36 And, obviously, we've got a lot to be excited about with Drew Holiday on the
06:40 court.
06:41 And so far what's being presented to us, you know, via press conferences like
06:44 this is just how much of a higher character he is and how much he's going to
06:47 contribute to the team in that sense.
06:49 There were a lot of other exciting comments to come out of this press.
06:52 So, we're going to get to one from Wick in a second.
06:54 But just -- and you mentioned it in your column there, Smooty.
06:58 But just Brad Stevens and Wick and Pag.
07:02 Just, like, gushing.
07:04 Hardcore gushing on the podium there over just the notion of having Drew Holiday
07:09 on the court with the Celtics.
07:11 So, I don't know if I've done enough over the last two pods, Smooty, to really
07:15 articulate my excitement going into this season.
07:18 Like, I am giddy.
07:19 And I guess I feel fortunate that this trade happened towards the end of the
07:23 offseason because I don't know how much longer I can live with these feelings of
07:26 excitement without just, like, seeing the full product on the court.
07:29 So, I'm glad they waited until late in the day to do that because, like, there's
07:32 only so much I can handle.
07:33 Let's get to that clip from Wick.
07:36 Grosbeck?
07:37 Grousbeck?
07:38 I always say it incorrectly.
07:39 Yeah, me too.
07:40 Grousbeck, Grousbeck.
07:41 We're going to run the clip now.
07:42 We haven't blinked at all.
07:45 I was part of the committee that put the aprons in place with the players
07:49 committee and we're aware of all that.
07:52 We're going to be over the second apron, I believe, Brad.
07:55 And paying those penalties and that's the way life is.
07:59 But it's designed so that we can have more competition in the league.
08:03 And we're fine with competition as long as we win.
08:07 I just want to say there was just a real feeling of optimism and also, I think,
08:11 annoyance.
08:12 I mean, we've been in, what, five conference finals in the last six or seven
08:15 years.
08:16 We've been knocking on the door.
08:17 We've been in the finals, leading the finals and lost.
08:19 Last year we were down 0-3, came back and lost the game seven.
08:23 It couldn't be more frustrating.
08:25 So I think out of annoyance and regret comes what do we do to make it better.
08:31 And I think that's the feeling I'm getting from the guys.
08:34 I don't want to speak for the guys.
08:35 It's my personal feeling about myself as well because I blame myself for when
08:38 we don't win.
08:39 I mean, it starts with the people who are making the decisions and the group
08:43 here at this table.
08:44 But speaking for the -- seemingly the guys and we up here all share the same
08:50 feeling, which is it's about time that we really get started and go somewhere.
08:56 And so the journey -- it's about the journey, but the destination would be
09:00 pretty great if we can get there.
09:02 There was just an electricity in the gym today when you get such great players
09:05 together playing at a high level.
09:06 And Paul Pierce turned to us and said he's never seen in anybody practice in his
09:11 whole entire career that they went that hard that fast for that long.
09:16 I look at the next six years as a real opportunity for us.
09:18 And that's not to take anything away from this year, but we're going to keep
09:21 doing this until we uncover that banner, until we print something on that,
09:25 or we're going to die trying.
09:26 That was the first quote 20 years ago when we came in.
09:28 We went banner 17, or I'm going to die trying.
09:31 And we're going for banner 18 now, and that we're going to keep going.
09:35 And that would be nice if it was this year.
09:37 And we have the makings this year, but so do a bunch of other teams.
09:40 So it's all about how connected can they be, how lucky can we be with injuries,
09:46 how can the ball bounce just right.
09:49 But we're giving it everything we got.
09:51 And I'm thrilled that Giroux is here as a Celtic.
09:53 It's been a long-time goal, and it just feels absolutely great right now.
09:59 So there's a lot to get to there.
10:01 First of all, Pags.
10:02 We don't often hear from Pags.
10:03 He's got such a sweet, soft, gentle voice.
10:06 I thought that was worth pointing out.
10:07 But from all of that, a bit of a long clip.
10:09 Sorry, folks.
10:10 What stands out to you the most, Spoonie?
10:13 I think that at the end there, where he's like,
10:18 "We've been trying to find a way to get Drew Holiday for a very long time."
10:21 Every time you trade for a guy, it's like, "Oh, we've always admired his game.
10:25 Yeah, we think he's a great player."
10:27 But Brad and Wick have repeatedly said,
10:31 "Brad's come to my office every year, and how can we get Drew Holiday?
10:35 We need to get Drew Holiday."
10:37 It really, truly feels like he has been at the top of their wish list for a very, very long time.
10:44 And I think that's probably why they are so incredibly happy.
10:47 But I think we've got to talk about the money aspect of it, too.
10:51 We were critical of Wick.
10:54 Remember all those years we were dodging the tax,
10:56 even though we're one of the best teams in the league?
10:59 And when Grant walked out the door, I was like, "Well, we're not going into the second apron.
11:03 That's not happening."
11:05 I get that they're spending more money than they have historically had,
11:09 but you're probably the best team in the league, man.
11:12 You can't just lose assets for a couple seconds.
11:15 And then they put the chips on the table and go, "Blow through the second apron.
11:22 We're not even-- We're like $3.5 million over now.
11:25 We're staying over that thing."
11:27 And it's like, "Dude, Wick, he has said these things.
11:30 'I'll pay for a contender. We'll dig deep when we need to, when the time is right.'"
11:34 I never believed him, but I'm happy to be wrong about that.
11:39 Do you think the fact that they let Grant Williams walk is now going to be something
11:43 that comes back to bite them?
11:45 I think we're going to roll this up into our perfect constructed argument later in the show,
11:49 but that's probably, for the more sophisticated NBA fans,
11:53 something that they might throw back in Celtics fans' face.
11:55 Do you think that's going to be something they regret going forward?
11:59 I think ultimately they're deep, deep, deep into the luxury tax.
12:04 They were last year in their defense as well.
12:06 They did spend last season too, but I'm not sure Grant would cost you $50 million,
12:14 dollar for dollar.
12:16 And at some point, Grant's a fine seventh, eighth man off the bench.
12:21 I think he fell out of favor with Joe.
12:25 Grant's value was always his versatility on defense, especially in the playoffs.
12:30 He wasn't particularly good in the playoffs defensively this year.
12:35 I think our valuation of Grant, and it may be wrong,
12:40 maybe he's going to refine it a little bit,
12:42 but I just think he's just not worth the money at that point.
12:47 He's going to be our ninth or tenth man, or maybe eighth man.
12:51 I don't think losing Grant Williams matters for our title odds.
12:55 They did not change a single percentage one way or the other
12:59 with Grant Williams out the door.
13:01 I think that's how you look at it.
13:03 Are we really nitpicking a team that added two All-Stars in the offseason?
13:07 Did they let their ninth, eighth man go?
13:09 I love Grant. He's a solid player, but come on.
13:13 If either of us seemed a little distracted in the last 30 seconds,
13:16 it's because Joe, our New Zealand correspondent,
13:18 was sending us some serious anti-MBE stuff in our Slack there.
13:22 So, shout out to Joe.
13:24 We'll get to that in the Shard of Predator report in a little bit.
13:27 The other notable quote is from Wick,
13:29 "I look at the next six years as a real opportunity for us," etc.
13:34 Six-year window, given the financial situation that we're up against now,
13:38 seems a little unrealistic,
13:40 especially when you consider the exponential rise in the tax bill,
13:44 the repeater tax bill.
13:46 I suppose the way of looking at that is--
13:49 and John Kouroulas talked about this on his podcast yesterday,
13:52 so I want to be careful not to just completely repeat what he said,
13:55 but essentially, one or two years of this iteration of the team,
13:58 and then four-ish years of whatever a Jason Tatum Supermax contract extension Celtics looks like.
14:06 That's, I guess, the best and one of the most positive takeaways.
14:09 No matter how bad things get financially or otherwise for the Celtics
14:13 in the next year or two, we're going to re-sign Jason Tatum,
14:16 and he's going to commit long-term.
14:18 If that falls apart in year three, four, or five of that contract,
14:21 a bridge will cross when we come to it.
14:24 But worst-case scenario is that the best player among all of these awesome players we have on the team,
14:29 we have secured long-term.
14:31 I think that's what Wick was getting at there.
14:33 What do you think?
14:34 Yeah, I totally agree.
14:35 I think another thing is that there's about to be a new TV deal,
14:39 and it is going to be absolutely massive,
14:43 and the salary cap is tied directly to the revenue that the league brings in.
14:47 So the cap is going to go up a lot year over year over the next few years,
14:52 and the value of the Celtics and every NBA franchise is going to go up,
14:56 so there's just going to be a lot more money flying around.
14:58 Jalen Supermax seems insane right now.
15:01 It's going to be nothing in four years.
15:04 When he's coming off that contract, it's going to be the 25th highest-paid player in the league.
15:10 It's going to get bananas here in a couple years.
15:13 So I think that's another way to look at it.
15:15 You lock in this core on these what feels like huge contracts,
15:21 but over time, they're not going to seem as bad.
15:24 And Drew's older, right?
15:26 He's not going to be here for six years, so I think you're spot on.
15:29 He's basically saying, "We have Tatum for at least six years,
15:32 and we're always going to be in the mix, basically no matter who we surround Jason Tatum with."
15:37 And maybe in four years, the team looks a little different,
15:40 but the window's still probably going to be open because we have Jason Tatum.
15:45 Sounds good. Sounds good to me.
15:46 I'm in.
15:48 Now, folks, let us know if you're watching now on YouTube or listening later on your preferred podcast app.
15:52 Let us know what else you gleaned from the Drew Holiday press conference.
15:57 We're going to move on to training camp and really just sit around the room.
16:01 It's a small room, just me and Spoonie here today.
16:03 Shout out to Jake Eisenberg, who I believe is commuting to wherever he's getting married this weekend.
16:09 So training camp, as we run some clips here on YouTube, just the vibes to come out of training camp.
16:15 I almost don't know where to start here, Spoonie, because it's just been this outpouring of the highest of vibes.
16:21 Is there something that stood out to you?
16:23 For me, it's probably Paul Pierce, who prior to this iteration of the Celtics,
16:27 by far my favorite Celtic ever, just from when I grew up and started getting into basketball.
16:33 Is there something else that stands out to you, Spoonie?
16:35 It feels like every time somebody speaks, they're cracking a joke.
16:39 I think Derek White had this joke about Grant Williams.
16:44 Actually, I see it in our run sheet, so I'll cut that off right now.
16:47 But yeah, I saw a clip. It might have been from Jack.
16:51 Shout out, Jack.
16:52 How about them?
16:53 See his podcast, friend of the program.
16:55 It was like Tatum, Eddie House, and Paul Pierce are in a shooting competition right now.
17:02 What is going on?
17:04 This is like NBA summer camp.
17:06 This seems awesome.
17:07 We get the pick up clips and when guys are goofing off.
17:13 But at the press conference, they were talking about how this was an intense, intense practice.
17:20 Drew said the Jays were hounding people on defense.
17:24 Pierce said it was the hardest practice he had ever seen in his entire NBA career.
17:30 So not only is everyone super happy, they're also playing extremely, extremely hard.
17:36 They know what the task is.
17:39 There is one goal this season.
17:40 You do not go all in like this without a singular goal.
17:44 And everybody understands they'll probably have to sacrifice roll, considering all the talent.
17:49 And they're okay with it.
17:51 This locker room is just prepared to do absolutely whatever it takes, no matter what, to win a title.
17:58 And I think that just comes through with all these clips and everyone seeming so happy.
18:03 And then at the same time being like, we're happy, but the second the ball gets bounced, we're hounding each other and going balls to the wall.
18:10 Yeah, we're getting older, Spoonie.
18:12 We're sort of gradually approaching our 40s.
18:14 Washed.
18:15 Yeah, definitely washed.
18:17 I say that because we've seen a lot of Celtic seasons in our lives and you do get a sense, even if you're consuming the content from so far away, in my case, from the other side of the planet.
18:26 You do get a sense of the vibe going in and what the chemistry is looking like and how that might manifest throughout the course of a season.
18:34 And once you get enough data and sample size throughout your lifetime as a fan, you do start to get an idea of when things are uniquely special.
18:42 And I do have that feeling of going into the season.
18:45 That's everything that's being portrayed from anyone who has anything to do with anything for the Celtics, anyone who's conducting interviews, the subject of interviews, podcasts, Twitter, whatever it may be.
18:55 It's consistently the vibiest of the vibes, as I believe Dave D said in the comments there.
19:01 So that's clearly special.
19:03 I believe the Celtics gala is happening right now.
19:06 And there are some tweets started to emerge from that, just a continuation of those incredible vibes.
19:11 So that's looking really special.
19:13 And again, unfortunately, it's all just going to come down to injury luck because it looks like the chemistry is already there.
19:20 So the Grant Williams bit that you almost touched on a second ago.
19:24 So a couple of things here.
19:26 No, no, if I were you, I just would have gone with it.
19:28 So Derek White said that Jason Tatum is one of the players who has stepped up his vocal leadership.
19:33 Quote, "He's not being like Grant or nothing, thank God."
19:36 Which is just great.
19:37 I feel like there's actually been a couple of digs at Grant Williams over the past couple of days.
19:41 Which is great because it's like the sort of the best part of Grant, other than like the occasional knockdown three-point shooting and elite defense has remained.
19:50 And that like they're still putting shit on him on a regular basis, which is a lot of fun.
19:54 There have been a lot of ex-Celtics in the house.
19:58 We mentioned Paul Pierce, Sam Cassell, obviously part of the coaching staff.
20:01 Eddie House has been spotted.
20:03 He's part of the broadcast team.
20:04 He's been in the Outback Center working with the guys as well.
20:07 Leon Poe, Satch Sanders.
20:09 Am I missing anyone, Spoons?
20:11 I don't know, other than the guy that obviously all the guys that are associated with the team.
20:16 But yeah, I think that's all of them.
20:19 But I mean, probably not.
20:20 There's probably other dudes who are sneaking around there that we haven't seen.
20:23 Like, you know, Phil Presi's speed round.
20:25 Yes, Phil Presi.
20:27 Sully was tweeting about like Sully and ET were tweeting about it.
20:31 Like, oh, we might have to show up.
20:32 So please do, especially Evan Turner.
20:34 But yeah, man, it's really cool.
20:37 I can't remember like this many old players showing up.
20:42 Remember last year, dude?
20:44 Joe and Yime, all that hanging over everybody.
20:48 Yeah.
20:49 Bad times.
20:50 It's completely different, a complete 180.
20:52 So then the question, it bears this question, Spoonie.
20:55 What ex-Celtics, so we'll say one star, one role player.
20:59 And don't limit yourself.
21:01 If you've got more names that come to mind, let us know.
21:03 What ex-Celtics would you invite to training camp?
21:06 If you were given the list of email contacts.
21:09 Okay.
21:10 I'm going to, we've got a couple written down here.
21:13 I think I'm going to steal one that you wrote down, Ben.
21:17 Larry Bird.
21:19 I mean, it's got to be Larry.
21:23 All right.
21:24 All right.
21:25 Then I'll change.
21:26 No, it's okay.
21:27 KG, that's a good one.
21:29 Absolutely.
21:30 So KG obviously rocked up to the Outback Center, what, last year and conducted an interview
21:35 with Paul Pierce.
21:36 We don't really see him around so much anymore.
21:39 What, I don't know what the question to ask that.
21:42 I was going to say, like, what do you think it's going to take to get KG there?
21:44 But like, we don't, we don't know.
21:46 But you know, with Paul Pierce there and Cassell there and a bunch of 08 guys there, like,
21:51 is it a bit surprising that KG hasn't shown up?
21:53 Yeah.
21:54 It's kind of a little, his absence is a little loud, I guess.
22:00 Not super loud, but it's like Pierce and him had what seemed like that really like that
22:06 real conversation when they were both touring the practice facility.
22:10 And Pierce was like, dude, just show up.
22:12 They want you around.
22:13 They want you around.
22:14 And it seemed like KG was really, like, really into it.
22:17 And he's not showing up, but he's doing a lot of media, man.
22:20 Like, he's becoming a media mogul.
22:22 He's got all these shows he's on.
22:24 He's streaming on YouTube all the time.
22:26 So, maybe he's just busy or maybe that's just not important to him.
22:30 And ultimately, look, he played five seasons here, right?
22:33 He's not like Pierce where it was basically his entire adult life he was a Boston Celtic.
22:38 So, I understand why he might not have the same loyalty to the Celtics that Pierce does.
22:45 Yeah, it's understandable.
22:47 But you're right.
22:48 It is a notable and loud silence and absence.
22:51 So, hopefully, you know, at some point he gets on the bandwagon, maybe they're going
22:54 to have to rattle off 10 straight wins or something.
22:57 Maybe that's what it's going to take to get KG in the house.
22:59 But you would like to think that, you know, eventually at some point this season he is
23:03 going to, you know, spend a bit of time there with the guys.
23:06 You said it as well, Larry Bird, just the mystique around Larry Bird, like post Celtic career.
23:13 We haven't really heard from him in a Celtics capacity much at all, really.
23:18 Like we talked about, I think it was on the trivia show recently, he stuck around in a
23:21 special advisory role for a couple of years.
23:24 But then it was, you know, coaching the Pacers and that was kind of it.
23:28 But, you know, if he were to rock up in like a Peyton Pritchard jersey, just like, "I'm
23:33 here, guys.
23:34 I'm ready to recommit."
23:35 Actually, I have an artist's impression of what exactly that would look like.
23:39 Wow.
23:40 There we go.
23:41 Is that Photoshop?
23:42 That looks real.
23:43 Larry Bird rocking up to the Arm Academy, his favorite player's jersey.
23:49 It could happen.
23:51 Technically, it could happen.
23:53 Yes, that's true.
23:54 For the guys on the team, for Larry Bird to rock up there, I feel like as much as they've
23:59 probably already had this feeling, particularly the younger guys, for Larry Bird to rock up,
24:04 they'd be like, "Holy shit, like something special is happening here."
24:08 I get the impression, and I mean this in a very positive, good way, it seems like Pierce
24:13 is perceived as like a peer, like a friend almost.
24:16 And Bird is just like, he's just legendary.
24:20 He is literally a living legend, Larry legend.
24:22 He's the only guy to win, or one of the only guys to win MVP Coach of the Year and Executive
24:28 of the Year.
24:29 He is an all-time ball knower.
24:31 Like, he knows the NBA inside and out, and he's like, basically the city still like celebrates
24:40 him every chance they get.
24:41 So he just has like a different aura about him that not many people have.
24:45 It was like him and Russell were like the two guys of Celtics basketball.
24:50 And Pierce was awesome.
24:51 He is my Larry Bird just because of our age, but he doesn't touch Larry as far as Mystique
24:57 goes.
24:58 Basically, nobody does.
24:59 Yeah, I feel like Dave Cowens could rock up and they'd be like, "I'm sorry, are you lost?
25:04 Who are you?"
25:05 "Did I call an Uber?"
25:07 Yeah.
25:08 One other player before we get to role players, Isaiah Thomas.
25:13 Like, is it finally time?
25:15 And I'm not even talking about it in a playing capacity, just like give your energy to the
25:20 players.
25:21 Rock up and share some of your stories and some of your experience about being the man
25:25 in Boston.
25:26 Now, well and truly an era ago, is it still too soon in the day, Spoonie?
25:31 Or do you think there'd be something in IT rocking up and spending some time with the
25:34 guys?
25:35 I have never met Isaiah Thomas, but I'm of the opinion that IT's presence anywhere makes
25:42 it a more positive experience.
25:44 Like, everyone seems to absolutely love that dude.
25:47 And if you just look at his tweets, he's so humble, he's so appreciative.
25:52 He'll randomly, if somebody tweets, I think somebody on Celtic's blog wrote something
25:56 about him recently and he retweeted it and was like, "I love this city.
26:00 This city's always showing me love."
26:02 Dude, if IT walked in there, come on, everybody would have a huge...
26:06 Brad would get giddy as hell.
26:09 I agree.
26:10 As if he couldn't get any more giddy as it is.
26:12 What about role players before we move on?
26:14 What role players would you invite to Celtic's camp?
26:17 Okay, he was not a Celtic for a very long time, but he was an integral part of the '08
26:23 championship team.
26:26 I would have said Eddie House, but he's already there.
26:28 So, James Posey, like role player, I talked a little bit about, or we talked a little
26:34 bit about sacrifice and there's so many mouths to feed on this team.
26:38 You're going to have to take a smaller role.
26:40 Posey was the consummate role player.
26:43 Gave it his all on both ends, made big shots, was great in the playoffs when he needed to
26:48 be.
26:49 So, I would love for Posey to show up.
26:51 I have no idea if he is canceled, if he has done something bad, because please ignore
26:57 this, I was going to say Walter McCarty and I was like, "I feel like something happened
27:01 with Walter McCarty."
27:02 Yeah, he had a huge sexual assault scandal at the college he was coaching.
27:06 So, sorry, Walter.
27:07 Yeah, it's not you, buddy.
27:08 And I'm glad I looked that up before the show.
27:10 But yeah, as long as Posey's not canceled, that's my pick.
27:14 Just Googling, "James Posey canceled."
27:17 "Posey suspended one game for a flagrant foul."
27:19 That's fine.
27:20 Yeah, that's what we like, baby.
27:21 I think he's safe.
27:22 It's from 2006.
27:23 Yeah, James Posey, that's pending any research that we haven't uncovered yet.
27:28 Excellent selection, Spoonie.
27:29 Well done.
27:30 Thank you.
27:31 I fully agree.
27:32 There is something to be said for a role player.
27:35 I suppose we're getting this with Cassell and Eddie House, but the team is, majorly,
27:41 is made up of role players, right?
27:43 There's more role players and stars on the team.
27:45 So, to get some veteran role player voices and leadership and guidance in that sense,
27:49 I think would be really useful to the guys.
27:52 I put Jonas Jurebko just because I think...
27:56 We talked about this before we went on air, Spoonie, but yes, Satch Sanders, Dave Cowens,
28:03 even Larry Bird, I do think there is a generational cutoff in terms of what will strike a chord
28:09 with the guys.
28:10 And I think the threshold really is the '08 team.
28:12 I think if you go back any further than that, a little bit, they're going to be like, "Sorry,
28:17 you were playing before I was born.
28:19 I understand you contributed to the franchise.
28:22 Maybe your jersey is up in the rafters."
28:24 But I don't really know who you are and, therefore, for what we need from some of you guys right
28:29 now, I don't think you're going to be able to give it to us.
28:31 And, therefore, we're looking from '08 and onwards.
28:35 And looking through the '08 roster, it kind of dries up pretty quickly as far as who you
28:39 would want to bring on board.
28:40 So, Jurebko, I guess because he was part of the Brad Stevens system and he was a role
28:46 player and he had to just eat when he could as far as shots per game and touches and things
28:53 like that.
28:54 He was a fan favorite.
28:55 He did have a pretty spicy cup of tea with the team.
28:58 And so, I don't know, maybe he'll rock up and they'll be like, "I'm sorry, Jonas, you
29:03 do not belong here."
29:04 And maybe it speaks to more where my fandom has peaked in my life.
29:08 But, to me, Jurebko, I think he could offer a useful voice.
29:12 I feel like that one's going to get shut down in the chat.
29:14 So, folks, let us know what you think.
29:17 Escort this man out.
29:18 He was not invited.
29:19 Get Jonas out of here.
29:21 I love Jurebko.
29:22 I feel like he played the same role as Posey, that big wing that had to guard up because
29:27 in those days, less so when Jurebko was playing, but that was like the advent of small ball.
29:32 Lots of teams played with two legitimate big men and Brad was kind of innovative in that
29:37 he had Jurebko at the fore a lot and it worked well, but he had to bang bodies and give it
29:43 his all and make open shots.
29:45 So, yeah, I love Jonas.
29:46 Jonas seems like a cool guy.
29:47 He's got that European flavor, too.
29:50 So, yeah, yeah, good pick.
29:53 Handsome dude, too.
29:54 That never hurts, right, when you roll up, you know, the average handsomeness of the
29:59 team helps.
30:00 Yeah, I guess.
30:01 Skip to the front of the line.
30:03 Kyle in the chat is saying Luke Harangote, which I have great memories of Luke Harangote.
30:08 He's sort of like a bull in the china shop kind of thing, starting at the fore there
30:12 next to an older cagey Luke Harangote.
30:16 I don't know if they're going to let him into the facility.
30:17 There might be an equipment manager role that he can tempt for, but I don't think he fits
30:22 the bill here.
30:23 Anything else on players to invite to camp, Spoonie, before we move on?
30:28 Tyler Zeller.
30:29 Got to have Zeldog back in the building.
30:32 Zeldog.
30:33 You have one more, don't you, Ben?
30:35 Yes, thank you.
30:37 So, I'm trying to skip through everything because we've got so much to get to in an
30:40 hour.
30:41 I'm sorry.
30:42 And Jordan Crawford.
30:43 So, that's the name.
30:44 And he really skirts the boundary between, like, incredible superstar and role player.
30:50 So, I didn't know really which category to put him in.
30:53 I think he actually might be too hot, too cool for school.
30:57 He might be a little bit intimidating of a presence to have around the guys.
31:01 He might dwarf guys like Jason Tatum in terms of superstardom and just overall presence
31:07 and panache.
31:08 So, I think that's a risky move to bring in Jordan Crawford.
31:12 He might be a little too hot of a ticket.
31:15 Yeah, that's what we always said about Jordan Crawford, the league leader and panache.
31:20 That's right.
31:21 That's right.
31:22 All right.
31:23 We're going to take a very quick break to hear a word from our sponsor, FanDuel.
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31:53 Thanks to FanDuel.
31:56 Thanks to CLNS for presenting the First to the Floor podcast.
31:58 Spoonie, should I keep filibustering?
32:01 Have you found an NFL bet for us?
32:03 I have, but I'm a complete moron and didn't realize it's the Thursday night game, which
32:08 has currently started.
32:10 But hey, it's never too late to live bet if you're listening live.
32:14 The Washington Commanders were -6 to start the game.
32:19 They are losing 7-0, so great start.
32:22 But I bet that line is creeped to even or Commanders +1.
32:26 They're a better team than the Bears.
32:28 The Bears are absolutely terrible.
32:30 So, if you are listening live, go hit it, man, responsibly.
32:37 And if you're listening tomorrow, you can laugh at me because I get every bet I give
32:42 out wrong.
32:43 So, there we go.
32:44 Commanders minus whatever, plus whatever they are right now.
32:47 There we go.
32:48 Nice.
32:49 All right.
32:50 Thanks for that, Spoonie.
32:51 Yeah, nailed it.
32:52 Yeah.
32:53 As always, Joe Mazzulla.
32:54 We talked about the Joe Mazzulla PR campaign, the glowing PR campaign.
32:58 He must have hired some new PR people around him, and they're doing an incredible job.
33:02 And he made an appearance, and I guess the appearance on the pod was a couple of weeks
33:05 ago because it was before the Drew Holiday acquisition.
33:08 Made an appearance on the Old Man and the Three, the JJ Reddick podcast.
33:12 Did you get an opportunity to catch this?
33:13 I think it's the best piece of Celtics content going around at the moment, aside from the
33:16 show.
33:17 Yes.
33:18 Yeah, I listened to it throughout the day today.
33:20 I completely agree.
33:21 It was awesome.
33:22 It was Joe seems like an entirely different person.
33:26 It's like incredible.
33:28 Yeah, we've got a little clip here to run with Joe talking about the timeouts issue
33:33 from last year and how he might adjust this year.
33:36 We'll run that, and we'll talk about it some.
33:37 The only label I care about is what my players say and my family.
33:41 And so I don't care about what the labels are.
33:45 What I don't want is A, the players to believe them, and B, to coach a certain way to where
33:51 the players don't believe in what my philosophy is.
33:54 And so you take an example of something that may happen in a game, and I'm sure we'll bring
33:58 it up, or it's like I'm labeled as the coach that doesn't call a timeout.
34:02 We're going to talk about this.
34:03 I figure you are, so I might as well.
34:04 I beat you to it.
34:05 Right?
34:06 And I'll tell you what, I stand by my philosophy.
34:09 Where I have to get better at is the organization of my philosophy.
34:12 And that's why I didn't have time as a coach.
34:13 And so I still believe in certain situations a timeout is not the best decision.
34:17 Where I wasn't good at as a coach was organizing my team properly to take advantage of that
34:22 situation.
34:23 I didn't teach the philosophy well enough.
34:25 I had the philosophy, but I didn't teach it well.
34:28 And so the narrative doesn't bother me.
34:30 What bothers me is I didn't do a good job of putting our players in the best possible
34:34 position to succeed.
34:36 And that's a goal of mine heading into the season is like, okay, I've had one year.
34:39 I've built some philosophies, but now I got to double down on my teaching.
34:44 So within the context of last year and everything that happened and how we came to know Joe
34:49 and all of his flaws, that's everything and more.
34:52 It's exactly what I want to hear come out of his mouth.
34:55 Thoughts on that one, Spoons?
34:57 Yeah, I think people may not like his philosophy, but you don't want a coach who's like
35:04 waffling and doesn't have a set philosophy.
35:07 Right.
35:08 And I think the way he addressed it was so mature, so humble.
35:12 It takes a special type of person to be that successful and be that self-aware of your
35:18 own faults and your own failings.
35:20 And I just love the way he put it.
35:23 Like, I didn't do a good enough job of communicating my philosophy to my team and taking advantage
35:30 of what I believe that philosophy gives us.
35:34 So I don't expect him to be the timeout guy this year.
35:37 I think he will still be the no timeout coach, but at times I've defended him for that.
35:43 I think that you can gain an advantage without taking timeouts, especially at the end of
35:50 games.
35:51 It can give you an advantage.
35:52 You can keep bad defenders on the floor.
35:54 There's reasons to do it.
35:55 There's reasons to take one.
35:57 So it's just really encouraging to see him understand the ways in which he needs to get
36:06 better, but within the context of like, "I know what I want my team to do.
36:12 Now I just need to get them to do it better."
36:15 Which, I mean, that's a perfect answer, really.
36:18 Yeah, and so if all goes well for Joe there, what we should expect on the court this season
36:23 is less occurrences of no timeouts being disappointing or a letdown to fans.
36:30 Where we finish up the game thinking that was the right decision not to call a timeout
36:34 there.
36:35 And the reason for that will be because the guys on the court, the players, will execute
36:39 Joe's philosophy better.
36:41 So that makes a lot of sense in theory.
36:43 Like, can he get that to stick with the guys?
36:45 Can he get them to buy into like, "No, man, we were tired and we really needed a moment
36:50 to organize ourselves."
36:52 That remains to be seen.
36:53 But at least for him to articulate it in that way and do it so confidently and clearly,
36:58 that helps us compartmentalize a lot of the gripes that we've had with him over the last
37:03 year or so.
37:04 So it almost feels like closure.
37:06 There's finally some reasoning behind all those frustrating no calls, no timeouts rather,
37:10 last year and helps us tie a bow on that and move on.
37:14 Other takeaways from the podcast was that he mentioned that he's a huge introvert.
37:19 And I think that also puts into light some of the, I don't want to say cringeworthy,
37:25 but like unpalatable...
37:27 Awkward?
37:28 Awkward, yeah.
37:29 Like press appearances and post-game podium appearances that he had after the game.
37:34 And he said that he used to take the service elevator to get directly to the film room
37:39 and he's had to evolve his character, obviously, as part of being the head coach of the Boston
37:43 Celtics, he's really had to evolve his character to grow out of that state of mind.
37:49 And I just think in general, there was just this really endearing admission of a series
37:54 of faults that we've grown to know about him and the fact that he's the first to admit
37:59 that and he's so incredibly self-aware of that, I just thought was really endearing.
38:03 So really good to see it.
38:04 I'm confident and excited about year two, Joe Bazzuola.
38:08 Yeah, I thought it was interesting where he was like, it was shocking to me to show up
38:14 one day at work and all of a sudden every single person in the building cares what I
38:19 have to say, when like two days before, nobody gave a crap about me at all, essentially.
38:25 So, we talked about it all year, Joe was putting in an impossible position, but hearing him
38:33 describe exactly how impossible that was is like, yeah, man, like he, considering the
38:40 circumstances, did a pretty good job.
38:41 Like he did all right.
38:43 Like there was some growing pains.
38:45 And I also really liked when he was like, there were games my players played well and
38:49 I made a ton of mistakes and everyone said I did a good job.
38:52 And there were games where I was like, I coach a damn good game and we lost and everyone
38:55 blamed it on me.
38:56 So like I had to get used to that too.
38:58 So yeah, endearing, I think is definitely the way to describe it, which is probably
39:03 the opposite of what people thought about him a month ago.
39:07 Yeah.
39:08 Also the notion that JJ Reddick actually interviewed, it seemed like from what they described, it
39:13 was like an on the golf course, maybe casual interview for a Celtics coaching position
39:18 or like the head coach role for the Celtics.
39:21 I've mentioned this before, one of my key player evaluation metrics is like whether
39:27 or not you're a fucking cool dude.
39:28 And JJ Reddick is really the, I think is an extremely cool dude.
39:33 Not so much when he played, but post career, I really like the role that he's carved out
39:38 for himself in the media and the access that he has.
39:41 And I think he has the best podcast going around in the NBA sphere.
39:45 To have his presence and his charisma and clearly his basketball smarts, part of the
39:52 Celtics, I think would be incredible.
39:54 The only detractor I would have for that is it would obviously take away from his ability
39:58 to run a consistent podcast that I've come to enjoy so much.
40:02 Was that a surprise to you?
40:03 Did you have any prior knowledge that he had interviewed for the role?
40:06 So I remember it coming out when Stoudemire left.
40:11 I feel like there was some tweets and stuff going around that Joe had reached out to JJ
40:16 then, but I had no idea he did it before the season.
40:20 So that would have been an awesome hire.
40:22 Yeah, it would have ruined a great podcast, but for Celtics wise, it would have been a
40:26 great hire.
40:27 Oh, imagine him coaching shooting for these guys, like our movement shooting with Hauser.
40:33 Like, oh, let's go.
40:34 Walshie?
40:35 Yeah, baby.
40:36 Now we're talking.
40:37 Yeah, I had no idea, but it kind of speaks to like, Joe is no nonsense.
40:43 Like he gets the job and then like a day later he's golfing and trying to hire a dude like,
40:48 all right, Joe, go for it, man.
40:50 I love it.
40:51 Yeah.
40:52 Well, look, if you haven't listened to it, I was going to say stop this podcast and go
40:57 and listen to it.
40:58 But maybe if you are going to do that, at least like and subscribe before you go.
41:01 But it's definitely the best piece of content for Celtics fans floating around at the moment.
41:05 Meanwhile, the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks and Joel Embiid have all been on the headlines
41:10 in the last couple of days, which is why we're going to get to the Shard of a Friday report.
41:13 Shard of a Friday report.
41:14 Shard of a Friday report.
41:15 The Sixers.
41:16 Shard of a Friday report.
41:17 The Lakers.
41:18 Shard of a Friday report.
41:19 The Heat.
41:20 Shard of a Friday report.
41:21 Milwaukee Bucks.
41:22 Shard of a Friday report.
41:23 Warriors.
41:24 Shard of a Friday report.
41:25 Shout out to Jake Eisenberg, who's not here to run this segment.
41:26 So we'll do so in his memory.
41:27 That's not the right word.
41:28 Honor.
41:29 He's completely fine.
41:30 His honor.
41:31 Thank you.
41:32 So the first thing we want to get to is the fact that we're going to be talking about the
41:33 Miami Heat.
41:34 And I'm going to be talking about the Miami Heat.
41:35 And I'm going to be talking about the Miami Heat.
41:36 And I'm going to be talking about the Miami Heat.
41:37 And I'm going to be talking about the Miami Heat.
41:43 So the first thing we want to get to is this just dog's breakfast of an NBA jersey.
41:48 The Miami Heat.
41:49 Apparently this is going to be their city jersey, I believe.
41:52 One of their alt jerseys coming into this year.
41:55 Spoonie, I obviously know how you think about this, because that's how it's qualified for
42:00 the Shard of a Friday report.
42:01 But can you just give us your raw takes and reactions to this vomit-worthy jersey?
42:07 It looks like they were like, "We want a Heat culture jersey."
42:13 So I typed the letters in Times New Roman and put it on the jersey.
42:18 Let's go from there.
42:20 And then they just didn't go anywhere else.
42:22 They just were like, "Actually, you know what?
42:25 We're running out of time here.
42:26 Let's just release that one, the Microsoft Word version of the Heat culture jersey."
42:32 The Heat have traditionally had pretty...
42:34 I mean, they've had some horrible alternate jerseys.
42:37 But those first year, those Miami Vice ones were awesome.
42:41 They were really cool.
42:43 And then they release...
42:44 I am the least artistic person probably on the planet.
42:48 I could make a better jersey than that.
42:50 And that is a crazy insult.
42:54 I could go out, drink a bunch of beers, have a late night kebab, and then just vomit all
43:00 down the front of my shirt and make a better jersey than this.
43:03 It's terrible.
43:04 It's so bad.
43:05 And then just getting away from the design aspects of it, Heat culture...
43:10 So lame.
43:11 Being anything other than literally the culture within the organization, as soon as it became
43:15 a meme, it became extremely cringeworthy, I think.
43:19 So the fact that it's now manifested and maybe this is the end point of Heat culture is that
43:25 the final ending point has been this dog shit jersey.
43:29 That's great.
43:30 And a huge piece of schadenfreude for us.
43:32 And we're going to keep zipping through here because we're going to try and get everything
43:35 done in under an hour.
43:36 Eric Name tweeted, and I really wish I had a bigger version of this tweet that I could
43:43 read off of.
43:44 I've got it up on screen here for folks watching on YouTube.
43:47 But Eric Name is, I guess, a beat writer for the Milwaukee Bucks.
43:52 And he had some interesting information coming out of the first few days of Bucks training
43:57 camp.
43:58 And I've just got a couple of dot points here.
43:59 Chris Middleton, not currently practicing properly five-on-five scrimmaging with the
44:04 team at all.
44:06 Now we want to be careful here because the schadenfreude report, we don't celebrate injuries.
44:10 That's where we draw the line because that brings about bad karma, bad juju.
44:15 It's just not the done thing.
44:17 It's not the gentlemanly fandom thing to do.
44:19 So we're not celebrating an injury here, but just it's notable that perhaps he's not quite
44:24 as ready for the season as had otherwise been reported.
44:28 So that's one point.
44:29 Adrian Griffin also blew off a question about whether Middleton will be ready by opening
44:33 night, which is concerning.
44:35 Also Dame and Giannis did not practice yesterday.
44:38 Dame because he hasn't been ramping up or conditioning since knowing he'd be traded.
44:43 And as to why Giannis didn't practice, we don't know.
44:46 But it's just interesting given the rivalry that we've sort of defaulted to after both
44:51 of those trades.
44:52 So I don't know, Spoonie, if you're a Bucs fan there, you're pretty concerned, right?
44:56 Yeah, sad news about Middleton.
44:58 I want him to come back and I want to destroy them with a healthy Chris Middleton.
45:04 I think it, look man, he's been really banged up the last couple of years.
45:10 This could be heading to a place where he's not an NBA player for much longer, which would
45:14 suck.
45:15 That's a great dude.
45:17 But Dame Lillard, what are you just not working out?
45:19 Because you're going to get traded to an NBA.
45:22 You're going to be expected to play NBA basketball when you get traded, dude.
45:26 Like what are you thinking?
45:28 Like and he's the dude who's always like grind, grind, set, grind mind.
45:33 Like I'm up at 6am working out and going crazy.
45:36 Like you're out of shape.
45:37 What are you, James Harden, Dame Lillard?
45:39 What is going on here, man?
45:41 That took me so off guard.
45:42 I figured he'd be completely ready to go.
45:44 So very bizarre.
45:46 I will celebrate that because that is something well within his control.
45:52 And look, hey, I bet you Drew Holiday's ready to go.
45:55 In fact, he already practiced and everybody said he was a complete dog in practice and
45:59 like stuffing Jalen Brown.
46:00 So maybe we got the better end of that deal.
46:03 I don't know.
46:04 We'll see.
46:05 Probably not.
46:06 But yeah, and I just want to make sure and to circle back on kind of the angle you were
46:09 taking there, Spoonie.
46:10 It's not about celebrating injuries, but the Bucks have been hyping themselves up quite
46:15 a bit, you know, somewhat understandably so since the trade.
46:18 And it's like, hang on a second.
46:20 Suddenly maybe things aren't as they originally appeared with you guys.
46:23 So at least worth bringing up in this segment.
46:26 The other thing I wanted to ask you, Spoonie, before we move on, Joel Embiid committed earlier
46:30 today to play Olympic basketball, not for Cameroon, not for France, but for the United
46:35 States of America.
46:36 I ask you, you being the resident American on this show about an American basketball
46:40 team.
46:41 How do you feel about Joel Embiid's commitment to the USA?
46:45 So the second the game start in two years or whatever it is, is it next year?
46:52 I don't know.
46:53 2024, 26, whatever it is, I will probably not be able to help myself and I will root
46:58 for him.
46:59 Oh man.
47:00 Right now in this moment, I'm unable to put my hate aside for Joel Embiid and I wish he
47:06 had gone to a different country so we could beat him in the Olympics because there's not
47:12 much better than beating Joel Embiid.
47:14 But I know myself, I know the second the game start, I'm going to be like, oh, pick and
47:18 roll with Tatum and Embiid.
47:20 That's sick.
47:21 You know, so right now it sounds disgusting, but I will be amped when the game start.
47:27 Well, lucky for me, the boomers are still in with a chance to beat Joel Embiid and LeBron
47:32 James and Jason Tatum.
47:33 Oh my God, just saying those names out loud is extremely terrifying for all other nations.
47:39 So that's going to be interesting to see.
47:41 All right.
47:42 We wanted to take some time to construct the ultimate, most succinct argument possible
47:48 for you to have in the holster, ready to deploy for the Celtics hater in your life.
47:54 And just to build up some context there, what are the Celtics haters saying?
47:58 And Spoonie, you'll have to help me with this.
48:00 So a couple of things.
48:01 Now that Marcus Smart is gone, he was the heart and soul of the team.
48:05 Better off with him on the team instead of Chris Tapps, Porzingis and Drew Holiday.
48:09 And obviously, previously, prior to Smart being shipped out, he was like the focal point
48:14 of all Celtics haters hatred towards the team.
48:17 So suddenly they flipped on that and suddenly we're way worse off now that Smart is not
48:21 on the team.
48:22 Go figure.
48:23 As well, here's what else they're saying.
48:24 Porzingis might not be able to play in crunch time, not enough depth on the team, too injury
48:30 prone.
48:32 What else would you add to that from the haters perspective?
48:33 Yeah, from the haters perspective, I want to make that very clear.
48:36 I think there's a lot of people who do not think Jason Tatum is good enough to be the
48:41 number one on a championship team.
48:43 I think the clip of Jalen Brown dribbling with his left hand was ill-timed.
48:48 So Jalen still can't go left.
48:51 Yeah, Tatum's not good enough.
48:52 He you know, he's a chucker.
48:55 But yeah, I think that's that's just about all of them.
48:58 The depth thing and I would say KP injuries are probably the two big ones I've seen the
49:04 most though.
49:06 So let's let's rattle through the the points to argument to argue against that as my dog
49:10 is starting to lose it in my house.
49:12 Apologies for that.
49:13 I'm going to mute myself I think Spooty while you start to rattle off the argument.
49:19 And what we're going to do is we're going to clip it all together in the most succinct
49:22 way possible and post it on our Twitter and Instagram so that you the the fan out there
49:26 has the most succinct shortened possible argument to throw back in the face of the haters.
49:30 So what are your argument points here, Spoonie?
49:33 Okay, the Celtics per cleaning the glass were the number one team in the league by net rating.
49:38 They won 57 games.
49:39 They had the fourth best offense, the third best defense and the second best net rating
49:44 in the playoffs other than the Denver Nuggets.
49:47 The faults late game offense, lack of a defensive curveball, not you know, not enough ways to
49:53 play defense at a high level.
49:57 Well late game offense.
50:00 They just traded for Chris taps Porzingis and Drew holiday and Drew mentioned in his
50:06 press conference that Joe Missoula said he wants me to do everything but he also told
50:12 me he wants me to control the game at times especially late in games and Drew is the best
50:18 playmaker pure playmaker that the Jays will have ever played with.
50:23 So I feel like those two guys instead of Marcus Smart who I love and had a bunch of huge defensive
50:30 plays but let's be honest there were times where he took a few too many crunch time shots
50:36 maybe so I think the late game offense will see but on paper it looks like that's fixed
50:43 and then defensively there's a lot of different ways you can go with KP and Al and all and
50:48 true holiday and Derek white and the Jays so we can go switching one through five if
50:53 we run out there in the right matchup we can go zone and have a massive rim protector we
50:58 can switch one through four and have KP kind of roam we can we can play sort of that drop
51:04 coverage that we would probably see a lot of so we've got curveballs on that end we've
51:08 got curveballs all over the place on offense like and then you could just rattle off the
51:14 starting lineup drew holiday Derek white Jason Tatum Jalen Brown and Chris tabs Porzingis
51:20 that's for all stars in Derek white who is like by all like advanced metrics one of like
51:26 the 15 best players in the league so and then you had Al Horford coming off the bench like
51:32 and depth does not matter in the playoffs it just doesn't every team goes seven and
51:38 a half eight guys we've got seven we've got six incredible players and still solid guys
51:45 you know I trust Hauser to give us 10 15 minutes in the playoffs I trust Pritchard to give
51:50 us eight minutes in the playoffs and then you never know what you're gonna get presets
51:54 could be solid while she maybe takes a step up so essentially I think the things that
52:00 were traditionally have held this version of the Celtics back the additions of drew
52:05 and KP in Missoula getting more experience I think we're we're set to cure them all
52:13 yeah I think the for me the biggest takeaway there is just the the complimentary pieces
52:17 to the Jays and and the spacing that that affords them and don't worry we're gonna we're
52:22 gonna cut this up and provide the succinct version of it by a social media something
52:26 that you can commit to memory and have ready to deploy against the the haters in your life
52:30 but I mean you've got you've got the stats here to back it up spoon to those cleaning
52:34 the glass numbers that you pulled really it's it's the it's the best package of players
52:40 that we've had around the Jays ever and not just in terms of like the most talented players
52:44 but really the most complimentary skill sets as well I think I think is the most important
52:48 piece and then all the different types of defense that we can play which you mentioned
52:52 and the fact that we've got two of the best perimeter screen navigators in the entire
52:58 world in the entire league as our starting one and two it's extremely spicy the way
53:04 that we can attack teams on both ends of the floor so like I said I look to be honest very
53:11 distracted by my dog barking at the beginning of this segment but we are gonna package all
53:15 of that up and put it out on social so if you're not subscribed to first of the floor
53:19 or Wayne Spoonie on Twitter make sure that you are all right one more thing to wrap up
53:24 on here I think we're gonna stay within an hour this is this is very good I'm very excited
53:27 by this we got we the Celtics or NBC Sports Boston I should say have employed Drew Carter
53:35 as their new play-by-play announcer this guy is gonna be doing road games this year as
53:41 well as preseason I believe so we're gonna be fortunate enough to check him out as early
53:46 as this Sunday night for preseason game one have you do you know anything about this guy
53:51 Spoonie it's I tried to sort of find out like how old he was for example and I couldn't
53:55 find that information out but I did glance he's LinkedIn profile and I noticed that he
53:59 graduated high school in 2015 which I think makes it like roughly I don't know like 25
54:06 ish 20 to 23 ish that's right 25 ish yeah what do you know about Drew Carter so far
54:14 what you just told me is everything I know about Drew Carter I know absolutely nothing
54:19 I'm going into this with an open mind he's got huge shoes to fill I think there's an
54:25 air of like if they're picking a 25 year old to be the guy who replaces Mike Gorman he's
54:34 probably really really good because it usually got a grind for a long time to get a job like
54:40 this so this guy must be electric so I'm looking forward to finding that out well fortunately
54:47 for you and everybody in the chat here and everyone listening later I have compiled some
54:51 Drew Carter highlights which we're going to run right now hi everybody and welcome to
54:55 a chilly SU soccer stadium through Carter alongside Dana Gray now Dana it's the final
54:59 game of the regular season but still a lot riding on this one tonight hi everybody welcome
55:03 inside the carrier dome alongside Syracuse legend in the Hall of Famer Ryan Powell through
55:07 Carter on hand and Ryan let's dive right in starting with Syracuse mentioned that major
55:11 bounce back last weekend after a season opening loss to Colgate they robbed Albany 13 to 5
55:17 and the number one reason why number one white and orange Bradley Boyd we go down the home
55:20 stretch NC State starts with a three point lead Leslie uses the elevator doors from Rogers
55:26 and Canane the two bigs air balls the jumper works as a pass and Elisa Canane's going back
55:31 to the stripe but who do they still have number one Dehoga Nantzikok he's maybe the biggest
55:36 star in all of college lacrosse and earlier today he let everyone know that he was ready
55:40 for this game you check out his Twitter there's a Baker Mayfield quote right here woke up
55:44 feeling dangerous right at 7am I'm convinced he's scheduled that so for Kayla Burton the
55:48 rookie doing a fantastic job our statsman Corbett Barian our director Scott Hector producer
55:53 Kristen Hennessy I'm Drew Carter saying so long from the I think we have the idea he
55:59 has a butter smooth voice he's young but he has the voice of an old like tenor I wish
56:05 I never saw him because I would think he's like 55 years old but his voice it is bizarre
56:10 to hear him and see him at the same time so but yeah I mean he maybe feels a little cookie
56:18 cutter but he's a young guy man that those clips are from him in like college right so
56:22 yeah he's gonna develop his own personality he's gonna have to figure out how to speak
56:30 to scal I hope he can take a joke or a gruff scal I don't comment because scales full of
56:40 them so I'm gonna like I said I'm going in with an open mind I mean Mike has to retire
56:46 at some point right he's not gonna be around forever so I trust that they found the right
56:50 guy to fill his shoes yeah I'm just reading the comments here there's a lot of disdain
56:55 for this this young gentleman I personally very high on the guy I probably did too much
57:00 research last night trying to compile all these clips together for you guys so I feel
57:05 like I've got a lot of Drew Carter experience already but he does seem to have for his age
57:12 at least a nice combination of humor he seems to have a good sense of humor making on the
57:16 fly jokes during the play-by-play as well as just like good knowledge of the game like
57:21 he called out the elevator doors play in that example that we just showed so yeah what it
57:26 comes down to you mentioned it's booty huge huge shoes to fill and doesn't matter who
57:31 we got on they were never gonna hold a candle to Mike Gorman and so to get someone who's
57:36 this young and like this much of a like a prospect for lack of a better term it's almost
57:40 a good thing because I think hopefully people will cut him a lot of slack for that reason
57:45 alone and allow him to sort of grow into the role then again from a year's time we might
57:50 just be getting Sean Grandy instead of this guy who knows yeah I'm surprised it wasn't
57:55 Grandy I think I saw some like speculation floating around Twitter that Grandy just loves
58:01 radio and who wants to keep doing radio I can't imagine they didn't offer it to him
58:06 they had to have offered it to him so I love Grandy on the radio he is very much I used
58:11 to actually listen to a lot of games on the radio like either driving or like me and my
58:15 buddies would kick it and play card games and drink a few beers and listen to the game
58:20 so love Grandy on the radio I would have been very happy with him moving to the TV guy but
58:27 ultimately like it's that's his decision and it sounds like he's the one who made it so
58:33 it's the Drew Carter era baby let's go.
58:35 Yep for better or for worse I will say you heard it here first Drew Carter is gonna be
58:40 fucking awesome yeah believe me when I say that all right let's wrap it up there that's
58:44 gonna do it for this one thank you so much for joining us whether it's everyone in the
58:47 chat here on YouTube shout out to you guys or if you're listening later please do us
58:51 a solid and subscribe to the first of the floor YouTube channel or on your preferred
58:55 podcast app it really helps us out with the algorithm and it's great for trying to get
58:59 certain guests on to come on the show as our online clout grows a little bit with your
59:04 subscriptions also make sure you're signed up for our playback room the link is in the
59:08 description playback.tv/firstofthefloor we're gonna be hosting a live watch party for preseason
59:13 game one on Sunday night and we'll be doing another live podcast shortly after that Wayne
59:18 Spoonie love your work mate everyone go check out Spoonie's call on three leaf clover on
59:22 Celtics blog until next time go Celtics.
59:36 (upbeat music)
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